Hi, so i'm new to programming. I learned so far Python and now i'm into C#. But i was afraid of continuing so i wanted to ask some questions here.

First of all, if your game fails how do you afford living?

How much free time do game developers really have? 

And also why do some developers still code when returned home even if they don't have to? Can coding become some kind of addiction?

Sorry for some dumb questions but i'm really confused. I hear a lot of stories about developers and how coding ruined their lives, how it can be stressing etc. Hope to seeing some responses down here!

17 minutes ago, Tom Nook said:

First of all, if your game fails how do you afford living?

Most indie game devs hold day jobs when starting out. I really wouldn't recommend quitting your day job until you have a solid expectation of income from game dev.

17 minutes ago, Tom Nook said:

 How much free time do game developers really have? 

If you work for a game studio as an employee? Same as anyone in another 9-5 job, though some overtime is to be expected.

If you are talking about indie game developers, then due to the aforementioned need to maintain a day job alongside game development, likely to be very little.

20 minutes ago, Tom Nook said:

And also why do some developers still code when returned home even if they don't have to?

My day job is writing operating system software for a large enterprise. It doesn't scratch the same itch for me that game development does, so I work on small games in my free time.

22 minutes ago, Tom Nook said:

Can coding become some kind of addiction?

Not that I've ever heard of. Some folks can get a bit obsessive over it, but at the end of the day, it's much like any other job/hobby.

38 minutes ago, Tom Nook said:

First of all, if your game fails how do you afford living?

If you're getting into game development as a commercial venture then it holds the same risks as anything else in business. If my game 'fails', I just move onto the next project once I know why it failed. I can afford to live because I run a few businesses outside of game development that bring in funding.

40 minutes ago, Tom Nook said:

How much free time do game developers really have? 

When I'm working on a project I'll make free time so I don't burn out, but to be honest if I'm pushing a project for completion I really don't have a lot of time. 9-5 doesn't exist for me, and hasn't for many years.

42 minutes ago, Tom Nook said:

And also why do some developers still code when returned home even if they don't have to? Can coding become some kind of addiction?

Some people like to work on their own projects.  

43 minutes ago, Tom Nook said:

Sorry for some dumb questions but i'm really confused. I hear a lot of stories about developers and how coding ruined their lives, how it can be stressing etc. Hope to seeing some responses down here!

Any career can be stressful... My legal business is far more stressful than my IT business by far... I strongly believe we either allow or disallow certain conditions to drain us emotionally. It's all about how you respond, not react.

46 minutes ago, Tom Nook said:

First of all, if your game fails how do you afford living?

It's simple, you just die out of hunger.

Simply said, if you invest in making a game on your own without having a side job - it means you have enough funding to do it. That also means that you have some knowledge in economy and business, and therefore you won't invest all money you have on single game project that has high failure possibility.

48 minutes ago, Tom Nook said:

How much free time do game developers really have?

What are friends?

It's not that bad, and it depends. If you're on normal 9-5 job, you will have about as much free time as any other job. If you work on your project it is entirely up to you how much time you dedicate to it - everything incl. your sleep? Just few hours a day? Weekends only? Take your pick!

48 minutes ago, Tom Nook said:

And also why do some developers still code when returned home even if they don't have to? Can coding become some kind of addiction?

It's like cocaine.

It's not physically addictive - yet some people enjoy it. If you ask me whether I go to bar in the evening, or work on the code. I'd pick the code most of the time - but mostly because I have personally more fun working with the code, than getting drunk at the bar.

49 minutes ago, Tom Nook said:

I hear a lot of stories about developers and how coding ruined their lives, how it can be stressing etc.

I have one rule - if something stresses me out, and I definitely don't enjoy it - I don't do it. Of course there are some short term things you have to live through (those hard exams we all had to pass while doing universities being such example), but if your job stresses you out - then you've probably picked the wrong job.

Doing a work to get money is just not enough for me, take it this way - you have just one life - do you want to spend it stressing yourself in job you clearly don't enjoy? Simply, when your job makes you feel bad - change the job.

I have a job in IT. I consider game development to be my hobby. For years, my job has just been basic office hours so I spend some of my free time programming games. When I'm at my day job, I am programming based on other people's needs, timelines, and processes. When I'm programming as a hobby I don't have to answer to anybody but myself and I can work on what I like, when I like, and with whatever approach that I like. In general on my own projects, I am able to spend about 1.5 hours a day usually 5 days a week which is not a recipe for getting projects completed quickly but like I said, that's not the point for me.

11 hours ago, Tom Nook said:

I hear a lot of stories about developers and how coding ruined their lives

It is not something you can hear often out there. Less with the recent mania to promote codding even in kindergartens. But I read some articles about autism and programming. Programming is teaching a person logic. But it teaches exact logic. In social life we need inexact logic. So some people could worsen their autism a lot if they start codding. This is not something you will hear often. You would not hear often people to talk about how chess game turns certain people crazy either.
(out there organizations exist to help autistic people and they talk how autistic people are very good at programming....)

Yeah there does seem to be a lot of association of autism and programming. My friends and family have said I've got some kind of autism / assburgers going on, as well as OCD. People without these traits tend to suck at programming imo, because they haven't got the interest / attention to detail. I wouldn't say it worsens autism, more it is well suited and calming, because it gives a fully controllable world (whereas real world is not controllable). Perhaps going a little off topic there (needs its own topic).

I would think in terms of ruining lives, rather than autism, people speak of certain overtime practices in the industry, job uncertainty etc.

18 hours ago, Tom Nook said:

First of all, if your game fails how do you afford living?

Well your questions are vague. You are, I'm guessing referring to 'indies', but the answers vary according to how you approach the money-making side. Here are some options I would rank by financial risk, from the least risky to the most risky

1. Don't rely on games to pay your rent - Have another main income source, make games in spare time
2. Work making games for a company that pays you wages and takes the risk for you
3. Run your own company with games as main income

Also most people would agree this also ranks how crazy you are, most sane people would not rely on games for income, whereas most people who run an indy game company for their income will agree that they are crazy.

Aside from this, most of the principles are similar to investing, don't put all your eggs in one basket, have a certain percentage of solid options, with a smaller percentage of more volatile options etc.

18 hours ago, Tom Nook said:

How much free time do game developers really have? 

Again it totally depends on your situation. (1) has the option for more free time as they are not reliant on game for money. (2) may have to work overtime at the job, it depends on the employer. (3) varies according to how successful the business I guess, I couldn't tell you I have never done this.

Most people who should be game developers would choose to spend their free time on gamedev, other free time is only there for life balance and variety.

19 hours ago, Tom Nook said:

And also why do some developers still code when returned home even if they don't have to?

Because they enjoy it.

19 hours ago, Tom Nook said:

Can coding become some kind of addiction?

Yeah sure, like cocaine, on steroids.

22 hours ago, Tom Nook said:

And also why do some developers still code when returned home even if they don't have to?

Just to rest o just for fun. Mainly becouse have wide area of interests. For example you have a very intrasting day job related to Factory Automation. But in your are of interests also a graphics, gmaing AI and phisics simulations for example. So you just continue to do some other that interested for you just for fun or self-education and so on. Other example. One friend of mie has dream all 5 univercity years to work on robotics field closely related to electronic. But when we finished a university course, programmers here has been contributed much more into accounting departamends than on FA departaments. So he just turned to Java and with  his skills and knowledge has made a carrier very fast. Shortly he shifted overseas and became a team lead into company that produce accounting software for big corporations. So he have no any reasons to change field where he have a daytime job. But by eavningd he assembly bords and programming AI for funny tiny drones just for fun.

22 hours ago, Tom Nook said:

Can coding become some kind of addiction?

Can breath become some kind of addiction? 

Realy you allready additive by coding. You has change Phyton to C# to have a better coding tools. So shortly you will require much heavy drugs like C++ that lead to incurable syndrome known as "C++ of brain" that have very heavy effects like analyzing environment and tasks that you need to perform and planing your actions by results of analize, also usage of C++ usualy require to  use parallely heavy drugs of other kind - calculus, linear algebra, computation geometry, theory of complexity and its list is endless. On worst cases on couple it lead to serious life quality damages like as Master or ever PhD degree and high responsible job.

Addiction to codding is damaging my life. I would very love to quit programming, but there is always something to code. Projects as 3D Engine and OS, can take many years and give you nothing back(money/career). All this time could be better spent socializing  more  with people.
It is my hobby, yes, but at the same time i would gladly change it by another hobby.

4 hours ago, lawnjelly said:

Also most people would agree this also ranks how crazy you are, most sane people would not rely on games for income, whereas most people who run an indy game company for their income will agree that they are crazy.

While I agree, this really depends - if your project is already living and making enough money for you to sustain, then it is possible and viable to do so. There is always a risk of failure (but it is always there).

Typical scenario can be F.e. running a seaside hotel for families. You start the business, it goes well - but there is always a risk of something (oil company finds location attractive and shits everyone's business there, or simply you get an 'immigration' center around increasing crime to insane levels, or just certain people will start visiting (that drink, make mess and are too loud), etc.) - and you can just give up on that business, losing money. It's the same as releasing a title that doesn't sell.

Truth is - compared to games - you can try to legally defend in some scenarios (and get some money back after decade in court), although it won't change the result - your business will be ruined by then.

27 minutes ago, NikiTo said:

All this time could be better spent socializing  more  with people.
 It is my hobby, yes, but at the same time i would gladly change it by another hobby.

This depends on what your priority or dream is. If you want to socialize and work out - do so. If you want to make game engines - do so. If you want to build rockets - do so. You live in a free world (now I just hope you're not from North Korea), therefore you yourself choose what you want to do and who you want to be. Game development is just another hobby - and I'd recommend to not stick just by it, buy a dog or cat, try some sport, etc. - it helped me a lot to add few more. While I have less time to actually make games now, having more interests made me work a lot more efficiently and waste a lot less time.