)I'm surprised that non-recognition of programmers has been able to flourish, so to speak. Activision got started primarily because, as Atari programmers, the initial Activision team was tired of not being recognized for their hard work and also for not getting paid much considering how much money they made for Atari (This was after Nolan Bushnel sold Atari - The corporate pricks always put the bottom line $$$ before anything else).
Anyways, your mention of the one or two member teams doing these things on their own terms is absolutely on the mark. That's what makes PB (and also a few of the others out there I won't mention
)so great. One person can actually make a really great game. Of course, a game like halo, for example, has so much involved - music, cut scenes, modelling, etc - that it's no wonder these companies are spending millions of dollars/pounds/euros to develop them. One person could do it, but it would take him 4 or 5 times longer at least.Your resistance to learn C is equally appreciated (and especially C++), as it does tend to encourage bloat and inefficiency in favor of 'rapid' development and 'easier' integration into a team environment. A full-scale game on the level of, say, halo or halflife in complexity, etc would be quite a bit smaller and faster if developed in asm, although they would argue (and somewhat rightfully so) that it would also be more difficult to debug, develop, etc and that the additional savings would not be worth it. There's some truth to that, but not everyone is on broadband yet, and sometimes size and speed DO matter!
Anyways, long live 8 bit programm[ing/ers]!
Russell