This guy made successful games for 3 years while living on the streets. Truly inspiring!

This article was truly inspiring. You can read it here:

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/me...s-for-three-years-while-living-on-the-streets

Now if you excuse me, I need to get back to completing my project

 

.... I hate "what's your excuse" posts.

"Tutankhamun become a pharaoh at the age of 9. What's your excuse?"

 

It's a great story of getting started during arguably the best time to jump into mobile. It'd be very interesting if you find a similar story where someone is doing the same thing this year or started say last year. For one thing I never heard anyone in recent years saying they make between $100 and $1,000 per month from ads from a single app with 7,000 downloads. Not trying to be doom n gloom pessimist just saying timing really does make a huge difference.

EDIT: I'd actually find it more interesting to see a few articles or even a whole website deddicated to covering the majority of current game devs who are smart, working hard doing what you'd think are the right things and still they haven't seen any real financial success. That may provide some valuable insight

 

@neginfinity

Mmm, not born into royal lineage? Pretty good excuse on my part ..

@elmar1028

My excuse? Mixture of enjoying impossible tasks with the occasional bout of lazyness. Hey at least I'm honest .. I enjoy it so whatev's..

 

Kudos to him, however I would point out that according to his story he delibrately chose to live that lifestyle because he didn't want a job getting in the way of him setting up his business.

I have a wife and kids to provide for, and a mortgage, so my excuse is that I don't have all day every day to make games

 

Can't afford a time machine. Saving up just for that. What's yours?

Plus it's not another "what's your excuse" post. It's for inspiration and motivation.

"What's your excuse" bit was for jokes

 

This. As a young single guy it's possible to live on next to nothing for a long time. On the other hand once you have dependants.

Still, it's nice to know that there are people out there fully able to work that are willing to abuse the charity of homeless shelters.

 

Ooh good point, hadn't considered that. I wonder how many genuinely desperate people ended up having to sleep rough on the streets because that last spot in the shelter was taken by a guy who just didn't want a boring job getting in the way of making video games...

 

This is inspiring.
Wenever, some points are distrubing, like one game per month , this looks more like small mobile games without deep art research and loosk more like small games that don't need a story. But this is interesting as he says that this small games not popular could bring him enought money.
Also he seems to target VR mainly, i think he choosen VR market because this is very new and it's today one of the best places for indies until the big companies begin to make VR games.

 

Staying at a homeless shelter can't be just a caprice. Anyone knocking the door of a shelter is truly desperate in my book, or at the very least... I wouldn't be so quick to judge.

If he was taking the last available a place in a shelter, evidently getting a boring job wasn't an option for more than a few people in that area. Maybe it was his case as well, and making games was his way out.

Congrats to him.

 

Nice story to read, I liked it. However the title of the thread bothers me. Technically, it was being homeless for 3 years that enabled him to make games. So what's my excuse? Not being homeless obviously...

 

Choosing to live like a homeless person is not nearly the same as having no other choice.

 

You see a little bit of the same thing wherever you have a solid welfare system. Most people who use it are genuinely in need of help. But there are always one or two people that choose to live off the system.

Don't get me wrong. I don't mind paying for caring for the sick, disabled, elderly and just unlucky. It's also comforting to know that if anything happens to me there is a safety net for me and my family.

It just occasionally bites to hear an artist say "I'd like to thank WINZ for giving me the unemployment benefit and allowing me to produce this thing"

I hope I'm wrong. I hope the guy does go on to donate a significant amount back to homeless shelters. I hope he can provide for others what he got.

Or maybe I should just stop complaining. Looking at it from a different angle it's not all that different from the years I spent living off government funding while studying for my degree.

 

I do have to point out though that just because you can get a job doesn't necessarily mean you can afford rent along with all of the other necessities of life. I know when I was investigating low income housing the waiting lists for my area was literally so long that it would take a couple years for a place to open up.

After searching for a while I decided to just live with my parents and pay them rent.

 

Yeah, my initial judgement may have been a little harsh. The way the article portrays it the guy choose to be homeless and turned down stable jobs in the industry, because he wanted to make games.

The reality is likely to have been different.

 

Is living like a homeless really a choice? At best it can be the consequence of your choices, if that. But it's not something you'd plan for yourself. It's not like backpacking with no money, he probably had very rough times.

 

If you choose to not get a job and an apartment because you would rather do something else, then that is a choice. This isn't a discussion about the typical homeless person, this is one persons's real story

 

That's a choice he made. He wasn't forced on the street like so many others. He always had other options to get off the streets. He could have taken numerous jobs and is clearly educated. Most people end up there because they have nowhere else to go.

 

You know, I think that having safety net for yourself is more important than existence of someone who chose to live off the system.

 

What do you think homeless people are? There isn't a "line" between normal people, and homeless. Every case is different, and it ranges from drug addiction, mental illness, people neglected by their family, and people who lose their jobs. If there's a line at all, is the moment a person asks for help at a homeless shelter. Evidently he didn't have that many choices. He later took an odd job that allowed him to afford a cheap computer.
What he did was a sacrifice. He could have chosen a different route, but it's not like he scammed everyone, because it was so convenient to be homeless. It was the route he found, and it wasn't an easy one.

 

He could have chosen to support himself, instead he chose to live off tax dollars.
He came out ahead, at the expense of other people who had to sleep on the street because he chose to use a shelter.
This is a brilliant individual who gamed the system. Don't compare him to people who have hit hard times and need help to survive.

 

Do we know this for a fact? Or are we just assuming the shelter was full?

 

Anyone who can find a job but decides they would rather live on the streets is lazy at best and scammer most of the time.

Shelters are ALWAYS full. That's not an assumption but a reality.

 

Right. An assumption. Got it.

 

considering he had a good job at HP, doesnt sound like he's someone that needed to go homeless, but he did because he didnt want a crappy job (fair enough), which makes him very un-inspiring.

I havnt finished piss all because I have full time job to pay for wife/kid/bills. Full time job = not much left in the tank most nights.

So quite frankly, I dont give half a crap about this selfish twat. He lived on others making games. Good for him. Better put some money/time back into the people he scammed...

 

You may assume whatever you want. I have actual experience and knowledge of these things. Every shelter in the USA frequently turns away people because they are at full capacity.

 

Actual experience would require you to have personally contacted and/or visited every single shelter. Knowledge would require you to have obtained your information from a source that has done just that.

I strongly suspect it's a matter of averages or majority rather than every single shelter.

 

I'm not saying he's my hero or anything, or that he must be your hero. But I don't think he deserves that much hate. 'Tis all.

 

I cant imagine any/many shelters run with low attendance. There are a lot of people that need handouts + a lot of people that feel they are owed handouts. Obviously if youre at capacity, you will need to turn people away.

 

I do not understand why this is a problem.

You get the system that acts as safety net for everyone. People that chose to use the system to their advantage are a side effect of that. The safety net is more important than the side effect. Your tax dollars are going towards your own insurance.

That's better than not having a safety net.

----

Besides, if the dude made his studio happen and has income, he'll be paying taxes. So now HIS tax dollars will be funding stuff.

 

I don't believe there is low attendance either. Otherwise there wouldn't be a need for so many. Yet I don't believe that every single shelter is filled to capacity. Otherwise people like the guy in the article would not have been able to live in one.

By the way that one article does not give enough information. A quick scan of Google News brought up other articles with additional information. Such as how he found an outdoor electric plug and ran his laptop off that.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/business/technology/article56427875.html

 

I dont feel that way personally. I would rather tax dollars went to education/health/roads, not supporting some guy that lost his job and didnt want to flip burgers, especially when he is obviously quite capable.

But, that's the problem with humans. They're selfish.

 

See the last point in my previous post.

If he made his business happen, he'll be paying tax dollars now. The more successful the business is, the more tax dollars (unless I'm missing something). So, now his cash will be spent on whatever. Isn't that how the system is supposed to work? Reintegrating people into society and all that? He used the system and now is paying it back, whether he likes it or not.

So, if his business is more profitable than what he would earn at minimum page job, then him supposedly taking advantage of the shelter was arguably the "right" thing to do, since he now brings more money back into the system.

So, where's the problem?

 

It's not a problem with the system, it's a problem with the individual. Both the original article and the additional article that I linked in my last post indicate that he had opportunities. He could have gotten a job. He was offered assistance from family members. He turned that down to work on his project.

I understand where @drewradley and @JamesLeeNZ are coming from. Some people only have the safety net of that shelter to fall upon. If the shelter were filled and he took it that's one less spot that someone in true need could have occupied.

Yes. Additionally if he manages to get a studio started, which is his stated goal, he'll create jobs for others.

 

I'm with you on this one. Sure I'd like it if no one ever abused the safety net. But I'd much rather that everyone has the protection offered by the system.

Its possible to build a society which has no need for anyone to ever be homeless, regardless of their situation. I don't think that is such a bad goal.

 

Are you sure you meant to reply to me? I don't see a problem either.
I was responding to sentiment that this guy was forced to be homeless due to circumstances beyond his control.
No, it was a choice.

I am staying 100 percent out of the debate as to appropriate use of shelters.

 

This might be a case of differing expectations from differing countries. Even the idea of a homeless shelter is foreign to me. The idea that you would have enough homeless people that you could regularly fill up a homeless shelter is even stranger.

 

I've been on the verge of homelessness a few times. My passion is also video game creation. I've lost jobs due to personality conflicts. It's safe to say most of us here are introverts. If you're that down on your luck and you just want to follow your dreams, go for it.

 

TLDR: you need to decide to commit. He was never in any danger, so it's not actually a story of hardship and frankly he didn't say it was. He just told a story that makes people feel shocked due to imagination: you imagine it's far worse and there's beatings, sub zero temperatures, drunks and druggies and scrabbling around for food. None of that happened. He could just kick back with relatives if he wanted. The safety net was there.

But thing is, it's not a negative story, it's his story. And it's his way he got himself to commit. Generally, if you follow in someone's footsteps, you won't learn anything how to navigate life. So my advice is try your own path.

 

Yeah. Find your own way to game the system. This one's done.

 

He would have been paying tax flipping burgers.

He didnt need re-integration. He is obviously an intelligent/capable person who is able to commit to working, yet he still chose to take a spot from someone who may have needed it more for selfish reasons.

Is he going to pay back the 3 years for the system supported him? doubt it, but that's speculation.

If he is donating a bunch back to helping homeless people, that's awesome. If not, hes a selfish prick who doesnt deserve any attention.

 

I am glad you mentioned this. When I read the article the main thing that hit me was it is another example proving that taking advantage of everything you possibly can certainly helps a tremendous amount when chasing success. I've noticed this in people I know who have built businesses. Now I am not knocking them because hey they followed their dreams and did something about it. However, in all of these particular cases the way they did it was to quit their jobs and their wives supported the family so they could focus 100% on "doing their thing". It's just a very common theme in success stories if you learn to read between the lines.

 

He's starting a company. I'm not sure what are taxes where he lives. But if it's 20-30% of the company's year income, he'll break even first or second year tops. This depends on his income and what they serve for dinner on that shelter.

I mean... lets summarize:

1) He worked very hard during that time.
2) He is now going to help many others to get into game development.
3) He'll pay back his expenses with interest for years to come.

And we manage to conclude this guy's:

1) Lazy.
2) Selfish.
3) An abuser of the system.

What's going on?? >__<

 

I think it's great the guy did it. However, I also think it would be very cool to see an example that is reproducible by anyone who wants to do it. You see not everyone has a rich uncle, husband, wife or homeless shelter willing to support them while they devote 100% of their time to chasing their dream. That is my view of at it least. Congrats to him. He did it.

There is very little here for anyone to take away and be able to apply considering he started during the true goldmine time of mobile apps AND he was able to devote full time to it with no (or at least extremely little) living expenses and responsibilities. I think this is a scenario the vast majority of developers simply cannot relate to. I suppose teenagers would be closer to it but not nearly the same because even they have their days of school.

On the other hand... successful people generally do things like this. I sometimes wonder if it is possible to create such a success story without taking advantage of one thing or another in some way. I think it is but it is just damn strange how so many stories all seem to share this theme.

 

1. Where did lazy come from?

2. Getting others into game development isn't worth anything. Getting a bunch of homeless ppl jobs would be notable.

3. Excluding the three years the system supported him so he could work on his dream.

 

He could have gotten a job to pay his own way and developed in his free time and STILL have been as successful. Many, many of us do that. Some of us have even been successful enough to start our own businesses and hire people... while supporting themselves. Instead he took up resources of people who actually needed them, who would have given their left arm to be in his shoes. Every night he spent in a homeless shelter there is a very good chance that someone who needed it - REALLY needed it slept in the rain or cold. Every dime of handouts he took didn't go to someone who actually needs it. He's nothing more than a suburban kid begging for dollars instead of getting a job. Why would I praise someone who trivializes such a vulnerable population like this? Anyone who has the ability to support themselves BUT CHOOSES not to is lazy, shellfish and an abuser of the system.

 

I thought we had established that's unlikely that all shelters were full and he repeatedly took the last spot.
Also same logic can apply to taking the job from someone else. Why would he take someone's job if he can focus on making games and start a company sooner. Objectively not only he didn't take advantage of the system, he was more efficient.

 

You must have lived a very awesome life that someone who can work chooses homelessness over a job doesn't bother you. I'm a bit envious.

My apologies for getting too political. Homelessness is very serious issue we should all be striving to stop. MOST of them have no other way out unless we all help.

 

Renamed the title because people took it way more seriously than I expected.

 

He worked at HP but did not have a laptop?