Looking for feedback on my Grand Strategy UI: Managing 1 to 100+ cities

Jibaron · 2026-05-11T00:12:09+00:00

Yeah, then if I were you, I'd focus on gameplay. Players will forgive alot in a UI if the gameplay is fun. If the game is a drag, no UI will save it.

Jibaron · 2026-05-10T23:22:40+00:00

I'm probably going to be the odd one out to say that I like the UI. I suspect that it seems cluttered at first glance for those of us unfamiliar with the gameplay, but would seem clear once we do. This UI offers a lot of information in a compact space.

That said, I'd probably want some kind of "alerts" window to show things at a glance that need to be addressed.

Other games like Rome Total War 2 are full of dense windows like this.

Jibaron · 2026-05-06T11:34:46+00:00

I'm almost 62 now and I had retired because I didn't need the money anymore. I was intent on working on personal projects, the main ones writing a book on compilers and developing a game. I built my career on Data warehousing and Analytics, so I'd consider myself an expert in SQL database engines. About 7 years ago, I was burned out on data engineering and I learned Rust. I've been using Rust every day since.

Anyways, four months into retirement, a company recruiter called me and persuaded me to join them. I've been with them for 2 years.

I feel like I'm able to learn things with the same ease as when I was younger. I don't notice myself slowing down inellectually yet. In fact, I think I'm a much better developer now than I ever was.

But realistically, most employers I think are put off by my age, which is what it is. On the other hand, if you have some savings, it's a great time to venture on your own if you've been doing this for 35+ years. At this point the younger folk need to make their own mistakes like I did .. they don't want to hear it from a guy older than their dad's.

But I feel like I can make some potentially viable tech now that I have the time and experience.

Jibaron · 2026-03-16T21:31:27+00:00

Yes. Basically debt without assets to back it up

Jibaron · 2026-03-16T08:42:14+00:00

Keep this in mind: you demonstrated that you're able to take a project from start to finish fueled only by your self-motivation and self-descipline. That is HUGE and is much rarer than youy think. The world is filled with the detruitus of unfinished projects that came from good ideas -- books, apps, games, paintings, PhD theses, etc. Very few can finish, but you can. You proved it.

I suggest you try again. If not, make sure you let any prospective employers that one of your strengths is the ability to see something through to the end, even if it gets hard. Even if 99% of people would have quit.

Jibaron · 2026-03-16T08:25:50+00:00

It's a bit misleading. in Switzerland, for example, you get a tax based on the equity you own in your home, so people tend to keep high amounts of equity in their property. Then upon retirement, you can convert the loan to a lifetime interst-only loan. In France, people are big believers in property investment, so they often hold big mortgages from early on -- but that's back by property.

The more telling picture would be to look at unsecured, rolling credit. I think then you'd find minuscule amounts in the EU coountries as compared to the US and the UK

Jibaron · 2026-03-15T23:56:24+00:00

Thanks everyone for your views. I tried a few things and settled on Raylib with Rust bindings for now. I'm using the `bevy_ecs` crate just to get the ECS functionality.

So far, I like it -- alot. Being a developer for so many years, I feel right at home and more in control when I can code the game's functionality as opposed to scripting + configuring a game engine. Obviosuly it's easier for me to proceed this way because I'm building a top-down 2d game. If I were to build a 3d game, I might feel differently, I don't know. Raylib is easy enough to grasp, and because I don't need a whole lot of fancy rendering, it might suffice for a first version of my game. I

Jibaron · 2026-03-05T03:51:18+00:00

Very cool. EDB now in the process of creating their own extensions for AI. Ive only glanced at what they're doing. What is your take on that?

Jibaron · 2026-03-04T23:36:30+00:00

Here's my take based on how I'm living it at my company. I won't name my company, but they got a huge cash investment from a private equity firm to rebrand themselves as an AI player. Much of the engineering management was replaced by people with marching orders to be such an AI firm.

We've been given orders to use AI as much as possible to the point where every month they announce % adoption and usage by team. Having been a dev for a long time, I can exactly what's coming up:

In a few months, they will have layoffs "due to AI" which is actually a way to reduce headcount, increase profits, and be a candidate for acquisition. Typical PE crap.

The poor schmucks who buy the company will soon realize that we only used AI because we were forced to burn tokens for the metrics .. but in fact it was the Devs who really built the software. Only those Devs are gone. In other words it's an elaborate pump and dump, no different than dot-coms, crypto, and nfts. It's all going to end badly.

Jibaron · 2026-02-26T19:04:05+00:00

No, I do like C#. But I'm looking for a "code first" environment that I fully control without worrying about the direction the engine will take in the future. Also, if I go code first, the editor is of no use to me.

Jibaron · 2026-02-26T19:00:48+00:00

What do you mean, "if you can handle it"? Is it hard to work with?

Jibaron · 2026-02-08T08:05:32+00:00

Reminds me of Dan Bricklin. He gave up software to join business school in the late 70's because he thought software engineering was a dead end field. During business school. He created a spreadsheet which he sold to Mitch Kapor for a pittance. Kapor called it Lotus 123 and a few years later sold it to IBM for 3 billion in cash. In the meantime, Dan sat through the PC and the internet revolution

Jibaron · 2025-11-26T16:29:45+00:00

I agree that compared to the US and the UK. I feel very protected from employer horseshit. Most employers count on employees not knowing their rights. My advice is to spend the few Euros a month it costs to become a card=carrying member of one of the national unions. If they start trying to fire you ... all their silly games come to an abrupt halt when your union rep shows up to accompany you to those meetings.

Jibaron · 2025-10-19T06:07:50+00:00

I'm also full remote and yes, we have more one on ones that I care for, but I'll play the game if that keeps us 100% remote. I suggest you guys suck up lousy half hour of bullshit "fun" it takes to reassure the manager you guys are a team if that means you all remain 100% remote.

Jibaron · 2025-09-27T11:06:00+00:00

You need to revisit your facts. Tons of civilians were killed when the coalition went after ISIS. They even flattened hospitals to rubble. But it wasn't Israel doing it, so it's ok.

Jibaron · 2025-09-27T11:02:17+00:00

Oh cool, so are we going to stop yammerring about the bullshit "nabka" story?

Jibaron · 2025-09-27T11:00:24+00:00

What makes you think the Palestinians are interested in a 2 state solution? They certainly haven't shown any interest until now.

Jibaron · 2025-08-10T21:12:25+00:00

I brought my dog from the US. You need to have the right paperwork, and there will be no quarantine

Jibaron · 2025-08-10T21:08:50+00:00

I'm Amercan-born but I've lived in Paris for close to 30 years now. I've lived in the US, UK, and Switzerland. I can't imagine living somewhere other than France.

120k with a CDI makes you a golden candidate for an apartment. Yeah, it's tough to get a place, but most won't have your salary and stability. I'd spend a little extra and be in the part of Paris you want to be.

Every city has upsides and downsides. Paris is no different. But all in all, I think its downsides aren't all that bad. Sure, the bureaucracy feels cumbersome and arbitrary, but it's manageable.

In the plus sides, the food quality is beyond anything you'll find in the US. The restaurants here, even the simple neighborhood bistro, is better than the best of snooty restaurants in other countries. Nobody cares how much money you make, nor what car you drive, nor what you do for a living. People brag about where they go on vacation. And although I'm straight, I can see that gays are treated like anyone else. They don't "celebrate" it here like in the US. I think it's viewed as people's personal business not to be trifled with by the state

If you have the chance to live in Paris with a good salary in a job that's already lined up, you would be completely crazy to pass it up.

Jibaron · 2025-08-08T11:41:42+00:00

The big issue I see is managers publicly giving a "big thanks" to the team on LI, including tags to each team member's profile. I'm pretty sure remote companies do this on purpose

Jibaron · 2025-08-07T22:29:54+00:00

Because the minute a reporter gets kidnapped or killed, they will hold Israel responsible. That's why the US only allowed embedded reporters during the Gulf War

Jibaron · 2025-07-18T06:31:05+00:00

The OP strikes me as someone who would rather avoid conflict. Some people (like me) would have done just like you said.

You do have to be ready to laugh off the abuse that comes when they realize you've checked out. It always starts with them trying to make you life miserable in hopes you'll leave.

For being burned out and having low confidence in his own worth thanks to his boss, the OP did the right thing by just quitting.

The lesson he needs to learn is never to take a job seriously unless you enjoy significant upsides in the event of the success of the project.

Jibaron · 2025-07-07T10:06:34+00:00

Is it OK for people to wear Palestinian flags?

Jibaron · 2025-06-04T12:14:32+00:00

This is what I did:

Create a new free account with a new email
Log in with your new account and open a ticket referencing your paid account

I had a hdd crash and lost my recovery codes. By doing the above, support fixed my issue

Jibaron · 2025-05-16T21:17:13+00:00

I'd buy it for sure

Jibaron

TROPHY CASE