This from a man who has 7,000 posts on a train game forum.
Harold
7,000 = 1,750 miles

(1 post = 1/4 mile or 20 chains). Just a slight relevance from posts to distance.
Originally Posted by
johnwhelan
You really need introverted nerds to build this stuff. They sit in corners and dream and they tend to avoid risky things like flying planes.
Based on observation of programmers who worked for me. For complex projects like this one I found the ones who hyped themselves weren't good at delivery, in fact I can recall at least two projects fail because of it, fortunately the client in both cases changed the requirements or decided to cancel the project for other reasons so we were off the hook but I do recall one trainee programmer in particular who wasn't very sociable in a group setting whom I gave a problem to in general terms. It was to automate a manual process when the person doing the process had no documentation and hadn't been cooperating before getting a back injury and being out of the office for three months or more. His solution extended the life of the existing system for another five years.
Cheerio John
I totally agree with you and thats the trouble with over ambitious plans. I am not saying a train sim is not possible, I am not saying it is, but having it single handedly built in a world with few programmers (I'm one, but a crap one due to the lack of experience, I admit), is the problem. Yes, we all like features we all want to see, but its one of those areas where you have to draw the line between features and time. This is particulary important when you are signed by Ubisoft and Ubisoft would expect you to do a lot of work for the money they give you because theres too many instances where publishers give you say £4,000,000 for a development of a project and the developer has gone "bye, I'm spending this on a expensive lifestyle".
On the other hand, there are instances where developers have given you a cheque through the post, which you think "Yay, £8k", bank it, but there are catches because they don't want you to read the small print, often the projects are err, very hard or nearly impossible and if you don't complete it, everything becomes theirs.
EDIT: BIG SLAP... Note to self, don't confuse There, they're and their again!
On the other hand, this guy can learn a lot from overambitious plan, unless you are like me, where the amount I have created has not been completed, because of time issues.