Code is Art?
Sep 25, 2009 Author: Wendy | Filed under: CodingI realized this morning that even though there is a big movement to try and get games classified as art, that it doesn’t seem to include the source code.
Most people will agree that creating textures, modeling 3D objects, composing soundtracks, writing storylines are all artforms that are part of making a game. One crucial piece that’s oddly left out is the code that brings it all together and allows the game to exist.
Maybe it’s lack of common understanding, but no one seems to get the code side of things. There are awards now for finished games, awards for best audio, best looking graphics, but nothing for the programmer. We’re the unsung people that program long hours, making it all work and giving marketing the features they love to put on the back of the box, and yet there’s not an award for “most optimized renderer”, “best file system access without a singleton”, or “best ability to stay at 60 frames a second without hitching”.
Maybe I’m the only person that sees the distinct lack of acknowledgment, maybe it’s because code is so difficult to grasp that we’re overlooked, or maybe it’s because programming isn’t considered a traditional artform.
Code is how I create. I bring to life characters through my code. I can generate scenery dynamically without any pre-modeled objects, from ocean waves to fractal trees. I know I can’t be the only person that feels a connection to others when reading the code they’ve written. The way the brackets are placed, their use of if/elese instead of switch, how their systems are abstracted; it all gives a glimpse into who they are. You can see how they think, what they deem important, and the amount of care they took to make things work efficiently.
Programming a game is also a collaborative effort. It brings people together. Each of them contributes their abilities to make one single compilable codebase enabling game designers and modelers to show off what they’ve created. The code sits in the background, staying out of the way and presents the hard work of everyone else. I enjoy playing games and just pausing the action and looking at what has been created. I explore the frozen frame and brain storm on the techniques needed to create it. I learn from what others have done even though the code itself is the most hidden part of the game.
Is code art? I think it can be. It elicits emotion, brings ideas and people together, and when done well, is beatiful.
Can people’s minds be changed to see what programmers create as an artform, or will code continue to be considered unimportant and something that only geeks understand?
About - Wendy Jones
I am co-founder of KittyCode, LLC, a software development studio in Orlando, Florida and a Course Director at FullSail University teaching iPhone mobile programming.Geek girl, gamer, and Twitter lover. This blog is my outlet, so expect to see posts about my progress, products, and life.
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4 Responses for "Code is Art?"
Sorry – I can’t let it rest
I didn’t say code isn’t art. (Although I’d argue it’s more a craft than an art.)
But in the art piece that is the final game, the code itself doesn’t evoke any emotions. It’s a vehicle that allows us to evoke emotions – but that’s akin to mixing paint, not to painting.
We create the tools that allow others to build their art. It becomes more obvious if you look at the proliferation of game engines – code becomes more of a tool, and less of a medium.
That doesn’t mean it’s unimportant and ignored – but it means that for the target audience, it is entirely uninteresting. If it is art, it is art that can only be appreciated by those who build game worlds based on that code. (I’ve never heard a gamer ask to see the source code
must somone admire the code for it to be an art?
i would see the code as something to the like of gears to a clock. even thou a skilled watch maker may admire his work of art as it’s ticking gears are gradually counting time. to the rest of the world all they will see is the gleam of the watch lens, the shine of the metal casing, and the sound of ticking time. when the true art is the mechanics of whirling gears behind this fascinating device that truelly makes it what it is.
without the art of mechanics a foundation can’t be made to display the “art” from the creative minds that want to show their “art” to the rest of the world.
makes me think of how much i hate cakes with to much frosting and not enought cake…
I’d have to say art is either seen, heard, or felt. Seeing as we don’t see, hear, or feel the code, then it’s not actually art. The overall product brings aspects of art together. I would say coding is more of managing art or engineering an artistic outcome. But, alas I came to your site today for something else and I couldn’t find a direct way to email you Wendy, sorry. I am reading Beginning DirectX 10 Game Programming and had one small correction to let you know about in the text. On Page 31 line 4 read if(!InitDirect3D(mainhWnd, width, height)). But earlier in the text, page 14 last line, the main window handle is initialized as wndHandle. I’m sure someone might have brought this to your attention, but if not, then here it is. I’m letting you know, since you’re the author. By the way, I’ve having tons of fun learning DirectX. It’s very different from using Allegro which was all console game programming. I’m learning windows programming simultaneously, so it’s a doozy.
Shannon
If art is defined as “anything that expands ones consciousness”, then code is capable of being art.
For the world to appreciate this aspect of game production however, they would have to first know what coding is. It is sad that the complexity of our work is not widely recognized by the world. We are the architects of virtual realities, always working in the shadows.
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