Comments on: Workstation Set Up for Game Developers Here’s one I made earlier: I like to have a quiet area of the workspace set aside for masturbating. It is good to have small curtains on workspace so that can close curtain and work on the problem in private. I like to have a quiet area of the workspace set aside for masturbating. It is good to have small curtains on workspace so that can close curtain and work on the problem in private.

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By: Allen/2011/04/10/workstation-setup-for-gamedevs/#comment-3601 Allen Thu, 05 May 2011 04:17:17 +0000 Glad to hear I'm not the only one who annoys people with my pacing. Though soon I'm thinking of doing the exact opposite of you. Just a laptop and any power point I can find. Not sure how well I'm going to be able to work but I'm going to trade efficiency for changing scenery. Glad to hear I’m not the only one who annoys people with my pacing. Though soon I’m thinking of doing the exact opposite of you. Just a laptop and any power point I can find. Not sure how well I’m going to be able to work but I’m going to trade efficiency for changing scenery.

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By: Alan/2011/04/10/workstation-setup-for-gamedevs/#comment-3586 Alan Wed, 04 May 2011 18:23:19 +0000 Wow Pen Joy Vertical Ergonomic Optical Mouse
– $28.00 – this ergo mouse keeps your palm at a more natural vertical position

Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 2000 – $19.87 – This ergo keyboard is just the right balance between ergonomics and key placement. It actually improves your typing unlike most ergo keyboards!

I hope someone finds these useful :D

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By: Eric/2011/04/10/workstation-setup-for-gamedevs/#comment-3582 Eric Wed, 04 May 2011 15:58:43 +0000 On lighting and Monitors: The easy way to keep from straining your eyes is to have the ambient light around the monitor be about the same as what's on your screen, i.e. dark room and black backgrounds, or light room and white backgrounds.. On lighting and Monitors:
The easy way to keep from straining your eyes is to have the ambient light around the monitor be about the same as what’s on your screen, i.e. dark room and black backgrounds, or light room and white backgrounds..

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By: Keith Judge/2011/04/10/workstation-setup-for-gamedevs/#comment-3579 Keith Judge Wed, 04 May 2011 14:55:06 +0000 <blockquote>Monitor(s) and Light – A monitor should be big, bright, comfortable to read, well calibrated and more than one if possible.</blockquote> Rather than <em>bright</em>, I would say <em>vibrant</em>. After several decades of working well beyond full time, I have settled on using a very dim backlight on a TFT display. I keep my monitor at around 18% of it's capacity for backlighting. This has done wonders for my eyes. I found over the years, that because the screen is colorful and bright and thus fun to look at, the natural instinct is to turn brightness <em>way</em> beyond where it really should be. It should be only bright enough to be clear, and no more.

Monitor(s) and Light – A monitor should be big, bright, comfortable to read, well calibrated and more than one if possible.

Rather than bright, I would say vibrant. After several decades of working well beyond full time, I have settled on using a very dim backlight on a TFT display. I keep my monitor at around 18% of it’s capacity for backlighting. This has done wonders for my eyes. I found over the years, that because the screen is colorful and bright and thus fun to look at, the natural instinct is to turn brightness way beyond where it really should be. It should be only bright enough to be clear, and no more.

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By: Keith Judge/2011/04/10/workstation-setup-for-gamedevs/#comment-3577 Keith Judge Wed, 04 May 2011 14:33:58 +0000 Picture of your workspace would be nice. Picture of your workspace would be nice.

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By: Keith Judge/2011/04/10/workstation-setup-for-gamedevs/#comment-3574 Keith Judge Wed, 04 May 2011 14:19:15 +0000 Ear plugs are hard for others to see, so they'll still tend to interrupt you. Wearing headphones tells people "I'm concentrating", and they usually leave you alone. Active noise cancelling headphones are awesome for this. You don't actually need music playing through them for them to work. They produce an "absence of sound", which is almost like a quiet white noise... I find it really helps me concentrate, AND tells people to go away :) There are 2 types of noise cancelling headphones: active & passive Active ones require batteries and work great. Passive ones don't require batteries, and don't work as well. It's like wrapping a pillow around your head. Ear plugs are hard for others to see, so they’ll still tend to interrupt you.
Wearing headphones tells people “I’m concentrating”, and they usually leave you alone.
Active noise cancelling headphones are awesome for this.
You don’t actually need music playing through them for them to work. They produce an “absence of sound”, which is almost like a quiet white noise… I find it really helps me concentrate, AND tells people to go away :)

There are 2 types of noise cancelling headphones: active & passive
Active ones require batteries and work great.
Passive ones don’t require batteries, and don’t work as well. It’s like wrapping a pillow around your head.

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By: Jon/2011/04/10/workstation-setup-for-gamedevs/#comment-3572 Jon Wed, 04 May 2011 13:55:52 +0000 Perhaps bright was the wrong term, as I know a lot of coders like working on a dark colour scheme - though of course I am doing a lot of graphics stuff, so the screen needs to be properly calibrated for that. Perhaps bright was the wrong term, as I know a lot of coders like working on a dark colour scheme – though of course I am doing a lot of graphics stuff, so the screen needs to be properly calibrated for that.

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By: teprrr/2011/04/10/workstation-setup-for-gamedevs/#comment-3570 teprrr Wed, 04 May 2011 13:42:27 +0000 reddit, and thought it’d be fair to give a comment here also, so here you go:

Some nice tips indeed. However I slightly disagree about the brightness of the screen, especially if you aren’t doing any graphics stuff. I’ve been working from home for some years and yeah, I should consider getting a better chair at least.

Regarding to the brightness of the display, if you’re going to work on your computer on odd hours, you should at least try redshift or f.lux. It’s a pleasure for the eyes, though after having used redshift for some months my eyes bleed when it’s not available.

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By: Jeff Judge/2011/04/10/workstation-setup-for-gamedevs/#comment-3569 Jeff Judge Wed, 04 May 2011 12:49:23 +0000 Similar situation ... home office, 2 kids, freelance software developer. Best thing I've bought so far is a Kinesis Freestyle split keyboard. Similar situation … home office, 2 kids, freelance software developer. Best thing I’ve bought so far is a Kinesis Freestyle split keyboard.

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By: Indies, how do you make a living? » #AltDevBlogADay/2011/04/10/workstation-setup-for-gamedevs/#comment-2615 Indies, how do you make a living? » #AltDevBlogADay Tue, 12 Apr 2011 07:21:10 +0000 The Kinesis Advantage is a great keyboard. It takes a couple of days to get used to for general use, but it’s super comfy. Especially if you also take the plunge and learn the Dvorak keyboard layout.

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By: Liam/2011/04/10/workstation-setup-for-gamedevs/#comment-2581 Liam Mon, 11 Apr 2011 11:55:16 +0000 (Ambient) music is usually used to make one feel better, because the music is good. When you feel better, your work goes easier. Dont have a source a hand to prove this. I am working a quite loud open office environment, with phones ringing, people talking, a meeting space behind me, etc. When I really need to think about something and get a problem solved, I either wear earmuffs <b>+</b> earplugs, to get the noise down. One of them is not enough. Or I go home. This depends on the overall noise level, of course. (Ambient) music is usually used to make one feel better, because the music is good. When you feel better, your work goes easier. Dont have a source a hand to prove this.

I am working a quite loud open office environment, with phones ringing, people talking, a meeting space behind me, etc. When I really need to think about something and get a problem solved, I either wear earmuffs + earplugs, to get the noise down. One of them is not enough. Or I go home. This depends on the overall noise level, of course.

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By: Keith Judge/2011/04/10/workstation-setup-for-gamedevs/#comment-2576 Keith Judge Mon, 11 Apr 2011 10:05:39 +0000 Now that's interesting. I tend to wear headphones in the office as otherwise I'd be distracted by people's conversations around the place, phones buzzing, the air-con doing it's random switching on and off, etc. However, this may well change when I'm working on my own so I'll probably try working without music as you suggest. I do find that I can only work effectively when listening to some quite ambient music, certainly instrumental as lyrics get distracting for me. If I'm in "The Zone" I can get through an entire album without noticing. Now that’s interesting. I tend to wear headphones in the office as otherwise I’d be distracted by people’s conversations around the place, phones buzzing, the air-con doing it’s random switching on and off, etc. However, this may well change when I’m working on my own so I’ll probably try working without music as you suggest.

I do find that I can only work effectively when listening to some quite ambient music, certainly instrumental as lyrics get distracting for me. If I’m in “The Zone” I can get through an entire album without noticing.

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By: Enrico/2011/04/10/workstation-setup-for-gamedevs/#comment-2574 Enrico Mon, 11 Apr 2011 09:44:49 +0000 Richard - I'm thinking one of those curve keyboards would be nice. I currently work with a straight one, and I just can't get on with the older split ergonomic ones. Richard – I’m thinking one of those curve keyboards would be nice. I currently work with a straight one, and I just can’t get on with the older split ergonomic ones.

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By: Keith Judge/2011/04/10/workstation-setup-for-gamedevs/#comment-2571 Keith Judge Mon, 11 Apr 2011 09:12:42 +0000 common Microsoft mouse with one button on each side that’s particularly bad in this respect for me, though I have an older version of this mouse which seems shaped to avoid that.

John – You also mention desk clutter. Ideally I like to keep this to a minimum too (though notebook and pen is a must for me). However, once you add devkit(s) into the equation is becomes harder. My desk at Lionhead is full of keyboards (including a Japanese one used for testing LOC bugs), Xbox 360 controllers, etc.

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By: Glenn Watson/2011/04/10/workstation-setup-for-gamedevs/#comment-2568 Glenn Watson Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:00:40 +0000 The most important thing for a home office (especially if you have kids) is a door. You really need an isolated, dedicated office space where the kids (and Significant Other) can be trained to leave you alone. This also alleviates the need for good headphones as you can just crank the volume on your speakers on/under the desk without bothering anyone else. The most important thing for a home office (especially if you have kids) is a door. You really need an isolated, dedicated office space where the kids (and Significant Other) can be trained to leave you alone.

This also alleviates the need for good headphones as you can just crank the volume on your speakers on/under the desk without bothering anyone else.

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By: John/2011/04/10/workstation-setup-for-gamedevs/#comment-2555 John Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:11:21 +0000

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By: Mike Acton/2011/04/10/workstation-setup-for-gamedevs/#comment-2551 Mike Acton Sun, 10 Apr 2011 21:58:24 +0000 What works for me for keyboards is the MS Comfort Curve 2000 - it's slightly ergonomic (no huge lump in the middle, just a slight curve along the length of the keys), with a nice half-laptop tactile feel. It also has the Insert/Delete/Home/End/Page Up&Down keys in the right place (I'm one of those people who still uses Ctrl+Insert for Copy, Shift+Delete for Cut, and Shift+Insert for Paste). It's also dirt cheap and available nearly everywhere. Win! :) I know some people like standing desks, or at least the option to raise the desk so it can be used without a chair for when you feel like you've been sitting too long. I haven't tried it myself yet though, but it's certainly an interesting avenue to pursue and if I was purchasing a new desk I'd probably try to find somewhere where that's at least an option. What works for me for keyboards is the MS Comfort Curve 2000 – it’s slightly ergonomic (no huge lump in the middle, just a slight curve along the length of the keys), with a nice half-laptop tactile feel. It also has the Insert/Delete/Home/End/Page Up&Down keys in the right place (I’m one of those people who still uses Ctrl+Insert for Copy, Shift+Delete for Cut, and Shift+Insert for Paste).

It’s also dirt cheap and available nearly everywhere. Win! :)

I know some people like standing desks, or at least the option to raise the desk so it can be used without a chair for when you feel like you’ve been sitting too long. I haven’t tried it myself yet though, but it’s certainly an interesting avenue to pursue and if I was purchasing a new desk I’d probably try to find somewhere where that’s at least an option.

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By: Paul Evans/2011/04/10/workstation-setup-for-gamedevs/#comment-2548 Paul Evans Sun, 10 Apr 2011 18:31:56 +0000 About the keyboard, I would recommend a clicky keys and ergonomic if possible. Take a look at the das keyboard, they even hqve a silent version now if click noise is a problem. About the mouse, I'm using an ergonomic game mouse and it has been really helpful. Wrist pain disapeared with my Razer Imperator ( you can turn off all the LED Lights etc ) About the keyboard,

I would recommend a clicky keys and ergonomic if possible. Take a look at the das keyboard, they even hqve a silent version now if click noise is a problem.

About the mouse, I’m using an ergonomic game mouse and it has been really helpful. Wrist pain disapeared with my Razer Imperator ( you can turn off all the LED Lights etc )

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By: John/2011/04/10/workstation-setup-for-gamedevs/#comment-2545 John Sun, 10 Apr 2011 16:02:49 +0000

I also have a 12kg kettlebell next to my desk so I can take a quick break and pull a bit of weight when I need to.

I also have a rule about desk clutter – monitors, speakers, mouse, keyboard and phone dock only – anything else goes on the shelf above or on an adjoining desk.

Monitors – 24inch max if you’re going for dual display, anything bigger seems to be disproportionally expensive. Obviously if you’re a mac person you’ll probably be happy with the single 27inch display that comes with an imac :)

From my optometrist: Your eye muscles strain to look up, but not down, so the very top of the screen should be at eye level.

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