A Day In The Life Of A Developer

ALASKA, CP Army Hub Headquarters – Starting with the introduction of the first server map in 2016, but especially after the rise of army CPPSes last year, developers have become a key piece in the Club Penguin armies chessboard. Programming those CPPSes and that map and making sure they run smoothly is extremely vital for the continuation of army legacy since Club Penguin shut down. What is it like to be the one who makes things run behind the screen? 

In this week’s edition of “A Day In The Life Of…,” we’ll take a look into the daily schedule of a Developer. More specifically, we will focus on the daily life of the ones who run cparmies.net, the main private server currently used by our community. The main developers responsible for that are Flen and me, Superhero123. You all know we use our magic to keep the wheels turning, but what exactly do we do?

What is a Developer?

In a more generic approach to the term, a developer is a person responsible for building and creating software and applications. We write, debug, and execute the code required for the application to run. In our current Club Penguin army microcosm, developers are responsible for website administration (including that of the CP Army Hub), cparmies.net, and the map.

I myself am the administrator of the CPPS, and therefore that’s what I am gonna talk to you about in the following paragraphs.

What is a Developer’s day like?

As the most well-known developer of the game, I usually wake up to a few requests for the following things: to change passwords, to give nameglows, and to help someone who can’t connect to the game. This is such a common wake-up call for me the last one-and-a-half-years that I gotta admit, it has become slightly boring. Here are some examples:

Notice the absurd language this “Guncotton” individual uses, absolutely disgraceful; click to enlarge

Not again! Click to enlarge

Typical password reset, click to enlarge

Back for more? Click to enlarge

Another extremely common occurrence is Pookie437 or another CP Army Hub administrator yelling at me to fix some emergency bug. This can make my life significantly more stressful, cause I have to stop whatever I’m doing to help. The times when I am not home or I see the messages too late I usually feel pretty bad for not being there to help, which puts me extra stress. Oh, woe.

Mmmmm yes, not stressful at all 😀

Despite that, I believe I have managed to deal with stress quite well and it doesn’t impact me much. Another one of my duties is to add new features and organize parties. This is usually a quite fun part of the job, excluding the latest party due to all the Zuke drama. Drama is rare, but when it does happen, it gets pretty ugly and I don’t enjoy it. Editing rooms and thinking of creative ways to enhance the army experience while keeping the theme of different holidays is something I truly enjoy.

Another thing you quite often have to do as a developer/game administrator is to find great partners to work with. Following the aforementioned drama, I had to look for new creative partners to make new custom artwork for the game, which you are gonna see soon! Here’s a sneak peek for now!

What an interesting new room

But by far my favourite part of being a developer is interacting with the community. I love listening to your feedback, and receiving positive comments on my work really motivates me to keep doing my best, especially when big army figures of the past find army CPPSes exciting.

Known army veteran thanks me for my work during May’s merge, click to enlarge

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At the end of the day, I really enjoy working as a Developer for CP Army Hub and helping the army community grow even after the original game’s shutdown. It’s stressful at times for sure, but seeing how much everyone enjoys the game makes up more than enough of it, and it is also helping me improve my programming skills! I would suggest to each one of you to give a shot in developing their own games, as it’s a very fulfilling experience.

What do YOU think? Is the life of a Developer a fun and interesting one? Would you want to become a Developer one day? Let us know YOUR thoughts in the comments below!

Superhero123

CP Army Hub Developer

Sophie

CP Army Hub Editor-in-Chief

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