The amount of work that has gone into the menus is simply phenomenal - the hard part was often not the graphics, but figuring out the commands (following the wiki tutorials helped me a bunch).
Tarn deserves praise for his work - and it’s a bit sad that we don’t have more passion projects like this.
> it’s a bit sad that we don’t have more passion projects like this
Check out UnReal World, which Tarn cites as a source for his own inspiration (and is itself still under active development and also now available on Steam): https://www.unrealworld.fi/
My eyes, however, were set on a specific small company because I liked their product. The process was long and involved multiple meetings, a take-home problem, and stretched over 2 or so months. I was upfront about what my salary expectations were (wasn't looking for a raise, just a lateral move). They said we discuss salary when you meet the founders, i.e. the last step before getting hired, but they also didn't tell me that my range was way off.
Turns out I had played this 9 week game and turned down other offers just to be severely low-balled by them. Maybe they saw that I really wanted the position and thought they could get away with a low offer.
Obviously, I rejected their offer on the spot. I also promised myself to never, _ever_, be fooled like that again. We talk money before I invest any significant amount of time or I walk.
I no longer submit applications to any job until I've spoken to someone who works there to ask hard questions of them before I interview. I also no longer consider any job that lacks clear articulation of the platonic ideal of a candidate.