Posts tagged with “development”

Crunch does not always mean Quality of Life or Quality of Work has to suffer, it’s just that in most circumstances it does, because of the way it’s implemented. I have gone through two sets of crunch, both mandatory, one long, one mitigated, and both sucked. But there are a few things that I found helped me, and I think would help others, get through any period of crunch:

1. Provide All the Information: Inform everyone how much more you expect them to work, what needs to be done, and where the deadline is. If ANY of this information changes, make sure the team knows. I have been in and heard about crunch situations where information about deadlines or cut features was withheld, and this only makes people angry
2. Allow people to choose their extra hours: People are different and have different home lives. Some people work better in the morning, others at night, others over the weekend. Do not blanket ask everyone to stay late. Instead, let them choose when to work and they will choose times that will not only make them most productive, but will interfere with their lives the least.
3. Allow people to work from home: Set up your infrastructure to let people work from home. Some people can be just as productive at home as they can be in the office, and this removes the stress of a long commute and improves QoL since they can be around for their loved ones.
4. Allow people during longer periods of crunch to take some time off: This is huge for me, and I’ve never been anywhere that does this. If your crunch is going to last a long time, or looks like it will need to be lengthened, give people a day off. Say “Okay, everyone can take a day off free sometime in the next two weeks.” Giving them a time frame allows them to plan for things like short trips, or time with their family. They’ll come back rested, happier and more productive.
5. Make sure they have and know the reward: In a start-up, the reward is in the stock, but in larger companies, make sure people know they will be compensated of extra hours, and then compensate them.

Hopefully this makes sense. I don’t like crunch either, and it is avoidable for companies that have really experienced teams and a certain amount of give, but some companies do not and will not have the luxury to avoid crunch entirely. Obviously, great companies will always avoid crunch, usually because they’ve learned from their mistakes. But realize that a good company may crunch, but will always find a way to mitigate it when and if it happens, and will learn from their mistakes on their way to becoming a great company.

[For more insights from Jeff, stop by his blog at JeffOnGames.com and follow him on Twitter at @FuzzyBinary]

“Should this be moving faster?”
“Is this anticipation long enough to be readable?”
“Can it be more awesome?”

For this post I wanted to discuss how the different departments here at Fire Hose influence each other and how we answer some of the above questions when designing a new feature. It will tend to have a bit of an art-focus since animation is the main thing I contribute to the company. In my next post, I’ll go a little more in depth with the art pipeline and walk through a character from design to implementation.

It all starts with a design pitch. This doesn’t necessarily refer to the way the character looks (although we sometimes worked that way too) but it is usually a discussion on how the character will behave in the context of the game.  Here we just try to work out some very broad strokes and create a rough outline of how we want things to take shape.

Of course an actual design document eventually gets into far greater detail than this, but here is the “skeleton” from which we started:

1. The character will be appearing at point X in game.
2. This character will need the following props/weapons/vehicles.
3. The character will move in this certain way and is in environment Y and we’ll have to consider that in its design.
4. Attacking this character will make use of a special ability or a certain technique.

It’s really important to note that nothing in this design pitch is a concrete mandate. That’s really the beauty of being at a smaller studio; the design process is this totally organic and ever-evolving process that makes use of everyone’s talents.

After this pitch, art, code and design will sit down for an initial brainstorm on what kind of character design and motion would best fit our gameplay thus far. These sessions are usually my favorite part of game development (aside from making stuff move of course!). We just sit down together and blurt out whatever we think might look awesome or feel really cool while you’re playing. It’s like this creative stream of consciousness that is crazy fun and surprisingly productive at the same time.  It’s here where we plan out most of what you’ll see a character do in-game.

These sessions have a huge influence over the entire studio as well.  When we discuss a new idea, we’re potentially inviting many more people into the discussion.  Weapons will need concept, behaviors will need animation, animation will need code support. All of these things get passed back and forth through several iterations as we test. It’s important that we stay aware of the fact that decisions you make can greatly affect someone else’s work and also not to get too attached to certain things, as they can be changed or cut for various reasons.

A major driving force behind the company is everyone’s willingness to give and receive feedback on those ideas. Though not everyone will fancy their selves a designer or an artist, opinions are always welcomed and expected throughout the evolution of the project.  We always try to stay aware of the steps being taken by each other while still allowing people enough “heads-down” time to really crank on the features they’re working on.  Catching that stride in game development is an awesome feeling: when it seems like the bunch of you are moving together as this hive mind, buzzing along and complimenting each other’s genius. It certainly is a huge perk of being at a smaller studio.

So in my next post I’m going to show a bit more of the actual art process here at Fire Hose. Stay tuned!

One last PAX East related post! At the conference I was on two panels (Indies Will Shoot you in the Knees, and I Have a Great Idea for a Game), both of which had similar themes of giving aspiring indie developers some helpful info. Rather than rehash everything that was discussed (like Chris’ cat penis drawings) I’ll just go over some highlights.

Start up advice in no particular order:

• Don’t go it alone! Find other people to work with who complement your abilities. There are extraordinarily few people who can support themselves by making video games alone, and if you’re reading an advice blog post on starting up a video game studio you’re not one of them.
• Honestly look at your (or your team’s) abilities and assess what your weaknesses are in terms of game development. Once you’ve done that, fix those problems! Don’t just hope they’ll go away. Conversely focus on your strengths when making your game.
• If you are depending on the venture for a living then be sure to have a go-to-market plan that is better than “We’re gonna release it on the iPhone!” Marketing and distribution is really important, be sure to figure out a way that your game will be sold in a way that can actually make you money.
• Find smart people who have done this thing before and get advice from them on a regular basis. You can ask them to officially advise you if you’d like. These people should be local if possible since it’ll be easier to meet with them.
• Raise money! You need money! Without money, you can’t do anything. With money you won’t be going out of business. It’s ok to ask friends and family to give you some money to get started. Also, there is no shame in going to a publisher for funding! While it may not be “indie” according to some I would argue that making your original, innovative game is what is important, not where the money comes from.
• Be prepared to work really, really, REALLY hard. You’re probably going to be busting your ass for a while. This pretty much goes for any start up you might be thinking about, not just an indie studio.
• Take care of the legal stuff. If multiple people are founding the studio, draw up formal papers saying who owns what and how much. Form a company. A coding bug can cause you to lose a day or two of work; a legal bug can cause you to lose the company. Be careful!
• Try to strike out in a new direction with your game. If you are just copying another title out there you probably won’t be able to do it very well, and your chances of success will be small. Make something original! Think about all the successful indies you know – they ALL have some serious creativity and originality in their game, otherwise they probably wouldn’t have hit it big.
• Make your game! If you aren’t making a game, you’re not indie! Don’t just talk about it, do it!

Ok, that’s it for now. I know we talked about a lot more stuff than what I listed here but we can always do a follow up post if I missed a bunch of critical stuff. Other panelists (Darius, Chris, Ichiro, Scott), please feel free to jump in and remind me about anything good I might be missing here.

Of course, if I’m gonna have a post like this I have to open it to questions. Ask in the comments and I’ll be sure to answer!

We’re still in crunch hell so no real post today, other than a few tantalizing tidbits of what’s to come in the following weeks:

• Unveiling of our game’s title! I promise it will contain the word “badger” at least 15 times.
• A video showing how we roll here at Fire Hose.
• The first images, teasers, and art from our game.
• Beer. Lots of it.
• Some sweet Halloween costumes.

Wish us luck! Friday is when we pull the trigger on submitting to IGF and the Indie Game Challenge.

As you probably already know, we make games. Specifically, we’re busting our ass making one game which we’re hoping to have out next year on XBLA, PSN, WiiWare, PC, or some combination thereof. That means we’re going to enter our game into the IGF and SMU/Guildhall competitions.

But both submission deadlines are only two weeks away (Halloween!), and we’ve still got a lot to do before we’re ready to submit! So we’ve entered crunch, that semi-hellish, always delirious period where we eat, sleep, and live in the office in an attempt to get everything squared away on time. It’s kind of annoying that we even need to do such a thing, but I suppose that the most successful endeavors always come with a lot of hard work.

Specifically, we’re cleaning up a lot of our animations, making our characters and menus look extra shiny, squashing bugs, and trying to create an awesome set of videos, trailers, and wallpapers for all of you who are eagerly anticipating finding out what the hell we’re up to. Keep checking in here over the next few weeks and we’ll finally announce our game! Also, if you live in the area and want to stop by our office with a care package of food, booze, or caffeine, it would be greatly appreciated