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The downside of being a Jack of All Trades.

Name:	Jacob Williams
Date Posted:	Oct 18, 2006
Rating:	2.3 out of 5
Public:	YES
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Blog post

Hey GGers,

I have owned TGE for going on 2 years now, and thought i might introduce myself in the form of a blog. I am the a Jack of All Trades. I do a little programming, and little art, alot of writing, and a bit of day dreaming. I have, as I am sure many of you have, started many unsuccessful TGE projects over the last 2 years. I have gained a little knowledge in the process, but mostly I have just had fun. The problem, however, with being a JoAT, is a simple fact. Not many teams of serious indie game developers need you. Now, that is not to say that i haven't joined any teams over the last two years, because I have, but all of them were very disorganized and lacked a very important aspect... communication. I am very excited to see programs like Overlord being offer now at GG. These tools are invaluable to any team, be it a 3 or 30 man team. I think GG has a great thing going, and the community has exploded since I have joined. Any question can be answered, and any problem solved. If you ever have any questions, don't ever be afraid to ask these guys. I heard an old saying once, "The only stupid question is the one that is never asked." That is untrue anywhere else on the internet, but this place is the exception.

I will stop the babbling now, because you probably just wanted to see screenshots of some of the awesome work the guys around here are doing. Keep up the hard work, the indie market is starting to take off, and all of you sailing on the first fleet of ships don't exactly know where you are going, but you know there is land near. Good job guys, GG and Indie Game Developers alike. Oh, and if anyone needs a JoAT on a team, feel free to shoot me an e-mail. Writing is my strongest point, but I can do a little of anything.

Submit your own resources!

Sylvain Fauteux (Oct 18, 2006 at 05:45 GMT)

i know how you feel

i do feel the same way doing a little bit of everything and getting nowhere

Joe Rossi (Oct 18, 2006 at 05:57 GMT)

True, not many teams of serious indie developers may need you... but do you need them? That is the question... The truth is, most of those teams aren't all that serious, or organized..and they almost never end up finishing games. I'm not a Jack of all trades but I know what skills I'm lacking, and I know who to go to when I want to make up for that lack. That's good enough! You can always hire artists, musicians, writers... also license software and assets if possible. Ask questions on the forums if you run into programming trouble. Sure some of my questions go unanswered in the forums, but it's always worth a shot. Good luck!

Alan Hembra (Oct 18, 2006 at 17:09 GMT)

I'm like you Jacob. A jack-of-all-trades. Also like you I'm well organized as in my day job I'm a project manager in IT.

I can agree with Joe in the hiring of people. I've shopped some work around and currently am paying someone for some work to advance my hobby project. At the same time I did join a team and fill a niche for them.

I've been eyeing Overlord but haven't bought yet. I wish I'd had it in the fall of 2005 though.

Vashner (Oct 20, 2006 at 03:42 GMT)

That was one of my problems too early on. Read some of the GG staff and Associate posts on how to do indie business. Some excellent advice on this subject already buried here..

Brad Strong (Nov 05, 2006 at 17:58 GMT)

Hey Jacob, I am also a JaT. Strongest in game art and overall vision, weaker in programming. Here's my approach; get something solid to show others, and then ask for help. Also I force myself to follow a regimented weekly program, like a business. One place I think Jat's fit is initial groundwork, vision, and then in some sort of management - director capacity; because, we know all the different sides of the project, we can communicate to the artists, programmers, etc, better than most can; we can understand their issues and see things from their perspective.

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