Appreciation for being an indie
by Jay Barnson · in General Discussion · 11/11/2004 (6:13 am) · 28 replies
I worked really psycho hours (>75 hours a week) for only a few weeks when I was at SingleTrac. And that wasn't mandatory. It was a self-imposed crunch.
At Acclaim, I grew very pissed off at how management dictated 60-hour minimum workweeks for MONTHS at a time for one team.
But I saw this on slashdot this morning:
www.livejournal.com/users/ea_spouse/
Thank goodness I'm an indie! Yeah, it gets psycho working a full-time job AND making games on the side, but at least I get to dictate the hours.
Sweatshops: They aren't just for Asia anymore. You guys who are working hard to try and get a job with a major game publisher / studio... good luck, but be careful. It ain't the promised land (though I would recommend the experience of working with professionals in the industry... it's extremely valuable IF you can avoid the extremes of this kind of nonsense).
At Acclaim, I grew very pissed off at how management dictated 60-hour minimum workweeks for MONTHS at a time for one team.
But I saw this on slashdot this morning:
www.livejournal.com/users/ea_spouse/
Thank goodness I'm an indie! Yeah, it gets psycho working a full-time job AND making games on the side, but at least I get to dictate the hours.
Sweatshops: They aren't just for Asia anymore. You guys who are working hard to try and get a job with a major game publisher / studio... good luck, but be careful. It ain't the promised land (though I would recommend the experience of working with professionals in the industry... it's extremely valuable IF you can avoid the extremes of this kind of nonsense).
About the author
Jay has been a mainstream and indie game developer for a... uh, long time. His professional start came in 1994 developing titles for the then-unknown and upcoming Sony Playstation. He runs Rampant Games and blogs at Tales of the Rampant Coyote.
#24
At the other, we were crunching under threat that our project would be cancelled and we'd all be fired. I got a little flak from my producer then because I refused to come in on Sundays, heh. A few months after we shipped, we were all laid off.
Despite the bad experiences, I actually don't mind short crunch periods, it can be good to gell the team - if there is a clear end in sight. Crunching for months though is just insane and counter-productive. It really does take a toll on your health, even if you are young and in your early 20's
11/12/2004 (9:50 am)
I've personally experienced this type of crunch at two places that I worked in the Game Industry. Around the time that I left one, the producer was telling the team that we wouldn't have to come in on the weekends if we worked 14 hour days and did not make chit-chat in the halls. At the other, we were crunching under threat that our project would be cancelled and we'd all be fired. I got a little flak from my producer then because I refused to come in on Sundays, heh. A few months after we shipped, we were all laid off.
Despite the bad experiences, I actually don't mind short crunch periods, it can be good to gell the team - if there is a clear end in sight. Crunching for months though is just insane and counter-productive. It really does take a toll on your health, even if you are young and in your early 20's
#25
11/12/2004 (12:12 pm)
I'm a proud card carrying ex-member of the EA Crunch Time Gang. :)
#26
This is one thing i am afraid of if i ever work for a big company...
losing my life and being a slave....
11/12/2004 (7:45 pm)
Damn man, This Sh** pisses me off.This is one thing i am afraid of if i ever work for a big company...
losing my life and being a slave....
#27
I have worked in big software companies and gone through the crunch before. When I went for the job interview, I was informed that I would not be getting any overtime pay. But I was expected to work overtime, and was hence paid above the market rate. This sounded fair to me.
In normal conditions, we do typically work an extra hour or two. Just to tie up the loose ends for the day. When the real crunch hit, people were coming to work at all times of the day. One man's morning was another man's evening. My project manager made no attempt to track how many hours you worked, but instead measured performance based soley on our work throughput. As long as we were contactable 24 hours a day via mobile phone, there was no issue. Just to keep up though, I'm sure pretty much all of us were keeping up 18-22 hour days.
But, my project manager did take good care of us. When morale was low, he'd halt work and bring us out for dinner or something. He'd track your progress, and when there were problems, he'd send people in to assist you. He'd shield you from the client and manage your time so that you are only slightly overloaded at any one time. The whole team really gelled, and the work though strenuous, was both challenging and enjoyable. Everybody looked after everybody.
I believe that your relationship with your PM or producer and colleagues is key to surviving the crunch environment. He has a job, you have yours. Both of you can make each other's job easier by working a team than covering your individual behinds. I was eventually looking out for my PM as much as he was for me.
From the article, it was evident that relationships with his project manager was not at all good. This probably made his unhappiness inevitable. True, management is largely to blame, but the individual employee can mitigate this by fostering better working relationships with his or her superiors. It might not decrease the workload directly, but it would certain smooth the gears within the team.
11/13/2004 (1:27 am)
Being an Asian in Asia, where such working conditions are commonplace, I perhaps have a somewhat different perspective.I have worked in big software companies and gone through the crunch before. When I went for the job interview, I was informed that I would not be getting any overtime pay. But I was expected to work overtime, and was hence paid above the market rate. This sounded fair to me.
In normal conditions, we do typically work an extra hour or two. Just to tie up the loose ends for the day. When the real crunch hit, people were coming to work at all times of the day. One man's morning was another man's evening. My project manager made no attempt to track how many hours you worked, but instead measured performance based soley on our work throughput. As long as we were contactable 24 hours a day via mobile phone, there was no issue. Just to keep up though, I'm sure pretty much all of us were keeping up 18-22 hour days.
But, my project manager did take good care of us. When morale was low, he'd halt work and bring us out for dinner or something. He'd track your progress, and when there were problems, he'd send people in to assist you. He'd shield you from the client and manage your time so that you are only slightly overloaded at any one time. The whole team really gelled, and the work though strenuous, was both challenging and enjoyable. Everybody looked after everybody.
I believe that your relationship with your PM or producer and colleagues is key to surviving the crunch environment. He has a job, you have yours. Both of you can make each other's job easier by working a team than covering your individual behinds. I was eventually looking out for my PM as much as he was for me.
From the article, it was evident that relationships with his project manager was not at all good. This probably made his unhappiness inevitable. True, management is largely to blame, but the individual employee can mitigate this by fostering better working relationships with his or her superiors. It might not decrease the workload directly, but it would certain smooth the gears within the team.
Torque Owner FruitBatInShades
My Advice for bespoke software projects
=============================
Make sure the staff that go out and get the software brief, actually know how to develop software. The amount of times they came to me and said "We need this, told them it would be 3 months!" When what they had sold was not actually possible and especially not in 3 months.
Always talk to the people who use the software, stuff management, they don't know squat about the day to day use of the system.
Promise LESS than you think you can deliver. Its easy to get carried away and say 'I can do X'. In reality, you won't be able to within the constraints of the time scale unless you have previouslly done it.
Break the delivery process into stages. Set realistic goals and deliver them. If you're the developer add in your fancy features and keep them quiet till later.
INSIST/DEMAND/CONTRACT that the new system is run in tandem with the old one for a reasonable period
Adjust the features to match deadlines, don't adjust the deadlines to match features. Many smaller features can be left out till the next stage.
Prioritise the features before you take the contract (which implies you have good sales staff who know what they are doing) and break them into sections with the most essentail being done first.
Always install a new program version as a seperate app and keep the last good one available on site in case you made a monumental mistake.
Try and educate your clients and staff to the development process. Explain that certain things may seem simple to ask for, but can be very difficult to code.
Finally, listen to your development team. We can be like cats (Arsey, self centered and egotistical) but we do know what we're doing. Just because you were stupid enough to sell a feature in your marketing blurb that is a 12 month project on its own, is not our fault. It's yours! You deal with it, don't go to the boss and blame us! Take some responsibilty for your willingness to please.
Can you tell I've had a bad time in this industry :)