Comments on: Opinion: Costly Production Decisions http://blog.rbkdesign.com/2009/06/opinion-costly-production-decisions/ Thoughts and perceptions of game designer, Reid Bryant Kimball Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:20:36 -0800 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Reid Bryant Kimball http://blog.rbkdesign.com/2009/06/opinion-costly-production-decisions/comment-page-1/#comment-2104 Reid Bryant Kimball Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:53:47 +0000 http://blog.rbkdesign.com/?p=156#comment-2104 Ah, that sucks. You are right about management being caught in the middle. Ah, that sucks. You are right about management being caught in the middle.

]]> By: Nick http://blog.rbkdesign.com/2009/06/opinion-costly-production-decisions/comment-page-1/#comment-2103 Nick Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:41:18 +0000 http://blog.rbkdesign.com/?p=156#comment-2103 Trust me - none of this is unique to game development! As an engineer that does contract R&D of medical devices, I run into very similar situations all the time. It always leads back to the people with the money - never seems like they'll listen, and management would rather placate them than listen to their employees. A fortune cookie once told me, "There are three kinds of jobs: cheap, quick, and good." Trust me – none of this is unique to game development! As an engineer that does contract R&D of medical devices, I run into very similar situations all the time. It always leads back to the people with the money – never seems like they’ll listen, and management would rather placate them than listen to their employees.

A fortune cookie once told me, “There are three kinds of jobs: cheap, quick, and good.”

]]> By: Alan Tarrant http://blog.rbkdesign.com/2009/06/opinion-costly-production-decisions/comment-page-1/#comment-1987 Alan Tarrant Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:05:24 +0000 http://blog.rbkdesign.com/?p=156#comment-1987 Analogies are there for a reason... oops almost started in on another analogy, which I guess would comprise a compound analogy(?). Aaaanyhow, I spent a good part of the last 15 years of my life seeking a way to break into the gaming industry. When I was finally handed a producer job on a silver platter for one of those up-and-coming companies with a new shiny office, a well-stocked gaming room (with couches), free beer in the fridge, and a very laid-back management style, I thought I was climbing Jacob's Ladder or scaling Mt. Olympus (yes, we've moved from analogies to religious metaphors); instead, I was descending into Dante's Inferno. I was thrown onto a project that literally had NO prework, other than a very loose schedule with very stringent deadlines. I'm still feeling a bit crispy from the experience but I'm happy that I was able to give the gaming life a chance (i.e., no regrets, other than I wish I had gotten that first gaming job when I was much, much younger, so my youthful exuberance and endurance would have overridden my desires for sanity, structure, and quality of life). Analogies are there for a reason… oops almost started in on another analogy, which I guess would comprise a compound analogy(?). Aaaanyhow, I spent a good part of the last 15 years of my life seeking a way to break into the gaming industry. When I was finally handed a producer job on a silver platter for one of those up-and-coming companies with a new shiny office, a well-stocked gaming room (with couches), free beer in the fridge, and a very laid-back management style, I thought I was climbing Jacob’s Ladder or scaling Mt. Olympus (yes, we’ve moved from analogies to religious metaphors); instead, I was descending into Dante’s Inferno. I was thrown onto a project that literally had NO prework, other than a very loose schedule with very stringent deadlines. I’m still feeling a bit crispy from the experience but I’m happy that I was able to give the gaming life a chance (i.e., no regrets, other than I wish I had gotten that first gaming job when I was much, much younger, so my youthful exuberance and endurance would have overridden my desires for sanity, structure, and quality of life).

]]> By: Reid Bryant Kimball http://blog.rbkdesign.com/2009/06/opinion-costly-production-decisions/comment-page-1/#comment-1981 Reid Bryant Kimball Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:55:32 +0000 http://blog.rbkdesign.com/?p=156#comment-1981 Hi Alan, I'm glad you found a happier life elsewhere! Ben Franklin's quote is great. Another one I like is "pain deferred is pain enhanced." An industry producer said that once. Things like story-boarding, pre-production I think ENHANCE creativity because it's like putting a kid in a playbox with toys and they are free to create new toys at will. The way things are done now are more like crisis management. The start of production is the start of the big bang and your universe revolves around trying to gather up all the shit and form it into something useful. (I'm having too much fun with analogies.) Cheers! Hi Alan,

I’m glad you found a happier life elsewhere! Ben Franklin’s quote is great. Another one I like is “pain deferred is pain enhanced.” An industry producer said that once.

Things like story-boarding, pre-production I think ENHANCE creativity because it’s like putting a kid in a playbox with toys and they are free to create new toys at will.

The way things are done now are more like crisis management. The start of production is the start of the big bang and your universe revolves around trying to gather up all the shit and form it into something useful.

(I’m having too much fun with analogies.)

Cheers!

]]> By: Alan Tarrant http://blog.rbkdesign.com/2009/06/opinion-costly-production-decisions/comment-page-1/#comment-1980 Alan Tarrant Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:34:28 +0000 http://blog.rbkdesign.com/?p=156#comment-1980 Nice blog! I read this on Gamasutra and came by here to post. I, unfortunately, know all to well many of the issues you discuss in this post. There are myriad cliched sayings that describe this inability to stop and think before you run, such as Ben Franklin's classic: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." But, basically we all know what it means to get started on a large project without proper pre-work and planning before you get started. It can be an f-ing nightmare. I don't know the answer other than to say that the medium is immature, and this immaturity is actually FOSTERED by those in charge. When you ask to bring in more structure and a more mature business model, game devs will say "but that's why I work in gaming, so I don't have to deal with all of that corporate BS." Pre-planning, structure, story-boarding, design documents, adequate time for tools development,.... yada yada... all of these things are viewed as barriers against creativity. The industry is, generally speaking, a stunted and immature clusterf@ck... so much so that I left a dream job in the industry behind so I could return to the "sanity" of a corporate 9-to-5. And I'm happy as a clam I did so. Nice blog! I read this on Gamasutra and came by here to post. I, unfortunately, know all to well many of the issues you discuss in this post. There are myriad cliched sayings that describe this inability to stop and think before you run, such as Ben Franklin’s classic: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” But, basically we all know what it means to get started on a large project without proper pre-work and planning before you get started. It can be an f-ing nightmare. I don’t know the answer other than to say that the medium is immature, and this immaturity is actually FOSTERED by those in charge. When you ask to bring in more structure and a more mature business model, game devs will say “but that’s why I work in gaming, so I don’t have to deal with all of that corporate BS.” Pre-planning, structure, story-boarding, design documents, adequate time for tools development,…. yada yada… all of these things are viewed as barriers against creativity.
The industry is, generally speaking, a stunted and immature clusterf@ck… so much so that I left a dream job in the industry behind so I could return to the “sanity” of a corporate 9-to-5. And I’m happy as a clam I did so.

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