Behind the Video Game Industry

[dramspringfeald]

I've been seeing WAY too many of you being a little "weak" when it comes to things in the industry. Well that has to stop. If you are working on a project, No matter how big or small you are NOT friends you are coworkers. I would first like to inform you I am about to PISS on a LOT of people's misconceptions about the Industry so if you can handle a little harsher tone then we can begin.

The Video Game Industry is not a bed of roses and puppies despite what some companies would like you to think. The Industry is a very oppressive place. You DO NOT have many freedoms, your pay is usually low and most conditions are barely OSHA complaint if you know what I mean. The Industry runs much like any other industry. There Bosses, Sub Bosses, Leaders and finally workers. For large organizations like Valve that can mean hundreds or thousands of people working on a project OR such as the case with Indy teams 3 to 10. The numbers do not matter but the chain of command does.

When working there are procedures and rules you have to stick by or you run the risk of goose egging the whole project. The Boss or Developer is in charge of everything. It is their job to make sure the product is completed on schedule and that the team works as efficiently as possible. The Team Leaders or Directors are selected to keep their teams in order and usually get their instruction from Developer(s) or “Dev” for short. The Team Directors usually get a few people and complete a set task. Their job is to do as Dev Says and hopefully get a game out the door on time.

Dev is not a god but they tend to be pretty close. Their entire job is to make sure the game launches. If it's too big, too expensive or will take too long to implement then they must say no and move on. It sucks but if anything goes wrong THEY are on the hook for well just about everything. However Dev can not do everything so they tend to hire on people to help complete the task.

The Team Leaders are just that. They are the leaders of various jobs that need to be done. Such jobs as Art, Writing, Programming, Modeling, Sound, Marketing and Beta. Each has a Vital function and each contribute to the Project as a whole. As the Project evolves they need to branch out and bring in more people. THIS is usually where you come in.

If you are hired on to the project you will have to do everything the Team leader says. Now depending on which part of the team you are on will change your experience but it's usually the same for everyone.

If you are an artist your job is to make sure everything is up to the Production standards. Depending on the size that can be checking the work of others, drawing it by hand or simply coloring it. Your entire job is to interpret what the Art lead says. What ever it is, it is YOUR job to do it. Don't like Barbie land Adventure? Too bad you get to fix all the little spots they missed. Dev already has design ideas you are simply there to make sure the Art Lead gets the job done. Don't like it or do too poor of a job and you may as well just pack up and leave. There are plenty of other people to replace you.

Writing is an important part of the game without it there would be no game. The Lead Writer's job is to make sure everything meshes and things flow well. Make sure the characters work and the dialog isn't to bad. Most will bring you on to go through and fix grammatical errors or edit a line of text on page 83 paragraph 6 on the second ark of Barbies Dream Adventure. It's long tedious and boring as all get out but that is YOUR job. Dev already has the story written you are hired to make sure your team leader gets it right. Don't like it? Too bad there are PLENTY of people on Fanfic.net to replace you.

With out Programming there is NO game. Dev will hire someone to actually make things work. They usually have an engine ready to use but they need you to find out why when you turn on the light switch to the dollhouse on the third stage of the game on the 6 th level her hair flips out and then the game crashes. If you're lucky they'll just have you adjusting the weight of the character while hunting bugs. You get to play the game 100 more times. Welcome to hell. You get to replay that are of the game until you fix it. Get ready to see a lot of Barbies ample plastic booty you'll be there a while but don't worry, when you finally snap and molest the cardboard cut out of Skipper don't worry there are 20 people to replace you. Heck 5 could be there in the lounge when you do it.

Without Models there is really nothing more then a bunch of dots and lights and it's not really that interesting of a game to play. Dev had the Art department give you hundreds of sketches of Barbie in different outfits, shapes, sizes, colors, emotions and the works. YOUR job is to go through the skins and animate the way her booty jiggles every time she steps down. You also get to find out why Programming is having an issue with her hand setting off her hair. Lucky you. You get to adjust her hand lengths and bones until there is no longer a colliding issue. OH and you get to keep tweaking her skirt to make sure no one can see her bits. Enjoy. Oh yeah and Dev wants a fuchsia rock... don't ask.

Sound is an important part of the game without it most people cant feel the emotion their hearts don't sink when bad things happen, their souls don't jump with joy when Ken saves her for what ever reason. Your job is ti listen to 1000 different women panting at 1 second intervals. These are her running! You get to spend the next 3 days looking for the right one. Lucky you. Once you find 4 or 5 that will work you get to time them to start and stop when she moves and they have to loop for just the right amount of time or it sounds off. But don't worry the 400lb man that bought your game will just play it with the sound off anyway so everything you did will be useless. The only sound he will hear is the the mating cry of **** when he **** thanks to the nude glitch a disgruntled Modeler left in the code. Feeling worthless? Like no one appreciates you? Not being creative enough? Too bad there's a guy in the bathroom to replace you.

Marketing is one of the most important parts of the industry for without them who would know this wonderful game even existed and hey they are bringing extra cash from prospective clients that would love to see this game finish... also for what ever reason they want colored rocks with their names on them. Whatever they're paying for it. However YOU get to make 400 posters for the game each while one with a different color texture and feel... oh and you are competing against 12 other people for one of 5 slots. Also seeing as your not doing anything Dev wants some coffee and the art department is in bad need of toilet paper. Oh and the production is running a little low on rent so you don't get paid for Monday and Thursday. If you quit they'll just grab some interns that will work for a credit or two... actually your fired they got 2 interns to replace you. Good luck with your arts degree!

Then there is Beta these poor sods are the bane of the entire project even Art for some reason. Beta is hired to go through and find all the bugs, glitches, missing or shoddy textures and really everything that is wrong with the game. The other teams have to go back and fix it. This costs money, time and pushes the schedule back by weeks or months. But that's ok, the Beta Team has selected you to run around in the dollhouse on the third stage of the game on the 6 th level for the next week. For what ever reason her hair flips out and then the game crashes when ever you hit the light switch. You make the notes and send it to your Beta Leader... there is a good chance he is living in his cubical and hasn't showered for 3 weeks. Oh while you were out the art department TP'ed your cubical. Oh and they got some interns to replace you. That's fine though you stole Dev's stapler and some Funions now to go home and sleep in your mothers basement.

And finnaly there is Dev. Had the been doing the job right, the game is a month behind schedule, there are a few bugs they need to iron out, the building did NOT burn down this time, only 3 pending sexual harassment lawsuits, and only lost 50 people. Good on you Dev! Now to get drunk, party and start working on Barbies Dream Adventure “Skippers release”

So in short if you are part of the Dev team your no one and no body. However your name will be on the credits and THAT is what it is all about. There is no real creativity, there is no expressing yourself there is only working 120 hour weeks at $15 an hour that runs out to about $6.50 an hour thanks to the last 60 hours being unpaid in a somewhat sketchy office on the other end of town after the buses have quit running.

Indy

Indy is usually the same thing but you are 1 of 4 or 5 people and share most the same hats with even less money. “Dev” is whomever came up with the game. The rest are Art, Beta, Modeling, ect. As Dev you are as close to god as it gets. If the team doesn't work well then your project is junked. If someone on your team flakes, then you are either Junked or going to be at least 3 weeks behind as the new guy has to either adapt or fix whatever the last guy was doing. Don't worry though there are plenty of people you can find on the net to replace them.

Dev's job here is simple they are not your friend, they are your boss, mother and lord. If they say something you do it. If they ask for a purple rock then you make it. If they are total pricks about it then leave there are plenty to replace you. It does not matter if you are “creative” or not. You are to do as Dev says and god willing complete a game before something or someone catches on fire. But HEY if your team survives then next time you might become Dev and the cycle begins anew.

If you are volunteering that's awesome but remember volunteer simple means not being paid for the work. There are fewer catches but if your a flake or unruly then people will not take you on.

Now I'm not 100% on the industry as I have been out of it for a while and I wrote this at 3 in the morning. However if I get things wrong let me know and I will fix it. If you think I'm making this up. You are sadly mistaken. I've still got the stapler to prove it.

[Blue Lemma]

Thing is, this is far more of a hobby board and general VN creation board. It's not much of a pro game-making forum where most people are making games as a job (and many probably wouldn't really care to.)

So...why so upset here? It sounds like maybe you had a bad day? : x

[DaFool]

Wait... we're not naive here. Your rant read like something I saw on Kotaku a couple of years ago. Where did you get the impression of starry-eyed people here?

[TrickWithAKnife]

Love you too, dramspringfeald. Thanks for posting lots of links to useful guides.

Um, so should we lock all the new Devs in a room and get them to fight it out?
Apparently they aren't angry and tyrannical enough yet. Some people seem to even be having fun!

[merdeamour]

Just curious... when you said "weak", what exactly did you mean by that? Is it the coworkers-not-friends thing? I'm really just asking this because I'm curious. I kinda agree with Blue Lemma, this is a forum primarily composed of hobbyists, and not pros...

Gotta agree with DaFool, though...

Anyway, this read like you had a bad day or something. Hope you're feeling better now or something (:

[Greeny]

Hate to break it to you, Drams, but that particular industry happens to be crashing right now, badly. And, well, you've already got the list of reasons. Don't really think it's going to manage to stay that way for long. There's a reason Indie is massively rising up, and it's not because they're the same as the cold and heartless bigwigs. (grrrr... EA.... grrr...)

I don't know if you're just saying that's the unfortunate reality, or if you're implying that's how we've gotta be if we want to achieve financial success, or if you're critisizing those ways, but in any case I won't be persuaded to drop my friendly attitude. A good VN is made with love, not slavery.

[Sapphi]

If you are working on a project, No matter how big or small you are NOT friends you are coworkers.

I have to disagree. It is possible for coworkers to be very good friends and still get work done. In fact, this reminds me of a nice observation by C.S. Lewis (emphasis mine)...

“The very condition of having Friends is that we should want something else besides Friends. Where the truthful answer to the question "Do you see the same truth?" would be "I see nothing and I don't care about the truth; I only want a Friend," no Friendship can arise - though Affection of course may. There would be nothing for the Friendship to be about; and Friendship must be about something, even if it were only an enthusiasm for dominoes or white mice. Those who have nothing can share nothing; those who are going nowhere can have no fellow-travellers.”

[Fairy Godfeather]

I'm new to the forums so I don't really know everybody. I'm curious though, Dramspringfeald. Which game studios have you worked for?

[EroBotan]

I'm new to the forums so I don't really know everybody. I'm curious though, Dramspringfeald. Which game studios have you worked for?

My guess is that he owned a studio instead of working on one. However, due to his bossy, strict, serious, and no fun personality no one listen to him and now he rants here ^^;

[Blue Lemma]

@EroBotan: Well, I don't know about that, but if he's going to make all of those assertions in such a manner, it would be good to know where he's coming from.

[dramspringfeald]

I'm new to the forums so I don't really know everybody. I'm curious though, Dramspringfeald. Which game studios have you worked for?

My guess is that he owned a studio instead of working on one. However, due to his bos ot sy, strict, serious, and no fun personality no one listen to him and now he rants here ^^;

I was on a beta team for Halo 1,2 and Fable in Redmond Washington. Total time about 8 or 9 weeks. The whole time I was there was a living hell. Fun, but hell. Do you know what happens when you find a bug? You make no friends. As for running a team... You might have guessed I never have. I'm not much of a people person. I mean sure, I'm a nice enough guy but I cant deal with "people." as for the strictness. It's STILL a business and if people are slacking off it costs you money and time. Think about it your dealing with a number of "artists" and trying to get them to work together. Herding cats is easier. People get very dangerous the smaller the team gets because now the game rests on them.

The other departments are from conversations I've had with Team leaders, workers in those fields and the like. It is not a happy place much like most offices. however unlike large offices they have 40 or 50 people applying every day for whatever position you are in. they do not need to worry about "running out of people" like other businesses. you mess up, you complain, they start running low on money and they WILL replace you. the only reason Indy teams are win or die is simply because there isn't as large of a buffer, your artist bails on you and you are out whatever it costs to replace them, how long it takes for the artist to either adapt or catch up to the project and by the end you will be 6 weeks or more behind. Guess what happens to the team if "EA" says no to the extension? Just ask the Team behind Mega Man Legends 3.

Um, so should we lock all the new Devs in a room and get them to fight it out?
Apparently they aren't angry and tyrannical enough yet. Some people seem to even be having fun!

That's not it. I've been on here for some time. I'm not talking about people having fun, It was fun there but Dev's Job is to make sure the game makes it. That means knowing when to say no to something or crack a whip if they start getting lazy. If that Whip happens to be a Nerf gun or Paintball match so be it. As Dev you cant be too hard but if you are too soft then the result will be the same. Just ask the guys at DC-universe. Anything to get the game completed on time and working.

Hate to break it to you, Drams, but that particular industry happens to be crashing right now, badly. And, well, you've already got the list of reasons. Don't really think it's going to manage to stay that way for long. There's a reason Indie is massively rising up, and it's not because they're the same as the cold and heartless bigwigs. (grrrr... EA.... grrr...)

I don't know if you're just saying that's the unfortunate reality, or if you're implying that's how we've gotta be if we want to achieve financial success, or if you're criticizing those ways, but in any case I won't be persuaded to drop my friendly attitude. A good VN is made with love, not slavery.

Yeah, EA is going down because they got too many Toxic labels and it's biting them in the bottom. Most are either closing or were so far in the red that nothing came of it and now they are poisoning EA. Just look at the housing issue. As for the rise of the Indy that's because EA and Valve are funding them. Indy Teams have fewer people, lower risk, and if anything goes south they are out only $500,000 instead of $150,000,000 and in all honesty it's cheaper. If the game takes off then they make 15% to 30% and they get to keep all the intellectual property of the project.

I wrote this after running through the forums again and I'm not going to lie "What to do with an artist" did spark this. Yes this is a hobby styled group and sure there are only a few people here but there are other sites and whole groups of artists looking to make art for a game. The internet is huge. Anyway, the issue is there are too many people thinking if they work on a game then they are the top thing. VN or not you should still come at it like the real thing. as long as you are not Dev then you really should not complain too too much. however if you are Dev don't be too much of a dick. If the artist, writer, programmer or whatever fights you the whole time then get a new one.

[TrickWithAKnife]

Generally using a single approach for different people and different situations isn't going to work well.

Being strict may be more suitable for large commercial projects, with team members who understand the situation before being recruited, but there has to be a certain degree of give and take for hobbiests.

Being too heavy-handed with an artist who is doing free art for your game is not likely to end well.

If they are being paid, it's better to discuss expectations before creating any kind of contract.

If they are being paid well and are not following the expectations they agreed to before starting work, well then it's time to get tough with them. Getting tough doesn't mean being an asshole though.
Reputations matter, especially for low-to-no budget projects.

There also seems to be different groups within this community.
Some people want to have a polished game, and others just want to enjoy the process, rather than stress about quality. There is nothing wrong with either of them, as long as everyone involved is aware of the situation.

Making a game commercial is a whole different kettle of fish, as is applying for sponsorship.

[FailedSanity]

I wrote this after running through the forums again and I'm not going to lie "What to do with an artist" did spark this. Yes this is a hobby styled group and sure there are only a few people here but there are other sites and whole groups of artists looking to make art for a game. The internet is huge. Anyway, the issue is there are too many people thinking if they work on a game then they are the top thing. VN or not you should still come at it like the real thing. as long as you are not Dev then you really should not complain too too much. however if you are Dev don't be too much of a dick. If the artist, writer, programmer or whatever fights you the whole time then get a new one.

As much as I think you're being a bit too callous and critical, there is definitely some truth to this.

If a group of game makers want to actually finish their game with any sense of quality, they should always approach their project seriously.
But your argument for improvement seems to be, "Get Meaner". Devs need to be stricter, others need to fall in line. I think we should go the opposite direction - "Get Nicer" asset creators should put more effort into the project, and Devs should be more willing to listen to their input. Everything will run smoother if each member of the team feels valued and is invested in the final project.

I was Executive Officer for a robotics team for a couple years, which is basically the engineering equivalent of a Dev. And, yes, a lot of my job was to track people down and annoy them, "Get your shit in on time. Get your shit in on time. Get your shit in on time. Your shit doesn't work - go fix it." But that was only half of it. I had to coordinate team effort, and make sure everyone talked to each other. All of the biggest problems happened when subteams weren't communicating properly. "You programmed the robot to automatically detect it's target? Too bad no one told the build team to mount a camera to the top of the robot!"

And as a leader, the most important thing I learned was that my job was to lead. And that was it. Programmers are better at programming than I am. Builders are better at building than I am. Electrical is better at Electrical than I am. They love what they do, and because of that, they are good at it. They know what they're doing. If they are convinced something is a bad idea, there is a a reason. Because they know more about that specific feild than I do, I don't know what that reason is - but my job is to ask, find out, and work within those limitations.

This translates directly back into video game design and VNs.

Artists know art. Writers know writing. Both need to trust that the other knows what they're doing, and accept the limitations when the other says that something is a really, really bad idea, and gives reason for that bad feeling.

And like the programmers who can't program without a camera, sometimes writers need artists to insert visual cues. Sometimes it doesn't matter if it's a bad idea artistically, because it's absolutely vital to the writing.

Give and take. Dialog. Work together. Communicate.

You're absolutely right about one thing, at least - if a member of the team is fighting everyone every step of the way, than maybe they need to leave, because this is not the team for them.

[EroBotan]

@EroBotan: Well, I don't know about that, but if he's going to make all of those assertions in such a manner, it would be good to know where he's coming from.

Wherever he comes from, I'm sure that he has dark and troubled past :3

[ShippoK]

@EroBotan: Well, I don't know about that, but if he's going to make all of those assertions in such a manner, it would be good to know where he's coming from.

Wherever he comes from, I'm sure that he has dark and troubled past :3

Oh god... EA

You poor soul, it explains everything now!