Not for me

This article sums up why I dislike games like GTA.

For my next appearance...

I've just been invited to join in the fun over at The Inventory forums, where they are having a big adventure game love-in over the next few days. Anyone interested will be able to pop along to the forums and read what's going on. You'll have to register with the forums before being able to post any questions, though.

I'm going to be given my own section, temporarily for the run of the "party", so you can hunt me down if you so wish. I'll be hanging around for a couple of hours specifically between 20.00 and 22.00 tomorrow (Tuesday) to respond to the heavy grilling.

Interesting Quote

Greg Dyke, former director general of the BBC, was quoted in The Independant today as saying, "ITV today is run by accountants." So it's not just the games industry, then. :)

Adventure Game Article

The latest edition of Edge magazine has an article about the adventure genre by Tom Bailey. It certainly makes for an interesting read and gives a little hope for the genre. The author used a quote from me, so that automatically makes it a whole lot better. :)

Girls in Games

With the aim of attracting women into game development, the people over at Girls in Games could do with your support. They are looking to spread the word at next year's GDC, so check out the site for more information.

Developing Thoughts 23

The latest column has just been posted on the Randomville site. This time it's about back-story.

"Back-story falls into the same category as character profiles – you can write and design your game without it, but it will be so much richer if you’ve taken the time to develop it well."

I'm going to be taking a break from the Developing Thoughts columns until the new year. I hope that you'll all be back for more, then.

Half-Life 2

Sorry for not posting much lately. Most of my spare time is being spent playing Half-Life 2. I'm not sure how far into it I am at the moment, but on the whole I'm enjoying it. I don't think it quite matches up to the hype, but I'll wait until I've finished it before commenting further.

A site of note

Just discovered this site, Home of the Micrys, through the Grand Text Auto pages. I've not read everything, yet, but what I've read so far has been interesting and well worth taking the time to do so. Pop along and take a look for your self.

Quality of Life

The following is an e-mail I received from the IGDA. I thought I would reproduce it in full for those who have not seen it.


-------------------------------
Open Letter - November 16, 2004
Quality of Life Issues are Holding Back the Game Industry
-------------------------------
Despite the continued success of the games industry, the immaturity of current business and production practices is severely crippling the industry. The recent frenzy of discussion over impassioned testimony about the horrible working conditions within much of the industry attests to the reality of this often unspoken disease.

As the professional association that unites the game development community and serves as its voice, the International Game Developers Association is deeply disturbed by this vicious cycle and is working to better the situation. Improving the quality of life of game developers is an IGDA priority.

In tackling quality of life issues, it is important to realize that poor quality of life is symptomatic of more fundamental challenges within the industry (e.g., consolidation, ever-evolving technology, one-sided contracting, lack of project management expertise, no craft/job standards, etc), which in turn all need to be addressed in order to truly improve our work/life balance.

What's more, game developers are sometimes just as much to blame for submitting themselves to extreme working conditions, adopting a macho bravado in hopes of "proving" themselves worthy for the industry. Our own attitudes towards work/life balance and production practices need to change just as much as the attitudes of the "suits."

For those who are looking to unionization as an option, it is important to note that the IGDA is not a union and cannot "become" one: the IGDA is incorporated as a non-profit professional association, which has a distinct role from that of a union. Further, as an international organization, the localized nature of unions (i.e., often requiring state by state and country by country solutions) is beyond our organizational scope.

It is unfortunate that it has gotten to the point of engaging in class action lawsuits. While some industry workers choose such legal means to gain retribution, the IGDA believes that a conciliatory approach is also an option.

The reality is that there are game companies that have proven that a focus on quality of life can lead to great games, AND business success: BioWare, Firaxis, Team17, Blue Fang, Cyberlore and Ensemble are just a few of the studios that put as much effort on keeping their employees happy and healthy as on their bottom line. These, and other sensible companies, realize that a strong quality of life leads to more productive and creative workers. In turn, these workers produce better games, and stay in the industry to share their experience with all the passionate new recruits - helping to avoid common mistakes and recurring pitfalls. Further, they realize that driving their people into the ground is a short-term view that is not sustainable.

It is sadly ironic that those who strive for success at any cost don't realize that mature and responsible human resource and production practices will more readily bring them what they so desperately seek. That is to say, regardless of the humane imperative, maintaining a strong quality of life is just good business.

The IGDA's white paper on quality of life best practices has already served as a powerful tool, but it is only the first step. Via an upcoming "best companies to work for" initiative, the IGDA will provide awareness of enlightened companies and their practices so that others in the industry can learn from their wisdom. Similarly, the IGDA will shine a light on the wealth of research and knowledge being generated from outside the games industry.

To aid in these outreach efforts, the IGDA will be hosting a full-day quality of life think-tank at the annual Game Developers Conference in March. Also, we'll be encouraging our 80+ chapters from all over the world to host local meetings and sessions to discuss and explore this important issue.

Further, the IGDA has two special interest groups that will help in sharing knowledge and work on related issues: the Production SIG (working to formalize the production process) and the Human Resources SIG (hub for HR professionals). The efforts of these two SIGs, in addition to the ongoing work of the Quality of Life Committee, will ensure a diverse perspective on solving quality of life problems.

This is only the beginning and we're still forming plans. We encourage everyone to get involved. We ask that you contact us (qol@igda.org) to volunteer, provide ideas, success stories, resources and any other relevant information. In particular, the IGDA is requesting details on active and pending lawsuits to add to our reference list online.

We have no doubt that with everyone's help and contribution we can save the industry and art form we are all so passionate about.

Note: This letter is also available online at http://www.igda.org/qol/open_letter.php and can be easily forwarded, anonymously if desired.

The IGDA Board of Directors,

Bob Bates
Jason Della Rocca
Alex Dunne
John Feil
Mitzi McGilvray
Brian Reynolds
Jesse Schell
Kathy Schoback

Related Links and Resources
===========================
White Paper: "Quality of Life in the Game Industry: Challenges and Best Practices"
http://www.igda.org/qol/whitepaper.php

Event: Quality of Life Summit: An IGDA Think-Tank
http://www.cmpevents.com/GD05/a.asp?option=C&V=11&SessID=4063

IGDA Quality of Life Advocacy Site
http://www.igda.org/qol

Winning Workplaces - Competitive Advantages
http://www.winningworkplaces.org/library/research/advantages.php

Article: "It's Not Just Abusive. It's Stupid."
http://enginesofmischief.com/blogs/ramblings/archives/2004/11/11/643

Article: "Joe Straitiff's Journal"
http://www.livejournal.com/users/joestraitiff/2004/11/10/

Article: "EA: The Human Story"
http://www.igda.org/articles/easpouse_qol.php

Great Place to Work Institute
http://greatplacetowork.com/

Article: "Employees readying class-action lawsuit against EA"
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/11/11/news_6112998.html

Article: "Developer working conditions hide a cancer in the games industry"
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=dev&aid=3721

Article: "Programmer Sues VU Games Over Excessive Work Hours"
http://games.slashdot.org/games/04/06/30/1558238.shtml

Top 6 Work-Life Balance Books
http://humanresources.about.com/cs/worklifefamily/tp/worklife.htm

IGDA Global Chapters Index
http://www.igda.org/chapters/

Production Special Interest Group
http://www.igda.org/production/

Human Resources Special Interest Group
http://www.igda.org/hr/

Developing Thoughts 22

Looking at Character Profiles this week, the latest of my columns has just been published on the Randomville site.

"Not only do character profiles act as a means of recording your thoughts on your main characters – how they behave and react – they also serve a fuller purpose of helping you work through the details of your supporting characters. The process of developing the profiles allows you flesh out the characters and make them much more rounded."

Sneak preview 2

I've just sketched up another character for my RC1 project:

Scary...

Read this and feel the anger.

Clearly, there are publishers who do not understand creativity in the least. Demanding such long periods of extended working is not good for any creative activity and will only lead to blandness in games and an environment where no one cares about the product they are working on.

I particularly do not understand the mentality that insists on working through the night. While I have worked late on numerous occasions, I've never worked through the night. When people do that, they invariably don't come in the next day, so you've not gained anything, other than risk burning out the employees.

Perhaps they'll wake up one day.

Fortunately, my current work is tied in with a publisher who sees the importance of creativity in its projects, which is incredibly refreshing. This gives me hope for the industry.

Jazz

I don't know why, but I suddenly find myself listening to a lot of Jazz. (By suddenly, I mean over the last six months or so - a my age, that's as suddenly as I get. Anything less than that amount of time is instantaneous.)

Now, I know nothing about Jazz and as I listen to more, I realise that I know less and less. I just spent the last hour and a half watching a documentary about Jazz which covered such a wide variety of people and styles and was almost bewildering in its diversity. Some names - like Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Coutney Pine - I'd heard of, but most were completely new and ones that I'm likely not to remember until the next time I hear or see the name again.

The daunting thing is, how on earth do I learn about Jazz, absorbing all of its history, without drowning in the wealth of music that exists?

Grand Text Auto

The guys over at Grand Text Auto gave me a nice plug, so thanks to them for that.

Developing Thoughts 21

The latest of my regular columns has just been published on the Randomville site. The second part of my thoughts on obstacles.

"What worked best for me was the way that I never felt that I was simply solving a small puzzle and then moving onto the next one – the gameplay seemed more continuous and free flowing than that. Being able to wander around the world with relative freedom also helped give the impression that I was in control of what was going on."

Writing and Design - the book

Well, maybe. Some kind people in this thread (read down) think that I should turn my Developing Thoughts column into a book. Before I start hawking it around and making a fool of myself, I'd be interested to know if there are others who would be interested in a book which takes the ideas and develops them further. Please post a comment or send me an e-mail with your thoughts.

Thanks.

Developing Thoughts 20

The latest of my regular columns has been posted on the Randomville site.

"The word puzzle, to me, suggests gameplay that involves pulling levers in the right combination or fiddling around with sliders. While there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with this type of gameplay, it does have a “static” kind of feel to it, particularly at a time when the majority of gamers want dynamic games."

Demos

I played the demo for a game called Project Joe. The development of the game is on hold because the team are having difficulty finding a publisher for the game. This is a real shame because it's such a good looking game, with very good dialogue and voice acting. There are rough edges to the demo, and it's not always clear why you do what you're doing, but these would be issues that could be addressed in full production. I recommend that you take a look for yourselves and I hope that they can get a publishing deal.

I also played the demo of The Moment of Silence. This is a really good-looking game with pre-rendered sequences of an exceptional quality. The gameplay suffered a little from being taken from a section well into the main game, which made it difficult to judge the context of what was happening to the main character. I couldn't help but feel that the game would have been better served by choosing the first section to create the demo from. Having said that, I do recommend that you play it for yourselves. The full game is already out and I'm looking forward to playing the whole thing when my copy arrives.

Edge

There was an excellent programme on the TV last night, looking back over the life of John Peel. Known for his eclectic and wide-ranging tastes and his support for anything that was different, someone on the programme said that he was always interested in music with an edge. Which got me thinking about games and how that games in general seem to have lost their edge.

I'm not talking about "cutting edge" graphics or technology, but an edge that used to come from a game being done in a bedroom by a couple of mates or brothers. An edge caused by not worrying how well a sprite animates, but how many you could throw at the player in the later levels. An edge that came from keeping the graphics simple on purpose because the only thing that counted was the gameplay. An edge that came about because games were not designed by a huge committee.

Now, before people think that I'm advocating a return to retro gaming, I'm not. I like the fact that games can give us so much more than they did before, that a game can be such a rich experience, it's simply that so many high production values can leave a game feeling a little empty. It's like The Phantom Menace in many ways - it should have been such a good film, but they expected the production values to carry what was a weak plot and under-developed characters. What resulted was a film without a soul.

In contrast, I was watching Memento the other evening. If ever there was a film with edge, this is it. Though I thought there were a couple of plot issues, the writing, acting and direction made up for this by a long way. Clearly, games need to look for their edge in new ways.

What I would hate, though, is for games to suddenly be copies of Memento, because that would actually create the opposite effect. Edge only comes from originality. That doesn't mean a wholly original game, but an original slant on an important aspect of the gameplay, or the way that the gameplay is used to progress the story, or an original take on character progression.

One of the most interesting things I've seen recently was a preview movie for the Nintendo DS and the interesting things that are being done with the touch-sensitive screen. Suddenly, here are games with an edge that could give a welcome shot in the arm to the industry. Let's hope that it spreads to other platforms, too.

This is so cool!

And very clever - click here.

Sneak Preview

After spending all day working on the stuff I get paid for, I took some time this evening to do a little more work on RC1, one of my own projects. Yesterday I did a little work on it and actually came up with a couple of characters who will add a lot of depth and fun to the project. This evening I actually created a couple of sketches, one of which you can see below. I won't tell you the name of the character, yet, as there's a good chance that it could change.