The premature birth of our game and why we aren't done with it.
Gargula: Bloodrush was our first game we developed as a new team and business which is Paranormal Games. It has just gone onto a year now that the game has been out.
So why are we going back to it and doing a major revamp update? Because we made a huge mistake...
The initial idea was a quick one week game which would be a cool monster slash infinite runner. Simple right? Well it was until Steve and I fell head over heals for the IP (Intellectual Property). Development had already started and ideas began to flow through. Our Gargoyle game was beginning to take on a life of it's own and there was nothing wrong with that. It was looking good and playing well, for what we had put into it. We took it to a convention and showed it off. People liked it! It had the basic mechanics in it so the idea could be felt and seen. We took down notes and advice, everything was going well.
Now we had ideas and changes in mind so it was back to the drawing board. We came up with a deeper game now and began implementing these add ins. This is where we made one of our mistakes. We really wanted to make an adventure game the more we developed the casual version but that's a whole other can of worms.
The other mistake I want to focus on was the first time we discussed and agreed on a "realistic" DEADLINE OF COMPLETION!
This turned out to be a huge problem for the project. We rushed our game to make the self imposed deadline which we had already pushed back twice before placing more pressure on ourselves each time. It turned a game we were on track to becoming happy with into a rushed out game we weren't happy with. Yes we were still proud of it but the game as it is haunts us everyday. There's a little Gargoyle sitting in our studio, ever present looking down with pure odium, whispering "What could have been....."
We owe it to ourselves and Gargula to bring him what he deserves as a first game for him and us. We have another full game in store for him but that is for the future. So for now we have decided to drop everything and rid ourselves of this guilt.
So now you know whats in the soup. I'll explain what we've learned and hopefully you working on your game won't fall into the same potential disaster zone when crunching for a deadline or looking at extending the projects time. By preparing before hand and also dealing with this pressure and not letting a premature birth of your game come into fruition.
First off and most importantly. Don't let a good game be destroyed by making good time.
So you are running face first into a completion deadline. It may be for various reasons working with a publisher or contract, vital team members can only work for a limited time, you released news or a demo stating the games release date or various other reasons. But you haven't planned previously for any disasters like this. You can't possibly make the deadline and now the pressure is on. So what should you do? I'll give you a few ideas and these ideas work both during a deadline crunch or dealing with a time extension.
Burn your studio down, claim the insurance and tell everyone you lost it all in the fire. Done.
I joke, I joke, first of all keep calm and call a meeting with all vested parties in the project. Including any sort of close supporters that you have in your life that have helped support you during this project. Obviously business meetings cannot have them present so speak with them first before the formal meetings begin. Be honest and explain the situation. You'll be amazed what other ideas can pop up when people who care for you and believe in your work are there to help. It will also pull everyone together including you! It'll help squash any fears and panic. Panic at this point of time will destroy everything.
Also holding a meeting with business partners will show that you are calm and can handle the task ahead. This will often be enough for them to see why the delay is and why it needs more time. Try promising open intermediate updates to interested parties over the time extension it is a great way to get them to agree.
Next is avoid longer hours than usual or full time weekend work. This will drain the heck out of your team and all you will get is a bunch of short cuts and slapped together parts plus uninterested team members. This will hurt you and the game big time in the long run.
Form a strike plan! You should have identified the problems before you went into any meetings or else you wouldn't be looking for a time extension or crunching. Those problems are the strike plan targets. Nothing else should be being worked on except for them. Within the strike plan include anything else that needs to be attained to get the targets completed. For example do you need a certain tool that will speed things up or to hire an extra programmer to proof or bug fix certain code or even another artist to assist the lead artist so he can finish what he needs. (Which by the way should be avoided. Throwing more people at a project is like monkeys throwing handfuls of crap it's all good at first but then someones gotta clean it all up. In other words it has a whole bunch time consuming problems that come with it!).
You will find out what you need to get the job done by your team members in the meeting. So make sure you listen and evaluate the possibility of providing them with what they need.
Are you the project manager? Or is there someone better suited at this point of time? Remember nothing matters except for the project right now. So leave egos at the door. If there is someone stronger and better suited for a role let them do it provided they aren't already overly busy. Draw up a detailed project plan. Within this, time schedule EVERYTHING that needs to get done.
Don't treat them mean but keep them keen, try your hardest to keep everyone positive. Don't let morale drop away because the train of love will slow to a grinding halt and people will start to walk.
Time is everything at this point, so don't waste it. Yes if a break is needed for the team take it. That isn't wasting time just manage it.
Don't go all dictator, As long as tasks are getting done don't go all cray cray on the strike plan. It doesn't matter what order things are getting done. As long as they are getting done. Unless something needs to be done in order to do something else off of that. These should be priority tasks.
Another big one is know when the hell to leave a polish behind. Polishing something does not mean completing something. It means it is done to the standard everyone is happy with, you are then polishing that standard to make it better. Move on if its completed everyone is happy already, so polish later if you have the time.
Break down big tasks into smaller tasks if possible! This is a great tip for any point of time in any development project but this can keep people focused and grinding through work. Instead of looking at the whole Mountain, break it into sections to climb towards before you know it you'll be stabbing a big ass Flag at the top of it and eating a baguette.
Finally look at things rationally and realistically. Don't be afraid to throw in the towel. If the extension wont help then unfortunately you should sink project and salvage what you can. Rather than waste a whole bunch of peoples time and effort. Because if you do that it will leave a scar on you. Or similarly if the game isn't ready for the deadline look at the possibility of a time extension.
The Deadline push and time extension should always be avoided if possible. I really wish we threw up the middle finger at ourselves and said fuck it. We are going to keep going until we are happy. The funny thing is we had the freedom to do that. But alas we were young and foolish. Now we are going back and making up for that. This is our choice as a company.
These tips I mentioned are for the ones who find themselves in either situation and I'm sure there are a whole bunch of other ideas and tips that can help. Just try to plan beforehand so this kind of thing can be totally avoided. A deadline crunch at the end of a project is normal but should only be minor touch ups. This article is focused on major problems.
Well I hope this helps, Paranormal out....
Nick Stavrou
Paranormal Games
So why are we going back to it and doing a major revamp update? Because we made a huge mistake...
The initial idea was a quick one week game which would be a cool monster slash infinite runner. Simple right? Well it was until Steve and I fell head over heals for the IP (Intellectual Property). Development had already started and ideas began to flow through. Our Gargoyle game was beginning to take on a life of it's own and there was nothing wrong with that. It was looking good and playing well, for what we had put into it. We took it to a convention and showed it off. People liked it! It had the basic mechanics in it so the idea could be felt and seen. We took down notes and advice, everything was going well.
Now we had ideas and changes in mind so it was back to the drawing board. We came up with a deeper game now and began implementing these add ins. This is where we made one of our mistakes. We really wanted to make an adventure game the more we developed the casual version but that's a whole other can of worms.
The other mistake I want to focus on was the first time we discussed and agreed on a "realistic" DEADLINE OF COMPLETION!
This turned out to be a huge problem for the project. We rushed our game to make the self imposed deadline which we had already pushed back twice before placing more pressure on ourselves each time. It turned a game we were on track to becoming happy with into a rushed out game we weren't happy with. Yes we were still proud of it but the game as it is haunts us everyday. There's a little Gargoyle sitting in our studio, ever present looking down with pure odium, whispering "What could have been....."
We owe it to ourselves and Gargula to bring him what he deserves as a first game for him and us. We have another full game in store for him but that is for the future. So for now we have decided to drop everything and rid ourselves of this guilt.
So now you know whats in the soup. I'll explain what we've learned and hopefully you working on your game won't fall into the same potential disaster zone when crunching for a deadline or looking at extending the projects time. By preparing before hand and also dealing with this pressure and not letting a premature birth of your game come into fruition.
First off and most importantly. Don't let a good game be destroyed by making good time.
So you are running face first into a completion deadline. It may be for various reasons working with a publisher or contract, vital team members can only work for a limited time, you released news or a demo stating the games release date or various other reasons. But you haven't planned previously for any disasters like this. You can't possibly make the deadline and now the pressure is on. So what should you do? I'll give you a few ideas and these ideas work both during a deadline crunch or dealing with a time extension.
Burn your studio down, claim the insurance and tell everyone you lost it all in the fire. Done.
I joke, I joke, first of all keep calm and call a meeting with all vested parties in the project. Including any sort of close supporters that you have in your life that have helped support you during this project. Obviously business meetings cannot have them present so speak with them first before the formal meetings begin. Be honest and explain the situation. You'll be amazed what other ideas can pop up when people who care for you and believe in your work are there to help. It will also pull everyone together including you! It'll help squash any fears and panic. Panic at this point of time will destroy everything.
Also holding a meeting with business partners will show that you are calm and can handle the task ahead. This will often be enough for them to see why the delay is and why it needs more time. Try promising open intermediate updates to interested parties over the time extension it is a great way to get them to agree.
Next is avoid longer hours than usual or full time weekend work. This will drain the heck out of your team and all you will get is a bunch of short cuts and slapped together parts plus uninterested team members. This will hurt you and the game big time in the long run.
Form a strike plan! You should have identified the problems before you went into any meetings or else you wouldn't be looking for a time extension or crunching. Those problems are the strike plan targets. Nothing else should be being worked on except for them. Within the strike plan include anything else that needs to be attained to get the targets completed. For example do you need a certain tool that will speed things up or to hire an extra programmer to proof or bug fix certain code or even another artist to assist the lead artist so he can finish what he needs. (Which by the way should be avoided. Throwing more people at a project is like monkeys throwing handfuls of crap it's all good at first but then someones gotta clean it all up. In other words it has a whole bunch time consuming problems that come with it!).
You will find out what you need to get the job done by your team members in the meeting. So make sure you listen and evaluate the possibility of providing them with what they need.
Are you the project manager? Or is there someone better suited at this point of time? Remember nothing matters except for the project right now. So leave egos at the door. If there is someone stronger and better suited for a role let them do it provided they aren't already overly busy. Draw up a detailed project plan. Within this, time schedule EVERYTHING that needs to get done.
Don't treat them mean but keep them keen, try your hardest to keep everyone positive. Don't let morale drop away because the train of love will slow to a grinding halt and people will start to walk.
Time is everything at this point, so don't waste it. Yes if a break is needed for the team take it. That isn't wasting time just manage it.
Don't go all dictator, As long as tasks are getting done don't go all cray cray on the strike plan. It doesn't matter what order things are getting done. As long as they are getting done. Unless something needs to be done in order to do something else off of that. These should be priority tasks.
Another big one is know when the hell to leave a polish behind. Polishing something does not mean completing something. It means it is done to the standard everyone is happy with, you are then polishing that standard to make it better. Move on if its completed everyone is happy already, so polish later if you have the time.
Break down big tasks into smaller tasks if possible! This is a great tip for any point of time in any development project but this can keep people focused and grinding through work. Instead of looking at the whole Mountain, break it into sections to climb towards before you know it you'll be stabbing a big ass Flag at the top of it and eating a baguette.
Finally look at things rationally and realistically. Don't be afraid to throw in the towel. If the extension wont help then unfortunately you should sink project and salvage what you can. Rather than waste a whole bunch of peoples time and effort. Because if you do that it will leave a scar on you. Or similarly if the game isn't ready for the deadline look at the possibility of a time extension.
The Deadline push and time extension should always be avoided if possible. I really wish we threw up the middle finger at ourselves and said fuck it. We are going to keep going until we are happy. The funny thing is we had the freedom to do that. But alas we were young and foolish. Now we are going back and making up for that. This is our choice as a company.
These tips I mentioned are for the ones who find themselves in either situation and I'm sure there are a whole bunch of other ideas and tips that can help. Just try to plan beforehand so this kind of thing can be totally avoided. A deadline crunch at the end of a project is normal but should only be minor touch ups. This article is focused on major problems.
Well I hope this helps, Paranormal out....
Nick Stavrou
Paranormal Games
THAT EXTRA LITTLE BIT.
There are a million ways to lose a work day, but not even a single way to get one back. ~ Tom DeMarco & Timothy Lister.
Hustling beats Procrastinating.
Activity chops down inactivity everyday of the week. Sometimes you may not realise it, but you aren't doing anything at all to help generate any sort of advancement or productivity for your company. You need to be active in the digital world; for example trying to be active everyday may just be communicating through different social media outlets 10 times a day 5 days a week. It may just be a comment or tweet on a current topic or discussion, or even making contact with old or new contacts, colleagues or if you're lucky enough, fans of your Game or company. So if you look at it like this, thats 50 times in a week you've exposed yourself (not in a naked under a trench coat way. But even that may work for some) 200 times in a month. Create presence by avoiding procrastination it makes a huge difference.
While on the topic of creating presence. NETWORKING, It's not what you know but who you know. Most industries rely on this a lot and more often then not you find yourself meeting new people or introducing people you know to others at conventions or game jams or BDSM Party, Game Dev Nights or those cool Orgies we hold while sacrificing baby lambs to our Indie Game Gods. Thats how the ball roles at these kinda jigs.
INTRODUCE PEOPLE IN DEPTH! - I think this counts for nearly every meet and greet, networking situation. We are all personal developers and real people. When introducing people to one another instead of "John this is Sue, Sue this is John. Well enjoy the next five minutes of unavoidable awkward moments of the same old intro conversation routine. I've got to go and do this to another 30 or so people." Yeah thanks for that.
How about this; personalise your introduction of them. Be a bit more open and loving over the whole thing;
1. This is the person and what they do.
2.This is what they are good at.
3. This is what I like about them.
This leaves the newly introduced able to spark conversation and much more comfortable from the get-go. Also it helps you as those people will be thankful towards you and you are also reminding yourself why those certain people are connected with you and valued in the first place.
Also don't be a mouth 24/7 when dealing with people at any public gathering. Don't just tell sell. All too often you see people just go all pitch routine even if they are speaking with people that know of their game already or have some knowledge of you to begin with. This is a major kill joy and will bore the hell out of people. The more you speak the more you lose the chance to hear what your potential prospect or customer could be telling you of what they are looking for. Pitch quick but then listen and respond to them. A conversation itself about your game is a blessing and opportunity as long as you use it rightly and respectfully.
Wholesome Directional word.
What the Fuck is that? It sounds like a word you have to shove up your ass and walk around with for a few days.
Well no, but in a way yes… It's a simple technique some people use and it kinda makes a lot of sense.
Pick a word that describes the direction you want to head in. It may be the direction of where your game is heading or the direction of where the company needs to head to this year. For example you want to make money this year, you would pick something like PROSPERITY. Or you want to make an ultra violent game you might pick VIOLENT as your word.
This word now guides every decision you make from then on. It helps filter decision making and drives decisions to be made quickly and clearly. If a potential idea doesn't click with the word then it probably isn't a good idea to do that. The word can change as your motives change.
Value Adding.
This is all about increasing your value which in turn if you want to, allows you to increase what you believe you are worth. You need to go the extra mile! Do things that have high value but don't cost much. So really it's high perceived value to the customer but low cost to you. So raising the value of your game rather than discounting your game which is the WORST option most devs take because they haven't thought this through.
Let me explain.
You make a game, great but it's not unique. Actually it's really just a standard well made game in an over saturated industry. Who the hell cares, well almost anything can be marketed to seem interesting. You just need to run that extra mile in the game and everything else.
The game for example, might have a cool way it builds emotion into it. By this I mean why not have a thank you screen pop up after you download the game for the first time and it's a note from the developers thanking the customer for downloading the game. User Interfaces…. oh fuck this, he said the U.I words. I'm done reading this shit. Place the extra mile in U.I. it matters. I heard a dude say once "One of the richest people in the world started it off of a User Interface." So it matters a heck of a lot, face up to it!
Or why not the "everything else" like I mentioned. Why not build emotion into your website which should really be your masterpiece of all marketing material you work with. Even we need to redo our website.
Here take a look at Team Meat's (Super Meat Boy) website: www.supermeatboy.com ;
See how those guys have really placed emotion and top notch quality through their site. Even photography on that site is amazingly great photography. Check out their ABOUT section. It's all fucking brilliant!
Another site is the creator of Spelunky, Derek Yu. "Derek Yu's Home on the Web": www.derekyu.com
I hear his name and think of his kick ass website straight away.
What I'm saying is triggering emotion creates remarkable things. Increasing these things don't cost much other than a bit more time. Sure there are other things that do cost money and relate to getting the same outcomes but I'm speaking about the easy and low cost. Be creative think of other ways to connect with people through emotive tactics. Most of the time it's as plain and simple as just being yourself and not what you think you should be in the eyes of the industry, you're unique remember. Why not use that? Regardless, they all add massive value to you and your company and its creations. There's a lot of company's out there outside of the game industry doing the same thing and it's working massively for them. So theres no reason why this wouldn't work in our industry. Even taking the time to look into these small start up company's and big ones that are pulling this off can help you get ideas to implement into your products and self image.
There is no product that can't be made interesting.
Final note.
Hey YOU yeah YOU, you're not the only busy person!
Everyone is busy, publishers are busy, game reviewers are busy, people playing your games are busy, your fans are busy even your dog is busy doing dog stuff…. you're waiting for me to go down the licking his own balls kind of busy line aren't you? Well I'm not doing it buddy!
Keep this in your mind, let it engulf your awareness. It will help you keep things straightforward. From Website to Pitching, doing tutorials, Game U.I and even managing team members and financial dealings.
Well there you go some more shit to read and take on board or not. I hope that reading this in some way helps you or entertains you. I'll be wise and fancy and finish like I started with some fantastic quote that sums up everything I've written about.
Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue, I'm a schizophrenic, And So Am I. ~ Oscar Levant
Paranormal Out...
Nick Stavrou
Hustling beats Procrastinating.
Activity chops down inactivity everyday of the week. Sometimes you may not realise it, but you aren't doing anything at all to help generate any sort of advancement or productivity for your company. You need to be active in the digital world; for example trying to be active everyday may just be communicating through different social media outlets 10 times a day 5 days a week. It may just be a comment or tweet on a current topic or discussion, or even making contact with old or new contacts, colleagues or if you're lucky enough, fans of your Game or company. So if you look at it like this, thats 50 times in a week you've exposed yourself (not in a naked under a trench coat way. But even that may work for some) 200 times in a month. Create presence by avoiding procrastination it makes a huge difference.
While on the topic of creating presence. NETWORKING, It's not what you know but who you know. Most industries rely on this a lot and more often then not you find yourself meeting new people or introducing people you know to others at conventions or game jams or BDSM Party, Game Dev Nights or those cool Orgies we hold while sacrificing baby lambs to our Indie Game Gods. Thats how the ball roles at these kinda jigs.
INTRODUCE PEOPLE IN DEPTH! - I think this counts for nearly every meet and greet, networking situation. We are all personal developers and real people. When introducing people to one another instead of "John this is Sue, Sue this is John. Well enjoy the next five minutes of unavoidable awkward moments of the same old intro conversation routine. I've got to go and do this to another 30 or so people." Yeah thanks for that.
How about this; personalise your introduction of them. Be a bit more open and loving over the whole thing;
1. This is the person and what they do.
2.This is what they are good at.
3. This is what I like about them.
This leaves the newly introduced able to spark conversation and much more comfortable from the get-go. Also it helps you as those people will be thankful towards you and you are also reminding yourself why those certain people are connected with you and valued in the first place.
Also don't be a mouth 24/7 when dealing with people at any public gathering. Don't just tell sell. All too often you see people just go all pitch routine even if they are speaking with people that know of their game already or have some knowledge of you to begin with. This is a major kill joy and will bore the hell out of people. The more you speak the more you lose the chance to hear what your potential prospect or customer could be telling you of what they are looking for. Pitch quick but then listen and respond to them. A conversation itself about your game is a blessing and opportunity as long as you use it rightly and respectfully.
Wholesome Directional word.
What the Fuck is that? It sounds like a word you have to shove up your ass and walk around with for a few days.
Well no, but in a way yes… It's a simple technique some people use and it kinda makes a lot of sense.
Pick a word that describes the direction you want to head in. It may be the direction of where your game is heading or the direction of where the company needs to head to this year. For example you want to make money this year, you would pick something like PROSPERITY. Or you want to make an ultra violent game you might pick VIOLENT as your word.
This word now guides every decision you make from then on. It helps filter decision making and drives decisions to be made quickly and clearly. If a potential idea doesn't click with the word then it probably isn't a good idea to do that. The word can change as your motives change.
Value Adding.
This is all about increasing your value which in turn if you want to, allows you to increase what you believe you are worth. You need to go the extra mile! Do things that have high value but don't cost much. So really it's high perceived value to the customer but low cost to you. So raising the value of your game rather than discounting your game which is the WORST option most devs take because they haven't thought this through.
Let me explain.
You make a game, great but it's not unique. Actually it's really just a standard well made game in an over saturated industry. Who the hell cares, well almost anything can be marketed to seem interesting. You just need to run that extra mile in the game and everything else.
The game for example, might have a cool way it builds emotion into it. By this I mean why not have a thank you screen pop up after you download the game for the first time and it's a note from the developers thanking the customer for downloading the game. User Interfaces…. oh fuck this, he said the U.I words. I'm done reading this shit. Place the extra mile in U.I. it matters. I heard a dude say once "One of the richest people in the world started it off of a User Interface." So it matters a heck of a lot, face up to it!
Or why not the "everything else" like I mentioned. Why not build emotion into your website which should really be your masterpiece of all marketing material you work with. Even we need to redo our website.
Here take a look at Team Meat's (Super Meat Boy) website: www.supermeatboy.com ;
See how those guys have really placed emotion and top notch quality through their site. Even photography on that site is amazingly great photography. Check out their ABOUT section. It's all fucking brilliant!
Another site is the creator of Spelunky, Derek Yu. "Derek Yu's Home on the Web": www.derekyu.com
I hear his name and think of his kick ass website straight away.
What I'm saying is triggering emotion creates remarkable things. Increasing these things don't cost much other than a bit more time. Sure there are other things that do cost money and relate to getting the same outcomes but I'm speaking about the easy and low cost. Be creative think of other ways to connect with people through emotive tactics. Most of the time it's as plain and simple as just being yourself and not what you think you should be in the eyes of the industry, you're unique remember. Why not use that? Regardless, they all add massive value to you and your company and its creations. There's a lot of company's out there outside of the game industry doing the same thing and it's working massively for them. So theres no reason why this wouldn't work in our industry. Even taking the time to look into these small start up company's and big ones that are pulling this off can help you get ideas to implement into your products and self image.
There is no product that can't be made interesting.
Final note.
Hey YOU yeah YOU, you're not the only busy person!
Everyone is busy, publishers are busy, game reviewers are busy, people playing your games are busy, your fans are busy even your dog is busy doing dog stuff…. you're waiting for me to go down the licking his own balls kind of busy line aren't you? Well I'm not doing it buddy!
Keep this in your mind, let it engulf your awareness. It will help you keep things straightforward. From Website to Pitching, doing tutorials, Game U.I and even managing team members and financial dealings.
Well there you go some more shit to read and take on board or not. I hope that reading this in some way helps you or entertains you. I'll be wise and fancy and finish like I started with some fantastic quote that sums up everything I've written about.
Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue, I'm a schizophrenic, And So Am I. ~ Oscar Levant
Paranormal Out...
Nick Stavrou
