Hey everyone,
For those of you who have read my posts, some of them may have seemed a little cynical at times especially when the topic of overtime comes up. I realize this and my reasoning is that I just want to make sure everyone is aware of the bad that goes along with the good. Tonight though, I want to share something a little different.
Picture this, 7 months had passed since we had finished Generals. I was currently 12,000 miles away from where the game was developed and Generals was the last thing on my mind. I had just spent a fun filled weekend on Rottness Island and had come back to the Perth CBD for a few days. One lazy afternoon, I wandered into a LAN Room to send an ?I?m alive? email to the people who care about such things. After my insensible ramblings of Quakkas was over, I walked up to the counter to pay for my time. As the thick accented proprietor of the gaming room was tallying up my bill, I looked over my right shoulder into the ?game? side of the establishment. What I saw brought a smile to my face and a tear to my eye. In that room, not 2 meters from where I stood was a young man, a man who was smiling as his US Paladins were heading towards an unknowing foe. This man was playing Generals. This man didn?t know the pain we went through to complete the game, he has no concept of the personal sacrifices that our families made for us. No, this man was smiling and having fun. It was at that point, I was reminded why I got into making video games.
Some people may be after their golden dream of becoming rich, others are out there after the fame, for me though, that one smile was payment enough. My dream of making the next C&C was completed knowing that in this world of instant gratification and stresses our forefathers never thought about, I was part of a team that made this one individual, whom I don?t know and who would never know me, I was at least partially responsible for his smile.
What was the point of this post, I really have no idea, I just wanted to share one special moment I had while I was in the industry.
Chris
quote:Originally posted by Blitz
[br
I'm sure the salary was a nice bonus though :)
CYer, Blitz
I took a 10% pay cut to work at Westwood and that didn't even factor in the cost of living adjustment (Tucson is a hell of a lot cheaper to live in then LA), also, if you factor the salary/hours worked, you'd find that the salary borders on slave labor. The only people who actually make good money happen to be the testers. At first glace, their pay seems crap but then you factor, everything > 60 hours a week is payed 2x, everything worked on the 7th day in a row is payed 3x. At least at EA/WEstwood, if you could convince them to pay you hourly, it would turn out to be greatly in your favor even at half your pay rate.
So, no blitz, the salary isn't a factor. If it is to you, then you're heading for the wrong biz.
On the other hand, EA worked us so much, that for 6 months, the only time I spent money was on rent (which was a waste since I was never home) and bills for the place. It's amazing how much money you save when you don't have time to spend it.
Thats a good story there Munkee - i cant wait to be in that position
The money doesnt mean crap to me - ive worked longer and harder hours 90 - 100 + hour weeks on a regular basis for near 5 years, for little rewards before, i didnt like it - but mainly because i didnt enjoy what i was doing, and the only gratification was the ocasional " thanks for finishing that " which had a 95% probability of being follwed up with a " now can you get this done asap ".
Great story Damunkee. Getting that kind of feedback from your work is truly priceless. It's similar to the story I read a while back on a writer's commentary on games and their audience.. [url="http://www.sumea.com.au/snews.asp?news=446&related=Krome%20Studios"]The part where he writes about the little girl enthusiasticly enjoying Ty, The Tasmanian Tiger[/url] must've been a great reward for the folks at Krome to read, who I'm sure worked hard on that title as well. I mean, you seriously can't beat that! Creating an entertaining experience for everyone is what it's all about, and for someone that young, it'll leave a life long impression, I reckon. Heck, I absolutely loved The Way of The Exploding Fist around 20 years ago, and I ended up searching everywhere on the net to find a way to contact it's creator [:)]
quote:Originally posted by denz
I don't want be one to dwell on the negative side of things, especially after such an inspiring story! But in the game industry, what sort of hours are you puting in during crunchtime?
Hehe, do a search for Damunkee and you'll find all kinds of articles about the long hours :) Actually the white paper post about the Quality of life has a good review of what it's really like in games [url]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1760[/url]
For me personally, I've worked > 100 hours a week But with the company i'm currently at, we're working 50/week during crunch. So it varies greatly but I have to say my current company is the exception, not the rule.
Chris
From what I have heard public companies pay far less than private companies and the work is more stressful. I also heard that EA contracts most of their development staff and keep very few people on full time.
Privately owned companies don't have to answer to shareholders so they are free to share their profits with the employees.
Thanks for the post DaMunkee. In such morbid times for Indie/Mod Developers in Oz at the moment, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I have always strived to make the client happy, not look at how much I'll be payed at payday, its the end user, the gamer who will be the ultimate critic. They will love it, or hate it, and when you see a beaming smile from just one gamer playing the game you have spent months/years making, I think its all worth it in the end. [:D]
quote:Originally posted by Rahnem
From what I have heard public companies pay far less than private companies and the work is more stressful. I also heard that EA contracts most of their development staff and keep very few people on full time.Privately owned companies don't have to answer to shareholders so they are free to share their profits with the employees.
Actually Rahnem, my experience has shown the complete opposite.
Public companies typically have more money to pay their clients because they build capital through stock sales. Additionally, public companies will tend to try to keep people around as they need to impress stock holders with good products (to keep getting money)so they'll spend a little more in that respect.
Private companies typically have a fixed source of income (either a publisher/someone's savings) so they're more likely to not "pay" you if their income has dried up.
Oh and I can tell you for a fact, EA is not like you said. Out of 50 developers, we had zero contractors. Now IBM on the other hand :P
Private companies typically don't have enough income when a game ships to share any profit with their employees.
Of course, there's exceptions to every rule, but that is just my observations.
The sims expansions, from what I have heard, is done mainly by contract workers. Then again, it was the same for UT2004.
I should have said private companies that have made their mark like Epic, id, Valve pay their employees more. Some private startup company is obviously not going to have a lot of cash flow.
Wow, what a great story DaMunkee. It must have felt wonderful :)