Having not interblogged before you’ll have to excuse my proper grammar and use of full sentences, I’m new to butchering the language so you’ll have to bear with me. Also, if you’re offended by words like e-penis or 'Scot' then you ought to stop reading…
I intend to cast a little light on the subject of ‘team dynamics’ and ‘individuals’.
Our team is jam packed with talented individuals: we’ve got some ace artists and cracking coders… erm yeah, and aidan… But alongside our incredible natural abilities we also have our peculiar personalities, with the unique impersonation stylings of Ross, whose impression of a Scot sounds more like a mentally deficient pirate, Aidan ‘e-penis’ Price, Rich and his quadruple espresso fuel, Dave’s surreptitious psp addiction (we can hear sonic through your door!) and my own particular brand of terrible jokes (and noxious gases). While we get on famously when we are on the same wavelength (apart from Ross and myself, who will argue most vociferously until someone points out we’re both on the same side) when we need to bang our heads together and decide on ‘group design’ issues it’s a Sisyphean ordeal (we all know how that feels!).
So as a team we sit down and hash out a ‘tutorial plan’ for our game, it takes almost five hours of argument and rubbed heads, but we walk away with a general ‘clue’ as to what we’re doing… two days later when visited by one of the guys at EA we find our plan to be lacking critical items/features, subsequently it is swapped out for a different idea entirely.
It doesn’t take more than a well trained monkey to see we’re a team of high spirited, self-righteous, outspoken, confident chaps; and while this makes for dizzying highs, the lows… ooooh the lows!
From here on readers must be aware that I’m writing during the fifth week, so choosing words wisely is paramount – best not to tread on any toes – although maybe a good stamp on Ross’s would be amusing.
So, Desire FX (or so we call it) is our game, we’re building it in the dark basically, while we have a thousand and one ideas of what we’d like to do with it, we have little idea of what we can actually achieve. We are aiming high, it’s a big risk as our game *could* end up missing the mark and being trash – but that’s not going to happen – regardless, by aiming high we’re always giving ourselves too much to do in too little time. Any time we find that something has taken longer than it should, or something cool turns up and we want to include it, seismic shocks run through our entire game design – every detail needs to be recalculated, I swear Aidan has tried to pin down the design of our game every other day since the start of Dare and he’s still simply nailing diarrhea to the wall.
And now we’re getting to a point where our roles in the team are becoming better defined, a 3D artist really is doing 3D art all day every day, and from his incessant moaning and whingeing I’d say he’s enjoying it. The days of team-designing our game are fast escaping us: features do less creeping, outlandish dinosaur-based parka wearing enemies are being shelved, even the much talked of ‘praliens’ has to be forgotten… ‘this is a good thing’ I can hear you thinking, but you’re wrong!
Back in the day (like 2 weeks ago), while things were mostly still in the air, we all had the license to stick our oar in and give things a bit of a stir, and that is where we are all in our element – the ‘bedroom games designer’ inside of us has not been killed as yet. Now though we have to shove a sock in it and knuckle down, it’s no longer a time for what-how’s and which-whys, now we act, and with that comes a great deal of creative-juice-flow-stemming. Members of the team who are happiest having a hand in all aspects of the game are suddenly locked down, and those who would have it all their own way end up finding themselves with a great deal on their plate.
A slight change of tack: people vary the world over when it comes to team-work, myself I’m all for being told exactly what to do and how to do it, that’s where I work my best, Dave on the other hand is fiercely independent and knows that his own direction is all he really needs… why does that matter? We have no idea how to work in a team where every member is not the same as us. While I know I’m starting to annoy people by shifting from one subject to another faster than Ross’s wandering ‘O-hottie’ radar, I know also I’d be wasting a great deal of time procrastinating otherwise. The same principal holds true for our other team members, while their way of working might be best for them it is difficult to comprehend when you’re on the other side of the fence.
So, Ego, this is what it boils down to ‘imo’ (mastery of acronyms +1), from where I sit I see members of a team who are working their hardest for the sake of the general cause, and to do that they will work their own way. When the time comes to budge, to accommodate, things go awry – how does one stifle a genius at work? And we find ourselves facing a tricky problem, do you slow someone down by making them conform, or do you let them go at the risk of their feet never touching the ground again?
Yes, if we were all meek and uninteresting then we’d plod on until the end of Dare, but our game would not be the same title, it would be ‘gimped’ – popular parlance for crap.
Now a quick clean-up of all the insinuated insults and plain fun-pokery, I don’t mean to say that we’re too obstinate to get along, I would not wish for a different team and I’m absolutely sure we’ll reach the finish line with our dignity intact; but as they say, if you want to make an omelette: you’d better not just fold it over and pretend you like that horrid uncooked egg inside… ugh.
I may have more to say on this subject, and on re-read I realise this mild diatribe features very little content relating to the title, but that makes me a good author. With this being my first foray into the world of intertube blogerry I don’t want to shoot my whole load in one go. Keep your f5 peeled for more lucid dreams info.
I’d be happy to hear thoughts by the way… and will include my email when I have learned its safe (I already know the 1001 ways to enlarge my penis, I have already spoken to nearly 50 african kings/princes about bank details, I have set up an automatic replying doohickey for chain emails, I’m well aware of the many disgusting things people do with animals and have successfully ‘completed’ several online ‘degree courses’). Also I never forget, so if you have an issue with me from years ago then have at it!
Rowen.holt@yahoo.co.uk
