Working Method

[Quill]

Hi Steve, what sort of work method works for you on a project and what keeps you motivated it through to seeing it to the end? Teams can have regular meetings, etc. to sort through issues and keep up the team spirit but sole developers can find it difficult to see the wood for the trees sometimes (I don't think the answer is to use an axe, either! ).

I know everyone may have their own way of working but there's always something to learn about the way people reach their goals and you have been very successful in producing final products (among them the really fun Nutzo and your book 'Writing for Video Games' - I recently bought it and only a short way through it but a great read so far!). I dread to think of the percentages of people who have dropped projects and those that have successfully followed through (it would be like seeing two people sitting on a see-saw where one was a really grumpy fat woman and the other was a skinny little kid).

When things look daunting how have you gone about tackling them? There are always going to be tasks you want avoid like the plague (or someone with really bad breath, at any rate) and spend more time on areas that hold more interest. How do you overcome this and find the right balance?

Thanks!

[Steve Ince]

With my projects, it's important to hold the vision - the big picture - in my head at all times. But I must do so in a way that doesn't become overwhelming. Alongside this I must also have a fine eye on all of the detail. This must work differently, because if I try to work with too much detail at once it can became almost panicky. The trick is to break everything down into a series of smaller tasks and concentrate on the task in hand with a view to how that task fits into the big picture.

The beauty of lots of small tasks is that you are constantly achieving goals as you complete them. Even if it's something small like completing another walk cycle or writing the dialogue for a minor character. Never look at it in terms of "One task down seven hundred to go." or you'll constantly depress yourself. Yes, you need to be aware of the work that's still to be done, but how you approach the work in your mind is the key.

A big project is made up of lots of little details and each one you complete is adding to the overall completion.

Make sure that you have fun while you're putting the game together, too.

[Quill]

That's good advice, Steve. I think there is a tendency to look at things as one big whole or, at best, a few mile stones (design, graphics, coding, music) and it will eventually scare the hell out of people the more they think about it. Your method of breaking down into even smaller self-contained and achievable goals seems akin to putting together a large jigsaw puzzle, where you're only dealing with one piece at a time (and not grabbing a handful of them in one go).

I think getting a work flow that works for you is as important a tool as what graphics package you're choosing, if not more-so. It's about changing your own perception about what initially seems a daunting final goal into a clearly achievable one.

[Steve Ince]

That's exactly right, Finn.

I love your jigsaw analogy - it's perfect. The best thing about it is that if you have trouble with one of the smaller tasks you can always move onto another; just like a jigsaw.

[Quill]

Steve, thanks very much for your openness and very helpful insights (there was a debatable pun about Ince-sight there that I resisted using but then I remembered you already have on your website ;D). This conference meeting of the greatest minds in all of adventuredom has proved extremely fun and valuable. I don't think I've had time to read everything let alone throw in the odd post. I've always admired your work and wish you the very best with future plans!

[Steve Ince]

Thanks, that's very kind of you.