On Sunday, I wrote “The Ideal Indie Team Member”.

I’ve been thinking about that article ever since I posted it, wondering how money affects the listed criterion. An implication of that article is that you’re looking for volunteers. But what if you’re not looking for volunteers?

Late last year, as I was pondering my goals for 2005, I decided that I would use the following approach for my indie projects:

1. I would experiment with possibly non-commercial ideas. Through 2004 I had seen people doing some very interesting and unique things with game technology. That appealed to me, and I started thinking up some bizarre game ideas of my own.

2. I would build up my non-game software business to the point where I could afford to allocate some amount of money each month toward paying for the one piece of game development that I can’t do on my own: artwork. If I was going to pursue ideas that might not make money, it made sense to only use money I could afford to lose. And to be prepared to pay for what I needed. Volunteers would be out of the question.

In other words, I planned to pursue indie game projects that I could do on my own (the weirder the better), expecting to pay for whatever else I needed done and couldn’t do myself.

And then Paintball Net goes active again, and it’s completely separate from both #1 (I think PBN  is a very commercial idea) and #2 (it’s someone else’s money). (I still plan to pursue non-commercial ideas, BTW, but they’ll keep. )

So…has having money available to pay a team member affected my list? Is the ideal indie team member still:

Abso-<censored>-lutely.

Competent professionals usually have customers already, or a job. They aren’t depending on you. You’re a customer, of course, but if you don’t hire them, someone else will. In fact, a competent professional covers most of those criterion by default. If they have a full-time job in addition to what they’ll be doing for you, then spare time is required, but money has proven to be a good mechanism for re-arranging a schedule and creating spare time.

Even when dealing with competent amateurs (like college students) and/or people looking for experience in a particular aspect of game development, being able to offer some money up front can make a big difference.

Money may not be able to buy happiness, but even a little can do wonders when you’re putting together an indie team.

-David

PS I’ll probably be doing Paintball Net progress reports over at GG. Like this one.

Game development requires contributions from a number of disparate disciplines: programming,art, and sound. And even these disciplines have sub-disciplines, specialties that have often require separate team members: physics, 3D rendering, and networking in programming; modeling, texturing, and GUI graphics in art; sound effects, ambiance, and music in sound. (There are many more examples of specialties, of course, those listed are just the ones that popped into mind.)

So it’s no wonder that independent games need teams.

It’s not impossible for one person to handle every task needed in a game project. But it is rather improbable. And even when the Renaissance Man (or Woman) settles in to work on his (or her) game, he (or she) will find that the project goes much quicker with a team.

So…who do you get to work on your indie project?

To answer that question, I’ve compiled a list of useful criteria. Here they are. The Ideal Indie Team Member is…

First criterion: the potential indie team member must not be desperate for cash. Whether because they have a full time job, a trust fund, or because they have little or no immediate need for money (think: college student), so long as they can afford to work on your project without being paid upfront, they’re golden.

If they’ll take a reduced payment upfront, and the promise of making up the rest on the backend, they’re silver. Still valuable, of course. Either way, they must also be…

Second criterion: the potential indie team member must be able to work a day this week for a reward next week (or next year). You’d think this would be a given…but some indies have very odd views on the topic. Possibly from too many years getting a steady paycheck. More likely, though, it’s because we Americans want what we want and we want it NOW!

The key to this criterion is the project itself. The project must inspire the team member enough that they want to work on it.

Indie projects take time. And, usually, the most inspiring indie projects take the most time. It could be months or years before the work done today ever sees any kind of payback. Which means that the candidate also needs to be…

Third criterion: they have to have the time to work on your project. In Corporate America, they like to say, “If you want something done, hand it to a busy person.” In the Indie Universe, though, the busy person is…well…busy. If someone is clocking 60+ hours at their full-time job, the odds of them being useful to your indie project are pretty close to nil. No matter how enthusiastic they are about your project, unless they have the time to work on it, they can’t work on it.

However, even “sufficient” spare time isn’t likely to be much. A few hours per day, at most. So they must be…

Fourth criterion: the team member must be able to get a lot done, on their own, in what time they have available. Indie teams that must be micromanaged by the project leader are doomed to failure. If a team member requires constant supervision to be productive, they’re a liability, not an asset.

Every member of an indie team is almost certainly doing double duty. The project manager is also the client-side programmer. The art director is also the level designer. The sound guy is also composing the theme music. And so on. So having a team member that can’t function without another team member looking over his (or her) shoulder is a losing proposition. Instead of 2 people doing the work of 4, you have 2 people doing the work of 1.

Finally, the ideal indie team member needs to be someone…

Fifth criterion: the candidate must have the required skills to do the job their on the team to do. They don’t need to be an expert. They don’t need to be a certified professional. But they do need to know the fundamentals of the task at hand.

Indie projects are a great way for people to get more experience or to broaden their experience. College students can get real experience using what they’re being trained, for example. Even working professionals can do this. A programmer who’s never done 3D programming can, with the help of a pre-built 3D engine, get experience working on a 3D game. Or an artist who has always worked according to spec can get experience doing original concept artwork, or even try his hand at art direction. In neither case is the person a raw newbie. The programmer is still programming, the artist is still drawing and/or overseeing other artists. If the programmer wanted to try his hand at 3D modeling, or the artist was interested in tackling “that programming thing”, then they don’t qualify. If someone wants radically different experience, they can do it on their own time/projects.

Some of these criteria can be eliminated by the judicious application of cash. A little money can help the team member get a tool they need to continue. Some cash upfront can mean that not all of the gratification need be delayed, and can help the team member make the time needed. Money might even provide some motivation for them to get as much done as fast they can. It can’t, however, create skill where none exists.

Despite that, though, the skill level of the team member is listed as the last criterion because it’s the one with the most flexibility. Most indie projects have little or no funding. So if you can have team members who don’t require money from you, are content with the promise of future royalties, have the time to help you, and can work on their own without constant supervision, then you’re almost already done. You might even be able to train them, or at least help them learn, what’s required.

It may seem like an impossible list to fill, but I’ve seen it happen. I’ll have to write another article about attracting such team members, and then probably another about keeping them. Until then, good luck! Keep your eyes open!

-David

I went to college in the late 1980’s. During that time there was a lot of “real man” talk:

I got fed up one day and adopted this slogan:

(If you’re a Real Woman, BTW, you can… Ah, skip it. You can either deal with it or you can’t.)

These days, I keep running into the question “What is a real indie?” Seems to come up about once a month (or more). Everyone’s got their definition/opinion. Here’s mine. Posted that back in November.

I agreed with that definition (“self-funded”) then. And, shockingly enough: I still agree with me.

You can agree or disagree, as you see fit. This a free country, so you can define “indie” any way you goddamn well please.

And if you were a real indie, you would’ve already done so.

At Gencon and RPG conventions, t-shirts announce “No, I don’t want to hear about your character!” We might need to adopt similar attire at the next Indie Games Con:

-David

Did you ever have a project that started out well, then stalled, and stayed stalled so long that you eventually felt you had to give it a mercy killing?

I have.

I even spoke a public eulogy for the project.

–Hamlet

I had distant hopes that someday I might be able to revisit the project, but deep down I knew: it was over. Done. Fin. Kaput.

Except, it seems, it wasn’t any of those.

–Westley/The Dread Pirate Roberts

Against all probability the Paintball Net project is back online. This time, we even have a budget. Sorta. A budget for the artwork, mostly, but any budget beats none. I assure you.

–Sophie Tucker

So for most of the past week I’ve been reviewing the status of the project (because old projects tend to rot), tweaking the game design (because a design created with no budget is different than otherwise), and talking with various people, including an artist (that I had talked to before but couldn’t afford at the time).

All in all, this rather scrambles my projected schedule for the year. But in a good way. I’d like to think.

–John Lennon

So…let’s try this again.

-David

Here is a great .plan post by Jay Barnson over at Garage Games:

As Jay says in one of his followup comments:

I couldn’t agree more.

-David

 

All of us in the creative professions have claimed at one time or the other that we are burning “mental calories” as we sit there, staring at the blank screen or page. The reality, though, is that doing nothing but thinking makes a sharp mind–and a big, flabby gut.

 

Back in…oh…1999 or 2000 or so (and probably over and over again in years previous), I realized I needed to exercise more. So, after considering the issue for a couple more years, and with the occasional bout of exercise on particularly nice summer days, in summer 2003 I actually started.

 

The previous few years had taught me some valuable lessons about how to approach daily exercise:

 

1. Inconvenient exercise won’t happen. At first, I had driven to the local “riverpark” parking lots and started from there. Driving adds the need to carry at least your drivers license, and (since I was skating) I then had to change into my skates. And out of them again. I partially solved this problem one year by buying a backpack that I could hang my skates on, and then just hoofing it over to the riverpark. That eliminated the drive over, but I still had to change into my skates, and back. So then I started just skating from the house, around the neighborhood to the crosswalk, across the busy Riverside Drive, and then voila! And, yes, eventually that got simplified too, because now I just skate to Riverside Drive and jay walk (jay skate?) across at the point nearest my house.

 

2. Time spent trumps distance covered. An athletic friend who liked to run taught me a valuable lesson. She would run on her lunch hours for 30 minutes. She didn’t track distance, though. She would just wear a watch when she ran. When she hit 15 minutes, she would turn around and re-trace her route back to the office. I learned that valuable bit of advice in the mid-1990’s. It was 2003 before I did something with it. In summer 2003, I started walking in the mornings. Why walking? After a couple of years of trying to skate regularly, I decided it was a lot less inconvenient to just walk. At first, I walked for distance, shooting for multiple miles. In my mind it was more impressive to say, “I walk 2-3 miles every morning”, versus, “I walk 30-40 minutes every morning.” Later that year, though, I finally *learned* what my friend had taught me and just went out 15 minutes, and then came back 15 minutes. After all…

 

3. Who gives a damn what sounds more impressive? My own goal is to exercise 30 minutes per day, at least 6 days per week. The closest I’ve come to that, so far, was summer 2004. The goal is 6 days per week, but that can be difficult to hit if you have a varying schedule, and if the weather doesn’t cooperate. I’m getting better, though, because I’m learning to…

 

4. Be flexible. There are plenty of different forms of exercise. I tend to focus on walking and skating, myself, because they can be done in many different climates and conditions. Walking is the more flexible option, since you don’t have to have pavement, but skating provides a better workout. (It wasn’t until I switched from walking primarily to skating primarily that I started losing weight. Walking, though, did do some nice things for my conditioning, though.) The first time I went skating after a rain, I was worried about the pavement being too slick. But it worked out alright (just no stunt skating or *skid* *bang* *damn*). So now I no longer worry about wet days. Though I still don’t like to be out when it *is* raining.

 

5. Be gutsy. As a teenager and into college, I ran. I was a good medium distance runner. Not  great, but I liked it. In college, though, the wrong shoes on the wrong terrain tore a cartilage in my knee and my running days ended. That’s one of the reasons I skate. Skating (once you get past that whole “falling down a lot” phase) is a lot less damaging to your joints. In the summer of 2004, though, it had been almost 15 years since that injury, so I gave it another go. It took a few weeks, but I got to where I was jogging a mile out and then walking back. No knee pain at all. I was pleased. I still went back to skating, though. Running, even with good shoes, is just a lot more wear and tear on the body than skating.

 

Also, once something becomes routine, have the guts to push your limits. Last year, when I started up skating again, 30 minutes of skating was just under 4 miles. After a month or so, I discovered that the distance I was covering was taking less than 25 minutes. So I made myself up the distance (to about 4.5 miles). That’s still enough of a workout (especially on windy days), that I haven’t bumped it again. Maybe this summer, though.

 

6. It’s more than just exercise. The exercise has done some measurable good for my physical well being. I weigh a bit less (more redistribution has happened than weight loss, but that’s OK), my overall condition is vastly improved, better balance, better wind, a bit of a tan, etc. But over the past few months, I’ve really noticed that the benefits are more than just physical.

 

6.A. It clears my mind. This could be a result of when I skate, because I tend to do it first (well, after breakfast). Even when I don’t do it first thing, though, I’ve noticed that it has a very definite effect on my mental state. I get more positive. I feel better.

 

6.B. It draws me out of myself. This may just be a restatement of 6A, but if it is…fine. Skating, especially after a storm, requires both a “zen” state of letting your muscles do what they know how to do and a constant vigilance for sticks and twigs and rocks (the paved trail winds through a lot of trees) and joggers/bikers/skaters/walkers. In other words, I’m not just focused on me and my problems. I have to look around me, be aware of other people and the world around me. It’s amazing how that simple shift in viewpoint, from inside to outside, can help with problem solving and creativity.

 

6.C. I get to win almost every day. I really notice this on windy days. Anyone who has ever skated for distance knows about wind. Skating against a stiff breeze is…an experience that is hard to describe. Neither bikes nor running really compares. You’re having to push forward, completely with your own power. There are no gears to leverage for additional energy. It’s all you. You push forward, or the wind pushes you backwards. Because you can’t stop either. (Once you turn around, of course, skating’s never easier.)

 

Whether the wind is at my back on the way out, or the way back…and it’s almost always one of those…there’s a part of the experience where I am struggling to keep moving forward, to reach my turnaround point or to get back home. There’s no coasting against the wind. You move forward, or you’re pushed back. Some days, especially in the spring and fall when the wind in Tulsa really picks up, it’s a struggle. But I love it. Now. I didn’t a few years ago. But now, the way I look at it is every day I prove, over and over: I’m a skater. I can do this.

 

Why does that matter? Because every day I also have to prove to myself that:

 

Everything we are and everything we do is connected. So if I can win once, I know I can win again. And again. And again. So I start with something simple. Something I know I can win, even if it’s not always an easy win. In fact, it’s almost better when it’s not an easy win. Because then it matters more.

 

Nothing succeeds like success, they say. So I try to start the day out winning.

 

-David