Gaming Mercenaries

Contract designer for action games

MJ — Wed Feb 27, 2008 5:43 pm

Author: MJ

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 5:43 pm

EA needs contract design help on light/fun action titles being developed in Salt Lake City. Must be able to work on site. Position is high on creativity, fast-iteration stuff. Sound like fun?

-MJ

Contract PS3 ninjas needed

MJ — Wed Feb 27, 2008 5:42 pm

Author: MJ

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 5:42 pm

noobs need not apply. Need somebody who can hit the ground running and optimize both SPU and RSX stuff. Ability to travel helpful. Need is immediate.

Friction costs and the hidden hell of contractors

brianhook — Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:31 pm

Author: brianhook

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:31 pm

I'm finding with my latest round of contracts that I'm getting hit by friction costs a lot more than I remembered. It's a constant reminder that salaried employees are still paid even when they're completely and totally shut down or blocked by external factors.

So far I've dealt with issues like missing license codes, VPN account hiccups, source control account hiccups, wiki account hiccups, other team members on vacation/missing, waiting for external negotiations to conclude, etc. So in some cases I'll sit for 2 weeks and get in 10 hours of billable work, and the whole time I'm just...waiting. And I can't do other stuff because I know once all the problems are solved, the client will be like "Okay, why isn't this done yet?!"

I'm also getting frustrated by how some clients expect very precise estimates of work to be done, even when they know it's totally impractical. For example, let's say they have an existing source base that they need feature X added to. They say "We want to do feature X, but we don't want to spend more than our budget on it -- can you tell us how much it will cost?"

So I spend, no shit, eight hours poring through code trying to get a feel for all the stuff I'd have to change, the risks, etc. and I come back with "16 hours" and they go "Nah, thanks anyway". I can't charge them for an estimate, or so I feel, because then they'll become scared that every time they ask for an estimate it's going to cost them money.

But with coding, specifically, simply defining the scope of the problem is AS HARD as completing the solution at times. It's frustrating, because no client wants to pay for work that's not done, yet I'm spending 1/4 of my time simply telling people what's feasible.

And I understand how they don't want to just throw money into a fire and have me bill 40 hours for something they only want to spend $1000 on tops, but this is effectively what salaried employees do all the time. "That'll take like a day" and when it becomes a week, it's not a massive deal.

Cashboard App

brianhook — Wed Jan 23, 2008 11:36 pm

Author: brianhook

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 11:36 pm

I'm REALLY trying to migrate away from client-only packages. There is nothing more aggravating than having to be at a specific computer to generate invoices, look at accounts, add billable hours, etc. That's one reason I've started looking at a combination of Quicken Online and things like Cashboard.

Greetings!

brianhook — Thu Jan 03, 2008 3:52 am

Author: brianhook

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 3:52 am

Welcome aboard (belatedly). Yes, the site has been quite as hell, but that's probably a good thing since it means most of us are busy =)

Health insurance

Spoon — Mon Dec 03, 2007 3:26 pm

Author: Spoon

Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 3:26 pm

Any news on the IGDA health insurance front?

Company Name or Independent Contractor?

brianhook — Thu Sep 06, 2007 2:02 am

Author: brianhook

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 2:02 am

My rationale was quite boring -- I was hoping to start a firm targeted at more biz dev work relying on outside subcontractors. But at some point I got sucked into games again, so it's really just a formality at this point.

International Travel as a Freelancer

MJ — Thu Aug 09, 2007 7:33 am

Author: MJ

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 7:33 am

FWIW, I'm in the UK right now and got absolutely zero hassle at immigration.

According to some EA people I've spoken to (who have to go to Canada frequently), they are given elaborate pro forma letters from EA to show to Canadian immigration, and still frequently get huge hassles from the Canucks in order to enter the country. Guess they just really don't want us there.

Time tracking software

brianhook — Fri Aug 03, 2007 7:34 pm

Author: brianhook

Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 7:34 pm

Another gripe with Billings -- it has no auto-start that I can see? AllNetic had that and I loved it.

BaseCamp and Unfuddle

brianhook — Fri Aug 03, 2007 7:33 pm

Author: brianhook

Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 7:33 pm

All the integration is what makes it slick. The CampFire chat with file upload and logging, the milestones and write-boards, etc. Very slick.

Unfuddle isn't as nice, but it has the integrated SVN stuff which is nice for developers.

Looking for art director

MJ — Thu Aug 02, 2007 9:19 pm

Author: MJ

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 9:19 pm

I'm involved in ramping up a project which is being done, believe it or not, true hollywood-style. We've got design and tech commitments, and have concept art of what we're shooting for, but we need an art director to nail the look and run the show art-wise.

The game is *very* stylized; realistic rendering but in a weird setting. Need an art director with an expansive POV who isn't stuck on realism.

Please have any refs contact me at mj@methodgames.com

-MJ

DICE help?

MJ — Mon Jul 02, 2007 3:19 pm

Author: MJ

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 3:19 pm

I promise this is my last post of this type. A guy who came to my GDC talk actually created a synchronized slideshow:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6367535845332428775&hl=en

Most of this is the same as the DICE talk... however I went into much greater detail on the question of unions.

hello folks!

Langfield — Mon Jul 02, 2007 8:46 am

Author: Langfield

Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 8:46 am

Thanks for the welcome, and for your PM Rhianna, I have replied.

We have some strong competition in the UK now for Voice production, but I welcome this as it's good for the games at the end of the day.

I tend to work on a lot of games which are being localised into english (developer is often eastern european) and these have very low budgets, so it's difficult getting the best talent on board...I am hoping to get some work directly with developers this year with English as the first language as these will have much better budgets and scope to cast some real acting talent. Actors can only do so much with shoddy scripts though, and in this case I will certainly be reccomending a rewrite!

Thanks again and I'll certainly pop in here every week or so.

Posting jobs, or people qualifications

brianhook — Sat Jun 16, 2007 12:17 am

Author: brianhook

Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 12:17 am

Mark, as MJ says, we're pretty bandwidth limited. That said, what I would suggest is maybe posting an "Introducing Mark Deloura" post on the boards with a link to your homepage, etc. That way those browsing can find you and read a bit about you.

We're not really meant as a clearing house for contractors here, more like a watering hole with reciprocal links to contractor home pages =)

Finishing a milestone

Magnus Blikstad — Mon May 28, 2007 10:54 pm

Author: Magnus Blikstad

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 10:54 pm

I can think of a few things more "stress-relieving"...

Like having 4 deadlines on 4 different projects the same week like I did a couple of weeks ago.

Been sleeping a lot since then... mmm.