Gaming Mercenaries

Friction costs and the hidden hell of contractors

markdeloura — Wed Feb 04, 2009 1:55 am

Author: markdeloura

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 1:55 am

Hang in there Brian!
It's a weird climate to be doing consulting in, that's for sure. Caution abounds...

Health insurance

markdeloura — Wed Feb 04, 2009 1:52 am

Author: markdeloura

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 1:52 am

IGDA Health Insurance - no movement that I'm aware of. You heard anything MJ?

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.

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 =)

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.