I wonder if I made the wrong move by leaving JAMDAT...

[Nev]

I had a respected position and a good paycheck and left to work for peanuts for awhile with a friend to try to develop an independent game. The game's coming along great on my end...but...

He and our artists aren't really working on it very hard, and we just agreed to push back our done date by a month. I know delays are common for game developers, but I'm a little bit angry, because I'm working my ass off, and I really, really want this to be successful...maybe more than I have ever wanted anything in my life. I will have my part done by the initial deadline, but I don't even know if they'll make theirs by the new, month-later deadline...

This makes me angry. And sad. But I'll hold out hope. It would be so awesome to really, successfully found a game company.

[Flip]

I really hope your game works out well, too. If your friend isnt pulling his weight you may want to say something...

Get pissed, it is your right. Say something like, "Dude, we set deadlines so that we can hit them, if you had some difficulties hitting this one than fine, but if you fuck up next month then we will seriously need to rethink things."

If you set a fire under his ass then maybe things will get accomplished. Granted, speaking my mind when something upset me is why i am about to take a new job, so maybe i dont know what the hell i am talking about, or maybe i am CEO material and will grow into the position with time.

[Ishamael]

It's tough working on projects with other people who don't share you level of dedication. If your partners don't share your level of commitment and you don't think the project will ever finish if they don't increase their input, then you may be better off doing something smaller on your own. However be sure that they *really* aren't doing their share and it's not you misinterpreting their situation. Nothing is worse than being accused of slacking when you're working hard.

[Kupek]

This isn't a class project; this is how you put food on the table. If you think they're not putting in their full share, then you need to talk to them about it. Are they pushing the deadline back by a month because that's the time they need, or just to push away their problems for a month? Do they have other jobs? I think you need to say something about it because this is the sort of stuff that when left unsaid, festers and reappears later in ugly ways. It's a small company, and you're working with a friend. You should be able to sort these things out.

However, sometimes I think you react dramatically to things that don't warrant it, so maybe sit on it for a few days, then reevaluate.

Oh, and Flip, you were fired because your on-site boss was a bitch who cares about rules for the sake of rules and your firm valued a client more than an employee. I probably would have handled the situation as you described it.

[Nev]

I have talked to him already about it, and he's going to try to get the artists to step up a bit.

You're right that I do tend to overreact a bit. Since we're self-funded (my boss is doing contract work to pay me enough to live on until the game is done, and if it's sold I'll get a share of gross or royalties, and the artists are similarly working for a small advance plus gross/royalty share), a month's delay isn't a huge deal. We're not accountable to a publisher for late milestones, so the only one that's really irked is me, as I'm just being paid far less than I was at JAMDAT and it meant a lot to me personally to be able to plan milestones effectively.

However, I just worry that none of them really understand how much work games are. A game is almost always a horrendous amount of work, no matter what, and if he wants to delay it past the extra month we're going to have to have a very serious talk.

[Flip]

In all honesty, it sounded like you had a sweet thing going at JAMDAT and i'm surprised you didnt keep your job and then tried and work on this thing on the side. That is really how a lot of things got started.

[Nev]

Could never have done. I'd never have the time to make a game if I had a full-time job. I'm working like 50-60 hours a week on this thing as it stands.

[Nev]

<a href="http://www.machall.com/index.php?strip_id=289">This</a> isn't the answer. But it's funny anyway.