workgames.htm

3D游戏开发领域专家撰写的经典游戏开发启迪性文章之一

<H3><FONT COLOR=YELLOW><I>The Incredible Coolness of Workaholism</I></FONT></H3>

<P>Next time you're at a newsstand, pick up a copy of 
      <I>Fortune</I>, <I>Forbes</I> or any number of other big-business papers 
      and magazines.&nbsp; (Wear gloves, because that stuff can burn your 
      skin).&nbsp; One thing you'll notice is that every single article on the 
      software industry uses buzzwords like "fast-paced environment", "Jolt 
      Cola" and "competitive work ethic".&nbsp; What they mean is that everyone 
      there works harder than a Roman galley slave.&nbsp; And for some reason, 
      the writers seem to think it's the coolest thing in the world. 

<P>Apart from the fact that bosses who are workaholics demand the same 
      from their underlings, the main reason why the press has made 60-hour work 
      weeks "in" can be summed up in the following: 

<UL>
        <LI>Most business folk believe (rightly or wrongly) that the average joe 
        will consistently achieve more in 60 hours than in 40, and that if he 
        falls off the pace, he can always be replaced by someone who'll do 
        better. 
        <LI>Since the average joe is usually not paid extra for these 20 hours, 
        the additional production is free. 
        <LI>Free work makes rich folk get richer faster. 
        <LI>The press is owned by rich folk, who would like nothing more than if 
        their own employees (in and out of their press holdings) would just say: 
        "Gee, it seems so manly [or womanly] of all these computer geeks to 
        spend all this extra time at work instead of raising families or growing 
        bonzais; why don't I do the same?"
</UL>

<H3><FONT COLOR=YELLOW><I>In the Long Term, We'll All be Dead</I></FONT></H3>

<P>What makes it worse in our case is that, given the very 
      tight channel-to-market, the low royalties that development houses receive 
      on unit sales and the high cost of producing games, very few titles 
      actually make money.&nbsp; So, the typical life cycle of a game studio 
      looks a little like this: 

<UL>
        <LI>When you work at a start-up, money is always short, so salaries have 
        to be low and work weeks long, otherwise the product will never 
        ship.&nbsp; And when it does ship, in all likelihood, it won't break 
        even, and the studio will either shut down or be bought out.&nbsp; (The 
        dream scenario, of course, is to manage to make enough money to keep the 
        studio independent until the big break.&nbsp; These things have been 
        known to happen, but they are the exception.&nbsp; If you are the 
        insecure type who can't bear to change jobs, go look elsewhere.) 
        <LI>Now, the best case is that it will be bought out by a big game 
        publisher.&nbsp; However, big publishers have big overhead and lots of 
        titles, not all of which will break even, so even if your product makes 
        tons of money, not much (if any) of it will trickle down to the 
        production staff. 
        <LI>The worst case is that the studio will NOT be bought out by a game 
        publisher, but rather by some traditional media company thinking it 
        would be just too cool to get into this internet thingy.&nbsp; 
        Unfortunately, traditional media folk are baffled by the concept of 
        people under 40 making living wages, so the situation actually gets 
        worse, no matter how much money the games earn.
</UL>

<P>Compared to 
      games, a good programmer with a college degree can make 20%-50% more in 
      any other field of the software industry.&nbsp; True story: I make more as 
      an AI researcher (with no responsibility for anything but myself and my 
      own little projects) than I ever did as head of a game studio. 
      
<P>The bottom line: when you are in an industry where lots of young (i.e., 
      cheap) people want to work, like games, you always have downward pressure 
      on wages and upward pressure on workloads.&nbsp; That's the law of 
      capitalism.&nbsp; I didn't say it was a good law, but it's the law. 
      
<H3><FONT COLOR=YELLOW><I>Dilbert and Daikatana</I></FONT></H3>

<P>No, I am not 
      going to bash ION Storm.&nbsp; They have enough problems.&nbsp; What I 
      will say, though, is that being in the game industry does not shield you 
      from the realities of the corporate world. 

<P>I have worked in all kinds of companies, both in and out of the game 
      industry, from a one-person shop to a multi-billion dollar transnational, 
      in both the private and public sectors.&nbsp; And if there is one thing 
      that I can tell you, it is that you can have a boss who is a control 
      freak, a workaholic and/or a hateful s.o.b. wherever you go.&nbsp; I have 
      had to live with all of the above, and the fact that we were making 
      award-winning children's edutainment or PlayStation 3D platformers instead 
      of lunch pails didn't make it one damn bit better. 

<P>In fact, I contend (as did a guy whose name I forget at an online 
      developer's conference I attended about a year ago) that this industry is 
      a bozo magnet, because there is the potential for quick riches and no real 
      barriers to entry.&nbsp; To set up shop as a doctor or an engineer, you 
      must prove a certain level of competency, but anyone can proclaim 
      themselves experts in interactive software.&nbsp; I have seen big 
      media companies buy successful game studios and replace the guys who used 
      to run them by 42-year old bowling alley managers, just because the CEO 
      believed that they'd look "safer" than 27-year old artists at the next 
      shareholders' meetings.&nbsp; Use your imagination to figure out the 
      results. 

<P>Even if the boss is cool, the co-workers may not be.&nbsp; And even if 
      everyone is just dandy, the money may run out, and there may be layoffs. 

<P>A game company is a company.&nbsp; Keep that in mind. 

<P>And one more thing: corporate culture rarely changes, so if a company 
      sucks today, don't bother sticking around hoping it will get better on its 
      own.&nbsp; I mean, I was head of studio at one of my previous jobs, so I 
      was theoretically in as good a position to influence the work environment 
      as anyone could ever hope for.&nbsp; Didn't work.&nbsp; Unless you are in 
      a position to start a new shop and mold it into your ideal, or you somehow 
      stick to a job for 300 years, the company you go into is pretty much going 
      to be the company you leave.&nbsp; If it works for you, great.&nbsp; If it 
      doesn't, get out now and save yourself the aggravation. 

<H3><FONT COLOR=YELLOW><I>Are you depressed yet?</I></FONT></H3>

<P>The game 
      industry can be a great place to work.&nbsp; If you ever contribute to a 
      hit game, the emotional highs will be unbelievable, and you may never need 
      to worry about unemployment again.&nbsp; If you are the ambitious type, 
      you can get more responsibilities at a younger age than anywhere 
      else.&nbsp; If you are really good at what you do, no one will care where 
      (or sometimes if) you went to college.&nbsp; And, when all is said and 
      done, coding a 3D engine or drawing a snappy cartoon intro still beats 
      about 94.8765% of all the jobs in the Western World. 

<P>However, making fun and games isn't all fun and games.&nbsp; It's 
      serious work, harder than most. 

<P>Welcome to the unreal world.</P>

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