Interview 6
Name: Neil Atkinson
Role: Computer games software developer
Website: http://enaysoft.co.uk
What are the most notable software related projects that you've worked on?
Sadly being under NDA I can't disclose that information. But I can say that some of them are household names, so to speak.
What type of technology and software development have you been involved with?
I've worked on PC, game console and mobile platforms. These days it is mostly mobile platforms, sadly.
What are the best types of project to work on?
The best type of projects are ones that don't involve free to play systems.
There is a current trend in the games industry for games to use the free to play business model, which isn't actually free at all because the business model relies on persuading people to pay as possible through the game design mechanics. This takes the emphasis away from creating a product that's meant to be great for the user and instead places the main emphasis on creating a product designed to persuade the user to pay as much money as possible at every opportunity. Everyone stands to lose on these games, with the customer not getting a game that is truly entertaining, and the software developers standing to lose from development and customer support costs if the game's design isn't persuasive enough for people to make enough in app purchases.
What software methodologies do you recommend using for software projects?
Well, this is quite a vague question, but the best is to plan your game and then stick to it and not keep adding things or changing things as progress advances, otherwise the project is certainly not going to be done on time.
What signs have you learnt that indicate a project may be problematic?
Usually when the project starts and there isn't a whole lot to do at the beginning. Often nobody is entirely sure what needs to be done and when a prototype is made, it is changed drastically but instead of starting the project again from scratch, the game is build on top of the prototype, this almost always causes problems throughout the entire development cycle. Prototypes and main game systems should be separate.
What strategies do you use to avoid problems and/or keep them under control?
For me personally time is always an issue. Not that I don't have enough time to do my work, (although that it is usually a problem) but usually that I never know when I might be requested to go outside somewhere to a meeting, or similar. So if I schedule some work for 2 days, it might be 2 days of solid work. Or 2 days of haphazard work between meetings.
Usually I tend to store time, in that if I do finish something early, I just move onto the next part without informing anyone, so that if I do have to go to a meeting and lose some time, it doesn't matter because I am already ahead in my work. If I do happen to announce I have finished early, usually more work just gets given to me.
How do you manage your workflow?
As best I can. Things change all the time, what is important today will not be important tomorrow. As a rule of thumb I try to progress with my work in chunks so I can cleanly leave something and then come back to it later. This also helps if someone is assigned to help me, that way I can easily give them stuff to do without any interruption to my own work. (Usually)
Do you have any strategy for managing the amount of incoming work you have – i.e. to avoid not having any work and to avoid having too much work?
It depends on the project, usually what you do is decided by the planner. If you're the planner as well as the programmer then life is a lot easier.
Sometimes it's a good idea to harass the planners and ask them if what they want is absolutely and 100% what they are asking for. There have been times when I have made something and then they want everything changing. And as you'd expect they want what they requested of me to be done in the same amount of time, thus the work time I just wasted isn't taken into account.
What factors do you use to judge credibility of professionals you speak to?
The way they talk to you. Often programmers are considered to be lazy, this is usually because planners seem to think that work is equal to results. Therefore if you spend a few days making some game engine component, just because you can't show it to them, they assume you haven't been doing anything useful. Credible professionals in my opinion treat their staff as equal, and tend to know how long things will take. If a planner asks you how long it will take you to change a line of text in a game, it's very difficult to take that person seriously when they bark orders at you, for something that isn't your fault.
What is your definition of a brand?
A product that is very (or quite) well known.
How has the value of a brand affected the projects you have worked on?
Oh yes definitely. Which can work both ways. If a game is popular, you know it's going to sell before you even start. This can lead to having extra time longer than usual to have it done well, however certain people might not expect to have to put much effort into the game to make it good, after all it's going to sell by the name right? This is why some high brand name games given to new studios can mess it up.
Are you finding that people's expectations for what is achievable with apps and web apps are growing? Has this caused problems in your projects?
Personally, people are expecting to get awesome apps and for free, and that is slowly becoming the norm. For me, I find this particularly depressing because it means higher risk for software development studios and the need to design apps that focus on providing an incentive to continuously pay rather than to provide features that actually useful and/or entertaining.
In your opinion, what differentiates software, apps, web apps and websites?
Erm, I have no idea. Their usage? :)
What makes a good app?
Does what it says on the tin.
Where do you think the industry is heading?
The FTP bottleneck is still in full flow, but seems to be slowly lifting thanks to the new console boost. If FTP fades away, which I hope it does, I feel like things will get back to normal. There is only so much time games can be given away in their millions and then make just enough to sustain a company. It's more like gambling that it has ever been.
However, signs also indicate that the market can be split into a few segments when looking at free to play. Whereas the vast majority of gamers can be classed as casual gamers who are attracted to the free to play model common on mobile platforms such as Apple's iOS and Google's Android, hardcore gamers are still attracted to AAA games on platforms such as Sony's Playstation and Nintendo that the traditional upfront game purchase model – with some of these games also taking an influence from casual games by offering downloadable content (DLC) that are offered as a form of in app purchase.
What are the biggest differences between being employed by someone and being employed by yourself?
Job security is a big one. Also, if a problem happens, the company takes the fall. I wouldn't want to be independent anymore. There is no way I would want to manage a hit driven business myself. I was an independent myself for a few years and despite the freedom, I got lonely. Working on other people's games isn't so bad. I get to meet too and talk to similar people. And I now have job security and savings that I didn't currently have. If I made a hit game being independent, for sure I'd be rich. But I'd probably have died of a heart attack from stress before getting there.
