Interview 3

Name: Jake Birkett

Role: Programmer, owner and founder of Grey Alien Games

Website: http://www.greyaliengames.com

Twitter: @GreyAlien

What are the most notable software related projects that you've worked on?

Back in 2007 I programmed Fairway Solitaire for PC/Mac for Big Fish Games as a contractor and it was very popular. I've made many games over the years and my last hit was Spooky Bonus, a Halloween-themed match-3 game that I shopped in 2013. I'm hoping that my new game, Regency Solitaire, will also be notable :-) I was also part of a team that made My Tribe (a Facebook game) back in 2010 and part of another team that made Eets Munchies (it was in a Humble Bundle and is on Steam), a sequel to Klei Entertainment's original game, Eets.

Before I got into making games in 2005 I spent 9 years making business software for bookshops. At one point the system I designed was the no.1 bookshop system for Windows in the UK and it's still running in places like the Houses of Parliament!

What type of technology and software development have you been involved with?

The bookshop software I made was a multi-user, multi-site, real-time, server/client system called Merlio. It allowed bookshops to run a computerized till system with a barcode scanner and take customer orders and do searches and so on. Then the back office could see the sales live and place supplier orders and receive deliveries onto the system etc. It was pretty vast and complex. We used Delphi to code it.

I've also programmed a game engine called the BlitzMax Game Framework which was on sale for a while until it got bought by Big Fish Games in 2009. I've made a couple more game engines since in different languages but for my own use.

I've shipped 9 commercial downloadable casual games for PC/Mac, ported Titan Attacks to mobile for Puppy Games, overseen several mobile (and console) ports of my games, and made a bunch of free games (both downloadable and online), plus acted as a team member/consultant on some other projects.

What are the best types of project to work on?

Making money from games is *hard*. A lot of programmers find it easier to get a steady job making business software. However, I do find making games very fulfilling and the best projects have been my own IP. I've tracked the revenue from all my projects and I earn the most from my own IP and it's the most fun, so there's little point in doing anything else!

What software methodologies do you recommend using for software projects?

I don't know any formal terms for methodologies as I haven't been trained in them nor researched them. Basically though, I do one of two things: 1) If it's a casual game within a known genre, I'm able to plan out everything in advance in a giant spreadsheet and then execute with only minor plan changes required along the way. I track my progress and reduce scope if need be. 2) if it's a gamejam game (a minigame), I just get coding straight away (make a prototype) to find out what is fun and expand upon the game from there. At some point a To Do list starts to form to keep me on track.

Mostly I work solo so I don't do "Agile development" or anything like that, though I do set myself various milestones and targets. I've shipped multiple seasonal games on time, so I must be getting something right.

What signs have you learnt that indicate a project may be problematic?

Well I think a project can be problematic in several ways: One obvious way is that it's running over budget (I agree fixed prices with artists at the start to avoid that), or over time (I make estimates for all my tasks left to complete and can map that onto realtime to see if I'm on track). Another way is that I may not be motivated to work on a project. Because I work at home and am my own boss, I can easily distract myself if I don't feel like working. I've learned over the years to pick projects that I really want to work on otherwise my motivation suffers badly and that has a big knock on effect to the schedule of course.

What strategies do you use to avoid problems and/or keep them under control?

Well I've kind of answered this in the last question. I make a spreadsheet of all remaining tasks and assign then a time estimate and then keep it updated. I even log my hours on each task to see if my estimates are any good. For my last project I took 50% longer than my estimates so had to descope a few things. As for motivation, I just try to pick projects that are my own IP and where I'm not beholden to anyone else as for some reason that stresses me out.

How do you manage your workflow?

Because I have a giant list of tasks to do, there's always something to do. Depending on what mood I'm in, I may tackle a large complex task (which I then break down into bitesized chunks so that I can feel motivated about my progress) or I pick an easy small task or some kind of polish that has an immediate effect in the game. Basically I just use spreadsheets. I'm sure there are great project management tools out there (I used a few when working at Big Fish Games and with Klei) but I'm personally happy with Excel.

Also, looking at my logs I can see that I clearly go through peaks and troughs of productivity. Not just "the dip" after a project is started but more like monthly oscillations. I wish I didn't, but I do. This is something I'm constantly looking to improve. I've been using RescueTime recently to keep an eye on my productivity and time spent on social media. It's pretty cool, I recommend it.

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?

I've found that I prefer to work on a single project at a time so that I can control the flow of work myself. At times in the past I've been working on more than one project (often one of the projects is my own and the other is for someone else), but have found that stressful and task swapping can lead to a lack of productivity.

I've also decided not to make seasonal games any more as they imposed a huge looming immovable deadline. My last game was non-seasonal, but I did end up spending longer working on it than I'd have liked...

There's never nothing for me to do. Sometimes I slack off and sometimes I crunch.

What factors do you use to judge credibility of professionals you speak to?

Have they shipped games and are they good games? Somebody was giving me advice today on Twitter but they've never shipped a game, so I have to take that with a pinch of salt. They might be right, but it's all "in theory" to them at the moment. When the proverbial hits the fan then maybe they'll have a better idea of what it's really like. Also any fool can ship a crappy mobile game, so game quality is definitely a factor for me as to if I think of someone as "professional" - plus they should be full-time and trying to make a living from it, not a hobbyist giving irrelevant advice. That probably sounds a bit harsh, but tough.

What is your definition of a brand?

I don't think I've got a smart answer to this but in my case it's the type of games I've been making with my trademark care and attention to detail + a bit of humor. Also I use the same logo and sound on the splash screen and on my website/Facebook and I'm called @greyalien on Twitter etc. I definitely have casual gamer fans who say they love my games and have bought every single one, so something must be going on with regards to brand...

In fact on my wall I have a kinda short list of core values for my company and no.1 is: "Build the Grey Alien Games brand and fan base."

How has the value of a brand affected the projects you have worked on?

Well, when I made Fairway Solitaire for Big Fish Games (I worked with one of their designers and a contract artist they provided), they promoted it on their site and their brand is pretty huge in casual games, so that had a big effect. Years later people still remember that game and mention it.

I haven't made any games for like "brands" like some people might make a Hasbro game or something (though I have been offered work like that several times and turned it down.)

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?

This isn't really my area as I make games. However, I have heard clueless customers say things like they think it only takes a couple of days to make a decent game, or maybe a week at the most, whereas the reality is very different of course. Also these days apps like Unity have allowed many more people to make games due to the reduction in specialist skills required (e.g. C++), and whilst that's great, it also means there are more people competing for the same slice of the digital entertainment pie.

In your opinion, what differentiates software, apps, web apps and websites?

I'd say that software runs on desktop machines, apps on mobile, and web apps on websites that do something e.g. project management software, and websites are more like blogs/news etc. That's how I think of it. I kinda dislike apps being used for desktop applications, because I'm snobbish.

What makes a good app?

Does it do what it says it will do? Does it do it well? Does it have a good UX (user experience design)? Is it stable/reliable? Things like that I guess.

Where do you think the industry is heading?

In terms of the game industry, I think that a lot of indie devs will crash and burn soon as the market cannot support so many of them, and also customers are getting a bit jaded with crappy games or games that just plain don't deliver such as Early Access or Kickstarter cons. Many customers are getting fed up of Free to Play (F2P) games, so there may be a big backlash against that business model, but then again, F2P keeps evolving so I guess it'll be around in some form or another. I hope that I can ride it out and keep going with paid games for a good while yet.

What are the biggest differences between being employed by someone and being employed by yourself?

Well, I could probably make a whole blog post about this (and may well have already done so).

Motivation can be an issue if you are your own boss as there's no one to crack the whip (if you aren't doing client work). However, the freedoms it affords are great. I get to take time off whenever I want and go for a walk with my wife or play the guitar, or hang out with my kids (wanting to not be away from my kids so much was a big factor in me going indie in the first place). I can choose exactly what I want to work on, but then I have to make it work - I'm wholly responsible for my own success. There's no safety net of a salary, or paid vacation/sickness, or pension/medical insurance - so if people find that worrisome, working for yourself might be a bit scary.

How do you detect people who may waste your time and how do you deal with them?

Haha, is this question meta? Well hopefully your book will come out and Ill get a mention, though what benefit it may have to me, I'm not sure (just being honest here). But I enjoyed answering the questions and think they'd make a good blog post (which DOES boost my brand and so on).

Well people try to waste my time in so many different ways. For a start there's endless spam from people claiming they can optimize my website, or get me reviews/chart position on mobile, or sell me some kind of monetization service I don't want. These are all insta-binned by me when they appear in my inbox. Then there's the people with a "great idea", who I just shut down pretty quickly as I've got so many of my own I'd never get them all done in 1000 lifetimes. Then there's people who want my advice. I normally offer this because I enjoy it I guess and it sometimes makes me take stock of things as I think through my answers. But sometimes some people keep asking questions and my replies just get shorter.

The other big potential time waste is people coming to me who want me to work on this project or that. Perhaps I should be grateful for such offers but normally they don't appreciate that I'm already doing fine running my own business making my own games and that they'd have to bring something pretty spectacular to the table for me to consider it. If anyone comes to me with a profit share idea, then that's out the door immediately, I need cold hard cash or I won't even consider it. Profit share might be fine if I was a noob, but I'm not and I have a family to feed. I can't rely on someone else doing a great job selling the product, especially if they don't have much at stake.

One of the most useful things I've learned in business over the years is that saying "No" is OK, in fact it's wise. Most things that sound to good to be true are just that, and you can't take on board everything that comes your way, you have to pick and choose the best things for you and your business.