The Games Game September 2006

Limited Options for the Lone Wolf (September 2006)

Dear Tom,

I'm passionate about working in games, but I don't like to work with other people. I don't like people telling me what to do and telling me when I have to be at work, and I don't like letting other people get the juiciest assignments. I'm an idea man, not a programmer or artist. So how do I go about this, what advice do you have for my special case?

Da Man

Dear Da,

As I was reading your letter, I thought I had an answer for you, but then you dropped a bomb with your third sentence.

Throughout your first two sentences I was thinking, "Da can make it as a lone wolf type, since nobody would ever hire him." Why was I thinking that? Because one of the most important characteristics for anyone aspiring to work in games is to be able to get along with others, to work cooperatively.

I was also thinking, "but of course, he needs to be a talented programmer, at the very least, in order to become a successful lone wolf." And your third sentence blew that up real quick. If you can't prototype and program your own ideas, and you don't get along with other people, then your options are very limited indeed.

Option 1 - Be Very Wealthy

If you have enough money, you can just hire a bunch of talented and experienced peons to execute your design ideas into a working product. But you're going to have a lot of trouble along the way, because you don't like to work with other people, thus when they make something that you think isn't quite what you wanted, you'll yell at them or refuse to pay them, and after a while they'll quit. Then you'll have to find other people, and they might have to start all over again from scratch. And of course, since you don't care about other people, as you get new ideas you want to implement in your game, you'll order them to implement those. Real game developers are very familiar with this sort of behavior - it's called "feature creep." And guess who the creep is that's asking for new features constantly? You.

There are other problems you'll run into, too, even if you're as wealthy as Bill Gates. When the game is finished (if you ever manage to get it finished despite your misanthropist nature), you'll have difficulty getting it published, especially if your game is to run on a mainstream console. Because you don't like other people, you'll have a difficult time finding a publishing company to buy - and you'll have a difficult time getting a third party publishing contract with the mainstream platform holders. And even if you do manage to found your own publishing company, you'll have a difficult time selling it to the big chains and distributors. Success in the higher echelons of the business world are especially dependent on human relationships. And you don't do those.

Option 2 - ...

Gee, when I started writing this, I thought I had another option for you besides "get stinkin' rich." But now I'm suffering from a horrible form of writer's block. Here, how about this one: "get an advanced degree from the Hogwart's School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry. Cast the proper magickal spell, and your game(s) are created just like that!"

Well, that, or try to be less of a lone wolf type!

I guess that's all I've got. Good luck, Da.

Tom Sloper's game biz career began over twenty years ago at Western Technologies, where he designed LCD games and the Vectrex games "Spike" and "Bedlam". There followed stints at Sega Enterprises, Rudell Design, Atari Corporation, and Activision. In 12 years at Activision, Tom produced 36 unique game titles (plus innumerable ports and localizations), designed four games, and won five awards. Tom worked for several months in Activision's Japan operation, in Tokyo. He is perhaps best known for designing, managing and producing Activision's "Shanghai" line. He is currently consulting, writing, speaking, teaching, and developing original games. Find out more at Sloperama.

© 2006 Tom Sloper. All rights reserved.