Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Microsoft has a great way of describing a project behind schedule. They say it
'
s
“
I know because the first Microsoft Casino project was
exactly like that. We had too much work to do, but too little time to do it. There
are a few solutions to this problem, such as working more overtime or throwing bod-
ies at the problem. Each solution can work, but it can also have a dark side.
coming in hot and steep.
”
The Dreaded Crunch Mode
Working More Hours
It amazes me how many project managers choose to work their teams to death when
the project falls behind schedule.
—
84-Hour Workweeks at Origin
On my very first day at Origin Systems, October 22, 1990, I walked by a
whiteboard with an ominous message written in block letters:
“
84-Hour
Workweeks
With simple division, I realized that 84 divided
by 7 is 12. Twelve hours per day, seven days per week was Origin
—
MANDATORY.
”
s solution
for shipping Savage Empire for the Christmas 1990 season. To the Savage
Empire team
'
'
s credit, they shipped the game a few tortured weeks later, and
this
“
success
”
translated into more mandatory overtime to solve problems.
We were all young, mostly in our late 20s, and the amount of overtime that
was worked was bragged about. There was a company award called the
“
100
Club,
which was awarded to anyone who worked more than 100 hours in a
single workweek. At Origin, this club wasn
”
'
t very exclusive.
Welcome to Planet Moon; We
'
re in Crunch
On my first day at Planet Moon,
the project
lead for Brain Quest said
“
This was after the song and
dance during the interview about how crunch is rare and a thing of the past.
Welcome to Planet Moon, we
'
re in crunch.
”
All things considered, the crunch wasn
'
t too bad until the very end of the
project. We would do one week of 10
12 hour days followed by a week of
8-hour days, which was pretty manageable. Once alpha started to approach,
all bets were off. By the end of the project, leaving the office at 2 a.m. was
considered an early night, with 4 a.m. being much more common. That was
the project that ushered me into the
-
“
100 Club.
”
Humans are resilient creatures, and under extraordinary circumstances they can go
long stretches with very little sleep or a break from work. During World War II,
Winston Churchill was famous for taking little catnaps in the Cabinet War Rooms
lasting just a cumulative few hours per day, and he did this for years. Mr. Churchill
had good reason to do this. He was trying to lead England in a war against Nazi
