The game I’ve been working on for the past year and a bit has finally reached the end of its extended art deadline. The end of a project is always such a strange thing; you have months of ever-increasing panic when you try to meet all the milestones and mini-deadlines. Then you have weeks of working late into the night, through the weekend, with such a huge list of things to be done that you know you can never possibly finish them all. Everything else (including blogging) goes out the window. Then, all of a sudden, it’s over. You sit at your desk one morning and there’s nothing more for you to do. The game isn’t actually finished, there are all sorts of bugs to be fixed, testing to be carried out, marketing and packaging and translations. But the animation part, the part I’m involved in, is done and now I feel like Wil E Coyote in the Looney Toons cartoons: still running like the clappers even though he’s gone off the cliff.
I can’t say on the blog the name of the game yet since it won’t be out until around October and this industry is very protective about these things. I am proud of the animation I did on it. Game animation is quick and dirty compared to the beautifully crafted work done in film animation but I tried to make the characters look alive and as if they were actually thinking about what they were doing which is something that is often lost in the rush to get a game out. I’m looking forward to seeing the final product.
So, now, I guess I’d better go find some more work! Anyone need an animator?
4 replies on “Deadline”
What a cool job!
Wow, congratualtions on completing your contract. and yes it does feel strange after we finish up so much pressure andcertain situations doesn’t it? it sounds like you ahve a really amazing job…and a great life.
cheers
Candy
So that’s what you’ve been up to. I was wondering.
It’s a pity there can’t be a controlled leak: where the company teases its potential customers with dribbles of info about the coming product.
Blogging is a useful advertising tool.
Welcome Candy and Goddess. 🙂
Good point Omani but it’ll be awhile before games companies spill their secrets; they’re more close-lipped than film companies. There are a couple of enlightened marketing departments who have cottoned on to the potential for creating a buzz about a game. Even saw one that had a blog. That is very unusual though, especially when you have so many games tied to movies so they’re doubly cautious.