Looooooooooong weekend
Whew... don't get me wrong, I absolutely *love* working as a game developer. But sometimes the work schedule is really harsh, especially around deadlines.
Last friday, we were scheduled to complete a milestone for the new game we're working on. We're still fairly early in the project, and this was a 'Green Light' milestone (i.e. give the publisher an early playable version of the game so that the executives can decide whether the project is worth their continued investment).
Usually, a milestone deadline requires a few extra hours at work. But since this was a green-light milestone, crashes/failures were not an option, and we had to make the game look as nice as possible for this early stage of development. As a result, I was here at work until 1:00 AM on thursday night/friday morning, and then 5:00 AM the following night, as our team checked, fixed, re-checked, and re-checked the game again to make sure that it would impress the publisher.
I don't mind staying late hours once in a while. It's part of the gaming industry. But the thing that kills me is how it affects my wife & children. When I'm here late at night, I'm not *there* helping with homework, dinner, bedtime, diaper changes, etc., and Kimberly has to carry that burden alone.
Some good news, though: Kimberly and Carter are pretty much over their colds, and both are sleeping pretty well at night. The cut in Nathan's mouth is healing nicely, and he's back to acting like a very typical bouncy 5-year-old boy despite having a stitch on his inner lip.
My parents and my sister-in-law will be coming into town next weekend, as we're preparing to present Carter at church and have him blessed. Lots of house cleaning and preparation to do...
Last friday, we were scheduled to complete a milestone for the new game we're working on. We're still fairly early in the project, and this was a 'Green Light' milestone (i.e. give the publisher an early playable version of the game so that the executives can decide whether the project is worth their continued investment).
Usually, a milestone deadline requires a few extra hours at work. But since this was a green-light milestone, crashes/failures were not an option, and we had to make the game look as nice as possible for this early stage of development. As a result, I was here at work until 1:00 AM on thursday night/friday morning, and then 5:00 AM the following night, as our team checked, fixed, re-checked, and re-checked the game again to make sure that it would impress the publisher.
I don't mind staying late hours once in a while. It's part of the gaming industry. But the thing that kills me is how it affects my wife & children. When I'm here late at night, I'm not *there* helping with homework, dinner, bedtime, diaper changes, etc., and Kimberly has to carry that burden alone.
Some good news, though: Kimberly and Carter are pretty much over their colds, and both are sleeping pretty well at night. The cut in Nathan's mouth is healing nicely, and he's back to acting like a very typical bouncy 5-year-old boy despite having a stitch on his inner lip.
My parents and my sister-in-law will be coming into town next weekend, as we're preparing to present Carter at church and have him blessed. Lots of house cleaning and preparation to do...