Working Nowhere and Everywhere: The Zen of Running A Virtual Studio

Working Nowhere and Everywhere The Zen of Running a Virtual Studio Christopher Natsuume Creative Director, Boomzap Entertainment

Who Are You, and Why Should I Care?
Chris Natsuume: In game industry since 1991
Over a dozen products shipped
Millions of units sold
In over a dozen languages
From companies around the world
Boomzap: Casual game developer since 2005
Scrappy, profitable little indie studio
8 games shipped so far
Currently developing for PC, Mac, and Wii
Virtual office, worldwide development
Key developer in Southeast Asia.

Quick Boomzap Snapshot

Where/Who is Boomzap? USA Outsource Sound USA Accounting Philippines Outsource Art Outsourcing Partners Philippines Developers Japan Developers Malaysia Developers Singapore Developers USA Legal Singapore Outsource Art

Why Run a Virtual Office?
Access to the Best Developers in the World
Lower Labor Costs + COLA = Happy Developers
Lower Support/Overhead = Higher Salaries
Efficient Use of Time
Work/Life Balance + $ = Loyalty & Dedication
I am a very happy man

Tip #1: We Never Track Hours
I don’t care how many hours you worked.
I care how much you got done.
I *hope* they are working less than 40 hours.
The “reward for crappy work” paradox
Reinventing the Employee Agreement
Quality & Quantity = Constants
Time = Variable

Tip #2: Daily Builds, Reports, and Testing
We have a new, working daily build. Every day
Breaking that build is capital crime
Work not in build = Work not done
Our publishers get this build. Every day.
Our staff submits a daily report. Every day.
Failure to submit a report is a capital crime
Basecamp – Each week is a new message
Reports go to the whole team
Samples are non-optional
Daily testing of the build. Every Day.
2-3 times a week, online team testing
MSN, Skype, and ingame chat
Publishers welcome

Tip #3: Full Time + Project Specialists
Some work is best left inhouse
Game programming
Prototyping art and effects
Project management
Some work is best done by specialists
Sound and Music
Bulk Art Assets
Middleware-friendly code
Concept Art
Develop a network of outsource partners
Don’t outsource to find cheaper staff
Outsource to have ‘easy-fire” staff

Tip #4: Hire for Virtual Character
Hire for demonstrated self-management
Small studio experience
*completed* home projects – not just games!
Interview and test for virtual work character
Online interviews – interview like you work
Involve other staff in online interviews
Testing and Probation periods
Some great people just can’t work like this
Get used to letting them go.

Tip #5: A “confederation” of teams
“ How do you get everyone on the team to do *exactly* what you want?”
I don’t. In fact, I prefer they don’t.
Freedom + Power = Responsibility
Also = Happy staff and worried managers
Learn to accept good work you didn’t expect
Now they can actually *exceed* my expectations
And now they are truly empowered
Delegation is not just delegation of work
It is the delegation of responsibility and power
It is also the delegation of the ability to fail
“ Is this what I wanted” is not the question
“ Is this something the customer would love” is.

Tip #6: Managers must actually do things
Everyone contributes in an empowered, confederated development structure:
Asset and code production
Testing and real, actionable feedback
Design people can actually use
The daily reports and daily builds make it impossible to hide non-contributors.
When you are judged by your output, you produce
Those who don’t do lose influence/power quickly
Managers in this structure are forced to work
Managers who work understand their workers
They remain in tune with challenges and issues
This is really, really hard on managers

Tip #7: PowerPoint, Prototypes & Photoshop
Nobody reads design documents.
Most studios solve w/meetings. Lots of them
We can’t do that.
Our design docs are PowerPoint walkthroughs
Lots of Google images and game references
All major screens mocked up
Gameplay described in notes
We Prototype as soon as possible
Ugly grey boxes and cutouts from PowerPoint
Online working and 10+ daily iterations
Then we Photoshop what we want it to look like
This is usually enough to get publishers hot and wet
If not, it’s the quickest way to a better demo

Tip #8: Producer Programmers
Designers make lousy producers.
I know, I am one.
Programmers make great Producers
They actually know how to architect a project
They can make much better estimations of work
On a daily basis, they are responsible for the build
So they are forced by definition to know who is doing what
When things are going to be early/late/broke… they’ll know first
When things are bad “bang for the buck”… they’ll know first
Designers are humbled and strengthened in this model
Not being god is good for them – and for the design
They produce more, and better assets
They get technically proficient very fast
Useless designers are “found out” very quickly
Your artists will love you for this. Trust me.

Questions? Christopher Natsuume Creative Director Boomzap Entertainment [email_address]

Bonus Tips – 10 Tools for Virtual Studios
Basecamp
CVS (or another online source control solution)
MSN Messenger
Skype In/Out
Earth Class Mail
MyFax
Paypal
HSBCnet
Your Mailing List Provider
Portable Equipment

Working Nowhere and Everywhere: The Zen of Running A Virtual Studio

by gabusch on Nov 16, 2009

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