"It doesn't have to suck" - Mike Acton (Insomniac Games) artcle

JasonLavoie

Giving props to mr Pedro (Bitmap) for this link, but I figured it deserves to be re-posted here at polycount (unless it already has, if so, I'm sorry).

http://insomniacgames.com/blogcast/blog/mike_acton/152561295

Mike Acton has written this awesome and informative article addressing some topics / ideas that he thinks can help keep studios and the people working for them happy and productive. Definitely worth a read.

It's also interesting to learn about what other studios may be doing differently from yours, and how it has positively (or negatively) affected them because of it.

Anywho, I'd thought this would interest some, and thanks again to mr Pedro for sharing this.

I'm gonna dig deeper on other articles he has written and I'll share any that I think would be usefull

Justin Meisse

I will read this defiantly, shaking my fists in the air

JasonLavoie

Holy crap I've just noticed that My auto correct switches it to Defiantly... well shiii...

"definitely"

d1ver

It's good that someone gets it. I wish more people did.

And yeah Insomniac must be a great place to work at)

Jeff Parrott

Nice find Jason and Bitmap. This is a good read.

Xoliul

I wish I worked there They never got back to my application as shader artist.

StefanH

great read.

finish portfolio and definite apply!

lots of europeans working there?

Purplepaint

Great read, great find

@StefanH - My name is Stefan and the first letter in my last is H.. creepy:O

StefanH

haha aren't people called steven in canada?

It's also the first letter in my last >> Heinrich.

fmnoor

Here's a GDC talk that covers similiar ground: http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1012343/The-Belly-of-the-Whale

ebagg

Woah now that makes toooooooo much sense! I'll stick to the traditional studio that makes me feel like shit thank yew! >;D

Kwramm

great read! thanks for sharing!

JasonLavoie

It definitely brings up some awesome points, hopefully he writes some more in the near future.

aesir

First off, yes, awesome stuff, very cool that they give a shit about their employees etc we all know this and love insomniac for being awesome.

HOWEVER, it seems like they do an absurd amount of talking. Like... do people talk this much at their jobs? Constant one on ones and stuff? Seems excessive, but maybe it's just how he wrote it or how I took it.

Autocon

Defiantly a great read. He brings up a lot of great points for making a studio run great. At Naughty Dog we do a lot of similar things.

I will agree with Aesir that they do seem to do a lot of talking/management. Which hey I guess works for them so that's cool. It is quite a bit different here at Naughty Dog. We have no producers and really no managers. Its more of everyone manages themselves. Very little baby sitting people, more of you work on your stuff and make it fucking awesome. Its mainly you are working with your texture artist or your modeler and your designer the whole time. We have a big group screening of what everyone been up too about every 2months.

Still nice article.

TortillaChips

This article makes me think a bit more positively now, although he does say there are a lot of places that 'suck'.

We had to do a year group project to create a game and it was pretty toxic as he put it. I was hoping it was due to being in a student environment and not something that's mainstream. Still, I know now that I'd much prefer to just do work than be a leader.

JasonLavoie

I don't necessarily think its "baby sitting", I think they just make sure for the msot part (from the sounds of it) that everyone is happy, and if anyone has an opinion or something bugging them I'm sure because they are constantly in contact with higher ups, its probably easier for them to voice it without feeling worried.

But yuh, depending on how they go about it, it COULD be like baby sitting, but it sounds more like they just want to make sure everyone is on the same page and everyone is content.

Happier the studio = better the game? probably not the best case to put forth, but I think happier the studio and people, the more willing they are to put more effort and energy into the game which will most likely make it better in the long run.

Generally, it shows when a studio cares about their product when you play them I thinkz.

d1ver

JasonLavoie wrote: »

I don't necessarily think its "baby sitting", I think they just make sure for the msot part (from the sounds of it) that everyone is happy, and if anyone has an opinion or something bugging them I'm sure because they are constantly in contact with higher ups, its probably easier for them to voice it without feeling worried.

But yuh, depending on how they go about it, it COULD be like baby sitting, but it sounds more like they just want to make sure everyone is on the same page and everyone is content.

Happier the studio = better the game? probably not the best case to put forth, but I think happier the studio and people, the more willing they are to put more effort and energy into the game which will most likely make it better in the long run.

Generally, it shows when a studio cares about their product when you play them I thinkz.

R* San Diego with Read Dead Redemption and Troika with VtM: Bloodlines totally disillusioned me about this. Unfortunately. I consider them some of the best games ever but they were made in one hell of hard conditions for the employees.=( And I'm pretty sure I had more examples but I don't remember them right now.=(

So if something shows in a final product I'd say it's the effort, whether you squeeze it out of people till the last drop or not.

JasonLavoie

Yuh definatly, thats why I thought that saying happier people = better game is probably not the best way to approach this, but you are right... if they squeeze you hard enough they'll most likely push out a great game... but afterwards your employees are both bitter and soured by the experience which most likely means it's going to be harder to pump your people up for the next game.

low odor

"no producers and really no managers"

this place sounds like heaven

d1ver

JasonLavoie wrote: »

Yuh definatly, thats why I thought that saying happier people = better game is probably not the best way to approach this, but you are right... if they squeeze you hard enough they'll most likely push out a great game... but afterwards your employees are both bitter and soured by the experience which most likely means it's going to be harder to pump your people up for the next game.

I'm right there with you Jason. It's just that some don't need a next game. They've earned their money so just close the company and fire everyone. =(

JasonLavoie

very good point

Mark Dygert

Awesome read thanks for posting. I completely agree with most of what he said. Thanks for reposting.

I think it comes down to what kind of company do you want to have, one that prints money or a one hit wonder.

I'm not sure a company needs to sit down as much as they do and discuss things in a semi formal setting. We did that at one of the companies I worked at and just about everyone was thinking "oh shit what did I do, am I getting written up, whats with all the questions? Is this the part of the movie where you divulge you're an alien and I'm your next meal!?" That just never fostered the kind of comraderary you get by connecting naturally and just swinging by someones cube to show genuine interest in what they're doing. But I guess that can fall lax or might be too easy to play favorites.