What to do if you've taken on an impossible task?
And you only have 2 weeks before a prototype for said task is being assessed?
Is it better to have a go at doing it all, or just focus on one bit and make that super awesome?
I think I'm screwed :poly122:
Is it better to have a go at doing it all, or just focus on one bit and make that super awesome?
I think I'm screwed :poly122:
Replies
hard to give a specific answer since we dont know exactly what ur working on but its seems ur bound to a nda
Protos are just for fleshing out ideas after all.
:P
Yeah...a little vague...details would help.
Yea so its an environment, but its a huge freakin' environment. With lots of distinguishing features. It's the first time I've taken on something of this scale and it's totally overwhelming.
I know that I need to just be chipping away at it and it will come to me, but I feel such a weight of pressure that I've totally dried up and can't get myself going.
P.S. there's a bunch of awesome WIP block outs in the Unearthly Contest Thread
Now that you're screwed lets get some specifics.
- Game ready assets or rendering?
- Final assets or will clay renders work?
- What are the objects? Have any concepts or real world photo ref?
- How close do you get to them and will you see them from one angle or multiple?
- Are you responsible for lighting?
The more you procrastinate, wait the more you'll have to do at the end.
A week before the deadline start dropping hints about how the deadline is really tight and it's gonna be hard to make it on time.
Have something to show the day before the deadline, say you've been working round the clock, and ask if you can get a little bit more time.
or.. you could always pray to your entity of choice, stock up on Red Bull and hope for the best.
Yeah communication is key, as soon as you think you're in danger of not meeting the deadline, you need to let someone know. Knowing a couple weeks in advanced, things can be worked out, getting told you're not going to make the deadline a day before it is a huge mess and could get you fired.
Work with your manager/lead and try to come up with a plan, figure out what is priority to be done for the deadline, do that work first and work down from there. With something as complex as a full environment, there are going to be areas that are much more important, so prioritizing is the first step.
If this is a situation where you've had a lot of time but haven't gotten it done, and now its crunch time and you need to show results, you're in a hard spot and pretty much just need to find a way to get the work done, if this is a case of just recently taking on a large amount of work, realizing as you get into it that it is much more work than you thought, you should be able to work with management on it and come up with a plan.
Heh, before I read this response I actually had a quick chat with my supervisor just to explain what's happening and how I'm feeling. Luckily they were sympathetic to my plight and offered some sound advice. Which made me feel a little better at least.
Also thanks for all the tips so far. I really appreciate it.
I'm trying to stay focused on what actually needs doing and planning the best way for it to happen. I still think there are going to be quite a few late nights but hopefully, with some hard work I can pull through and deliver the goods. Definitely some tough lessons to be learned from this.
Dunno what kind of engine you're working with, but some decent decals can cover a ton of ground really quickly.
Start with the biggest objects you'll be repeating the most.
Get some good lighting and skybox in, most bang for your buck with a time constraint
Good luck man.
Also keep in mind, we are not miracle workers. If a task is too big, or grossly over-scheduled then you, as the person carrying out the task, and your supervisor, as the one who dealt it out, should talk about it. If you agreed to it out of naivety consider this a lesson learned.
If you're not going to make it at all after breaking it down you need to tell your lead what you CAN do. Maybe that's enough. Maybe they'll get you some help. Maybe nothing changes in which case you've lost nothing by telling them.
And also a little crying.
I really feel a lot better about it now. Just talking about it helped to ease the pressure. I've actually managed to get some good stuff done tonight, and the more I think about it the more confident I feel about being able to do a competent job.
Just got to keep chipping away at this beast of a project.
10 hours of quality work in a day is better than 20 hours when you're sick of staring at the screen. You get slow, sloppy and make mistakes that way. Save the major crunch/all nighters for near the end if you really need to.
i know what you are going through....even if it's something i've experienced outside of "work"....that initial "oh fuck....here comes the mega panic". that(and i'm not religious) is some straight up evil devil shit talking. but like i said before....start hard. the last thing you want to do is end up feeling this stress x's 5 a few days before deadline.
Its also not to late to fill out a Best Buy application!
1/ Block everything out.
2/ Completely model everything.
3/ UV map everything.
4/ Block out textures for everything.
5/ Add detail to the textures.
Not definitive by any means, but as a result, at the end of any stage, you would have a complete piece of work to that standard. Which is better than 90% blocked out with one finished piece which gives away that you ran out of time.
Hope that is of some help? I stick by that advice and it does me well.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
2nd option that has always stood me in good stead. If you know you're going to screw up/not finish no matter how hard and how much help you draft in; tell the person it matters to. Explain to the guy you told you could do this that you can't do it in the alloted time to the required standard and why. They'll be pissed probably, but better that than come deadline day and let them down big-time.
It's hard to stay motivated when you're sick of the sight of your work.
That is great advice even if you're not in a hurry!