Notes from the Slippery Slope, Part 5

[Chris]

So once again, Launch is nearly upon us. Our fourth game is essentially complete, thanks to Herculean efforts by everyone on the team at Introversion. We’ve cancelled holidays and visits from family, we’ve said goodbye to our friends and loved ones, we’ve handcuffed ourselves to our computers and we’ve worked like crazy men. Lunatic crazy desperate men.

Not really. Crunch time has happened on every project I have ever worked on, and my girlfriend tells me this project is no better and no worse than the previous two she’s had to endure. I won’t really know how bad it was until I can look back with hindsight, but it feels to me like I’ve never worked so hard. In fact, this last 12 month period has felt something like a never-ending parachute jump. I’ve certainly been working until stupid o’clock most days of the week for a good couple of months now, and weekends long since lost any distinction. I really thought things would be different this time around, that we’d have everything sorted well in advance, and the final month would be a walk in the park as we gleefully played our finished game and confirmed it was ready to go.

Yeah right! I’m looking forward to the day when the final stage of a project goes this way, but it’s not the case for Multiwinia, or Defcon or Darwinia or Uplink. Something always comes up – something that knocks you sideways and forces you to cram far more extra work into the remaining weeks than you think is possible. There’s quite a story to tell about the final months of Multiwinia’s development, but right now isn’t the time or the place. I’ll save it up for a later blog. But in summary, something came up, and here I am, 1.30am Monday morning (Sunday evening really), blogging while Multiwinia compiles in the background for the hundredth time today.

I don’t really mind. My name is Chris Delay, and I am a workaholic. I’m never entirely content unless I’m working extremely hard on something, and it’s always been this way. All four Directors of Introversion went to Imperial College University in London, and it’s a bit of a sweat shop – they like to drill their students into crazy working practices, and it’s definitely rubbed off on all of us. It’s like boot-camp for engineers. Young fresh faced geeks walk in the doors in September, and by the time they leave four years later they’re like razors. They can’t stop working even if they want to.

In the end, Multiwinia has turned out pretty awesome I think. Somehow we pulled it together, and it’s been almost exactly two years since Defcon was launched, and in the end we have a great game. The box looks great, the manual looks great, the special edition tins look really great. First reviews will be appearing in about a month (online), so we’ll see what the critics think then. I’m really looking forward to playing some real people at this game that we’ve spent so long creating, and I’m also (nervously) looking forward to reading our reviews and seeing what people really think of what we’ve come up with.

[Xarlaxas]

Hear hear! Crunch time sure does sound hellish but I imagine it's going to be worth it in the end, Multiwinia looks like a terrific game and you've got a loyal fanbase who can't wait to get those tins in their hands.

It may sound cliché but Introversion is probably my favourite company. The community that you've gathered around you is exceptional, nowhere else would I be willing to donate money to someone I've never met in real life and then see the company donating too, nowhere else would I be so willing to order a copy of your game to someone I've never met trusting that he will pay me back (and he did), nowhere else would I be so quick to commit myself to spending money on a product than here.

Multiwinia is going to be an awesome game from an awesome company, and I can only hope that Introversion continues this way into the future so I can always be a proud supporter of your company!

[shinygerbil]

Are you aware that it's only Saturday evening? They all blend into one when you get past a certain point...

I am sure your efforts will be rewarded. I agree with Kunshu - if you put up a blog post saying "put your credit card details in here, oh and your PIN numbers" I'd have to think twice And this community is fantastic, as shown by the kindness towards Rkiver for example. It's still surprisingly rare to see this sort of thing happen on the Internet, but it's just another unique aspect of Introversion and the surrounding community. Introversion are such a forward-thinking company - with big hearts and bigger dreams - and they are an inspiration to all who surround them.

P.S. I wish I'd gone to Imperial. All they do at King's is turn you into a lazy bum...

[vanarbulax]

I would imagine you'd be working crazy hours what with <NDA> and all, though the game should be fantastic in the end.

[aiusepsi]

Ah, gotta love the ol' Imperial death-march. If you're not half-dead, you're doing it wrong.

The sweat shop thing isn't even a joke; the library is like an inferno during those crucial revision months, and it's still packed to the rafters. It only quiets down in the early hours of the morning.

http://live.cgcu.net/news/1500

Really looking forward to Multiwinia anyways!

[Nutter]

I really thought things would be different this time around, that we’d have everything sorted well in advance, and the final month would be a walk in the park as we gleefully played our finished game and confirmed it was ready to go.

Yeah tell me about it

[Rosti]

The box looks great, the manual looks great...

This excites me far more than I should probably admit. Good luck with the spit and polish on the code! From what I've seen of the game and early jouralistic proto-opinions I reckon you can look forward to some good reviews and 4 entries on PCG's next Top 100...

[vic]

P.S. I wish I'd gone to Imperial. All they do at King's is turn you into a lazy bum...

Hey! I went to Kings...

[alfiethecool]

When will the next update on Subversion be?

[Montyphy]

Next Thursday

[Chais]

lol i'm accepting bets that we'll just love the game. I don't think you guys really have to be nervous. I've seen the mondays and I want the game now. Can't wait 'till friday; give it to me now *drool*
no srsly you can't possibly mess it up that hard, that you would get worse critics than in the prerelease tests.

greetz Chais