Here’s a simple lesson I’ve learned: If you’re going to change the file naming conventions on your game, start doing it right immediately and make no exceptions.

Sounds simple, but we have a lot of legacy assets we inherited that have naming conventions we’ve chosen to change. We also have some assets we made ourselves that have naming conventions that eventually proved to be a bit crap. Finally, we decided on a naming convention, but now we have the really old stuff we inherited, the older stuff we did ourselves, and the new assets we’re making now. That’s three different conflicting conventions. Cool.

I would go back and rename everything, but those are extremely deep and interconnected changes that touch hundreds of files. If any one of those is inconsistent, everything will come crashing down. All I can do is patch the problem.

So, if I’m doing any kind of modification on older assets, which naming convention do I stick to?

There were two things I could do:

1. Stick to the old naming convention for that particular asset, so it’ll still make sense in context with itself.
2. Use the new naming convention, even though it makes the new \ modified asset stand out and make less sense.

Ultimately, I decided that the smartest and best thing to do would be to stick to the NEW naming convention. Start doing it right IMMEDIATELY.

Fine, it’ll stand out and it won’t make sense in the context of the old named asset, but every NEW asset I make will bring things closer to a unified whole. Every little bit I can do matters, and the earlier I be decisive the fewer the problems I’ll have to deal with later. Less to rename later, right? It’ll be harder to deal with now but this decision will pay off later.

I’m surprised I waffled on that earlier considering how simple this decision seems to be, but everything is always different when you’re actually inside the situation and have a clear view of what’s going on. :)

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and a fair amount of work lately building perfect modular kits for my contractors so they can get started quicker and have to ask fewer questions.

The idea is that I’d like to have one single ZIP file that contains everything a new contractor needs to get started on his asset type.

So that leads to the question — what does a contractor need to be able to do his job? That’s a big list, so let’s give an example. If I were to hire a new animator, this is the type of data I would put in a contractor kit for him:

• Technical specifications. For each asset type in my game, there is a guidelines document with detailed technical specifications. For animators, I made another post called On Contracting Animators that has a good list.
• List of animations. There’s a complete list of animations for characters, creatures and other animatable objects that I store in another, separate document. I break down each type of asset into characters, creatures, animated objects, and miscellaneous. From there, I break each down into structured lists divided by their role in the game. For example, creatures are either Melee (hand-to-hand combat), Ranged (attack with guns or bows), and Caster (magic user). Each role has a unique animation set, so I list all the animations in each set. This is especially useful for when I want to create a new creature, before I even outsource it I can say “Okay, Fat Ogre 3 is going to use the Melee and Ranged Animation Sets.” I don’t have to decide which animations it has one by one every time I want a new creature, because I already figured it out beforehand. Then when I send the list of animations to the animator, I can simply copy and paste those pre-made animation lists. Time savings ahoy!
• The exporter. I include a copy of our proprietary 3DSMAX exporter plugin, along with simple installation and usage instructions.
• The tool. I include a copy of our proprietary Model Editor, along with simple usage instructions so the animator can create usable assets for our engine. Why should I have to?
• Animation samples. I have directories set aside that offer example animations of every sequence for each type of creature and animatable object. There’s a directory for the Melee Animation Set that has sample animations for every sequence in that set, and so on for everything else that needs an example. I *never* leave gaps in reference for things like this.
• Style guides. I include the style guides relevant to the race of creature he’ll be animating, so he can see the other members of that race, their size in relation to each other, and get a sense of their attitude.
• Scale guide. I have a MAX file demonstrating the scale of the object in the world so the animator can get a better sense of scale and how to animate what it is I’m giving him.
• FAQ. I’ve assembled a brief FAQ full of common questions I’ve been asked by my contractors. One very important note I’d like to make about the FAQ: It was a huge breakthrough to me to realize that every time I talk to one of my contractors to explain something or answer a question, I’m generating documentation. Everything I say is usable. So I just remember to write it down in one document, organize it, give it a coat of spit-shine, and my project is better-documented. :) Documentation doesn’t have to be a big ugly mess that I have to sit down for hours and do… it can be incremental. (why answer the same question more than once?)

I have all these files set aside in a special ‘contractor kits’ directory under another subdirectory specific to them. For example in C:\work\contractor_kits\ you would find \Character_Art_Production_Kit\, \Animation_Production_Kit\, \Environment_Art_Production_Kit\, etc. Zipped copies exist in each of these directories so any time I have a new hire, I simply copy and paste the ZIP and that’s everything they’ll need to know, in detail.

This is an awful lot of preparation and organizational work, but considering my circumstances (straddling art director\art manager\producer\artist roles simultaneously) it saves me a LOT of time. Or, it will, once I finish putting all of them together. :)

To the contract smArtists out there — what kind of information and resources do you wish YOU had from your clients?

I just found a great post by Gianfranco over at GBGames that’s called What Would A Game Developer Do?

Gianfranco starts out detailing focus problems we all relate to, then drops some knowledge in the form of solid tips on surrounding yourself with things that motivate you. Then he breathlessly goes straight into conditioning your mind to think more like a game developer and to help stay focused. A choice quote:

Would a game developer come home from a day job and watch television? Would a game developer feel much anxiety about sitting at the computer to work on a game? Would a game developer procrastinate on game development in favor of chatting online with friends or reading random articles online?

No. A game developer would BE a game developer.

A simple mantra like “WWAGDD?” is a fantastic way to focus your mind on what’s important by asking a tough, no-nonsense question you can’t shy away from. This is good stuff! Go read the post!

Here’s a fun one: How do you keep track of a team of external artists?

First, define what needs to be tracked:

1. Who’s working for me?
2. What do they do?
3. Are they active?
4. How much are they being paid?
5. What contracts are they working on?
6. What date was that contract started?
7. Has the contract been signed?
8. Have they finished the work?
9. Have they invoiced for the work?
10. Have they been paid for the work?
11. How much money am I spending?

This is a dizzying amount of information to keep track of, on top of simply managing everything they do at a low level. So what do I do? Click the jump to read more! (more…)

Want to know how to make more money as a contractor? Here are some tips.

1. Be fast. Show me you can produce good work quickly. Don’t drag your heels and always make sure to underpromise and overdeliver. If you think it’ll take a day, tell me two and get it to me sooner than that. I’ll think, “Wow, this guy is fast!” It’s vitally important to manage the perception of you and your work speed. Other ways you can do this is by immediately addressing concerns, changes and assignments and finishing them as quickly as you can. Who doesn’t like speedy service?




2. Show me what I’m getting for my money. Make everything look as polished as possible whenever you can, even if it’s an early WIP. If it’s concept art, a cool and stylish background will do wonders for presentation. Even if it’s ugly, make it look like it’s not. Find a way to add style and flair to everything you send me. Small coats of polish lend a feel of professionalism and value. Don’t expect to be paid more just because you want to be paid more. Show me where my money’s going. Make me feel like I’m getting a bargain for what you have to offer and the cool-as-hell way you offer it. Who doesn’t like being dazzled?




3. Remember that I am a CUSTOMER and you are a BUSINESS. Deal with me accordingly and focus on the kind of customer service YOU like to get out of a business. Act professionally, be responsive, meet or exceed my expectations and make me feel valued. Just because I work for a company bigger than yours (you) doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate or deserve that kind of treatment. Treat me right and I’ll reward you for it. I do give raises. Who wouldn’t reward a company that treats them well with more business?




4. Do something special, just for me. Nothing I can use, necessarily, just bait. If you think I’m interested, or you want me to be interested, make a test asset in the style of my game. This will show that not only can you do the work, but that you WANT to. You’re so motivated to work for me that you’re ALREADY making stuff that I’d like! Never, ever spend too much time on this, and don’t give it away for free. When done correctly and intelligently, this is a VERY strong message to send to a potential employer. It’s worked on me before. :) Who wouldn’t be flattered?

I have a handy tip for building a contract made up of lots of very small quick-to-make items with a fast turnaround, like icons. I only do this with long-term contractors that I’ve built a trusting relationship with.

Let’s say you want to outsource small icon art. Say $50 per icon for 75 icons. That makes $3750. It’s perfectly logical to break it down into the exact number of icons you need and pay them for each one, right? Of course. It makes even more sense to build this directly into the terms of the contract itself, doesn’t it? Naturally!

But what happens if, in the middle of the contract, you decide you only need 71 icons? Or 77? You have to quickly cobble something together for them to do, amend the contract, or add something onto the next contract, or create a new contract just for the overage. You can waste a huge amount of time trying to fix it in any one of these ways.

But I have a simple way around it — roll it into one bulk price. It’s a very simple three-step process:

1. Itemize it. Figure out exactly to the number how many assets you need: 75 icons.
2. Price it. Negotiate a fair rate for each asset: $50 per icon.
3. Bulk it. Multiply the number by the price, come up with a total, and make that price one flat, flexible unit: $3,750 for approximately 75 icons.

You MUST specify carefully how much above or below that number ‘approximately’ is so no one takes advantage of the other. In this case, I think a cap of plus two or minus four icons is acceptable. Be ethical. This is supposed to save time renegotiating and amending contracts for you and your contractor, and is NOT to give you a tool to get more for your money. First and foremost, be a decent human and respect your people so they’ll want to keep working for you.

This has been a useful tool for me to save time with my contractors when I’m outsourcing really simple, small stuff whose numbers change constantly. Whenever I can, I make sure to keep the absorption even on both sides. “Whoops, I only need 72 instead of 75. That cool?” and “Crap, I need 76 instead of 75. That cool?” And never let it get too one-sided. You’re people, you’ve been working together for a while and you trust each other. “Hey dude, yeah, sure, I’ll get this one. It’s cool.”

If you abuse this to take advantage of a contractor, you are an asshole. This will bite you in the ass, and please stop reading my site. :)

Here’s something for the smArtists out there! These will hopefully give you an insight into how an employer thinks and how to be a better and smArter contractor. :)

1. Never overpromise. So you have a habit of being inappropriately optimistic with time estimates and are constantly slipping. Recognize the pattern. Realize that when you say two days, it really means four, and then TELL me four. I don’t like having to make mental calculations like “Oh, Poly McArtist says two days, that really means a week.” Sure, it sounds great if you say it can be done super quick, but when you don’t deliver it on time, you lose credibility. If all your time estimates are wrong, shouldn’t you adjust them? Most don’t. I care less about optimism and more about realism.
2. Don’t get stuck overworking. So you find yourself in situations where your time estimates are out of control and you’re constantly working overtime to make up for it. You have a problem. A lot of artists think that this super high level of ‘hustle’ is a good trait to have and are proud of it. Hard work is great, but not when you have to hustle that hard because you suck at scheduling yourself! Why would a manager keep an artist that a) doesn’t know his own ability and b) constantly creates problems for himself? I’d rather someone deliver work consistently and at a normal intensity instead of getting stuck in the time slip\overwork cycle.
3. If you’re late, don’t hide. Let’s say you promised me a model on Wednesday, and it’s slipped a week. Tell me. If you’re late delivering me something, don’t hide from me or give me excuses. Just tell me, in advance whenever possible. Don’t be afraid and don’t puss out. It’s a lot worse when you treat me like I’m too stupid to figure it out you’re hiding from me. As if it won’t be a problem just because I can’t find you to ask you where the work is. Yeah, sure, I’m just going to forget you’re a week late and that you’re suddenly never on IM anymore. :)
4. Factor in review time. Art needed by Friday needs to be done and approved on Friday, not just submitted on Friday. Art never gets accepted on the first pass. I have to take a look at it and request changes to be made before it’s considered a finished piece of art. If I say Friday, submit it for first review on Tuesday, expect I’ll get back to you on Wednesday, give yourself Thursday to implement the changes, so by Friday, it’ll be done without any surprise freakshows. This is a fantastically important point that almost nobody thinks about or plans for. Many thanks to Scott Hsu-Storaker for bringing this up in the comments! This is his great suggestion almost word for word. :)

Being able to schedule yourself effectively and give realistic time estimates is a huge advantage. There’s a lot of power in saying you’ll do something, then doing it. Ever find yourself impressed by really competent and confident people? This is one of the ways they cultivate that image.

I just checked out Rick Stirling’s excellent blog and found an article for young artists that I wholeheartedly agree with… it’s called Art for games, not games for art. Basically he posits that one of the chief considerations of art for games is putting the needs of the game above your own art and your need to feel creative for yourself only without consideration for the project. Very true, often overlooked, and needs to be said. :)

Found a cool article this morning: 101 Hidden Tips and Secrets for Photoshop

Some useful information in here I didn’t know. A few repeats, but here were some of the highlights I found most useful:

• 5. Sick of the default gray background around your image? Select paint bucket, hold shift and click on the gray background, it will change to whatever color you have in your foreground color box.
• 10. Hold Ctrl will temporary make any tool into move tool until you release Ctrl.
• 19. When free transforming with Ctrl+T, hold Alt to keep the original image and then to transform a duplicated layer of it. Ctrl+Shift+T to repeat whatever you did in the last transform.
• 28. Hold Alt while clicking on the eye icon beside the layer, it will hide all other layers.
• 39. Ctrl+Tab allows you to switch between different image files you are working on.
• 58. Change the active layer : Alt + [ or ].
• 59. Move the active layer up and down : Ctrl + [ or ].
• 62. When using the Polygonal Lasso Tool, click backspace to undo a lasso step.

Hope these are helpful. :)

Here are a few valuable things I’ve learned about dealing with contractors.

1. If it takes more than ten words to describe it, take a picture. This applies most to me when I have lists of changes for my contractors to make. I find that if it takes more than ten words to point out the particular area to work on, or describe what exactly to do with it, it’s ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS easier to simply take a screenshot of it and paint over it. In this manner, I can boil thirty big words down to one big red arrow. :) It saves time on your end, it’s easier to understand on their end, and everybody wins.




2. Issue shorter contracts. This varies wildly from company to company, but in my experience in working with individual contractors, shorter contracts equals being paid more frequently. I always renew contracts unless I state as far in advance as possible that my needs are ending. I find it tends to motivate the contractors more if they have smaller, more easily digestible chunks of work that come in at a steady clip rather than big fat contracts that take forever to finish. They ALWAYS slow down on big contracts, so I give them short ones so the end is always within reach. It’s never failed me. :)




3. If you doubt their ability, find someone else. Several times I’ve fallen into a trap where I’m not entirely sure someone can do the job I need to do, but I hire them to do it anyway. I’ve always regretted it. I’m a firm believer in giving someone ONE solid, firm, impossible to misunderstand chance to turn themselves around. If they can’t keep it together then, tell them why and cut them loose. If they were up to the task, they would have done it right the first time. If it took the threat of dismissal to make them perform, what good are they? You can’t rely on always holding them out over a fire to motivate them. Use the time you’d have spent ‘motivating’ them on finding people that function properly.




4. Write everything down. There are many reasons for this, the simplest being you forgetting something you said that you needed to remember, and the more serious of which being contractual disputes. I ran into a nasty one of the latter recently where one of my artists was claiming I asked him to do work that I didn’t put in the contract, and naturally he wanted to be paid for it. Fortunately, I managed to set the record straight by finding an email I’d sent him asking him to do the work and telling him I’d pay him more for it, and the followup email of him agreeing to the higher pay.




5. Never badmouth a contractor. I’ve never done this and I never intend to. No matter how bad someone may be or act, these are still real people with real lives, just like you. It never pays to burn bridges, even ones that there seems to be no risk in burning. If you run off at the mouth about someone you don’t like and affect their job, that could affect their own ability to put food in their kids’ mouths. Yes, that’s their responsibility and not yours, but why spread bad blood? It’s a bad strategy because it closes off options, no matter which way you cut it. Do unto others…




6. Be careful about promises. I’m a man of my word and I take what I say very seriously, and I want to be a good and reliable boss to my contractors. That being said, I have to be very careful about the things I promise them because development realities are constantly changing, and that’s out of my control. Our budget could be cut tomorrow, we could change an entire feature set, the project could be canned, or we could simply reallocate our other resources to handle needs as they come up. I call it Expectation Management. If you set clear, realistic, conservative expectations, and be damned careful about the promises you make, you’ll be perceived as a better boss than if you promised them the stars and could only give them the moon.




7. Always appreciate. Even if someone’s doing a bad job, find that cloud’s silver lining. Be positive and supportive. You won’t gain anything by tearing your people down. If you can find the good in what they do, and talk positively about ways to improve it (but being firm about your expectations) and you’ll get better results than if you rob them of their will to try.

Anyone else have any tips? What about from a contractor’s standpoint?

I just made a forum post responding to someone that was asking about basic rates for animation. I mentioned that more details needed to be provided, and I listed a few that may be helpful for if you’re considering outsourcing animation.

• How will you be paying? (Paid per day, per hour, or per sequence?)
• If per sequence, are revisions included in the flat rate or are they priced differently? Is there a maximum number of iterations?
• What’s the animation framerate? (30?)
• What’s the style of animation? (realistic, cartoony, cartoony realism?)
• What type of sequences are there? (Run, walk, jump, attack, pain)
• What’s the average length of each sequence? (2 secs, 5 secs, 10 secs)
• Is the animator creating the skeleton himself?
• Is rigging involved?
• How much initial direction is there? (i.e., everything is predefined animation length, ideas set in stone and clearly communicated, OR leave it up to the animator to figure out)
• Who’s on implementation? (Are you going to handle all the game’s implementation inhouse or will he? Depending on how important accurate and perfect animation is to the game, it may be easier to set up your animator or animators with a copy of the game and the ability to export to the game and test)
• Remote or on-site?


• How fast do you want it?

Thanks to Scott for the last two!

Might I have left anything else out? (discounting the obvious like which animation package, or the highly variable like if it’s a biped or a quadruped, etc)

I hope this’ll be helpful to people. If so, let me know!