The problem of crunch time in game development

[Duff-e]

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/05/the-death-march-the-problem-of-crunch-time-in-game-development.ars?

[Steppenwolf]

Depressing read. If i ever end up in a studio where excessive crunch and overtime are part of the company culture i don't see myself staying there for long. My mental and physical health takes priority. If that makes me "not passionate enough" then so be it.

[2d-chris]

it's a good thing crytek compensate for crunch time (well additional work days anyway)

What I really hate as somebody said in that article,I work my ass off with a few other ppl (HP) on a cool new idea I want to be special and no way do any of us blame the company, what I dislike are days that I'm asked to come in and work like everyone else, who many have not put in any extra effort. Yes the world is not fare but when you go the extra mile throughout most of development you shouldn't be expected to crunch at milestones.

IMO you shouldn't need to tell your team to crunch with the only exception being the final shipping deadline, hire experienced developers who understand what is possible in a time frame you have. The bigger problem is usually producers and managers bullshitting publishers into a delivery date that the majority of developers on the team do not agree is possible. It's almost encouraged to not challenge a planned development cycle because in general it makes life easier for yourself - I couldn't disagree more, you as the developer need to be involved.

Also, some people work best after work, no joke I will do more in my time from 8pm to 10 pm than a full working day, it's a chance to actually get in the zone and have no distractions. The feeling that got me addicted to level design in the first place.

[Warby]

i never worked anywhere were there was a real crunch. at one job a suprise metting / pitch with some rich folks from google emerged out of nowhere with only 24 hour notice. so we had to make a last minute build/ demo and we didnt go home that after noon and i felt like shit the rest of the week. if crunch is like that id urge everyone to boycot it at the risk of loosing your job

your health and well being is more important than arbituary deadlines !

[Furyo]

I've crunched more days than I care to remember, probably best for my sanity. 28 consecutive days on AC2 to fix 400 bugs by myself. I was the 3rd largest bug fixer in Jira for the 450+ team. The two others up top were the engine programmers who had 1 more year on the project than me. I thought that would be the most crunch I'd ever do, only to have that beaten on Crysis 2 with a full 70 consecutive days spent at work to optimize the game from hell to something that would run on consoles.

In both cases, I was told I wouldn't be on the team for the follow up project. So my conclusion to crunch time is: Do it if you feel concerned enough with your project, or don't if you don't care enough. But don't expect to keep your position when the project ends either way.

[mjens]

It's all about development plan - planned short production time forces people to crunch. If it stays for a long time, it can be really dangerous. Good plan is when producer knows exactly how much time people will need to finish work, solve all issues and make a final polish...

Like Helder on FB said: "self-imposed crunch" - it's good, you're the only guy who know best your limits, you want to make it better and better, you know how to do it, have powers to finish so go on - it's not even crunch time for me.

[Taylor]

It's easy to point at crunch and the effects, state the obvious and offer no solutions.

A big problem with 'crunch culture' is also that people completely on schedule can still end up working their evenings and weekends. There is nothing more draining than giving up your free time to sit at your desk. If these people were on the clock there's no way this would happen.

[Skjalg]

No talk thursdays

[Jetsetlemming]

I'm on a crunch right now. A little old lady I know is in trouble with the county due to code violations with her house: A front porch piled high with boxes and furniture and crap, back exit blocked, a camper leaning over into her neighbor's driveway, a rotting back porch and stairs. Moving the camper means converting her backyard into a capable parking space, which means digging it all up, filling it in with a layer of gravel, and pushing the camper (which no longer runs) back onto it. The back yard USED to be gravel, so the dirt's all full of little rocks stuck in the mud, making shoveling it hell. I'm trying to get all this stuff done before her court date to keep her out of trouble.

We really should've gotten a longer dev cycle.

[Hourences]

I have never ever in my entire career met a single developer who came out of crunch as a better person (be it personally or financially) than he went in! It is a battle you cannot possibly win! If a company imposes crunch and especially excessive crunch it is usually a sign there are far greater problems within development, problems that won't be overcome by cruncing as those problems likely caused crunch in the first place. There is a very high probability those problems will continue to exist and eventually lead to the cancelation of the game or lead to a sub-par quality title at the day of release, which in turn leads to you losing your job. Even if that does not happen and the game turns out totally awesome, unless it brings in billions (and even then) you are very unlikely to ever see any of that money flow on to you. You are basically taking a tremendous risk for very little chance of any return at all. In fact playing the lottery probably gives you more chance of getting money! And compensation days are nice, but I have yet to see an employer who gives their employees 3 months off really, even if they have crunched for many months. You'd be happy if you got a week, or maybe two...

[Froyok]

It's remind me the words from Rod Fergusson who said that "crunch time" must be planned and that crunch time is necessary.

(see : http://cmpmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o1/vault/g ... sWins.pptx )

[mjens]

Hourences, that's important what you're writing - I'm on crunch too, I'm alone right now so I'm not hurting anyone but I know lots of guys that alread have wifes/gfs and kids. It's fu*king bad when such a guy have to stay at work at weekends and he even don't want to - he have to :/

When there's no time to finish something, the better idea is to delete few models/locations then stay all weekend. One guy from Ubi Montreal said to me: "it's better to remove something then show it unfinished - player won't notice that it's missing but will notice that this is a crap if it will stay".

[Hourences]

Yes Mike Capps also said that Froyok, really bad. I don't care how they handle their development, and they do pay really well, but the real problem is that lots of smaller studios will now use this as justification to convince their people to crunch, except they conveniently forget the Epic salaries, bonuses, and blockbuster games...

A studio's approach to crunch is one of the deciding factors for me when looking around for work. If they cannot manage their time or take care of their people, there usually is a whole lot more messed up within the company. Stay far away.

[Vilham]

It just so happens for this project we started to crunch for E3 a few weeks back, im not too happy about the fact that it seems mainly designers are sticking around to get things done when its the art that is way behind. However the company did announced the other week for a trial period that they are paying £40 per half day. Which for me is great, for anyone with a higher wage is rubbish but I guess better than nothing.

[Duff-e]

Is there a seniority system in game development where older people with families aren't expected to put in as much crunch time? Working till 10PM every night for 3 months sounds like it might even be exciting in your 20s but it must really suck if you have a wife and kids.