I promised a devlog with brilliant insights on how to create and innovate as a development team in any setting–even a hospital room. However, the first thing I need to acknowledge is…that’s total bollocks.
As a creator I’ve hammered out character profiles in too many doctor’s offices to count, created story maps while sitting pool side while Rianna P was in water therapy, and created quests while waiting outside an OR to hear how the surgery went. It’s absolutely true that a game dev can create anywhere and all the world is our inspiration. Art reflects life, and a game that taps into the core challenges of our own existence will reach straight to our players’ hearts.
All the same, there’s no way a game developer can hit maximum efficiency and crunch around the clock in a hospital room, while also taking care of themselves and their sick loved one and being present and supportive. Not without paying a price that’s basically a blank debit passed along to your future self. Since that’s an absolutely horrid idea, my advice is yes, take time to create, send yourself notes, steal moments with your burn chart…but by kind to yourself and make allowances. You’d tell your friend and fellow dev the same, so do it for yourself.
I can give you two tips from the trenches…
ONE — focus your personal energy on those things that help you keep going. If it’s on your dev list, if the game will need this done someday, this is the time you get to do it if that’s what rocks your boat. You can’t go wrong here. Dev work done under duress (i.e. in a hospital) is development progress. Period.
TWO — prioritize keeping the rest of the team working. It can be a pain to provide feedback or give an art critique in between fielding complex medical questions, but keeping the team rolling forward will reduce your stress and theirs. They know you’re on the job and haven’t disappeared into a black hole. And you can comfort yourself when you nod off over your laptop for the twentieth time and lose another two hours, that progress is happening somewhere even if not there.
Personally? Approximately halfway through what is now predicted to be a three week hospital stay, I’ve gained a whole new appreciation for how annoying it is to have random people constantly popping into one’s space in the wee hours of the morning, five minutes after you fall asleep. I imagine that’s a bit how Dr. Reaper feels….because let’s face it, he’s really not a terribly good doctor.
Give Villainville a wishlist on Steam and buy us a cafeteria cookie! Who knows? It might keep me cool calm and polite while groggy and half asleep. 😀