First Impressions of Production

Going into what is now my seventh project, the nervous energy that used to occupancy each semester has largely gone away. This is one in part to reflections and soul searching I have done on my own, but largely due to the fact that I feel as I have some kind of grasp on development. A working understanding at the very least, as I still really only fully understand my own field well enough to talk in depth about it. That being said that understanding coupled with that working knowledge has brought me this far and helped me lead teams to make great games.

Over that time my aptitudes have emerged as well as the banes that I continue to work with. I hold in that former category an ability to communicate and to put people at ease. These are possibly my greatest strengths on a development team, as it takes the stress of getting a point across between different mindsets away from the team allowing them to do there job better. That also feeds into the second facet of calming people, good work doesn’t come out of uncomfortable people so having at least one person around that is comfortable to talk to is beneficial. It also helps shew away the notion that I’m a boss and a person to be afraid of but rather another member of the team.

That being said, this wasn't a skill that I was just born with, it only got to this point though trail and error. The wake up call for me was my second project in production one. That game for me is my least favorite project, not only because I saw a lot of potential in it that didn’t bloom, but because of my own failing on it. At the time I was still trying to figure out how I fit on a team, by emulating what others who I thought where better would do. This made things somewhat stiff in meetings and when speaking with the team, as it felt like an obligation. Try as I did to make things better nothing really worked and we turned in what in my eyes was a half hearted project. A product that still functioned sure but felt empty and devoid of spirt.

After that I knew I had to do something different, something to avoid another half dead project. So I switched up how I acted, let go of the notion of being someone else and began managing time and meeting place better. The only thing I kept was the positive attitude that got me though that last project. Everything else went and everything was different.

Project three rolls around and it’s the polar opposite. Teams excited, everyone’s is talking, work is getting done, the idea is growing with every week. Now, that team had problems of its own, problems that I wont delve into today but in the short it was an improvement over the last project. Because I had found who I am as a developer and wasn’t afraid to be that person. And while that person is great with certain people he doesn’t mesh with all types and that was the biggest lesson I had to learn and be ok with. That not everyone is going to like you or want to work with you but pretending to be someone else is not going to fix the problem just further alienate your team mates. That is probably the biggest thing I have to work on now that I have this foundation. To try and reach out to people outside of my own grasp who may be at odds with who am I but be able to still work together and make something amassing without either of us having to pretend to be something else.