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Defunct Software is a reputable game developer that has shipped six SKUs over the past three years , mostly on time and mostly well reviewed. Morale is generally high, and the fact that Defunct is located in the geographically remote town of Podunk, Pacifica contributes to a colle gial atmosphere. Their most recent game, LicensedGame, was intended to be a magnum opus. Spec extensions and work on what were, at the time, new platforms (PS2 and Xbox) led to uncharacteristic production delays. Caught up in production fever , management of Defunct poured company money in to cover the delays, reasoning that the game would be so great, it would pay for itself in new contracts.

After a death march to the finish line of its PS2/Xbox/PC release " LicensedGame, " Defunct Software ran clean out of money. The CEO had been hunting for new projects since alpha, but wasn't able to close a deal in time to make payroll. The owners of Defunct decided to close the company before it amassed debts that it couldn't pay off.

After the company folded, the lead game designer (Pat), tech lead (Dusty), art lead (Alex), and executive producer (Dana) met over beers, pinochle, and Orbital to talk about their future. Three Anchor Steams later, Pat started free-associating a storyline about the freehand charac ters that Dana's roommate Jean (a graphic novelist and close associate of the Defunct group ) had plastered all over the living room. Jean, who had been baking a Frito pie in the kitchen, walked out and started correcting Pat's story:

"No, he killed her twin sister, not her mother. They had been born three months early and incu bated in an experimental light womb that caused their pre-conscious brain waves to fuse so that they couldn't distinguish between who was me and who was my sister. They didn't under stand that they were two people."

"Hmmm. Yes, yes of course. Then we could insert a parallel level that she gets sucked into whenever " and so on through much of the night. Before long, the group had fleshed out a solid backstory and final mission for a game. The group, including Jean, decided to meet again the next night to see if the idea only sounded good after too much alcohol, or if they had the basis of something interesting.

As she walked home, Dana became convinced that this group would be credible to publishers. They had complementary strengthstechnology, art, design, and project management. They had shipped a lot of product on almost every platform, most of it on time. More important, they had shipped it together; they were an old team.

At their next meeting, Dana started the discussion. "Look," she said, "we're young, none of us have babies or big mortgages to cover, and it's not like we've been living large in Podunk. My guess is you've all got a pretty fat nest egg, too. We should look for other jobs, obviously, but that could take months. Why not use the lag time to see what we can come up with?" They agreed to start sending out resumes but to work on a game design for one week without mak ing any decisions.

After interviewing dozens of folks, the overall picture painted was so bleak that I thought about calling this book "Bring the Pain" or, as one executive suggested, "Don't Quit Your Day Job." The fact is, like any fun and creative job, there's a lot of competition, and you've got to have a surfeit of talent and a willingness to make a lot of sacrifices. As usual, the question boils down to: "Is the view worth the climb?" If you are interested in making the climb, here are one hundred and eighteen pearls to help you do it.

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