Schedule Hassles

The project was bedeviled by a series of scheduling problems. Halfway into the project, Epyx was forced to pull out due to financial problems of their own. As I had expected, Joe Miller handled the breakup with efficiency and honor. I decided to continue the project on my own, and to that end, I repaid the advances I had received from Epyx. Joe was instrumental in getting all the legal documents taken care of so that I could proceed with publication of the game without a legal cloud hanging over it. I continued working on the project, knowing that I had just six months to finish the program, prepare the manual, and arrange for porting it to the PC, manufacturing, and distribution. It was risky to self-publish, but I believed in the game and I didn't want to see it die.

The rush this imposed upon me did not seriously hurt the game; I had already solved all the serious design problems. The only detriment I suffered because of the new rush was a slight reduction in the total number of variables used in the simulation. I still had plenty of time to test and polish the equation system.

Nevertheless, the rushed schedule was stressful. I managed to find a developer willing to carry out the port on such a tight schedule, and with the help of my wife, Kathy, I was able to make all the other arrangements. We shipped the product in time for it to reach store shelves on the week of Earth Day 1990.