Re: documenting games redux

[Beth Agnew <beth -dot- agnew -at- senecac -dot- on -dot- ca>]

Good grief, I hope so! There have been enough game companies that have 
gone down in flames, sometimes spectacularly so, that only those with a 
manageable process have been able to survive and continue in a highly 
competitive industry. Along with maturing technology, maturing attitudes 
about what it takes to get games produced and purchased are evident in 
companies such as Blizzard and Ubisoft. The massive failure of the dot 
coms contributed to making every high tech company aware that they must 
have a solid revenue model and business plan in order to survive. Game 
companies have embraced good software development methodologies, 
developing systematically to market requirements instead of just what 
they think is cool.

While management has changed, the corporate cultures are still as 
fun-loving and as stressful as I described back in 1997. If they 
advertise "work hard, play hard" you can be they have some great 
parties, but that is to compensate for the brutal overtime and punishing 
deadlines.

Very few of them go looking for "technical writers" for documentation 
help, although there are a few. Ubisoft is currently looking for a 
technical writer - production. Documentation often evolves out of the 
game design, level & character graphics, and marketing as well.

They look for multi-talented people, so having a broader background 
(i.e. writing + graphics + multimedia) is valuable. If you cannot 
demonstrate that you are already a hard core gamer, getting any kind of 
consideration at a game company is unlikely due to competition. Don't 
forget that there are other entrees into these companies for someone 
with technical communication skills -- business analyst, product 
manager, marketing, player relations, QA tester, and producer.
--Beth

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