FoHO: To the brink of death and back again
by Leathel Grody · 10/22/2010 (1:52 pm) · 8 comments
The goal a year ago after I was laid off was spend 6 months full time on FoHO, crank it out and get it released. A year later, it still is not released. The running joke with my wife on how long it would be done is 3 months. Thought I could get it all done, but never could.
Alot of the major problems happened between Alpha to Closed Beta. Somewhere in later part of Alpha or in the additions to Closed Beta a bug was implemented that had people randomly crashing. Unfortunately I didn't have enough testers really playing that I know where it was implemented at. At that time, Xerves from Repop released a newer version of the T3D MMOkit and figured I would check it out. Performance was good and it was beautiful. But oh, it is a finicky beast. TGE is a tank if something is wrong, but T3D kit crashed a ton on my conversion from TGE assets and code to T3D. So spent alot of time trying to figure those out and got most of them. I got most zones implemented and spawns migrated over, but still get weird crashing, so after a month I had to set it aside.
During that team, reality hit that resources were running out and I was going to have to start looking for a job. I like to think my resume is quite good. I have been working for Fortune 500 companies the last 10 years designing, implementing, and administering AD/Windows/Exchange/Blackberry systems. I have traveled the world and implemted multi-million dollar projects. It however has been quite an initial shock that nobody seems to care about work experience but about what degrees you hold. Without a Bachelor's degree, I have found I cannot even get to an interview. I used to make twice what my wife makes who has 2 Bachelor's, a Masters, and 1 class shy of a Doctorate. Now, I can't even get to job interviews that make half what she makes.
Closed Beta continued on through all this, but nobody was testing, so very hard to implemented patches to figure out how to fix the crashing bug. It ways on you when nobody plays your game. I know everybody wants their quests, but in the mean time, to me it says, the game might not be worth investing my time into. So gave testers the option to test or I was shutting down the game. I was in a foul mood from previous T3D and job experiences. Some came back and tested but not as many as I hoped. Don't know if I have the crash bug yet fixed, so still working on that.
I guess I atleast have learned one thing, and that is I need to get my Bachelor's. I could have a Bachelor's in Culinary, and still get to the IT job interviews. So will probably start to finish my degree with winter classes. I already have two associates from my engineering studies. I want to move into management/project management so going for my Business Administration degree. Then onto my MBA. If FoHO ever does well, those classes won't hurt that is for sure. But until then, I am treated like a leper because I don't have a degree, and not totally sure what I'll do. I have been offered interviews nationally, but I really don't want to relocate.
Whatever happens, I decided to put FoHO back on as a hobby train of thought and not a job thought. It helps out not having that stress of timeline trying to get it done. Also, due to the fact I know I will have to go back to work(hopefully) and go back to college, I decided to finally after 3 years, start accepting volunteer support. Even as a hobby, there would be no way I could finish FoHO with that much on my plate. I have teams now working on brainstorming quests, and team leads who will put it all together for me. They have come up with some awesome plots I never would have, so pretty cool to see how things are developing. I have a couple people offering 2D and 3D art contributions as well, so looking forward to seeing what they come up with.
So what happens next in my life and FoHO, I guess we'll see in 3 months ;)
Alot of the major problems happened between Alpha to Closed Beta. Somewhere in later part of Alpha or in the additions to Closed Beta a bug was implemented that had people randomly crashing. Unfortunately I didn't have enough testers really playing that I know where it was implemented at. At that time, Xerves from Repop released a newer version of the T3D MMOkit and figured I would check it out. Performance was good and it was beautiful. But oh, it is a finicky beast. TGE is a tank if something is wrong, but T3D kit crashed a ton on my conversion from TGE assets and code to T3D. So spent alot of time trying to figure those out and got most of them. I got most zones implemented and spawns migrated over, but still get weird crashing, so after a month I had to set it aside.
During that team, reality hit that resources were running out and I was going to have to start looking for a job. I like to think my resume is quite good. I have been working for Fortune 500 companies the last 10 years designing, implementing, and administering AD/Windows/Exchange/Blackberry systems. I have traveled the world and implemted multi-million dollar projects. It however has been quite an initial shock that nobody seems to care about work experience but about what degrees you hold. Without a Bachelor's degree, I have found I cannot even get to an interview. I used to make twice what my wife makes who has 2 Bachelor's, a Masters, and 1 class shy of a Doctorate. Now, I can't even get to job interviews that make half what she makes.
Closed Beta continued on through all this, but nobody was testing, so very hard to implemented patches to figure out how to fix the crashing bug. It ways on you when nobody plays your game. I know everybody wants their quests, but in the mean time, to me it says, the game might not be worth investing my time into. So gave testers the option to test or I was shutting down the game. I was in a foul mood from previous T3D and job experiences. Some came back and tested but not as many as I hoped. Don't know if I have the crash bug yet fixed, so still working on that.
I guess I atleast have learned one thing, and that is I need to get my Bachelor's. I could have a Bachelor's in Culinary, and still get to the IT job interviews. So will probably start to finish my degree with winter classes. I already have two associates from my engineering studies. I want to move into management/project management so going for my Business Administration degree. Then onto my MBA. If FoHO ever does well, those classes won't hurt that is for sure. But until then, I am treated like a leper because I don't have a degree, and not totally sure what I'll do. I have been offered interviews nationally, but I really don't want to relocate.
Whatever happens, I decided to put FoHO back on as a hobby train of thought and not a job thought. It helps out not having that stress of timeline trying to get it done. Also, due to the fact I know I will have to go back to work(hopefully) and go back to college, I decided to finally after 3 years, start accepting volunteer support. Even as a hobby, there would be no way I could finish FoHO with that much on my plate. I have teams now working on brainstorming quests, and team leads who will put it all together for me. They have come up with some awesome plots I never would have, so pretty cool to see how things are developing. I have a couple people offering 2D and 3D art contributions as well, so looking forward to seeing what they come up with.
So what happens next in my life and FoHO, I guess we'll see in 3 months ;)
#2
10/22/2010 (3:55 pm)
Leathel - it's tough, I've been there, and very much in the same boat as you were - all the experience under the sun, yet no degree (that's all that companies are going for because fresh people out of a degree are cheaper than those with 10/15 years experience) among many other reasons. Your best bet is to contract if you can - use the experience gained in gaming, or specialise in Android/Flash/iPhone/C++ which seems to be in demand at the moment.
#3
@JulianR,
Yeah, I have been seeing alot of phone dev requests in my journey. I've always worked on the Blackberry server side of things, but keep running acrossed a ton of requests for Blackberry, etc. phone app devs.
10/22/2010 (5:00 pm)
Thanks Sidikian. I like the help watch the kids comment :)@JulianR,
Yeah, I have been seeing alot of phone dev requests in my journey. I've always worked on the Blackberry server side of things, but keep running acrossed a ton of requests for Blackberry, etc. phone app devs.
#4
10/22/2010 (5:01 pm)
whats really sick is in many industries (mine included) 5 years of experience and a masters degree will barely get you an entry level job in this economy, while the degree opens many more doors compared to those who dont it still isnt a guarantee. For example I read an article recently about law students at Boston college asking for a tuiton refund becasue they wont be able to get a job when they graduate and will be instead in dept up to there ears when they are done. Best of luck 
#5
10/23/2010 (9:46 am)
I feel Foho is a sister proyect to warscale. Go on and get your title as it is too important in the current times but please dont stop. You can always get an hour here and there and keep going on. I have been tempted so many times to stop but when I see how many things I have accomplished I think it would be dumb to just throw away so many hours of work. Good luck!
#6
10/25/2010 (12:27 am)
Soloing a MMO is the hardest thing to do and I should know. Been trying to make one too. Keep at it and don't give up. Testers are hard to find for hobby projects, so I'm not surprised that you are having trouble there. 
#7
10/25/2010 (6:09 pm)
Had been wondering how FoHO was going, and I missed seeing your blog posts here. Hope it all works out for you. You know, the Business Admin degree seems like a good idea; if you stay on as an indie, it'd surely come in handy there; and if you go back into IT, it'd help land job interviews.
#8
However, my degree was not totally in vain. I finally landed a job in web development after a year and a half (and well over 500 application submissions) of searching. And, while not my first choice in industry, it's actually turned out to be a really great place to work, and I enjoy it. I'd wish the same for anyone in a similar situation.
However, I will also say that I still work on my own projects in my spare time because I love it so much. So while the game industry can be frustrating, try not to let the bureaucratic BS get in the way. And remember, success comes in cans, failure in can'ts.
10/25/2010 (7:54 pm)
Man, I totally understand where you are coming from. Hell, I HAVE a Bachelor of Science (In Game Art and Design) and industry experience, and STILL couldn't land an actual job in the industry. (I did get some contract work here and there, but nothing steady enough to handle those student loans).However, my degree was not totally in vain. I finally landed a job in web development after a year and a half (and well over 500 application submissions) of searching. And, while not my first choice in industry, it's actually turned out to be a really great place to work, and I enjoy it. I'd wish the same for anyone in a similar situation.
However, I will also say that I still work on my own projects in my spare time because I love it so much. So while the game industry can be frustrating, try not to let the bureaucratic BS get in the way. And remember, success comes in cans, failure in can'ts.
Torque 3D Owner 'Sidikian'
Being classified as smart enough to have been placed in college prep courses my high school years yet never having went to any schooling I can totally understand where you're coming from.
Glad to see that you haven't totally given up on the game, and as much as it was your baby, sometimes others can help watch the kids you know ;).
It was a huge undertaking from the begining and you should give yourself props for even the attempt.
I'll be watching for more updates as time goes, keep us in touch.
Peace be the journey and may God aid and bless you in your travels through the next "3 months".