(ir)Relevant tweets

So only 5 coders...

We have 5 full time coder only coders, but we do also have Tony, who is a designer/coder (he was recently caught on video) and the current coding intern Tom.

Coder only coders are Gary (lead), fabs();, Dimitri, Pavle, and Paul.

I think it's a bit low too, but that's because I want there to be more slack time for the code team. Without any slack time, we're not able to experiment or clean up old code. My only concerns are that without the experiments, we lose out on what might have been, and without code cleaning, we make coding new features harder and harder. There are enough of us to get most of the things that design (a four person team + Tony when he's got his design hat on), and art (a 6 person team) demand of us.

That's exactly what I've been wondering.

Without design, there is no game to make. (captain obvious to the rescue)

Designers don't just sit there pontificating either, they're creating level data (for events), or the new homeworld maps. Also, as I've pointed out in another thread, game design isn't something you want to do in isolation. There is a very strong need for different characters when making a game, you can't just have one or two people in charge of creative endeavours, you need a mix, and preferably one that very nearly clashes.

Designers actually produce a lot of written material for the artists and coders, which makes our job easier as working to something specific means less wasted work.