In The Crunch

John Scott of Raven Software, the company behind Soldier of Fortune and the Heretic and Hexen games, has given an incite into what goes on behind the scenes in the gaming industry, describing the final weeks of a game's development...

"The programmers are surviving on caffeine, nicotine and pizza at this point; fixing bugs as they are found. Nothing more can be delayed or put off; it has to all be done yesterday. This period is known as 'crunch time'; everyone works 90-120 hours a week, sleeping on the couch in the office, smoking 3 packs of Marlborough per day and drinking enough coffee to keep a rhino awake are commonplace. There is no time for anything other than working, eating and sleeping."

For the full story, read the article by John over on In The Trenches, which also takes a look at just what all those people credited in the back of the manual actually do, and tracks the process of developing a game from the original idea to the production of the final release candidate.