Episode 58: The Darkside of Development: Crunch & Crashes

With all the merriment of the holiday season going on around here at TDL, we thought it appropriate (and of true ‘Troll’ fashion) to go on a series of rants about the uglier side of game development. Today’s episode is Part One of what is slated to be a two-part series, where we highlight and discuss aspects of game development that really grind our gears! Things that you don’t hear in interviews, or aren’t written in job descriptions, or in a sweet sizzler reel of your favorite game. In Part I, we talk about crunch and its negative effects on development. We also explore avenues and ways crunch could be curtailed and/or mitigated. We also speak on the nature of crashes and bugs that surface during development and their effects on the developer. The guys avoid the “sunshine and rainbows” talk in this series — so the faint of heart beware.