Having spent over a decade tied to a desk in, what I call "the big studio system", suddenly being an independent developer was a little overwhelming. Though it came in starts and stops Paul and I have slowly settled into our own personal routines to get our work done. Working from home, with a remote (physically, if not mentally) colleague is a very different way of working than I grew accustomed to, but it's very gratifying.

There are negatives, of course. Just off the top of my head, not sitting at a desk right next to the person you're working with can be hard to get used to. When I worked at studios I could simply lean back, take off my headphones and ask the programmer assigned to my tasks a question and have it answered immediately. If things were unclear I could just show the issues on my monitor and come to a solution together. Instant Messaging has taken over that role now and though it works pretty well, I do sometimes wish I could physically show and explain things.

Secondly, having the discipline to actually work at home is hard. With so many distractions around and no boss to crack the whip it takes a lot of effort to actually get work done. At the beginning of a project everybody is still excited and you simply cannot work hard and long enough, as it's just so much fun. But nearing the end of the project all tasks are cumbersome and can be tedious. At these times you really have to force yourself to hack through the task list.

There are positives too, of course. For one, I can listen to music and radio as loud as I want, which I usually do when I work. I don't have a commute which, if you know anything about the Japanese rail system, is a blessing! And being your own boss, able to manage your own time gives you a lot of freedom to live life a little better. I can take a day off during the week if I'm not feeling like working (usually hangover-related), and just make up for it another day. Or I can decide to work through the weekend and just take it a little easier during the week. Plus being your own boss also focuses your work as all responsibility is on your own head. I can't "pretend" to be working by re-doing some easy artwork; all my work has to have a purpose.

All in all going independent, however difficult it has been financially and professionally, has been a great decision for me personally. I think I've done more and better work since becoming my own boss than I have as an employed video game artist. And this is nothing against my old jobs, it's just that the extra responsibility and freedom has allowed me to try things that are simply not financially viable if you're developing a large console game for a publisher.

Here then is a breakdown of how I spend my working days:

I wake up when I wake up. Sometimes I set an alarm because I have plans to finish something specific on a certain day, but usually I just wake up naturally, which is never too late in the morning. I stumble out of bed, immediately boot up the PC and switch on the kettle.

Once everything is warmed up, including the coffee, I go through my emails, read some blogs and websites and check the news. Then I have to decide, based on the emails for the day, what kind of day it's going to be: business or development. Usually when I do art and design I need to create a mindset. I start the ball rolling, even if it is difficult at first, I end up on a roll and can easily end up in 12 hour workdays, forgetting to eat and shower. But I am very bad at starting on one task in the morning, switch to do a couple of hours of art and then go back. I like to focus, hard, on one thing.

A business day usually involves paperwork, a trip to the bank or dealing with whatever our accountant requires. As I am based in Tokyo, and Paul isn't, it's easiest for me to take charge of all these little tasks. I might take a trip to our post box, check the company accounts, go to the bank to pay withholding taxes or invoices, etc. It could also be a PR day. I would spend an entire day seeking out blogs and websites that might be interested in reviewing our games or covering our company and send out email after email. I'd update our Flickr page, take new screenshots, check out our sales reports. It could also include writing out design documents, making asset lists or blog posts, like this one. I never feel like I'm being a real developer on days like these, but it's important work that needs to be done.

A development day means I will focus on creating art, assets or using our toolset to actually create our game. I usually start early in the workday until I'm on a roll and just keep on going until I'm tired. I'll have several art creation packages open at the same time, have a chat window open with Paul so I can ask him questions or chew the fat, and either listen to podcasts or BBC radio through their iplayer. Depending on the task I usually end up creating a lot of art on good days. Rather than create everything and then put it in the game, I create one aspect, or part of it, say the front-end or some particular in-game assets, load up the tool and see how they work immediately. Nothing is worse than creating a folder full of art only to find out it doesn't quite fit, or is too big or generally needs redoing. The way Paul developed our tool it's very easy to drop my work in the game, press a button and see it running immediately.

I might have discussions with Paul through the chat window about how I see a particular element working, or how he intends to do something specific, which in turn means I'll have to make sure my artwork is to spec. Occasionally we send each other links to pertinent (or funny) websites or news reports, constantly keeping ourselves up to date on what is going on out there.

For a better insight into my personal work processes check back for the next blog post where I'll be talking about one of our new projects, currently in development. I'll explain how we decide who "takes charge", how I'm trying to develop a character for a particular series of games we've planned and all the coffee I drink during the day.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact us via info@score-studios.jp. We always love to hear from you!

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