The hardest part is wearing so many hats. If I could focus on just one job, life would be much easier, but that's not possible. It is better than it was previously because I have a really good lead designer making sure that all the game content gets done. I barely even look at that stuff, where previously I had to stay on top of that too. But there's still too much on my plate, but there is no other way for now.
1. Project Manager - a lot of this is shared with Jim
2. Business/Legal - Sales/Contracts/Trademarks/Domains, Jim does what he can here
3. Web Master - Louie handles sow, but I handle this site
4. Tech Support - only level 2 though, the rest of the team handles level 1
5. Game/AI Coder - Lots of work to do here, constant bugs
6. Network Coder - half of network work is guessing, because it's so hard to debug
7. Graphics/GUI Coder - Most of this work is done, but there is still screen work
8. Installer/Security - done some work on security, installer should start soon
This is why it's so important to get good people on the team. This team of guys handles everything else. Many areas of the game I don't even get into. I just posted my night, but I know that the rest of the team were busy with their own jobs last night. I only popped in the mp test for a little while, it's as good as clock work that they were going to be there. Everything that I worked on last night required prep by someone else. I try to fly through the work, making sure that I get done what needs to be done to keep the rest of the team productive. They do the same for me. I offload as much as I can, trying to delegate everything possible. Being the only programmer makes me a huge bottleneck for almost every part of the game. Being the Project Manager makes me the ax man. At this point of the dev cycle I find myself constantly saying no to new ideas. Until we have the everything that we planned on in the game and working, we can't add new work. The main point is not to stress out. I only have so many hours a night and I have a ton to do, so I have a tendency to get a little crazy if I feel that my time is getting wasted or could be more productive. Since there is barely a part of the game that isn't affected by the code, I have to make sure to spend some time each night supporting all parts of the program.
My computer that I work on at night is right in the family room, so I have to work through distractions. But being there keeps me involved in the family. My wife makes sure that I don't shirk my family responsibilities, and my kids certainly have no problem interrupting me. Sometimes I wish they wouldn't, but it's better that they do
