Busy.

That's all I can say.

Mad,
busy,
stressed.

We're at that stage of development where we're very nearly finished…but not quite! Eagle-eyed regulars to this site may have noticed this article has been a while coming…..now you know why.

I thought I'd written my last line of PlayStation code several years ago, back when I worked at Sony as Sound Manager. Oh no. You can run but you can't hide - I'm currently writing the sound routines for the game. Hopefully, by the next update, the sound effects will all be in and I'll happily retire back to my usual role of swanning around managerially. The rest of the team are doing a fantastic job. Steve's finished putting in the menu screens, and very pretty they are too. We're also working with our design agency Cheese on the artwork for the box. Doug, Steve Hales and Phil have been polishing up the artwork - pretty much all finished now. As you can see from the latest screenshots, it's come a long way in the last few months.

Only it's not all artwork and coding. When making games, we have to make sure that we keep magazines, newspapers and Web sites(!) informed, so everyone knows about the game. Now, this sounds trivial, but to a bunch or programmers, artists and producers whose closest brush with fame is their girlfriend was once in an Egyptian advert for Nubian music (well, it's true for me), this is A BIG DEAL. More importantly, they are spending all the hours Allah made working on the game to make it the best, so it means time out for new tee-shirts and a shave all round.

We recently had some French journalists in and Phil (Scratch Cats creator Phil Corbett) and Damian (Rat Attack producer Damian Hosen) took this too far. To make them welcome, they decided to play accordion music during their visit (pah!), hand out croissants (sacre bleu!) and speak English in French accents (merde!). We wait to see if Damian and Phil will appear on the cover of that particular magazine.

ECTS is the next outing for Rat Attack - this is Europe's equivalent to e3, the games industry's trade show. So, in addition to finishing the game, we have to make sure we have a stable version for ECTS - just one month away. Every time there is a trade show (E3 in the US, ECTS in the UK, Smau in Italy), it is always the same. You leave making the demo until the last minute because you want to show off all the latest groovy parts of your game. This means that everyone tends to work for 50-hour stretches just before ECTS, tempers fray and you always think 'We aren't going to do it!'.

Looking into my crystal ball, I can see dawn on the first day of ECTS as Damian, Phil and I grab a taxi to the venue, three versions of the latest demo still hot from burning in our sweaty palms, with David Bishop from Mindscape screaming out of my mobile, 'WHERE IS IT?'......and that is just the start. We will spend the next three days talking, interviewing, and drinking all night.

Phil and Damian will be at the stand posing for the press in some rather suave velour lounging pyjamas. If you see them, give them a prod to help them stay awake. They will have had a tough few days

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