Examples of what I can do for you

Game Design

Need an experienced lead to kick a project off, get a publisher and write the GDD?  Need someone who understands serious games, casual games, advergames or mobile games?  Have a design problem and need a quick solution?  Want to rework a game for a new territory, take it to a new platform or relaunch a franchise?  I can help you with all of these.

Consultancy

Want to work with the games industry in some form but not sure where to start? Do you own IP you'd like to see make the transition into games but need advice on what's possible, what isn't, which platforms you should be on and how much it will cost? Do you need information for a book, TV show or magazine article? I can give you what you need: quickly and independently. 

Tool Documentation

Is the documentation for one of your in-house (or commercially available) tools in a mess - or does it barely exist at all? Don't drag your programmers away from their work, give me a copy and let me create clean, concise docs that can speed up everyone's work.

Submission Docs

Milestone looming and you need concept approval docs for Sony or Microsoft? Let me take some of the load.  I've been through this many times before and can turn a pile of notes into a solid doc that'll improve your chances of getting through concept approval first time.

Concept and High-Level Game Design Docs

Do you have a great idea for a video game, but aren't sure what you need to put down on paper to get a publisher interested?  Do you own great IP and want to make sure you control the direction of the game?  Are you an advertising agency who knows what they want for an advergame and wants to communicate that clearly to a developer so you can ensure your client is happy? Are you a publisher with a great concept but no time to flesh it out into a high-level GDD you can send out for developers to quote on?  I can separate the design process from the development process: allow me to help you get the design you want: then you can shop around for a developer with increased control and lowered risk.

GDD Editing, Wikis and other 'Librarian' Duties

You're a year into a large and complex project and already the GDD is bulging and the Wiki you started with such great intentions is a barely-used mess. Let me do what you'd do yourself if you only had the time: gather everything together, reorder, reformat, label and index it, as a series of docs or on your Wiki. Suddenly, everything's where it's supposed to be and you can stop searching for things and get on with development.

Second Opinion

Focus groups are great, but while they're good at telling you what they want, they're not so good at telling you how to do it.  Sometimes it's useful to get an honest, completely confidential outside opinion from an experienced lead designer.  For a very small cost, I can give you a thorough analysis of your game complete with workable, realistic solutions for any problems I find.  It's impossible to be completely objective about the game you're working on, especially one that's nearing completion.  Let me provide a fresh pair of eyes. Then, if you choose, I can work with your team to help them come up with improvements.  Over the years I've done everything from reworked HUDs to tweaked steam engine stats.  If you have the niggling feeling there's a problem - or you just want the reassurance that everything's fine - I can probably help.

Scriptwriting, Plot, Story and all that Good Stuff

We all know a good script can bring a game to life, just as a bad one can wreck it.  Whether you need the whole thing done from scratch, want someone to give your dialogue a polish, need a clutch of henchmen profiles or just want a bunch of descriptions writen in time for a deadline, I can help.

What else?

I'm hard-working, thorough and very discreet: I've signed more NDAs over the years than I can count.  I'm available at a very reasonable day rate or at a negotiable lower rate if you need someone for a longer period. Drop me an email and let's talk.