Elixir was now two months old and despite all of the talk, we still hadn’t signed a publishing deal. The European Computer Trade Show, ECTS, takes place in London at the beginning of September. My main focus at the show was getting the deal signed as soon as possible.

We were talking to four publishers and they were keen to sign us up. The choice of publisher is probably about as important as it gets for a developer. And that’s where it gets tricky. You might think that it comes down to who offers you the most money, but it’s not as simple as that. Ultimately we turned down a bigger offer than the one we took.

In my mind at least, there are five key issues to consider. Money is obviously very important and comes in two forms – up front payments and royalties. Some developers prefer to get hefty up front payments and settle for royalty rates as low as one or two percent. If you’re confident though, it’s probably better settle for lower up fronts in exchange for better royalty rates.

The second consideration is the power of the publisher at retail. This is hugely important. You need a publisher with distribution muscle. Do they have the power to get your game on shelves around the world? Are they as strong in the American and Japanese markets as they are in Europe? How convincing is their sales operation?

The third concern is marketing. It’s fashionable amongst developers to denigrate the importance of marketing. I don’t subscribe to this point of view at all. A strong marketing team with enthusiasm and ideas can make a real difference. Are they prepared to spend money on pushing your game? Do the people themselves play and understand games?

The fourth consideration is the issue of the people themselves. Are you confident that you can build a successful working relationship with a particular team of people? Unfortunately, this part is the least scientific. Much of it comes down to gut instinct.

The final issue is that of your status with a prospective publisher. There’s always a danger that in signing with one of the bigger outfits, your game will be swamped by the sheer weight of their schedule. You want their people to sit up and take notice of your game. You want them as behind it as you are yourself. You’ve got to be sure that your publisher’s going see you as instrumental to their long-term success. This guarantees that they’ll fulfil their side of the deal.

After much agonising, I decided that we would go with Eidos. They had everything we needed. They were offering an excellent deal with the right figures. They’ve recently established a Japanese subsidiary and they’ve ramped up their US operations, both of which should increase their power in the respective markets. I think their marketing has been superb over the last few years and they’re setting a new standard in this area. At least some of Lara’s success must be attributed to the really excellent press coverage generated by the Eidos PR department. Their management team is unique and I know that we can work together. I have known Ian Livingstone (Chairman) and Charles Cornwall (CEO) for a long time and I think their blend of games knowledge and business acumen is a very powerful and unique combination. It is one of the main reasons why we went with them. The fact that they are UK-based means that I can take a half an hour trip to their offices and sort out any problems face to face. That Ian comes from a design background himself is a huge bonus as it means that he really understands original game concepts. Ultimately I felt that Eidos’s ambitions and standards matched our own. As a result, the first stage of the deal, the Heads of Agreement, was signed on the Sunday of ECTS. I found it very hard breaking this news to the other publishers, as all three had made us superb offers. It was a very tough decision.

Meanwhile work was going really well, helped by the addition of two more artists. Colin Seaman came to us from Psygnosis, where he was an art manager. Despite playing his cards close to his chest, we’ve managed to gather the following disturbing facts about Colin: He owns a Blue Peter badge and he was on the Tony Hart Show once. These facts aroused our suspicions, leading us to believe that behind the calm, family man exterior lurk sordid secrets. These suspicions were confirmed when he revealed that it took him over 12 hours to burn his magazine collection.

Rainer Gombos came to us from Germany, where he worked on a game called May Day. He was an immediate hit when he turned up to his interview in leather trousers. A ruthlessly efficient Starcraft player, Gombos the Protoss regularly exhorts his colleagues in late night games with cries of "Attack! You must attack!"

The team was beginning to gel. Before I started Elixir I had come to the conclusion that talent isn’t enough. I am keen to work with people with the right attitude. Passion, hunger and humility are essential traits. They’ve also got to have a sense of humour. When you’re spending sixteen hours a day together, you’ve got to get on. I hope that most of this happens naturally, but I try to give the process a helping hand. The company pays for everyone to go out once a month, with a different person responsible for each month’s outing. We also continue to play games obsessively. Usually this helps team spirit but there are exceptions. Diplomacy, as mentioned previously, was a divisive experience. Five-a-side football was abandoned after a particularly violent game, in which I had my legs hacked from under me three or four times. The spectacle of ten lardy programmers lumbering around a football pitch was a sight in itself. Sexy football it wasn’t. It was though a fantastic opportunity to laugh heartily at each other, which can only be a healthy thing.

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