Custom projects form a large part of what I do in Second Life, and I’ve learnt a lot of lessons along the way. Designing and building a sim in Second Life, in my eyes, is no different to designing a website for a client. It’s the same sort of process – aesthetics, functionality, ease of use and stability.

But with a custom job, it’s important you cover your own back and don’t leave yourself open to exploitation.

Firstly – always have a contract. It doesn’t matter if it’s your best friend’s  granny – you should always have a contract. It should be clear cut and state the terms of the agreement. Clarification of the following is essential:

• Milestones and Deadlines
• Specific Objectives
• Payment
• Intellectual Property

In most cases, the client will hold the IP rights, but it’s important for both sides to be very clear on where they stand with each step of the project.

I tend to get any project which pays a substantial amount covered by a contract which has been reviewed by a lawyer – you can draw up the legal agreement yourself though. Check this link for advice on that.

Secondly, make chat logs of everything. I tend to avoid voice as much as I can when discussing projects with a client on the simple basis that I can just keep chat logs of what has been said.

Oftentimes, things like timelines, revisions and briefs can be changed mid-project, and in the case of dispute, chat logs will help to remind you of them. As well as reminding the client too! Again, in bigger projects, I’ll ask the client to email me the specifications as proof of the amendments being requested.

Thirdly, always know your capabilities. Don’t agree to something if you can’t do it. Or if you know you’ll run out of motivation part way through – designing 15 sims can be a fun project, but it can last several months to build and it’s easy for people to get sidetracked in that time. If you’re not 100% sure you can deliver the product on time, just say no.

Finally, some clients can be companies and if they’re not organised, you can find yourself having to deal with several people at once. That’s a bad call – always deal with one point of contact, and one only. When you start dealing with more than one person, you find that they may not have communicated clearly with each other at the office, and as a result you’ve spent hours on something they didn’t actually want. Stick to a single point of contact so all the information and feedback is channelled through the same person to avoid confusions.