...like, perhaps, missing the deadline? When projects become entrenched in this state, simply 'working harder/longer' rarely works.

Another game-related disaster for your amusement. The plan was to re-use an existing game's engine to create a game of a different genre. The problem is that there was no identifiable engine layer, it was written from the gound up to be exactly what it was. -The product at one time had 5 lead designers, some of which were unable to tell me definitively who was in charge of what. -For some time, both the lead programer and the creative director were contractors. -The game could never figure out what it wanted to be. Originally slated for an on-line service that never materialized, the game was practically re-invented twice mid-development. -Our level designer seemed more interested in tinkering with photoshop than doing his work. -The game passed off between 5 producers/managers throught it's dev cycle. I could go on, but you get the picture. Against the better judgement of many, the game was eventually released. As for quality, let's just say that one of the game's more talented designers referred to it as "colon blow" and insisted that he be removed from the credits.

I went directly from VC6 to VS2005. It took some time to get used to, but I'm happy with it. I haven't heard much of anything bad about VS2008 though, and in your position I'd probably go that route if you're still relatively early in your development cycle. - VC6 was snappy, but most everything in VS2005 is notably slower. Leaves me with a feeling like I'm repairing watches while wearing welding gloves. I've heard VS2008 is a bit peppier, but FTM I have to stick with VS2005. - VS2005 conforms more closely to the C++ standard than VC6. VC6 code will may have to be modified (corrected) to compile under VS2005. - The STL code in VS2005 is a bit more pleasing to look at than in VC6. - In VS2005 you loose the class wizard (You. can. add. variables. via. the. gui., but. only. one. at. a. time.). - When compiling my legacy apps I typically get a plethora of deprecated/security warnings. Ugh. - For those that care, VS2005 brief emulation isn't all that hot.