Last month we started a new project called Armament. After reviewing our last title (The Last Stand) it seemed somewhat daunting because I did not feel it had enough vision and wow appeal to make a fun enjoyable game. I decided to veto it, which is sad given the amount of time we have all spent reviewing the game design document (GDD). But, looking at it I don't think we will get the end user reaction to the game that our team really wants. Our new title we are going to work out a very small baseline to get it out the door ASAP so that we have something digitally tangible for our team to play with.
Currently we have our baseline GDD which I think we will set it in stone with a few minor tweaks. This weekend we plan on prototyping it as board game. On our last title, we were kind of bouncing around a bit trying to keep up with updates to the software development kit (SDK) we use, etc. This caused a bit of lag time. With Armament, I want us to just focus on building something fun. As a software engineer myself, I think the focus needs to be about the game play at this point. We will utilize 3rd party sources to make the game parts we are not thrilled with like the GUI of the menu....boring....to me at least. I think, as a team, we really need a win and I’m therefor focusing on making the assets we create internally come alive in game as this is key to our success.
We also have a new game producer this round; her name is Tessa. I think having another producer will work out well because it allows me to focus more on our project and less on other tasks that need monitoring and decisions that need to be made. She will be in constant contact with me about things like recruiting which is always a hassle given the amount of work just to run advertising campaigns. Dividing up tasks seems to be working out well.
Our next sprint kicks off on Sunday. With us running 2 week sprints this time—rather than 1 week—I'm hoping to see more members using the grab feature that was introduced by our lead programmer, Anthony. The feature allows our members to finish their task and grab another task easily and with no lead or producer involvement on pre-approved agendas.
Our current release date is December but I think we can get to beta stage by August. That is kind of pre-mature in discussion right now as we will be talking about the time line for the project and putting it up on the whiteboard this weekend.
Currently we have our baseline GDD which I think we will set it in stone with a few minor tweaks. This weekend we plan on prototyping it as board game. On our last title, we were kind of bouncing around a bit trying to keep up with updates to the software development kit (SDK) we use, etc. This caused a bit of lag time. With Armament, I want us to just focus on building something fun. As a software engineer myself, I think the focus needs to be about the game play at this point. We will utilize 3rd party sources to make the game parts we are not thrilled with like the GUI of the menu....boring....to me at least. I think, as a team, we really need a win and I’m therefor focusing on making the assets we create internally come alive in game as this is key to our success. We also have a new game producer this round; her name is Tessa. I think having another producer will work out well because it allows me to focus more on our project and less on other tasks that need monitoring and decisions that need to be made. She will be in constant contact with me about things like recruiting which is always a hassle given the amount of work just to run advertising campaigns. Dividing up tasks seems to be working out well.
Our next sprint kicks off on Sunday. With us running 2 week sprints this time—rather than 1 week—I'm hoping to see more members using the grab feature that was introduced by our lead programmer, Anthony. The feature allows our members to finish their task and grab another task easily and with no lead or producer involvement on pre-approved agendas.
Our current release date is December but I think we can get to beta stage by August. That is kind of pre-mature in discussion right now as we will be talking about the time line for the project and putting it up on the whiteboard this weekend.