A presentation on production methods for game development, including overviews of iterative design, waterfall, agile, and scrum.

1. GAME PRODUCTION METHODS
AND REALITIES

2. TOPICS
• Iteration
• Production methods
• Waterfall
• Agile
• Scrum
• Game production misconceptions
• Roles in the game industry – and what happens when your team is too
small to have them

3. ITERATION

4. ITERATION
• Initial plan
1. Conceptualize
2. Design/implement
3. Test
4. Evaluate results of test
5. Back to step 1

6. CONCEPTUALIZE/IDENTIFY
• Design documentation
• “One sheet”
• Concept art
• “Elevator pitch”
• Market research/comparable
games
• Technology proposal
• Marketing proposal

7. DESIGN/IMPLEMENT
• Paper prototype
• Individual game mechanic tests
• “Test scene” in your game project
• Gray box
• “Programmer graphics”
• Start simple and small, get
increasingly complex as you
finalize individual pieces

8. TEST/CONSTRUCT
• Playtest
• All the time
• No really
• With strangers
• Anybody who isn’t someone
working on the game
• Take notes
• Respond to feedback TRENDS,
not individual ideas (unless
they’re really good)

9. EVALUATE RESULTS OF TESTS
• Documentation helps you
remember what you learned
• Take time to meet with your team
and evaluate your playtest notes
• Should be introspective enough
so that the next “conceptualize”
phase can be well-informed

10. DEVELOPMENT STRUCTURES
• Waterfall
• Agile
• Scrum

11. WATERFALL
• A linear process where steps are
not moved on to until the current
step is finalized/verified
• Steps
• Software and system
requirements – product
requirements doc
• Analysis – Models, schema, and
business rules
• Design – software architecture
• Coding – proving and integration
• Testing – debugging
• Operation – release, support,
maintenance

12. WATERFALL
• Pros
• Problems are researched early
• More time/money spent laying a
good foundation for the project
than trouble-shooting later
• Structured, good for projects where
there are a lot of “knowns”
• Cons
• Does not iterate
• There are not always a lot of
“knowns” in projects

13. AGILE
1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s
competitive advantage.
3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter
timescale.
4. Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the
job done.
6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face
conversation.
7. Working software is the primary measure of progress.
8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a
constant pace indefinitely.
9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
10. Simplicity — the art of maximizing the amount of work not done — is essential.
11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.

15. SCRUM

16. NOT SCUMM…

17. SCRUM

18. SCRUM
• Product backlog
• Wishlist of features or elements
created by product owner
• Sprint backlog
• Feature pulled from product backlog
to be worked on my the team
• Sprint
• Set of time (day or week) to
accomplish an amount of work
• Daily scrum
• Meeting to check in and keep moving
forward
• Ship the increment
• Scrum review to review process
• Retrospective on the
product/experience

20. WHAT DOES PROJECT
DURATION MATTER?

21. WHAT DOES TEAM
SIZE MATTER?

22. WHAT DOES
EXPERIENCE MATTER?

23. WHAT DOES
ENGINE/TECH MATTER?

24. WHAT DOES
PRODUCTION METHOD
MATTER?

25. ROLES
• Programming
• Design
• Producing
• Graphics
• Sound
• Marketing
• Licensing & new business
• Testing
• Hardware engineer
• Executives
• Writers

26. ROLES…ARE NICE WHEN YOUR STUDIO
IS BIG ENOUGH