Hey Everyone,
So far the game is looking really great. We've finally started to solidify the gameplay we designed back in month one. For those of you who are interested in tracking our progress you can visit:
Our Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cast-Away-by-Painfully-Awesome/352298822013
Follow us on Twitter! - http://twitter.com/CastAwayGame1
Our Youtube channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/painfullyawful
Normally this blog is about management, but for today I thought I would give you a glimpse at how production is going.
Drop a comment and let us know what you think, maybe your ideas could end up in the game!
- Dave
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Working Without "Leads"
For my first post I will talk about the benefits/problems of not assigning leads to our final project team. Our External Producers (Full Sail Faculty) have asked that our studio not assign any leads to our Final Project Team, Painfully Awesome.
The Good
First and foremost, not assigning leads has allowed each team member to be a coder or an artist first, leaving the administrative tasks for us Internal Producers. The programmers monitor their own day-to-day problems and take action as needed with all documentation done by Jake and myself. The artists have split their Asset list documentation amongst themselves while continuing to work on art assets for Proof of Concept. So far, this has allowed both the artists and the programmers to spend more time working on the types of tasks that they have spent learning for the last year and a half. It seems unreasonable for the to perform managerial tasks when they haven't been formally trained to do so, and most likely don't want to. Although my team is more than capable, they all seem to be happy spending their work time on tasks that they are familiar with.
The Bad
There is some bad with this system, most of it however, is on Jake and myself. Imagine a football team - Jake and I are the coaches, and the rest of the team are the players on the field. We call out the plays ahead of time and make larger scoped decisions about the flow of the game, while the team focuses on executing the plays we all agree on. The problem lies with the fact that without leads, we have no quarterback on the field, just a group of talented players with no specific leader to change plays or make decisions in between plays. People step up sure, but for the most part it is task based, not role based. Meaning if we're focusing on AI one day, the person who's been working on it the most is the one making decisions about what needs to be changed. But when all the pieces need to work and move the same, the constant switching of roles becomes more of a hindrance than a benefit. Essentially (and I'm sticking with the football analogy), Jake or I need to run out onto the field in between each play to go over the play book with them in order to make sure everyone executes the same play. It functions and it works, but it could be much more efficient.
Final Conclusion: Do not want...
The Good
First and foremost, not assigning leads has allowed each team member to be a coder or an artist first, leaving the administrative tasks for us Internal Producers. The programmers monitor their own day-to-day problems and take action as needed with all documentation done by Jake and myself. The artists have split their Asset list documentation amongst themselves while continuing to work on art assets for Proof of Concept. So far, this has allowed both the artists and the programmers to spend more time working on the types of tasks that they have spent learning for the last year and a half. It seems unreasonable for the to perform managerial tasks when they haven't been formally trained to do so, and most likely don't want to. Although my team is more than capable, they all seem to be happy spending their work time on tasks that they are familiar with.
The Bad
There is some bad with this system, most of it however, is on Jake and myself. Imagine a football team - Jake and I are the coaches, and the rest of the team are the players on the field. We call out the plays ahead of time and make larger scoped decisions about the flow of the game, while the team focuses on executing the plays we all agree on. The problem lies with the fact that without leads, we have no quarterback on the field, just a group of talented players with no specific leader to change plays or make decisions in between plays. People step up sure, but for the most part it is task based, not role based. Meaning if we're focusing on AI one day, the person who's been working on it the most is the one making decisions about what needs to be changed. But when all the pieces need to work and move the same, the constant switching of roles becomes more of a hindrance than a benefit. Essentially (and I'm sticking with the football analogy), Jake or I need to run out onto the field in between each play to go over the play book with them in order to make sure everyone executes the same play. It functions and it works, but it could be much more efficient.
Final Conclusion: Do not want...
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