Final Comment: Gunnlaugur Arnarson

Hello Gunnlaugur,
This post which you have written here is well-written and informative. You give good details on both the positive and negative aspects of your group’s final product. You even explain the reasons behind these to a more than satisfactory degree.
From my memory, we have not been formally taught what a post-mortem is or what goes in it. Because of this, it’s quite acceptable, I believe, for you to have the following problem which I will discuss. I would have […]

Dead On Arrival

Friendship Down, a game about trials and tribulations that can only be overcome through teamwork. Maybe I could try to make some parallels between the game and the process of making the came, but I don’t feel like it. The latter doesn’t have robots, anyway.
Overall, the game is more than satisfactory for the level we are at, even though sometimes I feel fairly strong feelings of the opposite and wanted to make major changes. Being both the scrum master and […]

Comment #5: August Demirsson

Hello August,
You’re going to be getting a lot of attention for this post.
You’ve written an informative piece here. However, something that immediately came up for me is that you wrote more about your first playtesting session. Now, the requirements don’t specify that you had to write about the beta testing, but I feel that was implied. Anyway, it’s not really an issue, especially when it was not made clear in the instructions. The paragraph for the beta test provides more […]

Question 2: Are you making Umibōzu?

So, the playtesting. It sure did happen.
I had a hard time with it in many ways. A lot of it I felt was not very useful. Largely because I was already aware of many of the criticisms to be had. The timing of the shield; the lack of variation in the enemies and their functions; poor communication with player, especially with feedback; the companion characters in the game not having enough utility, differentiation, or personality for the player to care […]

Comment #4: Nicklas Rosén

Hello Ni[c]klas,
This is quite a good post that you have written. You thoroughly describe and analyze the motivational problem within your group that you chose as the topic for this blog post. It is also a positive that you included your role in the circumstances.
The explanation of your efforts to solve your group’s problem also is clear and informative. It reveals some of what you learned from these experiences and could be helpful to others in similar situations who may […]

+1 Love to All Party Members

“Cho Aniki already perfected shoot ’em ups, so what are we even doing?”
We have all asked this question in our time here. This way of thinking is not helpful. We as game students already have so many new challenges and responsibilities to navigate, an existential crisis over our work is the last thing we need. Each of us is having our own struggles, but we are also part of a group. While that means we potentially have more support, it […]

Comment #3: Erik Rosenberg

Hello Erik,
This blog post is a very good and well-written blog post indeed. You thoroughly and succinctly defined scrum and its key points.
You also described how scrum affects your group, focusing on the benefits. However, you also discuss the negatives of scrum being implemented in game development team as small as your own.
The post is quite clear, leaving no part of the post open for questions as to missing information. Of course, the reader could develop questions based on going […]

Comment #2: Krzesimir

Hello Krzesimir,
This is a well-written post which also makes the topic at hand interesting to read about. It sounds like you and your team have found a good system for your work, especially in regards to your size. The success in the logistical work involved in constructing this system would presumably be of your responsibility as producer and scrum master, as well as your education in the project management minor, which reflects quite well on you and your quality of […]

Get Up, Stand Up

Previously on Let’s Make Some of Them Video Games…
Presentation, Good.
Comfortably Scrum
Ah, yes. Scrum. My good friend. My agile friend. I do not know what to say about you. Exercising is not really my thing. So sprinting, or even just standing up, is generally not something I enjoy. I have never watched rugby. Anyway, I do appreciate a flexible and iterative work structure. Behind the corporate jargon and ironic formal structuring for being less structured and formal is a good framework for […]

Presentation’s Where I Wanna Be

PowerPoint on the beach where the slides are free.
The Alpha Presentation was a perfect subject to put too much effort into instead of doing more important work. I do, however, think it paid off.
I decided that it would be easiest to make the structure by simply copying the topics that were listed as requirements, each slide being on one of the requirements. While I would have preferred to do something more original, it would make the task easier. It would […]

Post #1: 360 No-Scoping the Project

Listen closely, for I am about to share with you a tale of great importance.
To correctly scope a project can be a challenge. Over-scoping is pervasive in video game development, where “feature creep” and underestimating the amount of time the game will take lead to games being delayed for years or canceled altogether (which can be a better outcome in some situations). How should one go about scoping their game? I don’t know. I’m inexperienced, a student, and this is a […]