Great lessons which just makes sense. I just wanted to say that this doesn't just apply to creative projects. I'm a software developer who works on more mundane projects than games, and we always try to follow these rules - and yet, in practice, we still slip up somewhere along the way š
When creativity is involved though, I do wonder how that fits into the mix, since inspiration can't exactly be project managed very well, can it? Some developers make it seem effortless, yet I'm sure there is no magic formula to that.
That's a great question! To be honest, project management for creative endeavors sounded like a completely different beast to me at first, but it's only a matter of using the right framework for each situation.
I can say for experience that usually an initial discovery phase (or "pre-production", as most people in creative studios like to call it) can give you a solid basis for most of your project, however I also like to leave some buffer to have opportunities to prototype new features or course correct some design ideas that aren't working. For example: if your team feels that most of your gameplay feels off after the 3rd or 4th review, you can manage your backlog to prioritize the most critical features that aren't working and execute a "second discovery" by dedicating a new sprint to course correct your project.
In the end, I think planning buffers to let the creativity flow could be a good philosophy for most creative projects. But, if you don't have this luxury, I found out that those lessons I learned during game jams can at least guarantee that you'll be delivering things on time.
Dude, I would play that dinosaur endless runner in a heartbeat!
I was really gripped by your retelling of game jams past and what you learned from them. Those lessons seem so obvious yet are so easily missed, especially when it comes to creative projects like game development.
I will definitely dig into some of those Pico-8 games - it looks like a really cool ecosystem āŗļø
Iād love to show you that game! When I was writing this piece, I actually went digging through my old files, but Iāve had some trouble getting it to launch since it was developed quite a while ago. Still, Iām not giving up! Iāll keep looking for a way to get it running again. Itās nothing groundbreaking, but it means a lot to me. ĖĖ
Thank you so much for your feedback! I confess that I took some cues from your storytelling style to improve my posts, so having you enjoying my writing means a lot! As for PICO-8, Iām sure youāll find something youāll enjoy there. Give it a shot when you get the chance, and let me know what you think once you do!
Great lessons which just makes sense. I just wanted to say that this doesn't just apply to creative projects. I'm a software developer who works on more mundane projects than games, and we always try to follow these rules - and yet, in practice, we still slip up somewhere along the way š
When creativity is involved though, I do wonder how that fits into the mix, since inspiration can't exactly be project managed very well, can it? Some developers make it seem effortless, yet I'm sure there is no magic formula to that.
That's a great question! To be honest, project management for creative endeavors sounded like a completely different beast to me at first, but it's only a matter of using the right framework for each situation.
I can say for experience that usually an initial discovery phase (or "pre-production", as most people in creative studios like to call it) can give you a solid basis for most of your project, however I also like to leave some buffer to have opportunities to prototype new features or course correct some design ideas that aren't working. For example: if your team feels that most of your gameplay feels off after the 3rd or 4th review, you can manage your backlog to prioritize the most critical features that aren't working and execute a "second discovery" by dedicating a new sprint to course correct your project.
In the end, I think planning buffers to let the creativity flow could be a good philosophy for most creative projects. But, if you don't have this luxury, I found out that those lessons I learned during game jams can at least guarantee that you'll be delivering things on time.
Dude, I would play that dinosaur endless runner in a heartbeat!
I was really gripped by your retelling of game jams past and what you learned from them. Those lessons seem so obvious yet are so easily missed, especially when it comes to creative projects like game development.
I will definitely dig into some of those Pico-8 games - it looks like a really cool ecosystem āŗļø
Iād love to show you that game! When I was writing this piece, I actually went digging through my old files, but Iāve had some trouble getting it to launch since it was developed quite a while ago. Still, Iām not giving up! Iāll keep looking for a way to get it running again. Itās nothing groundbreaking, but it means a lot to me. ĖĖ
Thank you so much for your feedback! I confess that I took some cues from your storytelling style to improve my posts, so having you enjoying my writing means a lot! As for PICO-8, Iām sure youāll find something youāll enjoy there. Give it a shot when you get the chance, and let me know what you think once you do!