Thanks for the reply! In your own projects, have you ever worked in a timeboxed fashion, and how ratios of prototyping/production play into that? As an example, deciding beforehand "I want to dedicate a month of fulltime work to this project", and moving on to production after half of that time has passed. I think about this in terms of game jams as well - when you have a very limited number of hours with a deadline, at what point do you decide "If I'm going to make a fulfilling amount of content, I need to stop with the features I've implemented so far."
Hey! Great question! I actually did this for a game jam on my YouTube channel. I tried making a game in 6 days and splitting the time in half preproduction and production (3 days each).
In practice I spend 5 days on preproduction and 1 on production. It's really difficult to plan a specific amount of time for preproduction.
Moving forward I'll try something like the game a week challenge for preproduction and then pick one of the prototypes after 8-10 weeks. This strategy could be condensed down to any timescale, but you'd have to scope way down for smaller time frames (like a game a day).
When you think about prototyping, how polished do you think of your art assets? Is it possible to get good, positive feedback on gray boxes before moving on to creating/commissioning final art in the production phase, or do you have high quality art that can show your prototype in style?
I think your FAQ about game feel touches on this a little bit, but the advice in when to switch to production (“I love this game already, I just want more.”) gives me more of a "vertical slice" feeling.
Thanks for any input on this - I'm not an artist so assets need to be found or commissioned & it's hard to decide to do that while still playing around with mechanics.
Hey Stump! Thanks for the comment. If you already have positive feedback on a grayboxed prototype, you are in a really good place!
In my book I recommend waiting to move to production until after the vertical slice is finished. I put the vertical slice at the very end of preproduction. Its purpose is to remove the remaining uncertainty around artstyle, music, and sound effects before fully committing to production.
Hey Martin! Unfortunately, there isn't a place to purchase it yet. I'll continue posting updates on the progress of the book here on Indiegogo. When I have a place where it can be purchased, I'll make an announcement here.
So right away Ive noticed schrodinger's cat in this post. Its an interesting way of looking at probability. Something is both a winner and a failure until you know for sure.
Oh neat, thanks. Which video was that?
Here is the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPqBOR78nxc&list=PL9FzW-m48fn0T3mDDfKwuQ2vLI2jybSrj
Thanks for the reply! In your own projects, have you ever worked in a timeboxed fashion, and how ratios of prototyping/production play into that? As an example, deciding beforehand "I want to dedicate a month of fulltime work to this project", and moving on to production after half of that time has passed. I think about this in terms of game jams as well - when you have a very limited number of hours with a deadline, at what point do you decide "If I'm going to make a fulfilling amount of content, I need to stop with the features I've implemented so far."
Hey! Great question! I actually did this for a game jam on my YouTube channel. I tried making a game in 6 days and splitting the time in half preproduction and production (3 days each).
In practice I spend 5 days on preproduction and 1 on production. It's really difficult to plan a specific amount of time for preproduction.
Moving forward I'll try something like the game a week challenge for preproduction and then pick one of the prototypes after 8-10 weeks. This strategy could be condensed down to any timescale, but you'd have to scope way down for smaller time frames (like a game a day).
Great post! Thank you for writing it.
When you think about prototyping, how polished do you think of your art assets? Is it possible to get good, positive feedback on gray boxes before moving on to creating/commissioning final art in the production phase, or do you have high quality art that can show your prototype in style?
I think your FAQ about game feel touches on this a little bit, but the advice in when to switch to production (“I love this game already, I just want more.”) gives me more of a "vertical slice" feeling.
Thanks for any input on this - I'm not an artist so assets need to be found or commissioned & it's hard to decide to do that while still playing around with mechanics.
Hey Stump! Thanks for the comment. If you already have positive feedback on a grayboxed prototype, you are in a really good place!
In my book I recommend waiting to move to production until after the vertical slice is finished. I put the vertical slice at the very end of preproduction. Its purpose is to remove the remaining uncertainty around artstyle, music, and sound effects before fully committing to production.
Ben
I'm going to try this approach in the coming week. Thanks for the rough outline!
What software did you used to draw these things? I saw it in your video as well.
Where can I buy the book?
Hey Martin! Unfortunately, there isn't a place to purchase it yet. I'll continue posting updates on the progress of the book here on Indiegogo. When I have a place where it can be purchased, I'll make an announcement here.
So right away Ive noticed schrodinger's cat in this post. Its an interesting way of looking at probability. Something is both a winner and a failure until you know for sure.