I’ve been working on\u00a0Archmage Rises<\/em>\u00a0full time for three months and part time about 5 months before that.\u00a0 In round numbers, I\u2019m about 1,000 hours in.<\/p>\n You see, I have been working without a specific deadline because of a little thing I know from business software called the \u201cCone of Uncertainty\u201d:<\/p>\n In business software, the customer shares an idea (or \u201cneed\u201d)\u2014and 10 out of 10 times, the next sentence is: “When will you be done, and how much will it cost?”<\/p>\n Looking at the cone diagram, when is this estimate most accurate?\u00a0 When you are done!\u00a0 You know exactly how long it takes and how much it will actually cost when you finish the project.\u00a0 When do they want the estimate? At the beginning\u2014when accuracy is nil!\u00a0 For this reason, I didn’t set a deadline; anything I said would be wrong and misleading to all involved.<\/p>\n Even when my wife repeatedly asked me.<\/p>\n Even when the head of Alienware called me and asked, \u201cWhen will it ship?\u201d<\/p>\n I focused on moving forward in the cone so I\u00a0could<\/em>\u00a0be in a position to estimate a deadline with reasonable accuracy. In fact, I have built two prototypes which prove the concept and test certain mechanics.\u00a0 Then I moved into the core features of the game.<\/p>\n Making a game is like building a sports car from a kit. I have spent the past months making critical pieces.\u00a0 As each is complete, I put it aside for final assembly at a later time.\u00a0 To any outside observer, it looks nothing like a car\u2014just a bunch of random parts lying on the floor.\u00a0 Heck! To ME, it looks like a bunch of random parts on the floor.\u00a0 How will this ever be a road worthy car?<\/p>\n Oh, hold on.\u00a0 Gotta check the soup. This week I finished a critical feature of my story editor\/reader, and suddenly the heavens parted and I could see how all the pieces fit together!\u00a0 Now I’m in a place where I can estimate a deadline.<\/p>\n But before I get into that, I need to clarify\u00a0what<\/em>\u00a0deadline I’m talking about.<\/p>\n Vertical Slice, M.V.P. & Scrum<\/strong><\/p>\n Making my first game (Catch the Monkey<\/em>), I learned a lot of things developers should\u00a0never<\/em>\u00a0do.\u00a0 In my research after that project, I learned how game-making is unique and different from business software (business software has to work correctly.\u00a0 Games have to work correctly\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0be fun) and requires a different approach.<\/p>\n Getting to basics, a vertical slice is a short,\u00a0complete<\/em>\u00a0experience of the game.\u00a0 Imagine you are makingSuper Mario Bros<\/em>.\u00a0 You build the very first level (World 1-1) with complete mechanics, power ups, art, music, sound effects, and juice (polish).\u00a0 If this isn’t fun, if the mechanics don’t work, then you are wasting your time building the rest of the game.<\/p>\n The book\u00a0Lean Startup<\/em>\u00a0has also greatly influenced my thinking on game development.\u00a0 In it, the author argues to fail quickly, pivot, and then move in a better direction.\u00a0 The mechanism to fail quickly is to build the Minimum Valuable Product (MVP).\u00a0 Think of web services like HootSuite, Salesforce, or Amazon.\u00a0 Rather than build the “whole experience,” you build the absolute bare minimum that can function so that you can test it out on real customers and see if there is any traction to this business idea.\u00a0 I see the Vertical Slice and MVP as interchangeable labels to the same idea.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lostechies.com\/jimmybogard\/files\/2012\/10\/image.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n\u2026 but with no instructions
\n\u2026 and many parts you have to build yourself (!)<\/p>\n
\nOkay, we’re good.<\/p>\n