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Project Expectations
The hype for this project was very high, our expectations were set to make one of the top games produced in the career. All of the members had a high motivation to start the project as it was known that would be our first game with no restrictions and we could make anything we wanted. Also was our chance to show all the potential we had as individuals and to work as a big team.
Development process
Initial commit
Morale was at its highest everyone was giving it all to make their work and everyone was disposed to do anything, the developers started really hard with the implementation of the needed modules for the game engine, and the artist started to define the art style and finding references and ideas so did the designers, trying to design a good fun game.
At this point anything was possible for us the ideas had no limit but soon we would discover that it had an end.
The valley
Since the start of the project, the morale and implication started to drop and it was noticeable at the Vertical Slice II milestone the hype disappeared and the results of the game were really really bad. The path we were taking in terms of development, art and design was not good at all.
This failure actually made us wake up once again and with the producer and the leads we actively stepped in all the changes that needed to be made to get the project back up, this process was the key that led to the game we have currently. Once the new results started to come out, the final picture of the game we were developing was taking shape, this was a morale boost for everyone, the hard work we were making was starting to give the results we were initially expecting.
The light at the end of the tunnel
The last month of development was really hard, most of the developers were really burnt out at this point, and the project was almost done at 80%. Finishing details, fixing bugs and implementing the last assets was an odyssey.
The aspect of the game was really good and so for these weeks we really poured ourselves into the project to come to an end.
All the main bugs and last-minute art changes were done to have the game that you can now enjoy and experience.
What went well
As a team, I'm glad to say that we had many good things. The capability to adapt to changes and overcome the problems that surged when less expected showed that the team was ready for any unexpected problem.
The way we ended up working together was really good at some point at the end the communication between teams had improved a lot and fewer issues started to happen, also the fact that the goal was being each day more clear helped everyone to see what every team member needed.
A very important key aspect that really made the game so successful was the real implication of the team members especially the code team had a really good workflow and communication, this meant that the core of the development was very solid.
Another key element was the testing of the game at each milestone, this was to make sure each team member could see reflected their work in-game, leading them to make the improvements to make it the best possible at each iteration.
It also helped to gather relevant feedback that was later used to set tasks for the next iteration.
Scrum groups were a big plus to the development process because really made us focus on what had to be done in an efficient way.
What could improve
Communication
The biggest issue we encountered was communication, there was a lack of communication some petitions were concise and clear but the response to those petitions sometimes never returned. Other times the petitions were never made and the information never reached the destination. This produced many issues where the leads and producers had to go behind each task to check if it was ready or not and also sometimes not even knew whether the work was done or not asking for it many times.
Sometimes a process to be done required many people but not everyone got noticed of it, which lead to some bad outcomes or unexpected results at the last minute that had to be changed or redone.
Timing
The timing issues of development started with design flaws that were not clear, arrived late and had many changes at the last minute. This impacted the whole production line because then artists also were late at delivering the work and programmers lost much time working without knowing if their work was going to be used at some point.
Details
Details were really time-consuming, as in the production process of an asset to the implementation there was information that was crucial to make it work, but sometimes that information was not properly understood or ignored. This led to production issues that had to be solved in no time. It is very important that each member has knowledge of what is he doing to communicate details that cannot be obvious to other team members working on the same element.
Conclusion
To conclude this post-mortem of The Guardians Of The Galaxy I can finally say that the project has ended, the process of the development has been a constant up and down but very enjoyable with all the results coming out together.
This project made us all learn a ton and showed us the real world of making video games, the implication and the passion of game development. Everyone is taking important lessons from this, as for students the experience is fundamental for our careers. Most of us have learnt what we like and what we don't like from game development and it is so important to define our futures in the game industry that this project has been very determining for us.
The feeling of finishing this game has been very gratifying in many ways it has been a challenge for us all to remember. We can proudly say that we worked really hard for this outcome and can be happy with it.
Thank you for reading this and for everyone that was involved in this project to make it such a success.
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