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 | | Creative Art: The Swedes are showing scenes which people thought they're impossible on Amiga some years ago. |
With this in mind, the project plan should be seen as a kind of a glorified "todo"-list. When you agree that some particular effect should be done, add it to the project plan, separate entries for the graphics work and the codework. Estimate how much time it would take. With a well populated project plan, you can see if any person has alarmingly much to do for the demo -- in that case, perhaps you should scrap one of the more work-intensive parts, and try to do something easier instead?
Keep updating the plan on a regular basis. The plan is the list of things that you currently think should be done for the demo. It should change along with your ideas of what the final demo should be like. We have been doing most of these things since several years -- specifying what needs to be done early on, risk-assessing each part of the demo, making fallback plans for high-risk parts, etc, but usually only verbally. Having a project management tool encourages you to not only list the tasks, but also list how much time you think it will take. When your spare time is scarce, time estimation is good. I'm a slacker. I postpone things until the very last minute. Having the plan helped me get started on some heavier coding tasks early on -- without the plan, I'd just think "I can do that tomorrow, there are still several weeks left", but with the plan it's blindingly obvious that, say, "the voxel engine needs to get to at least a functional state in a week or there will be no voxels for Breakpoint". Louie and Rubberduck have way more self-discipline than me. They'd get by quite fine without the plan. The golden rule is: you control the plan -- the plan does not control you. Ghandy: Who of the TBL guys are working together in the same company? What are you doing there  | | RalliSport Challenge 2 (XBox) is one of the games on which most TBL members have worked. |
exactly and how does this fact have any effects on your yearly BP demo?Kalms: Rubberduck is working as a producer at DICE, and Louie is Art Director at the same company. I used to work there as well, but since a few months I have returned to student life. Tudor is currently employed at SimBin. Yolk is down in Spain, probably still living off of his girlfriend. ;) Working in the games industry is often hectic. I don't know how, but Louie manages to do graphics in his spare time. I find it quite difficult to balance work and spare time -- either I work 120% or I don't work at all. It's difficult to make quality demos during such conditions. In case you wonder why there wasn't much new coding visible for Little Nell and Magia -- well, there you have it. Work took precedence. |
