does anyone know what kind of software is used for bigger games (with for instance >10 people) where i do want to organize the project in terms of:
a) The development (progress report, versioning, bug documentation, qa-feedback,…) for the whole thing and different fields (gfx,sfx,src,…).
b) If i want to visualize such things for the client/publisher. Does this come down to classic story boards or is there an alternative which fits more to a scenario where i do have a mix of non-interactive animations pared with interactive content?
Or do they just use a mix of word,excel,calender, whatever?
How much does this depend on the type of game which is produced?
Any links which cover these subjects?
no that’s not what i am looking for. I’m looking for:
a) Tools wich can be used to make the tasks i’ve written above for organizing production. I do know there exist some (from hobby small tools which you actually don’t need up to big applications) but i can’t remember the names right now…i’ve read years ago about these…
b) How is a complex content which is segmented into interactive/non-interactive stuff presented at best to a client while still looking nice and easy. I remember using storyboards for such things and a timetabled representation but what do others do here and what might be a better way.
hopefully someone with more experience can chime in but for now i’ll take one more stab at least for the “a)” question: it seems to me you are looking for either source control software, for example:
a) sounds like project management to me. I can’t speak directly to large games, but if you want I can speak from the perspective of large software projects. The tools you use will depend on how you are doing your development (methodology).
Generally your progress reporting revolves around how you are performing against the schedule and cost performance. I tend to like burn charts, but EVA (Earned Value Analysis) is widely used. Some clients have specific requirements in this area while others are flexible. Both make nice graphs that are easy to explain.
Versioning normally falls under the heading of Software Configuration Management (SCM) is generally handled by specialized software. However there is a planning component also which is generally handled by process rather than software. You will want to reflect the versions in you project plan/schedule, which are often Word, Excel, or MS Project.
For bug documentation there are some decent free tools. I can’t remember any right this second that are not “enterprise” class, but I will try to get some for you. I have used a free one that I liked since it was light weight, customizable, fast, and easy to use. I need to make a call or two to get the name.
A little more information on how you see the development progressing, including how requirements are received and how changes are handled would be helpful. If you are interested in free or low cost project management software here are a few links:
If the topic you present is actually rather large. I like to keep it as light as possible so more effort can be directed towards the “real” work of making the software.
Minimally, you can get by with:
A word processor - communication, reporting, planning
Excel - Schedule, reporting (defects over time, % complete, etc.). Excel makes some things easier but you can get by without it.
Stickies or Index cards - Planning, reminders, miscellaneous notes
I hope I may addressed something for you in all the rambling above.
sounds like project management to me. I can’t speak directly to large games, but if you want I can speak from the perspective of large software projects. The tools you use will depend on how you are doing your development (methodology).<<<
Well, i known how these things work if you’re doing websites (frontend, cms, backend, databases, …) but i think there must be a better way if you’re dealing with the stuff i’ve written.
Generally your progress reporting revolves around how you are performing against the schedule and cost performance. I tend to like burn charts, but EVA (Earned Value Analysis) is widely used. Some clients have specific requirements in this area while others are flexible. Both make nice graphs that are easy to explain.<<<
I’m also no friend of overhead (beside of that i like wimpy abstraction layers - hah but we wrote the best bootselector on the amiga! :O) and using tools where it’s much more easier if you would handle it easy on your own but i want to know how bigger games are done and if one could learn from them if the content is appropriate.
How are big games like Age of Empires III or World of Warcraft done exactly? Beside of that they are for sure hirarchically organized how do they communicate with each other software wise? Okay i suspect that they don’t have to communicate to a client on a regular basis like you have to when doing webstuff but anyway this would be interesting to know…
Versioning normally falls under the heading of Software Configuration Management (SCM) is generally handled by specialized software. However there is a planning component also which is generally handled by process rather than software. You will want to reflect the versions in you project plan/schedule, which are often Word, Excel, or MS Project.<<<
For bug documentation there are some decent free tools. I can’t remember any right this second that are not “enterprise” class, but I will try to get some for you. I have used a free one that I liked since it was light weight, customizable, fast, and easy to use. I need to make a call or two to get the name.<<<
But i would appreciate if you have some tips which are the best from your point of view.
If the topic you present is actually rather large. I like to keep it as light as possible so more effort can be directed towards the “real” work of making the software.<<<
Yep, but i wanna know what possibilities do exist beside of ms project and ms visio.
I hope I may addressed something for you in all the rambling above.<<<
It sounds like you are talking about asset management. Asset management for games is a necessary evil and a royal pain in the ***. Take a look at these articles on Gamasutra:
Tools like Alienbrain are supposed to make the job easier, but my experience is that heavyweaight configuration managment tools tend to introduce new, unexpected problems into the workflow. (I will caveat this; I have not used Alienbrain, though it looks interesting.) My personal advice would be to come up with creative solutions using whatever tools you feel most comfortable. That could even boil down to using lots of folders with version info in their names for the asset management.
I believe Unity has a PostgreSQL kernel in it – if so, I would desparately like them to leverage that and provide some basic asset management features like author, copyright info, source, path to version tree, tool used, etc. Right now I use a combination of OmniOutliner, Textedit, and lots and lots of folders.
Asset management is a major problem for large projects. For example Stardock claims Galactic Civilizations II had 5 terabytes of project “stuff.” That’s a lot of “stuff.” :? I really wish there was a magic bullet out there, but unfortunately developers just have to do whatever fits them best.
@tsphillips
I agree that in first place i also would suggest to keep things as simple as possible without any tools but at a certain size there might come the break-even point where you could benefit from such things.
As for production i see the problems in the fields that:
a) On the one side you have very specialized tools which might not fit you 100% or they serve you well only for this project. You feed more the tool than you feed the content, the people have to use it properly, does the tool work correctly,…
b) On the other side the tools are pretty general so that defining the rules etc. is completely up to you - which takes time. There are enough standard apps from the serious side of software development which have nothing in common with games which you could use for this if you don’t need such things like a total integration in third party tools.
Anyway in my opinion it’s worth a closer look and to learn from that. And beside of this it would be nice if you could come up with an configureable, meaningful, nice and easy representatins out of the project data more automated.
This thread is quite old so half of these no longer exist. Does anyone have a ‘fresh’ list of free project management tools? Looking for something very simple - my project is small, no collaboration, no team.
Neither of them are exactly what I like. Hack N plan is mostly good except you only got one level of organization – meaning you can put boards into a folder but cannot put folders into big folders. So that kind of makes things become messy, at least for the way my brain wants to see things.
I could honestly see google spreadsheets not being a bad way to go. Kinda got everything you need. Color codes, be able to zoom out and see everything big picture. Easily move things around. Maybe I try that out.
Sorry but I hate Trello. Trello is not a project management tool, but a visual collaboration tool, and - as I mentioned - collaboration is exactly what I do not need. They don’t even have Gantt charts, you need an add-on for that.
I’ll take a look at hack n plan - never heard of it, thank you.
google spreadsheets: this is a great idea, why have I not thought of that! Do I really even need a program/app?
I found a bunch of free Gantt charts here - Gantt Chart Templates » The Spreadsheet Page - maybe just a good Gantt chart will be enough. If anyone has some spreadsheets they have been using and loving (and do not mind sharing), I’d love to take a look.