As for planning a game, I was wondering what people usually do to keep track of assets. We use a static document (I plan) but when it gets more complex it can get hard. Do you use special tools, or…? How do you structure it?
I use a (perhaps) strange format.
For each level (action) or each scene (e.g adventures) I make a list based on events. I also add columns if certain events reward or punish the player.
The number is based on “gut feeling” with the minimal value of 1 and max value 10. This way I know if the game is in balance (ofcourse estimated, testing is needed) and I force myself to think what happens in the game.
The last column shows which person the asset is assigned to, and the color represents its status (green=done, red=to do). For larger projects I add a description field (e.g: “we should redo this asset, it looks crappy”)
We’re a small company, I was wondering what larger organisations use.
must confess I’m a head person too… but I think I will need to find another method… especially as the projects get bigger… but the issue I have is the time involved in all the boring administrative junk!
I use named and nested folders, with the folders themselves serving as an expandable/collapsible outline of the asserts
The only problem is the NON-assets that also appear: the files that were used to MAKE the assets sometimes seem logical to keep right WITH the assets, easy to find and edit. (Like Lightwave models, GarageBand projects, etc.)
Perhaps you could try a project management tool, possibly online so you could share it easily, like Basecamp.
It’s all about hierarchy after all so with a little tweaking, project management could become asset management… I guess.
We mean to use some tool or the other too, but since we’re on our first game we just… started creating/coding, and hope for the best. Will have to do better once we got it all figured out though, that should improve productivity.
If/when you find your perfect system, by all means spread the word, we’d be greatly interested!
In the meantime, good luck 8)
would a asset cataloging system be of worth as well? Say a way to view thumbnails of artwork, models, etc? a way to mark those that are being used etc?
hmmm it would be cool to let the system generate previews of 3d models (or some kind of viewer) based on the actual asset.
My experience is that when people need to make screenshots etc it becomes too much work (managing becomes a job on its own).
