Page 282 - DCAP304_DCAP515_SOFTWARE_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Software Project Management

Notes artists, so learning how to communicate to different team members effectively before you
actually get a job in the industry is important and will make your life easier. Working on a
student project also shows that you are capable of making and, hopefully, finishing an actual
game. Student projects can make great portfolio pieces, act as learning opportunities, and can
even get you noticed by industry professionals. If a studio sees that you actually made a working
game, it looks a lot better than the student with the same degree that only has documentation
and schoolwork to show them; they can clearly see your skills in action, and any strengths or
weaknesses you may have had during the project.

Did u know? Why student projects are not limited?
Student projects are not limited by all of the constraints typical game studios are, so they
are a great way to show off your creativity.

The Next Big Hit

The Problem: Everyone wants to make the next big hit in games, but this is rather unfeasible,
especially if it’s a student project. The simple fact is that you most likely won’t have the resources,
money, people, or time to create the greatest game ever. That’s not to say that you can’t make a
game that is successful, but be careful not to set your sights too high.

The Solution: Keep your scope small and simple. Large, complex games take a lot of time and
resources, which you likely won’t have at your disposal. Think of ways to make your game
stand out in other ways, such as unique and interesting gameplay, and take a look at Independent
Games Festival and Game Jam winners. Lower your expectations for the game in terms of
extreme success, and keep the game itself small.

Notes If you start small, and create a fun, playable and polished game in a short amount
of time, you can always add a few extra features afterward.

Scope/Feature Creep

The Problem: The team wants to make a great game, so they keep adding more features and
expanding the scope until the game becomes a monster they can’t tame. This goes along with the
“Next Big Hit” section above, and can lead to complete failure of a project, as well as bad time
management.
The Solution: Keep the game simple and expand on it once it’s playable. Stick to the
pre-production, and remember that you can always add new features later on. If any cool ideas
for new features come up, jot them down and keep them stored somewhere for later use. The key
to avoiding scope and feature creep is focus on what immediately has to be done to make the
game even remotely playable; if the game isn’t playable, there’s no sense in trying to add new
things to make it better. Follow the pre-production through to the end so that you have a
completed game, then you can add more to it, but only after the game is complete.

Time Management

The Problem: Bad time management can easily lead to the failure of a project, and can be attributed
to a number of things, including too large of a scope, scope creep, bottlenecks, individuals, and
more. The majority of times we’ve witnessed bad time management were on projects with

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