Welcome everyone, and thanks for joining me in today’s Dev Blog!
This week’s topic is a little mechanical, but I’m going to make it simple and digestible for you. And if I’m being real, it’s as much for me as for all of you. I’m not a big fan of the mechanical stuff… but even I’m comfortable giving a quick lowdown of our work process, so let’s do this!
What process am I talking about? You can bet your bottom dollar that I’m talking about Agile. This model entails all the basic principles we carry into every bit of work we do.
The Agile model is based on iterative development. That is, developing a feature or asset through a number of incremental improvements instead of whipping out a fully-polished asset on the first go. As impressive as it would be to make a perfect product on the first try, I think I’ll leave that to the big guy upstairs.
I’m talking about my upstairs neighbor, Giovanni. Man makes a mean calzone, but stomps around like a 1954 Godzilla.
The other key to Agile - aside from iterative development - is having multiple teams that collaborate and organize to develop solutions for whatever problem they’re trying to solve - like designing a sweet new flying mount, for example!
The Agile strategy hinges on teamwork between teams that can collaborate independent of active oversight. That being said, each iteration of any given asset does undergo review to make sure it’s in line with the company vision and the needs of our beloved supporters! Basically, we’re all accountable to make sure that we’re making cool things that our fans will like, too.
If you’re wondering why this model is well-regarded by software development teams in the first place, let me shed some light for you. Fourteen leading figures in the software industry developed Agile to reflect their own experiences of what works for software development and what doesn’t. I’m told that a rival thirteen-person team was developing a different system at the time called Fragile, but that team fell apart for unknown reasons. So, good thing we aren’t trying Fragile.
Okay that’s a lot of text, now let’s look at some triangles!
This graphic shows roughly why the process works - with good old fashioned geometry, just like mama used to make.
As you see, keeping the scope variable allows us to commit to our fixed ship date in May. It also allows us to scope up significantly when our resources increase, say, after a successful Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign!
I should probably stop here before I get too carried away and say something I’ll regret. I already complained about Giovanni… man, I hope Giovanni doesn’t see this. Or that he loves Godzilla enough to appreciate the comparison.
Thank you all for stopping in for this update! I hope you carry Agile with you wherever you’re going today, even if that’s just to take a shower. Remember, if you commit to your shower time and resources, you can optimize how squeaky clean you get.
Stay happy and healthy, friends!
- Michael, Sun Haven Writer
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SunHaven
Discord: https://discord.gg/rqWx6uxmzP
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SunHavenRPG
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunhavenrpg/