Capstone Production Experience: Challenges and Rewards in Game Development at RIT
Explore the intense journey of capstone production experience in game development at RIT, revealing the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of large-scale software development. Unravel the students' passion for building motivating games while facing the challenges of complex platforms and interdisciplinary work, all documented as a valuable learning tool for participants and communities.
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Splat! Splat! er er, , Shmup Postmortem on a Capstone Postmortem on a Capstone Production Experience Production Experience Shmup? A ? A ADRIENNE DECKER ADRIENNE DECKER, CHRISTOPHER A. EGERT, ANDREW PHELPS SCHOOL OF INTERACTIVE GAMES AND MEDIA AND RIT CENTER FOR MEDIA, ARTS, GAMES, INTERACTION AND CREATIVITY (MAGIC) ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ADRIENNE.DECKER@RIT.EDU ADRIENNE.DECKER@RIT.EDU, CAEICS@RIT.EDU, ANDY@MAIL.RIT.EDU
Capstone Experiences The Good Large scale software development, teams, real clients The Bad Large scale software development, team, real clients The Ugly When everything goes wrong School of Interactive Games and Media RIT Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction & Creativity MAGIC.RIT.EDU | WWW.RIT.EDU IGM.RIT.EDU
BUT We Build Games! Games are interesting Games are motivating Students want to build games AND ship them School of Interactive Games and Media RIT Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction & Creativity MAGIC.RIT.EDU | WWW.RIT.EDU IGM.RIT.EDU
The Challenge of Games Large scale software development Complex platforms Inter-disciplinary The user What if there is no there there? School of Interactive Games and Media RIT Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction & Creativity MAGIC.RIT.EDU | WWW.RIT.EDU IGM.RIT.EDU
Production Studio Upper level elective completed after students finish co-op Goals: Produce a quality, ship-ready indie game title based on either student or instructor designs (and usually a combination of both) Design and implement an appropriate project management strategy that successfully results in the production of the work in question, Leverage multi-disciplinary skills and knowledge sets in the creation of a multi-faceted digital media project, and Successfully document each stage and contribution to the work in question, as a learning tool for participants and outside communities School of Interactive Games and Media RIT Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction & Creativity MAGIC.RIT.EDU | WWW.RIT.EDU IGM.RIT.EDU
Fall 2014 Production Studio Idea Jackson Pollock s drip paintings were not entirely random Parallels between Pollock s descriptions of his work and flow theory Marry form and function A classic twin-stick arcade shmup ( shmup being early 80 s arcade game slang for shoot-em-up )) Path-driven, drip-oriented design. Scrum School of Interactive Games and Media RIT Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction & Creativity MAGIC.RIT.EDU | WWW.RIT.EDU IGM.RIT.EDU
Production Studio Course Outline (1) Identifying roles and responsibilities for the project (2) Establishing a series of milestones (in roughly weeks 3, 6, 9, and 12 prior to the final presentation in week 16) and critiques for the work as it progressed (3) Established a workflow model based on the Scrum methodology that would result in the completion of the project (4) Created a series of play-tests and critiques during the middle and end of the semester (5) Provided for peer feedback and reflection at the end of the process. In this manner, the instructors hoped to both guide the class through the construction of the game, as well as reflect on the process and the final product. School of Interactive Games and Media RIT Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction & Creativity MAGIC.RIT.EDU | WWW.RIT.EDU IGM.RIT.EDU
Class Days Design Days describe design choices Coding Days faculty provide student leads with tasks Critique Days feedback provided on aesthetic, game mechanic, game balance, playability Communication Days - building and developing online community; how to talk to media, distributors, and the public in general. Playtest Days observe and record information on player experience, analyze playtest data School of Interactive Games and Media RIT Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction & Creativity MAGIC.RIT.EDU | WWW.RIT.EDU IGM.RIT.EDU
Build it and they will come? Inexperience Students just weren t ready; Pre-requisite problem; Students could solve toy problems but couldn t apply knowledge at scale Team Size 3-4 people on team, this team had 15; Communication, scale, roles; Failure to integrate with larger group School of Interactive Games and Media RIT Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction & Creativity MAGIC.RIT.EDU | WWW.RIT.EDU IGM.RIT.EDU
Build it and they will come? Motivation and Ego Students were not happy to create content where they were not the sole party with creative control Only comparing their work to student work, not professional work Playtesting and Critique Alumna from STEAM provided positive feedback School of Interactive Games and Media RIT Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction & Creativity MAGIC.RIT.EDU | WWW.RIT.EDU IGM.RIT.EDU
What we learned their work and student work vs. real work or professional work . Design divorced from implementation mindset Need to transition from building game for the faculty to building the game with the faculty School of Interactive Games and Media RIT Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction & Creativity MAGIC.RIT.EDU | WWW.RIT.EDU IGM.RIT.EDU
Questions? And Play! http://splattershmup.rit.edu/ School of Interactive Games and Media RIT Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction & Creativity MAGIC.RIT.EDU | WWW.RIT.EDU IGM.RIT.EDU
