Lessons learned from being in Games Production

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Lessons Learned from being in

Games ProductionSlava Lukyanenka

Who am I?• FORMER QA• PROJECT Manager at WARGAMING (MINSK)

• TEAM ManageMENT• Processes • DESIGN• PROTOTYPES

• ISTQB / ICP APM / Scrum / BLABLABLA CERTIFIED

Who am I?

• INDIE DEVELOPER AT NIGHT• D&D MASTER FOR 10 YEARS• GAMEDEV EVENTS ORGANIZER (SOMETIMES)

Main hero of the StoryPROJECT MANAGERPRODUCER

LEAD DESIGNERGAME DIRECTOR

GAME FACILITATOR o_0

GAME VISIONER

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR

PRODUCT MANAGER

Main hero of the StoryTHE - ONE - WHO - IS - RESPONSIBLE -

-FOR - DELIVERY - IN - TIME -- WITH - PROPER - QUALIty -

- LIMITED - BUDGET -- AND - FULL - UNDERSTANDING -

- by - Providing - -- service - leadership -- and - ORGANIZING -

- THE - WORK - EnVIRONMENT.

LET’s NAME THE HERO

TEAM

Story 1: EFFECTIVE TEAM

PROGRESS:

Story 1: EFFECTIVE TEAMWe Need STUFF!

PROGRESS:

WOW! AWESOME! EASY-PEASY! SURE, WHY

NOT!

Story 1: EFFECTIVE TEAMOK! WE NEED

STUFF2!

PROGRESS:

WOW! AWESOME! WELL… HMMM, OK!

Story 1: EFFECTIVE TEAMIt’s TIME TO

MAKE STUFF3!

PROGRESS:

WOW! AWESOME! HMM… THAT’S

BULLSHIT!NO. IT’s NOT, BECAUSE… OK!

Story 1: EFFECTIVE TEAMHOW ABOUT

STUFF4?

PROGRESS:

WOW! AWESOME!

WE NEED TO DO STUFF5 INSTEAD

IT DOESN’t WORK!

WHERE IS YOUR

METRICS? LOOK!IT’s NOT

RELEVANT!OK, DO,

WHAT YOU WANT!

Story 1: EFFECTIVE TEAMSTUFF6?

PROGRESS:

I’m LEAVING!YOU SAID IT

DOESN’t WORK!

I’ll DO STUFF5 instead!

Why?

Forming

STORMING

NORMING

PERFORMING

How to avoid?BEFORE:• FIX RESPONSIBILITIES BEFORE the START• BUILD TRUST AND GOOD RELATIONSHIP

IN PROCESS:• REMAIN POSITIVE AND FORM IN THE FACE OF CHALLENGES• Resolve CONflictsRISKY TOOLS:• EXPLAIN THE CONCEPT of TUCKNAN’S CYCLE To THE TEAM• PROVOKE SMALL CONflict

(MAKE THE TEaM to LET OFF THE STEAM)

Short Story: Big Team

Short Story: Big Team

IMPORTANT(!!!)START SMALL, START SMART!

IF YOU DON’T NEED SOMEONE ON FULL TIMEDO NOT HIRE!

DOn’t Let ANYTHING GO!

PROCESSES

Story 3: Effective processesWe Need PROCESS! NO LEt’s CODE

INSTEAD! Oh… C’MON!

PROGRESS:

Story 3: Effective processesWe ARE

LATE! WE NEED

PROCESS!OK! FIne!

I USED SCRUM

BEFORE!Oh NO… AGAIN!

PROGRESS:

Let's TRY!

Story 3: Effective processes

PROGRESS:

Sprint 1+ -

• blablabla• blablabla• blabla• 42• blablaBla• BLA

Δ

• DID 15/20 STORY POINTS

• WILL DO 25 SP

Sprint 2+ -

• blablabla• blablabla• blabla• 42• blablaBla• BLA

Δ

• DID 15/25 STORY POINTS

• WILL DO 30 SP

Sprint 3+ -

• blablabla• blablabla• blabla• 42• blablaBla• BLA

Δ

• DID 15/30 STORY POINTS

• WILL DO 35 SP

Story 3: Effective processesWHAT?

!See In

DESIGN DOCS!

HOW it should work?

NO DESIGN DOCS!

WE’re agile!

PROGRESS:

Why?

USING PRACTICE WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING

PLAN

DO

CHECK

ACT

Why?

EVEN WATERFALL

DESIGN

CODE

TEST

PLAN

DESIGN

CODE

TEST

PLAN

DESIGN

CODE

TEST

PLAN

How to avoid?SHARE FRAMEWORK CULTURE, NOT ONLY THE RULES

EXPLAIN DECISIONS

BE FLEXIBLE: IN PROCESSES, OBJECTIVES, METHODS

PROVIDE REGULAR CHANGES

DOn’t STUCK on FRAMEWORK RULES

Imortant (!!!)

PROCESSES WILL CHANGE AND EVALUATE during THE WHOLE PROJECT LIFETIME

IT’S OK. ACCEPT IT!

Story 4: Effective Planning2 months

1.5 months

3.5 months

4 months…

1 months

+

+

+

++

RELEASE!RELEASE!

RELEASE!

RELEASE!

RELEASE!

Why?

if you don't plan you plan to fail

Why?

RELEASE in 9 weeks!

Why?

GAMEPLAYGAMEPLAYGAMEPLAYGAMEPLAY

Meta gameplay

Socialization

Integration

• CORE GAMEPLAY - 20%• MeTA GAMEPLAY - 35 %• SOCIALIZATION - 15 %• INTEGRATION - 15%• WTF TASKS - 15%

Why?

RELEASE in 20 weeks!

How to avoid?• PLAN and ESTIMATE EVERY TASK

• MULTIPLY Your ESTIMATION BY 3• MEASURE AND ESTIMATE YOUR RISKS

• MEASURE PERFORMANCE EVERY ITERATION• KEEP YOUR PLAN UP TO DATE

PRODUCTS

Story 5: Do we need this feature?RIZE PRICES! INCREASE LIFE

TIME!

WE NEED TO INCREASE REVENUE

IT’s TO SLOW! THINK ABOUT

PLAYERS, STUPID!YOU STUPID! YOU!

Why?

People want to achieve a common goal, but they find each other idiots

How to avoid?

INCREASE REVENUE

Objective

Getting PLAYERS TO PAY MORE

NEED

Getting players to play longer

NEED

NO CONTENT+

RIZE PRICES

WANT

NEW CONTENT+

DISCOUNT

WANT

CONF

LICT

assumptions

FIND OUT WHICH ASSUMPTION IS FALSE

EXTRAS

TIP 1: GAME MANIFESTOCREATE GAME MANIFESTO AND FOLLOW IT:

- THE IDEA- TARGET AUDIENCE- GAME PILLARS- ART STYLE- ATMOSPHERE- SETTING- TARGET AUDIENCE

KEEP IT UP TO DATE

REGULARLY check your DECISIONS on the manifesto

Tip 2: Everyday I Play

PLAY YOUR GAME WITH EVERY ADDED FEATURE

REMEMBER: THIS GAME FOR YOUR Target audience, NOT (ONLY)FOR YOU

CHECK, IS THIS REALLY WHAT YOU WANT FOR YOUR AUDIENCE?

Tip 3: Keep talking and nobody explodes

All we need is understanding

THANK YOU!

Slava Lukyanenka, wargaming.net

E-mail: v_lukyanenka@wargaming.netTwitter: @Ed_Wing

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