Transferable Skills

Using Constructive Feedback

There were times where I received feedback from my group and lecturer, especially regarding my work but also my skills and time management. At times I would post updates on my work in my group's Discord server and leave it open to feedback, either positive or constructive. 

An example of receiving constructive feedback was when I received feedback for the dialogue UI for project 1, with the feedback being to just adjust a few things, and although I wasn't able to apply that feedback to the work purely because of how little time we had, I definitely understood it. I also received feedback for my menus in project 1, especially the responsiveness of the controls, and took that to improve it. I also made sure to document feedback we received on the game as a whole through testing of the game.

Project Management

I've been involved in filling out and keeping with documentation throughout my two projects, as well as recording meeting minutes for every group meeting my project 1 group had via a meeting minutes spreadsheet. I have had difficulties maintaining project management tools such as the Trello and asset lists, however, as I've lost track of all the documents I must regularly maintain at times. 

I have made sure I am at least active with group activities such as meetings, however, especially in project 1 where it was my responsibility to attend meetings unless impossible to record meeting minutes. There was also one time of note when I changed my process to suit other task dependencies, which was when I worked with Woody to deliver the interface for his dialogue system.

Collaboration

Because both of my projects were in groups, I always needed collaboration skills. First thing to note is the accepting of extra responsibilities—for example, in project 1, I was originally audio person only, but then took up the UI design and meeting minutes role to take some load off the rest of the team. 

I could have used more collaboration in project 2 with the other asset creator to prevent the mixed artstyle issue we encountered. I felt like I couldn't share as much of the responsibility of the success of the project because of how poorly I managed my time, however, as I felt I was the weak link in the chain.

Critical Thinking

I found a reading by Johan Karlsson (2020) that provides tips on project management in game development from five different studios that he interviewed. One tip specifically that is brought up by Sitara Shefta from No Brakes Games is Agile, which is a model typically used for software development. The major strength of the Agile model in game development is it allows for iteration on a game through testing.

Another model that Sitara mentions that she has used throughout her career (n.d., p.12), as well as one that Gerald Huke from Frontier mentions (p.17), is the waterfall model, which is a linear, sequential model for software development. According to Kolibri Games (2019), "while rather suited for AAA studios with large headcounts and even larger budgets, the waterfall approach is often criticized for its lack of flexibility and the ability to get feedback on the product in its early stages." 

Knowing this, it's fair to say the waterfall method is not entirely suited for most game projects, and Sitara Shefta understands this when she says that "it’s clear that for No Brakes Games, Agile is the most suitable."