How can you manage timelines and expectations across departments?

Design should always be ahead of engineering. When engineering starts on a system, you should have already specked it. Revisit it before they start to work on it, to make sure what you wrote is still relevant -- and consult before they embark, to make sure you have buy-in. Art is a little different; art tends to worry that design will dictate things to them. Provide lots of visual assets (we'd like something like this), but also provide reassurance that we WANT your creative input, cool ideas from art are never a problem. Every team member gets to contribute. Design should be testing with Q/A. Q/A is usually empowered only to say "this not not to spec", but design can say "actually, this sucks, we need to rethink."

Communication is key. I prefer cross discipline teams, even during the incubation stage of game development. Everyone there having a voice, gives the team confidence in the vision and direction and helps avoid the pitfalls that comes from hard siloing that you can find in some organizations.

Representation for each department is key. To convey when they need to blend in and out. To raise flags if they don't feel the handoff or 3 legged race will be seamless. And having a reality check of what's possible up front, we can't create more time so protect the time we do have by giving conservative scopes for high risk items. For Art, documented pipelines and styles are key. Exploring early on for all the questions you may have later can help solve the small problems and keep you focused on the catastrophic ones. You'll never know all of them but its a good exercise for future projects as well.

I'd say: 1. Strong management/team leads, who see the bigger picture 2. Open communication between departments 3. Access to project roadmaps for everyone

What is key for me is being able to manage timelines and expectations across departments, establish clear goals and roles, integrate project plans, and hold regular cross-departmental meetings. Employ agile practices for flexibility, maintain open communication, and manage expectations with realistic deadlines. Use project management software for tracking and adjust resources as needed. Identify risks early, measure progress with KPIs, and celebrate milestones to keep teams aligned and motivated.

After defining your game's vision, detailed planning is key. Break the project into manageable tasks, set realistic timelines, and prioritize based on importance. Use project management tools for a structured development process.

Always prioritize tasks with teams from different regions, because the time zone can be a huge wall to overcome and it slows the process of feedback after tests. Make it early to have more space for adjustments.

I tend to think of a game as a series of linked features which need to work in symphony. Mapping out each feature and how it interacts with all the other features in the games seems key to understanding the game as a whole. Once all features are fully understood and their interdendancies mapped, a meticulously maintained schedule can help to prioritize what needs to be completed sequentially.

What helped me during the game development process was planning and scoping, understanding the next steps, and prototyping. Along with effective communication within the team, these elements helped me achieve the predetermined goals and successfully deliver the project.

My team used to use Trello for planning and execution time line. And that's how everyone could tell how much time they'd take to accomplish the task and we mostly used to make it in time. It also used to help us share progress and get feedback without wasting time.

Transparency is the key here. I do remember a time when I wasn't able to meet a deadline because I was stuck in a problem and didn't want to ask for help so I said I'll handle it but failed at the end. Don't do that. Always be transparent. Its better to admit that you need help and you cannot meet a deadline because of a delay rather than keeping hopes up and causing the company huge set backs. Ask for help, seek guidance from others. This is the only way you can effectively grow your career.

Communication and transparency. Thats it. You could have all the other bullet points, sure, but if all the departments are working and checking in work within a vacuum, then the final product is going to suffer. Lack of communication and transparency can lead to crunch, low morale, turnover, and production delays. ??

When it comes to game development, being crystal clear in your communication is like a superpower. Avoid jargon and ambiguity. Make sure everyone understands the same thing when you discuss tasks, deadlines, or issues. I can totally relate to that! Back when I started my career, clear communication was a real tough nut to crack. There were times when my words got all tangled up, causing some hiccups in projects. But it taught me a valuable lesson: it's not just about talking; it's about making sure your message lands exactly as you meant it to. That's a game-changer!

Openness is paramount in these situations. Like a partner said on this advice. I recall a time when I faced a challenge and hesitated to seek assistance, ultimately failing to meet a deadline. It's crucial not to repeat this mistake. Always prioritize transparency. It's far better to acknowledge when you need support or if a deadline might be at risk due to unforeseen delays, rather than keeping issues hidden and risking significant setbacks for the company. Don't hesitate to ask for help or guidance from colleagues. This approach is essential for fostering personal and professional growth in your career.

Don't be afraid to show your work in progress. We often tend to be a little secretive trying to wait until an almost perfect version of our work is ready to be showcased, but it can sometimes lead to delays and redesigns. Communicate your ideas drafts and designs as often and openly as posible to the rest of the team. You don't know how often good feedback comes from the most unexpected places and people.

Beyond using engines like Unity or PlaytestCloud, employing alpha/beta testing with real users, particularly through platforms like Steam Early Access, garners live feedback. Analytical tools such as Unity Analytics reveal player behavior insights, while A/B testing helps optimize game features. Professional QA companies can provide comprehensive bug hunting and game-breaking scenarios. Advanced methods like biometric analysis can measure player engagement on a psychological level. Lastly, engaging with player communities via forums and social media offers unfiltered feedback, contributing to iterative improvement and ensuring the game not only meets quality standards but resonates deeply with its intended audience.

The ability to test/iterate early & often is imperative for so many reasons, playing into other points listed. Starting with a functional minimum viable product is the best way to enable improving the whole game iteratively, managing scope, assuring your core loop is engaging, & keeping all departments able to point to a common goal to feel aligned and productive. When most departments can't test and iterate for a large chunk of the project, it will be because tech is still getting off the ground as MVP wasn't prioritized. At the same time, some game loops need features too big and complex for addition by iterative improvements, & this doesn't work for those. They are however better pursued as personal projects until better proven as fun.

I agree 100%. I've found the closer you can get testing to component based functional testing (where QC test alongside the engineers as tickets move between dev, test, and prod environments), you eliminate risk of larger bugs being found in a later phase.

As the game industry has shown us over the last decades, don't ever compromise the quality of your game, even if it needs to be delayed by several months or even years. The game design landscape is incredibly competitive nowadays, so don't risk publishing a mediocre product. Gamers will notice.

Game design often come with its unexpected challenges. To overcome them, be open to learning from experienced team members. Tap into the expertise of experienced team members who've weathered similar storms. They can provide valuable insights and shortcuts to help you navigate these challenges more smoothly.

This is imperative and why you need to have a firm grasp on what specifically is being delivered, how long you think you'll need to do so, and redundancy/buffer built into your timelines to account for unexpected disruptions. Games are a creative endeavor. People change their minds, or, things just don't look as good on the screen as they maybe did when conceptualizing the game. Knowing this is part of the game development process up front will be a major help

Game design frequently presents unforeseen challenges. To address them effectively, remain receptive to learning from seasoned team members. Leverage the expertise of those who have encountered similar obstacles before. Their insights and shortcuts can offer invaluable assistance in navigating these challenges with greater ease.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Whether it's biweekly retros in your sprints, or, a larger retro at the end of a game, or even feedback points at different gates of your games development, this is ultra critical to success. It's not only about retrospectives too. CELEBRATE. Even if it's a quick 15m call to get everyone in to show off a game launch, maybe hand out some prizes or gifts to the whole team. Rejoice in your creation being out in the world for people to (hopefully) enjoy

Absolutely, this is the time to bond with your team and create memorable moments with them. Do this for every launch and you will see that your team grows stronger and stronger, which leads to better games being designed in the future.

It’s always wise to allocate a portion of capital for extravagant company outings. It represents success and a fun company culture when hiring competitor’s employees.

I agree that you have to celebrate achievements and recognize the efforts of each department. As a team, this is a crucial aspect of our journey. I believe in fostering a culture of acknowledgment and appreciation for everyone's hard work. Most times people want to point out when someone "fails" or "messes" something up but we have to remember these are learning moments. Learning from our experiences is fundamental. Doing retros as a team or personal ones is an exceptional way of reflecting on what worked well, and what didn't. It also gives you a way to identify areas for improvement. This is a continuous process. It's not just about celebrating success but also about evolving and refining our approach for future projects.

Having healthy nerves is a prerequisite for this. Identify the prerequisites. And then take a step so as not to be surprised.

Having the right tools is half the game. The other half is a strong leadership. The leadership must have a clear communication plan and execute on it accordingly. Not just the team leads, but especially the producers on the team need to drive communication efforts. However, the tools must be able to support it accordingly. Confluence, Slack, Discord, Jira, etc. can all be part of the solution. But of each kind of tool there should ideally be only one. I.e. only Slack or Discord for instant messaging. The other thing that leadership needs to own is regular check-ins and ensure team mates attend them like (bi-)weekly demos of the latest builds. Ideally these are team agnostic, so that each team is up-to-date with the latest changes.