Blog Post 6: Agile vs. Waterfalls

Blog Post 6: Agile vs. Waterfalls

Pros to Agile:

• More flexible: This method consists of mostly trial and error.  When using this method, you begin a basic visual product.  Then take a look at the product, establishing its flaws, then work to fix them.  This process seems to focus less on due dates, it seems as thought they do not have to rush to finish a game in a respected amount of time but instead release it when it is done.
• Instant demonstrations:  The focus of the agile method is to get a demonstrable product, as quickly as possible.  Produce vertical slices of the game that represent the most crucial and vital parts of the game.  There is a belief that a working, interactive demonstration is far more valuable than a written document.
• Human Touch:  Instead of using tools and processes it seems as though the trust is in the creativity and customization of the designer.  Rather than just going through a process, the designer can just use logic to fix the bugs and other problems. 

Pros to Waterfall:

• More organized:  The waterfall method is run almost as an assembly line.  This would mean that everyone does their specific part and then hands the product on to the next person for them to work on.  Since this is known as the "traditional methodology".  Experts today are much more familiar with it, making it more simple to use
• Easier to manage schedule:  With the Waterfall method, many different people are doing many different things at the same time.  It makes it easier to schedule because you do not have to wait  for each individual person to be done to hand it on to the next person
• More understandable:  With distinct deadlines, it is easier to follow and plan for when and how much work you are to do.  You can plan ahead, and are more likely to get the game done in time. 

Relating to my role:

My role for the moral choice game is Level designer.  I like the agile method better because I am someone who needs material evidence to believe we are moving forward towards our end goal of a finished product.  This appeals to me as a level designer because I can quickly draw up some sketches for the room that the game takes place and we can put them into Unreal rather quickly.  Our group having regular meetings helps me in particular because I get to know exactly what people are imagining this room to look like.

Microsoft project

Blog 5 : Microsoft Project example


Description of game:
The player is the focus of a science experiment done by an alien who abducted the player.  The alien puts some sort of  VR like goggles on the player. The player has to make a moral decision, choosing between two choices, causing a moral dilemma.  We decided that there will be a time limit on making the choice, causing more stress on the player.  If the player does not choose in the given time, the players head is chopped off, outside of the VR setting and in reality.

Microsoft Project:

Moral Dilemma Game

Moral Dilemma

Initial Game Concept:

The initial concept of this game is about deciding on moral dilemmas.  The narrative consists of the whole game being a science experiment made by an alien.  If you do not cooperate with the alien, Earth is destroyed.  The Alien is watching you perform this experiment from a room, causing some pressure also adding a "fear factor".  

Mission Statement:

The statement we are trying to achieve is we want to make this game as difficult as possible, without implementing difficult design mechanics, due to our lack of time.  We also discussed making this sort of a "group game" that leads discussion and thinking.

Basic Gameplay:

I was thinking this as a black and white, point and click.  The setting and controls will be simple.

Must Have's:

We must make the decisions difficult to decide on and we want to cause people to actually think.  A time limit may also make the game more interesting. 

Want to Haves:

When you make a decision, having a display of the action happening would be cool and would add drama to the game. 

Nice to Haves:

When you make a decision, having the screen turn to the side of the choice you picked.

Paper Prototype:

Making the prototype easy enough to convert to unreal, would be helpful when making the level and the game itself.