Two Week Projects

We have been working in teams of five again but this time for two weeks. A game jam is typically a very short experience. A manic sort of rush to get something simple, working, and ready to present in a short period of time. Small game projects, in my experience at least, are a month or more to try and make something that feels ‘finished.’ This has left this two week project in a very strange mental space. It has become either an extremely long game jam or a very short game development time.

The first step of the project involved creation of the concept and project planning. The first two days were consumed with small informal idea pitching within the group. The prompt with its starting places for games offered themes and we finally settled on a genre to work in, horror. Much of the project was carried out with morning stand ups. I've found that while working under mental duress in part from social pressures and the pressure of a conflicted group, my work suffers greatly.

Reflection on the finished project leads me to believe the concept was interesting, but the execution. There are a great many things I would do differently. On a short project with a small team like this it is my feeling that having a full time manager can become a burden. Constant oversight, but a lack of prioritizing, and the loss of a contributor weighed heavily on the production process. Not every project has to be perfect and the best work one has ever produced but I had hoped to come much closer.

After the class was reshuffled into proposal teams for the final larger project. It will be interesting going forward to see the results of this new team.