Top Ten List for Directors of Technology Presenter: Rich Moore Email: richmoore@alum.berkeley.com Title Slide

Objective of the Session Assume Dir of Tech knows how to select, hire, train and evaluate Tech Team Technical Work - Architecture, Design, Implementation topics are covered elsewhere What’s the remaining job details … What are the non-technical aspects of the role?

Top Ten 10. Know the Mission 9. Focus on Results 8. It’s a Team Effort 7. Know don’t Guess 6. Diagram 5. It’s Tools – It’s Code – It’s Both 4. Everyone’s in QA 3. Know the Culture 2. You’re not build software, You’re building a Game 1. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate The Top Ten List

What’s Unique about Dir of Tech? “All Roads lead to Rome” Technology is central to all disciplines and activities The buck stops here When systems break, call Tech Everything is High Priority (should be) Always ready to ship Technology is the Hub on which all other aspects of game development and production connect Dir of Tech is responsible for this “center of the universe”

Common Problems - Shared by all Team Managers Influence and People Skills necessary Interfaces to cross-functional individuals and departments Must deal with Political Environment Must work within Exec Producer Vision and Strategy    High Quality, On time, Under Budget People Skills required Must perform within the environment “restrictions” Project Management Skills required

Know the Mission Vision for the Product Game Design Document Key Deadlines, Important Dates, Pulse of the project (Auto Builds, Weekly Version, …) Determines the framework and strategy for development Anchor work and effort against the Project Mission If the Exec fails to provide, define it!

Focus on Results It’s great to solve challenging problems, Or to write elegant solutions, But, how does it contribute to shipping the game Corollary – there is often a simpler (and easier) solution (remove complexity) Tailor the Technical Activity to produce the best results

It’s a Team Effort Maintain Morale Reward Accomplishment Customer Service Attitude – What’s best for Project, may not be best (at the moment) for Tech Instill a Customer Focus attitude in Tech

Know don’t guess Ok to not know (but find out!) Make decisions based on knowledge and expertise (intuition) Test Assumptions “How could this happen? I was so careful. I picked the wrong play, the wrong director, the wrong cast. Where did I go right?” Zero Mostel, "The Producers" Make informed decisions Strive for complete Transparency

White Boards are your friend! Diagram · Can the idea, process, solution be described in a few words? · It doesn’t exist until someone writes it down Visual presentation = clarity White Boards are your friend! Visual display process, tool use, architecture …

It’s Tools – It’s Code – It’s Both Ideal – The Game Engine is the Authoring Environment Write once – build in game, use as tool component Use the best design philosophy you can for software development Use the in-game environment wherever possible

Everyone’s in QA Testing should be ongoing Metrics, Ratios and tracking Who designs the test plan? Put a Release process in place as soon as possible Testing should be ongoing activity Nightly Builds Continuous Integrations Test Plan (Design to Test) Always ready to ship

Know the Culture What’s the political environment? Who are the influencers? How is success measured? How do you adapt your plan of action to suit the culture? How much control do you really have Align Personal/Career goals with Company Goals Outsourced Development/Distanced Management impacts “the culture” “I'm expendable! I'm the guy in the episode who dies to prove how serious the situation is!” sam Rockwell, "Galaxy Quest“

You’re not Building Software, You’re building a Game If the game doesn’t get produced … If the player doesn’t “get it” … If the product doesn’t sell … The best software implementation ever is still shinola! Focus the Technical Effort to deliver the best Team result = The Best game possible Evaluate against the desired outcome

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate Communicate vertically and horizontally Reinforce mission, repeat the mantra Share problems – focus on solutions (not blame) Fill the Vacuum Ongoing communication (can you ever over communicate?) Validate that messages are received (is the communication working?) Transparency is extremely valuable (up and down) "If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything." (Mark Twain)

Questions? Email: richmoore@alum.berkeley.com Questions?