Production Rapid, Iterative Prototyping Best Practices Presented by Eitan Glinert, President|Fire Hose Games November

Rapid, Iterative Prototyping Best Practices

What we're gonna cover Who I am Why you should prototype 8 rules for how to do it right 8 tricky pitfalls to watch out for Q+A, contact info

Who I am 2008

Fire Hose Prototyping 2009 Early Prototype

Fire Hose Prototyping March 15th April 14 th June 16 th April 1 st May 14 th July 20 th

2010 Early Prototype Fire Hose Prototyping

2011 Early Prototype (Michael Bay Version) Fire Hose Prototyping

Why Prototype? Prototyping Pre-Production Prototyping Vertical Slice Pre-Production Production

Why Prototype?

What does it get you? Leads to stronger design, aesthetic, mechanics Allows you to try potentially great ideas you cant waste time on during development Lets you identify and bail on bad ideas sooner Lets you make costly mistakes up front, when they are easier and cheaper to fix Youll learn how to talk about your game

When NOT to Prototype?

So how do you do it?

1. Set aside ~1/3 of dev time

2. Put together a crack team

Dance CentralGo Home Dinosaurs Artist 1 (Models + Textures) Artist 2 (Animator + Rigger) Coder 1Coder 2 Designer ProducerDesigner Prouducer Artist 1 (Models + Textures) Artist 2 (Animator + Rigger) Coder 1 Designer Prouducer Dancer Choreographer

3. Get the right tools

4. Tools and people should match the risk

5. Dont fear the trash can

6. Add features, test ideas, cut content

7. User Test! A lot!

8. Keep it loose, embrace change

The How, Recapped 1. Spend ~33% of dev time on prototyping 2. Assemble a small, crack team that works together well 3. Use simple, fast, easily understood tools 4. Team ability should match riskiest parts 5. Be ready to throw out prototypes for the sake of iteration 6. Work on features and ideas, not content 7. User test constantly and incorporate feedback 8. Don't get bogged down with documentation or overhead

The Tricky Bits

9. Be on the lookout for surprise fun

10. Deciding when to iterate

10. When to iterate March 15th April 14 th June 16 th April 1 st May 14 th July 20 th

11. Dovetailing with marketing and PR Small CompaniesBig Companies

12. Using deadlines

13. Beware of Ballooning Scope

14. Ping-Ponging back and forth

15. Knowing when to stop prototyping

16. Anger when prototypes get canned

Tricky Bits, Recapped 9. Watch out for Surprise Fun 10. Iterate regularly and/or when necessary 11. Dovetail prototyping with PR + Marketing if possible 12. Deadlines are your friend, use 'em! 13. Keep the prototype small, don't let scope balloon 14. Don't iterate back and forth without forward movement 15. Stop prototyping when you have a vertical slice 16. Manage expectations well so if you have to can a prototype the team doesn't rage

Contact Info, Q+A Eitan Glinert (give me a 5 star evaluation!)