Case Study: Overcoming Challenges in Game Capstone Course

IS4600 – Software Project ManagementNelson Man

Getting Started

• Formed team early• Discussed goals– Something to put in portfolio– Polished multiplayer party game

• Brainstormed ideas• Had a clearer view on Goals and Requirements

after first meeting

Workflow and Procedures

• A mix between Kanban and Scrum• Similarities– Visualized workflow– Had one week sprints– Backlog– Implicit WIP limit– Sprint Planning and Sprint Reviews

Workflow and Procedures (cont.)

• Differences– No prescribed roles– Did not score requirements/user stories– Did not commit to Sprint backlog

Workflow and Procedures (cont.)

• Established meeting times– Sunday and Wednesday– Sunday Sprint Review and Sprint Planning– Wednesday status meeting, and readjustments– Later also became meeting with Audio Team

• Cancel or Reschedule Meeting– Notify team a day in advance– Two or more team members cannot make

meeting

Sprint Planning

• We had clear goals, but no clear requirements• Requirements were created during the Sprint

Planning meetings and placed into Backlog• Backlog was always incomplete• Tasks and schedule were kept track of using a

Google Spreadsheet• “Stretch Goals”

Challenges

• Lead programmer left team• Skill gaps– Unfamiliar with version control software

• Lack of necessary resources– Game controllers– Unity Pro

Challenges (cont.)

• Addition of Audio Team• Audio Team also lacked necessary resources– Game controllers– Windows machine

• Inexperience with working with one another• Scheduling conflicts• Decided to meet virtually (BIG MISTAKE!)

How We Overcame These Challenges

• Lead programmer left team– Scheduled meeting ASAP

• Unfamiliar with version control software– Used built-in version control in game engine

• Lack of necessary resources– Game controllers• Had two controllers, one for each developer

– Unity Pro• Northeastern eventually installed newest version

What Worked

• Meeting right after lead programmer departed• Our workflow, generally– Sprints helped motivate work– Flexible release schedule

• Having a dedicated Producer (Project Manager)

• Slack time

What Did Not Work

• Our workflow– Sprint Review and Sprint Planning on the same

day– Effort creep & burnout

• Some tasks were too large• Addition of Audio Team was not handled well– Decided to meet virtually– Lack of resources– Incorporation into our workflow

How We Should Adapt On the Next Project

• Space out Sprint Review and Space Planning– Allow team time to recharge

• Score tasks– Higher scores would indicate task is too large– Break down further– Also help with estimations

How We Should Adapt On the Next Project (cont.)

• Meet in person if at all possible– Would help incorporate new team members into

the workflow– Gives new team members a feel for the project– Get a sense of how they work, their process,

duration to task completion, etc.– Build camaraderie– Valuable experience if team members are from

different discipline