Sunday, March 4, 2012

Our use of Agile Methods

The development of Project Hestia has been very much an Agile process. Although we do have a thorough design doc to guide us, nothing is set in stone. If after implementing a mechanic or adding an object into a level we do not like the new development or think it doesn't fit in with the overall feel of the game we have no hesitation in changing it or removing it.

For instance the decision on upon wether coming in to contact with an enemy in the game makes you restart a level, or blows out the players current match has changed numerous times and I suspect will do so until we have played the game enough to work out which idea works best. Also, if we previously planned to implement something much later on in the project's lifespan but for some reason we feel that implementing it early will help the development process and likewise there is something due to be completed that isn't necessary at the given time we simply change the plan.

Most of our communication is done during group meetings. We normally have two a week that range from around 3-6 hours each. We find it is much more effective to discuss and compare opinions in a group face to face setting. During these meetings we decide what we want to do over the next few days and how we feel about where the game is going. We also get a fair amount of our implementation done in the meetings often using pair programming.

This readiness and ability to adapt to change, a strong emphasis on working software and strong interaction certainly embody the main aspects of the agile manifesto.

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