Mad Rantz

Jeff Tunnell has a nice blog entry about keeping a list of game design ideas that is prompting me to be more diligent about keeping track of my own game ideas. I too-often will brainstorm a game idea by myself or with my wife and either (a) not write the idea down anywhere or more likely (b) write it down on a Word document and then promptly lose it on one of my many computers. With the ease-of-use that wiki’s provide, there really isn’t any excuse not to keep this sort of information in one place.

So, now I will be updating my design wiki more regularly with either a quick one or two line description (which likely will mean more to me than anyone else) or a more fully-fleshed-out design doc like I was already putting together for a few of my ideas.

I am in the process of researching for a game I plan on starting back up called (for now) Explorers (though Age of Exploration sounds like a good final title). In the process of getting this game ready for development, I’ve been thinking back on my experiences working with remote teams.

I mentioned earlier that I started up a Wiki to contain my game design thoughts, but I think the real benefit of using a Wiki is found when collaborating with remote team members, especially when working on a title such as Explorers. The scope of the game, while small compared to AAA titles, is still larger than what I have for Bethellowed. It will take some time to finish, especially as I am currently working part-time, and it will take a remote team who is willing to work on such a project, slowly, but surely getting it to completion.

To keep a remote team motivated is tough, plain and simple. You want everyone to feel to some extent that this game is theirs, and the best way you can do that is make sure that the progress of the game is well-communicated to all of the team. This is where a Wiki really comes in handy. I can show the latest design notes to everyone quickly and easily. I can allow other team members to update the Wiki pages as needed with concept art, sound effects, and music. I am no longer necessarily needed as an intermediary to pass on this stuff, and even if it doesn’t end up in the final game it doesn’t change the fact that seeing progress is definitely inspiring.

Another pair of useful tools is Skype and a webcam. Text discussions suck. They are slow, and it’s too easy to miscommunicate. Voice discussions are decidedly better, there is no doubt, but when you are not face-to-face with your teammates it is still tough to feel that you “know” them. That’s where the webcam comes in.

Skype is a great voice-over-internet solution, and it now includes the ability to have a free one-to-one video conference with a teammate. The audio is top-notch, and allows telephone-like conversations, unlike TeamSpeak and its ilk, where truly you need to take turns speaking to be heard well. There is a limit to five people on an audio conference, but that’s not a huge problem.

I sparked up Skype recently and tested its videoconferencing and it works well. It automatically recognized my webcam and it was as simple as pushing a button to start the videoconference. You can turn the video off and on at will, all without dropping the audio connection. Although the audio is almost immediate during a call, the video does have a short delay. It’s noticeable, as expected, but really is not that bad.

Being able to gesture and show facial expressions to your teammates goes a long way towards showing who you truly are, and I look forward to using it as I develop Explorers. Even if I’m the only one with a webcam, it will still help, though I’d certainly push everyone to get one if they planned on sticking around for the entire development process. It’s just too valuable to get “face time” with each other.

A scenario I could see where using both the Wiki and the videoconferencing simultaneously is the following:

I call Collaborator Jim up on Skype. We both bring up the Wiki for the game. As we are brainstorming on the design, I edit the appropriate pages on the Wiki, while Jim refreshes the Wiki on his side to check out what I’m writing, help suggest corrections, and possibly edit other portions of the Wiki in parallel. Going back and forth like this seems like it could be more immediate than me taking notes during a call and then writing up a web page or document and forwarding it to Jim and vice versa.

I’m still on the lookout for better tools for remote collaboration, but these two definitely have me stoked to start building a new team.