Matt Ep. 1 - Planning, Vision, MVP

Written by Matt Koopman of TDM Productions:

Our first steps as a group were very much informal, and starting early allowed us the time to explore ideas in a more relaxed fashion. I agreed to be the Product Owner, and then created the Github Repo, shared it with the guys, and we talked at good lengths about what we knew about using Github effectively. This proved to be a very important conversation, as throughout the project, we had very little complications when using Github together, and this made our development process/pipeline quite smooth. 

We also decided to use Trello as our main board tool for managing and documenting our Sprint Progress. We discussed what types of things we value in games, and in great Art in general. After some discussion, we all knew the pillars we wanted our game to prop itself up on:

1. At least 1 unique and engaging mechanic at the center of the game

2. A strong atmosphere and story - creating a mood, and maintaining player investment

For me, the atmosphere and story we're my biggest points of emphasis. I knew what impact video games had when they created a mood that transported the player out of their chair and into the universe of the game. I also knew that without some type of story subtext, our good mechanics would lack substance. As a Technical Sound Designer and Composer, I really wanted to be able to showcase that great SFX, Foley, and great music can be intertwined with story to create meaningful and impactful interactive experiences.

From there, we continued our weekly planning meetings to find out what type of game we wanted to make. Based on our interests, our school training, and our pillars we wanted to emphasize, we decided two genre's that we wanted to set as the foundation - Horror, Round Based Shooter.  We all agreed and got stoked for what was to come - a Vampire Hunting, Roundbased FPS. That was all we knew, and we all felt very confident about how to get there. Next was to decide what we wanted to make, at minimum. Over 1-2 meetings, we decided on our definition of an MVP. We used Trello to create a little board to document what our minimum goals were, as a group:

With all of that in mind, we knew what we wanted to make, and felt excited as a group, and as individuals that we were going to create something achievable, and fulfilling!

Stay tuned for Episode 2 :)

-Matt