ROLE: LEAD PRODUCER TEAM SIZE: 10 DEVELOPMENT TIME: 4 MONTHS RELEASED: JAN 6, 2021 ENGINE: UNREAL PLATFORM: PC

Crystal Call is a first-person parkour speedrunner with score chaser and first-person shooter elements. It features fast-paced and fluid first-person movement mechanics built to create a high intensity and satisfying experience. Focusing on running levels several times we hope to dive players to master each space to the best of their ability.

During this project, I filled the role of Lead Producer. As the Lead Producer, I managed sprint schedules and production pipelines, documented and evaluated team performance through sprint retrospectives, and negotiated sprint plans with stakeholders. I followed up with team members daily in regard to task status, project progress, and individual well-being. When appropriate, I assisted team members with tasks and took responsibility for minor art assets in order to help manage the workload.

My duties included leading daily stand-up meetings, resolving interpersonal conflicts, and communicating project status and blockers to stakeholders.

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GAME TRAILER

RESPONSIBILITIES

ROLE: LEAD PRODUCER

Developed, implemented, managed, and iterated production pipelines
Facilitated daily stand-up meetings, meetings with the team leads, and sprint retrospectives
Scheduled sprint deliverables according to priority, resources, and individual ability
Negotiated sprint schedules with stakeholders
Assisted with task completion as appropriate

POST MORTEM

What Worked

Quickly cut what didn’t work
Contingency plans for game features
Team input in the pipeline structure and production methods
Team feedback after each sprint for what worked/what didn’t work
Prioritization of features, tasks, and bugs
Open communication between team members
Integration of remote work and in-person sessions
Balance and distribution of high workload among a small team
Consistent updates and communication among team members regarding project status, individual blockers, and team dependencies
Environment assets between artists and level designers were documented and tracked

Mistakes Made

Information wasn’t passed down the chain in an early sprint
Overscoped for art and level design for sprints
Hours weren’t logged in Jira tasks - missing time, less accurate burndown data
High priority assets were not included in a sprint plan and added mid-sprint

Lessons Learned

Communicate the “why” with the “what”
If resources aren’t currently available, they can be found - we passed some assets to outsourced artists
Keep the backlog well-groomed
Schedule time for playtesting and feedback in the sprint plan
Talk to leads about any sprint changes
Include more members for sprint planning when on a small team, not just the leads
Follow up with communication - it’s better for team members to know too much than too little
Playtest early and often
Clearly prioritize deliverables and tasks
Consider how decisions may affect different areas of the project and the team