Imagine facing a challenge more daunting than dinosaurs: scope creep. This is the game developer’s nightmare where a project grows uncontrollably, making it impossible to complete. Today, I’ll share how my survival game, “Stone and Bone,” fell victim to this issue. Join me for a journey filled with lessons, laughter, and a few tears.
Our story starts in May 2018. Inspired by the popular survival game mode “Boga Booga,” I decided to create my own game. The concept was simple: players form tribes, gather resources, and defend their totems from attacks. I envisioned a quick and straightforward project, perfect as a side endeavor alongside my larger commitments.
Using Pixel Edit, I quickly developed the game’s initial artwork and began prototyping with Construct’s multiplayer system. Progress was smooth until I made a critical mistake: introducing procedural generation. This decision led to weeks of experimentation, diverting me from my original goal and exemplifying scope creep.
After abandoning the project for a few months, I returned with fresh enthusiasm. The idea of a primitive survival game with nighttime dinosaur attacks was too enticing to resist. I switched to Game Maker Studio 2, hoping for better procedural generation capabilities, and began adding ambitious features like a crafting system and advanced AI for dinosaurs.
Despite initial success, the project became overwhelming. The game expanded beyond its original scope, and I once again found myself unable to continue. The second version of “Stone and Bone” met the same fate as the first.
Determined to succeed, I embarked on a third attempt, returning to Construct and refining my approach. This time, I focused on the core mechanics and involved friends in testing the prototype. The game was enjoyable, featuring resource collection, fort building, and survival against both rival tribes and dinosaurs.
However, I couldn’t resist the temptation to expand further. I envisioned a larger map and individual tribes, deviating from the original concept of quick survival matches. This decision diluted the game’s essence, and “Stone and Bone” remained unfinished.
Reflecting on my journey, I realized the importance of maintaining simplicity in game development. By keeping goals clear and manageable, developers can complete projects and add features later if desired. Discipline is crucial, especially for creative minds prone to experimentation.
Despite the setbacks, I plan to revisit “Stone and Bone” after completing other projects. My goal is to create the base game I initially envisioned, free from unnecessary complexity.
If you’re struggling with scope creep in your projects, focus on the core mechanics and evaluate their necessity. Avoid letting your ambitions hinder progress. Remember, a completed project is more rewarding than an endless pursuit of perfection.
If you have questions or advice about “Stone and Bone,” feel free to share in the comments. Thank you for supporting my journey, and if you’re interested in updates, follow me on Twitter and join our Discord community. Have a fantastic day!
Examine other game development projects that have experienced scope creep. Identify the common factors that led to scope creep and discuss how these projects could have been managed differently. Share your findings with your peers and propose strategies to prevent scope creep in future projects.
Develop a detailed project plan for a hypothetical game, focusing on maintaining a clear and manageable scope. Outline the core mechanics, timeline, and resources needed. Present your plan to the class and receive feedback on potential areas where scope creep might occur and how to mitigate it.
Participate in a role-playing exercise where you assume the roles of different stakeholders in a game development project. Navigate through scenarios where scope creep is introduced, and practice negotiating and making decisions to keep the project on track. Reflect on the challenges faced and the strategies used to address them.
Work in small groups to prototype a simple game with a clear and limited scope. Focus on completing the core mechanics within a set timeframe. Afterward, discuss the challenges encountered and how you managed to keep the project within scope. Share your prototype with the class for feedback.
Maintain a reflective journal throughout a small project, documenting any instances where scope creep is encountered. Analyze your thought process and decision-making at each stage. At the end of the project, review your journal entries and identify patterns or triggers that led to scope creep, and propose solutions for future projects.
Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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You know what’s scary? Dinosaurs! The big, spooky creatures that lived a long time ago. But dinosaurs are nothing compared to the ancient fear that haunts all game developers: scope creep. It’s the idea of creating a goal that you can never reach because you keep making it bigger and bigger. Today, I’m going to show you how my prehistoric survival game, “Stone and Bone,” went extinct because of scope creep. There’ll be laughter, there’ll be tears, and most importantly, don’t be dinosaurs. Let’s get started!
[Music]
Our story begins in May of 2018. I was working on a couple of projects and had an idea for a survival game. At the time, there was a really popular game mode called “Boga Booga,” which was a survival game where you could create tribes, fight battles, and build structures. I really liked the idea and thought, “I should make my own survival game, and I’ll make it even better!”
So, I hopped on my computer, opened up Pixel Edit, and got started. The idea was to have multiple teams or tribes, with the goal of collecting resources using tools and building a base before the other tribes attacked. Each tribe has a totem, which is your life force, and if your totem gets destroyed, you lose the game. This was a relatively simple idea, and I thought I could execute it quickly.
At the time, I was working on a bigger project, so this was just supposed to be a small side project. If you watched last week’s video, you know all the pain and suffering about that. Anyway, I had a concept for a game and some artwork, so I figured this was the perfect time to start prototyping it. Using the magic of Construct’s multiplayer system, I was able to make the prototype within a day.
Everything was moving along smoothly until I had the worst idea I’ve ever had: procedural generation. Just like that, I spent weeks messing around with procedural generation and failing miserably. There’s nothing wrong with experimenting with your game, but I already had a clear goal and was getting close to finishing it. Then I stopped myself, thinking the game needed to be better, and added even more goals. This is the definition of scope creep—when you have an idea, but it’s never good enough, so you keep pushing it further and further. Sometimes that’s necessary in a game, but in this case, it didn’t add anything except for heartache.
Feeling discouraged and unable to make progress, I gave up and moved on to something else. A couple of months later, I got the itch to work on the game again. It was such a cool idea having primitive survival, and I thought it would be awesome if giant dinosaurs attacked you in the middle of the night. So, I decided to try again but change the game a little bit. I also changed game engines to something more efficient, especially for procedural generation, and ended up choosing Game Maker Studio 2.
I started creating a prototype and thought, “Let’s make a crafting system! The dinosaurs should have advanced AI, and the world needs to be infinite!” I was just trying to do too much. At first, the prototype turned out really cool, and I worked with my brother to create an impressive raptor AI. However, once again, I had made a game that was way too big by adding too many features before finishing the main game. After working on it for almost a month, I couldn’t continue; it was too overwhelming.
Sadly, the second version of “Stone and Bone” died, and I was left dreaming about dinosaurs. I thought, “Third time’s the charm!” So, I approached my third attempt at “Stone and Bone.” I went back to using Construct because I had figured out how to use Photon, which made the multiplayer much better. This time, I returned to the original idea but kept the newer artwork from my last attempt.
I worked hard to create a prototype that I could play with my friends. I knew that if I could just get into a game with them, it would be a blast. Game developers can be very critical of their own work, but it’s important to play with others because they often see something awesome in it and have a fresh experience. Once I had a good prototype, I managed to get my friends together to play an online match. It was really fun! You had to collect resources, cut down wood and rocks to make weapons, and build a little fort while the other team did the same. It added a sense of competition and fun.
To add some extra challenge, I included raptors and even a giant T-Rex that would come out at night. It made it scary because it wasn’t just about fighting the other team; you also had to survive by collecting water, eating berries, and avoiding predators. After a few rounds, the only critique was that the map could be slightly bigger. I thought, “What if there was a big map, and instead of being on teams, you could be individuals creating tribes?”
Here is where everything started to fall apart. I had a goal and a really fun game, but by making the map bigger and changing the team structure, I took away from the original concept of “Stone and Bone.” It wasn’t supposed to be a big survival game like Minecraft that went on forever; it was meant to be quick matches where you build something and try to survive as long as possible. The goal was to see how many days you could last in a survival situation.
I wish I could say this story ended with me successfully releasing the game, but the sad fact is that I never finished “Stone and Bone.” I kept adding too many ideas, making it unrealistic. The hardest part of working on a game is keeping it simple. If you keep your goals simple, you’ll actually be able to finish the game. If you want to add features later, you can do that.
So, you may be asking yourself, “Will I ever finish ‘Stone and Bone’?” The answer is yes! I plan on returning to the game after I finish some main projects. I want to create the base game I’ve always envisioned without adding extra fluff. Being a game developer takes a lot of discipline, which can be hard if you’re also an artist, as artists tend to be scatterbrained and like to experiment with projects.
If you’re out there working on a title and it’s taking forever, or if you’ve dropped projects because of scope creep, I encourage you to think about the core mechanics of your game. Are they necessary? Are they adding value, or are they preventing you from finishing? You need to have a goal to complete a project, and if it keeps getting bigger, you’ll just feel more stressed and wonder why you started in the first place.
If you have any questions about “Stone and Bone” or advice for me, please let me know in the comments below. Also, we just hit 200 subscribers, which is incredible! Thank you to each and every one of you. If you want to see more updates or follow along, make sure to follow me on Twitter and join our Discord channel. I hope you have a wonderful day!
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This version maintains the essence of the original transcript while removing any informal language and ensuring clarity.
Scope – The extent of the area or subject matter that something deals with or to which it is relevant, especially in programming where it refers to the visibility of variables within different parts of a program. – In Python, understanding the scope of a variable is crucial to avoid unexpected behavior in your code.
Creep – In project management, particularly in software development, it refers to the gradual expansion of a project’s scope without proper adjustments to time, cost, and resources. – The team experienced scope creep when additional features were added to the software without extending the deadline.
Game – A structured form of play, often undertaken for entertainment or fun, and in computing, it refers to software designed for entertainment purposes. – The computer science students developed a multiplayer game as part of their final project.
Development – The process of creating, designing, and programming software applications, including games and other digital products. – The development of the new app required collaboration between designers and programmers.
Resources – In computing, resources refer to the available assets, such as memory, processing power, and storage, that can be utilized by software applications. – Efficient use of system resources is essential for optimizing the performance of a computer program.
Procedural – Relating to a programming paradigm based on the concept of procedure calls, where statements are structured into procedures or functions. – Procedural programming languages like C are often used for system-level programming.
Generation – In computing, it refers to the creation of data or content, often dynamically, such as procedural generation in games where content is created algorithmically rather than manually. – Procedural generation allows games to create vast, unique worlds without requiring extensive manual design.
Mechanics – The rules or methods designed to create an engaging experience in games, often referring to the interactions and systems within the game. – The game’s mechanics were praised for their innovation and depth, providing players with a unique experience.
Simplicity – The quality of being easy to understand or use, often a key principle in software design to enhance user experience and maintainability. – The simplicity of the user interface made the application accessible to users of all skill levels.
Projects – In the context of software development, projects refer to planned sets of interrelated tasks to be executed over a fixed period and within certain cost and other limitations. – The students worked on various projects throughout the semester to apply their coding skills in real-world scenarios.
