Sprint 002 reflection
What did we accomplish?
We fixed some critical bugs in the Beta.
We improved the look and feel of the relationship tables.
We made the university choice more differentiated and meaningful.
We added new avatar clothes for the Analyst & Operator sections of the Lifepath.
We added the first Detailed Hometowns with unique neighbourhood descriptions and first boyfriends.
We added more choices and skill rolls to the Norway training mission for Operators.
We added the “Failed Operator” Lifepath.
We added the option for agents with high Agreeableness to put up with rough sex during that vignette, even though they didn’t like it.
We added the option for Promiscuous agents with high social Confidence to seduce the final exam professor if their persuasion roll failed.
We replaced the placeholder text in page headings and the early Lifepath.
We added long name lists for international NPCs.
We added more partners to the relationship tables.
We did some general editing and tightening up of the Lifepath passages.
Did we meet the sprint goal?
Yes, we polished 1.4 Beta and released the early version of 1.4 on the target date.
What worked really well this sprint?
The tasks felt more clearly defined, and it felt like I worked through them more quickly.
We made use of some big, complex “arrays” this time – the long name lists and the relationship table partners – and a single typo in an array can cause a critical, hard-to-find bug. I invented a new method of importing arrays from spreadsheets, instead of editing them directly in the game code, which makes adding to them, updating them and fixing problems much easier.
Outsourcing the name lists to a professional data enterer resulted in much longer name lists than I would have had time to create myself.
Crowdsourcing the hometowns and relationship table partners led to some very creative suggestions.
When writing, I found that writing with the game open (instead of just writing directly in the game code) led to faster results. I think it’s easier to write when I can see the results in the context of the game; I have a tendency to overwrite when I work directly in the game code.
The trello kept me focused. A couple of times I wanted to spend time on new ideas (more university outfits, a “really failed Operator” path) that were cool, but not in the sprint plan.
What could have worked better?
Lots of fans contributed good ideas which I didn’t have time to incorporate into this release.
I wanted more content in lots of areas – more partners, more hometowns, more clothes, more choices, more vignettes. But adding them would have extended the release date. I'm not sure how to balance my desire to include content with my desire to get updates out. :-\ What do you guys think?
Comments (9)
Thanks for a very interesting discussion, guys
when the next release will come out? the one in which the agent can actually work in the brothel?
As long as you keep track of all those extraneous things you want to work on, at some point you can just schedule a couple of weeks for an 'odds and ends' sprint.
I won't use any filter and say what I think :)..the project is solid and could give you work forever (and then you can start a new one), the way you're organizing the work is fantastic, the steps ahead are exacly what we need before Bangkok, your interaction and communication with the patrons is superb, the ambition you have for the game admirable. And now some heavy punches :D...it feels like adding the slightest amount of content (be it new scenes or enriching existing ones with new branches/content) takes you ages and I never understood why; the speed of development makes me think how I'm growing old and I don't like to remind myself that.
You did a great job, keep it up!
Great! Keep up the good work!
Balancing out core features versus polish and spur-of-the-moment ideas is always really difficult. You're not going to get anywhere without implementing the core features sooner or later, but the end product can also feel pretty bare and lacking in soul or character, if you don't work in any nice-to-haves whatsoever. I think the best way to do it is to plan for it and maintain discipline. Every x sprints, have a "polish" sprint, where you're not working on new core features, but get to implement a specific set of polish/nice-to-have features based on players' priority and your own interest. That way you also get to sit on ideas that come to you as you're working and, when that sprint comes, you're in a better position to priorities and figure out which ones really are worth pursuing.
I'm a new patreon member, but from my point of view I wouldn't mind the release date pushed back in favour of more features / polish/ bug fixes. I see potential in the project, and adding a few days, or even a week to the dev time wouldn't bother me.
It is imperative that the Dev keeps to a schedule and goals he sets publicly. It's a rare Dev who can go off the rails and get back on without hurting the project substantially.