The Dev Efficiency Stack of 3StrakGames
When we started 3StrakGames, we didn’t have any idea how to properly collaborate within a studio. As a result, we estimate that we lost approximately a year of development time!
We are a two man studio, so we didn’t think it would be too hard to share files, to-do lists and work in the same engine and project simultaneously.
Little did we know, we needed to work on our organization stack if we really wanted to boost our development efficiency.
Our initial stack was very inefficient
In the beginning, we set up a Trello account for our to-do lists, and a little server PC for file storage and transfer. I had tried to set up version control, but it was a confusing and time consuming process to learn while we were trying to actually make our game. So I gave up on it… The result was us taking turns with who had the engine open at any one time.
Version control to save the day
Later on we started using Unreal Engine’s merge function, which was faster, but sometimes we ended up with duplicate files and copy errors. Let me back up a bit and explain version control. Version control or source control is external software that syncs your team’s projects.
If a user wants to edit a level, texture, model, script or any other game object, that object needs to be checked out by that user. Once an item has been checked out, no other users can edit it, until it has been checked back in. The good news is that it functions for most game engines.
The bad news is that it can be a real nuisance to set up. It’s REALLY worth it though!
Now we can work on the same project simultaneously and independently of each other. I can be adding furniture to a level, while my partner sets up the enemy AI. Then within a few clicks, we can refresh our projects so he has the furniture, and I have the enemy AI, which either of us can then implement into the level.
We use Perforce for our version control, but Git is another common option.
Now, the planning and to-do lists
Trello was fine for a bit, but it’s clunky, not customizable and too simplistic for a full game project. Some time in the middle of DEDstress’s development, our brother visited.
He saw how disorganized we were, and offered to help us get our efficiency stack organized. He gave us basic training in MS Azure DevOps, which is free for teams of up to five users.
In DevOps we create nested hierarchies of tasks. DevOps is built around the Agile methodology, which is a project management system. Agile is a giant topic to cover, and I am no expert in it, so I won’t go into it much, but there is a ton of information about it online.
I’ve drawn up a simple diagram of how we use their hierarchy of categories. This is probably not exactly how am Agile project manager would use it, but it works for us.
We used the Epic category as our whole version. Then within that are all of the Features that would give us a fully functional game; Level 1 terrain, soundtrack, Steam page etc.
Each feature has many user stories, which break up the feature into manageable chunks of work. Then the tasks are the actual things that would go on a to do list for the day or week. Something that someone would usually put on something like Trello.
Furthermore, each feature, user story, task and bug gets a priority marker from one to four. One being the most important, and four being that cool fluffy idea that the game doesn’t necessarily need in order to function. This helps keep things in perspective, so you don’t end up spending days making quirky easter eggs, when your character doesn’t even have a walk cycle.
DevOps can also generate valuable data on turn around times for many categories, to help you better estimate scope of future projects. All in all it has turned out to be a great tool that helps us stay on track.
Collaborative note taking
One final piece of software I recommend for the efficiency stack that helps share notes and lists is MS OneNote. It’s like a super advanced notepad that comes with Windows 10. You can link multiple accounts to the same pages, so everyone can be adding notes to the same place during something like a game testing session.
All in all, these three tools – version control with Perforce, task management with MS Azure DevOps, and collaborative note taking with MS OneNote have really helped us keep on track and organized as we build out our game. I hope that these tools can help you increase your productivity and organization in the way they have helped us!
If you are interested in seeing the game we are working on you can visit the steam page here. You can also follow me on twitter for news and updates and check out our website here.
Kevin Stark
3StrakGames
