What TO-DO

Managing a game project is a daunting task. Contrary to what you may have heard, it’s not simply saying the word “SCRUMM” 4oo times a day. The mechanations of managing a large game project are herculean and would quite frankly grind me to chum in its gears. However, I have a method for managing my own small game projects.

Any game is a substantial task and it’s difficult to know where to start. There are so many aspects of game creation that choice paralysis can keep you from ever starting. A simple to-do list, that allows you to prioritize tasks, can help immensely. I use RememberTheMilk.com. It’s free and I like how it lets me quickly change the priorities of items, use tags and export to iCalendar. You can also access it from you iPhone for a small yearly fee.

Here is my organization method.

Make a Short-term Goal

So you are sitting at your computer and you don’t know where to begin. Make yourself a very short-term goal. For example, “Keyboard controls for the avatar with placeholder art.” My current avatar has a few movement behaviors: run, crouch, sneak and jump.

List and Prioritize All Tasks

I enter my goal as a priority 1 task with stars (** Keyboard Controls **) so it stays top of mind.

Now I list all my tasks. I try to tag them with “art, programming, design or sound.” This current goal is nearly all programming with a little placeholder art. I break down the programming tasks by action: walk, run, crouch, etc.

Now I use Remember the Milk’s 4 priority categories to organize my tasks. Keep in mind your dependencies. Don’t have a priority 1 goal that has lower priority dependency. I never have more than 1 top priority task other than my goal.

The priority 2 tasks are the few things in the running to be done next. There should not be more than 3-5 of these.

Priority 3 tasks are often a mixed lot. I use this group to lump in a myriad of tasks in case I get bored or frustrated with what I am currently doing. So if  I am getting stuck on my current programming task maybe I will jump over to an art or sound task.

Priority 4 tasks are everything else. Sometimes I enter other goals in here that will later become top priority. I also enter loads of random tasks that don’t have anything to do with my current goal.

Complete and Update

Now just stay on top of your list. “Complete” your top item when it’s done. Move another task up to top. Once your goals is met, make another short term goal, and repeat the process.