justin-fischer

[justin-fischer]

Where Do We Start? - How To Build Our Your Initial Task Lists With Use Cases

Where Do We Start? – How To Build Our Your Initial Task Lists With Use Cases

In my last post, I talked about critical mechanics and how to use them to prioritize work. In this post I want to talk about an easy way to turn a critical mechanic into a task list using a very simple concept: the use case. (more…)

[justin-fischer]

What Makes This Game Tick?: Prioritizing Development Using Critical Mechanics

What Makes This Game Tick?: Prioritizing Development Using Critical Mechanics

One of the hardest aspects of managing game development is prioritization. And nowhere is prioritization more difficult than in the earliest days of a project. If you don’t know what your game is, how the hell are you supposed to prioritize the work? I’ve struggled with this problem in the past and eventually ended up stealing a solution from the start-up world in the form of something I like to…

[justin-fischer]

The Fallacy of "Free"

The Fallacy of “Free”

Cost is often a significant factor in project management – which is as it should be. But, much like using weight as your only measure of fitness, monetary cost in and of itself is not sufficient for proper decision making. You also need to consider the less obvious costs (and savings) of your decisions. (more…)

[justin-fischer]

The Paradox of Planning

One of my favorite quotes revolves around planning.  It came from Helmuth Von Moltke, a 19th century German Field Marshall: “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.”1. The implication here is simple enough: the plan that makes total sense on paper quickly falls apart when confronting the entropy of reality. And yet planning is essential for getting a team moving in the right direction. As…

[justin-fischer]

Rolling With The Punches: Dealing With Failure In Seven Steps

Rolling With The Punches: Dealing With Failure In Seven Steps

Failure is a fact of life. And the more you try to push the boundaries – of your abilities, or your career, or anything else – the higher the probability of failure. There is no inoculation against it. Sooner or later your going to fall right on your ass. You can’t stop it from happening, but you can control how you respond to it. Here’s my script. (more…)

[justin-fischer]

Destruction and Creation: John Boyd's Analysis and Synthesis Loop

Destruction and Creation: John Boyd’s Analysis and Synthesis Loop

Here’s a question for you: is dog-fighting (the airplane variety, not the literal kind) an art or a science? It’s obviously an art, right? Two pilots, and a wide-open sky – the possibilities for maneuvers and counters are positively endless. Endless, that is, except for this funny thing called “physics”. Far from being limitless, a pilot’s options are severely restricted by his altitude, speed,…

[justin-fischer]

Guest Post: On The Subject of Trade-Offs My friends at Black Shell Media were kinda enough to host another of my scribblings, this time on the ever-present and ever-important notion of trade-offs: how to think about them, traps to avoid when dealing with them, and why it's so important to know yourself when faced with them. Click here to read on: On The Subject of Trade-Offs

[justin-fischer]

How to manage art with science: an ongoing series on adding more rigor to #gamedev and #indiedev planning. http://ift.tt/2nuCMDB

[justin-fischer]

How to succeed before you begin: an ongoing guide to #gamedev and #indiedev marketing http://bit.ly/2hCWrk4

[justin-fischer]

If you want full creative control within your #gamedev or #indiedev team, then understand the downsides. http://bit.ly/2r1PE9j

[justin-fischer]

Some thoughts on & responses to feedback I received on my #gdc17 talks http://bit.ly/2rLFHdh #gamedev #indiedev