Iterative Development
Making games always starts with an idea, but rarely do you end up finishing with the idea you started with. Games are a unique combination of engineering and art, and experimentation and iteration are important practices during development.
Shu Cheah has made games for over 20 years using iterative development. In his interview, Shu talks about the importance of showing your work early to friends and colleagues and to not be afraid to listen to criticism. The feedback people give you will help you make a better game by learning what people like and what they do not like.
You should work to always have something to show while making your game so you can get frequent feedback. Here are some tips so you can be ready:
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Start with programmer art so you can quickly get your game running. Don’t wait for final assets before seeing if your game is fun.
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If you are making large changes to your game or adding new features, backup your current work first. If things don’t work as planned, you can always go back to your last, good copy. Larger projects always use source control tools like Github to manage many versions of their game at once. Even without access to these tools, you can always copy the files you’re working on to some place safe.
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Take notes when people give you feedback. Record what people say so you can refer to it later and check if your current work properly incorporates their feedback. You don’t have to do everything people tell you, but you should consider all of it.
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Learn to listen. It’s natural to defend your work and to even feel personally attacked when people give you critical feedback. Listen to what people are saying and assume they are giving you feedback because they want you to build the best game possible and to be successful.
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Learn to give feedback. When you tell people what you think of their work, remember they’re likely feeling vulnerable. Be honest, but be polite.