When I joined this team at the beginning of the semester I was still unhappy about my last team getting cut due mostly to a factor that was completely beyond our control (the server service we were using for hosting was down for the hour we were demoing our game to the faculty). I was also quite worried to be joining a team that had fired their artist last semester. As the semester started and I became more familiar with the team the worry and the unhappiness faded away, the original team was a joy to work with and the other new members of the team were equally as easy to work with. I was surprised how much I came to care about the game given that at the start of the semester I wasn't particularly interested in the premise.
The team got off to a slow start adding several new movement schemes and not much else. We did not focus on putting together a stable build and chose instead to keep adding features. This caused a great deal of issues early on as we tried to add several features and weren't able to test them thoroughly and they caused game breaking bugs. After a several weeks of this we stopped, took stock and realized exactly what we'd been doing up to that point, we buckled down and resolved to focus on having stable builds. With a focus on always having a stable build at the end of a work session we started to catch up to where we needed to be. It still took crunch time for us to finally catch up to where we needed to be and last week's Alpha deadline enforced that crunch time. We are currently where we should be and even during the period where we were behind the team was dedicated and willing to pull all-nighters to get our work done.
Friday, April 8, 2016
Spit and Polish
Semester 2 Week 12 (4/1-4/8)
This last week has been a little more mellow than the previous weeks have been because we had made the milestones that we had set for ourselves and the class alpha and beta milestones. Reaching these milestones did not mean we stopped working but it meant that our focus has shifted to polish and bug fixing since we are no longer adding features. Changing our focus to bug fixing has shown us that we need to get more and better testing from the school's QA lab.
In testing our practice has previously been to test on PC and Android because the mobile builds lagged behind our PC builds in terms of stability. This practice has meant that bugs tended to go undiscovered for longer on Android and iOS. Now that we are correcting this poor testing practice we are only testing on Android, I am working to make sure that we will also be testing on iOS as well. This shift will improve the quality of our QA feedback since the platforms we are developing for are Android and iOS, the bugs and issues that the testers will be encountering will be relevant and provide more accurate causes to the programmers.
This last week has been a little more mellow than the previous weeks have been because we had made the milestones that we had set for ourselves and the class alpha and beta milestones. Reaching these milestones did not mean we stopped working but it meant that our focus has shifted to polish and bug fixing since we are no longer adding features. Changing our focus to bug fixing has shown us that we need to get more and better testing from the school's QA lab.
In testing our practice has previously been to test on PC and Android because the mobile builds lagged behind our PC builds in terms of stability. This practice has meant that bugs tended to go undiscovered for longer on Android and iOS. Now that we are correcting this poor testing practice we are only testing on Android, I am working to make sure that we will also be testing on iOS as well. This shift will improve the quality of our QA feedback since the platforms we are developing for are Android and iOS, the bugs and issues that the testers will be encountering will be relevant and provide more accurate causes to the programmers.
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Adventures in QA land
For most of this semester I have been in the QA liaison for my team, for us this means that I prepare the test plan and feedback forms for Champlain's QA sessions. I also oversee the creation and execution of the smoke test and the team's QA sessions. The experience has been very helpful and hectic.
I have learned a lot from being the QA liaison this semester. One of the things that Champlain College doesn't really teach is the value of QA. Admittedly its a hard concept to fit into a classroom but it has informed and improved my priorities when programming as well as given me a much more useful set of tools to process feedback.
The semester is winding down and while that does not mean that the programming has gotten any less urgent it does mean that the focus has shifted to bugs and polish rather than new features or UI or such. The shift to bug fixing and polish lets me as the QA liaison test for specific issues and worry far less about having a stable build to take to QA.
I have learned a lot from being the QA liaison this semester. One of the things that Champlain College doesn't really teach is the value of QA. Admittedly its a hard concept to fit into a classroom but it has informed and improved my priorities when programming as well as given me a much more useful set of tools to process feedback.
The semester is winding down and while that does not mean that the programming has gotten any less urgent it does mean that the focus has shifted to bugs and polish rather than new features or UI or such. The shift to bug fixing and polish lets me as the QA liaison test for specific issues and worry far less about having a stable build to take to QA.
Monday, March 7, 2016
Cleaning Up the Act
Semester 2 Week 7 (2/27-3/4)
We have finally arrived in the realm of stable builds and it feels good. We made a concentrated effort this week to not only create a stable build but to not add more bugs to the game. We largely succeeded in our aims this week and while I think we are still behind where we want to be we have made up a good amount of ground. If we can keep having weeks with the quality of productivity that we had this last week I will not be worried about finishing the game to the level that we planned at the beginning of the semester.
In addition to cracking down on our bugs this week we added a lot of polish that makes the game feel much more vibrant and alive. The fluidity of the transitions continued to improve and the overworld alongside them. Now players can easily tell which level they are on and which levels come next. In addition the camera now pans over to the new level.
Last semester I saw Amanda's work from the perspective of another team and was less than impressed at both the quality and quantity of her work. Perhaps that was only a result of watching from the outside but her work this semester has been much more impressive and beautiful. Amanda's work has continually improved the look of the game without departing from the visual style that the game started out with.
I spent a large chunk of this week out of commission unfortunately as I spent the beginning of the week de-stressing with my parents away from a computer and then mid week was consumed with two days of working exclusively on another class's homework. I am happier with the quality of my work this week than I have been previously this semester but I did not do enough work the rest of the week to make up for not working for 3 days.
We have finally arrived in the realm of stable builds and it feels good. We made a concentrated effort this week to not only create a stable build but to not add more bugs to the game. We largely succeeded in our aims this week and while I think we are still behind where we want to be we have made up a good amount of ground. If we can keep having weeks with the quality of productivity that we had this last week I will not be worried about finishing the game to the level that we planned at the beginning of the semester.
In addition to cracking down on our bugs this week we added a lot of polish that makes the game feel much more vibrant and alive. The fluidity of the transitions continued to improve and the overworld alongside them. Now players can easily tell which level they are on and which levels come next. In addition the camera now pans over to the new level.
Last semester I saw Amanda's work from the perspective of another team and was less than impressed at both the quality and quantity of her work. Perhaps that was only a result of watching from the outside but her work this semester has been much more impressive and beautiful. Amanda's work has continually improved the look of the game without departing from the visual style that the game started out with.
I spent a large chunk of this week out of commission unfortunately as I spent the beginning of the week de-stressing with my parents away from a computer and then mid week was consumed with two days of working exclusively on another class's homework. I am happier with the quality of my work this week than I have been previously this semester but I did not do enough work the rest of the week to make up for not working for 3 days.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
The Importance of Awareness
Semester 2 Week 6 (2/22-2/26)
This week was rough, Nick and I got into a couple of arguments but we rather easily resolved them and in resolving those arguments we found ways to work together and improve the team's work. The team also realized where we were compared to where we wanted to be and pulled together to get us much closer to where we want to be.
Stress had been mounting this week due to the Sisyphean task of creating a stable build. What finally broke us out of our funk was realizing and recognizing the bad work habits that had trapped us in a an endless cycle of fixing game breaking bugs and causing them at the same time. Sometimes all that a person requires to clean up their bad behavior is simply recognizing that it is bad, all too often behavior that doesn't seem all that problematic ends up causing the most damage. By recognizing the damage we had been doing by inaction and accident we have been able to put together our first truly stable build of the semester. We have also instituted several stricter rules for managing the repository and reporting our work, these rules have already shown some benefit to workflow and general team work efficiency.
I truly believe that the arguments Nick and I had are resolved to both of our satisfaction, both times a combination of stress and misunderstanding exacerbated the situation and caused our tempers to flare. Once we got to talking the issue out we quickly resolved our disagreements and learned something about each other.
Also I am annoyed at myself for always ending up finishing these blog posts halfway through the next week. I start writing on Wednesday intending to finish on Thursday or Friday but something always comes up or I forget or some other obstacle. I am not sure what to do to fix this but I am making a push to get week 7 finished by Friday night.
This week was rough, Nick and I got into a couple of arguments but we rather easily resolved them and in resolving those arguments we found ways to work together and improve the team's work. The team also realized where we were compared to where we wanted to be and pulled together to get us much closer to where we want to be.
Stress had been mounting this week due to the Sisyphean task of creating a stable build. What finally broke us out of our funk was realizing and recognizing the bad work habits that had trapped us in a an endless cycle of fixing game breaking bugs and causing them at the same time. Sometimes all that a person requires to clean up their bad behavior is simply recognizing that it is bad, all too often behavior that doesn't seem all that problematic ends up causing the most damage. By recognizing the damage we had been doing by inaction and accident we have been able to put together our first truly stable build of the semester. We have also instituted several stricter rules for managing the repository and reporting our work, these rules have already shown some benefit to workflow and general team work efficiency.
I truly believe that the arguments Nick and I had are resolved to both of our satisfaction, both times a combination of stress and misunderstanding exacerbated the situation and caused our tempers to flare. Once we got to talking the issue out we quickly resolved our disagreements and learned something about each other.
Also I am annoyed at myself for always ending up finishing these blog posts halfway through the next week. I start writing on Wednesday intending to finish on Thursday or Friday but something always comes up or I forget or some other obstacle. I am not sure what to do to fix this but I am making a push to get week 7 finished by Friday night.
Monday, February 22, 2016
Relighting the Fire
Semester 2 Week 5 (2/14-2/21)
This week has been weird for me, for the first time on this team I didn't feel enthusiastic about the game. I felt tired of the game and working upon it. This was noticeable in the quantity of work I put out in the first half of the week and I was unhappy about my lack of productivity. Resolving to sit down and work on Wednesday did not magically reinvigorate me or re-motivate me but it did help me find a place where I could do some happy coding for the project.
Wednesday was the first fully positive day I've had in a long time. Not to say that I haven't had good days recently or that Wednesday was the best day I've had in a while. Wednesday was a day of many small positives and no negatives, a day that will likely slip out of memory in a week or two but while it remains will brighten my life. I resolved an issue that had been hampering my role as QA Liason for my team and really stressing me out, Professor Ferguson helped me get access to the QA Team sign up page of Canvas. I also got a lot of work done early in the day, then while waiting for the Legend Has It work meeting I got to play a fun game for a couple of hours. The day ended with a long work session that was very productive. All throughout the day the weather was pleasant and did not bring down the day.
The rest of the week I had no issues with productivity and my malaise about the game gradually disappeared. I managed to finish all my work and I feel good about my overall productivity for the week. I am looking forward to getting this game to a place I can be proud to say that I helped make that game.
This week has been weird for me, for the first time on this team I didn't feel enthusiastic about the game. I felt tired of the game and working upon it. This was noticeable in the quantity of work I put out in the first half of the week and I was unhappy about my lack of productivity. Resolving to sit down and work on Wednesday did not magically reinvigorate me or re-motivate me but it did help me find a place where I could do some happy coding for the project.
Wednesday was the first fully positive day I've had in a long time. Not to say that I haven't had good days recently or that Wednesday was the best day I've had in a while. Wednesday was a day of many small positives and no negatives, a day that will likely slip out of memory in a week or two but while it remains will brighten my life. I resolved an issue that had been hampering my role as QA Liason for my team and really stressing me out, Professor Ferguson helped me get access to the QA Team sign up page of Canvas. I also got a lot of work done early in the day, then while waiting for the Legend Has It work meeting I got to play a fun game for a couple of hours. The day ended with a long work session that was very productive. All throughout the day the weather was pleasant and did not bring down the day.
The rest of the week I had no issues with productivity and my malaise about the game gradually disappeared. I managed to finish all my work and I feel good about my overall productivity for the week. I am looking forward to getting this game to a place I can be proud to say that I helped make that game.
Monday, February 15, 2016
The Rough Beast of Bethlehem is Midterms
Semester 2 Week 4 (2/7-2/13)
Last week I became a third wheel. I didn't have a specific focus for my work and if felt like I was playing a supporting role in all of my tasks. I found myself with plenty to do but worried about running out of tasks to do which depending on the project is a great or terrifying occurrence. I don't think that the project I am on is off track but sometimes we struggle to declare all of our tasks at the start of the week and I try to be careful how much work I assign to myself. Another factor is that now that I am in charge of QA I get assigned fewer programming tasks so that I don't get overloaded with work.
This last week has been all about feelings. I've always worried about how good I am at programming and how much time I spend working. Most of the time I can push these fears away because I know that I am not an objective judge of my own work. Both teams that I have worked on this semester have really helped me feel like I am contributing meaningful work and driven away much of that feeling.
The criteria for our midterms deliverable that terrifies me most is a stable tested build. Not because we won't have it but because it means we will have our whole tutorial and over-world level progression done and figured out and stable and tested. I simply don't know if I can imagine that and that freaks me out whether or not it is actually a problem. Overall I think that we are mostly on track to reaching our midterm goals though the implementation of the over-world has really thrown a wrench into what the game looks, feels and plays like.
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