 The justification
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 Oct 14 2006, 03:45 PM
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Well, we just turned down the 4th offer ever to merge with another project. That is a whole other entry in and of itself, so I will save the summary of that for another time.
In the mean time, with all the new recruits, a question keeps coming up more and more often. People may think this is a cop-out, but in answering the question in an interview, I figured I would answer it and post it here.
The question is: QUOTE Is there anywhere specifically where the game as an object is described with the type or ideas in mind as for the game design and interfaces? I've been reading a lot of the forums and trying to give ideas and just see how everything is corrently listed but I either just need to read a lot more OR there is no real centralized point to find the information I'm looking for.
My answer is something like this:
About information, your are correct, there is not a centralized source of concrete information about the game. We have a Trac server which has the design document, but it has remained a shell for quite a while. Most of the information is on the forums, which comprises a collective vision. Believe it or not, most people that are members of the site do remember Wish, since most played it. Between all of our memories and good experiences with other games, we have been putting together pieces that will make up the game. Many times we have discussed the issue of designing the main aspects of the game, but have put it off. There are a couple reasons for this. A) We want to get the technology aspect done to the point where we know we can proceed with the rest of the game design. This means putting effort forth effort toward getting the client and server ready. This also means we need the initial framework, which will need to be extensible. Many games like this go through the motions to make a document, only to break it later, change it, or just give up and quit. That is a lot of wasted effort. The next reason is  We focus on the community more than most. Having the discussions in the forums allows the community to participate in the game, and give them something to do while we work on the structure that the game will be built on.
Neither of these answers are meant as an excuse for not hashing out a perfect design document. The fact of the matter is that this is not "true" game development. We are hobbyists, so there is no set way of doing it "right." Having been here for 1.75 years, working on PW, we have learned that things cannot be run the same way as a real dev team would do it. This seems to be one of those things. It isnt fair for developers who were here at the beginning to have designed the game that they will not be finishing, since they are no longer around. We push things back to make sure that those who are designing will aslo be the ones implementing. This means we are unorthodox, which some people do not agree with, and we cannot blame them.
We run things a bit differently, but we also let the facts speak for themselves. We let people judge for themselves. Those who have a problem with this are allowed to have their own opinions, but those people most likely leave the project. This has its good effects and its bad effects. It is good in the sense that someone who was really looking for a reason for this to match their own vision (and not ours) is now gone. This means that those who stay, are those who want to stay. The bad is that it does not look good from a conventional standpoint. However, this comes back to the first point, wherein these people are coming in with expectations, which are not always best for this project. We are ready to back up our actions with more actions, which we have been doing.
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Those who think this sort of gamedev should be run more like a real company are justified in thinking this is a cop-out answer. The simple fact, however, is that its apples to oranges. This is different, and so it can't be held to the same standards and rules. We can strive for the best, and come out with professional quality work, but the main point remains, and that is we got there via a totally different path.
Anyways, the merger talk gave me a great opportunity to analyze the current state of the project. It also made me question everything about the project, from whether we can really do it, to are we doing it correctly.
After doing all that thinking, I have come to a conclusion. And that is ....
We are doing exactly what we should be. We are ahead of the game in some areas, but those that need the most work have been pointed out long ago, so the truth is that we are on the right path to do the undoable. We have a few real game developers come and visit us on occasion to check up on us and help us out, and each time, we have gotten confirmation that we are making good choices and doing things well.
Yes, for being 1.75 years into a project, just having DWARF to show does not seem like much, but, how many make it 1.75 years and have anything to show? And, on top of that, at 1.75 years into it, how many other projects are stronger than they ever have been before? I am not trying to toot my own horn here, but I am saying, I regret nothing. It has all been part of the experience. We are where we are and we are going where we are going. Simple as that. We reevaluate constantly and strive to improve ourselves, our processes, our teams and the project and I think we are doing a great job.
Conclusion: PW is stronger than ever and has never had more momentum or a better chance than it does right now.
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Blog created: Jun 30 2006, 07:54 PM
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