The Producer Is Far, Far Away Juan Gril Joju

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The Producer Is Far, Far AwayJuan GrilJoju
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Why?

• We work under these myths
• Creating a game with people far away is not
  possible!
• You cant coordinate them
• In order to execute your vision, you need to
  keep control, and you cant control somebody who
  is far away

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Current Market Conditions

• This is what we hear
• We spent 600,000 dollars in our latest game.
• You cant compete if you dont have a large
  budget.
• What do all this mean (in theory)
• You need senior team members.
• You need a nice office to accommodate them.
• You need VCs to fund you.
• You need Management to get the VCs out of your
  way.
• And if you cant, go and work for somebody.
• Great environment for innovation, right?

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Innovation Is In The Garage

• But the entire team doesnt fit in it!
• Lets do a virtual garage then!

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Case Study Brown Noise Poo Blast
Client Comedy Central Development Time 3
months Team Size 8 (4 full-time)
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Case Study BNPB Team Members Locations
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Jojus Typical Team Composition
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The perfect team member

• Technically and artistically oriented.
• Believes in the collective creativity of a group
  over somebodys vision.
• Hates to be constantly supervised.
• Understands that Monday is Monday and not
  Wednesday.
• Does the best for his/her own sake (after all,
  his/her name is in the games credits).

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Creativity and Project Ownership

• Anti-outsourcing imperative Doesnt matter where
  you are at well make sure there is a two way
  dialog.
• Every team member has contributed in the design
  of a game we have made.
• The Game Designer is the final authority.
• But the best leaders are those who first listen
  to all the options and then make a call.

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How We Write and Share Documentation

• We use Google Docs for writing GDDs.
• We share the GDD with all the dev members
  andthe publisher.
• Everybody is notified of a change.

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Project Management Structure of a Timeline

• Jojus own version of SCRUM
• New build every 2-3 weeks.
• The games project is divided in components
  (i.e. Core Gameplay Engine, Score Panel).
• Every component is a task. We dont break it down
  more.
• We identify 6-10 tasks that can be solved in the
  builds dev time.
• The implementation of the task usually is not the
  final (i.e. Score Panel 0.3 in build 0.12, Score
  Panel 0.8 in beta build).

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Project Management Visual Timeline

• We use Google Spreadsheets for timelines. We
  share it with all the team members and the
  publisher.

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How We Communicate

• 5 min phone SCRUM every day, with no more than 2
  people at a time.
• Available on IM. But if something is not
  understood after 3 lines of IM, grab the phone.
• Remember that people dont see your face and your
  gestures over the phone. Be slow and clear.
• The Game Designer is the glue of the team. Its
  his most important job of the day.
• We have a mailing list for the project which we
  use to update everybody with.

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Asset Management

• SVN or a version control system is a must (you
  already know about this).
• Dont have money for a server? DynDNS is your
  best friend.
• Save on programmers hours by structuring the
  project so levels, graphics and sound can be
  changed without recompiling.

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Thank you Amsterdam!

• You can download the presentation from
  herehttp//www.jojugames.com/presentations/Prod
  ucerIsFarAway.ppt
• Questions? Email juangril_at_jojugames.com