Not gonna brag, but I know some things about getting software released. Okay, I am gonna brag, but not out of proportion to my capabilities.
On my Twitch stream, I show this status screen below at the beginning and when I have to leave to use the bathroom.
It’s kind of fun to see it all on one screen. But I’ve spent years shipping products, and I know there’s a key thing missing from that screen – time. This screen gives an idea of what’s been completed and what’s left to do. But it doesn’t communicate “when”. Am I just saying “we ship it when it’s ready”?
No.
I’ve picked a specific date – January 1st, 2022. I’m tempted to say some things about why other people have trouble hitting launch dates, but hey… I don’t really know their lives. I just know that I can hit dates. I’ve done it so many times before. Why would I not do it again?
I picked January 1st because it’s easy for people who are interested in The Godkiller to remember. And also it realistically matches my work remaining with a bit of buffer. If I’m ahead of schedule at end of the year, I can spend some extra time on polish or start early on some DLC.
Here’s my schedule for the rest of the year. Click on the image if you want full-sized view.
The next milestone for me to hit is getting the game story-complete. This means that all the character dialogue is written and integrated into the levels. Here’s what it looks like in code:
This aspect of the game is one of the few places where I get an “indie advantage”. Because I’m wearing multiple hats and understand the level design, face animation, engine code, and story, I can do this work quickly and get a good result. What typically happens with a modern software team is that you have specialists in different areas, e.g. engine coder, level scripter, writer, character animator, and they have to spend an exponential amount of time on communication. That communication can come in the form of writing specs, having meetings, peer reviews, or just iterating a ton to get the needs of each discipline met within the product. I’m done with the writing/coding/animating for a simple level in an hour, and the game shows the new dialogue with face animation. (Shown below)
It’s a nice underdog moment, but don’t get me wrong–I’d much rather have a big budget and team to make an AAA version of my game.
So I am plugging away at this task of story-completeness, and have 25 of my 58 levels done. I track the overall story outline as well as completion status in a Google sheet like this one: (mild spoilers of early plot events)
Looking at my overall schedule, I can see that I’ve used up about 25% of my time on the story-complete milestone, but I’ve got 38% of the work done. So I’m ahead of schedule right now, which is great. This particular milestone is important, because I need all of the dialogue finalized ahead of June when my voiceover actors are scheduled to record their lines.
Since I’m doing this basic project planning and my risks are low, it gives me the confidence to pick a launch date and stick to it. Even with a bit of bad luck along the way, The Godkiller – Chapter 1 will release on our Steam store page January 1st.
Just. Like. I said. It. Would.
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The Godkiller – Chapter 1 is a 3D puzzle-solving adventure game available for Windows and Mac on Steam! |