Journal Response: Week 3

"Production: Working at the heart of the team": What I learned from watching this one hour conference is about teamwork and how to manage a team.  First thing is I want to make sure I promote unity in my team. Ways you can do this is by doing activities like friendly competitive games or dancing or karaoke together. Making it so people connect will cause them to work together in a better way. If in some point the team is disrupted as in there is internal conflict, it's up to the producer to defuse the situation. Address miscommunication, help fix issues that normally wouldn't happen, and try to keep everyone on the same page.  Having a schedule plan for the team is super helpful. When  things aren't going well with the team, understand people themselves have baggage. Because this is the case, de stressing is very important for team members. Lastly, building up habits to help reduce your stress is very helpful. Making sure you're in check not just as a developer but as a person can go a long way. 

"The Game Production Pipeline: Concept to Completion": The idea/concept of a game is the first step to make a game. Anything can be possible with your mind, but it's my job to figure out exactly what I want. Soon after this is a phase called pre-production. We have a team we work with and work out legal matters. Out of the massive idea you've made, how much of that can you legally make? Once that's established, give time to brainstorm and create a story if you're game has a story in it. Figure out what the goal of a player is, how to move a character, how the player interacts with the game, and where you want to release the product on in terms of console or computer. Next up is getting the main team in after all the concepts have been finalized. Now the team works on a schedule and coding in everything, expecting to release it when the time comes. The final stage is alpha, beta, then pre-release. Stomping out the bugs, getting approval, and overall getting the game ready for a stable release is key.

"Choosing a Project Management Tool For Game Development:" When needing to manage your team, a project management tool can be very useful. Here is a wide list of tools that can help a team get on top of a project and be on schedule.