Tag: gamedev

Note: This is from a series of articles that outlines the things I've learned while making Chef Wars for 2+ years.

TL;DR

• We used a risk adjusted estimation system that produces near accurate estimates we can confidently rely on.

I usually dreaded being asked how long a programming task will take. I always seem to have the knack to overshoot no matter how hard I try. This is an all too common scenario that programmers face and is something that is considered to be a difficult, if not impossible, problem to solve.

This all changed when I was introduced to a helpful system that helps in producing estimates that are "accurate enough". I don't think it has a name yet but my colleagues who introduced me to it says that they got it from a Gamasutra article by Eric Preisz of Garage Games. Since then I've used this system …

Note: This is from a series of articles that outlines the things I've learned while making Chef Wars for 2+ years.

TLDR

• There is more to the saying that "premature optimization is the root of all evil".
• Instead of asking WHEN to optimize, it is more important to ask WHAT and HOW to optimize.

It is a well known adage among programmers that premature optimization is the root of all evil. If this is true then I must have been very close to the devil himself.

During the early months of development on Chef Wars I did my best to optimize my code as much as possible. We were making a big game and I wanted to have a stable foundation to build our game on. I obsessed over lots of things from the interconnection of the various systems to folder structures. I was happy with all that I've built …

Note: This is from a series of articles that outlines the things I've learned while making Chef Wars for 2+ years.

TLDR

• All data in our game is contained in one excel file we call the "Universe".
• Prototypes can be done on the Universe excel file itself
• Iteration is easier as we only need to change one file.
• We made a system that downloads changes from our server so players don't need to update their builds.

Before we started development on Chef Wars, Cliff, my co-founder and game designer for the team, already had pages of spreadsheets containing important values in the game. It's kinda like a game design document but in the form of tables, columns, and rows. This "Universe" file contained everything from stats, dialogue, competitions, locations, chefs, and enemies just to name a few.

*This file definitely gives a hint on what type of guy Cliff is …