How Not to Manage a Dev Shop

[Burning]

I wanted to add my 2 cents on this. I've consulted with many, many game development firms of all sizes from the very big (1000+ employees) to the very small (2-3 people) and help them implement sound development practices based on well known software development methodologies, and after waiting a while for this game to come out it raises serious questions about how the company operates it's development side of the business.

I can forgive the fact that a bad upload went out to Steam. I question using Steam at all but they have a solid reputation as a game delivery platform, so that's fine.

This part here is unacceptable:

**Thanks to various factors we are now sitting on top of a pile of blown apart code and unstable features**

Blown apart code...? Unstable features!?!?! In any given industry where software is being built, and games are a form of software, the code is the lifeblood of your business, the single most important asset you posses. There's no reason, and no excuse, for a team of developers to ever be sitting on top of a pile of blown apart code no matter what stage of development or what crises/meltdown has occurred. When using even the most basic and limited tools and practices of change management (eg; an SCM system) an established baseline at each milestone is preserved allowing the shop to roll back to the that last known stable milestone in the event of a catastrophe, as what appears to have occurred here.

So what has had to have happened is:

1.) Kerberos are not following even basic process of proper software development
2.) If they are and have been maintaining baselines (eg; daily, weekly, backups of a stable codebase) then they have not been following even the basic process of proper design and practice which demands a stable code base at all times (you're Head revision or Mainline if you will) with unstable changes kept in isolation (eg; branches) until proper testing and integration can be performed. So at no time should there ever be a pile of blown apart code and unstable features, not on the first day of development, not on the last day or any time in between!

What bothers me is not the initial mistake, being involved in operations like this many times myself you know that things happen, not being able to recover instantly due to what I can sense is an amateurish approach to change management, lax standards for design and practices, that's not forgivable and suggests and larger more serious issue that won't be corrected in a flurry of code-and-fix development as opposed to the adoption of a proper practices.

The days of Cowboy coding are long over and no gamedev shop will last for long with the approach. My suggestion, hire a consultant, adopt Scrum for project management, refer to XP practices for proper design recommendations, and implement the proper tools and utilities necessary to ensure it would be impossible for something like this to ever happen again in the future.

full ACK, after 4 years of software development experience in agile and NOT agile (messy and not so messy development)!
I just want to add one remark: for such an obviously tiny team, doing XP might reduce their code-output even more... plus you need experienced programmer-pairs for doing effective XP (or you will end up producing endless discussions)

 

[unmerged(402301)]

"approve any refund for title X and stop selling it".

Somehow I doubt the second half will happen

 

[unmerged(158658)]

I am not trying to be snide at all, but what do the folks advocating removing the game from sale think that would do in terms of how the folks waiting for it to be finished? There would definitely be a perception that taking it off sale means ending development.

 

[unmerged(402301)]

I am not trying to be snide at all, but what do the folks advocating removing the game from sale think that would do in terms of how the folks waiting for it to be finished? There would definitely be a perception that taking it off sale means ending development.

yeah... thatd kill it good
Im betting there would be a mass uproar on these forums if that happened that "Paradox said theyd finish it" type thing.

 

[unmerged(376921)]

They can close it so that only those who bought already have access to it and to patches, but no new customers can buy it. That would be the honest move.

 

[unmerged(402301)]

They can close it so that only those who bought already have access to it and to patches, but no new customers can buy it. That would be the honest move.

but unrealistic

 

[unmerged(360582)]

full ACK, after 4 years of software development experience in agile and NOT agile (messy and not so messy development)!
I just want to add one remark: for such an obviously tiny team, doing XP might reduce their code-output even more... plus you need experienced programmer-pairs for doing effective XP (or you will end up producing endless discussions)

For a project of this scale and team size (15-20 people, 5 devs) it's what I would recommend, it's not by any means the only or even the correct solution. I don't like XP very much for the pair programming reason but I do like aspects of XP like Fowlers design paper, and other things like user stories. I prefer scrum for day-to-day project stuff.

 

[unmerged(158658)]

full ACK, after 4 years of software development experience in agile and NOT agile (messy and not so messy development)!
I just want to add one remark: for such an obviously tiny team, doing XP might reduce their code-output even more... plus you need experienced programmer-pairs for doing effective XP (or you will end up producing endless discussions)

Scrum was done in a 6 person team that I was in and ended up with about half of the day consisting of meetings in which the meetings from the previous day were the topics. Throw in being the only one that commented code and hardcoded passwords in multiple applications and it should explain a lot about why I left for less annoying pastures.

 

[unmerged(86861)]

Sigh... most people abandon SCRUM because they don't implement it properly. We use SCRUM at my company and the morning meeting rarely exceeds 10 minutes out of the day.

The major benefits of SCRUM (for us) are:
1) Each individual and the team commit certain goals before the start of each Sprint. Each person gives a brief daily summary of progress, which lets you get team members "unstuck" quickly and you avoid individual procrastination.
2) Each sprint ends with a mini-demo of demonstrable code. This allows you to see how fast you are moving and project the completion of future goals. Don't tell me this wouldn't have been useful for the SotS team.

There was a lot of opposition to it at first, but after a successful pilot project our whole company uses it now, and it is very valuable.

 

[unmerged(401569)]

I love when peeps are theorizing buts, ifs and if onlys and have no idea what actually was done or is happening behind the curtains.

 

[unmerged(197972)]

There was undoubtedly mismanagement and it started after Argos Naval Yard, when they decided to forego final patching for SotS1 for the duration of SOtS2 development with some fairly significant bugs still outstanding. Not game stoppers but they are still there today.

That was an illogical and poorly thought through, impulsive decision right there.

User experience should be number one priority on the finish of software. That decision implied they had forgotten this and were winging it, disregarding player priorities with a devil-may-care attitude so something had gone wrong with their perspective on game design.

They would have differed that they had done a good job and they dismissed criticism of SotS1. And of course it is true you have to stand up for yourself and you cannot falter and scurry to please others with every criticism you receive, especially in an artisitc context. Some people will use it against you, and if you let it destroy your confidence you are finished. So bullishness is a natural enough way to behave, normally healthy, except in this case they were wrong because they had crossed an important line and didn't realise it. Or perhaps rather they liked it so much they didn't want to think twice about it.

Success is power is pleasure and pleasure addicts. So you could not tell them they were wrong, they had to find out for themselves.

I think in the final analysis it is a classic case of success going to people's heads and leading them to change the priorities and values which had lead to that success in the first place. Just like eccentric rock stars and badly behaved movie stars only in a software development context. They had worked hard on SotS1 and taken a risk and made it pay. But with success they became just a bit too flippant and bullish and it affected their planning and implementation methods for coding SotS2. Not Just Mecron either.

But that is because success entails a change in status and causes you to use entirely new parts of your nervous system, the top parts as it were. The highest parts previously used to project the mind of "the boss above"! It is like the transition between child to adult to parent, the child learns from the parent and then makes the transition to become what they learn, in so doing they cross a duality, one they created, and then often forget what it was like to be on the receiving end of the behaviour they learned and then repeat. This forgetting is the problem with success.

The result of rising in status is that the inhibitions which apply to the oppressed and low in status are no longer necessary. So you forget them, the sense of freedom makes you feel you can do whatever you want, but you cant, there are new limits to behaviour which you have to learn from scratch in the interests of self preservation or suffer for it, though thankfully few go the way of Amy Winehouse.

IMHO the impact of the status of having their own successful software company disturbed their mindset and while I am certain they enjoyed that and rightly so, I can only feel compassion for them given this outcome.

Hopefully now they will muse upon their situation and maybe get the measure of themselves enough to put it right. If they can do that then they can get through this and make it out the other side and enjoy further success and happiness, I do hope so as their success is my enjoyment.

But, I sense there is also a risk that the pathology of the situation could go another direction and some or all could feel the need to escape, lose touch with the motivations which brought them to make the game and throw in the towel in what others might see as a fit of unresolved hubris. That is not the outcome I seek.

The point of explaining all this is that I hope to persuade people of why they deserve compassion and that abuse and bullying wont help while understanding might. If we like this game we should in a realistic and down to earth way try to be supportive and help them through this.

is all

that's my 2c anyway:happy:

 

[unmerged(403339)]

There was undoubtedly mismanagement and it started after Argos Naval Yard, when they decided to forego final patching for SotS1 for the duration of SOtS2 development with some fairly significant bugs still outstanding. Not game stoppers but they are still there today.

-snip

that's my 2c anyway:happy:

Best 2c I have read in some time. Academic much?

I myself had come to this conclusion after reading this http://arinndembo.com/?p=743 in the wee hours of the 29th, after having of corrected the issues keeping the software from launching. Reading a few post later, I made my decision and deleted the build that was offered.

Success test one as surely as the strongest enemy... or so the poet/film writer would have us to believe. Although I tend to roll with "There is no place where success comes before work, except in the dictionary."

It took me... about 10 turns to see what was going on... a quest for a happy accident. Shame really.

 

[unmerged(197972)]

Thanks MFeff427, kind of you to say so. I had an academic education... once... long ago in zoology, including evolutionary strategies, animal behaviour and neurophysiology, very interesting, hence my perspective. Not my profession though. Just trying to make sense of all this and truth be told work against something happening I dont want to happen.

Arinn is curiously talented, I cannot avoid the conclusion that the story of the Suulka and the winter mind is a SciFi reflection on the processes I mentioned above and therefore of the changes which I perceive happening for real at Kerberos, which is the way a true artist grapples with change in their world, by representing it in their work. It doesnt always mean they can modify what they are doing consciously and successfully, that takes further skill and experience, but she does have an academic career as well so it may provide some balance.

Even if she is wise to herself, it does not mean she can handle Mecron, though they were married before now and her daughters are his and they are clearly still friends, so she may have some influence on him for the better, I hope so! At heart they are all beautiful people, if you know what I mean.

Like I said on steam this is karma and that's showbusiness! I hope it works out OK.

 

[inductile]

I believe there is a bigger problem at Kerberos than any lack of programming process or such. Even if they were trying to have a good system, Mecron seems like the kind of person to do what he wants, when he wants. He did say that he has the final say in which features are in, which are out and when to cut them.

There were some questions and concerns from the community when the lack of a feature lockdown became known so close to release. Mecron dismissed all concerns, but a couple of days before release he wanted to be "upfront" about the game's problems (a bit late for that to be sincere)? I wonder what his own team had told him would happen if they start cutting features mere weeks before release? In any case, the team had to pay the price, working extra hours, weekends and and even 50+ hours straight during release to try to compensate.

That's only one example. Before, during and after the release of SOTS2, Mecron has demonstrated many forms of manipulative behaviour towards the community, which is the biggest concern I have with this release and the future of Kerberos.

My conclusion is that Mecron seems like a difficult person to work for/with. I'm guessing Kerberos' lack of funds wasn't the only reason for the loss of team members during development of SOTS2.

 

[unmerged(376921)]

My conclusion is that Mecron seems like a difficult person to work for/with. I'm guessing Kerberos' lack of funds wasn't the only reason for the loss of team members during development of SOTS2.

Funny, I've reached a similar conclusion myself.

 

[unmerged(158658)]

My conclusion is that Mecron seems like a difficult person to work for/with. I'm guessing Kerberos' lack of funds wasn't the only reason for the loss of team members during development of SOTS2.

I have noticed that and came to the same conclusion as well.

In b4 "the guy that knowingly scammed everyone is awesome and never does anything wrong".

 

[unmerged(158658)]

I have noticed that and came to the same conclusion as well..

In b4 "the guy that knowingly scammed everyone is awesome and never does anything wrong".

Mecron dismissed all concerns

It goes beyond dismissal into mindless hostility. See the thread about Steam for plenty of examples.

 

[unmerged(402700)]

I have noticed that and came to the same conclusion as well.

In b4 "the guy that knowingly scammed everyone is awesome and never does anything wrong".

It seems the people who've grown used to him when he was in the Homeworld story development team a while back and those who made SOTS I are the people who can tolerate him and deal with it.

People treat their friends differently usually.

But I'd prefer he just admit that the product wasn't completed and not some excuse.

 

[unmerged(133116)]

I would like to say that I have worked 12 hour days, 16 hour days and heck 48 hours straight on projects, but I wasn't 100% of the time on the keyboard typing code. We would have breaks, talk about benchmarks, discuss annoying bugs we were tracking down and sneaking a little bit of game time in. I have even fallen asleep at my station, woke up a few hours later, and went back to work. Stinky I admit but sure beats fighting traffic. lol.

Over all I see a lot of the posts here describing what they did and how their team worked. Ultimately, unless you are an insider, best friend with one of the devs, or one of the team, you really don't know what they were doing or how they were doing it. It is all speculation on our part other then the general outline provide to us by them, so lets just agree that we were disappointed at release because we are gaming addicts that love to spend hours behind the computer pretending we are an immortal leader of a galactic civilization.

It is just a game, yes we paid for the product, and yes it was wrong on how it went down, but lets be honest. If this was a restaurant, you got the wrong thing because the waitress,who has been working three jobs and going to school, mess up your order, the cook who was hung over prepared it wrong, and your date is picky, you could do a few things here.

1) Tell her to shut up and eat it anyway! Best way to sleep alone that night.

2) Chew the waitress out and leave her a penny tip, don't go back. lol.

3) call the manager over and demand a refund and explain how this screwed up your fun with your date tonight, not that he cares.

4)pull out that glock you carry for those really nasty drivers, march into the kitchen, and shoot the cook in the foot. (Don't want to kill him over it after all) just venting some stress after all.

5)get on your phone and tell your friends this is the best place you have ever been. Expect a backlash if they get the same service you did. (after all who wants to complain alone) lol.

6)Let it go, accept you are out the money, and head to McDonalds.

Life is full of situation where folks work to hard, don't give a hoot, or are just incompetent. Nothing you can do about it unless you own the company, so lets just say our piece, and move on already.

by the way I would politely mention to the waitress it was wrong, away from my date and see if she can fix it. If not I would contact the manager and ask him to fix it and if not...

I would get my glock and shoot the cook in the foot, JK. I would get a refund and never go back.

 

[MyLego]

My conclusion is that Mecron seems like a difficult person to work for/with. I'm guessing Kerberos' lack of funds wasn't the only reason for the loss of team members during development of SOTS2.

This seems to be a pretty common sentiment.