Managing your very own independent development team from the convenience of your home office sounds like the stuff of dreams. However, before you become overly at ease in your Mario and Luigi pajamas, be aware that leading a team while seated in front of a computer comes with many additional challenges that are not present in a conventional office setting. Using my personal project management experience on Hiro Fodder and Echoes of Eternea as a guide, I’ll examine some of those challenges in this article and provide helpful advice on how to approach them in a way that fosters efficiency and, more importantly, morale.
Taming the Chaos: Lessons in Project Management
How to manage a game design team
The following actions can be taken to manage a game design team successfully:
1. Gain a thorough understanding of the project
The manager of a game design team should have a thorough understanding of the project’s end goals because there are many components to designing a video game. This can assist you in identifying any areas of development that may require additional care or clarification. Additionally, since you can choose which team members to assign to each task in advance, it can make assigning tasks to team members simpler.
Investigate the history of the game and its creators to better understand your project. This could assist you in comprehending the tone, narrative, and sources of inspiration for the game, which could assist you in formulating a plan for its visual design.
2. Communicate expectations clearly
Keeping open lines of communication with your team is essential to managing a game design team successfully. This can ensure that everyone is aware of their roles and has access to the same information about each stage of a project. To keep the team organized, for instance, it can be helpful to inform each team member of the project’s end goal, their specific responsibilities, and the resources they can refer to when they need help.
By getting together with your team to share information at the beginning of a project, you can clearly communicate your expectations to them. Additionally, it can be useful to include detailed instructions for each team member on a handout or in an email so they can review them later.
3. Check in on your designers
While completing a project, check in frequently with your designers. You will be able to review their work and gauge their progress as a result. By doing this repeatedly, you can frequently spot mistakes or tasks that designers may need to finish using a different approach or tool. This will enable you to stay updated on your progress and quickly react to unforeseen circumstances, which will increase the productivity of your team as a whole. To check in on your designers, just stop by their workspaces or send them an email to inquire about their specific progress.
4. Give honest, constructive feedback
You can provide your team with feedback if you regularly check in with them. By demonstrating to a team how to complete specific tasks more efficiently and identifying the work that they complete particularly well, this can help the team succeed. This can make it simpler for a team to modify its efforts and guarantee that it employs the best techniques for design processes. You can provide direct feedback with suggestions for how to improve and compliments for good work in person or by sending an email.
5. Be open to trial and error
Because creating video games can require working with complicated technology, a team’s expectations for some project components might not be met. For instance, a design team might produce a character movement sequence that renders in the game less smoothly than they had hoped. As a result, it can be beneficial to keep an open mind to the possibility that some project components may require trial and error. Being willing to learn from mistakes can help you be ready to handle unforeseen difficulties and maintain your team’s trust in your leadership abilities.
What is a game design team?
A group of experts in technology and design who create new video games is known as a game design team. These teams may have members who work as character riggers, video game artists, or game designers. These experts can create visually appealing and interactive video games using techniques like 3D modeling, digital painting, and software programming. Several facets of video games can be worked on by game design teams, including:
Tip for managing a game design team
Here are some pointers that may assist you in leading a team of game designers:
Ask for help when you need it.
Some aspects of game design require extensive technical knowledge. Therefore, it is possible for design team leaders to occasionally be in the dark about a specific question. When this happens, consult a manager or other resource who may be more knowledgeable in that field. This will give you the right response right away, which can help you stay on task and save time.
Hire people you can trust.
Make sure to choose team members you can trust if you have the ability to do so. Having more faith in your team members’ ability to complete their tasks can make delegating tasks easier. Making use of trustworthy hires can also help guarantee the caliber of your games.
Prepare for change.
There is a high likelihood that mistakes will be made when overseeing a game design team. This is due to the fact that game design frequently uses technology and specialized products that occasionally malfunction due to user error or their own fault. You can help your team feel confident and prepared for any situation by anticipating that mistakes may happen and making plans to alter your overall course of action.
FAQ
How do you manage game development?
Creating the gameplay, rules, and overall structure of the game is the responsibility of the game designer. It consists of the video game’s user interface, documentation, narration, content, and packaging. They are in charge of designing the game’s characters, graphics, roles, voices, visual, and all other graphics-related work.
What makes up a game design team?
Game designers create the fundamental framework of the game, work on character creation, narration, and the user interface. They decide on the basic game rules, the different game levels, the character voices, the visual style of the game, and the graphics in the game.
What is the role of the game designer in a game development team?
- Designer.
- Artist.
- Programmer.
- Level designer.
- Sound engineer.
- Tester.
Which roles are part of a video game design team?
- Designer.
- Artist.
- Programmer.
- Level designer.
- Sound engineer.
- Tester.
