Later Is Now: A Dark Clutches Pre-Mortem

Dark Clutches is doomed!  The end is nigh!  A vast darkness approaches!

Let me explain.  The prime peril of this project has always been scoping it into only 16 weeks.  This means that it is imperative to iterate rapidly in order to find a design that works and then build on top of that, layer by layer.  This implies that designs are being set and then locked down as development proceeds.  So, we are at about halfway through our 16 weeks, how are we doing on that?

Not bad, but not our best.

We have scattered our efforts instead of taking items to completion one at a time.  We have a habit of “soft-locking” design, tech and art efforts.  This ripples out into a slower build cycle, and a less sturdy foundation on which to build more systems and assets.  Put simply, if a mechanic is “done for now” as opposed to simply done, it can create problems.  We work this way for noble reasons however.  We want to allow our design to evolve as we develop.  We want to revisit work and improve it later.  What we are finding out is that endless evolution and mythical polish time do not fit into our tight timeframe.

So, how can we overcome these issues?  Well, from a design perspective, I need to be more decisive.  It is time to move forward with established designs, nail things down and lock down mechanics.  We need to attack each task from all angles and complete things instead of letting them sit in the mythical revisit pile.

I know we are up to the challenge.  Now if you will excuse me, I am on spring break so I need to get back to work.