Production Pipeline
Overview
Here you will find what allowed Guncaster to develop so quickly on such a small team. What development methodologies we followed, what sort of practices we deployed, and how it all worked together. You can also take a look at some of the tools we used to create the game.
Contributed Breakdowns
PROJECT PIPELINE
The Pipeline
As we developed Guncaster we followed an agile methodology:
Sprint planning: identify blockers, establish priority systems, and map work to avoid conflicts,
Prototype phase: one-week sprints with rapid iteration and weekly community feedback
Production phase: two-week sprints allowing deeper system work and polish while maintaining feedback loops
Collaborative execution in shared environments to catch integration issues immediately
Community feedback drove priority shifts at every milestone
Breakdown
The Agile Method
Agile was important because it gave us a rhythm: clear priorities, defined roles, regular feedback. Iterative development let us respond quickly to our community and shift priorities at every milestone. For a small indie studio, this practice meant every sprint built momentum and helped define scope.
Phases
We had two different agile phases. The first one happened during the prototype development. Sprints would happen in one week intervals where at the end of the week we would present our progress with a community of developers taking criticism and feedback into the next week.
Second phase began after our foundation was built. Sprints would take two weeks now and systems or design would receive more work and polish. We would continue to give our presentations and lean heavier into our community feedback.
The Plan
Development can be chaotic, what it can't afford is communication breakdowns. To mitigate this potential issue before sprints would commence we made a roadmap each sprint. We would label our priority systems and what needed to be built out for the MVP. Next, assign the tasks based on our roles. Lastly, ensure that nobody was going to be working in areas that would conflict with one another.
Main Tools
Unity
ASeprite
