What Went Right
Getting the grant. Do not underestimate the importance of money! Trying to make a full-fledge persistent game with no money would have been possible, if we had unlimited time and could survive on nothing. But all of us have other jobs, and none of us can spend all our time on the game. With the grant we were able to do things that just needed to be done for any company (incorporating, paying people), website (registering, hosting), or game (prizes!). We were able to bring in friends to help, and actually pay them for their time! When we had meetings, we could buy some pizza and feed ourselves. This made some meetings a lot more tolerable, especially the ones that went on for days.
Getting help. The people at mtvU were so helpful and nice; we couldn't believe we were dealing with a major corporation sometimes. Our contact, Mukta, was always trying to help us out, and always managed to get us what we needed in a timely manner. We had the obvious hiccups, but most of us were surprised at how well everything turned out, that we have recommend to our friends to try and get the grant. We are always talking to them about new ways to use snagu, and are even throwing a party for the "mtvU Woodie Awards"! Check it out at woodies.snagu.com
We also got help from anyone we could. One of the greatest parts of ITP is the diversity. From the professors to the students, everyone became an asset to us. We constantly received feedback from our advisor and teachers. Presenting our idea in class helped us refine it more and understand better how to describe the game. Some professors outlined possible problems we might encounter in game design and development so we could think about them before they hit us. We were even advised to look at other games that were similar, so we could dissect them and learn from others experiences.
We were also constantly getting feedback from all our friends, and even hired some of them to help with the development. They turned into invaluable assets that definitely earned our respect, and we could not have finished it without them. They contributed in multitudes of ways, ranging from development to design, even allowing us to use a track for our teaser video. Thanks Josh (both), Rosie, Dan (both), Andy, Eric, Lamar, and everyone else at ITP!
Constant Play-Testing. By constantly playing the game, and always testing it we learned a lot of things about how people would play it that we wouldn't have found out if we just spoke about it. We always tried to speak to the players, asking them what they thought about the game. Based on what they said, we would make changes accordingly. Some of the ideas we planned on implementing after launch, others have become features already. Some of the play-tests did not go as well as others, but that's how we learned what was going wrong in the game.
We created a feedback system, which keeps us in constant contact with the players. After a play-test we would email everyone who partook and ask them a few questions about the game. Most ignored it, but the few that answered gave us such great feedback, that it was hard for us to ignore anything they said. I don't think the game would have progressed far had we not listened to the play-testers, as they helped us hone the game into something that everyone can enjoy.
Simple Sign-Up and Game-Play. When we started out with the game, one thing we always kept in mind was "simplicity." We forced ourselves to create the simplest sign-up system we could. And then we made it simpler. By limiting the barrier to entry, we found more people were open to playing. During the ITP Spring Show, I greeted people in the lobby, before they even got to the show. I would offer them a business card about the game, and then I offered to help them sign-up. Lots of people took me up on the offer, but lots also figured out how to sign-up by themselves. This proved to us we were going in the right direction.
The game-play we tried to make even easier then the sign-up. All you have to do is take a picture and send it to us. This helped get people involved. Once they started playing, the game just got more and more addictive. We did find some problems, like people not liking certain tags and forgetting over time, so we added features, such as passing on tags and reminders. To make the reminders friendlier, players could choose to opt out of them right on the website. And passing is done right on the phone.
The Kabal. Shortly after winning the grant, our advisor, Clay, gave us a great Gamasutra article on the making of Half-Life which spoke about the Kabal, in which all the major decisions were made by the entire team making the game. We quickly decided to emulate that concept. Every week we had a meeting, everyone would try and make it, once in a while someone would miss. But at that meeting, we went over anything important. From the website design to the creating of a company, it was discussed in our Kabal. We would talk about whom we wanted to bring in, and what we would do if something bad happened. It became our board meetings and discussion settings. If someone disagreed with an idea, they could say so and we would argue about it, until we were all in agreement.
I don't know how many of these meetings we had, but it definitely helped speed along our production process. Everyone knew what he or she had to do after the meeting, and what he or she needed to bring to the next. Even with our online resources, the meetings became so important that we continue them after launch. They are our weekly meetings, which you make a point of coming to, or else you are left out of the decision process.
