Postmortem: Mr. Hunky 

The Garbage Robot 

How One Robot Changed Our Lives          

Developer: MSquared Publisher: Joss Moo-Young

Release Date: April 21 2023

Platforms: PC

Number of Developers: Eight 

Length of Development: Fifteen Weeks

Budget: $0.00

Development Tools: Unity 2D, Photoshop, VS

Introduction

Our concept was simple, a classic throwback game to the golden age of gaming. A robot collecting garbage and fending off zombies and raccoons. We wanted to capture an arcade feel and that nostalgic feeling you had as a kid when playing games on Saturday morning. 

Mr. Hunky the Garbage Robot was a project we were all excited and energetic about making, and this piece is a reflection on some of the things we did well, and some aspects we could improve on.

Production

Things That Went Well

1 - A Clear Vision

Since the beginning of the project we had a clear vision for the game. This ensured that we all had a well defined direction and purpose during production at all stages. It allowed us to keep a cohesive visual design throughout the process and allowed us to prioritize things that added to the project's overall vision.

2 - Task Tracking/TODO list

Maintaining proper task tracking throughout the process allowed us to stay focused on what was most needed at each milestone. This kept the project mostly progressing every week. Having a clear list of tasks laid out for each team member ensured everybody always knew what to work on currently and what was coming up next. 

3 - Open Communication

Having open communication amongst team members throughout the entire production process was a great advantage as it allowed for thoughts, criticisms, ideas and rapid iteration. Team members were able to consistently provide feedback throughout the entire production process, not only on the project as a whole but also on development issues that may have cropped up.

Things That Were Problematic

1 - Task Incompletion 

Some tasks were delayed or incomplete which impacted development time. In some instances a single task could be holding up the entire project. It would be beneficial in the future to more quickly and easily recognize these delays so they can be dealt with promptly. 

2 - Inexperience

Team members' inexperience or lack of familiarity with Unity as well as version control with Github caused some issues early on in the project. Also having certain scripts becoming bloated and unorganized caused some delays and frustrations. Ensuring everyone learned the tools quickly and efficiently was meant to be a priority early on in the project, having greater emphasis on this would have been beneficial.

3 - Team Members in-articulating Issues

A tendency for certain delays or inability to complete certain tasks started to manifest further along during development. Though communication was fairly steady throughout there could have been improvements in regards to team members asking for help or guidance when they became stuck. Improving communication to prevent these delays would be a top priority going forward.

Changes Throughout Development

1 - First Playable

During the lead up to the first playable, team morale was high, progress was being made steadily. There seemed to be a large emphasis on group activity during classes and meetings. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits about the finalization and pitch presentation.

2 - Alpha

During the alpha period, morale and communication started to taper slightly, some people experienced difficulty with certain tasks and delays started to pop up. There was a noticeable contrast between this period of the project and the first playable. This was reflected in some cases during the peer evaluations. 

3 - Beta

The beta period was where a core group of team members started to take on the brunt of the project's development while others became somewhat more of a supporting member. The critical stage analysis helped to identify some areas that needed to improve and highlighting some areas that were going well. Though morale was slightly lower towards the end of alpha it seemed to improve greatly towards the end of beta. 

4 - Release

The release milestone was one of great relief as we all could see the light at the end of the tunnel. It was a time of reflection on things that went well and not so well during production. Which gave everyone an opportunity to learn and to grow.  

Lessons Learned

Outcomes vs. expectations

As far as the outcome of the project, it seemed to be pretty close to what was expected by the group. Though not everything is what we envisioned in the beginning, we managed to stick with our design throughout for the most part and create a finished product that we are happy with, and one that we felt captured a lot of our initial ideas.

Dealing with the positive

1 - A Clear Vision

Going forward we will be placing a great deal of emphasis on staying true to the vision of the project as this has proven to be a great motivator and assists with productivity. Having constant reminders and check ins to ensure that the scope of the project is staying true to its intended vision is a priority. 

2 - Task Tracking/TODO List

We will be further improving our task tracking resources and abilities on future endeavors as this has shown to be an ideal solution for managing work across multiple individuals. Having everyone know what and when to work on certain tasks is of greatest importance.

3 - Open Communication

Continuing to keep the lines of communication open and clear for people to air grievances, ideas, concerns, as well as the things that they feel are going well is a priority. We will encourage more free and open communication as well as look into more effective communication tools that may help.

Dealing with the negative

1 - Task Incompletion

Having more regular check-ins and being able to reassign team members to certain tasks to keep production flowing smoothly is a priority. 

2 - Inexperience

Ensuring that all team members are receiving ample support to get to know their tools and to seek help where possible. Pair programming could also be an option. 

3 - Team Members in-articulating Issues

Ensuring again that communication is open and moving freely between team members and leadership. Creating an atmosphere of comfortability so that people will be happy to express their shortcomings or issues. 

Final Insights & Conclusion

In conclusion we feel as though we delivered a product that we can truly be happy about. Though there is always room to reflect and to learn and grow, we see this as an opportunity to really understand the process better and carry that knowledge forward onto the next project and any future projects that follow.