SCHEDULESSession 5

David Mullich

Game PreProduction

The Los Angeles Film School

Project Scheduling Steps

1. Identify Lowest Level Activities from the WBS

2. Identify Roles and Responsibilities

3. Estimate Effort and Duration for Each Activity

4. Determine Activity Dependencies

5. Identify Lag and Lead

6. Plot Activities on a Network Diagram

Word-Breakdown Structure (WBS)

A deliverable-oriented hierarchal organization of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables.

Word-Breakdown  Structure (WBS)

The WBS breaks down a large task into specific, smaller tasks.  It involves the producer and leads with input from the team as needed.

The WBS is the basis for: All the effort/cost to be expended on supporting

processes and the creation of the deliverables The assigned responsibility for accomplishing

and coordinating the work

Word-Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Characteristics of the WBS It is representative of the work as an activity, and this work has

a tangible result. It is arranged in a hierarchical structure It has an objective or tangible result, which is referred to as a

deliverable. Not all legs of the WBS must be symmetrical in terms of the

number of legs developed.  There is no need to decompose all the legs of the WBS if the need is only present in one area.

Best Practice: Continue to break down the activities until it is no less than 8 hours and no more than 80 hours of effort.

Identify Roles and Responsibilities

Process: 1. List skills required 2. Select team members 3. Discuss roles and responsibilities 4. Gain commitment from the

IndividualIndividual's Functional Manager

5.    Document roles and responsibilities

Estimate Effort and Durations

Process: Define activity, deliverable & performance

criteria Collect historical data Develop individual and total effort estimates Determine duration type:

VariableFixed

Develop duration estimates

Determine Activity Dependencies

Dependency Types: Finish - Start:  Later task does not start until the previous task is

finished Finish - Finish: Later task does not finish until the previous task is

finished Start - Start: Later task does not start until the previous task starts Start - Finish:  Later task does not finish before previous task starts

For each activity, ask: What are the predecessors What can be done concurrently What are the successors?

Determine Lag and Lead

Lag: A delay in the start of a successor task.  Example: When building two identical components, the lead engineer wants to spend several days working on the first component before starting the second so that they can apply what they have learned building the first.

Lead: Allows an acceleration of a successor task.  Example: Work on a programming module that depends on a game engine may begin while the game engine is in the debugging phase.

Network Diagram

Answers: What is the total duration of the project?  (Determined by the

critical path: the longest path through the project) How much any activity can slip without impacting the project? How much flexibility is in the schedule? What is the significance of missed deadlines?

Gantt Chart

1. List Activities

2. Mark duration

3. Use start and finish symbols

4. Draw dependency lines

5. Indicate float: the amount of time that a scheduled activity may be delayed from its start without delaying the start of a following activity.

6. Highlight critical path

Important Points

It is important to create an initial schedule, even if it changes later in the production, to keep better control of the features being implemented and additional feature requests.

The whole team should be involved in creating the initial schedule because: They have more ownership over their tasks and take

deadlines more seriously. Each person understands how longs it takes to do each task.

Quality Triangle

If the game's ship date is fixed, the project factors that can be adjusted in order to hit that date: Scope Resources Quality

Create a Network Diagram based on this Work Breakdown Structure. Determine Project Length and Critical Path.

TASK TIME PREDECESSORS

GDD 10 Days None

TDD 10 Days GDD

Art Doc 10 Days GDD

Engine 30 Days TDD

Gameplay 20 Days Engine

2D Art 10 Days Art Doc

3D Art 30 Days Art Doc

Animations 60 Days Art Doc

Level Design 50 Days GDD

Playtest 20 Days Gameplay, 2D Art. 3D Art. Animation, Levels