Project Approach
Blue Giraffe's Development Approach
Project Management
The Text Express team operates using the Agile approach. Agile is an iterative, team-based approach to development. The emphasis is on the rapid delivery of an application in complete functional components. Rather than creating tasks and schedules for the whole project, the time is “time-boxed” into phases called “sprints.” Each sprint has a defined duration (usually 2-3 weeks) with a running list of deliverables, planned at the start of the sprint. During the graduation project I was specifying deliverables at the beginning of each sprint and at the end, specify what I have achieved, how and what methodology I used to achieve it, and reported the results in the portfolio document.
Testing
In order to be sure what I have developed is working as expected I am going to perform component testing on it and then do acceptance testing. Those will be made to see if all pre-determined requirements were met and the feature is working correctly on its own and then with the rest of the game as well.
Text Express’s team doesn’t require any test plan and test results documents from its developers, as before each release to real players, each feature and the whole game are tested by QA (Quality Assurance) and testers team to ensure bugless and as perfect as possible quality. Because of that, I am not presenting any testing documents as well, as it will cost time, which could be invested in developing other features.
Version Control
For version management service, Blue Giraffe is using GitHub.
Before starting developing a new feature a new branch “featureX” checked out from “develop” was created. During work on the “featureX” branch, constant merges with “develop” were required, so that conflicts were minimized. When the new feature was done and tested, it would be pushed to develop. Then it will be reviewed by the technical lead. If everything was fine and all other teammates are done with their work, the “develop” branch will be merged to “QA” so that it can be specifically tested by QA and a special team of testers, which will ensure the game’s quality. Hopefully, it is then greenlit and then pushed to master (production) and go live to be seen by real players.
Development requirements
It is expected of me to research how to realize pre-determined features which will improve Text Express’s social and community experience and hopefully increase the organic growth of the game. The goal is to do the latter is the most efficient way possible by using good coding practices, take into consideration the best prices (if any 3rd party features are used) and if possible, make the features modular, to allow them to be used by other game titles in Gamehouse.
The game is being developed in C# and the used game engine is Unity 3D Engine. Text Express is using Microsoft Azure Playfab backend service, utilizing Multiplayer Services and LiveOps features for the game. It is required that all of the features I am going to implement are suitable with and build around Playfab. Playfab also works as a middleman between the game and the server, securing the calls to the server and making it harder for hackers to interfere with the sent/received data.
As the game is live and being played by real people, it is very important that every feature is tested and fully working when pushed to production. In order to ensure that, the following development cycle will be followed:
The first stage is analyzing what is currently required. Then research how to implement it and check if it could be done as modularly and flexibly as possible, so it can be used by other titles within the company. After that, a prototype will be made, with the view to receive approval from my technical and design mentor, that this is the best way to be carried out and finally the feature will be implemented and a testing phase will begin to see if it works well within the game. This cycle will ensure fully functional features, which are approved by the company mentors.
Communication
Overall communication
During the day if we had any questions/ meetings/ things to discuss, we are using Slack to contact each other. All Blue Giraffe members have their Google Calendar shared with the team, so people could know when someone is free, in a meeting, or just AFK. During the pandemic, everyone was WFH(Working From Home). This meant that all communication was online.
Daily Stand-up
Every weekday there was a stand-up at 9:15 am to kick-off the working day for the whole Text Express team. During stand-up, the team is sharing what issues and what achievements have been done the day before and what is planned for the day ahead. During stand-up, every team member could understand what the rest of the team was working on and can acknowledge the priorities for the TX project.
TX Review
Every Friday at 11:00 is the “Text Express” team gave a presentation to everyone from Gamehouse who wanted to join. In this presentation, each member had added his project achievements during the week and explained how those had improved the quality of the game.
Personal Reviews
Every time I have finished implementing a feature or a given task, my work was reviewed by the respective team leader:
Roel Verbroekken: Technical implementation review.
Tjien Twijnstra: Review if all design requirements are met.
QA and testers team: Testing the features, in order to ensure they were ready to be pushed to “Production” and shared with the real players.
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