Posted on December 26, 2009 - by Eric

Virtual Game Development pt. 2 – Apps

In our previous post, we went through the definition of virtual game development and how to choose the right people to make it work. In this installment, we are going to look over the web and desktop applications we used to make it work and also the principles behind our choice.

Voice vs. Text – When communicating with each other in a virtual environment, the faster and more natural choice is to use mics and communicate verbally. But the wiser choice, is to use text thru chatting or email. Text has several qualities that makes it more suited to this type of work setup;

• the communicator has a chance to review what he wants to communicate before sending it.
• text can be easily referenced
• it can be easily copy-pasted into search engines, documents or into the game.

So yeah, Text pawns Voice.

Unto the tools.

1. Skype – the most essential tool in the box, We have tried Yahoo messenger, Gtalk, AIM, etc. and skype is the most intuitive instant messenger of them all. The irony is its built for voice. The performance is fast enough, you can easily edit your past messages for corrections, archives for past conversations is very accessible, links can be easily shared and you can tell if its been clicked, screen sharing is possible and voice is a click away.
2. Assembla.com – the best PAID project management on the web right now. It supports SVN, tickets, blog, files, milestones, scrum tools etc. The feature set of Assembla.com fits virtual game development the most compared to basecamp, unfuddle, etc.
3. Subversion/Git – versioning encourages experimentation while also syncing everyone’s copies. It also serves as a better backup system. Essential to developers in any field. We use Syntevo’s SmartSVN and SmartGit. But if your all Windows machines. Tortoise is a good one too.
4. Yuuguu – is a clunky multi-instant messenger that lets anyone control your computer remotely. The difference is it runs on Mac, Windows and Linux and its FREE! use it if you need a team to check in on your settings or troubleshoot small stuff for testing.
5. Scriblink – is an instant whiteboard if you need to show a sketch of an idea quick to your teammates.
6. youtube.com – When discussing game elements or mechanics. Show a video of it to get everyone on the same page. Just search it on youtube.com.

So these are the tools that have proven effective in virtual game development. Have any other suggestions? Post a comment.