Microgame Dev Cycle

NOTE: This is a new and experimental dev cycle we're constructing to help more consistently output games and help ensure everyone in the collab has a productive team. Some things may change and delays may happen, but all in all we're going to do our best to stick to schedule.

Stage 1 - Brainstorming (2 weeks)

• The entire first 2 weeks is dedicated to brainstorming, so everyone involved gets a fair chance to contribute to the game idea.
• Introduce yourselves to the team! Maybe mention why you joined this collab or show us any previous work you'd like us to see.
• Team members should discuss potential game ideas or premises and see what y'all want to do. For inspiration, we have an idea command which pulls from fan-submitted microgame ideas. You can read about in the pin in #team_forming.
• If the first week passes and no idea is set-in-stone, everyone should schedule a date and time in the near future where the team can brainstorm about ideas (most importantly the artist(s) and primary programmer should be there).
• Once that's done, submit a pitch to https://goo.gl/xQGjC4, and we can review it. Don't procrastinate! We're a picky bunch because we know you can make a bumpin' game!
• Someone on the team needs to be your point of contact: basically a mini-leader who can report to us how development's coming along if needed.
• Non-team members in chat are allowed to give input on ideas, but understand this isn't your microgame and don't drown out the team's comments or be pushy.
• Teams that meet all this criteria early are welcome to move on to the next phase.

Stage 2 - Prototyping and rough assets (2 weeks)

• This stage focuses on getting everyone started on actual development, as well as tackling the risks and unknowns for each team's game.
• Programmers should create a prototype of the game's basic functionality intact and send in a pull request that's accepted by the deadline. Placeholder art is fine (and usually needed) for this first stage. If you're having trouble with any aspect of the mechanics, ping your code mentor and ask about it.
• Artists should get in some rough sketches and some practice working in the style/format demanded by the microgame. For instance, if your microgame requires a specific style of spritesheet, try to create a sketch of something in the right format even if it's not fully detailed. The art assets don't need to be in-game this phase, but they should be worked on as if they're going in the game. Also for teams with multiple artists, make sure the workload is split and determined so everyone is clear on what to do.
• Musicians don't really need to make the music in this stage necessarily, but if you have a clear idea of what the game will look like it would certainly help to have it early, and would help the other devs to create it.

Stage 3 - Minimum Viable Product (3 weeks)

• The goal of this phase is now to flesh out what we've created so far and marry the individual creations into one functioning game that a player would be able to play without any assistance.
• By the deadline, your game should be completely playable, win/lose-able, and have appropriate graphics and music.
• Creating all three difficulties for this phase isn't required by default, but if your game requires fundamental changes to increase the difficulty then it will be required.
• Sound effects are also optional but highly encouraged if your musician or any other team member has the time.
• It's ok if some art is not totally polished by the deadline, but generally speaking everything should be implemented and the only required changes should involve editing the sprite images themselves.

Stage 4 - Difficulty and polish (3 weeks)

• Deets coming later