(Virtual) Games Development Boot Camp

Lately I've been thinking about running a 6-8 week game dev boot camp. The idea is to take some folks (solo or small teams) who are interested in developing a game and willing to submit themselves to the gruelling task of actually doing it and supplement them with project management, coaching and mentorship from those who have done it.

I've got plenty of experience running agile development teams and doing agile coaching and think an (informal) agile approach would work well here. Hopefully I can convince a few folks to come on board as coaches, stakeholders and sponsors to help with this side of the program.

On the other side I'd be looking for individuals and teams committed to the process. Willing to submit to a schedule imposed by others in order to realise their vision. I'm not going to impose too many constraints but you would be expected to be able to have a game idea, enough skill on your team that is has some chance of being realised, and the time to do it.

To sweeten the pot I'll be working out some kind of prize scheme for categories like best game, beat team work, most innovative, etc. I'll try to sort out some sponsors but will throw in a reasonable chunk of cash myself if required (its probably not going to compete with the official Unity Developer Contest, but it will be a four figure prize pool at least).

That said, this is not about the prize pool, its about getting pushed to achieve, its about capitalising on access to great resources.

This post is a first call. Please post your thoughts, ideas, criticisms, support, skepticism, etc.

 

Just for some extra info I imagine each teams project run like a real agile project. Daily stand-ups, features, backlogs, showcases where the achievements are shown to other teams and stakeholders, etc.

(Online via Skype, TeamShare, etc).

 

Fantastic initiative. I can see this being really constructive on a number of levels, not least helping people realise the benefits of agile development!

 

I could really use mentorship, but my current game is like 80% completed, not sure it's suitable for a lot of change. Whatever mistakes I've made, might have to roll with it.

 

Thanks for your input guys. @dogzerx2 you are right there wouldn't be much point if your project is mostly done.

- John A

 

I really wish I could join in something like this, but alas stumbling blocks for me would be:
1) Time zone differences
2) Having a full-time job that often requires me working in evenings on weekends
3) Small children

If this could be done online and over weekends...then wow. I would sign up in an instant. This is a fantastic initiative! Wish I could join in - I need all the help I can get to EVER finish a game. Properly.

 

Over weekends is probably is probably not going to cut it as much as I'd like to cater for that (I'm a parent of small children with a full time job too). Maybe there is some middle ground though. Some evenings + some weekends, might be enough to maintain momentum.

For timezones I figure coaches will have to be aligned with/work with the timelines of their teams.

 

maybe interested, most likely not lolol

 

I will follow this thread, nice idea!

 

Thanks guys, for now I'll just keep gathering comments. I've a few people interested in being stakeholders and/or coaches. Will aim for something a little more formal early in the new year.

Keep your thoughts coming.

- John A

 

I'm getting positive feedback from the people I have approached to be coaches and stakeholder BUT the real question, are there any teams who want this help?!?

 

What other options have you considered? I've been promoting small projects for years. And, in that time, I've learned that people are scared by them. I think, there's a disconnect between the idea of being a game developer, and the small steps that it takes to actually become one. This vision of them producing something awesome. Ira Glass described it

So, considering that this is really daunting, I wonder if you've considered running something smaller. One example might include a weekly podcast, interview, video, or stream covering some of the same topics. It's like a bootcamp, only not as intense. It accomplishes some of the same goals, only on a smaller, less intense, scale. It's part of the reason I ended up creating the Game Design Zen podcast.

Gigi

 

I haven't considered something smaller but you may be right. I'm not sure what form it should take on a smaller scale: there's a big difference between working on a project and talking about how to work on a project. Maybe a video or podcast could have a Q&A section at the end where answers to real world problems are provided: and this might lead to the bootcamp as people see the value.

Definitely food for thought, thanks for your insight.

- John A