Road Map
In Brief
The road map is a tool we have developed internally for use at our center for better giving a ninja direction on their game and to better estimate the amount of time required to complete the game. The road map is broken down into Key Components, Sub-components, Scope, and Development Phases.
Key Components
In this section of the roadmap, work with the ninja to outline the main components of their project. Examples of these could be user interface, menus, sound, animations, AI, the player, etc. Each of these components should be given a priority between 1 and 10, with 1 being the most important and 10 being the least important. This is so that we can help the ninja choose which features are the most important to work on in the future. Both the sensei's and the ninja's input is important in deciding these key components.
Sub-Components
For each key component defined in the previous section of the road map, define sub-components of that key component. For example, if one was to define the sub-components of the key component "Menus", they could be "Main", "Credits", "Settings", "Level Select", etc. For each sub-component priority should be assigned just like the key components. Dependencies should also be listed for each sub-component by using other sub-components' component IDs. For example, if "Player Controls" was key component ID "A" and it had the sub-components "Moving" and "Shooting" in that order, one might say "Shooting" which would be sub-component "A2" depends on sub-component "A1" which is moving. Dependencies can be any other sub-component, even from other key components.
Scope
In the scope section, work with the ninja to roughly jot down which sub-components need to be included in the first release of the game. Use this section as an opportunity to limit the scope of ninjas who are being overly ambitious with their project ideas. For example, core gameplay functionality such as player movement would be important enough to include in the scope, but something as ambitious as multiplayer or AI would be omitted from the scope of the project. This is done to help the ninja work towards an achievable goal such that they are able to reach a point where their black belt project is complete.
Development Phases
Now in the development phases section, work with the ninja to seperate each of the sub-components defined in the scope section into the first 3 development phases. Try to order the sub-components firstly in order of dependencies and secondly in order of priority as both defined in the sub-components section. For each included sub-component in a development phase, make an estimate on the required time of completion for that portion of development. Make sure to take into account both your own experience in developing games as well as your previous observations on the ninja's abilities when making these estimates. After the first 3 development phases are planned, the road map is then complete! The remaining parts of the road map are reserved for when the ninja is at the playtest phase of development and when the ninja completes their project.
Notes
When the road map is complete up to the point where it says *PLAYTEST*, the ninja can start developing their game. As the document and process is refined in the future, some of the later phases of development mentioned in this document will likely eventually be omitted.