Lead Producer/Designer
Unreal Engine 5
Fast-paced, Asymmetric, Multiplayer, Roguelike
4 Week Development Schedule
Created with a Team of 9 people
play the Game for yourself
Summary
Chat n' Slash came about as a result of combining the verb 'Cut' with Twitch chat integration. After receiving these constraints in a Rapid Prototyping class, my team of 9 devs worked together to create a take on a Fast-paced Arena Roguelike that pits Twitch streamers against their Twitch chat.
With unusual technical specifications on this project, I learned a lot about what it takes to develop games with more unknown variables in the roadmap. The team took a simple idea and made an amazing product in 4 weeks, which Twitch streamers can play today.
As Lead Producer
As Lead Producer, I used an Agile framework that involved popular Scrum practices like strike teams, planning meetings, road mapping, and 1-1s. I primarily used Jira to keep track of these practices and tried to hone my practice with user stories, story points, dependencies, and due dates for every task. Additionally, I used Discord and conversations to keep Strike teams on the same page throughout the project. Filling in gaps comes with production on small teams, so I also found myself producing custom music and finding sounds for Chat 'n Slash to support the team. Despite running into a lot of timeline unknowns, I learned that Producers have room to experiment with their practices. I also learned that their practices should best fit the team, not just follow previous projects.
As Lead Designer, I took a more inclusive approach to deciding on the game's systems. Since the game had a smaller team, I wanted to ensure the design represented everyone on the team as best as possible by holding regular design meetings and reviews. In these meetings, I aggregated as many perspectives as possible and decided on the systems to implement. I used this process for the weapon design, enemy spawning and size design, and partially in level design.