ABSTRACT
Now that we’ve just completed a chapter on best practices and ideal scenarios, it’s only fair to cover some “ worst practices ” and basic pitfalls you should avoid. One of the most common phrases I hear developers (including myself from time to time) use to justify lackluster coding is “ Well, this project just didn’t afford me the time. ” The implication here is that if the developer had had more time to do the work it would have been done better. I certainly don’t disagree with that premise. Before I worked at a game company, I was employed by an interactive ad agency. Anyone who has ever worked at an ad agency knows that there is never enough time on any project, ever . Forget formalized design patterns and wireframes; we’re talking about timelines where it’s hard to fi nd time to use the bathroom. I have built the core mechanics for a game in less (but not much less) than 24 hours; it wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done. I think most reasonable people could agree that a day or two turnaround for any game, regardless of complexity, is utterly absurd, and any project manager or account executive who agrees to such a timeline should be fl ogged publicly.
