Hi Guys,

I've been out of game development for some time now and I'm looking to get back in. I wanted to start by refreshing my memory on project management.

I'm a real hands on kind of person so the best way for me to refresh would be to get a hold a sample Gantt Chart from a real project. It doesn't have be a large project, something as small as a flash game would due.

Does anyone know where I could find one or is anyone willing to share one with me? I am willing to sign an NDA if necessary.

Thank you for your help.

Regards,

JC

Thousands of hits on google images on "Gantt chart". Is there any reason they don't suffice so refresh your memory?

I'm not sure if that a real question or if your trolling.

However if it is areal question, the reason I am looking for a real working gantt chart. You can not work with an image. Also have a real gantt chart will tell me in detail how long people spend in different stages of development.

Then you are not looking for a Gantt chart.

Instead you are looking for an actual development schedule from a completed game.

Although Gantt charts can work well for fields where workers are interchangeable cogs, they are horrible for software development.

Their job is essentially a tally of work completed, with sequential linear dependencies between tasks where the project is essentially specified up front. Programmers are not interchangeable; a task may take one developer twice as long as a different developer. Dependencies between tasks are generally non-linear and often non-sequential, and are difficult to specify in advance. That is the opposite of what Gantt charts are good at.

Ok excellent advice. Then I would like an actual development schedule.

If you're interested, I'd personally recommend the Agile set of methodologies. This might alter your understanding of software development "schedules"...

Thanks Orymus3. I am also looking for other bits of real world information. Such as how long teams take to create a game, their real world process, how long they spend in each phase etc.

Such as how long teams take to create a game, their real world process, how long they spend in each phase etc.

Where I am sitting right now I can see members from four different game teams.

All of the teams have overlap; the design and prototyping comes first and generally happens during the alpha/final phase of the previous project.

Two of them turn out a new mini-game (a full-featured DLC pack) about every four weeks. Design verification and prototyping is about a half week, main development is about a week, alpha is about a week, final is about a week. The extra half week is useful as a buffer.

Another team turns out a new game about every six months. They spend about 1 month in design verification and prototyping, 3 months in main development, about 3 weeks in alpha, about 3 weeks in beta, and about 3 weeks in final.

The fourth team puts out a major title about every 12 months. They spend about 2 months in preproduction, design verification, prototyping, etc., about 7 months in main development, 1 month in alpha, 1 month in beta, 1 month in final.