Dragon Daycare

What makes a myth, well a myth? Is it the magic, the impossible, or the enticing possibility that it just might be true? In Dragon Daycare, look after such a mythological creature. The thunder dragon. In this case, an energetic baby dragon that requires your constant attention and care. Although many mythologies have stood the test of time, the young thunder dragon is impatient and it is best you do not keep it waiting.

Name your energetic baby dragon any name you want! Make sure to click on the bowl to feed it and click on the dragonfruit brush to refill its bowl! Click on the fan to make your adorable pet exercise! 

Originally created for Weeksauce Jam: December 2022

Project Overview

GAME DETAILS

  • Genre: Pet Simulation

  • Game Engine: Unity

  • My Roles: Producer

LOGISTICS

  • Project Duration: 1 Month

  • Team Size: 12

Process

My Contributions

  • Lead collaborative brainstorming by using Canva and Miro

  • Kept track of the production process by using a Nuclino template inspired by Trello and Jira

  • Created a production timeline

  • Held weekly sprint review meetings and documented meeting notes, achievements, and what needed to be done.

  • Sent meeting notes to those that were unable to make it and relayed their feedback and updates in meetings

  • Scheduled mini-meetings with each discipline

  • Played in-progress builds to help identify what’s working in the game and what’s not

  • Edited game’s itch page

  • Documented and led the game’s post-mortem discussion - ensured all voices were heard and valued.

  • Managed and organized drive folders for audio and art

I created a project management template on Nuclino inspired by Jira and Trello. Orginally, the board only had three sections: In Progress, Done, and Stretch Goals. However, certain tasks were unable to properly start their tasks since they were stil

I created a project management template on Nuclino inspired by Jira and Trello. Orginally, the board only had three sections: In Progress, Done, and Stretch Goals. However, certain tasks were unable to properly start their tasks since they were still waiting for others to finish their tasks - so the Blocked section was created to keep track of such tasks.

This is how I organized the discord server for the project. I made sure to give each discipline its own channel - to give them a space to communicate with each other publicly so we would all be on the same page. #Biz channel was reserved for importan

This is how I organized the discord server for the project. I made sure to give each discipline its own channel - to give them a space to communicate with each other publicly so we would all be on the same page. #Biz channel was reserved for important information so it wouldn't be lost in general. #to-do-list was created to be a shortened summary of meeting notes and general tasks.

Original project timeline based on past experiences

Original project timeline based on past experiences

The team was spread out in different time zones, so I used when2meet to help pick what would be the most optimal time for the team to meet.

The team was spread out in different time zones, so I used when2meet to help pick what would be the most optimal time for the team to meet.

Original Brainstorm made via Miro. I encouraged our team to use SWOT analysis in order to help solidify our game idea. A visual and collaborative brainstorm is a great way not only for us to great know each other but also helped us solidify our conce

Original Brainstorm made via Miro. I encouraged our team to use SWOT analysis in order to help solidify our game idea. A visual and collaborative brainstorm is a great way not only for us to great know each other but also helped us solidify our concept!

In order to make sure everyone was on the same page regarding game mechanics and placement of UI/UX - I created and helped edited a shareable Canva board in order to make sure the entire team had a unified vision of the game. It also helped boost tea

In order to make sure everyone was on the same page regarding game mechanics and placement of UI/UX - I created and helped edited a shareable Canva board in order to make sure the entire team had a unified vision of the game. It also helped boost team morale and organically led to a discussion about the rest of the game's mechanics and aesthetics.

Post-Mortem

Roses / Amazing

  • It was in scope, so we could finish!

  • Great work keeping the timeline on track!

  • Everyone did an amazing job putting on multiple hats and doing tasks as needed!

  • Excellent job with game integration!  

  • The programming was so good and done in a short amount of time too!

  • Really cool how we combined everyone’s different art styles!

  • Artists iterated really quickly!

Thorns / What could have been better?

  • I made the mistake of making separate drives for art, design, and sound. This caused confusion over which drive certain assets should be put in.

  • Active feedback for faster iterations.

  • One vision to avoid conflicts in styles and decisions.

  • Lack of game loop - missing win screen and lose screen as well as lack of conditions 

  • More bug test and playtesting

  • A lot of the meetings were announced the night before, despite being planned a week or so in advance. I forgot about Discord’s event system.

Buds / What did we learn?

  • Feedback is vital to any project and every step.

  • Try to finish early, so there's time to playtest and polish.

  • Use the event system on discord to coordinate meetings! 

  • Cool collaboration tools! Miro and Canva were a huge hit among the team!

  • Lots of first-time jammers who were satisfied by the experience and felt they learned a lot! 

  • Next time we should make a mood board or share design inspirations so we can have shared vision!

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