CIS 3000: Introduction to Computer Game Design

Communication Lab 5
Milestone Review

Due: Not Turned In

Today's lab is a follow-up of both the game wiki and milestone document from last week. By now you should have received some feedback about your assignment; this lab gives you the opportunity to revise it and make it better.

As with the previous communication lab, your primary active in this lab will be reading and critiquing the documents of another group. At the beginning of class, the TAs will provide your group with two documents. First, they will call up the wiki of another group on a local computer and provide you with (read-only) access to the wiki. Then they will give you milestone document for that same group.

While you are critiquing the documents, the TAs will be circling the room and occassionally giving their own feedback on the specifications. If anything is unclear about this assignment, or the concept document in general, please ask them.

Critiquing the Wiki and Milestones

As usual, you should spend 5-10 minutes reading the documents (and wiki), and another 20-25 minutes discussing them. When discussing the wiki, you should consider the following questions:

  • Is it easy to find information in the wiki?
  • Are there better ways to structure this wiki?
  • What useful things is this wiki missing (that could be added now)?
  • Would you use this wiki? Why or why not?

In addition, you should discuss the milestone document. As part of your discussion, consider the following questions:

  • Are the descriptions and deliverables for each milestone clear?
  • Are the tests for acceptances useful, or are they vague and hard to measure?
  • Is work adequately spaced over the semester, or is it all at end?
  • Are there any details missing from the milestone document?
  • What seems to be the hardest features to implement?

You should spend the remainder of the class sharing the results with the other group. If you wrote your comments down, feel free to let the other group have them at the end of the lab. However, there is no need to keep them, as you are still not turning anything in yet.

Submission

There is nothing to turn in for this communication lab. This exercise is to help you with your ongoing work on your wiki, as well as your first two-week report later this week.