Usually, all the blog posts start with an apology for being late but we have a lot to cover so I'm going to need you to just imagine the standard apology in the space below...
OK, now let's get talking about the studio.
Archiving
Project SAM
There are times in life when you need to learn to accept defeat and take what you've learned and move on. Project SAM was started while we were a University team and since then we have changed the people, design, and narrative of the game. With all these changes mid-development, Project SAM fell into "development hell." The end goal became muddled and the team couldn't visualize it in its completion which severely hindered the process.
It is difficult to accept this realization and even more difficult to admit a project you tried to make work for years just simply won't. In October I gathered the team together to discuss this issue, after all, they had also invested portions of their life into this project and deserved a chance to provide input. To summarize, I asked them three questions.
"Do you still have passion when working on Project SAM?"
"Do you still believe the project is possible with the current team and our situation?"
"Would you be willing to return to the project in the future?"
Surprisingly the team did express a passion to continue working on SAM but also voiced concerns about not being able to visualize an ending. Without a clear solid goal to visualize, motivating yourself to work but also finding things to work on becomes difficult.
I then pitched the team, "Do we want to archive SAM and focus on a much smaller and simpler project?" This way the team can iron out processes, and communication channels, and have a finished product out there. After some discussion, the team came to the conclusion that it was best to say Goodbye to Project SAM for now and to focus on another smaller project.
The Pondcast
The podcast hasn't been updated for over a year now and there are no plans to return to it currently. It takes a lot of time to record and edit those episodes that we simply do not have at the moment. We'd like to eventually come back to it but it's just not feasible at the moment.
EvilQuacks Twitch Streaming
A similar issue is present with the Evil Quacks Twitch Channel. The channel hasn't been in use for a month or so now and there currently aren't plans to revive it to the state it was prior. The team may still use it to showcase team events or other indie games out there but nothing as formal as it was prior.
Surviving
Project SAM
With the decision to archive SAM, the studio's survival hinged on the team brainstorming another project keeping scope at the forefront of our minds. We don't plan on making anything brand new or complicated. So we looked at simple arcade games to start but with "How could we add ducks and villainy to this?" This evolved into looking at famous games that are often iterated on and adding cartoon ducks and villainy.
From there we thought about, "How can we make this unique to Evli Quacks or stand out from the other iterations?" which we dived deeper into. I'm really proud of the team for being able to jump into a brainstorming session after handling the news regarding Project SAM well.
The team decided on two ideas. The first idea was picked for its extreme simplicity, "Flappy Duck" obviously iterating on Flappy Bird. The second idea has a small step up in complexity and the team really enjoyed ironing out that idea which is currently known as Duck Tank. I won't spoil that one for you all yet.
Hopefully Thriving
Admitting failure isn't an easy thing to do but what matters is how we as a team respond afterward. I also believe it's important to document this since it happens to so many small inexperienced teams. Documenting it helps get all of our thoughts out while also showing other teams that may be in the same boat that it's ok to say "It's not going to work". It's ok to admit defeat. The important part of all of this is taking what we've learned from the failures of Project SAM and putting it towards better future projects.
Evil Quacks would like to thank the following individuals, who supported us through the development of Project SAM...
Tony Rowe for advising us throughout our college careers
Loni (Loony2unes) for his undying support and enthusiasm and
...his lovely wife "RedCamboli" for the amazing animations she reworked and provided.
Andres Figueroa, Josh Martin, Alex Varsik, and Kevin Brady for adding their skills to the project.
Brian Jackson for all the puns and streams that kept us laughing
And all of our Friends & Family members who may not understand what we were doing but supported us anyway.
We hope to see you all in the future and I'll talk to you, Ducklings, in the next post!
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