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The next step in project management

Name:	Kevin Erkelenz
Date Posted:	Sep 04, 2007
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Blog post

Hello again,

Today I started developing a program for my team that will make communication between all of our members significantly easier, the program is intended to synchronize all the work on a local computer with the main project on our web-server. To explain this a bit more in detail, each team member has a copy of the game project on their local machine which they can work on in any way they want, then after completing an assignment the specified team member will run the program, write a report on what has been modiefied and the program will synchronize the the updated local copy of the project with the copy on the server and from there on all the other authorized team members will have access to the latest version of the project. I will also include support for direct communication with the Overlord management system. After finishing this project I will release it to the public in two different versions:

-A full version that will cost around $20 with all the above features plus the ability to directly preview Interior and shape files within the program, and of course general files like textures, TorqueScript files, etc. plus a ton of other features yet to be thought of.

-A bit more limited version that will cost around $5 or maybe even free that will exclude the Overlord support and the previewing of Interiors and Shapes, and if deemed necessary also any features I may come up with in the future.

More details on this project later when I have something to show, but for now let me ask you if you think this would make the process of team/server communication easier?

Thanks,
-Kevin

Recent Blog Posts

List:	02/19/08 - The Fanatix theory 09/04/07 - The next step in project management 08/28/07 - Aside of my main project. 08/09/07 - I have a dream... 08/07/07 - New Project: Exodus; First Impression, No screens. 06/05/07 - Got Depression? 03/27/07 - Torque Game Engine Advanced 02/15/07 - All for One

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AndrewOsborne (Sep 04, 2007 at 11:20 GMT)

every few weeks you seem to have a new idea - do you ever make progress on any of them?

Kevin Erkelenz (Sep 04, 2007 at 11:49 GMT)

Yes actually, its very surprising. Right now I have to brainstorm a lot and My book is coming along very, very well. My new company and first game project are also coming along extraordinarily well to my surprise. :)

Kevin Erkelenz (Sep 04, 2007 at 11:53 GMT)

Oh and just a side note, I am also working on a video training series for constructor that I am going to release for free, I might actually dedicate a whole website to torque training like I used to back when I was working with 3D Gamestudio.

Magnus Blikstad (Sep 04, 2007 at 12:01 GMT)

Uhm. Why not just use SVN? There's plenty of "reporting" and "bug tracking" tools that integrates nicely with SVN. (like trac for example, but there's plenty more).

...just the whole reinventing the wheel thing.

Thomas "Man of Ice" Lund (Sep 04, 2007 at 12:54 GMT)

What Magnus says - why would I not use SVN (for free) or something like Perforce or AlienBrain (both commercial) instead?

Mark Jordaan (Sep 04, 2007 at 12:58 GMT)

Go for it dude!

Finish and release it

there are really hundreds of these types of programs already out there

BUT

u know what ?

Yours will be unique, it will allow you to do the things you want

AND

The bonus prize is that it may become the new standard

so GO, RE- INVENT ,

and make it better

Kevin Erkelenz (Sep 04, 2007 at 13:33 GMT)

I know there are plenty of them out there, and I am not re-inventing the wheel, recently I heard about a company creating a tire that doesnt operate on air but on some sort of new spring, or Sonys battery based on sugar, or the new jet engine powered by Methane. I am adapting existing technology to suit the needs of a Torque developer in specific with compatibility with Overlord and in-program previewing of .dts, .dif, and .cs, files and of course tons of other art assets. And other programs cost a ton, Alienbrain is over 5000 I think.. or at least pretty close.

Jonathan A. Garay M. (Sep 04, 2007 at 14:22 GMT)

Bazaar http://bazaar-vcs.org/ ;)

Mark Jordaan (Sep 04, 2007 at 14:53 GMT)

Kevin,

World falls into two groups,

those that get it and those that dont.

Stay on your side, world is more interesting that way

Donald \"Yadot\" Harris (Sep 04, 2007 at 15:38 GMT)

@Kevin

First off I am not one to squash the creative effort. But from a business point of view, I can't understand why you would create this. The things you listed: Methane based Air Travel, Sony's Batteries and even the Tire are old items with new ways of working. There is a demand for less pollution and a softer ride. What will your tool answer as far as market demands? Will your system cater to an audience who does no like SVN or will just a front end tool to make using the SVN easier? Explain to me why someone would want to buy this? Everyone knows that the free tools are out there and they run really really well. Why the need to change?

Fucifer (Sep 04, 2007 at 17:10 GMT)

Does not matter what everyone said, go for it.

Joe Rossi (Sep 04, 2007 at 17:34 GMT)

I was thinking the same thing as most everyone here.. don't write this, use SVN. It works really well and it's easy to use. You will probably never finish your game if you have to write all sorts of extra software... pick your battles man.

Kelly Asay (Sep 04, 2007 at 18:37 GMT)

You shouldn't expect someone to choose their battles based on the size of your army.

#1 There are things you learn from others experience,
#2 There are things you learn from your own experience,
#3 There are things you never learn regardless of the experience.

Your #1 could be someone elses #3....

David Higgins (Sep 04, 2007 at 22:49 GMT)

Kevin, I don't doubt that your program will have a use for Torque developers, however, I do think that re-inventing the source-control-management wheel is a bit ... well, unnecessary. Writing your application to integrate with already existing tools such as CVS or SVN (which are both free, and open source and both have tons of API's for various languages) would most likely get your project off the ground a lot quicker, and make your project more portable ... for example, those of us with little coin who would buy your program to start ... may wish to move up the ladder in SCM tools later on as the team grows larger, or the project requirements get out of hand ... and then wish to use something like Vault, AlienBrain (?) or other such systems ... for various ridiculous reasons ... and porting from SVN to other various tools is much easier then porting from a proprietary tool -- besides, SCM isn't something new ... and there's little left to 're-invent' ... aside from GUI's ...

Put file in, pull file out, revert file to previous version ... thats SCM for you ... add some bells and whistles such as Labeling, Branching, etc ... and viola ... (Labelling and Branching aren't even used by most smaller teams ... )

Anyhow -- I wish you the best of luck, and just wanted to offer up that simple suggestion ... don't do work you don't have to do ... your program sounds great, but the backend SCM aspect can be done for you already ... ;)

As for everyone's comments about "don't write this" ... read his entire message, he's not just trying to write an SCM system ... he's trying to write an entire user-friendly GUI with in-tool viewers for various Torque related file formats ... granted, DTS and DIF can be viewed in Constructor or Show Tool ... but having a nice user friendly tool that lets you compare Last Weeks Model against this weeks Model ... side-by-side ... might be useful to some artists out there ...

all really depends what the GUI offers ... but I do agree, re-inventing the SCM wheel seems fairly ... pointless (yes, I've stated that a number of times in this comment, for a reason ;p)

David Higgins (Sep 04, 2007 at 22:51 GMT)

oh and ... for those of you who keep saying that SCM is free and everyone knows it ... etc, etc ... Overlord costs a few bucks ... and I can name a handful of free and/or open-source project management tools ... no one gave Jacob the third degree ... oh wait ... GG gave him a job? :P

Kevin Erkelenz (Sep 06, 2007 at 10:21 GMT)

Gawd I hate being 15, I get prooved wrong a lot and it makes me realize that I dont know shit compared to the average adult (well not average, lets say educated) but thats what I love about you guys, the criticism. xD

It makes me learn and I didnt even know there was free ones out there, I thought they all cost a crapload of money cuz frankly, ever since I built my computer Im always broke... :P I'll write the program for my team, experience and personal pleasure/reward and then if it prooves to be useful Ill hand it out to you guys. That sounds a bit better dont it?

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