What is a Deliverable?
A deliverable is a criteria set between developers and publishers for game content delivery under a time scale. For example: the first functioning level of a shooter game, playable multilayer map or other would be under one of the first minor deliverables.
Deliverables also determine whether a studio gets paid or not, meaning if a deliverable is not met it can cost a lot. That money is going to pay developers, therefore they may end up quitting as the deliverables are not being met.
What would some of our deliverables be for the microgame?
Surgery Shorts is a microgame Glen, Kieron and I developed last month. Here are a list of deliverables for that:
- First working wound click
- first working wound slicing scene
- first draggable object
- all wounds added to body
- all wounds are sliceable
- all wound objects can be dragged
- first audio sound
- all audio sounds added
Schedules:
- concept
- pre-production
- production
- asset lock
- polish
- publish
- post production
Milestones:
Milestones come down to the developers and what they think milestones can be for their game. Examples of this can be getting the first level, collectable, or location built and operational.
Our Developer milestones for the Imagined Worlds project:
- Top map early draft
- Added all interactable notes
- Added audio
- Working health system
- Working Gun system
- NPC in-game
- NPC combat
- Underground scene early draft
- Add enemies
- add notes
- add endgame content (final events)
Joel's blog 