Do you have a firm definition of your milestones?

Every developer knows milestones are how your game is judged, but have you clearly defined what you have to deliver? Sony senior producer David Manuel points out 10 common production pitfalls in a new feature. David Manuel, a senior producer at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, writes in the latest Gamasutra feature that developers too often do not learn from mistakes made on prior projects. One major issue he points out is that what developers are to deliver in milestones is not always clearly defined, particularly at some key moments in the cycle. "With your stakeholders, formally agree on key milestone definitions -- particularly the early ones such as documentation, end of pre-dev, prototyping, and vertical slice," he writes. "Now, it might seem a bit odd doing all of this before the design has been finished. But if you know your brief, your budget, your timescale, and overall game idea, then it's possible to do a high-level definition. "For example, if the game is 18 months from start to master, then you may have five months for pre-development. But what can the client expect after five months? Will it be a 100 page Game Design Document? Will it be proof that the gameplay is fun in a grey box prototype, combined with another demo which shows the art style? Will it provide a playable demo that is a vertical slice of the game to a level of final polish in all areas, including art and audio?" If this is not clearly defined, there's a very specific problem that may be encountered, he writes. "The danger I'm trying to highlight in particular is when a team burns many months creating a polished vertical slice, eating into main production time, and causes severe delays. The client may give extensive feedback, and the team then gets caught in a 'demo hell'. "It is better, instead, to agree with the client what is desirable at the start of pre-production in terms of quality, time, and budget for each section, and for all the production. This sets up reasonable expectations and provides foresight," writes Manuel. The full feature, in which he identifies nine more crucial issues to plan against, is live now on Gamasutra.