The Truth About Scope Creep

Scope Creep is an epidemic that is plaguing the game development community. In this video, I share my story about how I was blindsided by scope creep, why it happened, and what I'm planning going forward.

[RescuePets]

As a game dev that has been attacked by scope creep a few times, it's probably in your best interest to do option one - release the game with a with a smaller scope and remove some features to get it to hit that. What you said about sticking to your original goal is SO true, and you'll find a new sense of power after you have a game on Steam. Option 3 (keeping the current scope) isn't really an option, because in a few weeks, you'll find that the scope has increased more than the current anyway. Plus there's a saying in game design, "Not fun? instead of adding something, try removing something."

All the features in your current version will be safe in version control and can be worked on in your next game, whether it's a sequel to what you have or a brand new concept. And you might find that sticking it on top of a different core mechanic without being bound by your current game / old code is even more fun.

[RehtseStudio]

I envy your video edition skill 👍👍. Keep at it
And yes, the scope ideas are a BIG issue 😅😅

I manage to publish two simple app/game on the Google play store to understand the process, quite painful.

[Aarimous]

So true, scope creep is wild and for some reason putting a game on Steam makes it feel like it NEEDS to have more or be better. Even if this took longer than you expected you learned a lot about managing your personal project while also gaining so many talent points from your full time job.

As much as it sucks it might be best to revert scope (insert sunk cost fallacy here) and get the game out the door. You could always turn your current scope into your next project or fold the ideas/code into some other ideas. But, I do think your current scope creep does make the game more fun... oh jeeze I just fed the scope creep monster!!! Nice vid, cheers!

[orangepixelgames]

Good video, and yeah scope creep can be hard to fight, but it will be much better to set scopes and stick to them over time and after doing multiple games. You'll be faster at implementing things, you'll be better at stopping yourself from adding a "tiny feature" because you will be aware how much work it will actually be :D

[elvismd]

Great video! As much as this could help me as a warning, I'd need this video like.... 8 years ago. lol
I haven't been doing the same game for 8 years but I did got into scope creep with a lot of my projects.
I think what you can do now after recognizing this is: *The easy path*. Why? Because you already took a harder path than what you initially planned. The *vertical slice* idea seems like the best fit. Also going back to the basics of the game would require more effort because you already advanced a lot so I don't think it's the best option.
Cut out unfinished features (I suppose the electricity thing isn't finished yet? not sure) and remove the ones that are not adding anything to the game (only if it's easy to remove, if it's something that is already established like the day/night cycle, just keep it that way) and finish a vertical slice.

[turtlebearproductions]

It's always nice to see that we indie devs are not alone. The creep is REAL! I have had to stick to my task list, otherwise I would go off on tangents thinking, wouldn't it be cool if the player could <fill in the blank> and would spend hours trying to make that happen before saying to myself, "self this is out of scope..." PS the tile loading animations look awesome!

[anthonymartin]

I lean towards option 1. Get a finished game out there and then be implementing updates to the game?

[kushaagra]

LOL great video. I would cut some of the fluff if you wanted to increase watch time & optimize for youtube algorithm.

Anyways I wanted to ask: How did you learn to get better at Unity? I'm a beginner, and I've made some very simple projects, but when it comes to more advanced games, I have a lot of trouble (especially in debugging). I always get random errors, and often have to spend hours scouring the internet for some solution. Unity as a whole is so complicated with all the different parts and pieces, and I've been feeling kind of overwhelmed lately. Do you have any tips?

[crysblackmore]

"I what I was gonna say, hold please...." haha

[NathanRohner]

Wow, things really escalated quickly with that procedural generation and day night cycle 🤣

Wait I haven't finished the video yet and THE SCOPE CREEP GETS REAL!

With the options you've given I think you need to ask yourself what you want to be working on, like you said 2 years have already gone by from this. Wouldn't doing a kickstarter or getting a publisher mean more time added to the project?

You can only make so many games in your lifetime, so if this one is worth something then go for it!

Good video as always!

[RehtseStudio]

I'm between options 1 and 3. Or a mix of 1 and 3🤔🤔

[branidev]

Yep I wanna develop small 2d game for year tops now it's been 2 years and hopefully I will finish it till march and release on steam, that will be huge!!
Anyway good luck with the game. Don't forget add online ranked multiplayer :D (scope creep joke)

[richtaur]

#2 #2 #2 !!! (Just kidding) Scope creep strikes again. It's the penultimate game dev boss 👹

Definitely #1 gets my vote. The good news is that scoping back down should be "easy" aside from how painful it'll be. But! It's the fastest way to accomplish your goal of shipping on Steam.

[metgangames]

No, no no no no no no, no. You are still trying to convince yourself about overscoped version. If you have 500+ wishlist, revert to this "randomized maps, turrets etc" (just before things started to get out of hand), finish UI and other required polish and release it (preferably with a price tag around $1-$3). My message might seem demanding but for your own sake, so please don't get mad 😃