Quality control systems are of fundamentally importance to the design and development of any IT project, service or product development.

Serious games will be judged on their ability to foster deep learning experiences and must be delivered on time and within budget.

The production of serious games can be particularly complex given the multi-faceted nature of the task, the complexity of the application and the range of people and skills required.

It is for this reason that PIXELearning use a series of processes, systems and procedures which are outlined below:

Bespoke project management approach

This is a boilerplate document that we have developed over several years that serves as a basis for formulating a tailored approach to any external projects. To view this document please click on the link below:

PDF (190KB)

Intranet project management system

We felt that MS Project and other systems were too generic to fit our needs so we built a custom PM system for internal use. This allows us to create and monitor budgets, allocate tasks, manage staff and external resources.

Client support area

Communication with clients and partners is essential to project success particularly where geographic and time barriers exist. Each client is assigned a unique password-protected facility from where they can access concept art, specifications, storyboards, narrative and other project-related information. They also have direct contact details of all PIXELearning team members so that they can provide clarification, make suggestions and give approval when it is convenient for them.

Project code library and definition system

The complexity of our internal R&D work continues to increase rapidly. With several team members working on a vast number of different system elements we felt it necessary to develop an intranet-based system where any team member can look up, create or modify developer notes relating to individual code functions. Each page provides: the code, a plain English description of what it does, developer notes and references to related code.

Code/version control software

We use MS Visual Source Safe for code and Macromedia’s in-built version control systems to ensure version control and file security.

Bug reporting systems

We use a freeware application for reporting and tracking bug reports. This is hosted on our network.

Network anti-virus and firewall software

Every PC and server on our network has McAfee and other AV/firewall software installed and is set to automatically update on demand. Incoming email is automatically scanned to ensure that no virus threats enter the network.

Back-up

All data is automatically backed up via tape and magnetic devices at frequent intervals to guard against accidental or malicious loss.

Suggestions ‘box’

Creativity and innovation are of key importance to our R&D initiatives. Our team have access to an internally-hosted intranet forum where they can post ideas, news snippets and examples in order to share these with their colleagues.