What is the best (as in most used by professional game developers and/or companies) software development methodology used in game development?
I've heard that SCRUM is popular, but i'm not sure.
What is the best (as in most used by professional game developers and/or companies) software development methodology used in game development?
I've heard that SCRUM is popular, but i'm not sure.
Honestly, it depends on the size and history of the team.
Most of the large teams I've worked on have utilized an adapted version of Scrum. Often, a studio will bring in Scrum instructors or require producers to get "Scrum Master" certification.
As noted above, Spiral is an option.
Generally, some sort of Agile development is used that involves stand-ups, product owners, etc.
There really isn't a "best methodology." Team size and experience dictate the correct process to use. If you're a believer in Lean, you'll also understand that process is very specific to the tasks at hand.
The Spiral model is very popular for game development. Due to the fast changing development cycle and the size of most game projects.
Since game development is a living project and most game projects are not defined well before the project starts. The spiral model allows for fast changes and flexible development.
While Scrum is fairly popular, in my experience it only works if both the team and the management are willing to stick to the plan.
Whatever methodology you choose, you need to keep in mind that a game at all stages, needs to be fun. The methodology you use will really come down to the team members involved and how many of them are, but at all points you should be able to "play" the game in some form to evaluate if something is working or not. That great design idea that takes weeks of development and does not add to the fun factor is wasted time. Having an Agile methodology should enable you to evaluate each feature of the game as it is developed.