Software development models

We’d like to help you better understand the production process and the path a game project takes. To achieve that, let’s take a brief look at the two most common software development models, Waterfall and Agile.

Waterfall

Waterfall, as we understand it today, is a sequential approach to production with no space for iteration. The product is supposed to go through six rigid phases in a specific order (always trickling down, such as a waterfall):

1. Listing all software requirements.
2. Analyzing requirements.
3. Designing the whole product and its architecture.
4. Writing and implementing all of the systems and content.
5. Testing and debugging.
6. Operations, support, and maintenance of a completed product.

Since this process allows for no iteration, its use in games development is highly limited. It can, however, be applied on a small scale, be it on a part of a game’s content (for example, art asset production...