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Originally Posted by froma
I agree fully. I've never really understood why we don't see this more often. Is it an issue of pride, money or a combination of both?
...that is a bit of an open ended question, but I'd love to hear some opinions.
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I suspect its the need to innovate rather than evolve plus ignorance.
I have done a lot of big software projects in my time but nothing as deep and complex as a game engine. In my experience even systems that look simple are full of unexpected problems, even with detailed system analysis and proper specifications. However I cant see how you can undertake detailed system analysis of a game which has no existing system to model. Therefore the specification is purely conceptual. Designers and programmers are flying by the seat of their pants. The product changes month by month and problems are worked around. The more you mess around with code the more unstable it becomes.
The big mystery is how the smaller companies manage to produce a working product at all.
Big organisations like Sony and Microsoft have within them the discipline to ensure that companies like Sigil have done their homework and that the business plan makes good financial sense, although they do give a lot of freedom to the developer you can bet there is oversight and a cattle prod approach to project creep.
