Take the realistic approach! After several years developing video game software professionally in studio, publisher, and startup environments I can say projects often lose anywhere from 25%-75% productivity just from over ambitious and under specified objectives. This combined with the absence of budgeting resources altogether, or applying resources out of line with the priority of objectives leads to incomplete and nonfunctional products. Accept the reality! Some features may be unattainable given the circumstances. Sacrifice the unattainable feature before it consumes valuable resources that could be applied to several other attainable features. Focus on the money shot! Some features take large amounts of resources but have less impact on the final impression a user has of the product. Instead of applying resources trying to make 10 average quality levels, make 1 awsome quality level. Handling these issues multiplies our final impact by magnitudes and will lead us to a rewarding