RepoMan

Will we get to see video of the prototype? It would be incredibly interesting. Usually publisher-funded developers never show this sort of thing, but if you just stick someone with a mike in front of the prototype for five minutes, it would really help illustrate your process. Maybe that's too much revelation to your taste, but if not, please share. Thanks )

I think Gilbert is profoundly wrong. The key point of the vertical slice is that it tests all your real-time gameplay systems together. It gives you a sense of the player's moment-to-moment experience during a portion of the game. That requires you to prove that all your graphics, audio, gameplay, and possibly networking systems are mostly functional and integrated properly. That, in turn, is invaluable knowledge. You always want to have a running version of your game. The vertical slice is just the first relatively complete portion you get running. Gilbert's spatial metaphor is all wrong -- from a gamer's standpoint, playing the vertical slice is like seeing a significant portion of the whole experience of the game. It's more like seeing just the Mona Lisa's face, or something. The only way this wouldn't be true is if your game consists of many tiny minigames, but even then a vertical slice (a couple of the minigames) is relevant.