Which of the following impacts your quality bar the most (either positively or negatively):
1) Console resources - RAM and CPU usage
2) Time constraints - deadlines
3) Manpower
4) Tools/engineering support - WWise, FMOD, dedicated engineer, good world-building tools...
5) Equipment/libraries/field recording (PC/Mac, DAWs, Plugins, SFX libs - asset creation stuff)
6) Other - examples of "other" are team communication (finding out about new features and game changes in a timely manner) and Clearly Stated/Stable Design Direction.
I know that there is a lot of overlap, and that it really depends on the kind of game being made, but I am curious what other folks wrestle with most...
imho the order is often 1 and 4 at the top followed by 2,3, and 6, with 5 at the bottom assuming you have access to some minimum set of libraries and plug-ins (most American gaming companies that I know cover #5 tolerably well).