Transcript Game Development at an Independent Studio

Game Development
at an
Independent Studio
By
Simon Hurley
Game Development
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Process of Developing a Game Title/Franchise
Developing Games for Multiple Platforms
Developing Multiple Game Titles Simultaneously
Non-Development Considerations
Working at an Independent Development Studio
Game Production Management
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(What is missing?)
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Production Management
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Time
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Resources
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Usually the hardest to adjust
Includes budget ($), people, equipment, space, etc.
Scope
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Can be hardest or easiest to adjust
Depends on type of project, publisher, and other factors
Usually the most easily adjusted
Has the most direct affect on product quality
How do you balance these three things?
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It sure ain’t easy!
Development Schedules
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Different types of scheduling required for
different steps in the process
Impossible to have an all-encompassing
schedule until after the project ships
Should always be goal-oriented
Difficult to schedule creative processes
Difficult to maintain, especially in crunch
But crucial to the success of any project
Game Development Process
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Concept Development
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Pitch
Early Design
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Design
Prototype
Redesign
Full Production
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Release
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Pre-Production
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Post-Release
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RC-0 (Pre-Cert)
RC-1/RC-2 (Cert)
Gold Master (RTM)
SHIP!
Patch Fixes
Publisher Archive
Additional Development
Ramp-Up
 Feature Patching
Main Development
 Downloadable Content
Alpha Phase
 SDK
Beta Phase
(What is missing?)
Game Concept
Entertaining
Feasible
Marketable
Concept Development
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The “idea phase” of early design
Usually involves a small number of people (or a single
individual) with a great deal of development experience
The closest you can come to pure creativity in game
development
Must be tempered with practicality and feasibility
Must be goal-oriented – designing a marketable
product, usually to pitch to a publisher
Concepts developed often undergo significant changes
during development of the final product
Pre-Production
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Design is fleshed out from the concept pitch
Usually involves developing a prototype of the
game, testing out gameplay, art style, and
technical feasibility
Enables the development team to learn from
doing, answers questions, and helps to direct
redesign phase prior to entering full production
Easy to move on from this phase before the
team and game design are really ready
Pre-Production Team
Producer & Director
Art Design
Game Design
Technical Direction
Art & Animation
Level Design
Programming
8-12 people
Audio
Full Production
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Starts with a ramp-up period – redeployment of
existing resources and hiring of new people to fill
particular needs
Team growth must be properly managed as team enters
main development period of content and features
Milestones are reached along the way to keep
development on-track and ensure goals being reached
Content and features are often cut, sometimes added –
close to the end, feature creep must be guarded against
Game enters Alpha phase when 90% completed
Game enters Beta phase when 100% completed
Full Production Team
Producer & Director
Assistant Producer
Writers
Art Director
Lead Designer
Technical Director
Audio Director
Concept Artists
Character Artists
Environment Artists
3D Modelers
Texture Artists
Technical Artists
Animators
Gameplay Designers
SP Level Designers
Scripting Specialists
Cinematic Specialists
MP Level Designers
Engine/System Coders
Gameplay Coders
Network Coders
Hardware Specialists
Audio Specialists
Rendering Specialists
Sound Engineers
Music Composer
Recording Studio
Voice Actors
Localization Studio
40-60 people (AAA multi-platform title)
Release
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Usually the busiest time of the development process
Often additional resources are needed to get the product out the
door on time
Localized versions of the game are integrated
Release Candidate Zero (Pre-Cert) is a debugged Beta build –
not perfect, but a more-or-less complete build to test where the
debugging effort should be focused
Release Candidates (RC-1, RC-2, etc.) are builds sent to console
manufacturer as potential final masters
The one that passes, the Gold Master, is then released to
manufacturing (RTM)
Often the ship of the title is accompanied with a zero-day patch
Release Team
Producer & Director
Assistant Producer
Content Team
Debugging & Polishing
Maps & Scripting
Game Art
Cinematics
Animation
Audio
Effects
Tuning
Gameplay
Balance
Code Team
Debugging & Polishing
Gameplay Features
Network Code
Rendering/Audio
Platform Engineering
Cert Compliant
Performance
Optimization
Publisher Producer
QA Team
Quality Assurance
SP & MP Play Testing
Features and Content
Debugging Checks
Platform Testing
Certification Compliance
Publisher
Development Assistance
Quality Assurance
Localization
Certification
Coordination w/ other Dev
Sales & Marketing
Print/Online Ads
TV/Film Ads
PR & Press
Retailer Sales
Manufacturing
Distribution
Customer Service
Post-Release
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After the build up and craziness of launch, this is usually a more
peaceful period – and you get SLEEP!
Team ramps down, moving on to other projects, but a core postrelease team remains
Patch fixes are completed, based upon incomplete c-class bugs,
bugs reported through the customer service, and continued
developer/publisher testing
A publisher archive is assembled and sent, containing the final
build of the game and all source code and content – kept onhand for ports, new SKUs, compilations
Additional localizations are sometimes requested
Eventually the team members move on to other projects, such as
DLC, expansions, sequels, or new titles
Additional Development
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Feature patching – customer service feedback and
additional developer work can often lead to new
features or streamlined systems added post-release
Downloadable content – new maps, game items, etc.
– usually created during / after the release of the game
by the same team – can be free (extends life-cycle of
game sales) or sold for additional revenue (XLM, etc.)
Often releasing a software development kit (SDK) can
extend the life of a PC game with fan-created content –
sometimes tough to justify and requires personal
support/commitment from the project team members
Developing Games for
Multiple Platforms
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PC, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, PSP, Nintendo DS, and mobile
phones are all very different platforms to develop for
Require different rendering, audio streaming, disc caching, file
management, processor threading, content cooking, memory
allocation / limitations, shaders, online features set, controller
setup, etc.
Ideally, the game is planned for multiple platforms and built that
way from the ground up – requires larger code team to do this
Often, different developers will work on different platforms,
requiring a large amount of coordination and communication
between teams – usually handled by publisher, hard to do
Sim-ship is ideal (due to co-marketing), but not always attainable
Each SKU needs separate certification and QA cycles
Developing Multiple Game Titles
Simultaneously
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Several projects in development at any given time
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Some development resources are shared between teams
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Experience and resources can be shared between projects
Requires a larger amount of coordination
Any schedule slips affect all projects
Allows to teams to ramp up and down more quickly
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Safety net – revenue not tied to one
project/platform/publisher
Requires a lot of in-house resources and growth
Good supply of experienced developers to draw from
Ideally, full-production and pre-production teams will
leapfrog each other
Allows people to change roles and responsibilities, and grow
Easier when all teams are sharing a central base tech
Non-Development Considerations
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First-Party vs. Third-Party Development
Publisher Influence/Restrictions
License Holder Influence/Restrictions/Needs
PR & Marketing
Platform Developer Influence (Console/PC)
Retail Placement & Sales
International Development & Sales
Working at an Independent
Development Studio
Happiness
Strategy
Creativity
Money
The Gearbox Software Credo
Benefits of an Independent Studio
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We have reached a point of stability and growth
We work on our own IP’s (intellectual property) and
develop them into franchises we own and license
We are also able to work on other people’s IP’s when
the subject matter interests us
We are able to negotiate a higher profit rate and
maintain greater creative control
We share a large portion of royalties with all employees
We are able to work with publishers and platform
developers as equal partners instead of as employers
We are agnostic to publisher, technology, development
partner, and platform
Contact Info
Questions?
[email protected]
Jobs?
[email protected]
Attn: Stacie Wren, HR Director