Game Production: Insights & Challenges

1. ITB/ITN751 Games Production Lecture 1Game Development Life Cycle Ross Brown

2. Lecture Contents • Unit Preamble • Games Development Life Cycle • Game Producers • Guest Lecture – Matt Ford, Games Producer

3. Lecture Readings • Textbook Chapters [4] - 1 and 2 • Game Development Life Cycle • www.gamasutra.com/features/19981218/walton_01.htm • Games Producers • www.gamasutra.com/features/20060705/mencher_01.shtml • www.gamasutra.com/features/19990305/pedersen.htm • www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12135 • www.gamasutra.com/features/20060905/petro_01.shtml

4. Life Cycles • “If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside” - Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld magazine

5. ITB/ITN751 Unit Aims • Insight into the people, processes and technology behind the development of games • Insight into the career options available within the games industry • Appreciation for the other positions in a games production company • NOT software development only… • It is not HOW, but WHAT and with WHOM

6. Teaching Process • Theory Lectures – by Ross Brown • Guest Lectures – by Industry Personnel • Reflection – by you • Tutorials – by everybody

7. Assessment 1: Game Career Nail Gun • Aim is to help you create a plan for your games career • Because it is hard, but not impossible, to get into the games industry • So you have to have a weapon…umm, plan http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/list_messages/1081927

8. Assessment 2: Sim Game Studio • To give you insight into the whole workings of a new games studio by planning for its deployment in a new city http://www.webdevelopersjournal.com/software/simcity_3000.html

9. Assessment 3: Final Examination • One part of the exam will be on the content in the guest lectures • Rest is typical exam on lecture content http://smedia.vermotion.com/media/17477/resources/Doctor%20memorizing.jpg

10. Closing the Loop • Feedback – you asked for guest lectures and I have (fingers crossed) twelve of them for this semester

11. Games Development Life Cycle • Modern computer games are some of the most advanced real-time simulation systems available on the planet…maybe we are in one ourselves  • Large teams required in order to produce modern high quality games – 100+ • Content is approaching the level of cinematic proportions in the terrabytes – sometimes even hard to move it around full stop via networks • Plus a game is a confluence of artistic and technological components • Known as the Next Generation Challenge by games industry

12. Crysis by EA http://youtube.com/watch?v=xDh4VR7wynA http://www.planetamd64.com/lofiversion/index.php?t32514.html

13. Well Wicked! • Game Development can be considered a “wicked problem” • "wicked problem" was originally proposed by Horst Rittel [1] • "wicked" (ie. messy, circular, aggressive) which occur in real life development projects • "tame" problems of mathematics, chess, or puzzle solving • Only have a vague idea at the start of the game, and have to thus bring it into being • To capture that ill-defined concept of…fun • Fun that changes with time – remember when first person shooters were novel?

14. Example Figures • 100+ team sizes and growing – outsourcing a solution here • Budgets in tens of millions – unless you are Indie and do Dystopia • Development in the order of 2-3 years • Longer if Duke Nukem Forever…www.3drealms.com/duke4/

15. Example Figures • Often overruns – especially with the bigger titles • Often burns out developers – typical life span of five years

16. Games Production People Technology Processes Unit Overview

17. Games Development Life Cycle (GDLC) • Similar to the Software Development Life Cycle • Different in that it has a publishing business model as its overarching approach • Thus a games studio is a repetition of this life cycle

18. Concept Prototype Pitch Green Light Pre-production Production Quality Assurance Gold Master Maintenance Compare with [2] GDLC Processes [4]

19. Concept • Dreaming up the game idea • Brainstorming • Deriving inspiration • Possibly derived from other Media • Developed by publishers, then handed to game development studio • Intellectual Property (IP) Issues – China and India…

20. Prototype • As with any design process, a low quality first pass • Gives a feel for the main concepts in the game • Shows major gameplay concepts

21. Pitch • Game is pitched to management • Publishers • VCs • or your friends if they have money 

22. Pitch • Explains why the game is great • Why it is right for market • How it is to be produced and developed

23. Green Light • Once approved the game development is begun • Involves gathering a team to work on game • May need to contact a number of games companies • Legal issues are sorted in order to determine IP rights – main character and story

24. Pre-production • Define production pipeline • Tools, development stages for all content, logic etc. • Detailed planning for game production

25. Production • Where the rubber meets the road • Content is produced: 3D models, textures, art, cinematics, scripts, sound… • The longest process in the game development life cycle • The most costly process in game development • The riskiest process in game development

26. Quality Assurance • Usually occurs at the end of production • Similar to any testing phases in software development • Bug capturing, usability testing… • Often an entrance point into the games industry for those without qualifications

27. Gold Master • Burn CD to be sent to game manufacturing processes at publishing house • Consoles and handhelds require special care, why?

28. Maintenance • Again, similar to any software development life cycle [3] • Used to be a non-issue due to fixed games • Now, once software is shipped, there is a need for maintenance • Tasks include: patches, new content for online games, balancing, gold-bot killing

29. Games Designers Games Developer – Engine Games Developer – Tools Level Designer Game Balancer 3D Modellers Digital Animators Artists Quality Assurance Overview of People

30. Human Resources Administration Staff Marketing/Sales – in the broadest terms Journalism – blogs, magazines etc. Cultural – conferences, E3, GDC IT Support – general IT in Games Studios Games Industry Support Staff

31. Hardware http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3 • Servers • PCs • Consoles – PS3, XBox • Handhelds – PSP, DS • Phones • Special Cards – GPU (NVIDIA/ATI) and AGEIA (Physics) • Console Dev. Kits • Game Controllers -wiimote http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360

32. Development Environments • Visual Studio • Proprietary development kits • Graphics – DirectX/OpenGL • Languages – C/C++, Java, HLSL, GLSL • Scripting – Lua, C#, Python http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx

33. Artist Technology • Modelling/Animation Environments • 3DS Max • Maya • Art Packages • Photoshop • Pencils/Crayons… http://www.makikoitoh.com/archives/2004/01/27/rip_venus_and_t.php

34. Overview of Technology • Digital Asset Management Systems – Alienbrain • Motion Capture • Workflow Systems • Office Automation – MS Office • Networking • Collaboration Tools • Project Management Tools – MS Project http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/zoran/mocap/

35. And who holds it all together? • The previous has been a quick overview of the entire process • We now begin to look at the key personnel in an organisation • So we start with the one who holds it all together • The game producer!

36. Game Producers • Games production roles are derived from the analogous roles in Hollywood and the Pop music industry • In Hollywood they traditionally organise artists and repertoire (A&R) • They effectively find, organise and manage the film and music creation process

37. Game Producers [5] • They are project managers • Few superstars of game production that parallel those we know in film • Producers are usually employed by publishers playing down their contributions • Producers do not tend to run their own independent companies

38. Types of Producers • External producers act as "executive producers" employed by publisher • Internal producers work with developers • Developers may have no internal producers, and may rely solely on the publisher's producer • External producer oversee several projects worked on by developers

39. Types of Producers • Inform the upper management of the publisher of the status of the pending projects and any problems • Internal producer and will generally work on one game • Line Producers focus on project scheduling and costing

40. Responsibilities • Negotiating contracts • Liaison between the development staff and the upper stakeholders • Maintaining schedules and budgets

41. Responsibilities • Overseeing creative and technical development • Ensuring timely delivery of deliverables • Scheduling quality assurance • Arranging for beta testing and focus groups • Arranging for localization

42. Responsibilities • In short, the internal producer is ultimately responsible for timely delivery and final quality of the game • Depending on size of development studio, will tend to meet with lead people in the development areas, such as: artists, software developers, animators etc. • May meet with entire staff from time to time • Similar to many other management positions

43. Responsibilities • Producer has to influence the design of the game to meet publisher wishes • Often cooperate with designer to facilitate this process • As mentioned in the textbook, the producer is the “boss” of the game, to bring about the overall vision for its development • Thus is an executive role

44. Responsibilities • The producer does not usually fire people in the team • Tend to use the typical office automation products for management purposes – MS Office, Outlook, MS Project etc.

45. Guest Lecturer • Matt Ford – Game Producer • Ex Microsoft and Auran • Now freelancing

46. References • Rittel, H., and M. Webber, "Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning" pp 155-169, Policy Sciences, Vol. 4, Elsevier 1973. • Walton, G. Bringing Engineering Discipline to Game Development, 1998, accessed 23/07/2007 www.gamasutra.com/features/19981218/walton_01.htm • Sommerville, I. Software Engineering, Addison Wesley, 2004 • Irish, D. The Game Producers Handbook, Premier Press • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_producer