Game Production Overview

1. Game Production Overview CGDD 4603

2. Overview • Based on Chapter 7.1 from Introduction to Game Development by Steve Rabin et al. (you own this) • Concept Phase • Preproduction Phase (planning) • Production Phase (development) • Postproduction • Marketing • Note: each project you work on will be different…

3. Meet the Producer • A.k.a. “the Director” or “Project Manager” • Manage the development process • Work for the publisher • Work for the game developers** • Typically, they are the first person hired

4. Concept Phase • Game concepts: • Are typically not the idea of a game designer • Are based on some previous IP (Intellectual Property) • i.e. - it’s a business decision!! • Constraints are given by management • Genre • Look and feel of characters • Mechanics • At this point, the producer creates a concept design document

5. Concept Document • Communicates the vision of the game • Story & Character development • Small market analysis (of competitors), citing research • Must be short! Executive summary to pique interest • Written by the producer or a game designer • If external, use an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) • Includes feedback of previous team (wish list) • A working title must be chosen • Super important! This is marketing! • Final title chosen later

6. Concept Document • A game concept should include the following features: • Introduction • Background (optional) • Description • Key features • Genre • Platform(s) • Concept art (optional) Anatomy of a Design Document, by Tim Ryan, Gamasutra, October 19, 1999

7. What remains… • After a “greenlight” meeting… • Preproduction: planning and team building • Production: the game is created • Postproduction: Debugging**, optimization**, game manual, packaging ** Technically, these should occur throughout all phases

8. Preproduction • The (full-blown) Game Design Document is created • Usually developed by a game designer • Either internally or externally • Team selection • Must create a staffing plan • Internally – decide which employees will work • Externally – a bid package must be created

9. Preproduction • Internal Staffing • Must create a job description • Duties • Salary/pay ranges • Use existing employees or hire new ones? • Programmers finish at different times • Pull from other departments? • Hiring new employees takes time

10. Preproduction • External staffing • Use your network to find developers • Typically want the whole GDD to make a bid • NDAs are signed • For the bid package, the developer needs: • Genre, platform, audience, competition • Shipping date • Number of levels, characters, assets • Demo? • Producer collects all questions and creates a common bid package

11. Preproduction • The Development Agreement • A contract, usually developed by the publisher • States the responsibilities of the developer • Create a game that adheres to the design doc • Provide assets • Provide source • States payment within a timeframe of delivery • Intellectual Property (and lawsuits) • Publisher says it owns the IP • Developer says they own patents on the technology • Circumstances of termination of contract

12. Preproduction • The Development Agreement • Milestones • Money is typically dispensed periodically • Neither party can just wait around • Developers usually submit a clearly-defined deliverable • Milestone Approvals • Developer must pay the employees • Payment not released until milestone is accepted (not delivered) • Publisher often has time limit on whether to accept or reject

13. Preproduction • Technical Design Document (TDD) • Usually the first milestone • How the work will be performed • Which technologies will be used • Identify technical challenges • What equipment is needed • Personnel • Task list

14. Preproduction • Scheduling • Milestones • Visual and audio assets (models, cinematics, sounds…) • Demo version • Market materials • Package, manual, strategy guides • License approvals, platform approvals • Meetings • Vacations, holidays, sick time

15. Preproduction • Critical path is in red • Slack is in black (amount of time that can be delayed without causing delay to further tasks) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gantt_chart

16. Preproduction • Scheduling • Start from target date and work backwards • Shipping takes time • Producing the product takes time • Publisher testing takes time • The “Golden Spike”

17. Preproduction • Reducing Time • The “Mythical Man-Month” • Programming takes the longest • Programmers shouldn’t make placeholder assets • Still problems? Cut features… • Note: asking for more time is asking for more $$

18. Preproduction • Budgets • Salary of each employee (plus benefits) • Equipment, rental • Software/license • Supplies • Travel • Have an “executive summary” • P&L (Profit and Loss analysis) – a.k.a. ROI • One last “Green Light” meeting…

19. Production • Milestones means payments • However, nothing to show for the first few months! • Start with art. It’s fast. • Art lists • Includes every art asset • Models, textures, cinematics, UI… • Must describe • File name and descriptive name • File type • Where it’s used and a brief description

20. Production • Naming conventions • The poor programmer! Dashes? Underscores? • Decide the convention up-front • If the filename is incorrect, reject it! • Helps during debugging (printing out filename) • Date?

21. Production • Asset tracking • Assets must be approved • If rejected, why? • Need an entire history/log of each asset Courtesy DassaultSystémes

22. Production • Asset Delivery Formats • For animation, does your engine support: • IKs? • How many bones? • Hierarchical meshes? • Baked meshes? • What else? • Texture formats • Audio formats • My recommendation: create “stick man” assets and test animation before serious modeling

23. Production • Team Dynamics • Programmers are “cold” • Artists are “warm” • Each need to understand what the others do • Worsens with distance (book says differently) • Lots of jealousy within groups • This isn’t just in the game industry…

24. Production • Other potential problems: • Personnel Issues (the slackers) • Design Problems (game should be fun ASAP) • Money Problems (publishers delay payments) • Technical Glitches (especially in new technology) • Change Requests (aka “feature creep”) • Expect this • Usually causes delay in schedule and more $$ • Amend the contract • Schedule Delays (because of all of the above)

25. Production • Audio • Usually done in parallel with art • Sound list of every sound in the game (for every action) • Music (genre, mood, length, looping) • Text (as separate files) • Voice overs • written as a radio script • Usually with the Screen Actors Guild (a union) • May have to audition

26. Production http://web.utk.edu/~rhovland/adv350radiosample.html

27. Production • Audio • Sound Effects • Original or sound effects library • Must be approved and in the correct format • Music • Low budget? Hire a freelance musician • Hire an established popular artist (royalties) • Hire an entire orchestra!

28. Production • First playable demo: • Must have the major “hype” elements • Show to each executive individually • Show to the licensor of the IP • Show to the platform holders (Nintendo, Microsoft) • Show to the entire team and get feedback • This is not the time to take it easy… • Alternatively, iterate on a prototype

29. Production • Production can be broken down into: • Early production: the phase up to the demo • Mid-production: • assets and levels being added • Delays here are hard to recover from • New ideas/features begin to emerge • Late production: • All assets completed, but not coding • QA is testing • Marketing is ramping up – title change!

30. Production • In late production: • Marketing needs screenshots • Hi-res • Shots that aren’t possible in-game (several assets) • “Pretty” developers • E3 demo (whether you like it or not) • Hard deadline (make sure it’s in the schedule) • Demos take time and will likely never ship • Magazines with demos (submit early) • Red flags at this point? Uh oh…

31. Post-production • Post-production: all features and assets have been implemented • Artists long gone • QA is in full swing • Developers still working • Audio engineer still working • People begin to transition to the next project • Performance reviews happen here

32. Postproduction • Localization • It is not just the translation of language (“bring it!”) • It’s more the translation of a culture • Animated blood not allowed in some countries • Swastikas frowned upon in Germany • Need an artful writer for each culture • Different languages use differentspace • Try for a “sim-ship”

33. Postproduction • Other things: • ESRB rating – may have to downgrade violence • Box & Docs • ESRB rating, developer logo?, in-game snapshot(s), platforms, description, features, hardware reqs • Have multiple comps and let team/focus group decide • Critical! Bad box == no $$ • Instruction manual: paper, or plastic? • Strategy guide is extra revenue • Done by game designer

34. Cover/Manual from EverQuest

35. Postproduction • QA • Testers clearly describe how to recreate the bug and why it’s a problem • Submit a ticket using bug-tracking software • DevTrack, TRAC, Mantis, TestTrack • Bugs can be new, open, and closed • Bugs have priority • Test against the GDD and TDD

36. Postproduction • QA folks are people too! • Usually an entry level job (less $$) • Test the same level, over and over and over… • Viewed as an adversarial? • Frustration from bug reports: • WNF – Will Not Fix • CNR – Cannot Replicate • WAD – Works As Designed • NAB – Not A Bug

37. Postproduction • Operations • Console games are produced by the platform • PC games by the publisher • How many should you produce? • Printed materials take longer than DVDs • Registration card • Poster • Insert • DVD manufactures crunch to hit Christmas sales as well! • OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer)

38. Postproduction • The Post-Mortem • Finally! • What went right • What went wrong • What we can learn from the experience http://gamasutra.com/category/production/