242-515 AGD: 4. Game Dev Stages1 Objective to look at the stages in commercial game development, team size, and how to design game levels Animation and

242-515 AGD: 4. Game Dev Stages 1

Objective• to look at the stages in commercial game

development, team size, and how to design game levels

Animation and Games

Development24242-515, Semester 1, 2014-2015

0. 4. Game Development Stages


• 1. Game Development Stages• 2. Development Team Size• 3. Different Level Flow Models• 4. Designing a Level

Outline


1. Game Dev. Stages• 1.Inspiration• 2.

Conceptualization• 3. Protyping• 4. Pitching to a

Publisher• 5. Reaching a Deal

• 6. Implementation• 7. Alpha Stage• 8. Beta Stage• 9. Gold Master• 10. Post-mortem


1.1. Inspiration• Come up with a game idea

• people involved: the lead designer• results: a treatment/design/overview document, the

decision to continue (or stop)

• A treatment document template:• http://digitalworlds.wetpaint.com/page/

Example+Blank+Design+Document


• Write a game concept document:• define the core game features• find/assign developers• estimate budget and due dateo people involved : the designer, programmers,

artists

o A concept document template:o http://digitalworlds.wetpaint.com/page/

Example+Blank+Concept+Document

1.2. Conceptualization


o Build a first prototype as a proof of the concept• allocate about 2-3 months

o Must be finished enough so that it can be used to test the gameplayo include at least one level, and a GUI

o Throw this prototype implementation away after testing• it won't be good enough for the final game!• The Pancake Principle (Fred Brooks)

o “Plan to throw one away, you will anyway.”

1.3. Prototyping


• What should be in the presentation:o game overview and genre profile

o unique selling points• what makes your game stand

out from its competitors?

o proposed technology and target platform/so prototype details

o schedule and budgeto team information

1.4. Pitching to a Publisher


• The game overview should include:o core gameplay mechanics

o how the game is structured into levelso gameplay goals/rewards

o artistic / styling guide (e.g. artwork examples)o do not put coding here

o overview it in the "proposed technogy" section

• The schedule and budget info. must:o be detailed (e.g. use Gantt charts) o be realistic


• The publishers look at you (the developers), but you should also research the prospective publishers:o are they financially stable?o are they appropriate for your kind of game?o do they market / promote their games well?o is there a history of non-payment?o have they produced many titles?

• Sometimes you take what you can get!

1.5. Reaching a Deal


• If a project is accepted, then the developers will have to submit their work in three stages:o Alpha Stageo Beta Stageo Gold Master

• At each stage, the publisher decides whether or not to continue the funding.


o Create the game based on the treatment and concept documents and prototype o update the documents and tools as required

o Duration: 12 months

o People involved: the project leader, programming team, artists

o Outcome: the alpha stage (and toolset)

1.6. Implementation


• At the Alpha stage, a game should:o have all the required features of the design

sufficiently implemented so user testing can be carried out

o be tested by "real" users to find and remove any gameplay flaws

o still contain basic, placeholder assets o simplified audio, models, backgrounds

1.7. Alpha Stage


• At the Beta stage, a game should:o contain all the final content (assets)

o be tested thoroughly for bugs and good gameplay

o be shown to external reviewerso demo versions releasedo game polishing based on feedback

1.8. Beta Stage


• At the Gold Master stage, a game should:o be sent to the platform controllers (where applicable) so

they can carry out a TRC (Technical Requirements Checklist) testo e.g. Apple for inclusion in its App store

o be sent to the press for review

o be sent for production

1.9. Gold Master Stage


• What went right, what went wrong?• Analysis of production, source code• Archive all assets• Analysis of marketing

• Start on the sequel!

1.10. Post-Mortem


• Team size depends on the genre• action/adventure/online games require large teams• mobile and casual games need less people

• Programming is often a smaller part of a project than the art/audio/model content creation.

2. Development Team Size


• Sublogic’s JET (an early flight simulator)o Sublogic later made scenery for Microsoft's flight

simulator

• 3 Programmers• 1 Part-Time Artist• 1 Tester

2.1. Dev. Team 1988

Total: 5


Interplay's Descento Used 3-D polygon engine, not 2-D sprites

• 6 Programmers• 1 Artist• 2 Level Designers• 1 Sound Designer• Off-site Musicians

2.2. Dev. Team 1995

Total: 11


THQ’s AlterEcho• 1 Executive Producer• 1 Producer• 4 Programmers• 2 Game Designers• 1 Writer• 3 Level Designers

2.3. Dev. Team 2002• 3 Character Modelers and

Animators• 1 2D and Texture Artist• 1 Audio Designer• 1 Cinematic Animator• 1 QA Lead and Testers

Total: 19+


2K’s Bioshock• Boston:

o Programmer: 1o Artists and Animators: 15, plus 2 borrowed from Firaxiso Designers: 6 in-house, 1 contracto Audio Developers: 2 in-house, 7 contracto Producers: 3 in-house, 2 contracto Testers: 13 contract, plus 8 on-site testers

• Australia:o Programmers: 12o Artists And Animators: 10o Designers: 5o Audio Developer: 1o Producers: 2o Testers: 1 in-house, 7 contract

• Shanghai:o Artists And Animators: 12o Designers: 3

• ~90 developers, 30 contractors, 8 on-site testers

2.4. Dev. Team 2007


• Star Wars online (~2003)• Development team: 44 people

o 50% Artistso 25% Designerso 25% Programmers

• 3 Producers• "Live" Team (starting at Beta, 6 months before

the finish)o 8 Developerso 50-60 Customer support and 1000 volunteers (to deal

with 200,000 planned users)

2.5. Dev Team for Online Game


• A game consists of levels. There are various standard level models:• Linear• Bottlenecks• Branching• Open• Hubs and Spokes

3. Different Level Flow Models


• Simple; often used in puzzle and casual games• but can is used in action games, such as Half-life

• Challenge is to make the game an interesting experienceo use good graphics, interesting story

3.1. Linear

Start End


• Each bottleneck offers the player choiceso gives the player a feeling of controlo e.g. choose stairs or elevator

• At some point, the different paths convergeo means that the designer does not have to implement too

much contento e.g. the "End" scene is always the same

3.2. Bottlenecks

Start EndBottle-Neck A

Bottle-Neck B


• The branch-points really lead to different endings• The designer has to think up (and implement) many

different interesting pathso time-consuming, resource-hungry

3.3. Branching

Start

Branch Branch

Branch

End A End B End C


• Player has to carry out several tasks, in no particular order.o the final outcome (the "End") depends upon the tasks

completedo e.g. GTA

• Sometimes called a sandbox level

3.4. Open

End

Start

Objective Objective

Objective

Objective


• A hub level has other levels branching off from it• Gives the player a feeling of control, and can help the

developer limit the number of levels• Have the player unlock a few spoke levels at a time

o the player can not enter a level until it is unlockedo e.g. a "bank vault" level

3.5. Hub and Spokes

Start

Level A

Level C

Level B

Level D

hub

spoke


4. Designing a Level• There are various level designing

techniques that may be useful:• Brainstorming• Cell Diagram• Paper Design• Layers


• Involves all the designers, each contributing ideaso ideas should be written up on a board so all the

developers can contribute and change them

o Ideas should consist of levels and the branching between them.

4.1. Brainstorming


• A drawing of the gameplay in a level.

• Consists of levels, with user interactions with the game as the links (arrows)• e.g. opening a door

between rooms

4.2. Cell Diagram


4.3. Paper Design• Draw the level on

graph paper• shows the assets

needed in a level• helps position game

elements in 2D

• Use with cell diagrams to show level changes.

31


• Divide each level into layers• Basic geometry• Gameplay elements• Decoration

• Goodo Can build basic versions,

and extend later o Get early feedbacko Partial assets can be used

• Bado May have to re-implemento Only get overall feedback at endo Working with partial assets

4.4. Layers

level 3level 2level 1

Documents

242-515 AGD: 4. Game Dev Stages1 Objective to look at the stages in commercial game development, team size, and how to design game levels Animation and