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Game Development Life Cycle
Michael Vaganov
Game Development Life-cycle
Time
ConceptGame Pitch
Approval
Planning
“Green Light”
Milestones
Pre-Production Production “The last 90%”
Dram
atic T
ension
Alpha
Beta
Post-Production
Gold
Prototype Sprint
Crunch Time
Concept
• Alone, or in a group.• Start writing down your game idea. Right now!! Use
napkins, pocket notebooks, notepad.exe, anything.• Define the target audience, game play, premise, etc…
Game IdeaYou
(Champion)
Concept
• Expand your idea into something that sounds good, makes sense, and obviously looks doable
• You are selling an adventure.
You
(Champion)
Game Idea
Game Design Document
Game Pitch (presentation,
or elevator speech)
Prototype
Game Pitch
• sell your game idea to someone with money• You initiate with the publisher.
You Game Idea
Game Pitch / Design Doc / Prototype
Publisher(Sponsor)
Game Pitch
• Publisher will try to leave its mark on your idea based on standards & creative input
You Game Idea
PublisherGame Pitch / Design Doc /
Prototype
Game Pitch / Design Doc / Prototype
Approval Process
• Publisher contacts IP holders or other 3rd parties
PublisherGame Pitch / Design Doc /
Prototype
IP holders or other
3rd parties
Approval Process
• Publisher wants your game!– after making a few changes or personal assumptions– And of course, a contract
You Game Idea
Game Pitch / Design Doc / Prototype
Publisher
Planning
• Most current game idea and defined feature set is used to make Technical Design document.
Technical expert
Technical Design
Game Idea
Game Pitch / Design Doc /
Prototype
Planning:Getting a Feature Set with a
Scope Exerciseout of Scope
in Scope
1: Put features and attributes on post it notes. If you want it in the game, and you think it will take more than 5 minutes to do, put it on a post-it note2: As a group, decide where the note goes in he diagram above (in or out of scope). Related features should be near each other.
Planning:Technical Design Document
• Explains technical scope
• Features defined
• Foreseeable technical difficulties identified
• Time and personnel estimated
• Technical work environment defined
Technical Design
Planning:Production Plan and Milestones
• A Producer acts as a Project Manager– makes a Production Plan– sets Milestones
Game Idea
Game Pitch / Design Doc /
Prototype
Production Plan &
MilestonesPublisher’s Producer
(Sponsor)
You
(Champion)
Technical expert
Technical Design
Green-Light:Production Plan and Milestones• TDD used as base• Target estimated
release date• Major work items,
personnel required & dependencies
• Milestone: Expectation for project progress (for evaluation)
Production Plan &
Milestones
Pre-Production
• Gather initial resources (employees, software, knowledge, etc.)
Game DeveloperYou + publisher + coworkers
The Game
Industry
Game Development Life-cycle
Time
Milestones
Pre-Production Production “The last 90%”
Dram
atic T
ension
Alpha
Beta
Post-Production
Gold
Prototype Sprint
Crunch Time
Prototype Sprint
• Version 0.0, or “the Prototype”
• Huge creative engineering effort– Rapid Application Development (RAD)– Sprint (Scrums)– Most often done by one senior programmer
• Huge Project Bottleneck…
Prototype
Milestones
• Publishers watch their investment– User testing, press, schedule changes
Game Developer
Publisher
• Developers manage personal progress
– Code reviews, meetings about bugs & features
Iterative Milestones
• Prototype• Development
– First Playable– “Engineer Builds”– Demo Builds
• Alpha• Beta
– Release Candidate
• Gold
Deployment
InitialPlanning
Emphasis on HighConcept & Stability
Emphasis on Quality& Presentation
Each Milestone Evolves the Game Idea
• Individual Milestones are composed of many work items.
• Work items (art, code, content) – Created in iterative cycles– Individual workers attempt to
implement their individual understanding of The Vision
– Collectively, workers collaboratively change the The Vision
Game Idea
Game Idea
Game Idea
Game Production Cycle• Sales & Marketing• Production
Management• “Design”• Art• Programming• QA• Customer Support
Implementation
Deployment TestingEvaluation
InitialPlanning
Planning
Sales &Sales &MarketingMarketing ProgrammingProgramming
QAQA
ArtArt
DesignDesign
ProductionProductionManagementManagement
Creative
Evaluative
Public Private
CustomerCustomerServiceService
Game Development Life-cycle
Time
Pre-Production Production “The last 90%”
Dram
atic T
ension
Alpha
Beta
Post-Production
Gold
Crunch Time
Crunch Time(AKA “The Death Spiral”)
• Unmet project goals– Mandatory Overtime to meet
deadlines– High-stress may result in “Burn-out”
• Causes– Procrastination– Short-term focus early in the project– Short-sighted production processes
Amount of Time to do it
Amount of Work to Do
Alpha
• Demo is made– Most game functionality, game content, and art present
• First major push to polish the game• Last chance for feature creep!
Game Content
Software
ArtProduction
Plan & Milestones
TestGroups
Suggestions
Game Demo
3rdparties
Game Design
Document
Beta• ‘Feature Freeze’
implemented• Final stabilization
phase• QA grows to test
all aspects of the game
• “Ship it!”
Game Content
Software
Art
Game
Quality Assurance
Programming
UnexpectedInfluence
Gold(final candidate)
• Game is nearly bug free– bugs that exist are too rare,
unknown, or not cost effective to fix.
– KS = Known Shippable
• Final (Gold) copy is made, and ready to be released to the public.
• Schedule the Post Mortem (Project Review)
Programming
Game Content
Software
Art
Game
Post-Production
• Game has been released• Monitor public use of the
game• Patches developed for
problems not caught during Beta
• Updates or sequels are planned based on demand, and evolved
Game
Game Developer& Publisher
PublicGame Idea
Sometimes it works like that anyway…
What about… Leadership? Technical ability? Team funding? Office Politics? Legal/ethical issues? Poor Marketing? Creative slumps?
Schedule miscalculations? Quality management? Technical complications? Market complications? Feature Creep?
Competition? 3rd party issues? …
Your game!
You and your
team’s blood and
sweat and tears!
Right there!!
TheGame
Industry
Appendix
• Job Type Specifics
Production Workflow:Production Management
• Manage teams• Communicate and handle the changing Production Plan
– Schedule slips, new ROI considerations, personnel changes, etc
Programming
Sales & Marketing
Art
QualityAssurance
Design
ProductionManagement
Production Plan &
Milestones
Expectation
UnexpectedInfluence
Production Jobs:Production Management
(& Business Development)• Executive Producer
– oversees multiple projects (the big boss)
• Producer– establish policy, manage schedule, handle contracts, handle
budgeting, staff support, reporting to upper management, interface dev team, interface with press, lead the team, communicate and ensure communication
• Associate Producer & Assistant Producer– assist producer– Assistant Producer is more junior
• Business Development– acquire IP licenses– handle legal issues (terms of service, licensing, etc.)
Production Workflow: Programming
• Work based on an ever-changing Game Design.• QA finds technical flaws (Late production, Alpha, Beta)
– Bugs usually added to bug database
ProgrammingQualityAssurance
Software(the game,
infrastructure, and game making tools)
Game Design Doc
UnexpectedInfluence
Game Idea
Production Jobs: Programming
• Technical Director– technical design, oversee implementation, set tools, hardware,
and code standards• Lead Programmer
– supervises programming team• Engine Programmer
– program core game engine• Graphics Programmer
– program graphics code• Networking Programmer
– database, client/server, network protocol issues
• AI Programmer– make game intelligent
Production Jobs:Differences between…
• Normal worker
• Lead
• Manager
• Director
Goal
Goal
Production Jobs: Programming (continued…)
• Physics Programmer– program collision and particle systems
• Tools Programmer– program tools for internal production
• Audio Programmer– program sound into game
• Interface Programmer– program graphical user interface
• QA Programmer– program to assist QA (cheat codes, automated test tools)
• Associate (junior) Programmer– assigned junior programming tasks
Production Workflow: Design
• Keepers of the Game Idea and GDD– Game Idea changes (hopefully few) should be documented
• Develop non-code, non-art content– Story, dialog, scripts, maps, characters, items, game balance, ...
• Content and design flaws found by QA
DesignQualityAssurance
Game Content(story, characters,
levels, items, enemies, etc…)
Game Idea
UnexpectedInfluence
Game Design
Doc
Production Jobs: Design
• Creative Director– direct creative vision and art style
• Design Director– support design team, guide design process, document design
process
• Lead Designer– supervise design team, assemble documentation, high-level
level design
• Interface Designer– layout content, navigation, usability features
• Level Designer– building the game world, story, scripting, dialogue
Production Workflow: Art
• Artists and designers often work collaboratively• QA finds technical flaws in game art• Pitch Materials
ArtQualityAssurance
Art Content(concept art, character art,
models, textures, icons, sound, etc…)
DesignSales &
Marketing
Production Jobs: Art
• Art Director– oversee art team, set art process
• Lead Artist– supervises art team
• Concept Artist– draw game environment, props, characters, storyboards, etc.
• Technical Artist– interfacing art with game code, scripting game content
• Modeler– create 3D models with tools like Maya, 3D Studio Max, etc.
• Texture Artist– skin 3D models
• Animator– animate 3D models
Production Jobs: Art (Sound)
• Audio Director– manage audio department, interface with audio
programmer
• Composer– creates musical score
• Sound Designer– create sound effects, ambient sound, collects and
edits sound (foley sounds)
• Voiceover Artist (Voice Actor) – provide voice for characters
Production Workflow: QA
• Test the quality of products and give feedback• QA also determines the state of production significantly
Quality Assurance
Game Content
Programming
Design
Art
Software
Art Content
Production
Production Jobs:Quality Assurance
• Testing Manager– responsible for several projects, lead testers, manages testing
budget, interacts with management• Lead Tester
– works as tester while supervising testing team, manages data entry, determines bugs importance, and summarizes status to managers
• Compatibility Tester– tests the game on multiple platforms, localization testing
• Playability Tester– play early release, offer suggestions, communicate heavily
• Alpha/Beta Tester– play the product before release, submit bugs, offer suggestions
(game balance, altered, functionality, etc)
Production Workflow:Sales & Marketing
• Contracts for distribution• Game advertising, promotional material• ‘buzz’ or ‘hype’• Track sales with producers during Post-Production.
Sales &Marketing
Advertising & Promotional
Materials
Game Content
Art
Game Demo
Buzz / Hype
Contracts
Production Jobs:Sales & Marketing
• Promotion– organize contests, trials, giveaways, and promotional
merchandise
• Sales– acquire shelf space, try to bundle with hardware
• Advertising– create advertising for TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, the
internet, etc.
• Public Relations– organize previews, reviews, interviews, articles, stories, etc.
Post-Production Jobs:Customer Support
• Customer Service– help solve customer specific issues
• Community Management– organize and manage newsletters, track
modding groups, fan sites, and hackers
• Maintenance Programmers– Build patches, port the game to different
platforms