CO1301 Games Concepts Week 5 Commercial Games Development an Overview

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CO1301 - Games ConceptsWeek 5Commercial Games
Development - an Overview

• Laurent Noel

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References

• Rabin, Introduction to Game Development
• 7.1 "Game Production and Project Management"
• 7.2 "Game Industry Roles and Economics"

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Lecture Outline

• Initial Steps
• Development Breakdown
• Key Development Areas
• Project Management
• Testing Delivery

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Part 1 Initial Steps

• There are several initial steps that need to be
  taken before starting development on a new game
• Create some game proposals
• Reach agreement within the development team /
  company to pursue a particular game
• Create a full game design
• Secure funding
• This order is typical, but there are different
  situations.
• E.g. An informal team making a freeware game may
  only need steps 2 3.

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Game Selection

• We have looked at steps 1 3, game proposals and
  designs, in previous lectures.
• The second step, agreeing which game to develop,
  is an executive decision taken by company
  managers.
• These decisions usually reflect the interests of
  the development team, but business needs will
  also be considered
• Marketing concerns
• Publisher interest
• Company identity

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Game Funding

• Usually game development will not commence until
  the developer has secured funding from a
  publisher.
• A cash-rich development company may fund
  themselves.
• As would a publishers in-house development team.
• As part of the funding agreement a set of
  milestones must be agreed.
• A milestone is a demonstrable stage in
  development.
• Typically a developer is paid each month,
  provided that months milestones have been
  reached.
• We will look at more aspects of games publishing
  contracts later in the course.

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Part 2 Development Breakdown

• A development team has four main subgroups
• Programmers
• Artists (Audio Visual)
• Game / Level Designers
• Management
• Teams range in size from 6 to 100.
• Larger teams are usually used for major releases
  or art-heavy games.

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Development Timeline

• Development goes through several distinct stages
  illustrated here.
• This diagram is quite general, but would be
  different for some games.
• E.g. a football game would have more time spent
  on core game play rather than levels.
• Also, some games may have more time spent on
  characters than levels.

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Part 3 Development Areas - Programming

• The programmers usually develop in C using a
  standard development environment like Microsoft
  Visual Studio.
• They will also use game specific tools and APIs
  (Application Programmer Interfaces), e.g. DirectX
  or the Havoc physics engine.
• The TL-Engine that you are using is an example of
  a games API.
• The programming and program design techniques
  that you are learning in your other modules are
  also applicable to creating games.
• Dont consider games development as a different
  process. Although it is more creative, at its
  core it is an ordinary computing discipline.

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Development Areas Artwork

• The artists will realise the concept
  illustrations using 3D modelling tools such as 3D
  Studio Max or Maya.
• They will also create animations for the
  characters and objects in the game.
• And create 2D graphics if necessary.

• 3D modelling tools can be programmed using
  scripts.
• Scripts are used to help export models into the
  game engines
• This is one area where art and programming
  combine.

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Development Areas Game Design

• The Game designers will continue to work on the
  game after the design is complete.
• They will monitor the game play code and
  decisions.
• Game designers are not usually a separate group
  often they also work on the programming or
  artwork.

• Level designers work on both sides, combining
  the art and technology.
• They work on the specific environments and
  game-play events.
• They often use custom tools later released as
  modding tools.

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The Art / Programming Interface

• The collaboration of artists and programmers is
  unusual to games development.
• The interaction is complex and each side must
  understand the others work to a degree.
• This aspect of games development can be a source
  of inspiration or cause great friction.
• Those who understand the processes on both sides
  are highly sought after.
• Although there are very, very few people who are
  commercially skilled in both art and programming.

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Other Requirements

• There are many other parts needed to make a game
• Sound effects and speech
• Motion capture
• Front-end menu programming and artwork
• Network and other hardware support
• Story text and localisation
• Instruction manual
• Etc.

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Part 4 Project Management

• The game publisher will assign a producer to
  monitor progress on the game.
• The producer will visit the developer
  periodically to ensure milestones are being met.
• The producer is responsible for signing off
  each milestone payment.
• This is the most critical time for a developer.
• Both developer and publisher will usually perform
  project management to determine expected
  completion dates although their models may not
  match!
• The publisher can usually enforce game design
  changes if slippage occurs.

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Part 5 Testing Delivery

• A game reaches the alpha stage when the major
  components have been developed, but no testing
  has been performed.
• A game reaches the beta stage when all the
  components are complete and the developer has
  performed some testing, although the game may
  still have bugs.
• Note that the terms alpha and beta are
  sometimes given slightly different meanings.

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Part 5 Testing Delivery

• At this point the game will be formally tested,
  in a facility chosen by the publisher.
• Console games must be virtually perfect before
  release.
• PC games are more prone to bugs, due to the
  variety of hardware.
• The publisher will create a final Gold Master
  disc. It is sent for reproduction, and copies
  distributed to the shops.