Developing Video Games (2024) PDF

Developing Video Games: An Overview Why an Overview? So much goes into game development that it’s impossible to cover it all in a small slideshow. And to be honest, most of the micro elements are…boring: endless meetings endless hours developing and refining assets and en...

Developing Video Games: An Overview Why an Overview? So much goes into game development that it’s impossible to cover it all in a small slideshow. And to be honest, most of the micro elements are…boring: endless meetings endless hours developing and refining assets and environments endless hours playtesting to locate and fix bugs. If you really care….  The Door Problem 2014 blog post by Ubisoft designer Liz England (Ubisoft Toronto) who describes game design as “The Door Problem” LIZ ENGLAND: “One of the reasons I like this example is because it’s so mundane. There’s an impression that game design is flashy and cool and about crazy ideas and fun all the time. But when I start off with, “Let me tell you about doors…” it cuts straight to the everyday practical considerations.” What influences game production? Available hardware/tech: game engines, VR Distribution/ Platform ownership: console, PC, indie, mobile, steaming, subscription The global economy: disposable income Competition between publishers: exclusivity Venture capitalists/ kickstarter: investors Cultural factors and trends: zeitgeist If you’re AAA: Money, money, money, and sometimes passion!!! If you’re Indie: Passion, love, art, creativity, and money!!! ISSUE #1: Console Wars—Over? Microsoft has adopted a games as service model: play anywhere, but in our ecosystem (xbox, PC, xCloud, mobile). Gamepass (25 million subs), purchasing Bethesda, purchasing Activision/Blizzard, endless backwards compatibility Sony claims it will still develop new consoles. Nintendo has always been an outlier, pushing technology as it sees fit. Apple, Google, and Amazon have splintered the market (a little) too. ISSUE #2: Studio acquisitions/Consolidation ISSUE #3: Unpaid OT for “CRUNCH” and “POLISH” Issues of unpaid and (not mandatory but strongly encouraged) overtime are a big industry concern: workers being taken advantage of. Burn out. Stress. Health Issues. https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018- 10-25-the-human-cost-of-red-dead- redemption-2 See also the 2004 “EA SPOUSE” blogpost, ensuing class action lawsuit, and (finally) back pay for overtime From ROCKSTAR to NAUGHTY DOG Solution to ISSUE #3: UNIONS? ISSUE #4: Sexual harassment… ISSUES #5 & #6: Layoffs and the cost of AAA development. AAA Game Development Teams In the past, smaller (obviously). Super Mario Bros. 3: Made in 1990, with 10 people for $800,000. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: made almost 20 years later in 2009 with over 200 contributors Red Dead Redemption: Made in 2010 and lists 1374 contributors in the instruction booklet (yes I counted). ISSUE #7: CD PROJEKT RED and the CYBERPUNK 2077 LAUNCH DEBACLE (ie: RUSHED LAUNCHES) Worker exploitation Mismanagement Broken, bug-ridden game is shipped Refunds Consider outrage and mistrust Lawsuits and investigations ISSUE #8: Volatility (and success)  The “supply chain” Hardware of VG Industry Manufacturer Game Distributor Publisher Developer Consumer Retail Biggest AAA studios in Game Development. Epic Ubisoft Rock Star Square Enix Konami Capcom Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo EA The role of “Publishers” in Game Development As in the film industry, sometimes a major studio/company will buy the publishing rights and distribute a game (for a profit); other times, a major studio might simply buy up the indie studio and the game rights all at once: Dark Souls: Made by From Software (published by Bandai Namco Entertainment) Left 4 Dead: Made by Turtle Rock Studios (purchased by Valve, now indie again) Destiny: Made by Bungie (published by Activision, now Bungie and Sony) Sometimes publishers INSIST on changes to a game so that it will sell better—changes that are NOT always ideal, artistically and thematically Biggest Publishers in Game Development Consider how the Dead Space franchise was developed by Visceral Studios, but was published by EA (who also owns the studio and the game rights). Consider how EA demanded the studio create DS3 to be more action oriented. Profit and Loss: Dollars and Sense Indie games can afford to take more creative risks given their (usually) smaller budgets. AAA studios want to make a profit to recoup significantly higher production and marketing expenses. Console manufacturers usually take a loss on hardware sales but recoup these via licensing from software makers. Obviously digital sales net studios and publishers more money given they cut out the “middlemen” of retail and distribution. Thus, trying to breakdown who gets what from an $80 game is difficult based on various negotiations and distribution options. The Stages of Game Development Planning and Pre-production Game pitch, game concept, and official design documents are created. Sometimes prototypes too. Perhaps a “game proposal” is given to attract funding. The proposal is much more detailed: covers market analysis, technical issues, budget projections, AV, and gameplay. Functional and technical specifications described in the design document that can run hundreds of pages. Consists of genre, game story, concept art, mechanics, progression and game world design. Monetization as well. Iron Man (2008): A Case Study of a AAA Title Consider these ideas…. “Players have complete freedom to move anywhere in the environment and make seamless transitions between ground combat and open air flight” “Players will direct power to different parts of Iron Man’s suit, creating a variety of unique attacks.” Production: Teams and Areas of Expertise Design, Programming, Art, Audio, Writing, Testing Game Director: like a film director—person at the top with the vision. Designers: can be level, progression, environment, etc. Programming: game engine, AI, HUD, interfaces, etc Art: animators, modellers, texture artists, character animators, lighting, etc. MANY, MANY people create games. When was the last time you sat through all the credits of your favourite game? Know Your AAA Game Designers Cliff “CliffyB” Hideo Kojima: Will Wright: The Sid Meier: The Neil Druckmann: Bleszinski: Gears of Metal Gear Sims franchise Civilization The Last of Us War 1-3. Solid franchise franchise But who designed Fallout 3, GTA V, or Skyrim for that matter? The answer is HUGE TEAMS. The credit for most AAA games rarely falls to a mere one individual. Today, indie devs are the new rock star visionaries IMO. Indie Games and Development Teams Stardew Valley (2016): Developed by Eric Barone (right). Undertale (2015): Developed by 2 people (Temmie Chang and Toby Fox--centre) Minecraft (2011): Developed by 3 people, among them, Markus Persson DOOM (1993): Developed by 9 people, among them John Romero and John Carmack (right bottom) FnaF (2014): Developed by Scott Cawthon. Game Engines 101 Based on the design document, the developer makes a decision regarding the game engine. The “game engine” is an established program code that allows game developers to create the architecture of the game without rewriting all the laws of game physics and AI from scratch. It does not designate or provide content (discussed more in Week 5) Companies will license their engines to other developers. Back to IRON MAN (2008) Jeffrey Tseng, Iron Man Game Director “As you progress through the game, the money you earn by completing missions can be used to upgrade the key systems of your suit. The better you do in the missions, the more money you have to spend. One of the areas that we considered carefully was how the purchasing of upgrades would work. We didn't want the player to be tied down in one configuration, so we decided unlock upgrades in sections. Once a section has been upgraded, a variety of parts for that section are available.” RE: IRON MAN (2008)—obviously celebrity voices can drive up the budget considerably Milestones: Key Stages within Stages Game design/production is an ever changing/fluid process: consider how many times games get delayed, scrapped, or reworked. That said, certain key “milestones” are universal to the process. Milestones: Key Stages within Stages Pre-Alpha Stages: “prototype,” “vertical slice,” “first playable,” and “feature complete.” Alpha: The game is playable and contains all features and content. Used for internal testing to fix bugs (ie: actively TRYING to break the game) and test for playability and balance. Beta: Released to the public. Again, playable but not complete. May contain bugs or lack some features. Many games are released as closed/open betas so devs. can get valuable feedback. Gold Master: Final release to the public. Ideally complete and unbroken (or at least planned with a “Day One” patch….) IRON MAN (2008): The Reviews? Imagine devoting years of your life to working on a game, only for it to be trashed in the press? Or, maybe during development you knew it would be terrible, but pushed forward anyway? Such is the video game industry and development. They can’t all be Skyrim. After The Release? What now? Patches: More bugs to fix. Always. DLC: Either free or paid content to keep gamers playing/interested Ports: Porting the game to different consoles/platforms New Features: Add multiplayer, add a Vs. mode—you name it. Monetization: Micro-transactions of in-game items for cosmetic or gameplay advantage purposes. Sequel development: No rest for the wicked. Get back to work immediately and starting making the game’s sequel! IRON MAN (2008): The Epilogue With the critical and commercial failure of Iron Man, Sega disbanded Secret Level, and kept a few employees to restart the studio under a new name, Sega Studios San Francisco. The new studio didn't have the autonomy the previous studio did, with Sega directly controlling all of its ventures. On April 2, 2010, Sega announced that Sega Studios San Francisco would be closed with the release of Iron Man 2 (which also got horrible reviews). Conclusion: AAA. Mid-tier. INDIE AAA Development: more money, higher stakes, high profile titles, more commercial appeal, but not always as glamourous as it seems. Indie: more control, more shared profit, more opportunity for creativity, but potentially MUCH more risky too. Mid-Tier: A viable option, but sometimes not as feasible. Overall, beware mismanagement and lack of innovation. Epilogue: Hope and Satisfaction Consider Jonathan Blow: finances Braid (2008) himself for 100K. Great success. Funds The Witness (2016) also a massive success. Consider Playdead, makers of Limbo (2010) and Inside (2016). Consider London’s own Digital Extremes and their success with Warframe. Other London studios: Big Blue Bubble, Tiny Titan, Doom Turtle and Big Viking Games.