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