Building an MMOG for SNS audiencesQuang Dang – GSSJuly 2012

Who am I?

I’m from GSS, the studio behind:

What is this all about?

• Why and how we create an entirely new game.

• How we went through the development progress.

• Lessons learned.

Introduction

Introduction

• What is “MMO”?

MMO Games

Introduction

• What is “MMO”?– Massively Multiplayer Online

• But not only MMORPG…– MMOFPS, MMOACG, MMORTS…

• “MMO” = real-time interaction between players.

• What about “SNS” games?

SNS Games

SNS Games

Introduction

• What is “SNS” game?– Based on SNS platform, simple, easy to

engage, millions of players, viral factor.

• Differences between MMO and SNS– Hard-core players vs. first-time players.– Higher interaction & community.– ARPPU: MMO is 10x more than SNS.– Paying rate: MMO is 3x more than SNS.

Introduction

• Why we need an “MMOSNS” game?– High ARPU + huge user base = success!– Rapid development.– We cannot catch up other developers

without original games.

Game Concept

How it all started?

• Preliminary analysis at the end of 2010 pointed out:– A new trend: web-based games.– Casual games took over all game rooms.– Huge SNS user base.

• What is our next game going to be?

Zing Me: The Rising Star

Gunny DAU on Zing Me (Apr 2011)

The Ideal Game

Rapid Development

Web-based

SNS Users

Gameplay

SNS Casual

Monetization

$MMO$

Customers

• So we will have a new casual game, but who will be our customers?– Teen & students: from age 13 to 24.– Playing time: 2-4 hours per day.– Spend 150k-250k VND per month.

• And they’re interesting in what?– Appearance, outfit.– Bikes, vehicles, phones.– Dating, making friends.– Music, entertainment.

Market Research

• Online Survey:– 3 phases: total ~70k samples.– Multiple direction questions, different sets for

MMO and SNS users

3%

12%

24%

37%

18%

4%

Độ tuổi

Dưới 13 tuổi13 tuổi – 15 tuổi16 tuổi – 18 tuổi19 tuổi – 22 tuổi

And the game is …

• Code name: X11.• Kick started on April 2011.• New genre: mix of

– Simulation: farm, city.– Social: interaction, help friends.– Casual: multi-player mini games.

• Goal:– Alpha version by end of 2011.– ARPPU: comparable to ACG

games (>100k VND).

Cash Cow

WorkCollect moneyMini games

Home

Player

Pet

Space

CoffeeVehicle ShopCinema

Shop

Earn money• Do job on interior

• Collect money

Shop• Clothing• Pet• Vehicle• Interior

Decorate• Apparel• Home

Social• Chat• Interact• Show down

Entertain• Mini-game• Music• Video

Original game loop design

Key Selling Points

• Cute art style, 3D animation.• ‘SNS look & feel’: simple gameplay, virality

design.• Real-time interaction.• Character and house decorations.• Room-based, contents-oriented, easy to expand.

Development

Timeline

April 11

June 11

August 11

Oct 11

Dec 11

Feb 12

April 12

June 12

Prototype

Prototype

• Technical prototype released at the end of April.

• Basic game design for avatar decoration and farming.

• 3D team slowly move from TTK to casual style.

• 2D team drawing truly ‘2D’ concept.

Timeline

April 11

June 11

August 11

Oct 11

Dec 11

Feb 12

April 12

June 12

Prototype

Pre-Production

Pre-Production

• Prototype looks good, but what about the real one?

• This is what we got after 2 months.

Pre-Production• Issues:

– Customizable room graphic quality is much lower than the prototype.

– Farming with an avatar is not fun enough! 3D is completely different!

Work-around solution: forget the farming and economy, just focus on avatar and home decoration first.

Timeline

April 11

June 11

August 11

Oct 11

Dec 11

Feb 12

April 12

June 12

Prototype

Pre-Production

1st build with UI

The Sims Social went beta!

Timeline

April 11

June 11

August 11

Oct 11

Dec 11

Feb 12

April 12

June 12

Prototype

Pre-Production

1st built with UI

Server Integration

Announced PigFarm launch at Japan press

conference

Sep-Oct 11

• Improved graphics by adding sfx and lightmap for objects.

• Simple design for game economy.

• Globalization framework. • Cartoon art style

redefined.• Game server intergrated.

Timeline

April 11

June 11

August 11

Oct 11

Dec 11

Feb 12

April 12

June 12

Prototype

Pre-Production

1st built with UI

Server Integration

Public Alpha!

Not really

Internal Alpha

Internal Alpha

• Issues:– Negative feedback on graphics quality.– Servers did not pass stress tests

Unable to release to public alpha.

Major changes in art – Art style: more deformed, detailed

texture.– Production pipeline: 3d artists now have

more room for creativity.

Internal Alpha

Timeline

April 11

June 11

August 11

Oct 11

Dec 11

Feb 12

April 12

June 12

Prototype

Pre-Production

1st built with UI

Server Integration

Internal Alpha

The New X11

X11 Reboot• Art:

– New character models.– Re-work on 70% of home decoration and outfit, 90% public scenes.

• Tech:– Switched from framework to feature driven development.– Minimal download is top priority.

• Design:– Core game loop suiatble for SNS/SLG and PvP users.– Clear monetization points and strategy.

• Process:– Multiple Scrum teams for features.– Kanban for production team.

New Art Style

New Design

Casual users

• Do jobs• Earn

money• Buy home

décor, outfit.

• Compete by house values

Aggressive users

• Do public jobs

• PvE, collect skills.

• Fusion skill, outfit.

• Compete by PvP

Both

• Chat, interact

• Make friend• Invite

friends• Complete

collections• Gain levels

The new name

X11

Timeline

April 11

June 11

August 11

Oct 11

Dec 11

Feb 12

April 12

June 12

Prototype

Pre-Production

1st built with UI

Server Integration

Internal Alpha

The New X11

Closed Beta

Crunch mode for CB

• 1 sprint per 2 weeks.• Parallel features development by 4

scrum teams.• Code refactor by framework team.• Daily scrum meeting, weekly

overnight camp.• Finally, CB launched on June 20

The barrier

~60% drop in users due to slow Flash loading and Unity web plugin installation

The challenge of plugin installation

Open Beta – July 14

Lesson learned

Lesson learned

• Purely graphics prototype may cost you a lot of re-work later.

• Agile process requires an Agile-supported framework from the beginning.

• Dedicated asset management and game balance really helps.

• Agile spirit (not process) worked well with mixed-level engineering team.

A passion for creation