Game Development Life Cycle

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Game Development Life Cycle

• Michael Vaganov

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Game Development Life-cycle
Crunch Time
Alpha
Prototype Sprint
Green Light
Dramatic Tension
Beta
Planning
Milestones
Gold
Approval
Post-Production
Game Pitch
Concept
Pre-Production
Production
The last 90

• Time

3
Concept
Game Idea
You (Champion)

• 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

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Concept
You (Champion)
Game Idea
Game Design Document
Game Pitch (presentation, or elevator speech)
Prototype

• Expand your idea into something that sounds good,
  makes sense, and obviously looks doable
• You are selling an adventure.

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Game Pitch
Publisher (Sponsor)
You
Game Idea
Game Pitch / Design Doc / Prototype

• sell your game idea to someone with money
• You initiate with the publisher.

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Game Pitch
Publisher
You
Game Idea
Game Pitch / Design Doc / Prototype
Game Pitch / Design Doc / Prototype

• Publisher will try to leave its mark on your idea
  based on standards creative input

7
Approval Process
IP holders or other 3rd parties
Publisher
Game Pitch / Design Doc / Prototype

• Publisher contacts IP holders or other 3rd parties

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Approval Process
Publisher
You
Game Idea
Game Pitch / Design Doc / Prototype

• Publisher wants your game!
• after making a few changes or personal
  assumptions
• And of course, a contract

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Planning
Game Idea
Technical Design
Technical expert
Game Pitch / Design Doc / Prototype

• Most current game idea and defined feature set is
  used to make Technical Design document.

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PlanningGetting a Feature Set with a Scope
Exercise

• out 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 note 2 As a group, decide where the
note goes in he diagram above (in or out of
scope). Related features should be near each
other.
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PlanningTechnical Design Document

• Explains technical scope
• Features defined
• Foreseeable technical difficulties identified
• Time and personnel estimated
• Technical work environment defined

Technical Design
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PlanningProduction Plan and Milestones
Production Plan Milestones
Game Idea
You (Champion)
Publishers Producer (Sponsor)
Game Pitch / Design Doc / Prototype
Technical expert
Technical Design

• A Producer acts as a Project Manager
• makes a Production Plan
• sets Milestones

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Green-LightProduction 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
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Pre-Production
The Game Industry
Game Developer You publisher coworkers

• Gather initial resources (employees, software,
  knowledge, etc.)

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Game Development Life-cycle
Crunch Time
Alpha
Prototype Sprint
Dramatic Tension
Beta
Milestones
Gold
Post-Production
Pre-Production
Production
The last 90

• Time

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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
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Milestones
Publisher

• Publishers watch their investment
• User testing, press, schedule changes

Game Developer

• Developers manage personal progress
• Code reviews, meetings about bugs features

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Iterative Milestones
Emphasis on High Concept Stability

• Prototype
• Development
• First Playable
• Engineer Builds
• Demo Builds
• Alpha
• Beta
• Release Candidate
• Gold

Initial Planning
Iterative Development
Deployment
Emphasis on Quality Presentation
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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
Iterative Development
Game Idea
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Game Production Cycle

• Sales Marketing
• Production Management
• Design
• Art
• Programming
• QA
• Customer Support

Creative
Art
Implementation
Planning
Initial Planning
Design
Sales Marketing
Production Management
Programming
Public
Private
Customer Service
QA
Deployment
Testing
Evaluation
Evaluative
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Game Development Life-cycle
Crunch Time
Alpha
Dramatic Tension
Beta
Gold
Post-Production
Pre-Production
Production
The last 90

• Time

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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 Work to Do
Amount of Time to do it
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Alpha
3rd parties
Game Demo
Software
Test Groups
Game Design Document
Game Content
Art
Production Plan Milestones
Suggestions

• Demo is made
• Most game functionality, game content, and art
  present
• First major push to polish the game
• Last chance for feature creep!

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Beta
Unexpected Influence

• Feature Freeze implemented
• Final stabilization phase
• QA grows to test all aspects of the game
• Ship it!

Game
Software
Game Content
Art
Quality Assurance
Programming
25
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)

Game
Software
Game Content
Art
Programming
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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 Developer Publisher
Public
Game
Game Idea
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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?

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Your game!
The Game Industry

• You and your
• teams blood and
• sweat and tears!
• Right there!!

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Appendix

• Job Type Specifics

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Production WorkflowProduction Management
Art
Expectation
Programming
Production Management
Production Plan Milestones
Quality Assurance
Unexpected Influence
Design
Sales Marketing

• Manage teams
• Communicate and handle the changing Production
  Plan
• Schedule slips, new ROI considerations, personnel
  changes, etc

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Production JobsProduction 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.)

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Production Workflow Programming
Game Design Doc
Programming
Quality Assurance
Game Idea
Software (the game, infrastructure, and game
making tools)
Unexpected Influence

• Work based on an ever-changing Game Design.
• QA finds technical flaws (Late production, Alpha,
  Beta)
• Bugs usually added to bug database

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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

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Production JobsDifferences between

• Normal worker
• Lead
• Manager
• Director

Goal
Goal
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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

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Production Workflow Design
Design
Game Idea
Quality Assurance
Unexpected Influence
Game Design Doc
Game Content (story, characters, levels, items,
enemies, etc)

• 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

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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

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Production Workflow Art
Art
Quality Assurance
Art Content (concept art, character art, models,
textures, icons, sound, etc)
Design
Sales Marketing

• Artists and designers often work collaboratively
• QA finds technical flaws in game art
• Pitch Materials

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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

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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

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Production Workflow QA
Programming
Software
Quality Assurance
Game Content
Production
Design
Art
Art Content

• Test the quality of products and give feedback
• QA also determines the state of production
  significantly

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Production JobsQuality 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)

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Production WorkflowSales Marketing
Contracts
Game Demo
Advertising Promotional Materials
Sales Marketing
Art
Game Content
Buzz / Hype

• Contracts for distribution
• Game advertising, promotional material
• buzz or hype
• Track sales with producers during Post-Production.

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Production JobsSales 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.

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Post-Production JobsCustomer 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