Chapter 7.1 Game Production

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Chapter 7.1Game Production Management
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Overview

• Mainstream Video games and computer games are
  made by large teams of people.
• Big
• Expensive
• Time-consuming projects
• Chapter 7 is from point of view of the Producer
  (a.k.a. director or project manager)
• Producers can work for game developers
• Manage the developers team in fulfilling a game
  development contract

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Five Phases of Making a Game

1. Concept Phase
2. Preproduction
3. Production
4. Postproduction
5. AfterMarket

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Concept Phase

• Publisher has decided to pursue a game concept.
• Producer usually first person assigned to work on
  new project
• Game concepts usually not brainchild of game
  designer
• Usually based on past successes or business deals
• Where concepts come from
• Sequels based on previous successful games
• Film licenses
• Technology re-use (characters, add new features
  inherent in other games that are gaining wide
  consumer acceptance)
• Occasionally, original concepts get greenlit

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Concept Phase cont.

• Producing the conceptual design
• Written by Producer or Game Designer
• Producer can hire internal or external game
  designer (sworn to secrecy)
• Requires several meetings
• Describes story and character developments to
  occur
• Outline improvements
• Game
• UI
• Level design
• Address ways game will reclaim users
• If the game was a licensed concept
• Producer would have to discuss concept with the
  licensor.
• Working Title (Important Marketing Tool)
• For Sequels you just need a subtitle
• Producer creates executive summary (just
  highlights)
• Concept Document needs to be brief, yet provide
  satisfactory answers to big questions

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Concept Phase cont.

• Green Light Committee
• Producer supplies
• Printed copies of conceptual design
• PowerPoint presentation
• Games are installed in meeting room
• Folks Present
• Executives of Publishers studio, distribution,
  licensing, sales, marketing, financial and
  international divisions (by teleconference or
  video conference)
• The meeting could go smoothly ? or not ?.
• If all goes well the Producer will get approve
  the Green Light to proceed and use the Publishing
  companys resources
• Money, personnel, equipment, office space, and
  internal network

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Pre-Production Phase

• Producer needs GDD written by internal or
  freelance designer and and selects development
  team
• GDD (Game Design Document)
• Team Selection
• Internal staffing plan (management challenge)
• Existing employees (same roles)
• Promotions, transfers (new roles)
• Hire new employees

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External Development

• Selecting an external developer
• Previously used developers
• Other sources (e.g. IGDA and Gamasutra.com)
• Referrals (producers, developers)
• Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
• Bid package
• Treatment or GDD to date
• Publishers expectations for product
• Developer needs to know
• Genre, Platform, Target Audience and Competition
• Bid format and due date
• Triple-A or budget title?
• How many levels, characters, or missions game
  entails?
• Special technology or features
• Demo? Specs? Demo Due date?
• Some developers ask for royalties on the games
  sales. Producer will want lower upfront cost
  (advance) if royalties are a part of the picture.
  

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The Development Agreement

• Developers obligations
• Publishers obligations
• IP ownership
• Warranties
• Termination
• Milestones

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Milestones

• Highly detailed, specific
• Quantifiable, measurable
• Due dates
• Payment amounts (upon acceptance)
• Avoid terms like alpha and beta unless
  clearly defined
• Milestone approval cycles

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The TechnicalDesign Document

• GDD is a statement of the problem TDD is a
  statement of the solution
• Foundation for the programming work
• Identify technical challenges
• Plan for technical solutions
• Set forth asset format guidelines

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Scheduling

• Generate task lists from GDD TDD
• Plan everything
• Programming
• Assets
• Demos
• Approvals
• Green lights
• Vacations, holidays
• QA
• Work backwards from completion

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The Golden Spike

• May 10, 1869 Promontory, Utah
• Start at both ends, work towards the middle
  (alpha and/or beta)
• The back end cannot be compressed
• Determine target beta date to achieve desired
  ship date
• Can game achieve beta by target date?

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Adjusting the Schedule

• Add people to reduce development time?
• Deliver assets on time
• Dont make programmers wait for assets
• Prioritize feature set
• Lower priority features to be done later if
  possible
• Look for bottlenecks
• (feature-technology interdependencies)

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Budgeting

• Personnel costs
• Salary x time x involvement
• Developer/Contractor payments
• Equipment software
• Supplies
• Travel meals
• Shipments

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Profit Loss Analysis (PL)

• Costs
• Production budget
• Cost of goods (COGs)
• Marketing
• Licensor royalties
• Developer royalties
• Revenues
• Projected Sales
• Wholesale price
• Ancillary sales (OEM, strategy guides)

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Kickoff Green Light

• Producers plan for the project
• GDD
• TDD
• Schedule
• Budget
• Green light
• Executives
• IP owner (licensor)
• Platform holder

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Production Phase

• Programming now underway
• Kicking off tasks art creation
• Art lists
• Art asset file naming conventions
• Art asset tracking
• Art asset approval cycles
• Art asset delivery formats

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Red Flag Spotting

• The usual causes of red flags
• Team conflicts
• Personnel issues
• Design problems
• Money troubles
• Technical glitches
• Change requests
• Schedule delays
• Take immediate action

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Kicking Off Tasks - Audio

• Sound list
• Music specification
• Story text
• Voice-over script
• Creation of sounds
• Creation or licensing of music
• Recording of voice-overs

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First Playable Proof of Concept

• Keeping everyone on board
• Licensor(s)
• Platform holder(s)
• Executives
• The Team
• The Cerny method
• Keeping the momentum going

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Phases Within Phases

• Pre-production
• Production
• Early production
• Mid-production
• Alpha
• Late production
• Beta
• Post-production

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The Multitasking Producer

• Time management
• Managing mid-production
• Expecting the unexpected
• Red flags in mid-production
• Design by committee consensus?
• Late production

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Working with Marketing

• Working title ? final title
• Screen shots
• E3 demo
• Magazine demo
• Platform holder promo

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Post-Production

• Personnel transfers
• Localizations
• ESRB rating
• Box docs
• Strategy guide

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Quality Assurance

• Test plan
• The QA database
• QA the view from inside
• The QA-producer relationship

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The Light at the End of the Tunnel

• Operations
• OEM bundled versions
• Post mortem