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Produção e Desenvolvimento de Jogos Digitais: Game Design Teacher

The document outlines the five phases of making a video game: concept, pre-production, production, post-production, and aftermarket. It describes the producer's role in managing a team through each phase, from developing the initial concept and greenlighting the project, to scheduling development, addressing issues during production, and working with marketing for game release. The producer is responsible for the overall project management from start to finish.

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António Durão
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91 views27 pages

Produção e Desenvolvimento de Jogos Digitais: Game Design Teacher

The document outlines the five phases of making a video game: concept, pre-production, production, post-production, and aftermarket. It describes the producer's role in managing a team through each phase, from developing the initial concept and greenlighting the project, to scheduling development, addressing issues during production, and working with marketing for game release. The producer is responsible for the overall project management from start to finish.

Uploaded by

António Durão
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Produção e

Desenvolvimento
de Jogos Digitais

António Durão
Game Design Teacher
Agosto/2020
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 developer’s team in fulfilling a game
development contract

2
Five Phases of Making a Game

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

3
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
4
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)
5 – Concept Document needs to be brief, yet provide satisfactory answers to
big questions
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 Publisher’s 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 company’s resources:
– Money, personnel, equipment, office space, and internal network

6
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

7
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
– Publisher’s 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?
8  Some developers ask for royalties on the game’s sales. Producer will
want lower upfront cost (advance) if royalties are a part of the picture.
The Development Agreement

 Developer’s obligations
 Publisher’s obligations
 IP ownership
 Warranties
 Termination
 Milestones

9
Milestones

 Highly detailed, specific


 Quantifiable, measurable
 Due dates
 Payment amounts (upon acceptance)
 Avoid terms like “alpha” and “beta” unless
clearly defined
 Milestone approval cycles

10
The Technical
Design 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

11
Scheduling
 Generate task lists from GDD & TDD
 Plan everything
– Programming
– Assets
– Demos
– Approvals
– Green lights
– Vacations, holidays
– QA
 Work backwards from completion

12
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?

13
Adjusting the Schedule

 Add people to reduce development time?


 Deliver assets on time
– Don’t make programmers wait for assets
 Prioritize feature set
– Lower priority features to be done later if possible
 Look for bottlenecks
– (feature-technology interdependencies)

14
Budgeting

 Personnel costs
– Salary x time x involvement %
 Developer/Contractor payments
 Equipment & software
 Supplies
 Travel & meals
 Shipments

15
Profit & Loss Analysis (P&L)
 Costs
– Production budget
– Cost of goods (COGs)
– Marketing
– Licensor royalties
– Developer royalties
 Revenues
– Projected Sales
– Wholesale price
– Ancillary sales (OEM, strategy guides)

16
Kickoff Green Light

 Producer’s plan for the project


– GDD
– TDD
– Schedule
– Budget
 Green light
– Executives
– IP owner (licensor)
– Platform holder

17
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

18
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

19
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

20
First Playable –
Proof of Concept

 Keeping everyone on board


– Licensor(s)
– Platform holder(s)
– Executives
– The Team
 The Cerny method
 Keeping the momentum going

21
Phases Within Phases

 Pre-production
 Production
– Early production
– Mid-production
 Alpha
– Late production
 Beta
 Post-production

22
The Multitasking Producer

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

23
Working with Marketing

 Working title  final title


 Screen shots
 E3 demo
 Magazine demo
 Platform holder promo

24
Post-Production

 Personnel transfers
 Localizations
 ESRB rating
 Box & docs
 Strategy guide

25
Quality Assurance

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

26
The Light at the
End of the Tunnel

 Operations
 OEM & bundled versions
 Post mortem

27

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