Lecture 5: The Development Process

# Creación de Videojuegos

### Development process

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# Game Development Then and Now

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# The Classical Approach

* Game Development Studio: Responsible for the idea and implementation of a game

* Game Publisher: Responsible for funding the game developer, marketing and distributing the game

* In this classical approach, the Game Design Document was used to pitch a project to publishers to get funding 
  
  * Many developers also self-published/founded publishing companies

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# Indie Development

* Game Development became a lot more accessible with the advent of the internet, Unity, Unreal Engine, etc.
  
  * As a result, there are a lot more different approaches to game development now 
  
  * We will talk about current publishing options at the end of the semester
  
  * In this class, we will talk about roles that exist in a "classical" development setting

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# How do you make a game?

## First step: Ideation

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# The whole process

* Pre-production 
     - Ideation (High Concept, Pitch)
     - Concept
     - Early Prototyping
     - Game Design Document
  
  * Production
     - Design 
     - Programming
     - Art asset creation
     - Audio production 
     - Testing
  
  * Publishing
     - Classical: Publisher 
     - Indie games
     
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# Pre-production

* What makes your game different?
  
  * Is this even a viable idea?
  
  * How do you move from the idea to an actual game?
 
  * Game Design Document!
 
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# Production: Design

* World design
     
  * System design (mechanics, rules, interactions)
     
  * Content design (levels, quests)
     
  * Audio design
     
  * UI design
     
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# Production: Programming 
  
  * Graphics, Effects
     
  * Implementation of the mechanics 
     
  * AI
     
  * Physics
     
  * Networking
     
  * Tools for designers

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* Graphic assets 
     
     - 2D
     - 3D
     - User Interface
     
  * Audio 
  
     - Music
     - Sound effects
     
  * Special effects
  
     - Particle effects 
     - Shaders
     - VR?

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# Publishing
  
  * Traditional 
  
    - Developer builds the game
    - Publisher sells the game 
    - Publisher often funds developer during development
     
  * Indie games 
  
    - Mobile platforms (Google Play, AppStore)
    - Steam, Epic Games Store
    - Self-publishing (website)
    
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# Roles in Game Development

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# Roles in Game Development
  
   * Game Designer 
   
   * Game Developer
   
   * Artist
   
   * Technical Artist 
   
   * Tester
   
   * Producer
   
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# Game Designer
  
   * Main visionary
   
   * Develops the idea, mechanics, goals for the game 
   
   * This does not mean that no one else has any influence on the mechanics
   
   * Can also consist of a team
   
   * Sometimes prominently displayed as part of branding (Sid Meier's Civilization)
   
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# Pitfalls of a famous designer
  
<img src="/CI-2700/assets/img/daikatana.jpg" width="45%"/>

(Daikatana)

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# Game Developer
  
   * Writes the code
   
   * AAA studios often employ large teams
   
	 - Epic Games alone currently has over 60 *open* positions for developers
	 - Red Dead Redemption 2 had dozens of AI programmers
	 
   * Specializations
     - Engine/Graphics/Audio
	 - Gameplay
	 - AI
	 - UI 
	 - Tools

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# Artists and Technical Artists
  
* Artists create the assets for the game

- 2D/3D models
	  - UI elements
	  - Sound

* Most artist are not programmers (most programmers are not artists)
  
* <b>Technical artists</b> are trained in art *and* programming, and serve as the connection between the two "worlds"

* Can also be responsible for effects such as animations, cloth, liquids, particle effects

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# Tester

* Like regular software testing, game testing reveals software bugs

* There are also other kinds of "bugs"
  
  - Balance issues 
  
  - Gameplay issues
  
  - Narrative inconsistencies
  
  - Exploits
  
* Initially, the game is probably not very fun to play

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# Tester

"The paradox of software testing: In theory, testing software for correctness is impossible. In practice, it is given to freshmen because it's the least demanding task available." (unknown author)

* Testing is often an entry-level position in the games industry, because they don't require specific experience
  
  * Many testers advance to other positions eventually

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# Producer
  
* Project Manager

* Responsible to keep the project on track
  
* Deals with hiring, budget, infrastructure

* Removes obstacles for the team

* Manages stakeholder expectations

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# Alternatively ...
  
<img src="/CI-2700/assets/img/minecraft.jpg" width="95%"/>

(Minecraft)

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# Alternatively ...
  
<img src="/CI-2700/assets/img/stardewvalley.jpg" width="95%"/>

(Stardew Valley)

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# EPIC Megagrants

* EPIC games announced last week that they would "give back" $100 million to the developer community
  
  * Grants range from $5 000 to $500 000, to be used as the developer sees fit 
  
  * The only real condition: The game has to use Unreal Engine (with some exceptions)
  
  * IP, publishing rights, etc. remain with the developer

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# Working in the Games Industry

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# Long hours/Crunch time

* Many game studios work long hours 
  
  * Especially before a release [80-100h work weeks](https://www.gamesradar.com/anonymous-rockstar-devs-say-overwork-is-worse-than-the-studio-claims/) are not unheard of 
  
  * Sometimes it gets so bad there is a lot of bad press, like with [EA](https://ea-spouse.livejournal.com/274.html) ("The current mandatory hours are 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.—seven days a week—with the occasional Saturday evening off for good behavior (at 6:30 PM)."), or [Rockstar games](https://www.gamesradar.com/anonymous-rockstar-devs-say-overwork-is-worse-than-the-studio-claims/), but it isn't [rare elsewhere](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/18/crunched-games-industry-exploiting-workforce-ea-spouse-software), either
  
  * If you start your own indie studio, you will probably also work long hours
  
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# Mental Stress

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# Announcement

* There is a talk "Utilización de curvas de Bézier, Geogebra y MATLAB para la modelación de personajes animados" **tomorrow**, March 27, at 2pm, in Aula 220, Física-Matemática
  
  * We will be talking about Bezier curves and animation in a later class
  
  * If you are interested, check out the talk

* [More details](https://www.ucr.ac.cr/actividades/2019/03/27/utilizacion-de-curvas-de-bezier-goegebra-y-matlab-para-la-modelacion-de-personajes-animados.html)

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# Resources

* <a href="https://www.usgamer.net/articles/gamings-greatest-flops-daikatana">Gaming's Greatest Flops: Daikatana</a>

* <a href="https://epicgames.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/Epic_Games/1/refreshFacet/318c8bb6f553100021d223d9780d30be">Epic games engineering jobs</a>
  
  * [So You Wanna Make Games? (Art-focused)](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL42m9XiTqPHJdJuVXO6Vf5ta5D07peiVx)
  
  * [EPIC Megagrants](https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/megagrants)
  
  * [100h work weeks at Rockstar studios](https://www.gamesradar.com/anonymous-rockstar-devs-say-overwork-is-worse-than-the-studio-claims/)
  
  * [Worst Video Game Companies](https://levelskip.com/misc/Worst-Video-Game-Companies)