Harmonix: Behind the Music (Games)

transcript

IMGD, Feb 7th 2008

Harmonix

• Music Game developer based in Cambridge

• Spun out of MIT Media Lab in 1995• Focused on Interactive Music Innovation• Our Mission: “Create new ways for non-

musicians to experience the unique joy that comes from making music”

• Led to video game development

Our latest & greatest… Rock Band

Who are we?

Rob KayDirector of DesignerLead Designer on Rock Band

Ike AdamsSoftware DeveloperGameplay and Interface Engineer on Rock

Rob’s route in

• Art college & Amiga demo scene

• Pysgnosis advice – learn 3D!• Bournemouth University NCCA• Cut teeth as artist on Looney

Tunes games• Level design experience• Harmonix game designer

Ike’s route in• Started making games at 8• Syracuse University for

Computer Geekology and Math• Started game development

career with Kent Quirk at Cognitoy

• Spent 3.43 years as a game engineer at Blue Fang Games

• Harmonix – Interface and Gameplay on Rock Band

• Currently - Tools and development process optimization.

What’s this talk about?

• Behind the scenes at Harmonix– Rob: Designing for everyone– Ike: Tools & process

• Tips for getting into industry• Q&A

Designing for Everyone

Understand your players

• Why?– Players have different needs

In reality though…

Top 5 Design Practices

When making games for everyone…

1. Find a universally appealing concept

Universally Appealing Concept

• Easier said than done• If you don’t nail this, forget about it!

• Goal: – Describe the game in one sentence and

people get excited.

Some Examples

“run aHollywood

Studio”

“take careof a pet”

“take charge

of anNFL team”

“play ina band”

Where do you look for inspiration?

• Not in video games– They both want new experiences

• In the real world – Popular cultural trends– Experiences that different kinds of

people aspire to do

2. Value the context and presentation

Why value context and presentation?

• Draws them into a game

• Improves the play experience

• Succeed at this and you’ll lure them in

• Fail at this and you’ll turn them away

FreQuency 2001

Abstract visuals – “you’re in the music”

Context and Presentation

Context and PresentationRock Band 2007

Live Show visuals – “you’re on stage”

3. Embrace alternative controllers

We haven’t made a joypad game since 2003

Camera Guitar Microphone

We’ve noticed some big user benefits…

Guitar + Drums + Microphone!

They look like what they do

It’s obvious how to use them

Joypads

• Generic by design– So can’t “look like what it does”– No mental model for how to use it

Today’s joypads are intimidating

These controllers are inviting

They level the playing field

4. Ensure intuitive controls

Intuitive Controls

• It just works• This is our responsibility• Employ usability principles

Natural Mapping

Spatial relationship between control and result is consistent

5. Encourage the whole dev team to play the game

and give feedback

Teams make games

• The more the team plays, the better the game

• A diverse team’s range of insights will help you make a game for “everyone”

Set up the work environment

• Daily builds• Open door policy• Feedback expected from

everyone

Feedback Loops

1. Find a universally appealing concept2. Value the context and presentation3. Embrace alternative controllers4. Ensure intuitive controls (natural

interface)5. Encourage the whole team to play

and give feedback

Designing Games for EVERYONE…

…is fun and rewarding!

Development Process and Tools

Before I talk about tools…Building Blocks

• Games can be so complicated that it’s very hard for one person to wrap their head around the whole thing

• In order to understand and work on problems, we need to break it down into pieces that we can understand.

• We keep breaking down complexity until we have building blocks or (components).

My favorite example …LEGOs

• Think of a Lego City• It’s cool but it’s very complicated

In order to simplify we break it down into components

• Buildings• Vehicles• People

We continue to break it down until we have something “simple” to

work with.

How do we make a tool that’s good for development?

• Be able to isolate “simple” building blocks in the game

• Put building blocks together in context to see them in their environment

• Usually the best way to view building blocks in context is to see them in game… but that’s not always convenient.

• It’s important that the tool and the assets can load quickly.

• Every second that can be shaved off of an iteration cycle is very valuable.

• It’s extra cool to reload a building block without reloading the whole context.

Loading…

• Be able to change as many parameters as necessary without making the tool too complicated

• If an a building block can “do stuff” it’s good to be able to demonstrate its abilities.

• Add a way to manually trigger game events

• Play well with other tools• Use other tools (3D Studio Max,

Motion Builder, Cubase) for what they’re good at.

• It’s not necessary to build redundant functionality

• Customize your tools for your needs.

Introducing…

Tips for getting into industryChoose a focusMajor disciplines: code, art, audio, design, production, QA.

Get good at your chosen discipline.Study, learn, get qualifications, portfolio. Show you have

smarts / skills.

Make stuff… anything!Games, levels, comics, music, flower arrangements...

anything!Take something from concept to completion.Experience = good judgment.

Be personable, enthusiastic and willing to learn.Nobody likes a know it all. Mistakes are fine. Bad attitude is

Thanks for coming!

Contact us:Ike.adams@harmonixmusic.com

rob@harmonixmusic.com

Harmonix: Behind the Music (Games)

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