Digibury: Sony Game developement process - Mark Linott

The Game Development Process

Mark Lintott May 2014

Introduction

Who am I?

Game Dev Process 101

PreProductionPrototype Production Submission

4 Phases of Game Development

6 Months 6 Months

3 Months

8 Months

Pre ProductionPrototype Production Submission

Phase Timeline

Typical 2 Year Game Cycle

Development GatesEach of the Phases have a 1 or more Gates

You pass each Gate before you move onto the next

Each Gate passed requires more investment*

Each Gate passed reduces project risk

Development GatesPrototype

ConceptGreen Light

Pre-ProductionVertical Slice

ProductionFirst Publishable

SubmissionAlphaBetaGold Master


ConceptGreen Light




Prototype : Concept“Grow your idea”

Mostly paper basedMainly designersLots of iterationFail fast

Fail FastYou will see making games costs a lot

Come up with many ideasEvaluate them quickly Accept or rejectIterate only if necessaryFail bad ideas fast


ConceptGreen Light




Prototype : Green Light“Sell the concept”

Animatics / Storyboard/ ArtElevator PitchEarly “Grey Box” demo



Animatics / Storyboards / Art



Elevator PitchIn the time span between

getting onto an elevator and getting off..

..You should be able to pitch anyone on the concept of your game.


Animatics / Storyboard/ ArtElevator Pitch“Grey Box” demo

Grey Box Demo


ConceptGreen Light



SubmissionAlpha Beta Gold Master

Pre-Production : Vertical Slice“Prove you can make it”

An entire “vertical slice” through the gameDemonstrate every mechanic or featureProve the core game play works and is funProve you have tools and pipelines in placeProve you can make it to budget


ConceptGreen Light



SubmissionAlpha Beta Gold Master

Production : First Publishable“Make a sellable thing”

From this point on you could stop production and sell

Risk is now negligibleA subset of levels that to release qualityMarketing can really sell your game

Demos, Magazine/Press coverage etc..


ConceptGreen Light



SubmissionAlpha BetaGold Master

Submission : Alpha“End to end experience”

Must contain every level, feature, assetNot all polished, some areas might beLoads of bugs but you can play to the end1st Party QA fully involved

QAQuality Assurance Team

Test builds dailyPlay through entire gameSubmit reports on Regress bugs that have been fixed

Submission : Alpha“End to end experience”

Must contain every level, feature, assetNot all polished, some areas might beLoads of bugs but you can play to the end1st Party QA fully involvedLocalisation begins

LocalisationAll games need to be localised for each

languageText, Audio, Images

At least EFIGS

Nearly 20 languages for PS4


ConceptGreen Light




Submission : Beta“The finished product”

Localisation completeAll assets polished to final qualityBugs should be minimal / non criticalMust be TRC compliant

TRCTechnical Requirements Checklist

ExamplesNo loading in the main threadGame must exit cleanlyNo long periods of inactivityTrophies must be supportedDisc eject supported


ConceptGreen Light




Submission : Master“Ship it!”

Burn to final mediaSubmitted to Format QATRC complianceAll “A” class bugs fixedRemaining bugs waived of

fixed

Who does what?

Development TeamTypically split into 5 major areas

ArtAudioCodeDesignProduction

ArtSeveral sub disciplines

EnvironmentCharacterAnimationVFX & LightingTechnical

AudioTypical responsibilities

Capturing and synthesising effectsAdding audio effects and music to gameComposing music

CodeThese are commonly separated into 2

flavours

ContentTechnology

Code : ContentImplement gameplay and gameplay systems

Typical gameplay systems

AI & Path FindingPhysics

Code : TechnicalImplement runtime and tools

RenderingResource managementExporters and convertersGame Editors

DesignThese are separated into 2 flavours

Creative Designers

Technical Designers

Design : Creative

Paper based designDefine gameplay in words and picturesOverall vision for the gameHow the levels and mechanics fit together

Design : TechnicalGameplay implementationScriptingAdding gameplay to levelsTriggers, pickups, spawn pointsLevel balancing and fun factor

ProductionThey make sure everything gets done

ScheduleCheck listsDependenciesBudgetsResource allocation

What does it cost?

Show me the money!Let’s consider a hypothetical 2 year console

game

We’ll work in Euros

Art 1Design 2

Production 1

Art 25Audio 2Code 20Design 8

Production 8


Production 4


Production 10Outsourcing 40

Vertical SliceConcept 1st Publishable Alpha / Beta

Resource Allocation


Art 2Code 2

Design 3Production 1

Green Light

Art 3Audio 2Code 4

Production 2

Master

5

58

29

99

PreProductionPrototype Production Sub

Resource Timeline


711

6 12 24180

MMRMan Month Rate

Sometimes referred to as “Burn Rate”

Accounts for salary + running costs

Let’s say ~7500 euros per man per month

100K euros

2.6m euros

430k euros

5.9 m euros

Vertical SliceConcept 1st Publishable Alpha / Beta

Development CostPer Gate


160K euros

Green Light

83k euros

Master

MMR @ 7500 euros

Grand Total …

Grand TotalBest part of 10.0M euros

This is development cost

Advertising + other costs could be 2x this

Break EvenSay total spend is 30M euros

Games retail at 60 euros

Need to sell 500,000 copies to “Break Even”

What’s it really like?

It’s like the Movie Industry!

The reality…

Games get “Canned”Projects often get “canned” or “axed”

Change in trends?Cost more to finish than they would make?

Not good for team morale

CrunchPeople always change their mindsUltimately they want to create the best they

canThis results in work last minute changesThese result in the team having to stay out of

hours to get things doneSome games have very long crunch times

CrunchThis normally never happens..

.. that much

Demo Driven DevelopmentInvestors need to see visible progress

More progress makes less risk

Easy to get demo after demo

Intrusive and distracting

Good Money?Average Developer Salary

Anywhere between 20k - 60K

Better off in banking!

PerksEarly access to games

Work with creative talent

Launch parties

Get cool new toys and gadgets before anyone else!

Work EnvironmentNormally very relaxed

No dress code

Very creative & fun

Lots of concept art

Work EthicMost people love games more than money

People collaborate and work as teams

People stay late because they love what they do

Closing wordsHopefully you’ve had a brief insight to the

process

It is a very fun, creative and challenging environment

You now know why games cost you so much!

The EndThankyou

uk.linkedin.com/in/mrmarkie/

@rendertramp

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Digibury: Sony Game developement process - Mark Linott

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