Videogame Development By Colin Young and Blaine Pace This is our presentation on videogame development, and the truths about the effort, team construction, complications and release patterns. Our goal is to provide you with enough information at the end of the presentation for you to have a good idea of what it takes for people to make the games you play.
What We Will Cover This is the information we will be covering: Team Structure and Command Content in a Videogame Marketing a Mod Difficulties in Creation First of all, let’s discuss the information being presented. Keep in mind that the information collected is from first-hand experience on a modification team, but we go through a very similar process as companies like Valve or Bungie. We will be covering team structure and command; what it takes to organize a team that can push a game to release. We will be covering content that goes into a released game, and the amount of people working in each content department, as many people have misconceptions about team sizes. We will partially delve into what it takes to get your mod known about. We will also cover what makes a mod team get to release and what are the big killers of mods.
Team Structures and Command We will now talk about team structures and commands. We will only be talking about a various number of example approaches that are in use at different game companies. You can use any techniques to control a team structure but these are the ones known to work that are currently in use.
Autocracy Approach This type of structure incorporates a lead developer, which oversees content development and makes sure the team stays on track. He usually works with the design document so the content developers don’t have to. This structure works well but most production comes to a halt when the lead developer is absent. This isn’t much of a problem in commercial venues so this is the structure most companies use.
Creative Anarchy Approach The creative anarchy approach is an interesting approach that is mainly in mod communities. The idea behind it is that the person creating the most content is by default the leader of the group just by committing the most content. If that person starts to slack off the next most productive person under them takes control. If it works correctly this is the quickest means of content production, yet the product will be very diverse and the styles may not match.
Everybody Leads Approach This design gives everybody an equal voice whenever a decision is made. This works great when there’s a smaller team and you have time to discuss things but it’s also the slowest at getting things done. This can also tear a team apart from arguing and is best used when the whole team lives close to each other.
Content in a Videogame This is what goes into a videogame or mod: 3D Modeling Programming World Design Texture Art Sound Design Now we will talk about the actual content that will go into a videogame. First we will start with modeling. Most modelers use Maya, 3D Studio Max, or Softimage|XSI. They are responsible for creating all objects in the world that you see. Then we have programmers, who are in charge of making the game work and making it work right. World design are the people in charge of creating the environments you play in. They work very closely with the modelers. Texture artists simply work on the 2D side of things. It may not seem important but everything in a 3D world has a 2D texture assigned to it, and without textures everything looks ugly. Then we have sound designers, who create everything you hear in a game.
Marketing a Mod Website Search Engines Advertisements Player Base I use the term marketing, although nothing is being sold, to explain the process of getting your modification popular. First of all, the major thing you need is a website, and a real one. For a real website you need to buy space on a server, as well as a domain name. The domain name costs $10, and basic hosting can cost as little as $40 per 6 months. Second of all, your website should be indexed on search engines, as well as other websites dedicated to hosting mods, such as www.moddb.com. Advertisements may work as well, but it usually takes a lot of cash or an already-popular mod to advertise on any websites that will make a difference. Lastly, if you’ve already released your mod, you can establish a player base, which naturally expands if you make a quality mod. This is why most mod teams take the mantra of “Release soon, release often.”
Death of Mods Survey of Moddb 320 Updated 800 Abandoned Over 50% Dead I did a query in Moddb’s search feature for all Source mods, and then categorized them depending on whether or not they had been updated in the past 3 months. Anything past three months were put into the pile of abandoned mods, and any updated within 3 months have been put into the updated pile. This may not be the most accurate way to determine which mods are alive and which are not, but it still shows the staggering amount of mods that go without being updated and will probably be abandoned.
By Colin Young and Blaine Pace The End By Colin Young and Blaine Pace This is the end of our presentation. We hope you enjoyed it and are now well-informed considering videogame creation.