THE GAME PRODUCTION HANDBOOK Second Edition BY HEATHER MAXWELL CHANDLER INFINITY SCIENCE PlliSS INFINITY SCIENCE PRESS LLC Hingham, Massachusetts New Delhi, India
TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword Preface Acknowledgments About the Author xix xxi radii xxv Parti: General Production Overview 1 Chapter 1 Came Production Overview 3 1.1 Introduction 3 1.2 Production Cycle 4 1.3 Pre-production 5 Game Concept 6 Game Requirements 7 Game Plan 8 Pre-Production Checklist 9 1.4 Production 9 Plan Implementation 10 Tracking Progress 11 Task Completion 11 Production Checklist 12 1.5 Testing 12 Plan Validation 13 Code Release 13 Testing Checklist 14 1.6 Post-Production 14 Learn from Experience 14
VI 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS Archive Plan 15 Post-Production Checklist 15 1.7 Chapter Summary 15 Chapter 2 Roles on the Team 17 2.1 Introduction 17 2.2 Production 18 Executive Producer 19 Producer 19 Associate Producer 21 Background and Training 21 2.3 Art 23 Art Director 24 Lead Artist 24 Concept Artist 24 World Builder or Level Designer 24 Asset Artist 25 Animator 25 Technical Artist 25 Marketing Artist 25 Background and Training 25 2.4 Engineering 26 Technical Director 27 Lead Engineer 27 Engineer 27 Background and Training 28 2.5 Design 30 Creative Director 30 Lead Designer 31 Designer 31 Writer 32 Background and Training 32 2.6 Quality Assurance Testing 34 Lead QA Tester 34 QA Tester 35 Background and Training 35 2.7 Team Organization 35 2.8 Corporate 37 Marketing and Public Relations 37
TABLE OF CONTENTS IX Creative Services 38 Sales 38 2.9 Chapter Summary 38 Chapter 3 Project Management Methods 41 3.1 Introduction 41 3.2 Pros and Cons 42 3.3 Personal Software Process (PSP) 44 3.4 Scram 47 3.5 Project Management Institute (PMI) 52 3.6 Chapter Summary 57 Part II: Business Information 59 Chapter 4 Legal Information 61 4.1 Introduction 61 4.2 Intellectual Property Rights 62 Copyrights 63 Trademarks 63 Trade Secrets 64 Patents 65 4.3 Legal Agreements 65 Employee/Consultant Agreements 65 Work for Hire 66 Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) 67 Development Contracts 67 End User License Agreements (EULA) 68 4.4 Licenses 68 4.5 Chapter Summary 71 Chapter 5 Developer and Publisher Relationships 73 5.1 Introduction 73 5.2 Pitching a Game to a Publisher 73 5.3 Managing the Developer-Publisher Relationship 77 Independent Developer 82 Publisher-Owned Developer 87 5.4 Third-Party Game Approvals 90 5.5 Chapter Summary 90
X TABLE OF CONTENTS Part III: Managing People 91 Chapter 6 Hiring And Retaining Talent 93 6.1 Introduction 93 6.2 Hiring Talent 94 Screening Resumes 95 Interviewing Talent 98 Providing Feedback 100 6.3 Retaining Talent 101 6.4 Training 103 Game Development Resources 105 Organizations 105 Conference and Trade Shows 105 General Game Industry Information 106 6.5 Chapter Summary 106 Chapter 7 Teams 107 7.1 Introduction 107 7.2 Project Leadership 109 7.3 Picking Leads 110 7.4 Team building 112 Getting to Know Each Other 114 Role Definition 116 Cross-Training 117 Seating Arrangements 118 Team Meetings 119 Team Website 120 7.5 Team Buy-in and Motivation 121 Warning Signs 122 Addressing the Warning Signs 124 Showing Appreciation 125 Sharing Vision 125 Team Survey 126 7.6 Quality of Life 128 7.7 Chapter Summary 131 Chapter 8 Effective Communication 133 8.1 Introduction 133 8.2 Written Communication 134
TABLE OF CONTENTS XI 8.3 Oral Communication 134 8.4 Nonverbal Communication 136 8.5 Establishing Communication Norms 137 8.6 Communication Challenges 138 Resolving Conflict 138 Delivering Bad News 140 Giving Effective Feedback 141 8.7 Chapter Summary 142 Part IV; Technical Production 143 Chapter 9 Massively Multiplayer Online Games 145 9.1 Introduction 145 9.2 Differences Between MMOs and Other Games 146 9.3 Pre-Production 147 Technology Issues 147 Design Issues 149 Art Issues 150 Production Team 151 9.4 Production 153 9.5 Post-Production 155 9.6 Chapter Summary 155 Chapter 10 Voiceover 157 10.1 Introduction 157 10.2 Planning for Voiceover 158 Voiceover Design 158 Technical Considerations 159 File Formats 160 Voiceover Script 162 Placeholder Voiceover 163 Schedule and Staffing 164 10.3 Choosing a Sound Studio 166 Bid Packages 167 10.4 Casting Actors 169 Union Versus Non-Union 170 Celebrity Voices 171 Preparing Character Descriptions 172 Auditions 172
XÜ TABLE OF CONTENTS Selecting and Booking Actors 176 10.5 Recording Voiceover 177 Preparing for Recording Session 177 Directing Actors 178 Selecting Takes 179 Audio Deliverables 180 10.6 Voiceover Checklist 180 10.7 Chapter Summary 180 Chapter 11 Music 183 11.1 Introduction 183 11.2 Planning for Music 184 Music Design 184 Technical Considerations 185 Schedule and Staffing 186 Bid Packages 188 11.3 Working with a Composer 189 11.4 Licensing Music 190 11.5 Chapter Summary 192 Chapter 12 Motion Capture 195 12.1 Introduction 195 12.2 Planning for Motion Capture 196 Motion Capture Requirements 197 Motion Capture Shot List 198 Schedule 198 12.3 Working with a Motion Capture Studio 199 Bid Packages 199 12.4 Preparing for a Motion Capture Shoot 200 12.5 Motion Capture Checklist 202 12.6 Chapter Summary 203 Chapter 13 Marketing and Public Relations 205 13.1 Introduction 205 13.2 Working with Marketing 206 Development Milestone Schedule 206 Game Documentation 206 Focus Groups 207 13.3 Packaging 208
TABLE OF COKTTENTS XI11 Manuals 208 Box Art 210 Keyboard Reference Cards 210 13.4 Demos 210 Planning for a Demo 210 Console Demos 211 Localized Demos 212 13.5 Marketing Assets 212 13.6 Game Builds 213 Working with Public Relations 213 Press Tours 213 Interviews 214 Developer Diaries 214 Tradeshows 214 13.7 Asset Deliverable Checklist 214 13.8 Chapter Summary 215 PartV: Pre-Production 217 Chapter 14 Came Concept 219 14.1 Introduction 219 14.2 Beginning the Process 220 Brainstorming 221 Initial Concept 223 Genre 223 Platform 224 SWOT Analysis 224 Competitive Analysis 226 Approval 227 14.3 Define concept 229 Mission Statement 229 Game Setting 230 Gameplay Mechanics 230 Story Synopsis 231 Concept Art 232 Audio Elements 232 14.4 Prototyping 233 14.5 Risk Analysis 236
xiv TABLE OF CONTENTS 14.6 Pitch Idea 239 14.7 Project Kick-off 239 14.8 Concept Outline 240 14.9 Chapter Summary 240 Chapter 15 Came Requirements 241 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 15.9 Introduction Define Game Features Define Milestones and Deliverables Evaluate Technology Define Tools and Pipeline Documentation Design Art Technical Risk Analysis Approval Game Requirements Outline 241 242 244 249 249 252 253 254 255 257 258 258 15.1С 1 Chapter Summary 258 Chapter 16 Came Plan 16.1 Introduction 16.2 Dependencies 16.3 Schedules Creating a Schedule Tracking Tasks 16.4 Budgets Creating a Budget Managing a Budget 16.5 Staffing 16.6 Outsourcing Communication 16.7 Middleware 16.8 Game Plan Outline 16.9 Chapter Summary Part VI: Production 293 Chapter 17 Production Cycle 295 261 261 262 264 265 275 278 278 281 283 284 286 287 290 290 17.1 Introduction 295
TABLE OF CONTENTS XV 17.2 Design Production Cycle 297 17.3 Art Production Cycle 300 17.4 Engineering Production Cycle 301 17.5 Working Together 302 17.6 Chapter Summary 304 Chapter 18 Production Techniques 305 18.1 Introduction 305 18.2 Getting a Project Back on Track 306 18.3 Project Reviews 309 18.4 Critical Stage Analysis 312 18.5 Weekly Status Reports 312 18.6 Running Meetings 314 18.7 Resource Allocation 316 18.8 Preventing Feature Creep 316 18.9 Establishing Approval Processes 319 18.10 Task Forces 320 18.11 Chapter Summary 321 Chapter 19 Making Builds 323 19.1 Introduction 323 19.2 Build Process 324 Build Schedule 324 Automated Builds 325 19.3 Multilingual Builds 326 19.4 Build Notes 326 For the Development Team 327 For Management 327 For Marketing and PR 327 19.5 Preventing Piracy 328 Copy Protection Schemes 328 19.6 Chapter Summary 329 Chapter 20 Software Ratings 331 20.1 Introduction 331 20.2 Software Age Ratings 332 20.3 ESRB (United States) 334 20.4 PEGI (Europe) 337 20.5 BBFC and VSC (United Kingdom) 338 20.6 USK (Germany) 339
XVI TABLE OF CONTENTS 20.7 OFLC (Australia) 339 20.8 CERO (Japan) 340 20.9 KMRB (Korea) 340 20.10 Chapter Summary 341 Chapter 21 Localization 343 21.1 Introduction 343 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 21.6 21.7 21.8 21.9 Creating International Content Localization-Friendly Code Language Assets Text Assets Art Assets Voiceover Assets International Characters and Fonts User Interface Keyboard Input PAL versus NTSC Other Technical Considerations Level of Localization Localization Plan Schedule, Budget, and Staffing Organizing Assets for Translation Integrating Translated Assets Testing Functionality Testing Linguistic Testing Console Submission 344 344 345 346 346 346 346 346 347 347 348 348 349 349 350 351 353 353 353 355 21.10 Localization Checklist 21.11 Chapter Summary 355 358 Part VII: Testing 359 Chapter 22 Testing 361 22.1 Introduction 361 22.2 Testing Schedule 362 22.3 Test Plans 363 22.4 Testing Pipeline 366 Bug Tracking Database 366 Bug Definitions 366
TABLE OF CONTENTS XVII 22.5 Testing Cycle 367 Writing Bugs 368 Assigning and Closing Bugs 369 Checking TCRs 370 22.6 External Testing 371 22.7 Chapter Summary 373 Chapter 23 Code Releasing 375 23.1 Introduction 375 23.2 Determining Code Release 375 23.3 Code Release Checklist 376 23.4 Gold Masters 378 23.5 Chapter Summary 380 Part VIII: Post-Production 381 Chapter 24 Postmortems 383 24.1 Introduction 383 24.2 Purpose of a Postmortem 383 24.3 Conducting a Postmortem 385 Involve the Entire Team 386 Prepare for the Postmortem 386 Maintain Focus 387 24.4 Lessons Learned Document 388 24.5 Chapter Summary 390 Chapter 25 Closing Kits 391 25.1 Introduction 391 25.2 Defining Closing Kits 392 25.3 Creating Closing Kits 392 Assets 393 Tools 394 Game Code 394 Documentation 395 25.4 Organizing Content 396 25.5 Finalizing Closing Kits 397 25.6 Closing Kit Checklist 397 25.7 Chapter Summary 397
XVIII TABLE OF CONTENTS Appendix A: Case Study Game Production Cycle Appendix B: Glossary Appendix C: Resources Appendix D: Biographies Appendix E: About The CD-ROM Index 401 453 457 461 471 473