space engineers - from an idea to early access in 7 months_marek rosa_gds_2013
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Development of Space EngineersFrom an idea to Early Access in 7 months
Marek RosaKeen Software House
Introduction
• April to October• How we designed, developed and launched the game• Why we did it this way• Dig into the details
What is Space Engineers
• Sandbox game• Construction• Realistic volumetric-based physics
Plan
• New game in 2013 -> 10/2013• Sub-milestones: announcement, feature freeze, testing• Early Access & MVP – validate with the community and
then continue• Playable game at any moment
Initial idea
• Sequel to Miner Wars• Traveling, missions, economy, • Winner: construction & physics• Added astronaut (no more “ships only”)
VRAGE 2.0
• C#• Havok• Flexible• We understand it• We can optimize it
Design phase
• 1.5 months• Design documents, lists, GUI, HUD• LEGO• NASA• Generic sandbox – no story• Engineering game – no man-to-man combat
Design rules
• Object oriented game design – new features can be integrated easily (hacking, landing gears)
• Strong sandbox and physics foundation• Everything must make sense
Design rules 2
• No decorative elements (e.g. doors on cockpit, astronaut computer)• New features – only if required• Realism leads the design – don’t hack the reality
(e.g. max object speed, resources, …)
Schematic colors (number 7)
Texture patterns
Avoid voxel-look & Object scales
Astronaut / Engineer
• Functional• NASA look• Iterations
First-person vs. third-person
• Acceleration & Animations
Deformations & Destructions
• We didn’t plan it• Risks• Vertexes, Splitting• Physics• Advantages of flexible sandbox design
Gravity
• One directional• Only astronauts• When enabled on small & large ships…• Future plans
Limits
• No size or count limits• Only memory limits• 64-bit version• Impact on performance (lights and shadows)
Creative mode
• Unlimited resources• Instant building• Available now
Manual mode
• Drilling and harvesting• Refinery• Assembler• Inventory (backpack, cargo containers)• Welder & Grinder
Name of the game
• Multiple options• Winner: generic name• Decided one month before the announcement
Logo
• Multiple options• No retro• No space-agency look
Testing
• Different HW, OS• Testing lab• Play-testers (first 3 minutes were critical)• Test scenarios• Automatic testing• If you don’t test => there will be bugs
Community
• Players got the game (workshop, modding, controls)• Simple interface (GUI, HUD, game mechanics)• Works as expected• Minimize steps required to accomplish a goal
History - April
History - May 2013
History - May 2013
History - May 2013
History – June 2013
History – July 2013
History – July 2013
Public Relations
• Focusing on players only• No superb words• Not revealing future plans• Imperfections and work in progress• Everything is subject to change
Milestones• April
– Plan– Design phase– Dates and Steam
• August 15 - announcement video• Sep 9 - Announcement• Oct 1 - Feature freeze & Testing
– 3-hour & 24-hour window -> community exploded
• Oct 23 - Launch• Post-launch
– Localization– Workshop– Landing gears– Community feedback and response
• What’s next– Multi-player and manual mode is the priority– Small updates every 1-2 weeks– Bigger updates – when possible
Effective development
• Deadlines & Features & Quality• Estimations – not important, but if you need
them: multiply by 3• Prioritization – sort by importance (and risk
factor, dependencies, etc.)• Expect the unexpected• Deciding what doesn’t get implemented is
important too (e.g. character customization, animated GUI, post-processing, more weapons…)
Effective development
• Be careful on what you decide to implement (you will have less time for other things)
• Minimize risks (too complex, hard to maintain)• Detail planning - prepare in advance• Pessimistic approach (e.g. low poly, risky
features in advance)• Team – balanced, aligned
Effective development
• Deadlines – are your friends• Focus on your strong points• Don’t do things that you can’t deliver on 100%• Follow the vision, ignore random ideas (e.g.
things already done in other games)• Space Engineers is designed by programmers
(optimizations, low-hanging fruits)
Summary
• Balanced team• Prioritization• Planning• Discipline• Goal oriented• MVP• Focus on the player• You can do it!
Questions?
www.keenswh.com
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