game production for dummies (or, what the hell does a producer do anyway?) andy satterthwaite...

Game Production for Dummies

(or, What the hell does a producer do anyway?)

Andy Satterthwaite

Producer: Sidhe Interactive

Who Am I?• Andy Satterthwaite• Producer

– Team Manager

– Project Planner

– Designer (sometimes)

• In the game industry since 1993– Producer “Wipeout 2097” & “Colony Wars” for

Sony Psygnosis

• Formed Curly Monsters Ltd. in 1998– Produced & co-designed “N-GEN Racing” and

“Quantum Redshift”

• Joined Sidhe in June 2003

N-GEN Racing

Quantum Redshift

What I’m going to talk aboutProduction at development team level for a development studio

What I’m not going to talk aboutExecutive Production – producing the producers

External Production – the publisher’s producer

License Acquisition

Disclaimer

Everything in this talk is based on my knowledge and experience.

It’s not the only way to do it, it’s possibly not even the best way to do it and if anyone else has success doing things a different way, then great … let me know.

What does a producer do anyway?

• Plans the project• Drives the development• Manages the team

– keeping them happy, productive, alive (& fed)

• Gets the game out of the door– on time, on budget and to quality !!

About Project Planning

• Project planning software

• My golden rules of planning

• How to get an instant overview plan

• How to calculate a project budget

Project Planning Software

• Microsoft Project

• Excel

• Task lists

• Bug tracking software

Golden Rules of Planning• Know your constraints

– Release Date?– Budget?– Content?

• K.I.S.S.– The more complicated & detailed the plan, the more likely

it is to be massively inaccurate

• Add at least 20% contingency to everything

The Holy Trinity

• Time– Delivery to deadlines (preferably before)

• Budget– Keeping within resources (as low as possible)

• Quality– Maintaining AAA quality

Pick Any Two!

Instant overview planning

• Need to know main constraints– Time– Budget– Content

• Write overview plan focussed on main constraint first

Instant overview plan(Time constrained)

• Know the end date (actual or desired)

• Plan in 3 weeks for Manufacturing and distribution

• Plan in 6 weeks between Gold Master and Manufacturing (2 x Sony submissions)

• Plan in 8 weeks (min) between Beta and Gold Master

• Plan in 8 weeks (min) between Alpha and Beta

• Look at today's date ... and between now and Alpha gives you your development time

• Plan your content to fit in that development time (allowing for 20% contingency on everything)

Instant overview planTime Constrained - example

Task name Duration Start Finish

Production Start Mon 06/12/04

Release Date Fri 25/11/05




Manufacturing & Distribution 3 wks Mon 07/11/05

Fri 25/11/05





Gold Master 6 wks Mon 26/09/05

Fri 04/11/05


Fri 25/11/05





Beta 8 wks Mon 01/08/05

Fri 23/09/05


Fri 04/11/05


Fri 25/11/05





Alpha 8 wks Mon 06/06/05

Fri 29/07/05


Fri 23/09/05


Fri 04/11/05


Fri 25/11/05





Production 26 wks Mon 06/12/04

Fri 06/06/05

Alpha 8 wks Mon 06/06/05

Fri 29/07/05


Fri 23/09/05


Fri 04/11/05


Fri 25/11/05


Budget constrained

• Same principle as for time constrained• Put in end phase times (but don’t lock release)• Work out how much man-time you’ve got• Calculate how many man hours you require for end

phase• Subtract from total man hours.• Remainder = development time• Plan content accordingly

Calculating Project Budget

• Keep fixed cost per allocated staff member• Assume all allocated staff members are on the

project all the time (to release)• Add in external costs for mo-cap / license etc.• Add in 20% for equipment / misc / stuff you’ve

forgotten

• And if that adds up to too much, cut down project expectations accordingly

Content constrained

• Same principle, different order• Hardest to manage• Enter all project tasks• Enter approximate time (inc. contingency)• Put in end phase times• And you get your release date

• And if that doesn’t work – then you need to increase budget (more staff) or decrease content accordingly.

Driving the development

• The real job of the producer

• “Car analogy”

Managing the development

• Taking the project through the key development phases

• Avoiding problems

• Keeping focus

Key development phases

• Pre-Production & Design• Production• Post Production

– Alpha Test– Beta Test– Shipping

• Marketing requirements• Manuals• Demos etc.

Managing the Key phases

• K.I.S.S.

• All about planning and nagging

• Get your team to plan it for you!

• Set reasonable, sensible goals based on their estimates

Pre-Production

• Concept

• Plan Prototype

• Develop Prototype

• Review

• DESIGN & PLAN PROJECT !!!!!!

Production

• Development of the product up to Alpha• Plan should be clear but allow for flexibility• Get team to detail their work for the next month• Follow Plan until you can’t

– “No plan survives contact with the enemy”

• Stagger “wow” moments throughout plan– Keeps moral high– Impresses publisher with progress

Making sure you stay on track

• Requirements will change! • Feature Creep will happen!• Expect the unexpected• Slippage will happen!

• But this can be OK if you’re prepared– necessary part of a creative process

Coping with slippage etc.

• Should have lots of Contingency– (but somehow there’s never enough!)

• Cull content– Move less important features to the “wish list”– Have a priority list (define what can you live without)

• Crunch early– If you have to, do the extra hours as you go

Post-Production

• Alpha– Feature complete (!)– No crashes (!)

• Beta– Complete and believed bug free

• Gold Master– DONE

Post-Production in reality

• Alpha– You thought it was all done but there’s about 6 things

you forgot about– The network only works with no lag and 2 people– Half the graphics are placeholder and the other half the

lead artist wants to re-design

• Beta– Where Alpha should be

• Gold Master– DONE

Managing Post Production

• Plan as much time as possible– Suggested end times mentioned earlier are minimum

• Be prepared to trim features

• Test Management– Should be done by an external party– E.g. publisher or other department– Otherwise too much conflict of interest

• Too tempting to sign off on bugs, when you shouldn’t.• Don’t try and be a producer and test manager !!!

Managing Post Production

• Approvals processes– Required by all console manufacturers– Look at TCR/TRCs early and code accordingly– Allow for at least 2 submissions (preferably 3)

• Getting it out the door – Don’t let key staff go on holiday until after approval!!– Then party !

game production for dummies (or, what the hell does a producer do anyway?) andy satterthwaite...

Documents

gold master6 wksmon

instant overview planningneed

instant overview planhow

290705beta8 wksmon

release datefri

gold masterplan

game production

development timeplan