space engineers - from an idea to early access in 7 months_marek rosa_gds_2013
DESCRIPTION
Marek Rosa, CEO of Keen Software House and developer of the sandbox videogame Space Engineers, showcases in his presentation in the GDS 2013, the story behind the development of Space Engineers and how it became from an idea to Early Access in 7 months.TRANSCRIPT
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