Large – Scale Design Process
Digital Game Prgm I
Formal Design Structure
Delays in production cost money
A delay in production occurs when the project is not
following the projected time schedule.
A game design team is given a budget at the onset of a
project
A budget is a plan that details how much a project should
cost. The cost to complete each task is estimated. All the
tasks are listed along with their estimated cost and added up
to get a final budget total.
If a team spends more than they are allotted, they are overbudget.
Formal Design Structure
Time-Sensitive Delay Issues are another reason why a
production schedule can not be off by even one day.
What are some time-sensitive delay issues you can think of?
Formal Design Structure
A production launch date has to be met
If a game is seasonal or promotional, such as based on a new
movie, it has to be out before the season or promotion.
A release date may be set to enter the market before a
competitor’s game has a chance to hit the market.
Major buying time is before Christmas
3-Stage Production Process
This production process allows streamlining
of production; makes certain the game will
get the best ideas and best build; and meets
the demand of time, money, and quality.
3-Stage Production Process
Concept Stage
Brainstorm ideas, get ideas on paper, form the structure of
the game, and prepare for production
Begins with an idea and ends with a refined idea about how
the game will play
To build this foundation a designer must answer the 5
essential questions on next slide….
Concept Stage – 5 questions
What is the game going to be about? (genre type, basic idea)
Who is going to play this game? (audience, age, target
market, desired ESRB rating)
Who is the player (protagonist) going to be in this game
(player role, character type)?
What will the player do in the game (victory condition,
obstacles, opponents)?
What will the world look like in the game (settings, levels,
backgrounds, perspective)?
Construction Stage
Where the rough idea of the game from the concept stage is
refined into something workable.
NOTE: you must not change the answers from the concept
stage after construction begins because it usually requires a
complete rewrite of the game code already created. Higher
cost!!
A prototype is the first iteration of a game build. Limited
features and structures. It DOES NOT contain detailed
character designs, backgrounds, music or sounds.
Construction Stage
Eight areas of design that bridge from concept to
construction are:
Gameplay modes
Protagonist & character development
Game world
Core mechanics
Mode elaboration
Story elaboration
Level design
Testing & debugging
Assignment – due end of class
Copy the table on next slide to spreadsheet software:
A. Construct an expense budget for the following game
build. Deadline: two weeks (10 days); # of designers: six;
Annual salary of designers: $52,000/year (assume a five-day
work week); Consumer off the shelf software available: Unity
Pro @$1,200 for each designer; Proprietary software build:
$4,600
B. How much would the company save if the game build was
completed two days before the deadline?
C. How much overbudget would this project be if the game
took three weeks to complete?
Assignment – due end of class
D. The proprietary software can be modified to do its job and
the work of the COTS software for $5,000 more. Should the
company build the COTS software features into their
proprietary software? Why or why not?
Item
Cost of Each
Salary per day
$
days
$
Cost of COTS
$
licenses
$
Cost of Propr
software
$
licenses
$
Total Expense budget
Amt. Needed
Total
$
0
