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
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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
$