Game ProducerHow hard can that be?

Ed MagninBig Design / Game DallasSeptember 18, 2015

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What does it take to make a game?

• an idea - a game concept

• a plan - a game design

• art assets - artist(s)

• programming - programmer(s)

• music & sfx - audio specialist

• project management - producer

• persistence

What makes a good game?

• something you can’t do in real life

• something where you can make a difference

• something that is easy to learn but difficult to master

• If you can’t sell it with 5 screenshots and some text, don’t make it!

Why are most games late?

• an unrealistic deadline in the first place

• many assume that they won’t have any problems

• we need it by this date

• Alan Wake

• Duke Nukem Forever

• Why does it take several years to make a sequel?

• Add a bonus for on-time completion.

How to manage a game project

• What does a good producer do?

• makes sure his team has all the resource it needs

• manages his bosses expectations

• Avoid unnecessary crunch time - avoid burnout.

• Try to get your work done during normal hours.

• There’s no free lunch, but there’s a free dinner!

What happens when you get behind?

• manage feature requests — new features take time, plus testing time.

• review outstanding features — is there anything that you don’t really need?

• perform triage

• be careful adding more people to the project

• read The Mythical Month

• take away any unnecessary duties that don’t have anything to do with finishing the game.

Reaching the finish line

• How long is a marathon?

• 26 miles, 385 yards

• The first 90% of the project takes 90% of your time.

• The last 10% takes another 90% of your time.

Start play testing early

• Starting early lets the play testers get familiar with your game.

• Don’t take it personal when they gloat after finding a “bug”.

• Remember they are professional game players.

• Whenever you make a last minute change, you have to allow time to test all the things it could possibly affect.

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