Introduction

Paul Kerby Lead Gameplay Programmer, Gotham

Team Gareth Wilson

Design Manager, Gotham Team

Presentation Format

Game Overview Design Art Code Production Conclusions

Improvements to our process

Game Overview

“Speed and Style” Visually “Next Generation” Day 1 launch title XBOX 360 Average 89% review scores

Production Stats

2 year development cycle 67 Bizarre creations staff 100+ MGS staff 22,400 cans of Coke. 281,600 teabags & 9182 pints of

milk! One million air miles!

Software Used

Maya 6, XSI Advanced + Essentials Visual Studio .NET(C#, C++) Lua Scripting Nuendo 2, Pro Tools, Soundforge Alienbrain, Tortoise Subversion MS Project 2003, Product Studio &

RAID

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Design – What went Wrong

Design locked down too late Lacked detail Some design areas depended on

new technology Design changes not communicated Time pressures relating to new

hardware

Design – What went Right

Design documentation Design reacted quickly to technical

realities The right features were trimmed Microsoft design & balancing support

excellent Core pillars agreed early and stuck to

Design Pillars Screenshot

PGR3 Design Pillars

Art – What Went Wrong

Moving to Maya caused an initial dip in production

Build instability caused massive overtime to get level of art polish required

Producing track surface left late in project Rushed asset production – “too many last

minute asset requests”

Art - What Went Right

All content produced on time, despite project issues

Outsourcing used on later stages Visual detail outstanding In-car view became a defining

feature of the game

Tokyo Screenshot

Vegas ScreenTokyo Screenshot

London Screenshot

New York Screenshot

Nurburgring Screenshot

Code – What Went Wrong

Hardware dates changed Early XDK’s sometimes unstable Documentation neglected Poor build stability hampered

gameplay and art Tools built from scratch for Maya

Code - What Went Right

MS support excellent Programmers given specific areas to “own” Build stabilised at the right time Once complete, tool chain excellent All game features flexible and scaleable Use of scripting invaluable Coders understood where the “next

generation” bar was

Nine Months Out

Six Months Out

Two Months Out

Production – What went Wrong To begin with we failed to realise the

complexities of producing HD content Everybody rushing to the line at the same time Art and Tech were the focus, sometimes the

game was neglected Milestone targets not communicated well to

the team Programmers could have been scheduled

better

Production – What went right New team members hired at start of project When an area was late resources were added Empowerment of team members Game Balancing process went right Strong relationship with publisher Outsourcing used effectively People looked after in times of stress

Conclusions

We shipped on-time, a day 1 launch title We were “Next Gen” We don’t want to do it like that again! Bizarre is in a prime position for future

game development

Generic Screenshot

Pitfalls

Be ambitious but not too ambitious Assume makes an ASS of U and ME Ignore the previous generation at

your peril! Do things in the correct order Unstable builds halt production

Funny Diary shots

Funny Diary shots

Funny Diary shots

Top Five Tips

1. Be Flexible and Scaleable 2. Communicate Change3. Build Relationships4. Reduce moving parts5. Prepare team for overtime and look

after them!

Any Questions???