Spring 2007 COMP 7970 1

Design Teams

Team StructureInterdisciplinary Teams

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 2

Game Design

1. The game design vision drives everything

2. Every team member contributes something vital

Respect their expertise

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 3

Team Structure

Director/Producer– The person who’s driving– Has the creative vision for entire project– Possibly an expert in some area

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 4

The Game Vision

A game derives from a vision The Visual, Audio, Graphics, AI,

Networks derives from this vision It’s a collaboration! It’s probably not a dictatorship

– No one person can do all the work

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 5

Team Components/Members

Game Play/Storyboard

Level Design Graphics Graphic Design Animators MoCap Actors Networks Multi-player Design

AI Audio Audio Design Dialog Voice Talent Playtesting Marketing Technical Writers

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 6

Software Engineering

The Waterfall Model:– Design -> Spec -> Coding -> Testing

Better:– Programmers discover what the

customer wants– Programmers implement prototype– Users test prototype– Tests feed back to design

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 7

Game Software Engineering

Many team members are non-programmers

Eg. Graphic artists are sometimes semi-literate– Their mastery is pictures!

Audio people have some CS experience

Marketing people have limited CS experience

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 8

Specifications

Game specifications will cover many bases

It’s not all about software per se

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 9

The Bottom Line

The team members are there for a reason:

Each team member is an expert

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 10

Eg. Audio Design

Like any design job, there must be a logic to the audio design

The logic drives – Instrumentation– Musical style– Selection of phrases

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 11

Logic Source

The audio design logic arises from game logic

The driving vision comes from the game– It’s not about creating a hit record, for

example

Team members…

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 12

Game Play

Expertise: Games, Storytelling Provide a compelling experience Set up goals for player(s)

– Script– Storyboard

Programmers– Control game logic– Formal Language Scripts, etc for game play– Formal Language Script interpreter

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 13

Level Design

Expertise: Games, Storytelling, Creative writing

Provide compelling experience this level– Adjust difficulty appropriate to level– Subsidiary to game design

Design– Spatial layout– Composition of forces– Pacing

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 14

Level Design

Expertise: Games, Storytelling Programmers

– Creating behavior of enemy agents in geographic space

– Special-purpose features this level– Design tools

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 15

Graphics

Expertise: CS -- Computer Graphics Programmers

– Create the graphics game engine– Customize engine components for

particular game– Visual effects– Performance tuning– Until recently, used most CPU

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 16

Graphic Design

Expertise: Visual Arts/Graphic Design Providing the visual content

– Design the look– Implement the look

Graphic design will generate a visual system– Main task is to make the system visually

consistent, coherent

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 17

Animators

Expertise: Visual Arts/Animation

Create the animated characters– Keyframes– MoCap – Capture,

Blending, Adjustment– Programming

simulation controllers to create good animations

Programmers– Animation control &

playback system– Scripting setup– Simulation system

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 18

MoCap Actors

Expertise: Dance, Acting Act out motion scripts

– Create consistent character for each captured motion

– Seamlessly join together motion segments

Programmers– Motion capture – Data management

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 19

Networks

Expertise: CS Networks, Multiplayer Programmers

– Implement network components– Client-server system– Server creation– Create multi-player control for game

• Prediction, Etc

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 20

Multi-player Design

Expertise: Multiplayer, CS Networks Design multi-player scheme

– Resolve conflicts– Deal with lag

Programmers– Game-specific strategies

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 21

AI

Expertise: AI Algorithms, AI Game Practice Programmers

– Create the AI engine• Could be just a general object suite

– Customize to game components– Responsible for good AI enemy play

• Details!

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 22

Audio

Expertise: CS -- Digital Sound Filters/Effects

Programmers– Create System-level audio software– Environmental effects filters– Resource management

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 23

Audio Design

Expertise: Music Designers

– Create audio space – Interact with other system elements

• Player health, location• Time of day, environment

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 24

Dialog

Expertise: Creative Writing, Play Writing Create believable speaking

characters– Create lines of dialog that will sound

good– Get the point across (or obscure it!)

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 25

Voice Talent

Expertise: Acting, Radio Create a compelling animated voice

character– Voice fits the body– Delivers the lines appropriately

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 26

Playtesting

Expertise: Games, Dealing with people Test the game with real users

– Get feedback– Adjust game difficulty– Adjust explanations, back story, etc– Get organized!

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 27

Marketing

Expertise: Game market, distribution Get the game on the market

– Figure out who your customers are– Generate demand

• Get it reviewed favorably• Place ads• Hype

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 28

Technical Writers

Expertise: Technical communications Create documentation

– Game manuals– API manuals

• In house• External