Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
What it takes
Game development is a lot of work! There is a huge amount of things to do even to
make simple games. Before we delve into the details of each role in a team, it is worth
saying something about the cross competencies that each individual should have for
that team to be effective and reach its goals.
Commitment
In videogame development, (almost) any element of the game needs to be created
from scratch. Every pixel requires someone to draw it, any action performed by a
character needs someone to animate it, any event needs to be coded, any sound ef-
fect must be composed, and the list is long. It is not by chance that the inclusion of
digital contents in movies led to a large increase in cost.
Cohesion
Any activity that is shared among different people requires the group to hold together
on the common goal, especially in a small group where each person is responsible
for a key element of the project.
To develop a game requires weeks, or months, more reasonably. During this period,
any sort of problem that arises can hinder the course of the project: the code doesn't
work as expected, graphics mess up when imported in the engine, design questions
with no clear answers, for example.
If all the team members don't support each other and cooperate in such tight spots,
the project can easily turn into a failure, with the consequent loss of time, money, and
more important, team morale. When things go bad, you simply need the right people
around you, who can provide constructive criticism and help team mates to make the
best use of their talents.
The first experience of one of the authors with an indie team risked to turn into a com-
plete failure, with the consequent loss of time and money, when the professional we
were supposed to work with decided to quit. When that happened, we all felt very bad
and our morale was as low as it could be. If it wasn't for our friendship as a group, we
couldn't have reached the goal to make that game anyway!
