416 THE GAME PRODUCTION HANDBOOK, 2/E
The lead artist begins working on the style guide early in pre-production. The
asset lists will be generated and included in the milestone deliverable lists. Another
artist will join the team in pre-production help with prototyping and defining the
asset deliverables. The asset lists and tool instructions will not be fully final at
the end of pre-production. Art will continue adding details to these documents
throughout production. The art documentation needed for Justice Unit includes:
■
Style guide
■
Asset list
■
Tools instructions
The lead engineer also has a set of documents to write during pre-production.
As engineers are added to the team, they will need to understand the coding
standards and how the technology works. The list of technical documents needed
for Justice Unit includes:
■
Coding standards
■
Technical design
■
Tools instructions
A.2.4 Create Game Plan
While the leads work on their pre-production tasks, the producer is busy creating
the game plan. As with the other documents generated in pre-production, the
game plan will continue to be updated during production. The goal of creating
a game plan in pre-production is to put together an initial plan that serves as the
starting point for the project. It is much easier to determine how much progress
is actually being made if there is a plan to compare the progress against. The plan
also provides a good basis for which variables (schedule, resources, or features)
need to be adjusted in order to fulfill the project goals. Refer to Chapter 16 for
more information on creating a game plan.
Figure A.10 is an estimated schedule for the game plan phase of Justice Unit.
This plan will detail the budget, schedule, and staffing that is needed to com-
plete the game in time for an October 13, 2009 ship date. The game plan phase
will begin in early January 2008 and will wrap up in mid-March 2008.
Initial Schedule Estimate
Because Justice Unit has to ship on October 13, 2009, the producer knows that
the schedule is the fixed variable for the game plan. This means that the schedule
dictates how many people are needed on the team and what the game’s budget
will be. Luckily, Justice Unit has a 24-month development cycle, so the producer
should be able to create a game plan that has a reasonable schedule and budget.
CASE STUDY—GAME PRODUCTION CYCLE 417
When creating the game plan, the producer notes that some of the second-
ary features (“would like to have” features) might be moved to the “nice to have”
feature list. If the game did not have a hard ship date, the producer could create
a schedule that is dictated by when the desired features are actually completed,
which would mean the game is likely would not be ready to ship in October 2009.
The producer begins work on the game plan by creating an initial schedule
estimate. Because the producer is familiar with about how long each milestone
phase should be, he starts figuring out the development schedule based on the
FIGURE A.10 Game plan phase overview for Justice Unit.
Step Resources
General
Timeline Est. Start Est. End Tasks
Create master
schedule Producer
Happens in
parallel with
requirements
phase 7-Jan-08 14-Mar-08
Creat project schedule with main
milestones and break down each
milestone into major art, design,
engineering, and QA tasks. Add
in sections for any localization,
voiceover, or other outsource
work. Include sections for third
party approvals.
Create detailed
schedules for
core features Producer
Happens in
parallel with
requirements
phase 7-Jan-08 14-Mar-08
As design, art, and engineering
determine requirements, create
schedules for major features to
determine scope, cost, and
resources for desired features.
Determine
budget Producer
Happens in
parallel with
requirements
phase 7-Jan-08 14-Mar-08
Make educated assumptions
about estimated costs and create
an initial budget.
Determine
staffing needs Producer
Happens in
parallel with
requirements
phase 7-Jan-08 14-Mar-08
Make educated assumptions
about estimated staffing needs
and create an initial staffing plan.
Determing
outsourcing
needs Producer
Happens in
parallel with
requirements
phase 7-Jan-08 14-Mar-08
Based on staffing needs, team
expertise, and budget, make an
educated guess about which
areas of the game will need to be
outsourced.
Research and
select vendors Producer
Happens in
parallel with
requirements
phase 7-Jan-08 14-Mar-08
Research potential vendors to get
an idea of cost, quality, and
dependability.
Approval
Studio
management,
publisher
Happens in
parallel with
requirements
phase 17-Mar-08 21-Mar-08
Present budget, schedule, and
staffing plan to management for
approval.
418 THE GAME PRODUCTION HANDBOOK, 2/E
target ship date and works backwards to come up with estimates of when each
milestone phase should be completed. For example, it normally takes a console
project eight weeks to receive final approval from the console manufacturer, so
the game’s gold master must be ready for submission at least eight weeks before
the ship date. The producer wants to schedule three weeks of testing on poten-
tial code release candidates so that the gold master will be ready for submission
on time. He schedules rough deadlines for the remaining milestone by continu-
ing to work backwards from the previous milestone deadline. Figure A.11 is an
initial schedule estimate for Justice Unit.
Once the producer determines the milestone deadlines, he estimates dates
for submitting the milestones for approval. He also works with the project leads to
estimate completion deadlines for key areas of the game. The actual dates will be
slightly different once the producer puts a detailed schedule together, but the ini-
tial schedule estimate provides a good blueprint for when things need to be done.
In Figure A.11 the producer has not listed specific deadlines for the ci-
nematics. He wants to put together a more defined schedule first, in order to
determine if the cinematics should be outsourced. He plans to hold off on mak-
ing this decision until early in production. There is enough time in the develop-
ment schedule to wait on this decision. The producer does list the cinematics as
a risk on the project, mainly to keep reminding people that a decision needs to
made on whether to outsource the cinematics or not.
For the design, art, engineering, audio, and localization sections, the pro-
ducer works with the appropriate lead to estimate some ballpark deadlines. The
leads determine some key tasks that can provide useful data points for measuring
the progress of the project. After they determine these initial tasks and see the
breakdown in the initial schedule, they can better plan the content of each major
milestone delivery.
Work Breakdown Structure
Supergames Studio now has enough information about the project to create work
breakdown structures (WBS) for major tasks. They decide to focus on a WBS that
involves input from all the major disciplines on the game development team.
This allows art, engineering, design, and QA to better understand how their work
impacts the other departments and vice versa. The producer schedules meetings
to work on each WBS. The team finds it easier to get all the necessary people in
the room and just have them list each task they need to complete on a given part
of the game. The producer then organizes these tasks and works with the appro-
priate lead to estimate how long a task might take. Once the WBS is completed,
the producer will determine where the task dependencies are and create a more
detailed schedule with all the pertinent information. Figure A.12 is a work break-
down structure for creating a level in Justice Unit. In this example, all the depart-
ments have responsibilities in order to get a level working in the game.
CASE STUDY—GAME PRODUCTION CYCLE 419
Game Name
Estimated Date Notes
Languages: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish
Production
Concept Phase Completed
21-Dec-07
Completed before holiday break (Dec 24 - Jan 2, 2009)
Requirments Phase Completed
14-Mar-08
Phase begins in early Jan 2009
Initial Game Plan Completed
14-Mar-08
Producer works on this in parallel with requirements phase.
First Playable
27-Jun-08
Once initial plan approved, will schedule 3 months to prototype main game play
mechanics and create a first playable with some assets that will represent final art
quality and gameplay experience.
Alpha
27-Sep-08
Planning to develop console and PC platforms in parallel, with priority going to
console since it must be code released first in order to be submitted to third party for
approval.
Code Freeze
27-Apr-09
Beta
27-May-09
Pre-Cert Submission to Microsoft
27-May-09
Code Release Candidate
27-Jul-09
All platforms, all languages ready.
Certification Submission to Microsoft
17-Aug-09
Target Ship Date (All platforms, all languages)
13-Oct-09
Sim-ship with Europe.
Approvals
Concept Approval
7-Jan-08
Requirements Approval
21-Mar-08
Game Plan Approval
21-Mar-08
License Approval
ongoing
Will need to approve initial design documents and each major milestone delivery.
They have 10 days to approve any assets presented to them.
Console Manufacturer Approval
28-Sep-09
Need to get approval by this date in order to have 3 weeks for manufacturing and
shipping.
Design
Deliverables Completed for Concept Phase
21-Dec-07
Deliverables Completed for Requirements Phase
14-Mar-08
Detailed Documentation Completed for Game Features
27-Jun-08
Will continue writing core feature documentation until first playable is ready at end of
June 2008. At this time, will determine which secondary features to document and
implement.
Character and Story Documents Completed
27-Sep-08
Completed by Alpha so there is ample time to implement any feedback.
Voiceover Scripts Completed
27-Mar-09
Will record placeholder VO in in Jan 2009 to test out voice cues and determine how
much content needs to be written.
Mission and Scenarios Designed
27-Sep-08
Plan to complete all mission designs by Alpha. Mission designs will have staggered
deliveries between April 2008 and Sept 2008 so that prototype scripting can be
completed for each mission by Dec 2008.
Mission Prototypes Scripted
21-Dec-08
Planning to have all art and design prototypes completed by end of year. This
allows for playtesting and feedback in Jan and Feb 2009. Once a level is playtested,
final scripting can begin.
Playtesting
27-Feb-09
All playtesting completed by this deadline. Playtesting begins in Jan 2009.
Final Missions Scripted
27-May-09
Final mission scripting completed by Beta. After this date, minor scripting feedback
can be implemented. Other changes evaluated on a case by case basis.
Art
Deliverables Completed for Concept Phase
21-Dec-07
Deliverables Completed for Requirements Phase
14-Mar-08
Prototypes Completed
5-Dec-08
Art prototypes completed in early December so that design has all necessary art
assets to complete scripting by Dec 21, 2008. Art prototyping will begin in April 2008
after design completes first mission scenario.
First Playable Level Completed
1-Jun-08
Design needs to deliver level scenario by May 1 in order for art to have prototype
completed by this date. This dates allows 4 weeks for design to script the level, and
for art to continue polishing the level and implementing feedback so that the first-
playable deadline is met on Jun 27.
Special Effects Completed
27-Apr-09
Placeholder special effects to be completed by Alpha. All special effects must be
completed by code freeze (Apr 27), so that artists can begin final UI polish.
UI Completed
27-Apr-09
Placeholder UI to be completed by Alpha. All UI art assets must be completed by
code freeze (Apr 27), so that artists can begin final UI polish.
Cinematics Completed
15-Jul-09
Placeholder cinematics completed before beta (27-Apr-09), final cinematics
completed by 15-Jul-09.
Level Schedule
Figure A.13 (following pages) is a detailed schedule that the producer cre-
ated from the WBS the team completed for building a level (Figure A.12).
In this schedule, the producer added the dependencies and resources. In
this version of the schedule, the producer sees that art and design are heavily
dependent on each other during this process. In a few days, he plans to cre-
420 THE GAME PRODUCTION HANDBOOK, 2/E
ate another version of the schedule that adds in another artist and designer on
some of these tasks, in order to reduce the amount of time it takes to complete
a level for the game. He needs to discuss this idea with the lead artist and lead
designer first, in order to figure out which tasks can be given to a second per-
son without impacting the work of the others.
FIGURE A.11 Initial schedule estimate for Justice Unit.
Engineering
Deliverables Completed for Concept Phase
21-Dec-07
Deliverables Completed for Requirements Phase
14-Mar-08
Engineering Prototypes Completed
27-Jun-08
Prototyping of new technology completed by first playable. Ideally first playable is
built on technology prototypes.
Art and Design Tools Completed
27-Sep-08
Tools must be completed by Alpha at the latest so that design can test tools, provide
feedback, and have everything working so they can begin scripting in Jan 2009.
Production Pipeline Completed
27-Sep-08
Build process must be running smoothly by Alpha. Once team hits alpha, daily
builds will be automatically generated.
All Major Game Play Features Implemented
27-Mar-09
Would like all features to be implemented one month before code freeze, so there is
time to provide feedback or fix any major issues before full code freeze.
Code Freeze
27-Apr-09
Ideally, code can freeze at this time. Will consult with lead engineer about any
feature requests that occur after this deadline.
Audio
Sound Designs Completed
19-Dec-08
Sound design will use mission design documents as basis for sound design.
Casting notes and VO samples will also be ready at this time. Will begin recording
placeholder VO.
Sound Prototypes Complete
27-Feb-09
Sound can continue work on prototypes while scripting is being playtested. This
allows them ample time to finish final sound designs by beta (5/27).
Placeholder VO Recorded
30-Jan-09
Will work with design to record some placeholder VO so it can be implemented in
the level prototypes for feedback. Will also use placeholder as a way to test
different types of voices and accents for various characters.
Final VO Recorded
27-Apr-09
Final VO must be recorded by code freeze so that localized VO can be recorded.
May schedule a pick-up session in late June 2009 if necessary.
Final Music Implemented in Game
27-May-09
May outsource music to an external vendor. If so, will want vendor to deliver before
this deadline to ensure there are no delays.
Localization
Determine Localization Needs
27-Jun-08
Ideally publisher will let us know by first playable which languages they want.
External vendors will be researched and one will be selected by this deadline.
Organize Assets for Translation
27-Mar-09
Design will have VO scripts and in-game text completed at this point. May send
assets in batches for translation if some areas of text are not fully final.
Integrate Assets
27-May-09
Planning for translations to be ready at beginning of May 2009. The localized VO for
cinematics will need some additional time for integration.
Functionality Testing
27-Jun-09
Will begin functional testing at end of May.
Linguistic Testing
27-Jun-09
Will begin linguistic testing at end of May. This will allow time to submit localized
builds to ratings boards for certification. Linguistic testing to be completed by beta.
QA
Test Plan Completed
27-Jun-08
Initial plan completed by first playable. Plan will continue to be updated as new
design documents and prototypes are completed.
First Playable Testing Completed
7-Jul-08
QA will begin checking first playable against milestone deliverables on Jun 30 (next
working day after first playable is completed).
Alpha Testing Completed
3-Oct-08
QA will spend 5 days checking alpha against milestone deliverables.
Playtesting Completed
27-Feb-09
1st Code Release Candidate to QA
27-Jul-09
Code Release
17-Aug-09
Cinematics (External Vendor)
Deliver Initial Specs to Vendor
???
Need to determine if cinematics should be outsourced.
Storyboard from Vendor
???
Animatic from Vendor
???
Rough Cut from Vendor
???
Final Movie from Vendor (no sound)
???
Movie to Sound Designer
???
Final Movie Ready for Game
???
Marketing
Demo Build
6-Jul-09
Marketing wants fully approved demo by Aug 7, 2009 so it can be included on cover
disc for Official Xbox Magazine. Demo needs to be submitted at least 4 weeks
before this deadline to make this date.
Preview Code for Journalists
27-May-09
Planning to send the beta build as preview code.
Review Code for Journalists
17-Aug-09
The build submitted to Microsoft for final approval will be used at review code.
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