22 THE GAME PRODUCTION HANDBOOK, 2/E
and transferred to game development—there are no set guidelines for what
skills a producer must possess. Some producers are more technical than others
and work most effectively when focusing on ways to push the technology during
game development; others may be more effective at guiding the design features
of the game. However, anyone working in a production position must have the
following characteristics:
Strong leadership skills: These abilities include motivating teams and
individuals, negotiating conflicts, building a consensus, and providing the
guiding vision of the game from beginning to end.
Effective communication skills: All communication must be clear, dip-
lomatic, and timely. These skills include the ability to deliver bad news in a
sensitive fashion, giving constructive feedback, and answering any questions
in a forthright manner.
Highly developed organizational skills: These skills include creating
schedules, delegating tasks, and tracking all the fine details of the project.
Knowledge of project management principles is extremely useful.
Desire to work with (and for) others: Overall, a producer is there to
serve the team and not the other way around. The team is actually creating
the content for the game, and the producer must create a working environ-
ment that allows them to be their most productive. The producer must al-
ways be available to listen to complaints, suggestions, and questions from the
team and deal with them in a positive and open-minded fashion. Production
is not a fit for someone who does not enjoy working with people.
While there is some training available for game producers, these programs
are few and far between. But there are several areas a producer can concentrate
on to build up his skills:
Knowledge of the game industry: Keep up to date with the latest indus-
try technology and trends, talk with other developers, and play games.
Project management training: Take some classes in project manage-
ment, or better yet, become a certified project manager or scrum master.
Chapter 3, “Formal Production Processes,” Part 5, “Pre-Production,” and
Part 6, “Production,” in this book provide further information on project
management.
People management training: Learn how to effectively manage and moti-
vate people. Several books and classes provide valuable information on how
to manage a diverse group of people. Part 3 of this book, “Managing People,”
discusses management in more detail.
ROLES ON THE TEAM 23
Public speaking experience: Become more confident when speaking at
team meetings by taking a public speaking class. Also, Toastmasters (www.
toastmasters.org) is a non-profit organization in which people meet to prac-
tice public speaking and leadership skills.
PRODUCER SKILLS
Stephanie O’Malley Deming, Producer
Xloc
A producer must be a good diplomat and have the ability to communicate with
people on all different levels, from a texture artist to the vice president of the studio.
A producer must figure out what motivates each person on the team and use this
knowledge to get people excited about their tasks. Good organizational skills and the
ability to multitask are musts.
Someone who wants to be a producer should start at the bottom, either as
a production coordinator, assistant designer, or QA tester, and working their way
up. Gain as much hands-on experience as you can, because experience counts for
an incredible amount. Being in the trenches helps you understand how and why
decisions are made and allows you to foresee potential issues in the production
schedule. It also gives you the ability to knowledgeably converse with and lead the
developers on your team and ensure that the best decisions are made for the design,
engineering, and art aspects of the game. After you become a producer, you have
many different experiences to pull from and can understand which processes will
work best.
2.3 ART
Artists are responsible for creating all the graphical assets for the game—
characters, cinematics, vehicles, buildings, and levels—and as technology be-
comes better, the quality of the assets must match the advancement, especially
for the next-generation of hardware. These machines have more memory,
processing power, and storage space, which avails the artists the opportunity
to create highly detailed objects, realistic-looking terrain and water, and special
effects for explosions and weather that are comparable to the real world.
Artists work closely with the designers on what objects, worlds, and cinemat-
ics are needed and also work with engineering to determine how to utilize the
24 THE GAME PRODUCTION HANDBOOK, 2/E
technology most effectively in the art production pipeline. If a large number of
art assets need to be created, artists are likely to outnumber other team mem-
bers by two to one. Each team might have different titles for the art positions on
a development team. The basic art positions are as follows:
■
Art Director
■
Lead Artist
■
Concept Artist
■
World Builder or Level Designer
■
Asset Artist
■
Animator
■
Technical Artist
■
Marketing Artist
Art Director
The art director’s main function is communicating the artistic vision to the team.
This person is skilled in all aspects of creating digital art and is responsible for
ensuring that all the artistic assets relate to each other within the game. An art
director is a very skilled and respected artist who has 5 to 10 years of work expe-
rience. Not all projects will have an art director on the team.
Lead Artist
The lead artist works closely with the art director to ensure that the artistic vi-
sion is maintained throughout the development process. The lead manages the
quality of the art assets and the day-to-day tasks of the team and is a go-between
for the art director and the art team. This facilitation allows the art director to
focus on the creative aspects of the game, instead of managing personnel. If the
team has no art director, the lead artist assumes the responsibility for defining
the artistic vision. The lead artist is an experienced and respected artist with at
least three to five years of game development experience.
Concept Artist
Concept artists are visionaries. They are responsible for creating concepts of all
of the art assets before they are produced. They are skilled in 2D art, traditional
drawing and painting methods, and sometimes 3D art. They work directly with
the art director in creating and documenting the artistic vision of the game.
World Builder or Level Designer
The world builders or level designers are responsible for building the geometry
and creating the textures for the game world. They are skilled in 2D and 3D art,
ROLES ON THE TEAM 25
and have an understanding of level design. In some companies, this position is
considered to be a design position, as the gameplay is heavily impacted by the
way the game world is mapped out.
Asset Artist
The asset artist also has 2D and 3D art skills but is responsible for creating the
assets that appear in the game world. These assets include such things as char-
acters, weapons, vehicles, props, user interface screens, and any other necessary
game assets. Some asset artists will specialize in a particular type of asset, such
as vehicles.
Animator
Animators are responsible for creating all the in-game and cinematic animations.
They need to be skilled in traditional 2D and 3D animation. However, 3D ani-
mation is more desirable for game development, especially to take advantage of
the latest technology.
Technical Artist
Technical artists manage the technical side of asset creation, such as creating
collision volumes, making sure that objects are exported correctly and applying
physics attributes to an object. They will work closely with engineering on the art
tools and art pipeline and, therefore, need to have enough technical knowledge
to communicate with engineers.
Marketing Artist
Marketing artists create all the marketing assets for game. These activities in-
clude taking game screenshots, gameplay videos, creating high-resolution art,
packaging, and anything else that marketing needs to promote the game. These
artists are usually skilled in 2D art, with some knowledge of 3D art.
Background and Training
The background and training required for a game artist is well-defined. In
general, an artist must possess artistic skill and be able to express this skill in
traditional artistic mediums such as painting, drawing, and sculpting. Another
critical component is the knowledge of how to use 2D or 3D software to create
assets. Most universities or art schools will offer classes on how to use the soft-
ware, so this hurdle is not difficult to overcome.
Knowledge of the game industry is also beneficial for artists, as technology
is always changing, affecting how art can be used in the game. If artists keep up
26 THE GAME PRODUCTION HANDBOOK, 2/E
with these changes, they can bring this knowledge to the games on which they
work, and continue to improve the graphics as the technology evolves.
Finally, artists should have strong communication skills because they will be
communicating with designers, engineers, and production personnel on a team.
Effective communication makes everyone’s job easier on the project.
ART SKILLS
Carey Chico, Art Director
Pandemic Studios
Game artists must have a strong background in working with a blank piece of
paper, as this is essential in getting the mind activated. Artists should also have an
understanding of how to draw using traditional drawing methods, such as pen and
ink. They must also learn the tools of the trade, which include 2D painting and 3D
content-creation tools. Finally, they must have technical knowledge—this can’t be
overstated—the game industry is extremely technical, and it is essential that artists
can communicate with technical and creative people.
One way to start working as a game artist is to get involved in a modding com-
munity. The modding community will use level editors for a particular game to
create new game assets, levels, and missions. Once the mods are completed, the
creators usually offer them as free downloads. There are several level editors (such
as UNREAL) readily available, which aspiring game artists can use to develop and
demonstrate their skills. The modded levels can be the beginning of a game art port-
folio that can help someone get their foot in the door at a developer.
2.4 ENGINEERING
Engineers are involved in every aspect of the game—graphics, animation, script-
ing tools, physics, user interface (UI), sound, and more—and are responsible
for creating all the code that makes the game work. They must start with de-
sign documents, define the necessary functionality, write code that creates the
functionality, and then revise the functionality based on feedback. They also work
closely with the art team to determine the technical art needs for the game.
Game engineering is much different from engineering business software,
especially with regards to the high priority placed on creating an entertaining
software package. Game engineers usually have a passion for games and under-
stand the unique skills required for this position. Game engineers must be able
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