Method Overview
A Production Strategy for Character Based Games
Four Keystones of Method
- Pre-Production vs Production
- "Publishable" First Playable
- Macro vs Micro Design
- Gameplay Testing
The Challenge
“Games are engineering and art. I believe that one of the paramount reasons game development is so hard is that it involves working within these two distinctly different disciplines and methodologies. And just to make sure it's extra-hard, we ask the same group of people to do both.”
Part 1: Pre-Production vs Production
Phase 1: Pre-Production
- The Hard Part. The "capturing lightning" phase.
- The chaotic first phase of your project, during which your game's design takes form.
Phase 2: Production
- The Easy Part. The "building the game" phase.
- The structured second phase of your project, during which you build the game based on the framework and knowledge of pre-production.
Part 2: The "Publishable" First Playable.
The First Playable
- The 1st Deliverable of Pre-Production.
- A completely polished portion of the game that determines if the project lives or dies.
- The first playable must be so compelling that everyone involved is confident that the game will succeed in the marketplace in one or two years.
Part 3: Macro vs Micro Design
The Macro Design
- The 2nd Deliverable of Pre-Production
- A 5-page document that is the framework of your game.
Micro Design
- The Micro Design is what your game is.
- It's the documentation that is created on the fly during Production.
Part 4: Gameplay Testing
- Play sessions that include those in the perceived target audience and those outside of it.
- Provides an opportunity to find out your game’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Conducted at least 2 times, and as many as 5 times, during the project.