     |
 |
 |
 | | | | |
 |
|||
 |
||||||
          |
 |
 |
||||
|
But what about other game development models? “The bottom line is that you have to make new risks,” stared off Josh Holmes of Propaganda Games in his presentation about different game development models. “We have to grow our audience,” he then warned. Holmes believes that people will lose interest if the industry doesn’t break down the control barrier and look for better ways to get hits. In the short term, Holmes offered solutions for enabling low budget development, including outsourcing, middleware engines, and third party plug-ins. In the long term, he suggests that small game companies look into higher order middleware engines, low cost development hardware, and complete content libraries and asset solutions. “Think about changing your business model,” said Holmes. Episodic content, digital distribution, in-game advertisement, and micro-transactions are all alternate models for generating financial security. Traditionally, Holmes explained, developers decide on a genre, research other games within that genre, and list the genre’s conventions and “must haves” to improve on the genre itself. Instead, he suggests, developers should figure out the emotional experience they want the player to have, research games across all genres that provide that experience, and then develop game mechanics to deliver that desired experience.
“Design should be collaborative, not ‘design by committee,’” Holmes argued. He emphasized having partnership across disciplines, and putting designers in the role of “shepherds,” not “autocratic visionaries.” Design should also be iterative. “Building a new game is like building a new home—you can’t know exactly where the furniture should go until you live in it for awhile,” Holmes said. Developers should articulate the design goals and expect to make changes as they implement them. Holmes outlined his strategies for optimizing development. First, he schedules with time built in for change and allows for reflection. Second, he fights. “Fight for what you believe in,” he emphasized. “Respectful conflict is an important part of the process.” Lastly, said Holmes, “it’s not good enough to keep doing what we know works. We have to take risks if we want to grow this art form.” The audience was stirred up with debate over Holmes’ talk, largely because Holmes is at Propaganda, which works on IP-oriented console titles. An employee of Radical pointed out: “First and foremost with a publisher is credibility.” Without credibility, the chances of being able to take risks as a small developer are slim. Holmes recognized the response and explained that Propaganda is working on more established titles in order to be able to take more risks in the future. In a sense, they are currently working on their own credibility. Jason Della Rocca, the Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association, pointed out that game industry includes platforms outside of consoles, where there are many unique development models to work with different genres of games. He referenced Eric Zimmerman’s GameLab as an example of an alternative model. Overall, there was a call for more acknowledgment of independent game development in the mix of discussions concerning consumers as creators and the shift of media to a content-oriented industry with medium crossovers, which is not only affecting Vancouver, but international industry as well. |
|||||||||||||||
Previous
|
|
|