Why Can't Johnny Ship?
| Why Can't Johnny Ship? |
| Introduction |
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| Conclusion |
1. Do I have the technology I need? Can I design a great experience with the stable technology at hand?
If you feel you must advance the state of the art, then treat incorporating new technologies as an ongoing R&D project separate from title production. For the purposes of title design, use the most reliable version of any technology - you can take advantage of advances later in the project, or in the next project.
2. Is the design complete? Do I have a complete list of the production elements required? Do the artists have the information they need to create what the programmers will be expecting?
Complete designs are difficult to create. No one ever saved time by skipping the work involved. All puzzles, hot spots, game elements, and so on need to be spec'ed out. The design must be complete enough that if you handed the project to an competent off-site development group, you would get the product you want.
If there's any question about whether something is going to work, prototype it. Play on paper. Play with simple artwork. Make the mistakes before you finalize you plans. In our industry, there's entirely too much "and then a miracle occurs" between design and implementation. Allocate sufficient time to do a complete job, then freeze the design.
3. How long will it take to create a background, five seconds of animation, a spoken dialog, a 10 second video clip, a 3D model of a room? How much will it cost?
Most of what passes for scheduling and budgeting in our industry is guesswork. Base your time and cost analyses on experience with your creative production teams. Allow for holidays, sick days, and other periods of unproductivity. Expecting two backgrounds per day per artist isn't realistic if your artists are averaging one per day.
4. Do the programming, art, and marketing people think this design is a winner? Do the programmers believe that they can program it?
All parties concerned should participate in the design process. That means programmers, artists, designers, testers, even marketing. The goal is to arrive at a consensus that this design is great.
5. When will the programmers receive media assets? What happens if we need to move the title to a new platform?
Once production starts, generate placeholder artwork (typically rough sketches) as quickly as possible. Then track the work flow carefully to make sure media assets get to the programming staff in a steady stream. Large projects should have a librarian to keep track of assets. Don't neglect to create them in a high-quality format (24 bit graphics, 16 bit audio) for future use in a higher quality environment.
6. Can the team produce video, animation, music, artwork, writing on time?
Professionals cost more, but they get stuff done faster. Consider hiring seasoned veterans for production of assets and dialog.
7. Can we sustain the pace of development?
You're running a marathon, not a sprint. Base your production process and scheduling on a sustainable work week, not on all-nighters that extend into a murky future. A bit of a crunch near the end is typical, but if you find that your programmers have been working 65 hour weeks for the past few months, consider yourself in trouble. Deep trouble.
8. Will we need to change this design?
Changes are to be avoided. If you've done the paper-play and prototypes, you shouldn't have too many surprises. If people want new features, let them know what the costs will be, especially in terms of time. Play-test a prototype of the title (or section) with changes before proceeding.
9. Is the production team being well served by management? That is, how easy is it to purchase a replacement hard disk at 3 pm on a Friday?
Yes, it's important to stick to a budget. Having a properly organized production process will help. However, there is a need to appear, and actually to be, responsive to the demands of the development team. Making it a bureaucratic nightmare to get that hard disk is an adversarial way of enforcing fiscal responsibility. It undermines team spirit. Remember, the big budget buster is the time spent in development beyond the scheduled ship date - not small cash outlays for necessary equipment.
10. What happens if the schedule begins to slip?
A late project is not a moral issue. Keep the team positive and focused. Deal with slippage by obtaining more of whatever you're lacking. Have technical firefighters at the ready. Be prepared to use an outside production house - after all, your design is sufficiently complete to enable competent outside help to create the product you expect.
I've had wonderful experiences over the past year working with a great team of artists, designers, programmers, and other professionals in a well organized creative and production process that emphasizes creative design over technology. It's not perfect, but I can assure you that it works. It seems impossible, I know. But, given the inherent complexity of creating interactive multimedia, it's the only sane way to proceed. I, for one, look forward to a future in which interactive titles shine with obvious, compelling brilliance because the people who make them are master artists who really know how to get the job done.
