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Torus' Goodfellow: Don't Skimp On Pre-Production
by Staff [PC, Console/PC, Exclusive]
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January 13, 2010
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"The pre-production period for a project cannot be underestimated in any way," warns producer Nicole Goodfellow of Torus Games in a new Gamasutra feature postmortem of Torus' recent game Scooby-Doo! First Frights.
A lot went right for Torus during the game's development, including the freedom given to the team by the publisher, a successful pairing structure of artists and level designers, and the implementation of new internal tools, but as is inevitable in game development, there were some stumbling points as well.
Among those was a somewhat improperly scoped pre-production phase, which Goodfellow describes as follows:
"Measure twice, cut once, as the saying goes. The pre-production period for a project cannot be underestimated in any way. It's not just a time for drawing a few pictures and scribbling out a design; it's the moment when the foundations and blueprint of the game for the entire development needs to be laid out -- and in detail.
"Of course, you can't assume to know all at this stage -- games development has a lot more experimentation and unknowns going into production than other media. However, if you can plan for what you do know, and make accommodations (and contingencies) for what you don't, you can save yourself a lot of heartache, late nights and greasy pizza meals in the end.
"Unfortunately, for Scooby-Doo! First Frights, our pre-production time wasn't utilized as efficiently as we'd hoped for. The period was mostly absorbed by the production of a vertical slice build of the game before heading into development. Our team at this time was also limited, and we were searching for additional level designers to bring into the team.
"Whilst the vertical slice build did benefit us in many ways (establishing some core systems etc.), it detracted from time needed for planning. In the end, we delivered a great vertical slice (albeit too long at 15 minutes of complete gameplay) and we had set the bar high for ourselves -- very high.
"Once we headed into production, and in reflection of the vertical slice build, we identified that the design was over-scoped; some cuts were made, but only so much could be done by that point. We'd made a promise to deliver the game as originally planned, but this is one area where our inexperience in developing a game of this genre showed as we progressed through development -- we underestimated the workload necessary to produce a game of this scope and content.
"We were determined not to make shortcuts and to deliver the best quality game -- but this comes at a cost. If not for the spirit, commitment and passion towards the project from the team, the project could well have extended beyond the additional eight weeks that had been added to the project development schedule.
"No producer -- no team member -- ever wants a project to be late. It's bad. We hate it. Warners were kind enough to extend the project to mostly accommodate for the content production (particularly animation and audio) slip. Quality versus Time versus Budget -- tilting to one side will affect all others, and you can't have the best of all three.
"Having the time again, a separate team and schedule for the vertical slice build would run parallel to the pre-production team. This would have ensured that the time and resources required for the development of the game were available and more efficiently utilized for what they're there for in the first place -- planning, so that when it came down to the actual development, the path of production would be much clearer, with rework at a minimum.
"But, as I mentioned, we were all mostly new to this genre of game, and underestimating the extent of content required, had eagerly jumped into the deep end.
"Today, pre-production is still considered as the most vital stage of a project's development; however, a vertical slice (or demo build) should never impede on this time, nor affect the required workload. I would rather redirect development time back into pre-production and ensure greater planning and preparation, rather than play catch-up in the end. The game itself would be a lot healthier for it, too."
The full postmortem, which includes plenty more on what went right and what went wrong, is now available to read on Gamasutra.
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