Comparing Game Development Techniques

BioWare is an American-owned Canadian electronic entertainment company founded in February

1995 by Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip. BioWare specializes in creating computer and console games and has become famous for highly praised and successful role-playing games such as Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights, both of which won many awards.

They have also made several successful games that span both the console and PC platform: Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Mass Effect 1 and 2 and also Dragon Age: Origins with its soon to be released sequel Dragon Age 2.

The BioWare Group of studios is now four studios (BioWare Edmonton, BioWare Austin, BioWare Mythic and Bioware Montreal) comprising the RPG/MMO Group within Electronic Arts, with Muzyka, EA Senior VP and the group General Manager and Zeschuk EA VP and Group Creative Officer of the BioWare Group; Yip left in early 1997 to return to medicine. Other senior leaders in the BioWare Group (RPG/MMO) of EA are Rob Denton (EA VP and Group Operations Officer of the BioWare Group), Patrick Buechner (EA VP and Group Marketing Officer of the BioWare Group), Gordon Walton and Rich Vogel (EA VPs and co-General Managers of BioWare Austin), Aaryn Flynn (EA VP and General Manager of BioWare Edmonton), Eugene Evans (EA VP and General Manager of BioWare Mythic, in Fairfax, Virginia), and Yanick Roy (Studio Director of BioWare Montreal).

Mass Effect

Sophisticated interfaces (skill trees, levelling up, inventory management)

Hardcore gaming.

Re-playability.

Epic, story driven games.

Strong narrative.

Great visuals.

Psychological attachment to characters.

Twisting story arcs.

Multi-tiered story arcs

Being a big game company, BioWare will have access to a much larger financial stream, and therefore be able to employ more people to perform the required tasks.

PopCap Games is an American video game developer and publisher, based in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 2000 by John Vechey, Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka, and currently employs more than 200 people. Most of PopCap's games can be played free in a limited form, with the full version available for a one time fee.

PopCap's Flagship title 'Bejeweled' sold more than 50 million units across all major platforms. PopCap's games are available for Web, PC and Mac, Xbox 360, Playstation 3 as well as most handheld Apple devices. In June 2010, it was announced that they would be producing games for the Android OS.

The casual game maker pulled in $100 million in revenue in 2010 and has 400 employees, but 2011 could see the company going public, more international expansion and, of course, new games

Plants Vs. Zombies

Social, multi-player gaming.­

Simple, easy interfaces.

Re-playability.

Colourful aesthetics.

Child friendly entry level, hard to master, appeals to all ages.

A smaller game company like PopCap may utilise the same people to perform multiple roles within their team. This proves to be more cost effective as well as forming a tighter team to contribute to a smoother working environment.

Producer: A producer is in charge of overseeing the development of a video game.

Most video games are developed by third-party developers. In these cases, there may be external and internal producers. External producers may act as "executive producers" and are employed by the game's publisher. Internal producers work for the developer itself and have more of a hands-on role. Some game developers may have no internal producers, however, and may rely solely on the publisher's producer.

For an external producer, their job responsibilities may focus mainly on overseeing several projects being worked on by a number of developers. While keeping updated on the progress of the games being developed externally, they inform the upper management of the publisher of the status of the pending projects and any problems they may be experiencing. If a publisher's producer is overseeing a game being developed internally, their role is more akin to that of an internal producer and will generally only work on one game or a few small games.

As games have grown larger and more expensive, line producers have become part of some teams. Based on filmmaking traditions, Line Producers focus on project scheduling and costing to ensure titles are completed on time and on budget.

An internal producer is heavily involved in the development of, usually, a single game. Responsibilities for this position vary from company to company, but in general, the person in this position has the following duties:

• Negotiating contracts, including licensing deals
• Acting as a liaison between the development staff and the upper stakeholders (publisher or executive staff)
• Developing and maintaining schedules and budgets
• Overseeing creative (art and design) and technical development (game programming) of the game
• Ensuring timely delivery of deliverables (such as milestones)
• Scheduling timely quality assurance (testing)
• Arranging for beta testing and focus groups, if applicable
• Arranging for localization

In short, the internal producer is ultimately responsible for timely delivery and final quality of the game.

For small games, the producer may interact directly with the programming and creative staff. For larger games, the producer will seek the assistance of the lead programmer, art lead, game designer and testing lead. While it is customary for the producer to meet with the entire development staff from time to time, for larger games, they will only meet with the leads on a regular basis to keep updated on the development status.

For most games, the producer does not have a large role but does have some influence on the development of the game design. While not a game designer, the producer has to weave the wishes of the publisher or upper management into the design. They usually seek the assistance of the game designer in this effort. So the final game design is a result the effort of the designer and some influence of the producer.

In general, the producer is not the "boss" of the people on the game development team, but the "boss" of the game. So while a programmer may answer to a programming director, where matters of the game are involved, they answer to the producer. Producers may issue reprimands or issue accolades, but usually the fate of the developer's employment is not in the hands of the producer. So while they may suggest termination or promotions of certain employees, the producer normally cannot fire or promote team members single-handedly.

Director: The person usually responsible for creative development of a video game, and is generally regarded as the prime design authority across the company's product range. Some examples are Peter Molyneux or Shigeru Miyamoto whose influence extends across more than one project. Video game directors usually come from either a programming or design background. They are typically people who have worked in the games industry for several years and established a reputation as a designer or before assuming the role. Some creative directors enjoy a measure of celebrity in the gaming press or beyond. Creative directors in games are generally regarded as being executive-level management, but are not to be confused with producers in that they are not generally involved in the particulars of contract negotiation, project management or staffing. In some cases, the role can overlap with the roles producer or lead designer.

Script Writer: For story rich games, a script writer will be hired to establish dialogue in which to lure in and engage players into the game world. A narrative is important to keep the player progressing but is sometimes uneccessary in casual games.

Art Department: Under direction from the art director, the art department team is in charge of the aesthetics of the game. Starting with the concept artists, the process of elimination will determine the good visuals from the poor, and from the good examples more refined assets will be gained.

Consultants may at times offer preferences or advice as to how the finished look of certain assets should be.

Storyboard Artist: After the visuals of the characters has been determined, rough versions will be composited into a storyboard to visualise their actions in relation to the story and script.

Pre-Visualisation Team: For any FMV's in a game or to simply determine how characters react within a controlled environment, the pre-viz team will create a basic 3D animation to flesh out the characters.

http://uk.games.ign.com/articles/696/696273p1.html [accessed 26/02/2011]