D3 - DoomSayer’s Dev Diary     

Anything involving the business side of game development interests me. I like to be well informed of the inner workings of the industry. That’s why when veteran lawyer Buscaglia discusses how developers should work with publishers on a contract - urging active, intelligent negotiation at all times - I take notes. I want to grow my studio… not have a bad deal with a publisher suffocate it out of existance. Here is Buscaglia’s full article regarding publisher / developer deals and how developers should “deal” with them:

The proper negotiation of a contract is a process that is too often ignored by developers, especially those eager to get a deal. I suspect that part of the reason for this is that the stereotypical game maker neither likes nor enjoys the process.

The harsh reality is that many, if not most, publishers are so used to developers being passive about the negotiation process that they have become arrogant and unwilling to actually engage in a meaningful negotiation dialog with developers.

Instead, they too often become rigid and inflexible when it comes to their contract negotiations. And I suppose this attitude comes in part from, among others, the following factors:

• An overwhelming financial advantage held by publishers in the relationship
• Publisher risk aversion
• The perception, at least, that there are more developers than deals
• A failure by developers to have or communicate a long term vision for their studio
• A lack of appreciation of the “process” of contract negotiation
• Developer fear, rather than appreciation, of being exploited

These factors are certainly not present in every deal dynamic, nor do they apply to every publisher or developer.

Moreover, with the vast array of innovative approaches to succeeding in the industry, even the traditional developer-publisher model is hardly a standard for the way we do business.

However, there may be some value to just accepting the stereotyping for the moment and proceeding with the discussion to see where it takes us and what we can learn in the process… so, shall we proceed?

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Tags: Business, Game Development by DoomSayer
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Since the idea is to start on small projects first and work my way up to bigger and more lucrative projects, I decided to create some content packs for the Torque Game Engine. I’m currently putting my first one together, making sure that each model is professionally complete with LoDs and collisions for players and projectiles, and that shaders are in effect when these assets are used in the Torque Game Engine Advanced. All of it needs to be plug-n-play, drop it in your game and it just works, out-of-the-box experience, whatever you want to call it.

After this content pack, I already have my second content pack laid out, so I’ll just jump right into my next one. My goal is to get some kind of revenue streams in place, even if it isn’t much, so that I can start my indie game studio proper. I’m sure that I won’t be able to find too many developers who will work for free, so I need to be able to offer them something…anything.

We’ll see how things play out. I emailed Garage Games yesterday, requesting more information in regards to content pack publishing. I haven’t heard back yet, but I’m sure they are very busy, so it may take a little while to get a reply.

If I can’t get it published through them, well… I can sell it myself and chaulk it up as a learning experience… plus I get to keep my developer’s abilities sharp.

Tags: Business, Game Development by DoomSayer
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Article by:  Codemaster’s Principle Designer, Phil O’Connor

I have the incredible fortune of being paid to design games. I consider this a privilege, the result of some luck, but at the same time, it’s something I worked for years at achieving. I wanted to be a game designer from a very young age, and I built up the experience and knowledge that eventually convinced people to hire me to do this.

As someone who worked so hard to break into the industry, I have a somewhat stronger opinion than most about the quality of game designers that get in. I feel that every designer should pay their dues before they’re allowed anywhere near game design, and that they should be supremely qualified as students of gaming! Sadly the demand for designers has created a situation in the industry where many people getting into design positions don’t fit the bill.

Game design is one of the most tricky and contentious positions in the game industry. No two companies I have worked with have treated the position of design in the same way. Some designers have producer-type duties/powers, others treat them like artists, and yet others don’t have design positions at all but instead assign the job to a producer, coder or artist.

The only thing that everyone seems to agree on is that you need game designers. The problem is, however, that everyone is a game designer, or thinks they are. What I mean by that is everyone can come up with game design ideas, ideas are a dime a dozen.

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Tags: Business, Design, Game Development by DoomSayer
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I moved to Pittsburgh last year, so this information is pretty vital to me:

Pittsburgh has been gearing up over the last several years in an attempt to become the next big market for game development studios.  Carnegie Mellon University started offering a Master of Entertainment Technology program which has recently spun off many school projects into independant game studios.  There are currently about 6-7 small game studios working in the Pittsburgh area (several of them doing work for Disney products, such as Pirates of the Caribbean Online and Disney’s Toontown).  The Art Institute of Pittsburgh also started offering a Bachelor of Game Art & Design program that prepares artists for the game development scene.

Now, Pittsburgh is the front-runner to become the U.S. headquarters location for a British videogame developer looking to expand its operations abroad.

Eutechnyx, the driving force behind such games as “Big Mutha Truckers” and “Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift,” is “awfully close” to settling on Pittsburgh after considering Montreal and Atlanta, said Todd Eckert, the local movie producer who has been tapped to head the company’s U.S. operations.

Mr. Eckert, best known for “Control,” the biopic about Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, said the primary attraction of Pittsburgh was the talent being developed at local universities.

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Tags: Business, Game Development, Game News by DoomSayer
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by Jason McIntosh

Anyone who develops games (or carries on any kind of business) completely in the comfort of cyberspace can claim to be a “virtual company” or “virtual team.” These groups are creating something together in a coordinated way, but are dispersed around the globe and communicate only through their internet connections. Some “physical” companies might have a website and even use the internet to augment normal lines of communication, but that is not a virtual company. There are many hobbyist/amateur development groups working as virtual companies, striving to finish a demo or game in the hope that they’ll get a chance at the bigtime as a physical company. This may not be everyone’s goal, but if you fit in this category, you might find this information useful. Since the goal of a virtual team is to create something of professional quality, it is often hard to know where to start in terms of organizing and communicating effectively. It is even harder to maintain the momentum, morale, and interest for a large project.

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Tags: Business, Game Development by DoomSayer
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