Climbing Mountains What it takes to make AAA games.

Climbing MountainsWhat it takes to make

AAA games

The DoughnutThe Blizzard Mission Statement

• The hole is the core gamer market

• The doughnut is the broad gamer market

• All Blizzard games are aimed at both markets

Definition of the AAA game

• High production values

• Appeals to a wide audience

• Considered the top game in its genre

• Usually a commercial success

Pros and Cons

• Team is motivated• Easier to recruit top

talent• Big potential rewards• Fame and Glory

• Long development times

• Very draining• Lots of arguing• Crunch time

Profile of the AAA game developer

• Must love games– Only gamers will put in the extra effort at the finish

line

• Team player– Huge egos equates to huge problems

• Willing to throw away work– Iteration is very important

Culture of Criticism

• Everyone should care about the quality of the game

• Criticism should be encouraged and expected

• Never directed at a person

• Strike teams

• Must remember the customer

Who is your customer?

Are they your customer?

Is it this guy?

Thanks Penny Arcade

These are your customers

BlizzCon 2005

Game Designers

• Why do you need them?– Games are too big

• What are they?– Implementer of ideas

• How to find them?– Hard to find since everyone can design a little bit (like

writing)– Look for experience and referrals

Pick your Battles

• Nothing in game design is black and white. Every decision costs

• You need to understand your highest priorities

• Don’t take the obvious stuff for granted

Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master

• Make game for the core gamer first– Especially important for multiplayer games

• Then make game accessible for broad market

• Very difficult to take shallow concepts and add depth

Some Examples

Chess Poker Civilization

Innovation is Overrated

• Who rewards innovation?

Top Selling PC games in the U.S. (October 2005)

1. Age of Empires III2. The Sims 2 Nightlife Expansion Pack3. Civilization IV4. Black and White 25. Roller Coaster Tycoon 36. World of Warcraft7. Call of Duty 28. Quake 49. F.E.A.R.10. Battlefield 2

Game Rankings.comTop rated games for 2004

Platform Title Avg Review

PC Half-Life 2 95.6%

X-Box Halo 2 93.8

PS2 GTA: San Andreas

94.7%

GC Metroid Prime 2 92.1%

Innovation is Overrated

• Who rewards innovation?

• Execution is equally important

• Different is not better

• Disclaimer: Innovation IS important– Need features that identifies your game– Industry need innovation over time

Control is King

• If your basic controls are sloppy, then the rest of the game suffers

• Frame rate and control are linked

• Cannot spend enough time on this– Took months to refine mouse cursor on Warcraft III

• Games like Mario and God of War made their reputation on control

Pacing

• The common denominator among all addictive games

• Player must feel accomplishment at a fairly rapid rate– Varies somewhat by game

• Can only determine proper pacing through extensive play testing

Examples of pacing problems

Everquest Psychonauts God of War

Examples of great pacing

Civilization Half-Life 2 World of Warcraft

Polish or Perish

• Many games fail due to being bug ridden or difficult puzzles

• Polish does not just happen at the end of a project

• Don’t take the small decisions for granted

Don’t

• Get sucked into market timing

• Retrofit popular features from other games if they are not a fit for yours

• Believe your own hype

Happy Ending

• Make games you love– If you are not passionate about a genre, you cannot

make a game within it

• Take the time to make it right– It is also in the publisher’s best interest

• Work hard – you only have 10-12 games in your career to make