Indie Development

Indie Development

In this blog post I will be writing about an indie game and explain what the people within the team were responsible for, and what skills they would have needed to make the game a success and also report on how the developer got their game to market, how it was distributed, and what the pros and cons of indie development are.

Independent video game development is the process of when you create a video game without the financial support of a video game publishing company, they are solely run on whatever the indie developers can afford, which at times can be nothing at all, but the success when your games does sell are tremendous, if your game cost £10 and you might sell 500,000 copies then that's a lot of money heading your way which could be invested into their next game or other way to improve the game such as add ons. While large firms can create independent games, they normally designed by an individual or can be a small team of as many as 10 people, smaller indie development companies could even be run by as little as only 2 people depending on how how complex the game can be. Also these games would take years to be created from the ground up or even can be created in a matter of days or even hours depending on the design goal, participants and complexity. A great example of a small indie development company which only had 2 people running it would be the creators of Super Meat Boy, which was designed by Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes, their development team only consisted of them and their game was a huge success. 

Indie – Short for “Independent”

Indie Game – A game created by individuals or s small team generally without a publisher or financial support.

The indie company I chose to use is Playdead which is a Danish development company. They have most notably released the game Limbo which is a puzzle-platform game and was released on July 2010 and is an exclusive games title for Xbox Live Arcade.  The core development team was around 8, somewhere concept artists who would produce characters for the game and others would be programmers, they would input the correct code into the game which would enable the player to play the game after a while they expanded to around 16 at various stages with freelancers. Initial development was funded by the Danish Government grants. After a year of Xbox exclusivity Playdead released Limbo for Playstation 3 via Playstation Network, for Microsoft Windows via Steam and Mac OS X via the Mac App Store.

The developer company Playdead released the game digitally rather than in boxed form. After the first two weeks released on Xbox Live Arcade, Limbo gained more than 224,000 players on the global leaderboads.

Next I will be writing about some of the pros and cons there are for being an indie developer:

Pros:

•          Bragging Rights – When all your work pays off in the end.
•          Knowledge – Improve in skill and increase intelligence.
•          Freedom – Freedom to do anything you want in the game.
•          Control – You are your own boss.
•          Opens Opportunity – Earning Money, Sponsorship, and Fame?

Cons:

•       No Funding – You can’t cover expenses, sometimes for more than the game.
•      Make It or Break It – You would have put alot into your project, but sometimes you just don't make the cut.
•      Limited Resources – You rely on your skills and creativity and also have a limited time.

Solutions:

•          For Money – Partner up with other start-ups with investors.
•          Sign up to kickstarter.com

For Assistance:

•          Be active in the community composed of other developers.
•         Have something to attract the good ones.

For Practically Anything:

•          A lot of communication. 

Developer

Infinity Ward

Video game developers are software developers, they create computer games. Developers would usually specialize with certain games consoles, this would include Nintendo, WiiU, Microsoft's Xbox, Sony's Playstation. or even develop their own consoles.

Developers would specialize in certain types of games such as role playing games, firth person shooters. This is less common, but some do other kinds of software development work in addition to games.  

The majority of games publishers have development studios for example, Electronic Arts's EA Canada, Square Enix's studios, Activision's  Radical Entertainment, Nintendo EAD and Sony's Polyphony Digital and Naughty Dogs. But since publishing is still their main main activity they are normally described as "publishers" rather than "developers". Some developers can also be private, such as Bungie which was the company which developed the hugely popular Halo series which was also exclusive to Microsoft's Xbox. 

In this blog post I will be writing about a development company and some of the jobs they are currently advertising, this would include the description of the job and some of the requirements that you would need in order to apply. As you can see from the picture above I have chosen to use the development company, Infinity Ward as they have developed a number of successful games such as the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series. 

Below are 3 of the jobs they were advertising on their website. 

QA Tester.

Description:

The chosen candidates will be responsible for using QA procedures as assigned by a QA manager to help ensure the highest level of quality within the project. The ideal candidate will have prior experience working within the gaming’s industry. 

Here are some of the essential tasks that would need to complete to apply:

•          Perform scripted, ad hoc and regression testing.
•          Enter and maintain bugs via the bug tracking system.
•          Provide well thought out and constructive game-play and feedback.
•          Must be able to work within a team and individually.
•          Additional tasks as assigned by the QA Manager.
•          AAA title experiences a plus.
•          At least 2 shipped titles a plus.

Job: Quality Assurance.

Primary Location: Woodland Hills.

Organisation: Infinity Ward.

Senior Multi-Player Engineer.

Description: 

Infinity Ward is looking for a senior Multi-Player Engineer. This is an ideal opportunity to have a true impact on a multi-million unit selling AAA franchise and will encompass all elements of multi-player online games including match-making systems, statistics, anti cheat, infrastructure design, live operations, management and optimisations. The position will play a key role in the addition of multi-player functionality to titles for next generation gaming systems.

Required experience:

•          2 – 4 years in a senior programming position on a high profile title or titles for the current generation of consoles. Example could be Xbox or PS3.
•         Must have shipped at least 1 console title, AAA plus.
•          Strong understanding of online games which include low-level networking back-end and internet connection issues and solutions.
•          Experience dealings with band and latency issues.
•          Understanding of the implementations requirements of client server and peer to peer networking models.
•          Strong C/C++ software engineering skills, python and plus.
•          B.S in computer science, engineering, mathematics or equivalent.
•          Excellent communication skills.

Pluses:

•          Experiences working with one or more of the following: Xbox, Windows Live, Sony Playstation network, Nintendo WiFi connection or Steam.

•          Experience implementing networked game-play, AI, or physics.
•          Data mining experience.
•          Exceptional 3D maths skills.

Job: Programming.

Primary Location: Woodland Hills.

Organisation: Infinity Ward.

Senior Systems Designer.

Description:

They are seeking an experienced designer that is looking to lead the effort in creating game-play systems, games modes and scripted events for an exciting new project. Candidates must have experience with C style scripting languages and have the ability to think like a programmer, to solve problems and accomplish a vision. Furthermore you should be comfortable writing script to handle game-play systems such as basic AI behavior, cooperative mechanics, weapons and scripted sequences.

Requirements:

•               Minimum of 2 to 3 years of game industry experience.
•               Knowledge and experience with a C style programming or scripted language.
•               Strong game design skills and must be able to intelligently discuss the strength and weaknesses of recent games and be able to list techniques used to make fun FPS combat.
•               Create and refine game-play mechanics.
•               Passion for first person shooters, console and PC.
•              Ability to collaborate well with your team.
•              Priorities and meet deadlines.
•              Communicate progress with lead designer well and frequently.

Pluses:

•          Prior experience with ID Tech/Radiant.
•          Knowledge and prior experience with multiple scripting languages.
•          MP de-bugging experience.

Job: Game Level Design.

Primary Locations: Woodland Hills.

Organisation: Infinity Ward. 

How to Install a Game on PC

 In this blog post I will be writing about how to install a game on your PC, for this I have chosen the game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

First off you will want to remove the disc from the case and insert it into your computer or laptop. Next you will be brought to a menu system which will tell you to install, once this menu as loaded up you will then need to click "Install"

Next you should have a small window pop up to you, this will take you through the required actions in order for you to install this game. Read through the instructions carefully otherwise you might not be able to install the game.

As a security precaution the game included a CD code that need to be inserted in order to install, play and activate the game. the security code it unique to every copy of the game, without this code you won't be able to play the game. Once this code has been entered an authentication  code will pop up confirming the legitimacy of the game.

 After you've done that a licencing agreement should then pop up. You will need to agree to do this to proceed in the installation process.

After initial phases of the game files will be copied from the disc and then installed onto your computer or laptop hard drive, normally this takes around 15 minutes.

You will also be given a choice if you would like to create a shortcut for the game that you have just installed. You can either agree to this and then have an icon placed on your desktop or refuse and not have any shortcut.

Once the game is finished installing you will be given the option start the game rather than being asked to install the game.

Now that the game has completed it's installation process you can now press the button to either play single-player or multi-player. Enjoy!

How to sync a wireless controller to a console.

In this blog post I will be writing about how to sync a controller to a console, but for this one I'll be using an Xbox controller.

First off you will want to make sure your controller has sufficient battery life in it, next if you look on the top of the controller you should find a button on the left hand side, this button will allow you to sync your controller to the console. Once you have found that there will be a similar button located on the Xbox, it is located to the left side of the power button and under the disc tray, now that you know where these two buttons are it's time to sync your controller to the Xbox! All you will need to do its press both buttons at the same time for around 5 - 6 seconds. If done correctly then you should have a green light shining on the upper left part of the Xbox button in the middle of the controller, next to where it says "1" also there should be a light shining on the upper left circle of the power button.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpV-b1de2lM

If somehow you're still stuck then you can click the link above for a video description on how to sync your controller.

Publisher

In the next 3 blog posts I will be writing about the Games Industry, including posts about Publishers, Developers and Indie Publishers.

Video Games publishers are companies that publish video games which have either been developed by a video game developer or have been developed internally. As well as book publishers or DVD publishers, video game publishers are basically responsible for their products's manufacturing and marketing, which would include market research and all the aspects of advertising.

They would usually provide finance for the development team, sometimes by paying a video game developer and sometimes by paying an internal staff of developers called a studio. The larger games publishers would also distribute the games which they publish, whereas some smaller publishers would instead hire companies to distribute some of the games they publish.

Some other functions usually include deciding on paying for any license that the game may utilize; paying for layout, printing and possibly writing of the user manual also the creation of graphic design elements, which could include the box design.

Activision was originally created in California in 1979 and was recreated in Delaware in December 1992. With the current organisational structure, it operates under three segments: Activision Publishing Inc, Blizzard Entertainment Inc and Activision Blizzard Distribution. Activision develops and publishes games on various consoles, handheld platforms and PC platforms.  Through Blizzard Entertainment Inc they are the leader in terms of subscriber base and revenues generated in the subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game category such as World of Warcraft. 

Activision had a relationship with a popular games studio Bungie. They also owned some of their own studios, and some of them are: FreeStyle Games which is a British development company with roughly around 100 staff which is based in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. The company was originally formed by ex-Codemasters and ex-Rare staff in the late 2002, and has developed over the last 5 years into a well respected development company.

Activision also made a deal with Sega to publish US releases of Pc versions of some other games titles, such as Sonic Adventure DX: Directors Cut.

But most notably of all the games Activision have published the one that really stands out was the hugely popular first-person shooter that is the high selling franchise which is the Call of duty series. After Infinity Ward originally created the first Call of Duty, originally Activision helped fund Infinity Ward in its early days, buying 30 percent of the company. After they were funded, Infinity Ward released their first game which was a World War 2 shooter called Call of Duty, literally a day the day after the game was released, Activision also secured the rest of Infinity Ward, signing employees to long term contracts. Infinity Ward then went on to make Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Activision’s target market varies as it releases different types of games, this would range from Skylanders which is specifically aimed at children with an age bracket of 3+ to around 12 years of age, this varies massively to another game they published which was Call of Duty which was specifically aimed at an audience of 18+ due to its strong, violent and at times graphic scenes.