Pre-production
costs of developing a game
Funding
Funding is extremely important as it’s how you pay for
everything. You can be funded in a variety of ways. These include
self-financing, crowd funding like kick-starter, indie funding, grants or
publisher funding like Bethesda.
Hardware:
Computers:
Computers are necessary for making a game and also for testing games. It is
important to have a relatively high spec computer to run the applications used
to make games. A good gaming laptop can set you back £200 to £500 in addition
the software can be expensive but I will cove that later on, you might also
want a MacBook for sound production and at the moment the can cost between £999
to £1,399 but does come with garage band already installed.
Peripherals:
Peripherals are external pieces of hardware used in game development like
keyboards, mice and monitors. It is important to have high quality peripherals
in order for you to be able to work at a computer for long periods of time for
example if a mouse is not ergonomically designed it can lead to hand cramps
impeding on your work time similarly if your monitors are not clear enough the
you might miss some mistakes that people who play with a higher quality
resolution can easily notice. A good keyboard can cost from £50 to £100 a nice
mouse might cost from £25 to £100 depending on your requirements. Monitors can
cost £100 to £400 it is also popular to buy multiple monitors to maximise
screen space. Some extra things to look into is speakers, microphones (for
recording voices) or sound cancelling foam to stop noise bouncing off the
walls, these are all things to consider based on what you want your game to be
like for example if you want to make a 8 bit style game you might not need that
good a monitor
Dev Kits:
Dev kits are used to test or publish a game to consoles like Xbox or Play
station, currently Dev kits can cost up to £2,500 and some can be free like the
Xbox one offers. Dev kits are basically consoles that let any game be played on
them so when you make a game for Xbox and it hasn’t been approved a normal Xbox
wouldn’t run the game but a dev kited one will.
Software:
Unity: it
can cost anywhere from £75 a month to a one of payment of £1,500
UDK: free but with royalty fees
Game maker can cost anywhere from $150 to $700 depending on
the platform.
Maya: is £1,160 a year.
Publishing
Steam green light: £70 per game
ID@xbox: it is free to publish a game
PSN: about 2.5 thousand pounds
IOS: £500 to £10000
Android: £500 to £6000
Timescale
They are
used in the gaming industry as a way of managing teams
The
timescale depends on a variety of things such as deadlines, equipment
availability, how many people that are making it, the time it takes to go
through the legal requirements such as a PEGI rating, also delays in
publishing.
At the
beginning of a project you set a timeframe, and while this is not for definite
you should try to stick to it as much as possible.
You should
set deadlines for each task or segment required to make it, such as the
animating should be completed in a set amount of time and then the voice acting
and so on.
When
deciding start and finish times it is important to take into account working
hours, sick days, holidays and other things that may delay the project and then
set the timescale according to that.
Personnel
When making a game it
is important to take into account the amount of people making it. You need to
know how many people are doing each job. You need to know how much experience
they have, where their strengths are, how much they are getting paid, and do
you have enough space and workstations for them.
The job roles are.
The animators- they
are responsible for how the characters move and the behaviour in a game
Assistant producer-
they work with the people making the game to make sure they are meeting the
correct deadlines.
Audio engineers- they
are responsible for making the music and all the sound effects in the game,
also the character dialogue.
Creative director-
they are responsible for the look and feel of the game.
External producers-
they are responsible for the successful delivery of a game and they work from
outside the game development team.
Game designer- they
are responsible for the core elements in the game, like what’s in it and how
the game feels, and how it plays.
Game programmer- they
design and write the computer code that runs the game.
Game artist- they
create all the visual elements of the game like textures, how clothes look,
scenery, vehicles and etc.
Lead artist- they are
responsible for how the game looks overall.
Lead programmer- they
lead the team creating all the code.
Level editor- they
create all the interactive elements in a game including landscape, buildings
and objects.
Marketing executive-
they promote the advertising and raise awareness of the project.
Marketing manager-
responsible for boosting product awareness to make more sales.
Product manager- help
create marketing campaigns to maximise sales of a game.
Product
manager/producer- ensure the successful delivery of the game.
Public relations
officer- look after the corporation’s image and reputation.
QA tester- they test,
tune and debug a game and suggest improvements that could be implemented.
Technical artist-
they act as a bridge between the artists and programmers.Equipment and facilities
In my game their is not that much equipment needed because it is a small game so i would just need game maker for the game and Photoshop for the sprites and background.
big game companies though would use alot of computers and a working space, you would need to advertise the game and use industry standard software such as maya, unity, or their own custom made engines. this is where the finance section comes in because you would need a budget and also money to pay the people who are working for you.
For my game though i will not need any extra personnel because i can do it all myself and will only need a computer to do it with.
Materials
This includes things such as concept art, storyboards, scripts, graphics, audio, the internet and assets.
all of these can be made by yourself or by a team but can also be found and bought off other people to which you would need to do credit to in your game.
Contributors
This means any people who would help to make the game such as voice actors, crowd funders, advisers and presenters.
Military games for example would have advisers from the army who they would consult with to make sure their guns were realistic and that the scenarios in the game were believable.
Codes of practice
These are things such as legal issues, insurance, copyright, PEGI ratings and health and safety.
the PEGI ratings are:
Ages 3 and up,
ages 7 and up,
ages 12 and up,
ages 16 and up,
ages 18 and up,
bad language,
discrimination,
drugs,
sexual themes,
fear,
and violence.
