Design Teams
Team Structure
Interdisciplinary Teams
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
1
Game Design
1.
2.
The game design vision drives
everything
Every team member contributes
something vital
Respect their expertise
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
2
Team Structure
 Director/Producer
– The person who’s driving
– Has the creative vision for entire project
– Possibly an expert in some area
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
3
The Game Vision
A
game derives from a vision
 The Visual, Audio, Graphics, AI, Networks
derives from this vision
 It’s a collaboration!
 It’s probably not a dictatorship
– No one person can do all the work
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
4
Team
Components/Members
Game Play/Storyboard
 Level Design
 Graphics
 Graphic Design
 Animators
 MoCap Actors
 Networks
 Multi-player Design

Sep 14, Fall 2006
AI
 Audio
 Audio Design
 Dialog
 Voice Talent
 Playtesting
 Marketing
 Technical Writers

IAT 410
5
Software Engineering
 The
Waterfall Model:
– Design -> Spec -> Coding -> Testing
 Better:
– Programmers discover what the customer
wants
– Programmers implement prototype
– Users test prototype
– Tests feed back to design
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
6
Game Software
Engineering
 Many
team members are not
programmers
 Eg. Graphic artists are picture people
 Marketing people have limited
programming or design experience
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
7
Specifications
 Game
specifications will cover many bases
 It’s not all about software per se
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
8
The Bottom Line
 The
team members are there for a
reason:
 Each
Sep 14, Fall 2006
team member is an expert
IAT 410
9
Design
 Like
any design job, there must be a logic
to the game design
 The logic drives
– Choice of materials
– Arrangement of elements
• Colors, textures, shapes of items, musical
instruments, etc
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
10
Logic Source

The detailed design logic arises from game
logic
– Eg. Audio design derives from game design

The driving vision comes from the game
– It’s not about creating a hit record, for example

Team members…
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
11
Game Play
Expertise: Games, Storytelling
 Provide a compelling experience
 Set up goals for player(s)

– Script
– Storyboard

Programmers
– Control game logic
– Formal Language Scripts, etc for game play
– Formal Language Script interpreter
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
12
Level Design
 Expertise:
Games, Storytelling, Creative
writing
 Provide compelling experience this level
– Adjust difficulty appropriate to level
– Subsidiary to game design
 Design
– Spatial layout
– Composition of forces
– Pacing
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
13
Level Design
 Expertise:
Games, Storytelling
 Programmers
– Creating behavior of enemy agents in
geographic space
– Special-purpose features this level
– Design tools
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
14
Graphics
 Expertise:
CS -- Computer Graphics
 Programmers
– Create the graphics game engine
– Customize engine components for particular
game
– Visual effects
– Performance tuning
– Until recently, used most CPU
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
15
Graphic Design
 Expertise:
Visual Arts/Graphic Design
 Providing the visual content
– Design the look
– Implement the look
 Graphic
system
design will generate a visual
– Main task is to make the system visually
consistent, coherent
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
16
Animators
Expertise: Visual
Arts/Animation
 Create the animated
characters


– Animation control &
playback system
– Scripting setup
– Simulation system
– Keyframes
– MoCap – Capture,
Blending, Adjustment
– Programming
simulation controllers
to create good
animations
Sep 14, Fall 2006
Programmers
IAT 410
17
MoCap Actors
 Expertise:
Dance, Acting
 Act out motion scripts
– Create consistent character for each captured
motion
– Seamlessly join together motion segments
 Programmers
– Motion capture
– Data management
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
18
Networks
 Expertise:
CS Networks, Multiplayer
 Programmers
– Implement network components
– Client-server system
– Server creation
– Create multi-player control for game
• Prediction, Etc
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
19
Multi-player Design
 Expertise:
Multiplayer, CS Networks
 Design multi-player scheme
– Resolve conflicts
– Deal with lag
 Programmers
– Game-specific strategies
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
20
AI
 Expertise: AI Algorithms, AI
Game Practice
 Programmers
– Create the AI engine
• Could be just a general object suite
– Customize to game components
– Responsible for good AI enemy play
• Details!
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
21
Audio
 Expertise:
CS -- Digital Sound
Filters/Effects
 Programmers
– Create System-level audio software
– Environmental effects filters
– Resource management
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
22
Audio Design
 Expertise:
Music
 Designers
– Create audio space
– Interact with other system elements
• Player health, location
• Time of day, environment
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
23
Dialog
 Expertise:
Creative Writing, Play Writing
 Create believable speaking characters
– Create lines of dialog that will sound good
– Get the point across (or obscure it!)
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
24
Voice Talent
 Expertise: Acting,
Radio
 Create a compelling animated voice
character
– Voice fits the body
– Delivers the lines appropriately
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
25
Playtesting
 Expertise:
Games, Dealing with people
 Test the game with real users
– Get feedback
– Adjust game difficulty
– Adjust explanations, back story, etc
– Get organized!
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
26
Marketing
 Expertise:
Game market, distribution
 Get the game on the market
– Figure out who your customers are
– Generate demand
• Get it reviewed favorably
• Place ads
• Hype
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
27
Technical Writers
 Expertise:
Technical communications
 Create documentation
– Game manuals
– API manuals
• In house
• External
Sep 14, Fall 2006
IAT 410
28