Real Effort in Game Development: Game Development Law

Real Effort in Game Development: Game Development Law

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Release: | Author: 12 | Source: Game circle

 

Although there are already so many game training institutions and schools around the world, the gaming industry is still too young compared to other industries. It has not yet produced a complete set of norms and standards, even none of the schools, and is completely in chaos. In this case, even the classification of game types is chaotic. Japan has Japanese, the United States has American, and even two different game magazines from one country, there are also slight differences in its classification. This kind of circumstance that no one is willing to accept, naturally leads to the result that the winner is king. The popularity of the biochemical crisis series has led to the entry into the mainstream of the ADV game type and become a globally recognized type. Many other games are not so lucky. Although manufacturers keep repeating that they are new types, the media still classifies them as "others ". Simple and objective types of games are still so chaotic, making it even more unnecessary to develop huge and unordered games. From the personal worship of Luo Mei Luo, ye Xianzhi, to the gold signboard of Blizzard and bullfrog teams. The game development industry has many successes and failures. As Nintendo said: The success rate of this industry is always higher than the probability of purchasing coupons. As a result, there are some lucky winners who walk and fall into the dog's head, throwing out some theory. The new people in the industry who are at a loss seem to have caught a life-saving straw. They regard these so-called laws as the golden science and Jade law, keep the tree piles, and wait for the rabbits that will never come in their fate.
Next, let's talk about some of the so-called laws that are popular in the industry and analyze their authenticity.
A good game is changed, not designed.
Supporter: early successful players in the game industry. Do not attach importance to planning teams.
At the end of the last century, a programmer was able to develop a game in the early stages of game development. At that time, there was no need to design, communicate, or even consider user needs. Like a real artist, the game could be shaped, played, changed, and changed as desired, it will be commercialized until it is mature. What design is, there has never been any thinking with these developers.
Now, it's easy to develop a game with tens of millions of investments and hundreds of teams without design and planning. Isn't it a breeze? However, there are still some developers who are addicted to the old days and begin coding with the lofty sentiments of the Great Leap Forward. To be nice, the technology is preferred. The essence is "How bold people are and how productive they are ." Seeing the advantages of other games is like directly capturing them for your own use. The system is getting bigger and bigger, and there is no way to do it. In the end, it will become a huge weakness and an impossible project to end.
In the early stage of project development, 70% of the time was used to do 30% of the work; in the later stage of project development, 30% of the time was used to do 70% of the work.
Supporter: a producer who does not have the software development and management capabilities. Time management difficulties.
Those who support this law, I believe, must be those who get up at the last day in kindergarten and get dressed at the last day. They don't know and don't want to learn about time management. In the early stage of project development, they can find materials, discuss, and play games (referred to as "references"). They can design them at will and then overturn them, life is like heaven. At the end of the development stage, when the deadline began to count down, the marketing department began to work overtime for dozens of hours every day when several calls were required, don't take a bath for a week ...... If you still cannot catch up, you need to break your wrist-delete some of the established functions. Then they appear in front of the player in the form of a tragic hero with a bloody hands-free arm. Because people always sympathize with the weak, this broken-wrist game can still be favored by players. These Developers show off the scars as a medal, but they are simply masochistic.
Of course, the correct approach is to carry out development in a planned and step-by-step manner. Although the gaming industry is very young, the software industry has already passed through many "Tar traps", so we don't have to repeat them.
You can let a woman give birth to a child in 10 months, or let 10 women give birth to 10 children in 10 months, but you cannot have ten women give birth to one child in one month.
Advocates: producers suffering from ignorance of bosses or investors. Persons who can correctly understand the concept of "man-month.
This law is the best interpretation of the concept of man-month. It can explain in seconds what man-month is to all layers. Man-month seems simple, that is, the number of developers required by the Development multiplied by the development time in the unit of month. There are often upper-level people who ask the stupid question: "Oh? Since this game requires 20 developers for 2 years, I will give you 40 people. You can make it in one year! Or you can show me 100 people in five months ." Game Development is regarded as buying radish cabbage. Such a person should marry ten wives and try to hold his fat son in a month.
This law is so simple and clear, that is, game development has a certain number of people and time baseline, that is, there are certain objective rules that cannot be violated, it is also the meta law hidden behind this law-increasing staff has no significance for shortening development time, and may even be counterproductive.
There are game ideas worth n. (N = hundreds to tens of millions, ranging from RMB to USD)
Advocates: arrogant newcomers and independent development teams.
"I have a very good idea. It is worth N and I hope you can contact me if you are interested ." In this way, like menstruation, you will always show your face on your resume from time to time. Some applicants may not believe this lie on their own, but want to use it to achieve an astonishing purpose. But it cannot be doubted that some people really think so. Like the myth of perpetual motives, someone will dig it out at intervals.
Although the game industry is young, its development momentum cannot be underestimated. Almost all new types of new gameplay can be found in antique games. Thousands of game developers all over the world, even if they are not very smart, are professionals of considerable quality. The idea they don't think of will be missed out on a layman's head. What's more, who can define the value of this idea, and who can determine whether it can be realized? How can we solve the unemployment problem of urban youth by going up the countryside? Is this idea that has never been mentioned just discovered, or has it been rolled over in the minds of countless designers and then abandoned? The plums on the side of the road are bitter. It is a simple truth. There is no need to be exclusive because of discovering them. That is to say, if you use them as a stepping stone, it is also a little blue!

We can achieve fast, good, and cheap
Advocates: ignorant bosses and enthusiastic developers.
This law can be renamed as "the second law of Jin", basically a product with a high fever of more than 40 degrees. Between "fast", "good", and "cheap", you can only choose either of them. Quick + cheap data is represented by a piece of data, which is low in cost and has a short development cycle. However, don't think it can get the same sales and comments as the video. Fast + good examples are rare. The game industry is almost an industry that is not "fast". We can barely say that we should calculate a game that can be sold at the same time as a new model, "fast" is inevitable, because some "good" Examples can also be found to synchronize the market, but the cost is generally high. It is good and cheap. Many well-received free games should be able to win this title, but you don't need to limit its development cycle by the deadline.
Most developers who believe that they are fast, good, and cheap do not have enough IQ. Therefore, they generally cannot achieve "good" because they are born. As for "fast", it is hard to say that "cheap" is true, they won't get too high a salary anywhere.
I believe that fast, good, and cheap bosses mostly want to run horses, but also want horses not to eat grass. Once you are favored by the lucky goddess, it is really fast, good, and cheap. Believe me, you won't receive any extra rewards. Your boss will count all the credits on his own, and even the lucky goddess will steal it.
You can't make a good game without working overtime.
Advocates: ignorant bosses and powerless managers. Incompetent developers.
I am not familiar with capital theory, but it is a relatively low-level exploitation method to learn the so-called "extend labor time" when I went to school. After the arduous struggles of our predecessors, the 8-hour work system has continued for so many years. However, in the IT industry, it seems that there is an era in which "every pore is bleeding and dirty. Some company bosses like primary school teachers or shepherd. The longer their employees are in their positions, the more secure they are and the less productive they are. Their calculation formula is to use money for time. The same money is used to earn more work time for employees, no matter whether the "more work hours" bring more output. I don't know if I want to add a cup of boiling water to a bowl when I eat beef noodles?
Some producers or project managers also like to work overtime. When there are more bugs and the deadline is imminent, they cannot go back to the day, you can only work overtime to make a "rate defeat rate war" gesture, so that the boss can feel at ease, so that their own conscience is slightly relieved. However, this does not cover up his incompetence. Everyone sees it, but he is still deceiving himself. Many believe in the phrase "no credit or hard work". Overtime is the best way to work.
Tom DeMarco, author of the deadline, once spoke with experimental data that short-term overtime can bring about a slight increase in productivity, while long-term overtime can only bring about a decline in productivity and a loss of staff. As a person, his physical labor intensity is certain, and overtime does not allow him to have more output. Moreover, everyone will automatically "shift down ", listen to music, drink coffee, smoke, chat, read ...... Time is easy to pass, isn't it? Even in the office. The boss can instruct employees to work overtime, but cannot resist the neglect of brain cells. Going back to the capital theory, passive absenteeism is one of the primary ways for workers to resist exploitation ...... This seems to be the case in textbooks.
Closed development can greatly improve productivity
Supporter: stingy boss, supervisor without management ability.
The benefits of closed development for bosses and supervisors are obvious. Lower rents in suburban areas and lower daily expenses can minimize expenditures. It is naturally easier to manage the package, without having to work overtime. The workplace is the place of life, and there is no entertainment facilities around. The company's computer is the only entertainment tool. Transportation is inconvenient. Even if you want to change jobs, the travel cost of the interview is high and it is easy to find out. The uniform life makes it easier for everyone to integrate into one, which is conducive to the formation of the team. The management of the large package makes employees become inert and will not leave easily. For employees, there are also various advantages. Users can eat dinner without renting a house, and group activities have companions, which is like a communist heaven.
However, how many masterpieces are produced in this development mode, and how many failures have occurred in this development mode? I have never made any statistics, so I dare not say anything about it. I only know that there is no panacea in the world for greatly improving productivity. Closed development will form a stable team, but the quality of this team is becoming increasingly rigid and decaying. People are becoming more and more unified. Without new ideas and approaches, it is hard to imagine that they can develop good spiritual products. Package workers are only suitable for physical labor in traditional industries and are not suitable for games.
With guaranteed quality and scale, game development can only be extended and cannot be advanced.
Supporter: Unknown
This law is very simple, and there is no clear counterevidence at present, so it exists and is reasonable. Although many development teams try to break it, it seems hard and has not been broken so far.
There are still many strange stories about game development. Unfortunately, there is no space to list them one by one. Every so-called "law" seems to have some facts to support. It is not easy to recognize them with a pair of eyes and eyes, but the facts are always the best proof, A large number of facts are the best criteria for verifying the authenticity of a "law. The Productivity Ratio of the best software development team and the worst team is, which is proven in practice and may be larger in the gaming industry. In the sales rankings, game development costs for the first and 100th may be less than doubled, but the profits may be several hundred or even thousands of times different. Joining a good team is a good start for a person's game industry career. The criterion for judging whether a team is excellent is to check whether it believes in the correct "law" and reject the wrong "law ".