Emergent Game Technologies:
Emergent Game Technologies Redefining the craft of game development. New Production Methodologies and Infrastructures
Presentation for UCI MASSIVE Conference
April 20th, 2006
Why are new methods these needed?:
Why are new methods these needed? SCALE - Traditional development methodologies don’t scale very well
Tech, Production, Testing, Community and Service
Solutions are costly & risky (bigger teams, heavy iron, longer dev cycles)
Outside game industry’s core competency BUSINESS - Business model is rapidly evolving
Transition to customer-centric (service) industry
Direct-2-market means disintermediation of traditional channels
Tested solutions are needed for new monetization schemes
Simplistic Solutions to be wary of::
Simplistic Solutions to be wary of: Open-Source Technology
Not Scalable or Mission-Rated
High Level Scripting Languages
Java VM, Python, Ruby, LUA
Leveraged or GP Infrastructures
GRID computing
Commodity Hosting and Bandwidth
Homemade or ad-hoc eCommerce Solutions
Far away from our core competency
Legal/Liability/Audit compliance
What does work?:
What does work? Discipline and Engineering Excellence
6 of the 7 classically “hard” CS problems…
Choosing good middleware can save you ~40%
The rest is still very hard work! New development methodologies that focus on Rapid Iteration
Test-Centric Development
Use of advanced automation everywhere in your process
Use imbedded metrics everywhere
Tools Tools Tools! Professional solutions for non core-competency areas
Top-Notch enterprise-grade eCommerce
High performance, low-latency data centers
Professional operational tools (IT, CRM, etc.)
New methods should be used to reduce time & complexity:
New methods should be used to reduce time & complexity Game development life cycle: 1.5 to 4 years Live
Operations Technology Content Test Technology Content Test New Methods
+
Middleware
Tools
+
Automation Automated testing
+
Metrics Content Test – Faster generation of new content
– Lower recurring Dev/QA costs
– Higher game stability
– Rapid response to problems Launch Can take 20% to 40% cost out of
The development cycle