Contacting Developers - Emails and Responses

One of the issues with trying to research an industry with purely secondary source research is that the information will always be either heavily edited for public relations, bias in some manner or incorrect or hard to validate. One way to solve this is to get primary research and contact companies within the industry.  

Over the past few weeks I have contacted several developers/ figures in the games industry:

-Tale of Tale’s Michael Samyn

-Playdead studio’s (the developer behind Xbox Live’s indie hit ‘Limbo’)

-Bethesda’s Zenimax Studio

-Zombie Cow Studio’s Dan Marshall

-Naughty Dog

And Official Xbox Magazine

So far I have had responses from four out of the six companies that I emailed. These are the emails and responses:

Tale of Tales:

(My email)

To Michaël Samyn

                As both a Games Art and Design student and a passionate gamer, I wanted to contact Tale of Tales for two reasons. The first was to express, well, the best word would be gratitude really, as having played the Path and looked at some of your other Games it was really great to see a developer looking at the medium in such a different way to conventional games. I loved the way that the ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ story has been interpreted in The Path to create the final surreal but oddly unsettling experience. Furthermore as a gamer it was a really refreshing feeling to be free of the prompts and rules which have crafted videogames for years.

The second reason for contacting you was more relative to my position as a student currently doing a project on the Roles and Practices within the Games industry. Because of your experience co- founding Tale of Tales with Auriea, and the problems and successes that you have had, I was just wondering really what your thoughts were on this question:

Given the conventional practice of making video games, How difficult has it been as a smaller developer to produce a game without any publisher, but conversely how much more freedom does that give Tale of Tales, as a group of artists to produce what you would like the player to experience?

Of course, as a founding member of Tale of Tales, I expect you will have a very busy schedule so you may not be able to answer. If not, then even so I hope that you and Auriea continue the great work that you are doing and just know that you have another fan in England. Thank you for your time.

Yours Sincerely

Kyle Bamford

(Michaël’s response)

Hello Kyle,


Thank you for your kind words.
It's good to hear that students can be inspired and stimulated by our work.

As to your question, I'm afraid we don't really have any first hand
experience with the "conventional practice of making video games." We
were more or less forced by circumstances to figure out our own way of
doing things. So we can't compare.

We never really made the choice to become a small independent developer.
It was the only way in which we could do what we felt we needed to do.
With our very first project we tried to find publisher funding. When
that failed, we canceled the project and started a new one that was
small enough to fund through arts funding.

For us, freedom is not a sort of luxury that comes as a reward for
sacrificing wealth. What passes for freedom is a bare necessity that is
required to do our work properly. Our primary focus is getting our work
done. We simply find a way to do it. Whatever it takes.

Making art is not a matter of choice for us. It's a calling, that we
experience almost as a duty. I guess this would be different if lots of
people were doing what we were doing. But now we feel an enormous
responsibility.

Hopefully you and others of your generation can join us in this
monumentous task of starting a whole new creative medium.


Good luck with your studies!

Best regards,

Michael Samyn.

Bethesda:

(My email)

Hello,

I am a Games Art and Design student in England and I am currently doing a project on the Roles and Practices in the games industry. Having been a huge fan of Bethesda for several years now, I was wondering if I could take some of your time to ask a few questions about video-game production. If you could answer even some of these questions, it would be of monumental help to my research project.

The Questions:

It is well known that in the production of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Bethesda was working to produce a game for a console (or consoles) which did not exist at the time of production. What problems did this cause (if any) and how did this complicate the production process?

One aspect of current Generation games production that Bethesda has always succeeded in doing to a high standard is Downloadable Content. What does the ability to create and distribute DLC add to the production of a game? Furthermore is this step done by all of the creative team or by a small but select group?

Having revitalised the Fallout brand, was there any special steps that Bethesda took when producing Fallout 3 and New Vegas to ensure that it could appease veterans of the series and appeal to newcomers?

Multiplayer has become almost a necessity for most games. With Bethesda in the process of creating Brink, a game which seamlessly moves from single player to multiplayer, what are your views on the importance of multiplayer to current generation games?

Often it is said that when a Developer works with some Publishers, it can stifle creativity and cause friction between two. When working with Take Two on Elder Scrolls: Oblivion this clearly was not the case. How crucial is it for Developers and Publishers to maintain a good relationship?

Thank you for your time.

Kyle Bamford

(I would also just like to take the time to express how much I am looking forward to Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Brink. With Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion being one of about three games that I have spent over 100 hours playing, I fear that Skyrim might just beat that. As for Brink, the visual style and smart system promise to breathe life into a somewhat over saturated FPS genre. Keep up the great work!)

(Bethesda’s response)

Kyle

We are sorry but that is not something we can commit to at this time. Thank you for your interest.

Playdead:

(My email)

Hello,

I am a Games Art and Design student in England and I am currently doing a project on the Roles and Practices of the Games Industry.  I was wondering if I might be able take some of Playdead’s time to ask some questions about the production, distribution and general feelings about Indie games development. I understand that your time is extremely valuable so if you could answer even just a few of these questions it would be of monumental aid in my research.

The Questions:

With many games taking years to move from idea to product and taking a creative team of about 20 to 40 plus people, how did Limbos production time/team size compare to this?

With the huge successes of indie games like Minecraft, Meatboy and your own Limbo, many might say that indie developing is growing from strength to strength. Would you agree with this?

Indie games developers often make full use of online distribution services such as Steam or in some cases use their own websites to sell their products. What were the benefits of using Xbox Live Arcade as Limbo’s method of distribution? Furthermore, do these services open more doors for Indie game developers?

Given how well Playdead’s work has been received worldwide, is there any temptation to move into mainstream games production any time soon?

Thank you for your time and as an avid gamer, I hope that you will continue your great work!

Kyle Bamford

(Playdead’s response)

Hi Kyle,

Thanks for reaching out. Your questions are excellent, but the
relevant creatives are are working hard to progress our development
projects, so they wont be able to provide you answers. I hope you'll
be able to progress your project anyway :)

All the best,
Mads

Zombie Cow:

(My Email)

Hello Dan,

I am emailing for two reasons. Firstly, as an avid gamer, I just wanted to say what a great job Zombie Cow has done! Having read your interview for Gamesindustry.biz, it got me interested in Zombie Cow and due to this, on and off this week I have been trying (and epically failing) to construct a TV Arial on Ben there Dan that.  I love the humour that you’ve put into the series so far and it’s brilliant to see a UK indie company producing quality games (featuring the great satirical British touch that is clearly missing from most mainstream games).

The second reason for contacting is more of an academic one. I am currently in the first year of a Games art and Design course and I am doing a research project on the Roles and Practices in the games industry. Because of this I was wondering if it might be possible to ask you some questions about a few elements involved in the production of creating an indie game. Of course, I know that your time is valuable and the odds are that you are very busy on other projects, so if it’s possible to answer even a few of these questions, it would be of extraordinary help to my research unit.             These are the questions:

Given the small but skilled team working on the games, roughly how long does it take to produce a game such as Time Traveller, please and Ben there, Dan that?

Do you have a particular method or series of chronological steps that you take during the production of a game? (i.e.: Scripting then Concept artwork, etc.) Or is it a much looser structure?

Presumably as an indie developer, budget is a big issue. How important is collaboration with likeminded game enthusiasts in keeping to those budgets?

Many indie developers like Zombie Cow use their website and online distribution services like Steam to distribute their games. How effective has selling Zombie Cow’s wares been on the website?

Was this a step which was thought about much at post production?

Zombie Cow successfully collaborated with Channel 4 to produce ‘Privates’. How did this experience differ from the production of your other games? Did it alter the way you work? And also what benefits/ positives came from this arrangement?

Finally, with the critical acclaim Zombie Cow’s; Time Traveller, Please, Minecraft, Limbo and Super Meat Boy have received, would you say that indie games development is becoming more and more appealing to the mainstream gamer?

Furthermore, with console systems such as Xbox having online distribution services catered for emerging indie developers, would you say that it is becoming easier to create/ distribute indie games?

Thank you for your time and long may your brilliant satirical wit keep me off the Xbox 360!

Kyle Bamford

(Ps:  Looking forward to finally getting to play Time Traveller, Please after I’ve finished Ben There, Dan that because it looks as if it is going to be amazing!)

(Dan’s Responses)

Hi! I'm really sorry, I haven't had time to reply to this yet. It's still in my inbox though, which means I will eventually. Sorry, you sent it at the worst time; lots on. 

Will get back to you asap

D

Here's some answers for you, hope these are ok. You got the name of my game wrong ;)

Given the small but skilled team working on the games, roughly how long does it take to produce a game such as Time Traveller, please and Ben there, Dan that?

That depends; those two games were made while I was working a full-time job. So all the art and code was done during stolen moments in mornings, evenings and weekends. TGP was 9 months, working along those lines, basically. BTDT probably slightly less.

If I were making TGP full time now, I’d probably still take 6 months on it, but there’d be a lot more care taken over it and more work on the graphics, etc.

Do you have a particular method or series of chronological steps that you take during the production of a game? (i.e.: Scripting then Concept artwork, etc.) Or is it a much looser structure?

No, as an indie I don’t feel I have the luxury of things like that, especially faffing with concept art. It’s all just sort of ‘done’. The one odd thing about BTDT/ TGP is that I didn’t know how they were going to end when I started them – they were largely made in the order you play the game. It kept things interesting for me, and meant I had the luxury of thinking “ok, where would it be cool to go next?”

Presumably as an indie developer, budget is a big issue. How important is collaboration with likeminded game enthusiasts in keeping to those budgets?

For people doing sound effect and music, you’ve got to find people who are really into the project, or for voice actors you need to find people who’ll do it because they dig the project because that makes everything cheaper. It makes things harder to set up, but in the long run it works out better because everyone’s behind the project.

Many indie developers like Zombie Cow use their website and online distribution services like Steam to distribute their games. How effective has selling Zombie Cow’s wares been on the website? Was this a step which was thought about much at post production?

Yes, I didn’t think about distribution until after I’d finished TGP – I set it up to sell on the website and people said I should try Steam so I pestered them for a bit. The vast majority of my sales come through Steam, but it’s nice to have some money trickling in direct.

Zombie Cow successfully collaborated with Channel 4 to produce ‘Privates’. How did this experience differ from the production of your other games? Did it alter the way you work? And also what benefits/ positives came from this arrangement?

Well, there was money. That’s the main difference; someoene’s paying upfront t for a project and that’s what keeps you fed. On the downside, it means there’s lots more paperwork and meetings and worrying about deadlines. You’re not as free as when you’re making your own stuff, there’s always some else to clear things with at various stages of development.

Finally, with the critical acclaim Zombie Cow’s; Time Traveller, Please, Minecraft, Limbo and Super Meat Boy have received, would you say that indie games development is becoming more and more appealing to the mainstream gamer?

Yes, the indie industry is massively bigger than it was even five years ago. It’s now a valid career path which is amazing.

Furthermore, with console systems such as Xbox having online distribution services catered for emerging indie developers, would you say that it is becoming easier to create/ distribute indie games?

Between Steam and console distribution you’ve got a valid outlet to the vast majority of ‘hardcore’ gamers, but making the game is half the job. You really need to spend months doing nothing but promoting it in order to see it get anywhere; lots of indie devs put up a game and expect word of mouth to do everything for thme – it doesn’t work that way. You’ve got to make it as accessible as possible and then not shut up about it until every major website has covered it.

Official Xbox 360 Magazine:

(My Email)

Dear Mr Hicks,

I wanted to contact Official Xbox 360 Magazine for an academic reason as I am currently doing a project on the Roles and Practices in the games industry for my university course. I understand that Games Magazines such as your own are an important part of that industry and I was wondering if it was at all possible to ask a few questions. Of course as the Editor, I know that your time is valuable so if it would be possible to answer one of these at least, it would be of monumental aid to my research project.

These are the questions I would like to ask:

Firstly, when covering a new game or exclusive, what is the basic process between the reveal and the final review? And what kind of dialogue is there between you and the games developer/ publisher at this point?

As one of the most popular games magazines currently available, what do you feel is the impact of the magazine and the reviews on the industry - given the large audience of gamers that Official Xbox 360 Magazine receives?

I have noticed the Official Xbox 360 magazine features that appear on the Xbox 360 dashboard. Does the magazine work closely with Microsoft? And what benefits is there to this new method of informing gamers about your own products and of course new games?

As a side note I do want to briefly take some time compliment the magazine. As a huge gaming enthusiast, I have followed Official XBOX 360 Magazine since the first issue and I would just like to say how brilliant the magazine is. The writing is entertaining and at the same time, I often use your reviews to guide my purchases.

Thank you for your time, and your great work.

Kyle Bamford

(Awaiting Response)

Naughty Dog:

(My Email)

Hello,

I am writing as both a huge fan of Naughty Dog and as a Games Art and Design Student in England. From the early stages of video games you have created possibly the greatest game series for each generation of PlayStation console and I will admit your work has been one of the largest influences on the academic path I have taken thus far. Having recently begun a research unit on the Roles and Practices within the games industry, I was wondering whether it would be at all possible for Naughty Dog to answer one or two questions. Your time is valuable (especially with Uncharted 3 on the way) so if you cannot answer then I more than understand - however, even if the answer is brief or only to one question, it would be a huge help to my work.

These are the two questions I would like to ask:

While it would take much effort and time to exactly describe the production method, team and pipeline of a Naughty Dog development, is there a basic formula of the above that is kept to when working on a new game?

Since the Crash Bandicoot series in the 1990’s, games and the culture behind gaming have evolved the point now that profits, budgets and the advertising of a popular game can rival that of blockbuster movies. How has Naughty Dog had to adapt throughout this continued growth in the games industry?

Thank you for your time,

Kyle Bamford

(Ps: I greatly look forward to the release of the latest Uncharted. Uncharted 2: Honour among Thieves was personally what I consider to be the pinnacle of PlayStation 3 gaming and Drakes Deception looks to set the bar even higher!)

(Awaiting Response)

While it has taken around just over a week to get the responses for some of these developers (while I am still waiting on two others) the answers from Dan Marshall and Michael Samyn have been excellent. It is no surprise that both of these responses have come from indie developers as while their workload is much higher, they can talk about the process with freedom which large developers would not have. And despite only having 2 sets of answers, personally I am hugely grateful as a response such as was received from Limbo developer Playdead would have been perfectly justifiable.

The Naughty Dog and Official Xbox Magazine email responses I do hope to receive sometime soon as both would create a balanced view on the industry from both Indie and mainstream (while my questions to OXM are a method to approach the industry from a completely different viewpoint). That said should there be replies similar to that of Bethesda then again, it will be understandable. This in a way was why I have not contacted large publishers such as Activision and EA, as the likelihood of responses to anyone other than official gaming channels would be almost non-existent.

 

Outline of the basic roles and practices in the games industry using 'The Business and Culture of Digital Games'

One invaluable source of information about the roles and practices with the games industry was the book: ‘The Business and culture of digital games: Gamework/ Gameplay’ (Kerr A, 2006, Sage Publications ltd). The book outlines several different areas within the games industry including key roles in a production team, production cycles and other general figures for designing games. Obviously due to the age of the book (printed in 2006), the figures are probably not quite accurate now as production values have spiralled massively.

To understand the practice of production in a games company, there are two different institutions which dominate that process:  Developers and Publishers.

Developers are the actual producers of the game and concept. However the Publisher moves hand in hand with Developers as they are the funding behind each operation. Because of this arrangement, 3 types of development companies have emerged:

First-party developer – Fully integrated into the publisher to develop games in house

Second-party developer – Contracted by publishers to create games or concepts

Third-party developer – Independently construct projects to sell to publishers

The basic production process has several stages. A general plan of how long production cycle for the average console game, and how the team might expand in members across each stage of development was described in the book as:

 5-15                Design                                                      3 Months

                         Prototype                                                  3 Months

15-25               Pre- Production                                      6 Months

25-40               Production                                               9 Months

                         Beta Stage                                                 3 Months

                                                                                                                                [Source; Torc interactive, Page 80]

A big issue before at pre-production is negotiation between the publishers and developer. This can take many months due to the developer wanting to receive a good share of royalties and intellectual properties.  Unfortunately the big problem is that for small developers is that Publishers will often push hard and present a poor deal:

‘’Look like you got an incredibly good deal the agent or publisher owns everything, owns the technology, owns IP, even though you have designed it yourself…effectively you have nothing, no assets in the organisation… you have just got the ability of the staff in your organisation. So you are a newbie and you are just glad to get a deal you tend to be asked to sign your life away and if … no-one else is competing for you then what are you gonna do? (Former employee of a publisher)’’

[Page 81]

While hard to explain via text, Aphra Kerr uses a clear and concise diagram to demonstrate some of the other processes taking place during each stage of Development:

Moving away from the traditional practices between the publisher and developer, Aphra Kerr uses information gathered to discuss the conventional roles within a development firm. Those Core roles are:

Producer

Associate Producer

Lead Level/Game Designer

Level Designer (4)

Lead Programmer

Engine Programmer (4)

Game Programmer (2)

Lead Artist

Concept Sub Artist (2)

Modelling Sub Artist (3)

Animation Sub Lead (2)

Texture Sub Lead (3)

Lead Audio

Engineer

Lead QA

QA

 (Torc Interactive, communications, 2004)

                                                                                                                [Page 88]

Game Designer – establish the look and feel of the game, designing core gameplay mechanics, levels, characters, environments and storylines.

Artists – 3D and 2D assets, lighting and cameras, and FMV sequence design

Programmers – animation, physics, AI, tool development, scripting and back end programming.

Producer- the producer’s job is mainly about managing the core elements of the project including scheduling and hiring. Often they will have to monitor other on-going situations which might influence or affect the project.

Quality Assurance – includes intense play testing and study of the intended ‘final product’ to make sure that it has little or no faults when released.

                                                                                                               

Of course, many larger companies use much more extensive and diverse teams – with more precise spins on those roles (Oblivion: World Artist), or create entirely new roles specifically for a game (Resident Evil 5 – Director).

Pulling back from the two key roles to look at the larger picture when it comes to production, The Business and Culture of Digital Games: Gamework / Gameplay, briefly outlines the basic statistics of game development across several platforms – including Console, Handheld and Pay Monthly games.

Console games - High cost, but with little or no service costs after production. On average take 18 months in production with average team size at about 12 – 40. Currently hardware oligopoly of Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft

Handheld games – Expensive, but little or no service costs. On average development takes 9 months with a team size of between 12 – 20. The market was monopolised by Nintendo however recently Sony and Apple have entered the market recently and created an oligopoly.

PC – They are less expensive to produce than Console and handheld games. The average development takes about 15 months with a team size of 12-15. The market isn’t concentrated like Handheld and console games.

Massively Multiplayer Online games – Very Expensive, with on-going costs. The massively multiplayer market has an Oligopoly of EA, Sony, Microsoft, NC soft and Vivendi.

Various different media have created Mini-games on platforms including on the internet, mobile phones and digital television. They each take a small team, cost and development time.

When it comes to the retail of any game, it is here where negotiations earlier in the project might alter a developer’s share of the profit, but in general the cost of any game is funnelled at a similar ratio into different organisations. Here is the general division of a games cost and those which benefit from it.

Console                                   Sony, Nintendo                                  10

Manufacturer                             Microsoft

Developer                                   EA, THQ                                          20

Distributer                                 Centresoft                                        5

Retailer                                        Wal-Mart                                      15

                                                                                                           

Consumer                                                                                         50 euros

It was interesting to see that the manufacturer of a console and retailer takes a sizeable chunk of the overall price – and perhaps explained why many ‘indie’ games are often PC and sold online. By doing this they can keep the cost for the consumer low but remain ‘better off’ with 25 euros now being able to fund the developer. But, as with the Tale of Tales indie developer, many chose to try and cut the publisher out of the picture – generating even more profit. In doing this they can raise the profit per game from around £5 to double that (or more). The Path, a Tale of Tales key game, is priced on their website as about $10. By having cut out the publisher, retailer and Manufacturer (PC games do not have to pay the ‘console’ manufacturer (which often explains why PC games cost a chunk less than console games).

However this is understandable considering how a console game costing 2 million dollars would have to sell around 250,000 copies to generate a profit for a Development company using that above structure.

Clearly the practices of the games industry vary in nature. Many Publishers will drive smaller developers into deals which force them to take far less than they should for the production of a video game. However in being unbiased towards Publishers, given the high cost of production and long-time needed they shoulder much of the risk should the game fail, being the ‘purse strings’ of the industry. Although, it is more than that in a way as Publishers roles include general time management and often the advertising behind the game – as was the case with Blue Castle and Capcom.  However, that said, one issue many have with working with the publishers is that should the game be hugely successful, developers are often forced into a situation whereby they have to keep making sequels and ‘spin offs’ (Bungie are an example of this). Other issues include the stifling of creative freedom, which has had consequences in the industry – including the forming of Lionhead Studios. Furthermore, many emerging games companies will stray from the commercial side of gaming to produce innovative games that are not forced sequels and mean that they get a fair share of the profits. Tale of Tales is a good example of this kind of Games Company.

‘‘As for the space marines, game development is schismatic. The developer ecosystem is varied and complex, but for our purposes we can discuss just two: those I call the AAAs and the Super-Indies. Two very different species, each catering to gamers and dealing with innovation differently.

‘AAA developers make games that often involve space marines. They have publishers and appear on Best Buy shelves. From them you rarely see a lot of innovation: if Guitar Hero was popular they make DJ Hero. If Wii was popular they make Move and Kinect. There is innovation in this space, but it’s often not the kind we usually define as “innovation,” or even the kind we like: control schemes, pricing models, social aspects. As far as traditional, less-Tolkien-fewer-space-marines innovation goes, in most cases AAAs take a single innovation and run with it, often to the point of absurdity. They may not want to, but AAA developers are beholden to corporate overmasters who are risk-averse and believe in doing what’s best for the bottom line. And the bottom line is that this model, while restrictive, is successful.

Super-Indies are something new. Spawned from traditional garage developers, they combine great talent, extraordinary networking, cunning marketing decisions, and the availability of digital distribution to make a living in a space where historically they couldn’t have. Their games are often smaller or simpler than commercial titles, but often much more innovative. A Super-Indie studio may be composed of a single savant doing all the work, or a team spread far flung around the globe. They may have never heard each other’s voices. Super-Indies don’t usually have publishers, define themselves fiercely by their freedom to create, and produce games like Minecraft, Sleep is Death, AI War, Solium Infernum, Love, Immortal Defense, Revenge of the Titans, Amnesia, and so on. We see a lot of uniqueness in story, in gameplay, in settings, and in mechanics here.’’

http://www.igda.org/culture-clash (M. Sakey, 2010, the future of cost)

Information sourced directly at points from The Business and Culture of Digital Games: Gamework/ Gameplay and also from their sources (each referenced in the post at relevant points).

Tale Of Tales and Activision - Website and 'The Path' analysis

Activision (Website)

Activation’s website first greets the user with a nationality selection screen. Immediately it is apparent how global the organisation is. After that screen disappears, two bars at the bottom and top of the screen appear and outline the content they contain. This is what the final screen looks like:

                   

The centre screen contains two different games artwork with a ‘featured game’ video trailer running automatically. This could be so that the website is working at both a visual and audio level to entice users to explore their products. Looking at placement of objects on the page, Activision succinctly advertises around 10 + products on their home page. Furthermore due to the varying nature of art styles and the video playing in the centre of the screen, it is almost crystal clear to users that this is a games company website.

The content contained in the home page includes details of over 10 different game brands and then the expected categories like Contact us or about us. When games are selected, it brings up a sub screen which includes a small amount of information and promotional material for that brand/game.

The Activision website, while expansive in covering every game developed/ published by the company, is somewhat ‘formal’. What is meant by formal is that no information about production or other details other than promotional materials and images for aesthetic purposes. This is likely due to Activision being the publisher to many studios, but not actually developing games as a whole often. Because of this, the developers will likely post much more information about each game on their own websites – leaving Activision to entice users into those websites.

Tale of Tales (Website)

One aspect of the website of Tale of Tales which struck me was that it was how it contained the same content as Activision’s site, but with far less ‘flashy’ and superficial features like flash script. This is likely to be an indicator of difference in funding for website design but in general I would say that it suffers slightly from this. Had I not known it was a games developer’s website, it would have felt as if it was book publishers due to no real indicators of intention from anything on the site other than the ‘covers’ of each game they have made. However due to the art-style being similar to those of book illustrations it is not clear they are games. Once those images are clicked, unlike Activision’s website which branched off into different subsections of the same site, Tale of tales has clear websites designated to each of their games.

One thing which is unique about how tale of tales presents themselves is how they lay out everything that has been done production wise. From the troubles to the successes, all of it is included in a ‘Post Mortem’.

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Tale of Tale’s games are very unique in several different ways.  They often do not give specific targets for their players. In ‘The Path’ the player can select a character and after the loading screen, they are placed in the forest. The words flicker up saying: ‘Go to your Grandmother’s House. Stay on the Path’. There are no indicators of where the character’s Grandmother lives, other than the path and there is no HUD (Heads up Display) to aid the player. An atmospheric selection of light music and sound effects are the only audio but this changes effortlessly depending on what the character does. In my first play-through, being used to playing conventional ‘rules and targets are absolute’ style games, I chose to stick to the path and keep walking. The game lasted around 15 minutes and I was given the rank of D. The game revealed in the final statistics that there were hidden rooms, secret items and a chance at confronting a Wolf. I had done none of this because I had stuck to the Path. Did this mean that the game was expecting the player to stray from the path? Or was it trying to break the conventional rewarding those who stick to the rules? It seems like it is a mix of all of this as the presence of a ranking system means that straying from the path has rewards but giving the ‘stick to the path’ line at the start of play immediately sets a conventional player on that path.

Nevertheless, continuing with gameplay, I chose another character (Ginger) and set off with the intent to explore and find these hidden items. The game play experience was almost immediately different. The music changes, with hints of the eerie singing drowned out by a number of other darker sounds. A heartbeat begins when the Ginger runs too much and several transparent shapes immerge on the screen. One of these included animal footprints. Having seen the ‘Wolf Met: No’ on my previous statistics, immediately my playing style became much more guarded. I chose to stray from the path not as much as I was planning to; keeping close enough to be able to return in-case the wolf appeared. In a way, the path had become a lifeline, like a shield or place of safety. As items were found confidence grew to the point where I had strayed so far I couldn’t find my way back. Wandering for around 5 minutes exasperated, a girl running through the forest appeared in the distance. In confronting the girl there was no dialogue, she led Ginger away until they were back at the path. At the time I considered her a clever method for the developer to keep the player from being frustrated if they are lost, something no ‘good game’ should allow a player to be. But instead of disappearing into the forest once more, she stayed with my character to a point. If Ginger approached her, they would hold hands and the player could lead the two around. Often the girl would stop and look at things along the path. At one point having stopped playing, the two girls played ‘Pat-a-cake’ on the spot. It is little touches like this that had made that character something beyond just a ‘help’ to the player. I did not finish this play-through but I already had many questions about the game. Does leading the girl in the forest to your grandmother’s house lead to a different conclusion? Is there more to her than you see (a metaphor for the Wolf)? If not where is the wolf? And what do the items mean?

Tale of Tales games are clearly ‘’computer games’, in that you play and explore a 3D space, but they are not if you relate it directly to a conventional ‘game’ such as Call of Duty or Blur. Tale of Tale’s games are all about visual and audio interpretation of stories. They have delved into classical tales of Salome, Sleeping Beauty and in the Path, Little Red Riding hood. The developer aims to raise different questions in each player’s minds about what they are playing. The player might see The Path as a simple ‘collect’ game and take no heed to the audio and visual atmosphere, or as an annoyance due to the lack of indicated direction, adversary or competition. This is likely to be the reason why Tale of Tales boasts the positive of innovation, but lacks Mainstream appeal. Games are considered to be polished, but deliberate pieces which present the player with a clear challenge (be it a ‘Boss’ character, general enemies, lack of funds or even other players) within an environment of rules and rewards. The player gets a feeling of achievement or storyline at the end. Call of Duty and all of Activision’s games fit in these boundaries. Tale of Tales games focus on giving the player freedom, both in play and interpretation of what they feel they have to do. In my case, I felt as if I needed to stay on the path, but on my second play-through I set my target to stray and collect.

Comparison between Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Dead Rising 2 Development processes

While both of these games can be considered ‘AAA titles’ they do have areas in which the production has differed.

Beginning at the ‘start point’ of pre-production and establishing what, when, and how the game is made, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion differed greatly from many games including Dead Rising 2. This is due to a combination of aspects. Firstly unlike Dead Rising 2 which was being produced for a current generation console, Oblivion was decided as a Next Generation game which would deviate from its predecessor, Morrowind. This had a knock-on effect of the publishers setting a deadline which coincided with the release of the next gen consoles – four years from then. Blue Castle on the other hand had a very conventional deadline process due to designing a game for consoles which not only are already out, but also are well known to both the publisher and themselves. Furthermore, while Blue Castle worked closely with Capcom on the conception of what Dead Rising 2 should be, Take 2 had a much more relaxed approach as the publisher of Elder Scrolls, simply leaving them to produce a ‘’fantastic product’’.

Another crucial difference between the two was in the general approach to production. Dead Rising 2 was working with the solid foundations of the first game, while adding different features to the gameplay and trying harder to achieve where the first fell short. Elder Scrolls, on the other hand, had to reimagine itself by introducing an entirely new artificial intelligence into the game, on top of any changes to the physics and gameplay engines. Additionally they were developing for consoles and PC’s not yet even made so there were issues with creating both the hardware for the developers to work on and creating a game which could be viably played on these hypothetical computers. One such issue which had arisen from this situation was when Bethesda’s demo machine fried a week before the demo showing at E3. If they could not fix the machine, then there would be nothing at the show which could physically play their game.

Nevertheless, the two games did share some methods in terms of the manner that their design teams carried out jobs – especially when it came to gathering source materials from real sights and cultures. Blue Castle games carried out extensive customisations to push what could be physically put together as a ‘combo weapon’. They visited Las Vegas and gathered experiences with the ethos and lifestyle of that area – before transferring it to their work. Likewise at Bethesda, sources would be gathered from various areas both first hand and through web resources. The different teams would experience what they want the player to, transferring it directly into their work. I would say that in that which was shown during the Resident Evil documentary, Capcom in that instance didn’t go out and do that extensive level of primary research. This just highlights how even the smallest changes can alter the approach to production (Resident Evil – Just Capcom, Dead Rising 2 – Capcom and Blue Castle). Although that said, Resident Evil outshone both Oblivion and Dead Rising 2 with a Hollywood production level Pre Visualisation stage.

At the post production level of development, Bethesda and Dead Rising 2 worked in two powerful but different ways. Bethesda had to produce a stunning demo and trailer that would raise the exposure of their game. At the point of production, viral advertising was not the media powerhouse it is today so this was a crucial advertising point which they had to get right. This was achieved as the game received critical success and several ‘Best at E3’ awards.

Dead Rising 2 took a different approach, using three ways to raise awareness. The first was at game expos with various merchandise and freebies based around their ‘Zombrex’ campaign.  The second method was the Tape it or Die mock blog, which was powerful viral method to gain a small cult following which would undoubtedly spread the word. The third way was through content released prior to the launch of the game in retail. Dead Rising 2: Case Zero was a small sequel released on Xbox live marketplace. For a small fee players would get a chance to experience a slice of the final release. This technique had not been used before, with mini games associated with games occasionally released (Fable 2’s Pub Games) but never a small but full section of game. Of course this was a sign of how the post production marketing stage has evolved in the few years since Elder Scrolls: Oblivion was released. An obvious example of this can be seen by examining the ‘versions’ of two games released globally. At the initial point of release, Oblivion was available on PC or Xbox 360 and the game could be bought as a limited edition or normal. Dead Rising 2 was available on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game has 5 versions globally; Standard, Zombrex, Zombrex (European), Outbreak and High Roller. Each has a varying degree of merchandise added on at a cost.

As can be seen, games production incorporates many different roles and practices. But this doesn’t mean that the production process remains the same – even from two high production cost games like Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Dead Rising 2. There is the ever present publisher/ developer relationship which has sank many unknown productions, the tight deadlines and high production costs. All of this and more, have begun to be noticed by just scratching the surface of the games development process.  Nevertheless looking at the relatively under covered (and somewhat terrifying) topic of games production just yields more interest – at least from a personal perspective.