Comments on: Surviving the economical desert http://blog.fishingcactus.com/index.php/2009/01/21/surviving-the-economical-desert/ We don't create games that look like others; we don't create games that play like others Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:14:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: Anethea http://blog.fishingcactus.com/index.php/2009/01/21/surviving-the-economical-desert/comment-page-1/#comment-14 Anethea Fri, 23 Jan 2009 08:31:45 +0000 http://blog.fishingcactus.com/index.php/2009/01/21/surviving-the-economical-desert/#comment-14 Hi Bruno, Thanks for giving me your feedback! I do come across the same story from other developers and it's always good to have the insight of the people themselves, those who are in the industry, do the jobs, and know what's going on. All the best, Anethea Hi Bruno,

Thanks for giving me your feedback! I do come across the same story from other developers and it’s always good to have the insight of the people themselves, those who are in the industry, do the jobs, and know what’s going on.

All the best,

Anethea

]]> By: bruno.urbain http://blog.fishingcactus.com/index.php/2009/01/21/surviving-the-economical-desert/comment-page-1/#comment-13 bruno.urbain Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:16:59 +0000 http://blog.fishingcactus.com/index.php/2009/01/21/surviving-the-economical-desert/#comment-13 Hi Anethea, Thanks for the comment. Answering your question: for next gen consoles and more specifically AAA games with original IPs, working for years is not common, it is simply unavoidable. Between the tech researches, pipelines to setup, tools to create, team to build, game to design and art assets to produce (but I don’t teach you something I think) all this often leads to years of development. This alternative model can give breath to developers so they do not need to overgrow teams unless they really want to. As a matter of fact the biggest publishers and game developers have some kind of cycle where they get a lot of people on a game and, at the end of the project, and if there’s no new project available, part of the team gets simply fired. This creates a very sinusoidal and wave like effect which tends to make the very best talents leave the industry for more stable jobs. On the other side, the model we try to follow tend to give more stability to the industry relying on dedicated and regular partners for limited time missions. Highly specialized in their field and building a common and shared pipeline will not guarantee a cheap cost but will guarantee a very efficient one. Some studios sometimes oversees the time and cost to build knowledge internally. Following the principles of partners gives more flexibility to game developers and more diversity of clients. There can even be mutual interests in the case of a co-funded development which isn’t a new practice but not a very common one. Hi Anethea,

Thanks for the comment.

Answering your question: for next gen consoles and more specifically AAA games with original IPs, working for years is not common, it is simply unavoidable. Between the tech researches, pipelines to setup, tools to create, team to build, game to design and art assets to produce (but I don’t teach you something I think) all this often leads to years of development.

This alternative model can give breath to developers so they do not need to overgrow teams unless they really want to. As a matter of fact the biggest publishers and game developers have some kind of cycle where they get a lot of people on a game and, at the end of the project, and if there’s no new project available, part of the team gets simply fired. This creates a very sinusoidal and wave like effect which tends to make the very best talents leave the industry for more stable jobs.

On the other side, the model we try to follow tend to give more stability to the industry relying on dedicated and regular partners for limited time missions. Highly specialized in their field and building a common and shared pipeline will not guarantee a cheap cost but will guarantee a very efficient one. Some studios sometimes oversees the time and cost to build knowledge internally. Following the principles of partners gives more flexibility to game developers and more diversity of clients.

There can even be mutual interests in the case of a co-funded development which isn’t a new practice but not a very common one.

]]> By: Anethea http://blog.fishingcactus.com/index.php/2009/01/21/surviving-the-economical-desert/comment-page-1/#comment-12 Anethea Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:24:52 +0000 http://blog.fishingcactus.com/index.php/2009/01/21/surviving-the-economical-desert/#comment-12 Hi, I just wanted to say that I sympathize with Fishing Cactus greatly! I've heard of developers spending years on finishing a game and this economic crisis is only slowing them down. How common is it for developers to spend many years on making a video game anyway? Do you have any thoughts on how this new business model will help those developers still making games after many years? Thanks for your input and I wish you all the best! Sincerely, Anethea Hi,

I just wanted to say that I sympathize with Fishing Cactus greatly! I’ve heard of developers spending years on finishing a game and this economic crisis is only slowing them down. How common is it for developers to spend many years on making a video game anyway? Do you have any thoughts on how this new business model will help those developers still making games after many years?

Thanks for your input and I wish you all the best!

Sincerely,
Anethea

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