Innovative Game Development and Pitching Strategies

ART 485 / CMSC 493 Game Project Class

Introduction Game programming experience Team development Adversity Cancelled projects, reassignment Success Demo for professional game developers

Who am I? Marc Olano BS EE, University of Illinois Plus Visualization, Theatre Lighting Design PhD CS, University of North Carolina First graphics hardware shading Normal maps, Some ideas used on GPUs 4 years Silicon Graphics Cramming shading into non-programmable hardware Here since 2002 Sabbatical at Firaxis Games (Civilization V), Epic Games (UE4) Work w/ 2K, Activision, Big Huge, Treyarch, Oxide

In the beginning This class in 2009 AAA tools, AAA complexity Gamebryo + WWise + Scaleform All used in some real AAA games All poorly documented, steep learning curve 1 person-month to integrate Scaleform & Gamebryo Legal encumbrance

Riding the pendulum This class in 2010 Tiny teams, Tiny 2D games Some awesome, some less awesome Maybe too tiny Little programming complexity I ve seen High School students do better OK, so they were Imagine Cup finalist HS students

The Goldilocks Version? Survival of the fittest Just like the real world :) Best ideas get 2-3 person 2-week prototype Best prototypes get 5-8 person team 6 weeks development 2 weeks to refine it 2 weeks to make it bulletproof Industry demo

Cool Toys One project should use our 3D scanner Creates 3D models and textures of objects & people from 94-camera rig One project should use PI2 6x4 grid of Stereo HD displays with tracking Crazy high-res VR (11520 x 4320) 11520 x 4320 anything!

How to Pitch Look at rubric, due midnight SUNDAY Create five slide pitch in Google Docs Share it with me I will merge into one mondo presentation 3 minute presentations Over 3 minutes = -10% (practice!) +1 minute question(s)

Your Pitch Slide 1: Elevator pitch 2 sentences, 10 seconds Slide 2: Demographics Who is your target player, why will they like it? Similar games that succeeded Slide 3: Mechanic What do your players do? Why is that fun? Slide 4: Technical Time and resources Slide 5: Style What will the game look like? (possible screen mock-up) What is the artistic style? (images from other games or artists)

Considerations Can this game be finished in a semester? Does something about it stand out Artistic style Unique or unusual tech Theme or gameplay Will it enhance your portfolio?

Unity3D / Unreal Engine In the lab: Unity Unreal (not installed, will be soon) I ll select the tool I think will work best for you Unless you have a compelling reason to use something else And can convince me

Ethics You can use external toolkits and code If you have the rights And you credit them But you need to make your own game The design must be yours The art must be yours The core game code must be yours

Grading Personal Team 10% Pitch 10% Prototype Due 2/19 5% URCAD Draft 2/19, Final 2/22 Attend 4/24 35% Sprints Every two weeks 10% Final demo Schedule in finals week Due Sunday 10% Portfolio & Site Due 5/2 20% Perf. & Attendance All semester Your teammates are depending on you! No text, no final = you must attend