Final Major Project:
Interactive Media and Games design 3
Jake Williams
Process Research Report
Introduction
For my research report, I will be detailing the various stages that make up the final major project and what processes I will need to carry out for the outcome of my digital game to be successful. I have acquired a wide range of primary and secondary research sources that will help me to work effectively and efficiently in different aspects throughout the project and will help create a better understanding of how I am going to execute the development of this project to the highest of quality. I have also contacted an array of industry professionals asking them for advice and tips in their professional areas in hope that I will be able to utilise their advice to streamline and improve the workflow and creativity of this project.
Planning
To analyse the planning stage of development I must define what planning entails. The planning stage consists of various phases, the planning stage details the early decisions such as game theme, genre and also early sketches of the game. To ensure that my project runs smoothly, I must plan my concept to the fullest and make sure that I manage my time well to meet the deadline and also produce a high quality level of work. As this is my biggest and longest project to date, planning is forefront to the success and development of this project, so below I have researched into the best practices of game development planning and pre-production, and have detailed how I will be using the gathered information to further elevate the planning phase of my project. According to Zubek (2020), “Game designers use a variety of techniques for making a game: we plan out mechanics and feedback loops [...] most importantly, we prototype and experiment”, so Zubek touches upon the basic elements that should be planned out before moving into developing an idea and I believe that these are some of the key areas that definitely need to be planned out before a game concept progresses and for any development cycle to be successful mechanics and feedback loops need to be heavily experimented with to ensure that the game can achieve the highest quality possible whilst allowing for a fun and creative gameplay experience. Likewise, in a recent article published by GameMaker, Bramble (2023) states, “Before you launch into developing your game, there are some fundamental questions that need answering: What genre will your game be? Will it be 2D or 3D? What art style will you use? What gameplay mechanics do you want to include?”. Ross Bramble highlights the same areas of important planning to that of Zubek and expands further delving into the smaller details of how the original concept of the game idea will evolve overtime and will only improve if the key seven stages of game development are followed closely.
By comparing these two secondary sources we can see that although the stages and advice vary slightly the core foundation is still present and both emphasise the importance of planning and how it can help the project to evolve and improve over the course of the development. On the other hand, Ultraw (2024: 1 March) said “At this point the idea is just a concept but if the idea is good we create a ticket for it on Trello [...] we will explore the idea further [...] taking into account things such as: How appealing the update will be [...] how it will affect the user experience”. Here we can see that Ultraw Games adopts a less traditional method of planning and instead opts to work on a loose planning method where they would use Trello to create a backlog of possible features and then analyses each feature choosing the possible features that would best suit the game, then they would explore the concept further before they fully implement it. Just like the two previous sources, Ultraw also has their own main questions or statements that a feature must fit within before the concept is then analysed and experimented with in the pre-production phase. Overall, I feel that Ultraws method of planning works perfectly for their Roblox (Roblox Corporation, 2006) experiences but I feel that this type of planning would only work if a player base has already been established, although saying this I would like to adopt their idea on working and planning in Trello because I feel this would significantly help me visualise all my ideas and also manage my time.
Going by my previous knowledge I understand the importance of planning and the general documents that can be used to aid the process, for example level blueprints and a Game Design Document can be used for this streamlined process, however the sources above do not refer to any use of documents which I find to be very strange because I have previously found that these documents can be very helpful to cement the concept and ensure that the development is outlined and the end goal is achievable. Nuclino (2024) says “A game design document [...] serves as a blueprint from which your game is to be built. It helps you define the scope of your game and sets the general direction for the project”. From this article, a GDD can be very effective in helping outlay the progression and stages of the project, Ultraw (2024: 1 March) also says, “create a game design document before you start working on the feature [...] so you can ensure you don’t stray away from the main concept”. Comparing both of these sources we can see that they both believe a GDD to be a great document that can really help the team stay on task by outlining the progression stages of the cycle. However, since I have never worked with a Game Design Document I will not be using this document and instead I will be taking elements of advice from the other sources. Specifically, I will be using the advice given by Ross Bramble where they said to answer the preset questions on the article to ensure that the project is clearly set out. I will take this advice onboard and use it when it comes to the planning phase of my digital game because these questions will ensure that my concept is well planned before real development is underway.
Pre-Production
Pre-production is often described as the first stage within the game development process that brings ideas and concepts to life whilst allowing for further evolution, this evolution and improvement can be achieved through storyboarding, prototyping and experimentation. Each of these come with their own pros, cons and uses and all of these are very important when it comes to the pre-production of a digital game. In this section I will only be focusing on prototyping because I believe this to be the most important element of the pre-production stage because it allows the developers to test features, mechanics and elements of the game and improve upon them as the development process progresses. Prototyping is defined as “a working version of the formal system that, while playable, includes only a rough approximation of the artwork, sound and, features” (Fullerton, 2023). Prototyping can be broken down into three different types Vertical, Horizontal and Rapid prototyping, each of these all have their own uses but at the end of the day they all work off of the basis of testing and implementing updated features and removing features that do not work, fit the evolving concept or ultimately were deemed unnecessary by playtesters. “These methods allow developers to refine specific features, test overall concepts, and experiment with different design elements.” (Tossell, 2023). As Tossell states here, prototyping methods are a great tool and key element of the pre-production stage because as I mentioned before it allows for the team to expand on the ideas and concepts and really experiment with them to ensure that they fit with the theme of the concept that they want to develop. In addition to this, we can take from this that Tossell is a strong believer of testing a feature and gathering feedback on it before it is fully implemented in the production stage, also, Tossell (2023) states “Developers must follow certain best practices to ensure that prototyping is effective [...] . Following the best practices [...] can allow developers to maximise the value of prototyping. Reduce Scope, Test Early and Often [and] Define Clear Criteria for Success''. This advice and criteria details the key areas of focus further highlighting Tossell’s strong belief of prototyping.
From this research I would definitely adopt the advice given here, for example Reducing the scope of the game and testing continuously will allow me to pick up on any errors within the experimented mechanics and will also allow me to make a decision as to whether the tested feature should be included in the final game. In continuation, by reducing the scope I would be able to stick to the core theming and outcome of the game resulting in less time implementing unnecessary features and more time testing the main concepts that would build up the game.
However, in this source Wright (2021) defines the three key “Tips for successful prototyping” as “Practice, Pay attention to fun [and] Learn, and then move on”. These three tips are what Wright believe to be the most important to pre-production in Video Games and although they differ slightly from that of Tossell they still touch upon ideas such as testing and learning from the many iterative tests, but Wright describes the prototyping phase as a fast paced process that should not be the be all and end all of the pre-production phase instead the process should be quick and straight to the point so we do not spend too much time caught up on what the prototype should look like. In addition to this, Wright states that the process should be fun and that the developer should note down any fun moments within the prototypes so they can then be reintroduced in the production of the game, because at the end of the day a game should be fun and enjoyable so the inclusion of fun mechanics or features should be highly considered. In conclusion, I feel that these sources have highlighted some key areas of the pre-production stage that I should definitely consider when it comes to this stage within the project such as, using a rapid prototyping method so I do not spend too long on the prototypes and instead using the extra time building and experimenting with features whilst sticking to the core scope of the concept. Also, the research has highlighted some areas that I may not use when it comes to pre-production, for example I have decided that Wrights (2021) approach to “fun” would not suit a horror concept like mine and so that is why I have decided that this will be considered as strongly as testing continuously or sticking to the main scope of the game.
Production
The production stage of the development cycle is typically the most time heavy stage as it requires the creation of all of the games assets, such as visual, audio and also the game code. This stage links heavily to that of testing and pre-production because the production team constantly tests their assets and mechanics whilst also sticking to the plan that they set out in the planning stages previously. A very common process used in the production process is the iterative process, this iterative process works on a circular model where a feature or mechanic is planned, designed, coded into a version of the game and then evaluated and eventually added to an updated model of the game. The iterative process is commonly carried out multiple times before the feature or mechanic is added to a final build of the game, “Most projects have at least three iterations before a final public release”, (Larman, 2004), this is likely due to the fact that to perfect a game and ensure that all mechanics meet the users requirements features may have to be adapted or even cut from the game, so these processes are carried out to ensure the top most quality. I must ensure that I work on a similar model to ensure that my game meets the criteria for the player experience that I planned for. To be able to carry out effective and time worthy production throughout the iterative process, Chris stresses the four most important stages that any game developer should follow to ensure that the iterative process is aiding the production of the game, these four stages are detailed as “Brainstorming, Prototyping, Red Flags [and] Improvements” (Game Design With Chris, 2021), from this source we can see that the four stages link closely to that of the whole development cycle, a feature or mechanic is brainstormed by a developer, then it is prototyped, then issues are identified and finally improvements are made.
This broken done method of the iterative process is simple to follow and will fully maximise the production process, and from what I previously know about the iterative process it can be quick and easy to carry out and will make it very easy to gather feedback and improve a feature as only one feature or mechanic will be showcased in that build of the game. To be able to carry out my own smooth production I may choose to adopt this iterative process because it is a tried and tested method that will allow for a well polished final build and “When you iterate a game, you seek not only to improve it, but also to deliver the best player experience you possibly can” (Game Design With Chris, 2021). This iterative process explained in the YouTube source links extremely well with my initial concept because I plan to create a horror game so I will also need to consider how the player feels when interacting with the various enemy NPCs throughout the story and how I could apply this iterative method to ensure that the correct player experience is met, this can be achieved through the closely linked testing phase where I will have to ship early builds of my game for testing to a wider audience and gather feedback from them based on what their experience was and how I could then improve the game to ensure that my original experience is met. This wider testing can be achieved through using various interactive platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and X (Twitter).
Testing
The testing phase of the development process typically runs alongside the production phase and is carried out just after the development team have implemented a feature into a very early build of the game, “The goal of this phase is to find bugs and errors in the game so that they can be fixed before release”, (Ten Pixel Studio, 2022). Testing is usually carried out continuously throughout the development process and I have identified when this is normally carried out previously throughout the process research report. I believe testing to be one of the most important stages throughout development because if features or mechanics do not function as they are supposed to them the game is unplayable and will not meet the players experience that would have been outlined in the planning stages of the project. In addition to this, testing is imperative when it comes to wanting to ship a fully polished, functioning game as testing will only identify whether these mechanics or features work so without it, the development team would have no idea as to whether the game functions as intended. Ten Pixel Studio (2022) says, “game testing is the stage where potential issues with the game are identified and fixed. Game testing is important because it allows developers to identify and fix bugs before the game is released to the public.”, so just like I have identified, Ten Pixel Studios also believe that testing is key when it comes to ironing out bugs and fixing them to work as intended before a public build is released, testing will also allow the studio to maintain a strong public image and reputation because if a game has been heavily tested it will pay off with excellent reviews and a strong reputation in the future.
On the other hand, as well as ensuring the game functions as intended, testing also ensures that the final game is enjoyable and fun for the player base, because without a fun experience throughout the game, players are less likely to return to the game or in some extreme cases the whole studio, for example Tristan Ogilvie recently reviewed GTA: Definitive Edition “GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition is defective, disappointing, and surprisingly disrespectful to three classic games and their many legions of fans”, (Ogilvie, 2021), the release of these three broken games truly impacted the view and reputation of Rockstar Games and Grove Street Games (2024), because the studio clearly did not follow an iterative process and even more clearly did not test any of the features that they added to the game, this is present through the “Mediocre 5/10” IGN Rating (IGN, 2021) and more importantly I believe most of the games problems could have been resolved through continuous testing. So going from this, I will ensure to carry out a wide range of testing and stick to the iterative process to ensure that I do not end up in the same boat as Rockstar Games and Grove Street Games. Furthermore, GameAce: Game Studio breaks the testing stage into five key stages, these stages a closely related to that of Ten Pixel Studios and also Game Design With Chris in the previous phase, “Planning, Testing in the development stage, Alpha Test, Beta Test [and] post-production testing” (GameAce: Game Studio, 2022).
These different stages throughout the testing phase are mostly the same as I have previously explored and all in some way entail the same processes, except the Beta Test phase in this article is explained as a tested build but the game will still have a few bugs. These Beta builds can either be tested in an open or closed Beta, an open Beta is shipped to a larger audience and anyone interested in the game can openly play it whereas a closed Beta is where non-testers are bought in to test minor bugs in a non-public build, these testers are usually people who still work in game development. Going off of this information I believe an open Beta in the testing phase is a better phase of testing to carry out because a wider audience can be reached and this will increase the response rate, however a closed Beta will or may produce more detailed and relevant feedback because the people testing the game are the developers themselves and they will have more of an idea of where bugs are present, but the feedback may be biased and so an open Beta would better suit game testing. Going off of this information, I have decided that I will adopt an open Beta type testing because I can ship early builds of my game on social media and gather results and feedback that can help improve and evolve my game.
Pre-Launch
The last major stage before Launch is Pre-Launch, this Pre-Launch stage is in my opinion the most important phase throughout the development cycle because this is where marketing for the game is usually shipped, marketing is highly valuable when wanting to establish a brand but in this instance marketing is valuable when wanting to attract the target audience so without it no-one in your target audience will be aware of the game and therefore all of the hard work in the development cycle will go unnoticed. Erhart, A (2016) stresses this point in their Youtube video, “Marketing is the single most important element in business success and a solid strategy [...] Marketing is so important because it doesn’t matter how good your product or service is if nobody knows you exist ”. Erhart touches upon the same point that I had and this emphasises the importance of a strong marketing strategy and campaign in any business but most importantly in this case a game, because what is the point of creating a highly polished and tested game if it does not reach its intended target audience. Marketing can be achieved through many different platforms and going from previous knowledge from GCSE Business I understand that marketing, if targeted correctly, can result in a greater brand awareness and I believe that the most relevant platforms of advertising for my target audience of 18 year olds are social media platforms because they can reach a very large audience around the world and it is free to carry out in most cases. However, I will not be needing to advertise my game, but I still need to consider this as I may need to advertise different projects in the future.
A great method of advertising other than traditional advertising, is early access, early access allows players to play a playable state of the game that may lack in final features, include bugs and may be in the Beta stage. Early Access can either have a very positive or negative affect on the marketing of the game because as seen in the past many games gather a bad reputation based on a Beta build and this will have lasting effects on the sales of a game, Rodriguez (2022) says “the strategy can also wind up backfiring as gamers can get bored of a game before it releases. In the worst cases, an early access game will lose all its luster and novelty and wind up flopping once the developers feel that it is complete”. This has been explained perfectly and early access can be damaging when it comes to game development because players and audiences who may be excited about the game will tend to play an early access build and overtime they will begin to become bored with the game idea and will end up not buying the final release because of this. In continuation, Rodriguez explains that the “novelty” of the game can be lost leading to a massive flop when the game enters the launch phase. This is ultimately what any game developer or studio wants to avoid.
However, after researching further into marketing and early access I found a blog on Reddit that looks on the lighter side of this subject and suggests that Early Access is a great method of advertising a game and building a player base, whilst also being able to gather large, relevant and live feedback that can be used for improvements. “You get feedback and can tune your game. Players expect it to be imperfect, You can "fund" bug fixing, content, and polish [...] A playable paid version of your game exists in the wild, increasing the small odds that someone major might take interest in it” (dan_marchand, 2023). Dan_marchand has nicely summed up the many positives of carrying out an Early Access program during the marketing stage and I believe that these positive points identified give me a strong feeling that a program such as this is more helpful towards a games development than the negative points highlighted in the previous sources. As a game studio does not receive any money from the game until it has been released to the public, Early Access is great for bringing in extra money that can be used for finishing, improving and amending the game before final public release. Also, it can allow for extra feedback and early builds are generally used as a source of feedback and the development team can gather a large amount of feedback that can then be analysed and added into the game.
As I will not be releasing my game for financial gain, this early access program will not be important or necessary for this project but I will definitely need to consider a marketing strategy and too achieve this is I will take Ultraws advice and “record some footage [...] to do some marketing of the new feature / mechanic” (Ultraw, 2024: 1 March). I will post any marketing material onto my social media accounts and this will link to my testing phase when I will be gathering feedback on the game and improving it further. I will achieve this feedback through surveys and polls on these platforms so I can ensure the game is of the highest standard. I also have not decided to adopt an Early Release because as one of my previous sources said it can make the final release of the game boring and stale, and I believe the elements of feedback that I could have gathered from an early release can be gathered in a more efficient manner.
Launch
The launch phase of the game links extremely closely to Pre-Launch because all of the development has led to this phase and the launch of a game can be referred to as the most stressful but also rewarding phase of the whole cycle. The launch phase typically consists of bug squashing, polishing and final master release; this is typically the last point in the development cycle that testing can take place.
During the launch stage of the cycle a large focus for the development team is resolving as many bugs as possible and ensuring the game meets the players experience that they would have set out, “The release date is coming soon and there is pressure to quash any remaining bugs possible” (Mason, 2022), this is also the stage during the cycle that marketing takes a larger increase over the pre-launch advertising. The squashing of minor and major bugs is an extremely important part of this stage and makes up nearly 75%. This phase is also a great time to respond to playtester feedback and ensure that all of the bugs mentioned in these reports are resolved or improved upon, this in turn would increase the game and studio reputation because it shows that the development team have listened to feedback and taken action upon it. By ensuring that all bugs are removed successfully from the game before the master release, the developers are putting themselves in the best possible position for a smooth and successful release. Furthermore, “This stage is also an opportunity to gather data on the game's performance, including player engagement, retention, and monetization” (Piskunov, 2023), the gathering data on the game’s performance will also considerably help towards a smooth release because the team have time to optimise the game for several platforms ensuring that the game is consistent throughout each platform build, by ensuring this all players across the community will be able to enjoy the game on a polished build instead of encountering a plethora of bugs and technical performance issues, so analysing the games performance is extremely important especially when it comes to meeting the expectations of players.
The rest of the launch phase is generally ensuring high quality across all features and mechanics and play testing is extremely important before shipping a game. By playtesting for one final time, the testers are able to identify any stray bugs that have been left after production and this last time of playtesting allows for any final additions to the game although, Mason (2022) says “Minor changes to gameplay mechanics are known to happen at this point, but it’s best to avoid doing so if at all possible. The last thing any developer needs is unforeseen challenges just before launch!”.
As I will not be physically releasing a public master version of my game on storefronts, bug squashing and ensuring a smooth launch will not be prominent, instead in the launch phase I will carry out playtesting as suggested by Piskunov and analysing players engagement to improve and evolve my game further. In addition to this, I will be taking Mason’s advice on board by squashing bugs and ensuring that my final build is of the highest quality and free from issues and major bugs. Overall, launch will not be an important part of this project but I must stress that the launch phase is extremely important when it comes to professional game development and I may have to use this phase in the future.
Post-Production or Post-Launch
Post-Launch or Post-Production is the very last stage in the game development process, this stage follows immediately after the launch stage and typically involves improving and patching the game enhancing the gameplay experience, this is generally when scrapped or planned features that were not included in the master release are revived and drip fed into newer update releases to further expand player satisfaction, retention and also replayability. Post-production also includes new content, such as through DLC packs or free feature drops for example, New Game + or A new side mission that can be purchased through a digital storefront. "it is also required for the game developers to remain in touch with the customers. Based on the customer’s feedback, the game developers are required to take the necessary steps and fix all the issues that the gamers are facing”. (The Epiko, 2019) In addition to adding new content, patches are typically added to the game that can either resolve a bug reported by the community or a balancing patch, that makes an element of the game fairer such as combat or xp levelling system, these types of patches are more common on live-service games as people find loopholes all the time.
Updates, patches and new content are very typical in this stage and seen as this stage is an ongoing process until the game is no longer supported, it is in the developers interest to keep players interested in the game or attract newer players, because it sets the game in the best position to continue to be able to fund newer concepts or explore newer ventures. Furthermore, this stage is a great opportunity to reflect upon the development process and learn from it so it can be applied to future projects. One method of reflecting back on the progress made throughout the project is to create a post-mortem, a post-mortem consists of the development team looking through all of the processes carried out in the cycle and talking about what went well through each process and what also needs improvement or did not carry out as well. The post-mortem can then be used and applied to later projects as they can reflect back and apply any improvements to the work flow in the later projects, the post-mortem acts in the same way as a pre-mortem except this comes after the release of the game. “A post-mortem can still be a useful tool in learning from your mistakes and taking that knowledge to the next game” (Game Dev Republic, 2018). From this we can see that Game Dev Republic also agrees that a post-mortem is a great tool for later improvement and development when it comes to reworking the approach towards a project.
In addition to this, Dexterity Software and Pavlina (2000) says, “The goal of a postmortem is to draw meaningful conclusions to help you learn from your past successes and failures”, as we can see here Dexterity Software and Pavlina also agree that a post-mortem is imperative to write at the end of a project because of the ability to reflect and improve upon past failures so they do not arise again. Going from this I have decided that I will also carry out a post-mortem after the project because Dexterity Software, Pavlina and Game Dev Republic have all said that these are essential tools to improve game development in the future and I believe that reflecting and learning from past mistakes or good practices are essential when it comes to growth as a game developer.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a typical and ideal game development process or cycle would involve the following:
A clear detailed plan that consists of the basic concept ideas such as early sketches of mechanics, features, themes, genres and also the general player experience.
Excellent time management resources such as Trello, to ensure that the development team have a clear outline of when project elements are required.
Following an iterative process through the pre-production stages to ensure that mechanics and features are tested and prototyped successfully allowing room for improvement based upon feedback. An iterative process also allows the team to not be too attached or blinded by a bug or feature because playtesters will pick up on these and report back to the team detailing what they encountered and how it can be resolved or improved.
General player feedback, player feedback through surveys, open betas and early access allow the team to shape their game around what the playerbase deems to be important or necessary for the game, because without meeting the players wants and needs there would be no point in developing the game. Also, it allows the team “to find bugs and errors in the game so that they can be fixed before release”, (Ten Pixel Studio, 2022), continuous testing will also allow for a smoother release of the game and will overall improve the reputation of the game studio or developer.
Creating a marketing campaign, by creating a marketing campaign or advertising the game the studio has a higher chance of raising awareness of their game and a player base should ideally be formed when a marketing campaign is released. Early access or open Betas should also be considered when it comes to pre-launch but this would not work with every game as I have discussed before.
A smooth launch phase, the launch phase of the development cycle should be a main focus as it is the last chance to eradicate bugs before a master build is released, so bug squashing should be highly considered in this stage to ensure a smooth and successful launch.
In post-launch, the game should be continuously updated and patched to ensure that any bugs that were left in after production are resolved and a continuous update strategy will ultimately ensure the engagement of the player base and aid the replayability factor. In addition, a post-mortem would ideally be carried out reflecting on the development as a whole to allow the team to improve their approach to the next project to enforce a stronger and more successful development process.
All developers may follow a different approach but every process will follow the same base foundation and it is important to find a strong foundation to ensure all of the processes above are carried out successfully and to the highest possible quality. Linking back to my project, I will not be needing to focus too much on the pre-launch, launch and post-launch phases because I will not be publicly releasing my game, so it will not be applied to my work approach, but they will still be considered as they do make up a large factor of major game development. Instead, I will be mainly focusing on Pre-Production, production and testing and will be following the advice that I have decided to follow in each stage as detailed above because I believe this advice to be the most beneficial when it comes to the development process of my project.
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Many of my primary sources did not respond to my emails or Twitter (X) direct messages but I asked a range of questions for each person I contacted so on my one primary source that responded I gathered a wide range of advice and information for an array of the different stages in the development process. Evidence of me contacting the interviewees can be found below:
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