next gen game dev team...

#1

what is the ideal composition of game dev team to produce (from A to Z, including game engine) an HIGH quality nextgen game? (programmers, designers, artists, etc, …)

#2

That’s a loaded question.

Maybe start with IGDA.org, also Gamasutra.com

#3

I think the word you’re looking for here is “high budget”. According to 3DWorld, the average art department staff size is about 10-20 people, although it isn’t uncommon for studios like EA to have 150 people working on one title. The number of programmers generally would be much smaller. A lot of programmers working on the same project is generally not considered a good thing.

#4

I think it also depends on the scale and nature of your project, on both the programming and simple art production sides of things.

If you are doing something rather simple in terms of design, you need much less on the programming side of things. What matters is having leadership and a strong workflow that doesnt rely on people who might bail. You need a programmer who stays the course.

The art production depends on the scope of the project. Do NOT accept half-baked quality. Modeling, concept and texturing needs to be something everybody feels is excellent.

#5

I believe that team of ~30 is able to deliver great game for X360 :slight_smile:

#6

High quality games at a low price are possible, as you said you’ll need a reasonable team, not many people will do it for free, luckily my team are :smiley: But if you are able to promise a profit split that is good, like the publisher sending the money to seperate paypal accounts.

But there are people around willing to work for you for free, these are usually junior programming in learning or those who do it as a hobby.

You’ll need 2 or 3 of each

Programmer (Programs listed)
3D graphics (Maybe more than 3) (Its CGtalk, so the programs are obvious, C4D, softimage etc.)
2D graphics (Photoshop/Painshop pro)
Music/SFX dudes (Fruity loops, Garageband, anvil studio, Magix Music maker)
Planner
Director (You’ll need someone to assume position of director so no one finds they have nil to do)

Of course, you’ll want to keep it cheap, so no spending out money on the latest all powerful 3D engines which cost thousands, all you’ll need is

C++/VBasic/Visual C# and a decent 3D SDK
FOr SDK’s you can download the Direct X and Open GL ones for free,
But I would use Truevision 3D which is easier, the free version of that is watermarked, remember these are libraries and not separate languages, so knowledge is require of your app.

Truevision is good because the team are developing version 6.5 which are new gen game power, but is still in beta, but have dev videos, screenshots and you can possible get the beta version too.

But if you find using C++ etc too complicated there are alternatives like Dark Basic or Blitz 3D that are simpler (Or Dark game SDK, the C++ library version of Dark Basic)

But thats if you’re an indie dev team

#7

Seppuko05 - He said “high quality next-gen games”. ^ That looks more like a PSP dev crew to me, and a smallish one at that.

Pierrix - If you are more specific to the type of game - i.e FPS, RPG or AAA title etc…you might get some better answers. Right now it’s like asking how many people to make a city building? What kind of building is it, and when does it need to be completed by?

#8

This is based on the idea that you are trying to make a quality AAA title on next gen hardware. The team make up will change depending on the type of game but a minimum would probably look something like this…

1 Lead Programmer - This is the most experienced programmer on the team. In addition to programming he will also set standards and practices, and manage the rest of the programming staff.

  1 Programmer who specializes in graphics
  
  1 Programmer who specializes in game mechanics / logic

2 Tools programmers. These guys will write all the software the studio needs outside of the game itself, exporters, importers, plugins, content management… everything not directly related to the game.

(additionally you may need a physics programmer, an AI programmer, audio programmer, an interface programmer, an FX programmer, and a Shader wrter. If the scope of the game is small enough these duties could be distributed to the team above)

1 Tech Writer. You need someone to provide documentation. You cannot have your programmers and artists wasting valuable time on this.

1 Art Director - Depending on the scope of the game this director may also be your concept lead, but he will also be responsible for creative approval and management of the art staff.

1 Technical Art Lead - He/she will be the liason between the programmers and the artists, solving pipeline issues, making sure the artists get tools they can use and the programmers are getting assets that work. He/she will handle all technical issues from the artists end.

  2 Character Modelers
  
  2 Environment Modelers
  
  3 Texture Artists
  
  3 Level Designers
  
  1 Character Rigger
  
  1 Environment Rigger
  
  3 Animators
  
  (You may additionally need Set Lighters, an Interface Artist/Designer, Concept Artist and FX Artists)
  
  1 Writer/Designer
  
  1 Audio Engineer/Musician
  
  A couple of testers

Accountant, Business managers, HR, etc.

WIth 24 months and a nice budget, assuming the staff above is made up of top experienced game devs, you could have a pretty sweet game. Keep in mind that the more people you add to this team the more layers of management you will need. YOu will start having to add animation leads, environment leads, texture leads, programming leads, and we are already talking a bout a team big enough to require HR staff.

Edit: If you intend to make a truly high quality next gen game, don’t license an engine, write your own from the ground up, and your only choices for programming languages should be C/C++ and your API should be DirectX (Xbox360) or OpenGL (PS3).

#9

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