Game Development Caution
Summary
TLDRIn this video script, Tim reflects on the changing landscape of game development, highlighting 'development caution' as a growing trend. He shares three anecdotes illustrating the shift from a more agile and passionate approach to one that is more cautious and corporate. Tim emphasizes the importance of taking risks and maintaining passion to prevent games from becoming mundane, and encourages developers to create without excessive oversight. He concludes by expressing concern over the impact of this caution on the industry's creativity and innovation.
Takeaways
- đ The speaker, Tim, discusses the evolution of game development from a more personal and passionate approach to a more cautious and corporate one.
- đ Tim highlights three stories to illustrate the shift in attitudes towards game development, focusing on management, task estimation, and creative discussions.
- đ€ He observes that modern game development is characterized by 'development caution,' with an emphasis on padding time estimates and seeking consensus, often at the cost of innovation and passion.
- đ« The first story reveals a resistance to the traditional whiteboard task assignment method, with team members threatening to quit if their names were publicly associated with tasks.
- đ In the second story, a simple combat AI feature request was overestimated to take four weeks, showcasing a discrepancy between the perceived complexity and the actual simplicity of the task.
- đŁïž The third story describes the creative and passionate discussions between Tim and Leonard, which were misinterpreted by others as arguments, reflecting a misunderstanding of their collaborative dynamic.
- đĄ Tim suggests that caution in game development can lead to fewer bugs and less stress, but it also stifles creativity and the charm of games that come from taking risks.
- đź He argues that the rise of microtransactions, pre-orders, and early access for additional payments are symptoms of the industry's shift towards a money-driven focus.
- đ Tim laments the loss of passion in game journalism, where reviews have become more cautious and calculated to avoid controversy and generate clicks.
- đ He concludes by encouraging developers to take risks and iterate quickly, rather than being overly cautious and producing mundane games that lack character.
- đ The resolution of the stories involves finding alternative solutions, like using Confluence for task visibility, accepting the two-week estimate for the AI feature, and continuing passionate discussions behind closed doors.
Q & A
What was Tim's approach to managing tasks during the development of Fallout?
-Tim used two whiteboards to manage tasks: one for listing features or content that needed to be completed and another for the top 10 most severe bugs. Each item was assigned to a specific person, and this was done to ensure everyone knew what needed to be worked on when they started their day.
How did the team's reaction differ when Tim tried the same whiteboard task management method at Carbine Studios 10 years later?
-The team at Carbine Studios was overwhelmingly against using the whiteboard method. They felt it was too transparent and would make them uncomfortable, even if names were not listed next to the tasks.
What was the simple combat aggression code Tim requested for The Outer Worlds and why was it important?
-The simple combat aggression code Tim requested was a basic system where NPCs would track who had shot them and how much damage they took, then prioritize attacking the person who had done the most damage. This was important as it allowed for more dynamic and engaging combat AI that could be expanded upon later.
Why did the programmer initially estimate four weeks to implement the combat aggression code, and how did Tim respond?
-The programmer initially estimated four weeks for the task, which Tim found excessive given the simplicity of the code. Tim pushed back, explaining that he had written similar code before and it should only take about 45 minutes. After a discussion, the programmer agreed to a two-week estimate.
What was the issue with the development team's communication style when discussing features with Leonard?
-Tim and Leonard would get very passionate and vocal when discussing features, often raising their voices and using whiteboards. This was misinterpreted by others as an argument, causing some team members to feel uncomfortable.
What is 'development caution' as described by Tim, and why is he concerned about it?
-Development caution refers to an overabundance of caution in game development, such as padding time estimates and seeking excessive approval before making decisions. Tim is concerned because this approach can stifle creativity and innovation, leading to less charming and risk-taking games.
How has the rise of development caution affected the game industry according to Tim?
-The rise of development caution has led to games becoming more corporate-driven and focused on financial success, with less emphasis on creativity and unique ideas. This has resulted in more cautious game designs, microtransactions, pre-orders, and early access for additional payments.
What is Tim's view on the Indie game space in relation to development caution?
-Tim believes that the Indie game space is richer in ideas because Indies tend to take more risks and have less caution. He sees AAA games sometimes borrowing features and ideas from Indie games, which can lead to a lack of originality in mainstream games.
How has Tim observed caution affecting game journalism?
-Tim has noticed that game journalists have become more cautious in their reviews to avoid controversy or being excluded from early access and press events. This has led to less passionate and honest reviews, with a focus on generating clicks rather than providing critical feedback.
What solution did Tim implement for managing tasks in The Outer Worlds instead of the whiteboard method?
-Instead of the whiteboard method, Tim created a personal Confluence page where he listed the top 10 tasks he wanted to focus on each week. This allowed team members to see the priorities without feeling the pressure of being publicly assigned to specific tasks.
What is Tim's advice for game developers regarding development caution?
-Tim advises game developers to be passionate, take risks, and not rely on committees for approval. He encourages rapid iteration to refine ideas rather than being overly cautious, which can lead to mundane and passionless games.
Outlines
đ Development Caution: The Evolution of Project Management
In this paragraph, Tim shares his experiences with game development management practices over time. He starts with a story from the development of Fallout, where a whiteboard system was used to track tasks and bugs, assigning them to individuals. This approach was effective and well-received. However, when Tim tried the same method 10 years later at Carbine, the team strongly opposed it, fearing the public assignment of tasks would lead to excessive pressure and potential quitting. The anecdote highlights a shift in team dynamics and the need for more private and less direct management methods in modern game development.
đ€ The Impact of Caution on Game Development Creativity
Tim discusses the rise of 'development caution' in the gaming industry over the past decade. He notes an increase in conservative time estimates, meetings, and a general abundance of caution that can sometimes stifle creativity and risk-taking. While acknowledging that caution can lead to fewer bugs and less stress, Tim argues that it can also make games less charming and unique. He contrasts this with the indie game space, which he believes is richer in ideas due to less caution and more risk-taking. Tim also touches on how the industry's shift towards a corporate, money-driven focus has affected game design, with practices like microtransactions and early access for additional payments becoming more common.
đ„ Preserving Passion in Game Development and Journalism
In the final paragraph, Tim expresses concern over the loss of passion in both game development and journalism due to increasing caution. He observes that new entrants to the industry seem to lack the enthusiasm and drive seen in the past. Tim recounts how he adapted to the changing attitudes by creating a personal Confluence page to track important tasks without assigning blame publicly. He also settled on a two-week estimate for a simple combat AI feature after initially facing resistance. Tim concludes by encouraging developers to be passionate, take risks, and iterate quickly to create games that show genuine passion and avoid the mundane. He also reflects on the way discussions and debates about game features have changed, with some missing out on the excitement of passionate exchanges.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄGame Development Caution
đĄWhiteboard
đĄEgregious Bugs
đĄCombat AI
đĄEstimates
đĄIndie Games
đĄMicrotransactions
đĄRisk
đĄCorporate-Driven
đĄPassion
đĄIteration
Highlights
Tim discusses the concept of 'game development caution' and its impact on the industry.
A retrospective on the whiteboard system used during Fallout's development for task and bug tracking.
The resistance to the whiteboard system at Carbine Studios, with employees threatening to quit.
The simplicity of the combat AI code requested for The Outer Worlds and the programmer's four-week estimate.
Tim's pushback on the programmer's estimate and the subsequent discussion about the task's complexity.
The tension between Tim and the lead programmer over the combat AI code's development timeline.
The creative and passionate discussions between Tim and Leonard that were mistaken for arguments.
The observation of increased development caution over the past decade in the gaming industry.
The potential negative effects of caution on game creativity and charm.
The shift in game development from personal expression to corporate-driven profit.
The rise of microtransactions, pre-orders, and early access as a result of corporate influence.
The importance of the indie game space as a source of fresh and risky ideas.
The caution observed in game journalism and its impact on honest critique and passion.
Tim's call to action for developers to create games with passion and not be hindered by excessive caution.
The resolution of the whiteboard issue by creating a personal Confluence page for task tracking.
The eventual acceptance and understanding of Tim and Leonard's passionate discussions as a part of their process.
Tim's reflection on the changing nature of game development and the need for passion amidst caution.
Transcripts
hi everyone it's me Tim today I want to
talk about something that for a lack of
a better phrase I'm going to call game
development caution
before I start and tell you three
different stories
they're a little different but then I'll
tell you what I'm thinking about
when we made Fallout towards the end
when we were really trying to get it out
we had two white boards
one white board had a list of
features or content that weren't done
yet that really needed to get in
and the other whiteboard had
a list of what the 10 most egregious
bugs were
and next to each person next to each one
of these on these two different
whiteboards were listed the person who
was assigned to it
we did it in a whiteboard like this so
that people could come in the morning
and look at it because this predated
jira or Confluence or anything like that
they could come in look at the
Whiteboard and go oh I see something I
need to jump on
worked fine
I don't think I heard any complaint
about it people liked getting stuff off
of that if they saw something I was like
I'm on that today
try doing the exact same thing
10 years later
at carbine
overwhelmingly
people said
no do not do that I will quit if you do
that
if I see my name on that whiteboard I
will quit
and I said well what if we don't put
people's names next to it I'll still
quit people will know it's me
story two
when we're making the outer worlds
I wanted to put in this is
probably a year end of year two so we're
still a year away
the combat AI wasn't really in yet so I
asked for a very simple combat
aggression code to be added
it was this is how simple it was
every time an NPC got shot
they would see if that person was on the
list of someone who'd shot them
if they weren't they'd add them to the
list which they matter with the amount
of damage they just took if they were
already on the list they'd just add the
amount of damage they took
whenever they're deciding who to attack
they attack the person at the top of the
list
that's it that's all I wanted keep in
mind
the advantage of that basic AI you can
make lots of changes later you can make
them
that it has the the one at the top of
the list if it's different than the
person you're attacking the damage has
to exceed
the damage of the person attacking You
by a certain amount before your change
targets you can take distance into
account you can take whether you can
reach them into account whether you have
a ranged weapon into account all that
comes later that's all I wanted
uh it got put into the programmer
production query queue and came back
with an estimate of four weeks
I pushed back saying
the code I asked for was very simple
I've written it before
would take about 45 minutes it's
basically
there's already a callback when you get
hit that's when you look to put them on
the list and there's a callback there's
a call when you want to pick a Target
that's when you look at the list and see
which one you want to attack that's it
the programmer who got signed to came to
me and said I need four weeks and I'm
like why walk me through what you're
going to do and he goes you don't
understand and I was like I've coded
this three times walk me through it and
he wouldn't
he left he left angry lead programmer
came back started
yelling at me saying if he says he needs
four weeks he needs four weeks and I'm
like then I will do it I'll have it done
before lunch and he said no because no
one then people will have to support
your code I'm like well let me walk
through I'm going to walk you through
what I want and you tell me why this
takes four weeks he looked at what I
wrote which was about 10 lines of pseudo
code on a whiteboard and he goes I'll
come back he came back about an hour
later and said what about two weeks and
I said do I have any options here
fine two weeks
Story three
Leonard and I talk about features all
the time whether it's dialogues or
system mechanics or story
setting we get very into it
our voices may be raised
we're jumping out of our chairs to draw
things on whiteboards we're pacing back
and forth
I know I've mentioned this before but
Anthony Davis showed up at our door and
said you you guys have to stop yelling
everybody's getting nervous it's like
Mom and Dad are yelling at each other
still don't know who he met with Mom but
we explained that just us talking we're
not mad but we're trying to tease apart
exactly what to do and we're getting
into it
so
what do those three stories have to do
with each other
I'm starting to see in the industry I
shouldn't say starting
in the last decade the last quarter of
my career I'm starting to see this rise
of what I can only call development
caution an abundance of caution
of
padding estimates
uh time estimates of
wanting to go around and check with a
lot of people to see if something's okay
asking should we do this I'm not sure
let's have a meeting
frequently
people would want to have a meeting to
discuss something and those were the
very people who would say we have too
many meetings I can't get any work done
now caution can be a really good thing
if it leads to less bugs less stress
also I get the fact that because games
cost more now
your people are approaching it with this
sense of caution because
you're not just going to be out a little
bit of money you're going to be out a
lot of money if this game doesn't do
well
the thing that worries me though is
games can also be a lot worse because of
caution and everybody who's cautious
kind of denies that they're like no
it'll we're reducing bugs we're in Pre
increasing life work balance people are
less stressed and I'm like true but with
but you're also taking a lot less risk
in a game
which in many games I think give them
less charm and yeah even games that have
Jank have a lot of charm my games have
had Jank uh I know people talk about
Jank and other games you know things
where the AI acts in a bizarre way in
certain circumstances or NPCs say weird
things or do weird things
it can be Charming
but things have changed and I know
games have gone from being
an expression of an idea of an of like
artwork from a particular
person or group of people into a
corporate driven
money-seeking instrument and I get it
there's a lot of money going into these
in a way though I would argue they
always were you always were making these
with the idea that you know I hope it
sells a lot we make money but now
designs are being driven by this that's
why we have microtransactions it's why
we have
pre-orders it's why we have
what we're starting to see lately where
games are if you pay a little more you
can play it a few days or even a week
early
now you can't always get blame the
the
Publishers or the Developers for this if
people didn't pay for it they wouldn't
do it it's like spam if everybody
stopped answering spam tomorrow it would
go away but because a tiny percentage
does it's there for everybody to see
but so I'm not really talking about the
money driven part I'm talking about how
the caution is dampening down the ideas
it's why I want to double down on this
I've always thought the Indie space is a
lot richer in ideas
probably not money certainly not money
but they're much richer in ideas because
they take less they take they have less
caution and take a lot more risk and
unfortunately what I see then is
um
aaa's that dip into indie games for
features and ideas
by the way it's not just Publishers and
developers that I see all this caution
with I've seen a huge rise in caution in
game journalism
it's become the norm that
no one what no journalist wants to risk
getting into an embargo situation where
they're not given a an early access code
so they can't write their reviews
earlier than other people
they're worried about not being invited
to press events or
you know junkets I think they're called
so a lot of them have gone a lot more
cautious in what they say I really miss
the reviews
I'll name a couple like Scorpio in the
80s and 90s at desklock in the 90s and
early 2000s because
those two people those two reviewers
said what they thought
if you put out a game they
secure you for all the things that were
wrong with it but then they praise you
for everything that's right with it now
it's sort of like well we really like
this but they don't want to like really
double down on it because it may be
something people don't like so like
let's say a journalist loves the
diversity in the game he may go well I'm
not going to say that that much because
I don't wanna
come across as being pandering and also
some people yell when you talk about
that so I just see a lot of the passion
drain out of game journalism
and they're really just trying to go for
what can what kind of review can I write
that generates the most clicks
and I guess this worries me because if I
see this everywhere if I see this in
Publishers and developers and now
new people entering the industry they
don't have this passion anymore so
you know what's the moral of all this
I've got I want to tell people just go
and make it make what you want you don't
need a committee to sign off on it you
can always go back and change it or if
you make something and it turns out not
to be good at all and unsalvageable
throw it away but that that rapid
iteration to get to some really good
idea is a lot better than just being so
cautious
that you basically creep up to a very
mundane
game
that doesn't show any kind of passion in
its development people can tell people
can tell
so I started with stories let me end
with those three stories and
how they kind of got resolved
so
I didn't even try to do the Whiteboard
solution when I made our worlds what I
did is I made my own Confluence page
called
like I was Tim kaine's top 10 or
something it was in my Confluence space
and I wrote here are the 10 biggest
things I once looked at this week and
there were a few producers who would
look at that page all the time what was
great about this solution nobody could
come and complain to me about it because
it was in my Confluence space
my own personal but public Confluence
space
also I'd like to point out that anybody
could go to jira at any time and say
what are the 10 most
High prior highly prioritized bugs and
who are they assigned to
so we already had that whiteboard
virtually
but somehow it was okay that it wasn't
called attention to
for the combat aggression code I think I
settled on two weeks and I think it got
done faster than that great I got it
I don't think I asked for anything after
that I didn't go and specifically ask
for anything because I realized that I
was being viewed as some sort of ogre
when I knew something could be done
faster
and there was no solution to it which is
why years ago I started thinking oh this
is becoming a problem
same thing with Leonard not yelling each
other we just kept doing it we're like
it's our office we shut the door we're
not mad at each other but this is the
way we get things done
note noted that people know some people
don't like it we won't get things done
like that with you and let me tell you I
think there were people who felt like
they missed out on not being parts of
those conversations some people would
come over uh Charlie
um had his office right next door
and he would the lead designer on on
outer worlds and he would come in
sometimes and join in great
other people didn't do that you missed
out and I think you missed out on some
really fun
active engaging conversations about game
development
but that's the way things are going so
I'm not sure I have a great solution
other than telling people reminding
people to be passionate but I just kind
of want to talk about this because it
kind of ties into bigger teams and
longer development time
bigger budgets just this whole game
development
caution that's rising up in the industry
so there got that off my chest
Voir Plus de Vidéos Connexes
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)