Visualize this! GameDev.Net Trends and Challenges in Game Development

By Arti Gupta (Intel) (31 posts) on October 26, 2009 at 6:41 am

Hello and welcome to another episode of Visualize this! where we talk about topics relating to Visual Computing. I am Arti Gupta, community manager for Games Development on the Intel Software Network.

My guest today is Drew Sikora executive producer at Gamedev.net. Drew will speak about the trends and challenges in game development

Download link to a high quality MP4 video file of the show (about 150MB)

Community News :
--I had recently spoken with Ganesh Rao and Kath Knobe about Concurrent Collections for C++. New version .4 of intel concurrent collections for c++ is available at
http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/intel-concurrent-collections-for-cc/

--We have some new articles published on the site.
--Total War: The Return of Operation Flashpoint*: hptp://software.intel.com/sites/billboard/game-gallery/operation-flashpoint-dragon-rising.php#/featured-article
--Resident Evil* 5 Takes Full Advantage of Intel® Core™ i7 Processors: http://software.intel.com/sites/billboard/game-gallery/resident-evil-5.php#/featured-article
--Wolfenstein: Rebuilt From the Ground Up for Today’s Hardware: http://software.intel.com/sites/billboard/game-gallery/wolfenstein.php#/featured-article

--The Intel Partner Program has a new campaign called Succeed. Now through Dec 31st each project completion report is eligible to win. There is also a graphics category for our visual computing audience. Check out more details here

Questions :
1) Tell us about yourself and gamedev.net (you can touch upon your role and some background on gamedev.net)
2) You talk to a variety of game developers. What direction do you see game development heading in terms of genre, hardware, game engines, etc.?
3) Cross platform game development is becoming increasingly important as we move games to handhelds. We at Intel have a vested interest on higher end gaming platforms, what are your thoughts/view on the lower end platforms like Wii, iPhone, netbooks?
4) What are the biggest challenges that game developers have today?
5) How might Intel help solve any of those challenges with tools, sample code, trainings, etc.?
6) Intel runs an annual game contest like LevelUp 2009, are there any suggestions you have on changes to this contest or how it compares to other contests?
7) What drives/attracts today’s game developer?
8) On the Intel Visual computing community we are always striving to provide interesting game sample code or tools. Do you have any thoughts on what developers are looking for?
9) You run a successful game development portal. What has been the key areas that make it so attractive to game developers?

You can watch Visualize This! live alternate Tuesdays at 2:30PM Pacific on Intel Software Network TV, our new 24/7 interactive video channel. Come chat with us, or browse the On Demand section to see past episodes of our shows.

You can also automatically receive new show episodes as the become available. Subscribe to the Intel Software Network TV feed in your favorite aggregator (iTunes users, click here), or sign up to get an email when new episodes are posted.

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Categories: Gaming, Visual Computing

Comments (9)

November 2, 2009 5:52 PM PST

Project Offset
Total Points:
704
Status Points:
204
Brown Belt
 This video appears to be incorrect for the topic. (video=handsoft , topic=gamedev.net)

plz fix :)
November 2, 2009 7:20 PM PST

Arti Gupta (Intel)
Total Points:
4,463
Status Points:
4,463
Community Manager
 thanks! I have fixed the issue
November 3, 2009 12:39 PM PST

jmead08
Total Points:
5
Registered User
 Drew mentioned augmented reality at one point, which is one element of gaming that I personally can't wait to see get bigger. The gap between the real and virtual worlds is one step closer to fully merging, and while I find that to be a little unnerving, the real-world applications are endless. Just look at Wikitude.

On another note, I personally see the challenge of publicity and PR for game developers to be beneficial in the end. The devs have to be creative in their advertising. Viral campaigns work wonders in this aspect. One of the few upcoming titles to genuinely capture my attention is The Secret World, where the viral campaign immersed the fans directly into the storyline from the start, having the fanbase come together to discover the background information for the game through a series of clues that covered the globe. Assassin's Creed did a great job with marketing as well with it's Lineage videos. The fans are immersed even before the game is released. At a time where the quality of graphics are so high, it's nice to see developers getting more creative with both their publicity and the game itself.

That was also quite an interesting fact about the Scribblenauts developers(by far one fo the more addicting games I have stumbled across recently). :)

offset:Xaith
November 3, 2009 1:56 PM PST


Nicolas A		 The discussion about the challenges that game developers are facing was interesting, with the multiplication of platforms for example. But I would have appreciated to know what was Drew's take on the advantages and drawbacks of middleware VS in-house game engine, especially for small and indie developers.

offset:nicolas
November 5, 2009 8:46 AM PST

andrewshooter
Total Points:
5
Registered User
 He said that sticking to a specific genre can make it really make the development of a game boring or less interesting, but i've found that, as a consumer, games that stick to a single genre tend to be of higher quality. An example of this is Overlord. Overlord was a fun game with its mix of RPG and strategy, but it isn't something that that I would consider great like I would with Half Life. Now, there are games like HL2 which have clearly defined FPS and driving sequences, and that doesn't bother me, it might even enhance the game. It is when the entire game is bending the genres that they start to get unsatisfactory and, unfortunately, i think the upcoming game Rage is going to be one of these UNLESS they go the HL2 route and make the two parts clearly defined (you race for an hour, you shoot for an hour, race for an hour, shoot for an hour etc...).

I find it funny and great that software is making it easier to develop games. I would think that software that makes game development easier on the developer would also create games that are much longer in length, but the opposite seems to be happening. Games seem to be getting shorter and shorter (less than 10 hours is an average length for single player action games). However, the software can be released to the consumer and the consumers can create their OWN content and release it for download. This extends the playtime for people who dont want to create, and also improves the knowledge of the people who are making the extra maps, levels, content, etc.. Valve has released software that is really easy to use, so even I was able to play around with the map editors.

I believe i heard him say something about how the hardest challenge is finding an audience for your game, and this goes right back to the genre discussion. If you make a FPS game, obviously you are targetting FPS players. If you make a RTS game, obviously you want RTS players to play the game. But if you make a game that is strategy mixed with RPG, or FPS mixed with RPG (Oblivion, Orcs and Elves), who do you actually want to play our game? Chances are the game will fail because a FPS player doesn't want RPG elements, and a RPG player doesn't want FPS UNLESS the game is done successfully (Oblivion, Fallout 3), which isn't very often. So I personally think that a game should stick to one genre, or atleast have clearly defined parts that are different.
November 5, 2009 10:33 AM PST

sulman
Total Points:
20
Registered User
 Andrewshooter, I wanted to respond to your comment regarding the issue of "Genre" that Drew discussed. I really agree with you in your comments regarding HL2; it is a game which I feel like designers/programmers/writers can study for years on end and get a lot out of. They managed to blend genres brilliantly and that is what makes Valve is a genius company.

But I agree with Drew in that thinking strictly "within" a genre the entire time is very restraining. If you think about a lot of great JRPGs (which I personally think need huge push of innovation/revamping and Japanese Game Devs are realizing the same thing...as is evidenced by their reaching out to Western Studios more and more), they were successful because they BLENDED experiences very well. Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII all have "racing" segments, purely 2D segments, "mini-games" that require you to do something totally different, etc. Delivering fantastic experiences I think should be the focus now, since the currently available technology literally allows developers to do anything. Like Drew said, let the marketing people figure out how to sell it (they can bill it as whatever they want)! Thinking strictly within your genre may attach you to too many conventions which limit creativity.

Lastly, on multi-platform games, Drew mentioned how, in the current environment, everyone must develop for everything. But I think this ignores a lot of the economics; attach rates for consoles are converging now but earlier we saw a lot of exclusive titles for PS3 being ported on to Xbox (since the attach rate/market penetration for the console was much higher...see e.g. Tekken 6, Final Fantasy XIII, even talks of MGS!) and a lot of titles that would normally come on the PC, NOT being released on PC (Gears of War 2 due to piracy concerns). Multi-platforming is certainly not a no-brainer; there's a lot of politics involved which may make trying to reach as many people as possible harder than it seems.

Great talk and I just joined Gamedev.net as a result of this!

offset:Sulman
November 5, 2009 12:29 PM PST


Drew Sikora		 @jmead08: That's an interesting example, I'll have to look into that because I never heard of it.

@Nicolas A: I'm surprised often at how many small developers decide to go the homebrew route and create their own tech rather than use any sort of engine or middleware component. Although middleware is continuing to grow and become powerful, it still can't handle every single situation. Demands of the design, platform, and mechanics can all affect the decision to go with existing tech or your own. However, even those studios that roll there own tech still do so by plugging components like Box2D for physics, FMOD for sound, etc rather than working completely from the ground up. The advantages/disadvantage don't matter much because in the end the decision comes down to: what do you need to make your game?

@andrewshooter: My thoughts weren't completely collected on this, but Sulman seems to have picked up on what I was trying to say. I'm looking at this from a designer's perspective, and as a designer being tied down to any specific genre can feel very restrictive. Certainly you can get contracts with publishers that say "make me an FPS!" but if you're out to design your own game/IP you generally don't want to approach the design with any specific genre in mind.

@sulman: Regarding the multi-platform discussion, there's a lot more I left unsaid thanks to the the time constraints but you make a great point. In addition, I also should have mentioned that I hate, hate, *hate* developers who port the *same game* to multiple platforms. One of the great things about multi-platform is it lets you explore all aspects of your game. You have mouse/keyboard combo on PC, Wiimote on Wii, multi-touch on iPhone, etc etc. If you know beforehand you'll be supporting multiple systems, use that fact. Of course, developers can't help it if publishers don't care enough to shell out the extra money to develop specifically for each individual platform, but that's finally starting to become more common-place, with some big games launching across as many as 8 different platforms. Crazy!
November 6, 2009 6:28 PM PST

warsaw
Total Points:
60
Status Points:
10
Green Belt
 Drew mentioned augmented reality at one point, which is one element of gaming that I personally can't wait to see get bigger. The gap between the real and virtual worlds is one step closer to fully merging, and while I find that to be a little unnerving, the real-world applications are endless. Just look at Wikitude.

On another note, I personally see the challenge of publicity and PR for game developers to be beneficial in the end. The devs have to be creative in their advertising. Viral campaigns work wonders in this aspect. One of the few upcoming titles to genuinely capture my attention is The Secret World, where the viral campaign immersed the fans directly into the storyline from the start, having the fanbase come together to discover the background information for the game through a series of clues that covered the globe. Assassin's Creed did a great job with marketing as well with it's Lineage videos. The fans are immersed even before the game is released. At a time where the quality of graphics are so high, it's nice to see developers getting more creative with both their publicity and the game itself.

That was also quite an interesting fact about the Scribblenauts developers(by far one fo the more addicting games I have stumbled across recently). :)

offset:Xaith

The Real world and video game world have already became one in my opinion, I just think people don't fully appreciate it right now.

And who cares about devs, there all lazy. :P

I'm sorry I couldn't find anything interesting to post on the video, but I know I can't let xaith post and then not post myself.

Oh Tiltoon what have you brought upon the Intel community with your silly schemes.

Offset:warsaw

I probably wont even be considered. Oh well. Hahaha. Maybe my comments them selves will attract attention. They will be more interesting then the videos. Snap! Take that Intel.
November 19, 2009 12:27 PM PST

Arti Gupta (Intel)
Total Points:
4,463
Status Points:
4,463
Community Manager
 Hi Drew - thanks for a great discussion, I enjoyed speaking with you.

Re: multi platforms, this is an area that is very interesting to me. And yes planning for multi platforms is essential. On Dec 15 at noon I will be speaking with an Application Engineer from Intel on this very topic. Tips for multi platform game development.

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