Game Developer's Marketplace

Game Developer's Marketplace (Publisher: The Coriolis Group) Author(s): Ben Sawyer, Alex Dunne, and Tor Berg ISBN: 15761...

Author: Ben Sawyer | Alex Dunne | Tor Berg

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Game Developer's Marketplace (Publisher: The Coriolis Group) Author(s): Ben Sawyer, Alex Dunne, and Tor Berg ISBN: 1576101770 Publication Date: 10/01/97

Introduction What's on the CD-ROM Dedication PART I—History And Design CHAPTER 1—Making Money In Game Development: 25 Quick FAQs 1. What Is Game Development? 2. What Kinds Of Games Can You Create? 3. What Platforms Can You Develop Games For? Computer Games Video Games Multiplayer Games 4. How Hot Is Game Development? 5. Can You Develop Games Alone? 6. What Programming Experience Do You Need? 7. What Design Experience Do You Need? 8. What Programming Language Should You Use? 9. What About Programming Libraries, Engines, And Other Development Tools? 10. Do You Really Need All These Programming Libraries, Engines, And Development Tools? 11. Which Content Creation Products Do You Need? Sound Digitizer Hardware And Software Music Editor/Sequencer 12. What Is The Best Way To Develop Game Programming Skills? 13. What Are Some Of The Major Programming Trends In Game Development? 14. Can You Make A Game? 15. Can Game Development Be A Hobby? 16. Can You Sell Your Games? Selling Games In Retail Channels Selling Games In Shareware Channels Selling Games In Low-Cost Retail Other Opportunities 17. Do All Games Make Money?

18. How Can You Get A Job Creating Games? 19. Do You Have What It Takes To Create The Next Blockbuster Game? 20. How Long Does It Take To Make A Complete Game? 21. What Kinds Of Resources Do You Need? 22. Are More Resources Becoming Available To Help You Learn Game Development? 23. How Big Of An Army Do You Need? 24. So, What Does This Book Offer? 25. What Should You Do Next?

CHAPTER 2—The History Of Computer Games From Humble Beginnings The Rise And Fall Of Atari Other Players The First Shakeout The Rise Of Computer Games The Rise Of The Next Generation The Return Of The Video Game Console Lessons Lead To Tight Quality Control Where There’s A Market, There’s A Rival Shakeout II Console Wars II It’s Better To Burn Out Than Fade Away

CHAPTER 3—The New Age Of Game Development Moving Fast, Breaking Ground Shareware Comes of Age CD-ROMs Finally Show Promise Enter Multimedia Developers And Nontraditional Development A New Round Of Consolidation Console Wars III The Current State Of Game Development Multiplayer Games 3D Realtime Polygons And Physics Modeling Gaming Platforms And Increased Hardware Specs The PC Platform Push By Microsoft And Intel High-Tech Workstation Technology Virtual Reality Becomes Reality Persistent Worlds The History Is Rich And The Future Richer What Do We Get From All This? What Is Hardware? The Relationship Between Large Companies And Small Producers

Looking To The Future: The Integration Of Multimedia, Games, Online Services, And Interactivity

CHAPTER 4—Essentials of Game Design Introducing The Design Elements Understanding The Medium And Its Dynamic Forms Brainstorming And Creating New Ideas Experimenting And Evaluating New Design Ideas Assembling Disparate Pieces Into A Completely New Form Careful Planning And Preconstruction Preparation Developing An Implementation Plan And Guidelines Amending And Constructing The Product Until It’s Completed How Do Game Developers Come Up With Ideas? Creative Brainstorming Market Research Beginners’ Mistakes Get It On Paper, Make It Real Creating The Design Treatment Creating The Design Document Outlining Your Game An Outline Of A Section Description Optional Design Document Sections The Designer As Engineer The Design Spec Can I Sell Just My Designs? Game Development Experience Required The Challenge Of Selling Ideas Some Techniques That Work Think It All Through

CHAPTER 5—Refining Your Designs Game Design Meets Marketing Concerns About Game Design What Type Of Game Are You Going To Make? What Is The Age Range And Gender Of Your Audience? How Many Hours Of Play Will Your Game Allow? What Systems Will Work With Your Game? What Price Point Do You Want Your Game Delivery To Meet? What Distribution Method Will You Use For Your Game? Is Your Game Interactive Enough? Addressing The Concerns Of Game Design What Makes A Game Successful? The Notion Of Interactivity

Affecting The Outcome The Role Of Achievement The Role Of Failure Changing The Circumstances Problem Solving Role Playing And Entering Other Worlds Suspension Of Disbelief Personal Experiences Is That All There Is?

CHAPTER 6—Storytelling, Design Details, And Interface Design The Art Of Storytelling How Games Make Stories Interactive Linear And Nonlinear Storytelling Creating Good Game Stories Dramatic Unfolding The Art Of Design Details Graphical Design Decisions Character Creation Level Design Simulating Environments Algorithmic/Artificial Intelligence Compared To Scripting Consistency Of Design Some Design Dilemmas How Much Detail Do You Need? Applying Market Concerns To Game Design Pleasing Hard-Core Gamers—The Pros And Cons The Art Of The Interface Housekeeping Player Involvement Input Devices Getting A Player Started Fast The Evolution Of Game Design Keep A Journal You’ve Got To Read Increase Your Interaction Study People And The Market Keep Up With The Industry Do A Game The Process Of Evolutionary Design The Future

CHAPTER 7—Tips For Successful Game Design

Playability—The Holy Grail Of Game Development Final Playability Doesn’t Become Apparent Until The End Test Early And Often—The Halftime Adjustment Designing Content: Know Your Target Audience Acquiring Your Own Targets Looking At Each Game Type 3D “Point-Of-View” Games 3D Point-Of-View Game Design Issues Adventure Games And Interactive Fiction Adventure Game Design Issues Edutainment Games Edutainment Game Design Issues Fighting Games Fighting Game Design Issues God Games: Games That Put You In The Driver’s Seat God Game Design Issues Multiplayer Games Multiplayer Game Design Issues Platform Games Platform Game Design Issues Puzzle And Card Games Puzzle And Card Game Design Issues Retro Games Retro Game Design Issues Role-Playing Games RPG Game Design Issues Shooters Shooter Game Design Issues Simulation Games Simulation Game Design Issues Sports Games Sports Games Design Issues Virtual Reality Games VR Game Design Issues War And Realtime Strategy Games War Game Design Issues Foundations For Success

PART II—Building Companies And Products CHAPTER 8—Venture Capital And Other Financing Alternatives Project Financing And Company Financing

Company Financing Alternatives An Overview Of The Funding Process And The Business Plan What Investors Really Care About Venture Capitalists Who Are These Investors? What’s The Catch? What Do Venture Capitalists Want? Successfully Approaching Venture Capitalists Strategic Investors Who Are These Investors? Private Investors Who Are These Angels? Debt Financing Alternatives Mezzanine Financing Small Business Administration Loans Investment Bankers And Underwriters The Funding Process And Beyond Due Diligence: Finding Your Worst Nightmare Before Someone Else Does Valuation: How Much Am I Bid For This Piece Of Blue Sky? Deal Structures After You Cash The Check

CHAPTER 9—Getting A Job In The Interactive Entertainment Industry On The Road To Success The Love Of Games Job Search Tools Increasing Your Profile Game Development Careers Producers Programmers Designers Software Testers Writers Artists Animators Musicians Marketing And Sales Variants And Hybrids How To Find A Job Local Newspapers

Magazines Job Fairs Trade Shows Web Sites Forums And Newsgroups SIGs/User groups Headhunters The Interview Doing Your Research Know Thyself Going Into The Interview Going For The Interview I Thought This Was Supposed To Be Fun

CHAPTER 10—The Basics of Console Development Understanding The Particulars Of Console Development Console Artwork Publishing, Ratings, And Development Issues For Consoles System Breakdowns Sony PlayStation Sega Saturn Nintendo Ultra 64 M2 Sony Net Yaroze Key Console Development Tools SN Systems PSY-Q Cross Development Products Metrowerks, Inc. Consoles Today, Consoles Tomorrow

CHAPTER 11—Creating Game Content Visual Content Two-Dimensional Artwork And Animation Three-Dimensional Artwork And Animation Musical Content Aural Content Textual Content Identifying Key Content File Formats Visual Formats Musical File Formats Aural Formats The Construction Process Labor Alternatives Visual Content Construction

3D Rendering And Animation The Art Of Motion Capture Magnetic And Optical Solutions Motion Capture Vs. Traditional Animation Techniques In-House Or Outsource? Capturing More Than Full Body Motion Understand Your Modeling Software Digital Video Hardware Necessities Software Considerations Comparing Major Digital Video Engines Tips For Making Better Digital Video Capturing Video Postprocessing Options Performers: Getting The Best For Your Buck Constructing Musical Content Working With A Musician Finding A Composer Hiring A Composer Working With Your Composer Licensing Music And Digital Audio Producing Aural Content Sound Editing Tools Sound Effects Libraries And Stock Text-To-Speech The Quest For Better Content

CHAPTER 12—Dealing With Software Publishers Get Your Act Together First And Know What You Want Choosing A Software Publisher How To Approach A Publisher Without An Introduction Email Introduction Private FTP Site Company Brochure Follow-up Calls Going From Cold To Hot How To Network And Get Publisher Introductions Building Leverage Preparing To Negotiate Additional Negotiating Tips You Have To Trust The Other Side Appoint One Person To Negotiate With The Publisher

Have Legal Counsel In The Wings, And, If Possible, A Mentor Be Patient Use Email To Send Contracts Back And Forth When In Doubt, Ask The Publisher First Always Change Something In A Contract Other Types Of Agreements The Boilerplate The Nondisclosure And Submission Agreements Letters Of Intent Prototype Funding Agreements Avoiding Publisher Horror Stories Publishers That Make Grandiose Promises Publishers That Run You Around In Circles Publishers That Use Amorphous Terms To Describe Their Efforts On Behalf Of Your Product Publishers That Want Worldwide Rights To Your Game, But Don’t Have A Worldwide Infrastructure Publishers That Want 100 Percent Ownership And Rights To Products Publishers That Are Marginal After You’ve Reached An Agreement Summary

CHAPTER 13—The Ins And Outs Of Packaging, Rating, And Manufacturing Your Game Setting A Budget And Choosing A Manufacturer Pressing CDs Packaging Common Game Packaging Practices Tips On Package Design Preparing, Pricing, And Assembling Game Packaging SPA Packaging Guidelines Packaging Standards All About Game Ratings The Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) Recreational Software Advisory Council Documentation Timing Distribution How Manufacturing Can Affect Your Finances Wrap Up

PART III—Understanding The Market And Legal Issues CHAPTER 14—Game Industry Analysis And Market Outlook Identifying The Types Of Research Available Polls And Surveys Analysts Reports Focus Groups Sales Data/Metering Reports Finding Free Research A Foundation For Analysis: The Household Approach From Households To Trends: A Brief Market Outlook The Battleground For PC Households PC Hardware: Moving Toward High-Tech Gaming Capability Consoles: The Rock Of Gibraltar In Gaming Systems From Households To The Industry Industry Snapshot And Trends Employment Sales Arcade Growth Online Space Distribution Challenges Facing The Industry Increasing Technical Complexity Increasing Business Costs And Complexity Fundamental Hardware Forces Platform Analysis Intel-Based PC Windows 95/98/NT DOS Mac Console Platform Outlook Arcade PC Looking Closer At PC Hardware The Motherboard RAM/Video Memory 3D Accelerator Cards CD-ROM DVD-ROM Looking Closer At Software The Web State Of Connected Web Devices Web User Demographics

Connected Bandwidth Issues Finding Out More About The Games Market: From Questions To Solutions Wrap Up

CHAPTER 15—Understanding The Structure Of The Games Industry The Structure Of The Game Business Capital Developers And Publishers Online Networks Distributors And Retailers Consumers Why This Is Important Understanding The Natural Developer Progression Choosing Your Business Model Shrink-Wrapped Models Shareware/Freeware Models Online Models Development Business Models Technology First Model Technology Engine And Licensing Model Simultaneous Release Model Platform Specificity Model Licensed Property Development Forecasting The Future Distribution Changes Innovators And Market Makers It’s Up To You

CHAPTER 16—Publishing, Promoting, And Selling Games Reaching Your Customers Should You Self-Publish? Alternatives To Self-Publishing What’s Your Role? How Game Software Is Sold Distributors Retail Outlets Mail Order Outlets Direct Consumer Outlets Bundling Try Before You Buy And Electronic Software Distribution Shareware Understanding The Nuances Of Distribution

Next Wave Distribution Outlets Sponsored Products And Giveaways High-Speed Telephone Lines And Cable Networks Kiosk Setups The Future All About Game Press Reviews Types Of Reviews Resources Game Promotion And Advertising Understanding Advertising Costs Print Advertising And Beyond Wrap Up

CHAPTER 17—Legal Issues In Game Development Game Development Company Formation Issues Who Owns What? Your Vision Or Mission Statement Forming Your Game Development Company Sole Proprietorship General Partnership Limited Partnership Corporations What Happens When A Founder Leaves? What Every Game Developer Needs To Know About Intellectual Property Trademark Rights Copyright Right Of Publicity Moral Rights Patents Trade Secrets Working With Employees And Independent Contractors Owning The Rights Protecting The Rights—Trade Secrets And Noncompete Agreements Incentives And Profit Sharing Tax Requirements Licensing Intellectual Property From Others Rules For Licensing Content Acquiring Rights Cheaply Wrap Up

Appendix A Appendix B

Appendix C Appendix D Appendix E Appendix F Appendix G Appendix H Appendix I Index


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Introduction In 1995 I got a call from Keith Weiskamp, who wanted me to turn a bunch of notes I was putting out on the Internet into a book about game development. That book became the Ultimate Game Developer’s Sourcebook, and it was a chance for me to really document an industry I love. It will forever hold a special place in my life. As I set out to morph that book into the new text you now have before you, it amazed me how much has changed since that first book came out. DirectX was just an emerging technology (some say it’s still emerging) and multiplayer gaming was still in its early days. Today, DirectX and multiplayer gaming are big. MMX was still in the labs at Intel, 3D Studio MAX hadn’t even shipped, and Nintendo 64 was still delayed. Game Developer magazine was a tiny bimonthly start-up publication, and even the Web was a green entity. I can easily say there are now ten times the companies and information on the Web about gaming as there was when the first book was developed. As this book is set to go to press, the game industry is in one of its healthier moments—32/64-bit consoles are doing extremely well and publishers are reporting strong growth. A number of new developer startups with key veterans at the helm, such as Firaxis, Digital Anvil, Titanic, and Redline Games, are sprouting up. The industry, while pushing big publishers, also seems to be paying more attention to smaller autonomous teams for the creativity that has produced some of the most memorable games. Let’s hope that lasts. In the midst of all this growth comes the Game Developer’s Marketplace. It truly represents Keith Weiskamp’s vision when he gave me the chance to do my first book: a text that helps people who really want to make it in the games industry. The Coriolis Group has committed itself to producing books that make a real impact on developers’ bottom lines, and hopefully this book and the other Marketplace books will be prime examples of that commitment.

How To Use This Book This book is meant to provide two things: some basic background on different aspects of making games, from legal advice to funding your startup to finding a job in the industry, and a Resources section with much of the information you’re always trying to get your hands on: basic information on some 100 tools and products you’d use to develop games; background on 60 of the major game publishers in the industry; a list of most of the major magazines and Web site magazines you should

be reading; information on packagers, retail stores, distributors, and motion capture studios; over 100 books you should be reading; and more. Using this book is simple—read through it and refer to it often. It can be a very helpful guide for game developers.

How To Help This Book Our goal for this book is to bring out a new and improved version as frequently as possible. Hopefully that will be once a year. That means we need your help. No book can ever be perfect, and one that seeks to provide you with a comprehensive series of resources and contacts will always be in need of updates, suggestions, and information on items that we overlooked. You can help this book in two ways. The first is to do what most likely those of you reading this book have already done—purchase it. The surest way for us to provide an updated version is through good sales, so thanks for buying this book. The second thing to do is send email, lots of it, to the address listed at the end of this introduction. If you have a product that should be in this book or a Web site that should be shared in the next revision of this text, send it in. If you see a mistake or know of updated information, send it in. If you just want to suggest some new ideas or some areas about game development you want more background on, send it in. We especially need information on overseas resources; this book is mostly about the industry in the U.S., but in the future it would be nice to make it more global. Have fun, make great games, and keep sending me those demos and new ideas! Ben Sawyer Portland, Maine Ben [email protected]

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What’s on the CD-ROM The CD-ROM for Game Developer’s Marketplace is packed with incredible software, including: • The Source Code to Abuse from Crack.Com Software. See what the source to a commercially released game looks like. • Demos from Animatek of their incredibly powerful animation technologies. • The shareware sound editor GoldWave. • The complete IForce 2.0 SDK and manual from Immersion Corp. • All sorts of graphics utilities from JASC Software, including Image Commander, Image Robot, Media Center, and Paint Shop Pro. • A demo of the Miles Sound System from RAD Game Tools. • A demo and information From RTime Software, makers of a major Internet gaming API. • SGI’s OpenGL for Windows. • Smacker demos from RAD Game Tools. • All that, plus an electronic version of the Resources section in database form. See the readme files in each folder for acknowledgments, descriptions, copyrights, installation instructions, limitations, and other important information.

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Dedication To the Holt family —Ben Sawyer To Linda —Alex Dunne To Kristi —Tor Berg

Acknowledgements Since the start of this book much has happened, and I give thanks for it: My company, Digitalmill, has been established and will have published six books by the end of 1997. I’d like to thank my cofounder, Dave Greely, who put together much of the Resources section for this book. Joann Meyer, our first employee, was a latecomer to this project but contributed greatly. I’ve been doing some writing for Game Developer magazine, which has provided the input of Alex Dunne and Tor Berg to this book. Alex was especially helpful in suggesting a number of items for the CD, and produced several chapters for this book. He also should be commended for the work he has put into turning Game Developer magazine into a triple-A publication. My good friend and client Swen Vincke and his team at Larian Studios have established a game development team with two new products coming out. The trials we went through have helped benefit this new game book tremendously. Ionos Software was formed by Mario Vassaux, who helped teach me a great deal about the manufacturing, sale, and packaging of game software. His sales manager, Adam Brüss, was instrumental in helping us come up with a good list of distributors and retail companies. I’m also happy to be helping them launch a truly new publisher in the game business. Other people also deserve thanks, including everyone at The Coriolis Group that made this and other

books possible, especially Toni Zuccarini my editor—words cannot do justice to the job she did on this book. Of course, everyone else at Coriolis also deserves thanks for doing their usual crack job on yet another book. I’d also like to thank David F. Cole of DFC Intelligence for providing his contribution to this text, and of course Dean Gloster, who provided the chapters on legal and funding issues for game developers. Dean has been a great resource and good friend since the first book I wrote. A big thanks also goes out to the many developers and friends who have helped over the last three years: Ian Firth, Phil Steinmeyer, Nichol Alexander, Karen Crowther, Keith Reiger, Dave Thielen, Trevor Chan, Ken Lemeiux, Stephen Chan, Noah Fahlstein, Gavin Estey, Tracy Demiroz at Cbooks. com, the folks at NBCC Miramichi, Tery Nagy, Steve Hoffman, Adam Matteissich, David & Sherry Rogelberg, Joe Cataudella, Ken Tannenbaum, Marta Daglow, and Leon Schiffman. Finally, I’d like to thank my mother—she was the one who bought Pong for me when it first came out, and then bought just about every single game machine and computer since then. My mother has always had uncanny insight and it’s clear to me now that she knew something when she brought that first video game home over 20 years ago. —Ben Sawyer

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PART I History And Design CHAPTER 1 Making Money In Game Development: 25 Quick FAQs 1. What Is Game Development? Game development is the combination of storytelling, art, music, sound effects, animation, and programming techniques to create a dynamic, interactive form of electronic entertainment. For those who pursue it, game development means a lot of long nights, hard work, and a never-ending passion. Once you get hooked, there’s no turning back! Despite being around for a good 30 years, the game development field is still quite new. Only a handful of books have been published on it (as opposed to the thousands written on programming games) and, until Game Developer came along, no magazines have been devoted to it. This means that information isn’t as easy to get a hold of as for other fields. Thus game development is still very much a “black art.” Many people wonder if there is a set process to “learn” game development, but most people in the industry will tell you to just jump in and learn as you go. The Game Developer’s Marketplace is here to help you jump in and keep you afloat.

2. What Kinds Of Games Can You Create? You can create just about any type of game you can dream up—adventure, role-playing, sports, card games, shoot-em-up arcade games, flight simulators, awesome 3D games, and even children’s games. The best part about the game field is that it’s bursting at the seams with creativity. This is one area of technology where you can let your imagination go. If you come up with a new game form and it catches fire, you might be headed for early retirement. But don’t fool yourself. Creating a successful game is a lot of hard work. You’ll need to develop a lot of skills—from programming, to sound-effects design, to writing stories—or you’ll need to become really adept at bringing highly creative people together.

3. What Platforms Can You Develop Games For? There are many platforms, but we can arrange them into a few groups: computer games, video games, arcade games, and multiplayer games. Let’s take a closer look. Computer Games Computer games are basically created to run on personal computers. If the market was gauged by the number of titles released, this segment would certainly be the biggest by far. In 1996, over 2,500 PC CD-ROM titles were released, and while not all of them were hard-core computer games, many of them were. Computer entertainment is so interesting because there are more PCs out there than there are movie theaters or amusement parks. Millions of people have purchased PCs over the last 10 years and this creates an enormous opportunity for the right product. Of course, there are many different types of PC platforms. While Windows is the leader, there are still many DOS machines, not to mention Macs. Even Windows itself is broken into various divisions between Windows 3.X, 95, and NT (and soon CE). Multiple platforms within the PC industry is nothing new. Several major PC platforms have been aggressively supported by game developers. The original platforms included the Atari 800/400/XL series, Commodore 64 and VIC-20, and the Apple II series. (You don’t still have one of these machines hiding in your closet, do you?) Later on, these early platforms were replaced by the Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, Apple Macintosh, and the surging IBM PC. Today, aside from the Mac’s relatively modest share of the PC market, MS-DOS/Windows is the only major computer platform for which large numbers of games are developed. There has never been a “standard” PC product. Currently, Intel and Microsoft are working on several initiatives to bring more standardization to the PC platform. But even then there will be wide variety among players who have different video cards, sound systems, joysticks, and the like. So while the API and some aspects of the PC platform may become more standardized, we’ll probably never see an absolute standard in the computer arena. Instead of seeking a standard PC platform, developers try to identify a minimum platform standard for every game they make. Today, companies target a PC equipped with at least 16MB of RAM, 4X CD-ROM drive, Sound Blaster 16-bit compatible sound card, Super VGA graphics, and a Pentium 100 MHz CPU. Soon (probably by the time this book hits the shelves), the minimum hardware standard is likely to bump up to a wavetable sound card, a graphics card with 3D graphics acceleration, and a Pentium 166 CPU with MMX. “Minimum platform” moves fast—sometimes too fast. The big news in 1997 and 1998 is the notion of the PC Theater. Started by Gateway, with its destination system, it’s now being championed by the likes of Intel, Microsoft, and Compaq. Intel calls its initiative the PC Theater and Microsoft calls its specification the EntertainmentPC. In each case, the vision is the PC as the centerpiece of a huge home entertainment system, with a large screen

television, surround-sound video, and other goodies like DVD, force-feedback joysticks, and of course a Barcolounger. Games are a centerpiece attraction for both the EntertainmentPC and the PC Theater movements.




Video Games Video games are a little more complicated to develop than PC games because they require specialized hardware and a larger budget due to the licensing fees involved in the manufacturing process. The video game market has its peaks and valleys. At its peak, this market is huge (many times larger in software sales than PCs). Today (1997/98), the industry is headed toward another peak. After a brief period of war between five console companies, there are now two major console products driving the market: the Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Ultra64. Both are growing at a phenomenal rate, with the PlayStation closing in on 10 million units and Nintendo headed toward 4 million units worldwide. Originally, the video game platforms of choice included the Atari 2600 with Intellivision, ColecoVision, and a few small stragglers. (Anyone remember the Vectrex or Odyssey?) After the first shakeout, the platforms became the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Sega Master System. Later, the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo dominated. You’ll need access to specialized hardware and software to develop games for any of these platforms. Development requires what is called a cross-compiler or cross-development system. This is basically a C language compiler that lets you write code and create artwork on a PC or Mac, and then download it into a specially adapted version of the console hardware. Most cross-development systems are more than a language, and many programs include developer support, art creation tools, and music editors, which is why they are expensive. When you complete the game, you take the master out for duplication and distribution, which requires you to pay a licensing fee, and sometimes a manufacturing fee, to the console company. Typical estimates are that a console title is about 25 percent more expensive to develop than its PC game counterpart. The trick to developing video games is to learn about the hardware requirements, cross-development systems, and developer programs for the different platforms. Then you have to qualify for development status by contacting the company (or an approved publisher) and getting approval to develop for it. Video game development requires a much greater startup cost than PC-based development because of the hardware requirements involved, the licensing fees, the fact that the available talent pool is smaller, and other associated costs you must pay to begin developing programs. In the reference section of this book, we’ve presented the basic tools, companies, and resources for people interested

in developing video game products. Multiplayer Games Multiplayer games are divided into three main subcategories: peer-to-peer modem games, PCnetwork games, and client/server games. Peer-to-peer modem games allow two people to play games over a modem. This is a great way to play a game with a friend who lives in your neighborhood or at least in the same local calling zone. (If you are playing a long-distance peer-to-peer game, you’d better watch your phone bill.) Peer-topeer games have been around for a while, but they are just starting to become very popular. In the past, many players avoided these games because they didn’t have high-speed modems, and thus the games were slow. Today, most people who purchase PCs for game playing are likely to buy fast modems. Some of the popular games that provide peer-to-peer connections are war games like Empire Deluxe, action games like Doom II, and most flight simulators. PC-network games allow multiple players to match up with each other over a local area network, such as Windows 95 or Windows NT. The main benefit is that you can play with others without tying up a phone line. The only problem is that most local area networks are installed in offices. This means that you run the risk of getting caught by your boss. If you design PC-network games, try to look out for your fellow gamers by including a “boss safety feature” that allows anyone playing the game to turn the display into an annual budget report (or something equally boring) whenever the boss approaches. Client/server games provide a machine that “serves” dynamic game information to logged-in client computers. This is the wave of the future. Though it seems to be off to a rough start, there are still quite a few industry people who believe that Internet-based games could be as much as 50 percent of the market within six to eight years. Many client/server type games are being set up on the Internet or World Wide Web. The advantage is that client computers can log in from all over the world, and they can save big bucks in phone charges while joining in far more massive multiplayer worlds. The big challenge with client/server games is coming up with techniques to quickly transfer information so that game players can get fast response. There are several newly-released APIs that offer developers the technology to develop Internet client/server titles.




4. How Hot Is Game Development? It’s hotter than Death Valley in the summer. In its report titled “The State of the Entertainment Software Industry: 1997,” the IDSA (Interactive Digital Software Association) pegged the industry at $5.3 billion and predicts it will grow to $8 billion by the year 2000. In 1994, the game company Acclaim grossed $50 million in a single day on Mortal Kombat II, a feat it announced in full-page ads in the Daily Variety. (The message sent to movie executives was “the game industry is huge!”) The 1995 Computer Game Developers’ Conference, an annual event attended by leading game developers, attracted over 2,500 people, twice the number of developers who attended the year before. In 1997, that number climbed to over 6,000 attendees to the conference and exhibits floor. Estimates indicate that, in the U.S. alone, over 50,000 people are employed in some aspect of the game development industry. One of the best ways to gauge how hot the game development field has become is to consider the number of people who have grown up playing computer games. Currently, that number in the U.S. is projected to be 15 million. By the year 2010, this number should exceed 100 million. That’s a lot of households—all waiting to play your latest game. Recently, many of the major media conglomerates have started to spend large sums of money to establish interactive divisions. These companies don’t necessarily get it right every time, but the fact that they are building up large development teams shows that they smell money to be made on a rapidly expanding market. With online services and interactive networks expanding like crazy, there are opportunities for game developers that have never existed before. One might say that this is the best time to enter the game development field in a big way. But you’d better move fast because the competition is really heating up.

5. Can You Develop Games Alone? Originally, most games were developed by very small teams such as FreeFall Associates (John Freeman and Anne Westfall with Paul Reiche III, who wrote Archon, among other notable games) or Ozark Softscape, which developed the big hit Seven Cities of Gold. Many popular games were even created by “lone-wolf” developers like Bill Budge (Pinball Construction Set) and Chris Crawford (Eastern Front 1941 and Balance of Power). Today, many games feature a design created by one person, but the underlying work is performed by an entire team. The creative lone-wolf developer is becoming an endangered species (although you can still find them on exhibit at specialized industry

trade shows such as the Computer Game Developers’ Conference). The days of one person having the time, talent, and cash to create a state-of-the-art product are just about gone. Games require too much professional quality artwork, music, and programming techniques for one person to handle. That means teamwork and management skills and organization are very, very important in this business.

6. What Programming Experience Do You Need? You’ll need lots of experience or lots of time to learn. Game programming will challenge you significantly. Today’s computer games are developed using cutting-edge programming techniques. Not only do you need to know the basics of writing programs, you’ll need to know how to write highly optimized code, tricky graphics and animation, hardware interface code (mouse, joystick, keyboard, and so on), game play algorithms, and much more. Think about it. What other software product requires state-of-the-art full-motion video, fast-action animation, high-quality music, way-cool sound effects, and artificial intelligence? Because of these requirements, game programming can even be a handful for highly trained programmers. Becoming a great game programmer is a lifelong pursuit. Just when you think you know everything about a certain area of game development, such as 3D rendering, someone is bound to come along and show you up. If, early on, you adopt an attitude that you can always learn more and improve your skills, your chances of becoming really good at programming games will increase drastically. To get started with game programming, you’ll want to learn a programming language like C++ or Java. (I’ll have more to say about programming languages shortly.) Another set of important skills is a good working knowledge of the hardware platform for which you plan to develop. Unlike developing other types of computer programs, such as recipe managers or sales trackers, you can’t just stand back and write high-level code using the latest whiz-bang auto code generator. Game programming demands that you unscrew the cover of your computer and get under the hood. Eventually, you’ll want to add features to your games that can only be programmed by performing amazing tricks or by working with a low-level language like Assembly. But before you get overwhelmed by all the things you need to learn, keep in mind that it gets a little easier to master the hard stuff every day, with new tools becoming available and a plethora of other developers willing to give you a hand and share their experiences.




7. What Design Experience Do You Need? Well, design is the essential artistic ingredient for game development. Despite all the new hardware and software now available, there is no one-button way to develop a good design—it’s still a very artistic process that requires a keen mind and good sense of what makes games interactive and entertaining. As many artists will tell you, getting better means practice. Writing your own games, stories, and so on will help you to become a better designer. Here are some other tips to help you gain design experience: • Attend the major game developer conferences. The list and descriptions of the major conferences available are presented in the reference section at the end of this book. • Read as much as you can about game design. (You’ll find a list of helpful magazines in the reference section of this book.) • Try modifying a game that has an editor. Games like Klik & Play, Empire, Doom, Heretic, and Abuse allow you to modify them to create whole new experiences. This is a good way to learn to create interesting environments with puzzles and challenges. Without having to program, you can learn some of the thought processes game designers need to have. • Check out the ideas in this book and others. We’ve provided a healthy helping of material and the roadmap to much more. If you look around enough you’ll find a lot of material to read and digest, much more than many early game developers had. • Finally, develop the proper mindset. Understand that game design is different than every other form of design. Games are interactive, making them very different from passive forms of art like movies and music. Not only do you have to give your players a good experience or an interesting world to interact with, but you need to make sure your players receive interesting reactions to whatever actions they take. This means you need to anticipate a player’s every move as you are designing your game. Game worlds need to be as realistic as possible—players demand to go anywhere and try anything, and they want to do it at any time. This is a non-linear process. At the same time, players want a story that, no matter how you tell it, is linear. Combining the need for realism and linearity effectively is one of the biggest dilemmas many game designers face. Designing games is like no other form of design. Understanding this principle is your first step to becoming a good game designer.

8. What Programming Language Should You Use? C? C++? Pascal? Assembly? Java? Visual Basic? Delphi? Actually, any of these will work. Just stay away from languages like COBOL. Unless, of course, you are planning to write a game called Revenge of the MIS Dweebs. Some highly accomplished game programmers will tell you that the only language for game development is Assembly language. Others will tell you that you must program in C/C++ because it is the language that all other game programmers use. This is like telling someone they should drive a Ford Escort because everyone else drives an Escort. And if you break down on the highway some day, another Escort driver will stop, pull some spare parts out of her trunk, and fix your car for you. Sure thing! C/C++ is a powerful language because of its speed, portability, and flexibility. There is also a wide variety of C/C++ tools, libraries, and sample source code available for you to use when writing applications. But if you have a passion for using another programming environment, such as Delphi or Visual Basic, follow your instinct. Many developers are looking for alternatives because of the complexities and inefficiencies of C/C++. Development environments like Visual Basic are rapid Windows-based development tools. These products not only give you programming languages that are widely supported in the software industry, but they also provide powerful development tools to help you create Windows applications using the latest object-oriented and visual programming techniques. In some interesting cases an alternative can be a useful option—just understand that while it’s possible it is rare. The question of what language to use is often asked by new programmers and experienced programmers moving into game development, and I’ll address it in more depth later in this book. For now, Table 1.1 provides a summary of the pros and cons of some of the more popular languages. Table 1.1The pros and cons of different programming languages for game development. Language

Pros

Cons

Assembly

The fastest language you can use.

Very hard to master; not very portable.

C

Fast; portable; must be used for consoles.

More difficult to learn; takes time to debug and program.

C++

Highly portable and reusable code; future of C language; quite fast.

Slightly more difficult to program than C.

Delphi (Pascal)

Fast (though not as fast as C or Assembly); somewhat easier to learn than C.

Windows only; not portable to other platforms.

Visual Basic

Easy to learn; easy to develop interfaces. Windows only; not portable to other platforms; interpreted code can be slow.

As mentioned, C/C++ is the major language to use—it’s fast and it’s portable. Delphi and VB, only available for Windows-based machines, are interesting alternatives that have specific advantages and drawbacks compared to C/C++, especially relating to speed and portability. So, in short, C/C++ is the language of choice. VB and Delphi are alternatives that may be advantageous to the type of game you want to develop. They also work well as back-office development tools for creating components like level editors. Java is starting to make some interesting inroads with several companies using it as a potential road to online gaming services. This language shows a lot of promise but it’s still a little immature for most game development. However, in a year or two it could be robust enough to be considered a very interesting option in certain situations. The jury is still out on Java.




9. What About Programming Libraries, Engines, And Other Development Tools? As game programming and hardware become more complex, and consumers become more demanding (especially for new products), more and more developers are turning to off-the-shelf tools, libraries, and engines to speed up the development process. There are a number of libraries available, like FastGraph from Ted Gruber Software, which handles graphical functions, or DiamondWare’s Sound Tool Kit, which handles MIDI and sound file playback. There are also libraries from SciTech, RAD Game Tools and, of course, Microsoft. Engines are complete skeletons for creating various types of games. Some examples include the Quake Engine, which can be used to create incredible point-of-view games (though only a couple of companies are lucky enough to use it), or LucasArts’ SCUMM system, which developers use to create animated graphical adventures like Sam and Maxx or Monkey Island. Some of the bigger development companies can afford to build and maintain their own engines, but you can purchase others relatively cheaply. This book contains many descriptions of various game engines available for purchase and licensing. Most off-the-shelf engines are a little behind what a company like id or LucasArts could come up with, but as the engine business increases, more and more top companies with stellar engines are licensing their engines. For video game development, you’ll need to contact the various console manufacturers to see how you can become an authorized developer. You’ll need to acquire a developer’s kit that includes software and tools to create the necessary code for those specific machines. The video game SDKs come with a lot of libraries for doing all the basic development work—many companies then rewrite these routines to improve them or add newer features.

10. Do You Really Need All These Programming Libraries, Engines, And Development Tools? The short answer is yes. Why? Because you need not spend your precious time and money reinventing the wheel. Your goal is to make a finished game, so why get bogged down in the trial and error of low-level sound or graphics programming? A productive game programmer quickly learns how to meld the right libraries and fundamental engines into a final product. Using tools and engines properly means faster development, lower costs, and (potentially) an easier job making games.

Two of the more recently successful game companies, Raven and Hipnotic, have done games based on the original engine developed by id Software. While they’re modifying it and doing a lot of new work, all the work id put into the original engine isn’t being reinvented in a costly manner. This allows these companies to develop demos and get to the market much faster than starting from scratch. Developers will increasingly rely on engines and other technology to speed their development and refocus more of their original work into what can make their specific game the best. Lots of the foundation work of many types of games will come from licensed game engines and tools. That’s simply the direction much of the industry is moving in.

11. Which Content Creation Products Do You Need? There are several major art packages for creating 2D and 3D artwork. You will need at least a 2D editor. If you want to have a 3D game, you will need a 3D rendering package such as 3D Studio MAX. Image processing products like DeBabelizer and Adobe Photoshop can also be extremely useful. You will need some sort of image conversion program, since not all artwork programs output the type of format you may need for your games. Optional artwork creation tools may include a scanner and a digital camera to acquire graphics from the real world or from traditional art forms (for example, sculpture or pen and paper). You might also consider texture makers and libraries for 3D graphical programs. On the high end, using workstations like the Silicon Graphics Indigo and such supersoftware as Alias, Wavefront, or SoftImage is now the main way large game companies produce artwork for their products. These packages not only render astounding 3D images but have amazing animating features, especially for live action figures such as humans and horses. If you have deep pockets, you can purchase full digital productions of realtime live actors, shot mostly on blue screens, then merged with computer-created backgrounds. We will discuss a number of art creation techniques and products, from art creation on a budget to full digital production, in the reference section of this book. Sound Digitizer Hardware And Software Many game programmers are not sound engineers; they tend to use canned sounds from sound libraries and such. If you can’t find prerecorded sounds you like, you’re going to have to record your own. To do this, you’ll need to acquire a good digitizing card (which is usually built into your sound card). If you also plan to digitize live sounds, you’ll need a really good microphone.

You’ll also need the software to record sound, edit it, and transform it. Good digitizations are rarely used straight up. Some form of editing and remixing will be needed.




Music Editor/Sequencer Even if you expect to work with just prerecorded files, you may need to have some form of music editor available to make changes to the file during development, depending on issues like compatibility of instrument voices or re-orchestrating for a different sound card. If you are going to create music in-house for your game, you will need a complete MIDI setup including MIDI card, sequencing software, and a keyboard that is MIDI-compatible. Overall, the game tools business has grown exponentially over the last few years. Not all the tools work as advertised and not all of them are as relevant as the vendors would have you believe. But the number of quality tools that help developers is immeasurably better than it was before.

12. What Is The Best Way To Develop Game Programming Skills? You need a good, fundamental understanding of programming. But this isn’t as difficult as you may think, because people are figuring out new ways to make game programming easier. This book is a beginning. Spend some time poring over the resource sections and the sidebars to see the products and processes major developers are using to create their leading games. After that, the best way to master game programming is to practice, practice, practice. But start simple. One of the best ways to learn is to create copies of other games (like Lode Runner or PacMan). Then, taking what you learn from that exercise, you’ll be ready to move on and create something more original and complex. What most entry-level programmers and CS grads do is study as much as they can from books, magazines, and what they find on the Internet. Then many try to get hired at a solid company, as a junior programmer, to learn all the tricks of the trade and acquire some practical experience writing games. Once they’ve spent a few years at a company like Tiburon, Iguana, or Origin, they may leave for another company or form their own. Much of what many game programmers know is either selftaught or learned under the tutelage of another game programmer.

13. What Are Some Of The Major Programming Trends In Game Development?

Many types of technologies, from multimedia to 3D animation to realtime video, are all converging in the game development industry. But there are a few significant trends that really stand out: • 3D, 3D, and 3D—Noted graphics programming expert Michael Abrash said it best at a talk at the CGDC (Computer Games Developers’ Conference): “Someday computers will be really, really fast.” That day is upon us now. Today’s top-of-the-line PCs and the new 32-bit consoles allow developers to create awesome 3D-looking graphics, including both point-ofview and third-person products. The entire industry is working to bring out the ultimate in 3D games. Products like Sega’s Virtua Fighter, id’s Quake, Origin’s BioForge, and NovaLogic’s Comanche show us a glimpse of what possibilities are in store for 3D technology. For an even more eye-opening look at the future, check out technologies like Motion Capture, which allow users to create animated skeletons and wrap digital actors onto them to create lifelike human movement. • Virtual Reality—Hardware is finally getting inexpensive enough for developers to combine lifelike 3D and video to create virtual reality (VR) environments for consumer-oriented games. Just a few years ago, VR could be experienced only by visiting expensive high-tech gaming centers that employ costly computer systems and specialty hardware. Today, you can purchase relatively low-cost hardware and peripherals, such as VR helmets and glasses, to turn your home PC into a VR powerhouse. Game companies like Seattle Startup Zombie are constructing innovative PC-based VR games like Locus, which take full advantage of the new VR hardware that’s hitting the market. • Really Good Artificial Intelligence—In the early ’80s, computer scientists around the world predicted that we would all soon have desktop computers that could think and reason like humans. A few years later, many of these “technology experts” were run out of town and the AI industry came apart at the seams. Fortunately, AI researchers developed a number of useful technologies that have been perfected over the years to make them suitable for the game industry. Today, game development companies like Bullfrog (Magic Carpet, Populous) are leading a major trend to incorporate artificial intelligence into such games as Dungeon Keeper and Syndicate II. As specialized graphics chips and faster processors relieve graphics demands on the CPU, more CPU speed will be devoted to ever-complex AI code. Many think that once 3D hardware acceleration is standard, AI, along with physics modeling, will become the next big target for top developers. • Specialized Game Play Hardware—In the past, developing a computer game meant that you would simply need to support the basic input and output devices including the mouse, joystick, keyboard, speakers, and so on. But unlike other forms of software development, game technology always tries to push the limits of the available hardware. New gadgets for game players to plug into their home computers are appearing at an accelerated pace. The bottom line is that the games you develop in the near future will need to support everything from specialized 3D accelerator cards to VR devices to custom input devices that are still on the drawing board. Whether it’s more memory, faster processors, or new graphics acceleration chips, game software is never far behind in pushing the available hardware to the max. Another fast-growing segment of specialized hardware is force feedback. Developed by Immersion Corp., and now being implemented by Microsoft, a slew of new joysticks will offer force feedback to make the player really feel the action. For example, if you’re driving a tank the joystick might rattle around based on the terrain, a steering wheel might fight you

through the turns, and so on. • Interactive Games on the Web—The big topic in today’s technology news is the Internet and the World Wide Web. The Internet is growing faster than any other computer technology invented to date. As the Internet and the Web become more mature, many leading game development companies are looking for ways to tie their interactive products into this dynamic communication system. The Web provides full support for multimedia components including sound, video, music, animation, and hypertext, making it possible for developers to create highly interactive games that can be played across the Web by hundreds, perhaps someday even thousands, of players simultaneously.




14. Can You Make A Game? Many companies spend a great deal of time and money creating games that everyone loves to play, but it is still possible for you to learn, design, and write a popular game. And perhaps people will even give you some money for it. You might not create the next Myst the first time out of the gate, but not all enjoyable games are as complex as Myst. For example, one of MVP Software’s bestselling products is the collection of EGA poker games created over three years ago by game developer Diana Gruber. Remember, not all money-making games are huge hits that the gameplaying public remembers for years to come. We’ve talked about big budgets and big programming teams, but writing a good game is still easier for anyone to do than, say, making a good movie. So while the big shots push the industry forward, you can still find a niche in the game business more easily than you can in other industries. If you get good enough, getting a job with one of your favorite game development companies could also be a good career move, since most developers working at these companies earn a comfortable living. Whatever you do, don’t let the lure of fame and riches cloud your judgment. Many of today’s successful game developers had been working at their craft for years before their big hit came along. Don’t be surprised if your early attempts are failures that end up in the remainder bins—and that’s if you’re lucky enough to get them in the stores at all! But don’t get discouraged by these failures—treat each one as an important step in the learning process. If your ideas are good and you cultivate your game programming and design talents, you’ll eventually meet with success.

15. Can Game Development Be A Hobby? Some developers make game development a fun thing to do—more of a hobby. They mix in some shareware publishing (more about this in a few moments) to make a little money—mostly to fund more hardware and software purchases, but that’s part of the fun, isn’t it? So yes, game development makes a great hobby. With engines, tools, and books on game development becoming commonplace, more artists, writers, and everyday creative people will start to produce more games simply because they enjoy doing it. If you already have a job you enjoy and simply find game development fun, by all means keep having fun! For a growing number of people, constructing cool software is like building a neat model airplane; it’s a craft that takes a lot of skill but provides even more enjoyment in return.

16. Can You Sell Your Games? It’s more complicated to make a commercially viable game than you might expect. Selling a game means committing to a level of sophistication in design, programming, artistry, and business. Creating games may be a dream business—but above all, this is a business. Lots of money rides on the line for hits, and the pressure of a Christmas deadline can be overwhelming. No one wants to scare you, but if you want to make money with your games, you need to prepare yourself for the realities of the business world as you make the transition from creating games for fun to creating games for profit. Not all games sell or sell well enough. There are many ways to sell a game and which one works for you depends on your game, your publisher, and the state of the market at the time. Let’s take a look at some of the more “tried-and-true” methods. Selling Games In Retail Channels Selling your games in the retail market involves creating packaging and sales and promotional materials. It also means you need a well-conceived strategy for getting your software on the shelf in major retail outlets. This is the most traditional distribution method and it gives your product the widest exposure. Of course, shelf space is at a premium; so getting your product on the shelf means having an awesome product, as well as finding a publisher who is capable of getting your product out to retailers. No small task. You could also elect to publish your game yourself, but be prepared for a tough road ahead. Most game developers I know find it literally impossible to get adequate distribution for products they self-publish. Originally, computer games were sold through various independent computer stores around the country, as well as through mail order. Today, the computer game and video game retail market is very different. Large chains (both computer-oriented and not so computer-oriented) are now the dominant sellers of software. Ten years ago the key software outlets were places like “Earl’s Software Shack,” but today’s outlets are places like Wal-Mart and Toys “[rr]” Us. The retail market has become very mass-market-oriented, very demanding, and very expensive. Don’t expect to see a self-published game on the retail shelves unless you hook up with an experienced publisher, and that means your game’d better be good. When it comes to the retail channel, only the top 40 or so titles (many say just the top 10) really move. Retailers don’t blindly stock 3,000 titles, and they don’t wait long to see if a game is a dud or a hit. Get a retail hit and you’re a star—now just think how many games were really stars last year and you get the picture. However, this isn’t the only way to earn money from your work; there are alternatives.




Selling Games In Shareware Channels Shareware is a software marketing concept that works like this: You give away a portion of your game (say levels 1 through 8 of a 32-level game) and if the player gets hooked on it, he or she can order the upgrade version, which provides access to all the levels and features. (I’ve heard software marketing people refer to this concept as heroin-ware—an appropriate description since the goal is to get the player hooked on your product so that you can keep selling him or her more.) Several major titles have been marketed by the shareware method. A few of the more recent success stories include id Software’s Doom and Interplay’s Descent. You can also find several major software publishers, such as MVP, Apogee, and Epic MegaGames, who exclusively sell using the shareware method. The advantage of the shareware method is that it’s much easier to go after a niche market. Your marketing costs are extremely low; and your margins, because you are selling directly to the consumer, are high. Of course, there are many more benefits and limitations to shareware, which we’ll cover in depth later in this book. At this stage, we’ve tried to simplify how shareware works to introduce this important concept. But as you’ll see, executing the shareware method, in conjunction with the LCR concept described next, is a sophisticated process. Selling Games In Low-Cost Retail Low-cost retail (LCR) is sort of a mix between shareware and full retail. Others simply call this budgetware. This approach involves various companies that package and sell the shareware version—or a variation of it—at retail, or by mail order, at a very low cost. So if you have a game, an LCR company might sell the shareware version in the retail channels for, say, $5.95. Or they may sell a special version of the full game for $24.95. This business may at first sound enticing, but be careful because LCR publishing is fraught with flyby-night publishers, who can rob you blind if you don’t watch out. By protecting your rights to resell even the shareware copy of your game, you can control the flow of your shareware as sold with the LCR method. Licensing your shareware software to LCR vendors can be a nice source of income. As more and more people get computers, their appetite for lower cost software should increase, making LCR software even more popular than it is today.

While it was long considered a small business, LCR is now known as a major component of software sales, though it comes and goes in cycles. In the early days of successful shareware it was a huge business, but lately it’s been a little dead. However, it’s still being used and, depending on the circumstances, can be quite successful. If you look at this as an option, it’s really a cash-only deal with no royalties. Just make sure you’ve kept most of your rights. Other Opportunities You can make big money with your games even if they never appear in a retail outlet or are sold as shareware. There are new opportunities on the Net to build games for sponsors like Coca-Cola. Several advertising agencies are looking for games, sponsored by their clients, to be developed and given away. Although the games are not sold, they still need to be first rate and as enjoyable to play as other commercial games. The company sponsoring the games will usually pay handsomely to ensure that the game becomes a big hit. Imagine K2, a major ski marketer, giving away a downhill racing game at ski shops. Or, how about Descent brought to you by Chrysler? Don’t laugh, these types of games and deals are being created as I write. The “sponsored” game development business model is very much in its infancy. I suspect it will become a growing trend and could develop over the next five to ten years as a major source of revenue, especially for smaller shops looking for their first break. Developers are getting as sophisticated at selling their products as they are at developing them. We’ll discuss more about how you can sell your games, from a full retail blitz to shareware and licensing, in Part II of this book.

17. Do All Games Make Money? Let’s just say an $8 billion international industry isn’t chicken feed—but not everyone makes a profit (and many can lose their shirt). Sure games make money, but just like movies and books, not every game makes money. People are spending a lot of money these days on computer games, but as they do, more companies are trying to make games, so competition is fierce, to say the least. However, there is no denying that money can be made with games you create. The amount of money depends on the quality and timeliness of your game, your marketing, promotional, and distribution strategy, and a number of other intangibles that only economic theorists and fortune tellers know.

18. How Can You Get A Job Creating Games? Getting a job in the industry requires strong creative skills, a good ability to communicate, and (if you’re looking for a programming or any creative job) a portfolio or demo of your work. Several headhunting firms have sprung up, and the CGDC sponsors a very active job fair each year that is a must-attend for first-timers and experienced programmers.

In addition, through avenues like CompuServe’s game developers forum (GAMDEV), and user groups and postings on the Internet and World Wide Web, you can find help wanted ads from some of the world’s greatest development houses. Making game development a full-time occupation is as difficult as any job hunt. It takes desire, skill, effort, and luck. The industry is definitely growing; and if you have the talent, you can land a job. Just make sure you go about it in a deliberate, organized, professional manner, or you’re going to find more roadblocks than open doors. In short, don’t quit your day job yet, but yes, there are plenty of opportunities, which we’ll discuss in more detail later in the book.




19. Do You Have What It Takes To Create The Next Blockbuster Game? Whoa! Slow down for a second. Let’s try walking before we compile. Take a look at the screenshot shown in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1 id Software’s Commander Keen. Guess who created this game? The Bitmap Brothers? Nope. Microsoft? Nope. Try id Software, which created the megahits Doom and Quake. Big difference, huh? Do you think that when the people at id created their first game, they were thinking about all of the fame and money they were going to make from Doom? Of course not—id built its skills and market sense over time. At one point the core id team was creating a game a month—talk about development boot camp! Very few programmers are able to create a big hit on their first or second attempt. It takes time to build the skills required. So start simple (at the bottom), write a game you are capable of doing, and work your way up to the top. Always try to finish what you start. Finishing a game is important because it can impress companies looking to fund future projects or hire developers. After you write one game, take a short break, then write your next game. Each time you’ll know a little more than you did before.

20. How Long Does It Take To Make A Complete Game? It can take a while. Obviously, the required amount of development time depends on the type of game you plan to create. Developing a card game probably won’t take nearly as much time as developing a complete adventure game or a 3D multiplayer game. Much of the work (and time) involved in creating a game is spent testing and polishing the programming and working on the artwork. At an established game company, a development team may take three to four months to flesh out an entire idea before programming even begins. Then, they set up a timeline to write the code and create the artwork and music. When the product is complete, it goes into a testing period. The first testing phase is called alpha, where design changes and other more substantive problems are addressed. At

the next stage, called beta, only bugs and minor design flaws are fixed. Testing is usually performed over a period of 8 to 12 weeks, depending on the complexity of the game. In some cases, the testing period can take quite a bit longer. When testing is done, the product goes Gold, which signifies it is ready for duplication. Altogether, games may take from 12 to 24 months to complete.

21. What Kinds Of Resources Do You Need? You need time and money. If you don’t have much money, you’ll need a heck of a lot of time. Creating a game takes time because programming computers is an inexact science. Games are also incredible time sinks because they require a lot of creative thinking. If you try to rush the creative process, and you don’t allow enough time for experimentation and feedback from your potential customers, you’re likely to end up with a game that will be sold only in the discount bins. Even with big teams, most game development companies spend one to two years making a game, with as much as four to six months devoted to just designing the game before even a single piece of code or artwork is started. If the game is really complex, they might still be working on it when the company files for Chapter 11. A large budget is ideal if you can swing it. Wing Commander III took $3 million to develop. Many companies try to budget $1 million as a ballpark figure for the cost of developing a typical game. As consumers require more live video, art, music, and realism from their games, budgets will surely go up. If you don’t have a large budget, don’t panic. There are many ways that you can cut corners and still create great games. Throughout this book, we’ll provide you with tools, techniques, and common sense advice, gathered from many leading game development experts, to help you create games on a limited budget. Even if you are working by yourself, there are proven techniques that you can use to help you build really cool games. Aside from a development language and major software, such as 3D modeling and image processing packages, you’re going to need some sort of computer. It may seem obvious to you that the faster the better, since compiling code and creating artwork (especially 3D rendered images) is timeconsuming. What is not so obvious is that you might use a Mac, or if you can afford it, a workstation, instead of an IBM PC. While the final code may be developed on the native platform it will run on, lots of the content can be developed on other platforms like the Mac. Many of the more well-funded game companies use Silicon Graphic workstations, as well as soupedup Macs and PCs, to do development. These systems are very high-end and out of the reach for most lone-wolf developers. Still, that doesn’t mean you can’t create awesome games without state-of-theart hardware. The decision of what hardware to use comes down to the system or consoles you want to develop for and what sort of capital you have available. Beyond this, you’ll need to get various developer programs. You might also need to start up a relationship with a motion capture house or digital video producers. There are also a plethora of

informational Web sites like gamasutra.com to check in with for news and information about game development, and there are some excellent seminars and conferences to know about. All in all, once you’ve pegged down some financing, a decent team, and a basic set of content tools, you should be able to drive toward at least an alpha version of your idea. While there are many more things you can add to your resource shopping list, once you’ve got enough resources together to get a demo going, it’s best to focus on that until you absolutely have to have something else.




22. Are More Resources Becoming Available To Help You Learn Game Development? Yes! As more people have taken up game development either for fun or profit, an industry has sprouted up to support them and help them learn more. The Coriolis Group, the publisher of this book, has already released six books on game development and more are on the way. Many other publishers are getting in on the act and publishing books, magazines, and software tools to help game developers master their craft. Microsoft has created a game developer’s DirectX game SDK. Several Internet sites devoted to game development have emerged. Many of the major online networks have sections devoted to this topic, and there are several magazines, such as Visual Developer and Game Developer, that regularly feature articles on game development. This book was started in part to collect a listing of all the available information to help game developers and provide as many resources in one place as possible. You could say that there is now enough material on game development to make this book a reality.

23. How Big Of An Army Do You Need? Hey, if you’re a beginner you’re starting to catch on. Remember, the lone-wolf developer is a vanishing breed. Most of today’s sophisticated multimedia-style apps require multiple developers along with artists, musicians, and producers to manage the entire task. That’s not to say there isn’t still room for a lone wolf or two out there. For example, the huge hit Tetris doesn’t require the same team approach used to create a game like Origin’s Wing Commander III. Typically, teams range from small sizes of about 4 to 8 to large staffs of 12 to 30. More than 30 seems to be a sure sign of too many cooks in the kitchen. The largest variable is the amount of artwork needed. Artists are far more scaleable than programmers (it’s much easier to add more artists than programmers to an art-intensive project) or design talent so, on large art-intensive projects like Origin’s Wing Commander, there can be a lot of artists pushing the staff to the upper limits.

24. So, What Does This Book Offer? Quite simply, this book offers everything to help you master every key aspect of game development. We have put together a single source that covers as much about the entire process of creating and selling computer games as humanly possible. We’ve included information about manufacturing games, developing content, getting jobs, finding market research, and finding team members, as well as information on selling your game and dealing with publishers. All along we’ve provided key company contacts, Web sites, and products you’ll want to use. Does it have everything you’d ever want? Of course not—but is it one of the best tools you can have around—we think so, and it’s why we did this book. On top of it all, there’s a CD-ROM full of all kinds of useful information and demos that might be of interest when creating games, as well as a database filled with contact information for all kinds of companies that are involved in some way with the game development industry.

25. What Should You Do Next? Read about everything, experiment with ideas, design the next great idea, develop it on time and on budget, sell it, and have fun playing it. Always remember: In the end, having fun is what games are all about. Good luck!




CHAPTER 2 The History Of Computer Games From Humble Beginnings In the beginning, giant machines roamed the earth. In secret government labs, large corporations, and large universities, the first computer games were created, tested, and re-engineered. Only a few lucky souls got a chance to play these exotic games. And the only thing anyone knew about these software creations was that some programmers spent a lot of late nights doing something other than their work. Nolan Bushnell was the first person to show the world what a computer game really was. In 1972, Bushnell started a company called Syzygy to sell a game by the name of Computer Space (originally known as SpaceWar and created on some of the first computers at MIT). Bushnell assumed this new electronic game would be great for bars and pizza parlors as a substitute for pinball machines. But SpaceWar failed. It was considered too different from conventional amusement machines such as pinball. Nolan was just a little bit ahead of his time. Always the entrepreneur, Bushnell went back to the drawing board and returned with Pong. In this game, players used primitive paddles to bat a small electronic ball back and forth. The game was an instant hit, so much so that the machines that ran the software broke down from overuse! Bushnell followed up with a more complex game called Tank Command. Millions of quarters drained from people’s pockets, and Bushnell renamed his company Atari. Atari, which is the name of a move in the ancient game of Go, certainly went straight to the top. As shown in Figure 2.1, the corporate logo was the Japanese character for Mount Fuji. The sky was indeed the limit for Atari. Bushnell, although not a genius, had the luck, vision, and timing to sow the seeds for a multibillion dollar industry we now call interactive entertainment. Computer gaming was destined to happen; Nolan just made sure he was at the center of its universe when it did.

Figure 2.1 The Atari logo. The Rise And Fall Of Atari Atari started hiring fast and furiously, adding employees weekly. At one time or another, Atari employed such computer and game industry stars as Steve Jobs, Alan Kay, and Chris Crawford. In 1976, Bushnell sold controlling interest in Atari to Warner Communications—parent of Warner Brothers Studios. The price was $26 million; Bushnell personally made $15 million on the deal. With Warner now in the driver’s seat, Atari’s products began to move into American homes. Atari achieved this by developing specialized hardware units that plugged into TV sets. These units featured hit games like Pong and they sold well, even though they were hardwired to play only one game. In 1977, Atari removed this limitation and hit the jackpot by unleashing a system that offered interchangeable game cartridges. This new system was called the Atari VCS 2600. Designing for the 2600 wasn’t exactly easy. The machine had 2K (yes, 2K) of ROM for program code and 128 bytes of RAM (yes, bytes!) to hold all the variables. Still, designers were able to create some amazing products. You may remember Yar’s Revenge, Pitfall, or Adventure. The designs were ingeniously simple. Without fancy graphics and sound, it was the game above all that mattered. Needless to say, Atari went through the roof. When sold to Warner in 1976, it had revenues of $36 million (by 1980 it was doing over a billion dollars a year—close to $2.2 billion in 1995 dollars). However, trouble was brewing. Warner, being a corporate parent, forced Bushnell out in 1978 and brought in a new CEO. The mantle of control passed to Ray Kassar. He had previously worked as a top executive at Burlington Mills—the textile manufacturer—a far cry from Sunnyvale, California, and the high-tech creations of Silicon Valley. Other Players While Atari built a small empire making products for people’s homes, Japanese firms quickly moved into the arcade industry. Soon, companies like Nintendo (with Donkey Kong) and Namco (with PacMan) dominated the arcades. Pac-Man became a phenomenon that transcended all others. In one year that cute, addictive chase game brought in one billion dollars. Pac-Man became a symbol for the entire video game movement. Licensing of this facsimile put the character everywhere, even in a Saturday morning cartoon (perhaps one of the worst cartoons of all time!). Certainly, the world took notice of the money being made, and many business experts predicted that video games would soon be everywhere—laundromats, movie theaters, restaurants, you name it. Still,

video games were considered mere toys for children or geeky adults—something that seemed, well, not very enlightening or mature to most people. Still, the growth rate was phenomenal and Atari was at the center of most of it. Soon other companies joined in, trying to grab as much money as possible. Giant toy companies like Mattel, with its Intellivision, and Coleco Toys, with ColecoVision, fought it out. Intellivision offered the greatest competition for Atari. Mattel Toys, makers of Barbie and Hot Wheels, originally wanted to sell software only. They tried to get other hardware companies to develop a machine that competed with the Atari 2600, and they intended to sell the software for it. They couldn’t find a manufacturer, so they went ahead on their own. The resulting machine was technically superior to the Atari VCS, but it was saddled with a horrible “paddle-like” controller. Still, Mattel produced some amazing software for the machine, especially great sports games like skiing and football, which helped sales tremendously. Mattel, too, hired like crazy; the electronics division was almost a complete company in its own right, growing from 100 employees to over 1,000 in 1983. Despite its success, though, Mattel remained on the periphery. In 1982, Atari still controlled 80 percent of the U.S. home market for electronic entertainment products. Then it all fell apart.




The First Shakeout The market crashed hard in 1983. Mattel’s electronic division almost destroyed the entire company by posting a loss of over $225 million. This was equal to the entire profit the company had made from Intellivision over the prior four years! Mattel laid off more than 700 employees nearly as fast at it had hired them. Meanwhile, Atari spent wildly. Kassar, likely enjoying the position of CEO of the world’s fastest growing company, lost focus by buying expensive houses and jets. Game geniuses like Bob Whitehead and David Crane left to form their own company called Activision. In a famous run-in with one of Activision’s founders, Kassar told Larry Kaplan: “You’re a dime a dozen. You’re not unique. Anybody can do a cartridge.” Man, was he ever wrong. Kassar’s assumption plagues many game development companies to this day: The industry is no more unique than the auto parts industry—game development is no different than the art and engineering used to create other types of consumer products. Soon other software-only companies started springing up—many founded by former Atari programmers who wanted credit for their work. For the first time games featured credits, and pictures of the programmers appeared in the manuals or on the box. Stars like David Crane (Pitfall) became best-selling authors overnight. Activision began what became a flood of third-party cartridge developers. Software became the key. Atari began to lose its edge. The market was flooded with software (most of it garbage) from such huge media conglomerates and corporations as Quaker Oats, Fox, CBS, and even later Mattel. Atari itself rushed games like Pac-Man to the home market, but these games looked nothing like their arcade counterparts. In its most famous gaff, Steve Ross, Warner’s Chairman, paid $22 million to Steven Spielberg for the video game rights to E.T. This game, too, was rushed to market. Poorly designed and downright awful, it sat on the shelves. After a number of failures like this, the market crashed. Companies like Activision and Imagic crashed with it. The public had had enough for now, and its attention turned elsewhere. In 1984, sales of video game software and hardware dropped below $800 million, from recent sales figures of over $6 billion dollars. Stock markets never crashed as hard.

In the meantime, personal computers—the little mammals among the dinosaurs—came of age. The desktop computer revolution and, with it, computer games, emerged. While Atari was licking its wounds, personal computers like the Apple II, Commodore 64, and even the Atari 800 took off. Not only could these machines play games, but they could also perform tasks like word processing and number crunching. The Rise Of Computer Games Personal computers had been around since the early ’70s, but until the great video game crash, PCs and the games associated with them hadn’t received the same type of attention as video games. When people began to realize that PCs offered much more than video game systems, they flocked to them. This new group of more sophisticated users had a higher income level, but they also wanted to play games. Many startup companies concentrated on producing computer-only games. Companies like Sierra OnLine, BudgeCo, and Brøderbund were founded without developing a single product for video game consoles. These companies worked hard to build the growing business of computer game software. As the sales of computers grew, other companies began to take notice and soon the industry took off like a rocket. These new computers offered game designers more powerful CPUs, more RAM, and devices like keyboards to allow more options for player input. Coupled with the more mature consumer base, this meant more sophisticated games. Sure, simple arcade games were ported to personal computers, but an entirely new set of games was created to take advantage of the new technology. Products such as the Infocom and Scott Adams’ text adventures were created; role-playing games, some with 3D dungeons like Wizardry and Ultima, appeared. A new era in gaming began. At this point, many traditional gamers who had been playing Dungeons and Dragons and other role-playing games migrated to computers; people who enjoyed strategy-based games like chess, war games, and puzzles also found interesting computer-based products waiting for them. The rapid growth of computer games accelerated the demise of video games. Video game manufacturers tried to convert their consoles to computers. Mattel’s Aquarius and Coleco’s Adam were some of the more noteworthy attempts. But all of them failed. No video game system’s computer adaptation ever made it into the big leagues. Consumers saw the difference between them, and rejected the products.




The Rise Of The Next Generation With the consumer migration to computers, existing computer software developers became much more sophisticated. Long an industry where packaging was synonymous with Ziploc bags, these companies became more savvy about marketing. Back in 1982, Trip Hawkins, with help from several major Apple employees like Steve Wozniak and some good venture capital, started the first modern age computer game company: Electronic Arts (EA). Hawkins was a unique visionary for the entertainment software market. His background was businessbased with a certain technological and game edge. While studying for his MBA at Harvard, Hawkins convinced his professors to let him write his Master’s thesis on game strategy. After graduating, he became one of Apple’s earliest employees. He served as product manager for the ill-fated Lisa, which was the precursor for the Macintosh. Electronic Arts was hot from the start. Activision had introduced the concept of an artist-oriented environment and approach to game development. EA took this to the next level by incorporating an artist-oriented marketing effort into its operations. One of EA’s early metaphors was the idea of marketing computer games like major record labels sold records. Products were sold in album-style packaging, with slick artwork and artist liner notes. EA promoted its authors with full page portraits and fold-out posters in leading game magazines. Some industry veterans saw this as gimmick and hype. Hawkins’ slogan of “Simple, Hot, and Deep” sometimes seemed missing from EA’s early games. EA pressed on, though, and proved that the company had much more to offer than just marketing hype. Products like Archon, Pinball Construction Kit, M.U.L.E., Seven Cities of Gold, and Skyfox became huge hits, both critically and in units sold. Today, EA is the leading independent entertainment software company in the world. EA represented the maturation of the computer game industry. Existing computer companies and new spinoffs joined EA in fostering successful environments for creating and marketing first-class computer games. Veterans like Activision, Sierra On-Line, and Brøderbund, along with other startups like Synapse, Sirrus, and Epyx, grew into major multimillion dollar companies by 1984. Some of the biggest hits in computer games were created during this golden age. Richard Garriot, otherwise known as Lord British, created Ultima, the first major role-playing game (RPG) hit. SirTech Software published another major RPG hit, Wizardry. Bruce Artwick published the first of

many versions of the venerable Flight Simulator. These hits showed the world how mature and feature-rich games had become.

The Return Of The Video Game Console By 1986, 8-bit computers began to bite the dust. The Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, Apple Macintosh, and IBM clones now set the pace for 16-bit computers. But Nintendo, a little-known Japanese company, surfaced and, in one fell swoop, re-created the entire home video game market from its smoldering ashes. Nintendo is probably the most ancient game company in the electronic game development arena. It opened up shop in Japan over 100 years ago, manufacturing Hanafuda playing cards. When video games became the rage in the early 1980s, Nintendo dove right in, concentrating on console arcade games. They hit paydirt with the release of such classics as Donkey Kong, Super Mario Brothers, and Kung-Fu. As Nintendo studied the consumer market and quietly watched the computer industry switch to newer computers, it saw an opening for a new video game system. Re-creating the video game craze of the late ’70s/early ’80s was difficult, but in 1986, roughly 36 months after the previous shakeout, Nintendo felt it had a better machine, and a better plan. Nintendo’s plan was simple: Reintroduce video games with a more sophisticated platform and a far better level of software quality control. Do this at a low price point to coexist with computers, or to appeal to those who couldn’t afford the far costlier new computers. They began in Japan, where PCs had never taken off. After a successful rollout there, they brought their system to the U.S. Buttressing Nintendo were a number of third-party licensees that read like a who’s who of Japanese coin-op makers. Companies like Namco, Konami, and Cap-Com pumped out good translations of their coinop hits. Nintendo soon became the number one video game company in the world. Ironically, as computer users traded up for machines with more horsepower (Amigas replaced Commodore 64s, Macs and Atari 1040STs beat out Atari 800s), they were actually trading down the technology ladder, or in parallel, when they purchased a Nintendo, which featured a 6502 chip (albeit with some coprocessing graphics chips). Lessons Lead To Tight Quality Control Nintendo clearly felt that software quality was the key, and it exerted incredible quality control. Companies developing for Nintendo could produce only five titles each year. Nintendo did all the manufacturing. Nintendo also created a special “lock-out” chip to prevent companies from creating and manufacturing unsanctioned cartridges. In addition, developers had to submit their product to Nintendo for quality review. This usually resulted in Nintendo sending back the game with mandated changes before Nintendo gave its seal of approval. Eventually, Atari Games, a former remnant of the original video game giant, created a process around the lockout chip, resulting in a major exchange of lawsuits. While most developers had no problem

with the lockout process (or at least didn’t voice their frustrations in public), some developers didn’t like it and they moved on to other platforms. Ironically, as Nintendo refocused on console games, many American computer game companies kept away from the hardware. These companies had seen what had happened to the video game industry and were determined not to get burned twice. Some couldn’t afford the entry fee. Nintendo manufacturing, being cartridge-based and requiring major mass-market campaigns, demanded large capital expenditures other companies weren’t willing or able to extend. Many notable developers who had built their companies on the backs of computer games, such as Sierra and Brøderbund, stayed the course as computer game makers. Some of these companies instead opted to license their products to Japanese manufacturers for porting to the Nintendo. Others, most notably Electronic Arts, slowly (and later quickly) began developing for the console market.




Where There’s A Market, There’s A Rival Soon, Nintendo’s cross-town rival, Sega Enterprises, launched its Sega Master System in competition. While Sega is generally thought of as a Japanese company, its history of over 40 years shows deep U.S. roots. Sega was founded in Japan in 1954 by David Rosen, a former American G.I. Rosen started the company, first called Service Games Co., to develop amusement games. He’d learned about the popularity of mechanical coin-operated games on U.S. military bases in Japan and started importing them, taking advantage of his Army background and contacts. Not content with simply importing other people’s machines, Sega began manufacturing its own product. Sega’s name, shortened from Service Games, became well known. In 1957, Sega’s big hit Periscope, a submarine shooter, hit the market. Noting the growth of the company, Gulf and Western Industries (later becoming Paramount, and currently part of Viacom) bought it. They kept Rosen on as CEO. Sega continued its strong growth and was earning over $214 million in revenues by 1982. When the video game market crashed, Gulf and Western divested itself of Sega and sold its U.S. assets to Bally Manufacturing. Strangely, though, the Japanese division of Sega kept going. Back in 1979, Rosen had acquired a distribution company founded by a Japanese entrepreneur, Hayao Nakayama. Following the crash, Rosen joined Nakayama and other Japanese investors to buy the Japanese assets of Sega for $38 million. Nakayama became chief executive and Rosen headed the U.S. subsidiary. From this point forward, the company vowed to not stick with one thing for too long, realizing that each generation of technology has a life cycle. In 1984, Sega Enterprises was bought by a partnership of Sega Enterprises Japan management and CSK, forming Sega Enterprises Ltd., a Japanese-based company. In 1986, Sega of America, Inc. was established to adapt and market video game products to a rapidly expanding American market. It was subsequently given the charter to develop software products specifically for the American market. The Sega Master System was a graphically superior product, but it suffered in sales to Nintendo. Sega had not aggressively courted third-party licensees, in part because Nintendo had exclusive agreements with its licensees. Sega entered the market aggressively, but only managed to get about 15 percent of it. Nonetheless, Sega survived, and began to build a brand image as a top-quality game

machine and software maker; and it learned from its mistakes. All of this prepared Sega for the next round. As Nintendo and Sega nibbled away at the low end, and IBM clones moved in to offer better graphics and unbelievable price points, the Atari ST and the Amiga started to feel the pressure. With much weaker corporate parents and a dearth of major applications software, these machines slowly started to lose ground. VGA and SVGA hardware brought PC graphics up to par—and ahead in some facets of the Amiga. Macintosh continued to build on its successful niche—Apple’s overall success helped to support it, but Macintosh still found itself to be a stepchild despite its abilities.

Shakeout II The second wave of the computer shakeout hit from 1989 to 1991 and several companies bit the dust. Epyx, long a staple Commodore 64 producer, fell into bankruptcy. Cinemaware, a large Amiga producer with interesting products, also fell on hard times. Activision, still spending, was crippled and also entered bankruptcy. Consolidations took place. Software Toolworks purchased Mindscape and others. At the same time, producers who had bet on IBM, or who had the resources to cover all bases of the market, became even stronger. Brøderbund, with its core bestsellers; Electronic Arts, which had moved into the PC and new 16-bit cartridge business; and Sierra On-Line, which had bet big on the success of MS-DOS, saw earnings climb to new highs. Game software companies matured as they emerged from a niche business into the business mainstream. All three of these companies completed major public offerings. Today there are well over a dozen computer/video game-oriented companies listed on the Nasdaq stock market. As with the previous computer shakeout and, before that, the video game shakeout, the survivors emerged to see a new level of maturity. They were able to push their games—and the industry—to new heights. After the failure of the Amiga and the Atari, the MS-DOS platform took off. Once it became apparent that the Amiga wasn’t going to reach a critical share of the market, game companies and consumers knew what the dominant home computer was going to be: the MS-DOS-based PC had won. As the confusion of multiple machines ended, other problems began. The MS-DOS world was, and still is, riddled with difficulties, many of which plague game development. While IBM PC clones had won the war, due to its “dumb box” architecture, there were (and are) thousands of different platforms within the PC world. Developers quickly found themselves dealing with all kinds of different sound cards, video cards, memory configurations, and CPU speeds.




Console Wars II Computers grew more sophisticated and so did video games, which shifted to more complex 16-bit consoles. Games required far more art, sound, music, and programming code. As the business grew, more game development capability was brought in-house. EA, which had traditionally worked with lone-wolf individuals or small-team developers, began assembling large in-house teams to better manage its people. Game design now required large teams, comprised of programmers, artists, musicians, writers, and producers, because the games were more complex, and also because deadlines like Christmas became far more critical. The goal was greater than simply finishing a game; the games needed to be finished by a set date because large dollars and lots of marketing plans were riding on the right games hitting their deadlines. Many U.S. companies started producing cartridges. Trip Hawkins, EA’s president, had previously sworn he would never produce a cartridge. But he finally gave in to the demands of others at the company and EA began producing cartridges for Sega’s new Genesis machine. Other companies, like Accolade, joined in as well. With the consoles’ 16-bit graphics, and with competition’s slightly more relaxed third-party standards, many of those who had traditionally developed for the PC were enticed into the console arena. The most significant event of the 16-bit generation was the early domination by Sega over Nintendo, which had waited to release a 16-bit machine. Hired in 1990 as the chief executive of Sega’s U.S. subsidiary, Tom Kalinske was a marketer with a vision. He aimed Sega at a slightly older market than its main competitor, Nintendo. The biggest weapon in this consumer battle was advertising, and Sega struck gold with some very witty ads that portrayed Nintendo as a manufacturer of outdated kids’ games, and Genesis as the Generation X console. Sega hired a young San Francisco ad agency, Goodby, Berlin & Silverstein, which created MTV-paced, wacky TV spots featuring what became know as the “Sega Scream.” At the end of the ad in a funny shot, the feature character, whether it be a goofy-looking kid, Joe Montana, or a T-Rex, would yell “Sega!” It was a smart move, because as the nine- to thirteen-year-olds started getting older, they wanted a machine that was aimed at their age level. Sega’s wild marketing campaign drove them in. With early sports hits like John Madden Football from Electronic Arts, many older people also bought the consoles. Sega’s demographic profile, which included many kids or preteens, now grew to include a

wealth of people in their 20s and even 30s who had taken to the higher level of the sophisticated sports simulations.

It’s Better To Burn Out Than Fade Away The early history of games is one of intensely fast rises and even faster falls. Even in the short period of the early ’70s through the ’80s, the game industry saw several boom and bust periods. However painful the busts were, like big forest fires they cleared the way for newer, more nimble companies to refine the business model. Nintendo clearly figured out the problem that caused the early Atari videogame market to crash and it executed a revival as a result. Sega quickly figured out the secret to newer marketing schemes after its Master System failure, and brought forth a much hipper notion of videogaming. Computer game developers worked in both the boom and bust times to push forward new ideas of game development, packaging, and promotion, bringing a more mature element that later, more powerful consoles would pick up on.




CHAPTER 3 The New Age Of Game Development Moving Fast, Breaking Ground With 16-bit platforms booming in the 1990s, PCs with sharp graphics (finally!), professional-quality sound capabilities, and CD-ROMs started to become commonplace. Once again, new technology ushered in a new age of game development. Development teams grew in size almost overnight, and the amount of animation, artwork, and other visual features in the average game jumped significantly. Looking back, this period resembles the fast-paced creativity and excitement of today’s emergence and commercialization of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Shareware Comes of Age While shareware was not a new concept (it had been around since the ’80s), id Software turned the concept of shareware into a sophisticated and extremely profitable marketing tool with the release of their innovative game, Doom (see Figure 3.1). The success of id was unanticipated; granted, Doom was an incredible game, but the marketing approach surprised the industry. Think about it—would you have opened your wallet to fund development if a couple of young and crazy game programmers came to you with a business plan that stated, “Our company will give away its product and thousands of people all over the globe will get so hooked on it that they’ll send us money just to get new updates (levels)”? Probably not.

Figure 3.1 Doom, from id Software, showed that shareware marketing could be a boon. The marketing concept of shareware complemented Doom’s technological prowess. Doom was a unique game and its features would have been hard to get across on the back of a static software box. This strategy made much more sense—get the game in the hands of potential customers as quickly as possible so they could directly experience the amazing animation and smoothness of id’s raycasting engine. The company chose to go with a comprehensive shareware release, instead of a playable

demo, so that their customers could immediately be exposed to everything Doom had to offer. Playable demos are useful and effective, but fully operational shareware takes the playable demo concept a step further—it offers a self-contained game with a beginning, middle, and climactic outcome. Which would you rather have? Doom set a new standard for 3D programming and game play, but it also brought to prominence a marketing concept never before thought of as a serious enterprise. In industry terms, Doom will probably go down as the game that established shareware as a viable commercial marketing and distribution technique. CD-ROMs Finally Show Promise Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, made an interesting remark at a business meeting in 1995. While discussing his visions of the consumer acceptance and commercial success of CD-ROM and multimedia technology, he stated, “We at Microsoft were always right, we were just off by five or so years.” Microsoft took the position early on that CD-ROMs and multimedia would become a dominant force in the personal computer industry. As you may remember, this technology got off to a very slow start; for a while many industry pundits predicted that CD-ROMs would never make it. When it comes to the game industry, the ascendancy of CD-ROMs as a distribution vehicle has had a tremendous impact on the type and quality of games being developed. Of course, CD-ROMs haven’t completely replaced disk-based distribution; but after all the years of promise, CD-ROMs have finally become the development standard supported by the majority of publishers. In the computer business, memory (RAM) and storage space are everything. The amount of storage capacity that CD-ROMs provide allowed game developers to use media, such as stereo music, video clips, true 3D animation, and so on, that they couldn’t use before. Games like LucasArts’ Rebel Assault and 7th Level’s The Seventh Guest gave game players a glimpse of what was to come—games that would break the barriers between the two-dimensional, static world of computer screens and the realism found in everyday life.




Enter Multimedia Developers And Nontraditional Development Also during this time (the late ’80s and early ’90s), many new players entered the game development arena. Many of these people were not programmers by profession, but artists, designers, musicians, and animators. Yet, just as early game fanatics were driven to the exciting field of game development in the 1980s, this new influx became infatuated with game creation. This new talent pool brought a myriad of creative ideas that quickly transformed the game industry. Significantly, these new “multimedia” entrants began creating games and interactive stories with nontraditional development products and techniques. While most game developers had learned Assembly, then C, these newer developers gravitated toward easier-to-use development tools, including HyperCard, Macromedia Director, mTropolis, and Visual Basic. A New Round Of Consolidation A different type of consolidation occurred during this period, too. While the number of companies and developers grew very rapidly, many major deals took place. Publishers and development houses merged in attempts to secure retail channels, consolidate skills, and create stronger companies to be more competitive. For example, Bullfrog and Origin were bought by Electronic Arts; Mindscape purchased SSI; Nintendo bought a 25 percent stake of RARE, the British-based outlet that created Donkey Kong Country; and Acclaim purchased Iguana. (EA and Brøderbund tried to join forces but the merger failed because of a stock slump.) Other nontraditional companies, including some movie studios and media conglomerates, also got into the act. The new multimedia game elements led some movie executives to believe that the game industry was rapidly becoming an extension or derivative of the movie industry. Sony started Sony Imagesoft and bought Psygnosis; MCA took a 25 percent stake of Interplay; and Viacom purchased ICOM and started Viacom Interactive. Many companies finally saw that interactive entertainment was becoming a mainstream, big dollar business. The difference between the $6 to $8 billion made today in the industry, and the much smaller industry that existed in 1982, is a direct result of interactive technology entering the consumer marketplace. Instead of a distribution system that mainly focused on selling games in software stores, games started to sell in record numbers in hightraffic retail outlets—record stores, discount warehouses and clubs, and even Kmart. (Although we’ve yet to see Kmart feature a computer game in one of their famous “blue light” specials. But maybe this, too, is coming.) The bottom line was that consumers in large numbers wanted to play

games. As market research showed, they wanted all types of games and they were willing to spend a good chunk of their disposal income. In short, support for gaming became broad and deep. Some enterprising publishers and investors saw that developing the talent to produce games would take time. Even more time would be needed to develop the systems and skills to produce the topnotch games with lots of 3D, animation, and the multimedia goodies that consumers were demanding. And time is something that is especially precious when a hungry market is standing at your doorstep, ready to buy. So many companies and investors set up shop, assembling groups of developers to create games quickly. While these publishers and investors could see that there wouldn’t be much immediate payoff, they were able to predict that there were big bucks to be made in the future. Console Wars III The arrival of consoles into the 32-bit world added to the boom of the 1990s. Until the 3DO and Jaguar were available, consoles were for the most part inferior to their PC counterparts. Sure, both the SNES and Genesis had the benefits of sprite graphics and arcade-level response, but they were inferior, albeit cheaper, platforms. With the 32-bit movement, consumers for the first time had consoles that actually were architectural equals to their PC cousins. For game developers, the nowdefunct 3DO/Jaguar and the still-alive Sony/Saturn/Ultra64 represented a change of pace for consoles. Microsoft sought to design the next generation Sega operating system, and many major computeroriented software development houses, which never before had produced a console product, began to show interest in consoles. The possibility of console/PC coexistence had been predicted before, but the idea took on new significance with these newer platforms. Game developers reacted by supporting the new console platforms in record numbers. Figures 3.2 through 3.4 show the three top consoles duking it out in Console Wars III: the Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and Nintendo 64. As you can see, these consoles represent a big step up from the early video game trio of the Atari 2600, Mattel Intellivision, and ColecoVision!

Figure 3.2 The Sony PlayStation console.

Figure 3.3 The Sega Saturn console.

Figure 3.4 The Nintendo 64 console.




The Current State Of Game Development In 1997/98, gaming is completing yet another transition. New 32-bit game consoles are the standard and the original batch of 32-bit consoles has whittled down to two certain winners—Sony and Nintendo. Sega isn’t out of the picture, but it will have to hit back with a new hardware product; Saturn isn’t cutting it against the Ultra64 or PlayStation. The new consoles and PCs are ushering in an age of even more advanced arcade-oriented entertainment. Windows, once scorned, then accepted for applications, is the force in the IBM clone world, which is the only viable home platform left (sorry Macintosh), albeit in hundreds of flavors. As the platform wars thin for the time being, there is a growing battle between the PC and the console world. Windows/Pentium-based hardware is pushing into new arenas, like arcade gaming and perhaps even the console market (though this remains to be seen). Game development is also in transition. The emerging success of shareware has brought back the notion of smaller development houses. Companies are popping up all over the country, hoping to duplicate the success of Doom. Even the lone-wolf developer seems to have made a slight comeback using techniques like shareware and better authoring tools, including sound libraries and complex multimedia development environments. Another reason for the smaller-team phenomenon is that developers are finding that they work best when on their own or in small teams of like-minded peers, with an entire project and its revenue riding on their work. The large media conglomerates, always searching for new growth, are once again looking at games, this time with a decidedly more advanced, market-oriented approach. It isn’t yet apparent whether they will finally achieve the success they have sought for so long in interactive entertainment. TimeWarner, Viacom, and MCA have made major moves into interactive entertainment and then retreated yet again—perhaps gearing back up for multiplayer. Many are learning that they’re better off either outside of the business using partnerships or letting seasoned game development veterans run the show. With the resources of some of these companies, one can only wonder what influence their return will have on the industry. For now, small development companies are leading the pack when it comes to creativity and innovation. For example, SimTex, based in the Austin, Texas, area, made a major success of games called Master of Orion and Master of Magic, both created on a shoestring budget. Recently, several well-known developers, John Romero of id, Chris Roberts of Origin, and Sid Meir

of Microprose, left to start their own companies—all associated with larger publishers, but still more autonomous than when they worked at other companies. Certainly, though, some very significant developments are in store for gaming’s immediate future. Let’s take a closer look. Multiplayer Games Multiplayer games seem to be catching on faster than anything else. Doom became the first big Net game, and it only scratched the surface. Modem games had been created before, but Doom could be played on a local area network, in addition to a modem. This meant you could have many players fighting it out. So many, some players discovered, that the game was banned from some offices. Notably, there was a decree from the heads of Intel’s internal network demanding that employees stop playing Doom because it was slowing down and crashing the network due to the volume of game players! (One humorous comment from players on online services was that whenever a new update of Doom was released, productivity in the workplace would take a dive for a week or two. Apparently, id had more power over the workplace than Wall Street.) Multiplayer online games have been around for a while. CompuServe’s Sniper! and Genie’s Air Warrior are two of the more well known. In the future, multi-player games will become standard fare. With the proliferation of the Internet and commercial online networks, the possibility of not just multiplayer games, but multiplayer worlds, is quickly becoming a reality. Microsoft, DirectPlay, RTIME, and others have brought forth some excellent multiplayer-game development software. Several big-time startups like Mpath, Microsoft’s Internet Gaming Zone, and T.E.N. (The Total Entertainment Network) are creating incredible Internet-based gaming network backbones offering specialized code libraries and tools. These companies are planning to give game developers a system for adding awesome multiplayer capabilities to their current and future hit games. Certainly, gamers will cry out for more and more multiplayer games as they search for the most challenging opponent ever invented to date—the human mind. They won’t be disappointed. The technical aspect is not the most uncertain facet of the future of online games. Today’s biggest questions have more to do with business models and revenue generation than with APIs. So far, not much of anything on the Internet is generating the millions in profits that everyone expected from Web sites or multiplayer games. Some companies have tried subscriptions while others are following the advertising holy grail. Still other software developers, like Blizzard Entertainment’s Battle.net for Diablo, are setting up private servers. The addition of multi-player gaming can boost retail sales. If a game can sell thousands of copies because there is an online service for it, then those extra sales may make the game profitable, even with the additional administration costs of running the online servers. Today’s bottom line is that all commercial models are being experimented with—as the market matures and companies find which models begin to return on the investment, the picture will clear up.




3D Realtime Polygons And Physics Modeling Graphically, we’re seeing the emergence of the polygon. Long used for flight simulators, polygon graphics technology is now being used by game developers to create fully rendered, realtime 3D environments. Polygon animation is now in full swing, with fully shaded, texture-mapped polygons. Routines and games, which only a few years ago would have been relegated to workstation environments, are becoming standard in today’s PC market. As the installed base of Pentium machines and next generation video game consoles achieves a higher level of performance, we will see even higher levels of graphical realism due to state-of-the-art polygon graphical engines. Sega’s Virtua Fighter was the first major title to represent the success of awesome polygon animation. Today there are dozens and dozens of titles, including id Software’s Quake, Activision’s Apocalypse, and Eidos’ Tomb Raider, that show the technical and financial success that is establishing realtime 3D as the market standard. Besides the number of software APIs and systems like Open/GL, new 3D chip sets and boards are giving the PC close to Silicon Graphics–level 3D graphics capabilities like those now used in next generation console machines. Looking beyond 1997, many developers feel that the base platform of 3D realtime polygonal graphics will continue to mature. More third-party boards will reduce the stress on the processors. Developers will move on to the next big thing, which seems to be enhanced real-world physics modeling. In fact, Chris Hecker, one of the industry’s rising stars, has gained a lot of attention for his series of articles and talks on real-world physics modeling in 3D universes. Developers at the 1997 Computer Game Developers’ Conference were talking a lot about the next level of realtime 3D, and physics is where it’s headed. Gaming Platforms And Increased Hardware Specs The 32-bit platform standard will soon yield to 64-bit platforms. Already Nintendo’s 64—a full 64bit platform—has sold over 3 million units. The Pentium II with MMX and AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port), in conjunction with 3D hardware acceleration technologies like Rendition, 3Dfx, and Microsoft Talisman, will propel the PC platform into a whole new world. In addition to 3D graphics hardware, we should also see the rapid improvement of coprocessor, chip,

and hardware technology including DSPs (digital signal processors) and sound fonts, which offer a whole new realm of sound technology. The speed at which 64-bit consoles and computers are hitting the market is half the time it took for 16-bit consoles to take over from 8-bit, and a third of the time it took 32-bit machines to take over from 16-bit machines.

The PC Platform Push By Microsoft And Intel Microsoft and Intel are leading a movement to finally make PCs as enticing a game platform as the consoles from Sony and Nintendo. They are also pushing the PC into the arcade business. Microsoft, the behemoth of the computer software industry, has decided that entertainment software is the next big thing. It has developed some significant tools, and added some significant features to Windows 95 to make PC games easier to install, faster to run, and more enjoyable. In addition, Microsoft and Intel have put together a slew of technologies to push the PC further into the living room. Microsoft has bought Canadian-based Softimage for its high-end SGI-based animation tools, and is up to version 5.0 of its DirectX SDK, used by many game developers in the industry today. The giant from Redmond has also begun full-scale production of its own increasingly sophisticated game titles, with mixed results. One of its partnerships is with DreamWorks SKG, the new production company formed by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen. This situation sets up a battle that many have been wondering about: Will consoles and PCs finally have it out for the dominant games platform honors? In terms of revenue, consoles have been winning by a margin of better than three to one. However, as more and more people take the plunge into buying a $1,500 to $3,500 multimedia computer system, the PC market will grow. The biggest problem has always been that PCs are very expensive and, due to configuration problems, have been a pain to play games on. Now with technologies like AutoPlay for CD-ROMs, plug-and-play architecture, and 3D graphics performance, some of the issues that have plagued games on this platform may be resolved and PCs may catch up. A number of initiatives are working to drive down the cost of a PC dramatically, with several vendors pushing to break the $1,000 price barrier. In the hardware department, Intel has jumped forward with a number of interesting developments. It introduced MMX technology, a set of 57 processor-level instructions that enable developers to push through multimedia commands considerably faster than through the PC architecture. The first bigtime MMX games are slated to hit in the Christmas of 1997 and 1998. In addition, Intel is pushing out AGP, a fast pipeline for 3D hardware acceleration cards like those from Creative, Diamond, Voodoo, and Matrox (to name a few!). Finally, Intel is pushing forward with two concept specifications: PC Theater and the Arcade PC. Both PC Theater and the Arcade PC are known specifically as reference implementations. These are

designs in which Intel tells manufacturers how to create a machine of a certain type, with specific components—sort of like a cooking recipe. Hardware developers then roll out these systems and Intel helps software developers create applications to work with the hardware specs of the design. In the case of games, the PC Theater specification is the centerpiece of a home entertainment system. As mentioned in Chapter 2, it integrates all the components of a PC and a home theater, and then allows users to control them. Imagine a Barcolounger in front of a big screen television where you could surf the Net, play games, and watch a DVD movie and TV all at the same time. The theater would be equipped with stereo surround sound, a large screen TV (perhaps even HDTV), and a computer.




The home isn’t the only place Intel-based technology is headed. PCs equipped with powerful graphics cards can head into areas once reserved for far more specialized hardware—arcades and location-based entertainment centers (LBEs). At the 1997 Computer Game Developers’ Conference, Intel debuted the Arcade PC spec, which enables the distribution of arcade platforms running on standard Intel and Windows architecture. If it catches on, developers with knowledge of MMX, Windows NT, and 3D graphics chip sets will be able to enter a market previously dominated by a few stalwart arcade development companies like Namco and Sega. Not to be left out, Microsoft is also targeting these two markets, and while it’s cooperating with Intel, their two initiatives bear different code names. Microsoft’s PC Theater initiative is called the Entertainment PC and its arcade development is being done as part of its all-encompassing Public PC work. In both cases, Microsoft is going to push the Windows platform into arcades and your home entertainment system. Microsoft is developing around NT 5.0 for the Public PC. In the home arena, it’s working with some form of Microsoft Windows 9X, the successor to Windows 95. The direction taken by Intel and Microsoft create a simple bottom line—now that the PC is even more established in gaming, developers need to expect it to move into a far wider range of forms.

High-Tech Workstation Technology It’s certain that, as computers and consoles approach the sophistication of today’s graphical workstations, traditional computer companies like Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intergraph, DEC, and Silicon Graphics will play increasing roles in providing the hardware for consumers to play tomorrow’s games. It’s already big news that Silicon Graphics is collaborating on hardware with Nintendo. SGI workstations and DEC Alphas are also popping up all over the game development landscape. SGI has even taken out ads for its hardware in gaming magazines, and Nintendo is running two-page ads hyping its SGI development technology for titles like Donkey Kong Country. With PCs trying to usurp console dominance, how long can it be before consumers follow the direct path to workstation technology? It may not happen immediately, but over time, PC architecture will absorb more and more of today’s workstation technology. Already, SGI is talking about entering the 3D graphics card market and DEC is certain to reduce the price of its Alpha/NT chip-based systems.

Virtual Reality Becomes Reality As hardware power increases, it expands the ability of game developers to create immersive environments. While three to four years ago virtual reality was a hypothesized (or hyped?) concept in the micro/consumer world, today (and certainly in the near future) it is a sure bet. Game development is on a collision course with virtual reality development on one major front: graphical realism. But on another front, game development promises to revolutionize virtual reality. Up until now, virtual reality has been centered around the hardware and software used to render point-of-view 3D graphics, some of which were interactive. Game development, on the other hand, has been obsessed with interaction. As the two disciplines collide, game developers promise to bring other necessary components (world building, interaction, and especially artificial intelligence) to virtual reality. VR is an interesting concept developers will want to explore. The future promises to bring us closer than ever to the realization of complete immersion in a computer-rendered environment. Certainly game development will be on this cutting edge, and will most likely lead the effort. Persistent Worlds Persistent worlds is a new buzzword hurtling through the game development industry. It describes multiplayer games in which the online game world changes and evolves, even after the player has logged off. The changes result from the actions of other players, as well as physical and lifelike modeling designs of the game world. One of the most promising new games based on this concept is Origin’s Ultima Online. The game, an online world based on Origin’s successful Ultima series, is very much a living world. Animals hunt each other, an economic system is active, players can purchase houses, run shops, and bank, as well as hunt down ogres and dragons. Over the course of time, entire communities, populations, and other events change and take place whether a certain player is online or not. For example if a player logs out of the game and comes back a week later, he or she may find a dragon attacking their town because other players have killed all the deer near that town. And when dragons can’t find deer to eat—you’re lunch. Persistent worlds require not only an amazingly well-designed world that can model, retain, react, and evolve to actions over time—they also require a lot of complex code and PC server infrastructure to become possible. Game companies are pushing forward with this concept because of the promise such products offer.

The History Is Rich And The Future Richer Looking back, one sees the rich history already amassed by computer games. Everything essential is there—the giant discoveries, the absolutely mesmerizing mistakes, the incredible personalities, and the tall tales. As you learn to appreciate the history of games and game development, you will be in awe of the

future. To realize that computer games are still in their infancy is almost as mind-boggling as contemplating the size of the universe and other life in it. Despite their quiet beginnings in the labs where SpaceWar was first programmed, games are roughly 25 years old, consumer gaming 20 years, and PC gaming (as we know it) 10 years old. Film, books, and music have been around for 5 to 600 times longer! A decade from now, if I’m still writing updates to this book, this history and future of games section will probably comprise not a chapter but a complete volume.




What Do We Get From All This? What have we learned from this survey of the past, present, and a brief glimpse at the future? What is the big picture for game development? There are several things worth discussing. What Is Hardware? The delivery system for interactive entertainment has been in a state of flux since the beginnings of the industry. It’s not simply a matter of improving hardware, such as the move from 8-bit to 16-bit. Instead, it’s the actual nature of the hardware. First we started with dedicated consoles, then cartridgebased consoles, then computers. Then consoles came back, then newer computers came about, and consoles coexisted. Now computers sell faster than ever, CD-ROM is the delivery standard, and consoles have leaped in power, matching or exceeding computers for the first time. On the horizon we have massive potential in set-top boxes, which could deliver games over cable and eliminate CDROMs and consoles altogether. The choices for the ultimate delivery system are constantly changing for game developers. It will take a keen eye to make sure a company can cover all the bases, hit the game market at the proper platform, and make money. Shoot for too high of a platform with not enough users, and you may fall short and not have a hot enough product. This can be a nightmare for producers, designers, and programmers alike. EA, one of the best-performing companies in the history of the industry, derives much of its success from correctly picking the hardware level for the timing of a product’s debut. One of the best things about the future is that stronger APIs and tools are making it easier for developers to adapt their games to changing hardware. By writing to 3D APIs, sound APIs, and the like, game developers can worry less because they can quickly scale their products up to the level of the underlying hardware. While they’re not completely off the hook, because of the continued existence of a software layer, adapting games to new specifications will be easier than it has ever been. The Relationship Between Large Companies And Small Producers Developers frequently complain about large conglomerates entering the game development market. Most of these complaints charge that these large companies have never been involved in this business. Actually, since Warner Communications bought Atari, large corporations have been

involved (for better or worse) with game development. The schism comes about because game development is unlike any previous form of product development. Even with the leverage these big companies have and the skills they’ve spent years honing, they continue to produce some amazingly large failures. Their extensive prior knowledge of making movies, records, television shows, and books hasn’t been transferable to game development. This new type of knowledge has been best built by individuals or small companies that approach game development from an entirely different view. Over time, the relationship between large companies and game developers has improved. Many large companies now see development of interactive entertainment as a different form of production. That concession alone has helped companies like Disney, CUC, and yes, even Time-Warner, achieve some limited success. Even Microsoft seems to approach interactive development differently; many of its well-known interactive titles are produced outside the company, a testament to the scarcity of the good talent it takes to create and produce entertainment products. Still, many newcomers seek to develop games; and even if they are armed with tons of capital, they quickly learn that they need much more than money and marketing know-how. While, in the past, large companies and publishers brought much of their development in-house, lately the trend has been to contract it out to smaller outside developers. The biggest difference from the earlier days of lone-wolf developers is that publishers are signing entire teams and their output instead of single products. So, game development by big companies will continue, but over time it will be more apparent to these companies that game development is a new form of production. In that respect they will play a new, more important role in helping the market grow.

Looking To The Future: The Integration Of Multimedia, Games, Online Services, And Interactivity Until recently, games have been games, multimedia has been reference-based documentary-like products, and online services have been cyberspace databases of information from newspapers and special interest forums. As all three mediums move forward, the lines between them are blurring and a hybrid type of product will emerge. Already games are being developed by companies long known as traditional multimedia developers, like Byron Preiss Multimedia or Voyager. Online development tools and technology like Java, VRML, and Shockwave for the Web will foster new products featuring multimedia, game, and online components, all woven together into a seamless hybrid. As the three main interactive disciplines grow closer together, it’s inevitable that some very novel combinations will develop. So, keep your eyes out for new opportunities. Products like Sewer Shark and Rocket Science’s Loadstar have been examples of incredibly sophisticated graphics married to extremely linear products. Other non-gaming products, such as Residents Freak Show and Peter Gabriel’s Explora, have taken on increasingly game-like interactive experiences.

Over time we’ll see the increased integration of interactive entertainment into society. As people become more accepting of games and games become more accommodating of people, this trend will continue until it is a universal staple of consumers’ entertainment appetites. It will first happen, of course, in the U.S. and Europe, soon after in Japan, and then the rest of the world. The growth potential is absolutely enormous if not downright scary.




CHAPTER 4 Essentials of Game Design Introducing The Design Elements Designing computer games is much more of an art form than a science. But as an art form, it has an inherent engineering element that differentiates it from other art forms like painting or music. So the million dollar question is: What exactly is game design? Is it simply interactive storytelling? Is it puzzle or strategy design? Is it character development? Or is it interface design? Truth be told, it’s none of these and it’s all of these. Game design is a never-ending process of creating interactive situations, whether they are created from puzzles, characters, real-world events, or stories. Game design is meant to be fun! Ever since people started “playing,” whether as a ritual or simply for enjoyment, there have been game designers. While early game designers, like baseball inventor Abner Doubleday, didn’t have a set of digital tools to create their wonders, many of the world’s greatest games (baseball, football, Monopoly, chess, checkers, and so on) were still designed, manufactured, and enjoyed billions of times over. Many computer games are simply electronic extensions or adaptations of their earlier lowtech counterparts. So game design is rooted in concepts and techniques developed before the computer or electronics industry. Sure, there are some very big differences between electronic games and board games, sports games, or pen and paper role-playing games (RPGs), but many of the most important design skills, dilemmas, and creative elements are fundamentally the same, as you’ll soon see in this chapter. Understanding The Medium And Its Dynamic Forms Most designers maintain scrapbooks, notes, and journals of interesting ideas and other tidbits. For game designers, this practice can be incredibly important. Since game development is an artistic medium that encompasses many different forms of media, collecting potential game material involves cataloging all sorts of different ideas, videos, movies, pictures, stories, character descriptions, music clips, sound effects, animation sequences, interface techniques, and much more. To best understand the medium, game designers should play lots of different games. Playing games can influence the games you produce, even if you aren’t terribly fond of those you play, or if they are

totally different than those you develop. Many game companies set aside time during the week for the entire development staff to get together and evaluate new games, so they can see what other developers are creating. (This is a good way to avoid creating a seemingly original game concept, only to find that the game has already been developed. It also helps you keep pace with the competition.) Brainstorming And Creating New Ideas Brainstorming is an important process for game designers. If you ever get a chance to sit in on a brainstorming session with a group of professional game designers, jump at the chance. You’ll find it to be a very stimulating and revealing process. People outside of the game development field may think that creating games is very similar to the creative process of developing movies. You’ll find some parallels; however, there are many more differences than similarities. For example, many of the most successful films (Jurassic Park, Batman, and Superman) have been spawned from licensed properties or existing books. On the other hand, the most successful games (Carmen Sandiego, Monkey Island, and Donkey Kong Country) were original ideas, not designs adapted from movies or books. These games introduced entirely new characters, stories, and other elements. Original ideas, stories, and characters are far more interesting to game players than digital incarnations of existing products. This doesn’t mean licensing isn’t an effective game development strategy. However, the fact remains that gaming is a unique medium; one that relies on a constant stream of fresh ideas. The best way to come up with new ideas is to get a group of creative people together in a monitored (and somewhat organized) brainstorming season. Brainstorming provides an interactive method for encouraging new ideas to bubble to the surface. The goal is to get the assembled creative designers to come up with new ideas for characters, stories, animation sequences, interface design, market-related issues, and other game elements. But keep in mind that the best brainstorming sessions are those in which every member of the design team can freely contribute his or her ideas without being criticized. In a well-run brainstorming session, one idea (even if it is a weak one) will often lead to another idea. Here’s a brainstorming checklist to help organize and conduct your sessions: • Make sure the session is attended by everyone involved in the design process of your game. This means programmers, producers, designers, yes—even marketing people, and anyone else whose creative ideas could be useful. • Make it clear to everyone who attends that the brainstorming session is a free exchange of ideas. (More than likely, you’ll need to continually remind the group of this issue during the session—it’s hard for people to put their judgmental thoughts aside for a few hours.) • Keep the session as focused as possible. (You may find that your group starts out by discussing character development and ends up discussing white-water rafting in the Grand Canyon.) • Don’t let some members of the design team (the more aggressive ones) dominate the session while other members watch in silence. If you’re running the session, make sure everyone has a chance to contribute; sometimes the quietest person will have the best ideas. • Even though the purpose of the session is to be as creative as possible, make sure that you

have a set of goals for the meeting and that the goals are clear to everyone who attends. • Bring food and beverages to the session—this always seems to relax people and get the creative juices flowing. Hang up a sign in your brainstorming session that says something like: “Leave your judgments outside this room.” Also, make sure that you designate someone to take detailed notes. (Some companies even videotape the meetings.) Often, unique ideas don’t get recorded and then they get lost forever. Putting a wipe board in the brainstorming room is always a good idea.




Experimenting And Evaluating New Design Ideas Brainstorming is a great way to come up with new ideas, but once you have them, what do you do next? If you are really in a hurry, you’ll probably want to take some of the better ideas and immediately begin to create the code and graphics for your game. Stop right there! Resist this temptation. Before you become too committed (or attached) to any of your ideas, you’ll need a method to test them to make sure they work (and that you have the skills to properly implement them). I could fill another book with the hundreds of horror stories about developers who made too many assumptions in the early stages of their game design process, only to find out later that most of their time-consuming early work needed to be thrown away. Like any type of software design and development, game design requires prototyping. Think about it; interface designs are only truly tested once they are implemented in some way. In addition, technical details like optimizing frame rates and perfecting sound quality require constant evaluation of products and services, as well as the ability to produce the types of sequences or program code your designs need. Whether good or bad, the results of your early testing will affect the direction of your designs. You may find out that an idea is impossible, once you try to implement it. For example, while trying to implement an animation sequence, you might discover that the frame rate you are using is too fast, and your important detailed graphics objects don’t show up the way you intended. Such a test might cause you to rethink the type of animations you want to use in your game, and save you or your artist a lot of wasted time. Whatever the outcome, you’ll only discover whether new or modified ideas work by testing them. If you develop methodical testing systems, you’ll be able to make the required adjustments early, and select the technology and tools that are best suited for the game you are building.

The Importance Of Prototyping Prototyping is an important process. Instead of writing lots of code in the early stages of your design process, think of alternatives that are cheaper and less taxing than a full-out development effort. Many companies test game ideas by using a multimedia development tool like Director, or they may create simple demos in C/C++ to see, for example, how fast polygons will move around. But they won’t dive head first into the entire project. Prototyping is also effective for getting funding. Many times developers will simply show a proofof-concept demo to a publisher. This can be a very simple demo, since experienced game people know how to evaluate a demo. In fact, if impressed with the concept or the demo, many publishers will advance a small sum of money to develop a more robust prototype. Assembling Disparate Pieces Into A Completely New Form Here’s an important point to keep in mind as a game designer: People may purchase a game for its amazing graphics or incredible sound and music, but they play a game because it’s fun and the flow of the game engages and stimulates them. No single element can make a game fun. To create a fun game, designers need to know how to combine art, music, sound, text, video, and other elements into a single interactive experience. They need to understand exactly what they can use to construct a game, and how and when to use these various components. As an exercise, take one of your favorite games and isolate its different components. Perhaps you’ll want to make a chart, and catalog and rate features such as sound effects, music, animation, video clips, and so on. Once you do this, step back and visualize how all of these elements are combined to make the game really work. This type of reverse engineering can often help you see things in a new perspective. Careful Planning And Preconstruction Preparation If you were going to build a house, would you start by nailing wood together and digging a hole for the foundation? Of course not. You’d plan it out on paper first. Today, some architects render a complete walk-through 3D model before they build their structures. Good design takes a deliberate preconstruction process. Game design is no different. With today’s large investments, the game design process needs to be treated as the primary preconstructive process—and that means planning. Much of a game’s design is accomplished in meetings and by sitting down and sketching out scripts, storyboards, and design documents. Developing An Implementation Plan And Guidelines Project management is also very important. You should get into the habit of planning your game design and budgeting for how to implement that design. Many beginners working alone make the

mistake of not planning their ideas out. Then, by the time they realize it themselves, or when a publisher asks to see something, it may be too late. While many major designs can be thick notebooks full of key decisions, even a simple five pager can be enough to keep things focused and on track. Don’t underestimate the power of planning out your game. Amending And Constructing The Product Until It’s Completed We can learn a valuable lesson from football coaches. They design and implement a plan, and then produce a product—their game plan. Every good coach knows, though, that no matter how much preparation goes into the game, there’s always the need for a half-time adjustment. Good designers are able to amend ideas on the fly. By the time they are in their main production phase, most companies make sure that the game they want to produce is fleshed out and documented on paper. As you develop your games, it’s not only important to look for changes that you can make, but it’s also important to set up proper testing strategies to spot other changes. Many skills are involved in designing games, but those skills we discussed earlier should give you a good foundation for constructing a finished game. Keep in mind one of the first issues presented in this book—game development is the art and science of trade-offs. The more skilled you become in some of the basic design areas, the more ability you’ll have to make the correct trade-off decisions.




How Do Game Developers Come Up With Ideas? We’ve already outlined the various skills and mindsets required by the game design and development process. But as useful as it may sound, that advice didn’t exactly get down to the nitty gritty. So, let’s dig in and discuss some practical advice collected from various sources around the industry. Coming up with ideas is not an exact science; ideas often arise spontaneously—they’re certainly not from some sort of “book of ideas.” Coming up with ideas is a very subjective process for the designer, and also, at times, a very quantitative process for a publisher. Designers want to design and work from their concepts while publishers tend to want to focus on what sales, distributors, and customer responses tell them. It’s a constant tug of war. There are two main ways to come up with a basic concept. The first method is through a process of brainstorming and idea generation. Or, you can research the market and see what people want to play. Either way, generating an idea can be a very deliberate process. Creative Brainstorming Earlier in this chapter, we introduced the technique of brainstorming and discussed some basic guidelines for putting brainstorming concepts to work. Because of the importance of this powerful “idea generation” approach, let’s discuss the process in a little more detail and look at some of its limitations. It is always amazing that very few people understand the process of brainstorming. It’s even more surprising how little attention brainstorming is given in the process of developing any creative product. There is no right way to brainstorm. Many brainstorming techniques exist (some of which we’ve previously discussed) and most designers and other creative types try out a variety of brainstorming sessions. In the following sections, we have compiled some ideas to help you get more out of your own brainstorming sessions.

Brainstorming Constraints During a brainstorming process, you’ll want to dream up ideas, no matter how fanciful. But don’t get

carried away; the whole point is to come up with ideas that are marketable and feasible to produce. The trick is to balance the generation of ideas with actual constraints such as budget, production ability, and probable market success. No one said it was going to be easy. You can examine constraints before or after the brainstorming process. In most situations, you’ll want to use both approaches. With the “before” approach, you set constraints on the brainstorming process, defining some common “rules” of thought. For example, take the following ideas and list them on a wipe board or piece of paper, and then brainstorm. Here’s an example of some constraints you might start with: • • • •

We must produce a game for under $300,000. The game must be completed in nine months. The game must be completely playable in a two-hour session. The game must have a limited amount of artwork to stay on budget.

Then, brainstorm away. Using these constraints, you might come up with some sort of puzzle or card game. You’ve generated an idea of what the game will be, without specifically thinking of a game. Then you brainstormed to create an idea that works within the chosen constraints. Using the “after” approach, you go back through your unconstrained ideas and search for one that seems feasible. For example, you might start by listing all kinds of wacky ideas: • A game about river rafting on all kinds of rivers, with a 3D point of view. • A fanciful arcade game about skydive surfing where the player performs wild air stunts and other tricks. • A murder mystery adventure, featuring digital actors, that takes place in the U.S. Capitol building. Without the constraints, your ideas may be wilder. Hopefully, one will be really unique and can be produced within the production means you have available. This process also works well for generating ideas that might be possible in the future. For example, the arcade game idea might be the most feasible and, if successful, could generate the cash flow to hire all the additional artists needed to do the murder mystery adventure. Constraints do play an important role in the brainstorming process. The technique of applying them up front or at the back end can dynamically alter the actual brainstorming process. When you generate ideas, you want to use as wide a range of techniques as possible.

Brainstorming Tips Here are some useful tips to help you brainstorm: • Brainstorming sessions should be arranged into two parts: new product brainstorming and brainstorming that embellishes or fleshes out an existing idea. • Set aside specific times for new brainstorming sessions. • Brainstorming by using a computer is not as effective as getting people together in a room with a wipe board. Perhaps the only times brainstorming on a computer is helpful is in the artwork-creation process or for simple programming tests where prototyping and experimentation can help. • Videotaping brainstorming sessions can be great! You don’t need to take notes and you can incorporate visuals like notes on a wipe board as well. • Create the most relaxed atmosphere possible; stretching and breathing exercises really do help. • Incorporate play testing into your sessions. You may want to videotape your team as they play other games and critique them.




Market Research One very deliberate way to come up with game ideas is to collect market research. If you are a creative type, you might not be inclined to take a market-oriented approach. However, you should consider it because it offers some real benefits. After all, if you are about to spend thousands, hundreds of thousands, or millions of dollars on a project, market research could help keep you from spending your money foolishly. When done correctly (many people do a lot of poor market research), market research can be a very effective tool for generating and fine-tuning your ideas, especially because your ideas will more likely be in synch with what consumers want. Game market research can be done in many ways, each with a level of exactness and associated cost: • Research which games are currently selling well. This is easy to determine by scanning through various trade magazines or by obtaining a specialized report from a market research firm. Sometimes these reports are expensive, but heck, if they are good, they can save you from wasting a lot of money. • Survey gamers. This can be quite expensive, depending on your sample size and the length of the questionnaire. Costs will also be higher if you use a firm to perform and tabulate the survey. In any case, you will want a professional market research firm to help you design a questionnaire, unless you have some experience in this area. One note: If you set up a forum on the World Wide Web or one of the commercial online services to conduct such a poll, your results may be more skewed than a professional poll, but the associated costs will be much smaller. • Organize a focus group. Again, my advice is to hire a professional market research firm to handle this for you. They can ensure that the chosen group is well moderated and that you get a diverse set of opinions through correct screening procedures. • Collect feedback from current customers. If you’re designing a game as a sequel or a similar product to one you’ve already published, you should solicit feedback from your existing customers (maybe you’ve already received some) to incorporate into the new product. For example, Maxis, the designer of SimCity, generated over 1,000 ideas for a new version of SimCity by going over online customer responses and phone call records. It’s important to note that many customers, if given the proper outlets (for example, reader response cards, online sites, and so on), can provide not only ideas for improvements, but new product ideas too!

TIP: Make sure you set up a good method to catalog all the consumer feedback you receive. If you create a simple database with keywords, you can continually monitor requests and organize them in a fashion that shows the top requests and thought patterns shared by your players.

As the game market continues to mature, the use of market research will expand, especially as companies try to create products for the largest possible game audience. It’s not a good idea to let market research steer the game development process, but it can prove the feasibility of a product idea. The important thing to remember is to use market research to help along the edges and as a reassuring mechanism—not as the design document. Beginners’ Mistakes Let’s discuss a few issues that will be especially useful if you are just starting out as a game designer. You’re probably bursting at the seams with fanciful ideas—sequels to Doom, full-blown flight simulators, golf games that take place on the moon, and so on. But before you get too far, make sure that the ideas you are generating are ones that you can execute. Far too often, the biggest mistake most novice (and even experienced) game designers make is to overestimate what they can realistically produce. Even developers with good art and programming skills lose sight of what they can do. In the end, the brainstorming and market research processes are meant to help you generate successful products. They must be products that fit your, or your company’s, skill level, including programming and artwork ability. You must also make sure you have the finances. The difference between success and failure in this business most often translates to the ability to finish a project. The game development landscape is riddled with great ideas that never became finished games. Most people will tell you that success is based on a good or bad game. This message fails to remind you that, in order for a game to get a good or bad review, it actually has to ship. At the Computer Game Developers’ Conference, you’d be amazed at the number of times first-time developers heard the advice: “Just make ship date.”




Get It On Paper, Make It Real At any major game development company, a game is more than a game; it’s an investment. Actually, it’s also more than an investment; it’s a living. It’s no wonder that designers at large companies spend a lot of time in the planning stages, working out their ideas on paper. As game development becomes more complex and much more expensive, you can expect “paper” planning to play an even more significant role. To most people who have examined or worked on a major game project, the most shocking aspect may be the amount of advanced planning that professional developers put into their games. Preplanning for many major projects can take several months before the actual work begins. In this section, we’ve assembled various examples of game designs in their paper state. These illustrate how presentations and designs look when they are first prepared—before they are transformed into their digital incarnations. These examples can help you format and organize your designs on paper to facilitate smooth construction once the actual development process begins. We’ve already explored the process of developing ideas and brainstorming. Once the idea is developed (if you stay on the formal path), there are essentially three major stages of design documentation that need to be created: • Design Treatment • Design Document, Technical Abstract • Game Script/Storyboard or Prototype Let’s examine each one in detail. Creating The Design Treatment Many of today’s computer games were not originally created as electronic games. This is one important reason that electronic games should start out on paper—because you’re starting from scratch and developing a concept. Another reason is that it is much less expensive to design a game on paper than it is to jump in and design and create its digital components. Games are about so much more than their digital composition. At this stage, the designer should not

be as concerned with digital content as he or she is with the rules and the nature of the game being designed. The first step in designing a game for most companies is the composition of a project, also known as a design treatment. A treatment is a conceptual idea laid out in more detail. It takes an idea from the stage of notes, words, and doodles to a more detailed summary description, where the early plot of the project is sketched out. The treatment shouldn’t try to discuss the development process for the project in its entirety—that will come later. Instead, the treatment presents a cohesive idea that management and marketing people can look at and conclude “this is a great idea for a game; let’s develop it.” Here are a few guidelines to help you compose a design treatment for your project: • Try to keep your treatment as short and simple as possible. • Don’t try to lay out every detail, or show how the game branches to different scenarios; but do make sure you show a beginning, middle, and main ending. (If there are several possible outcomes, simply state them; don’t explain them.) • Don’t try to explain every character or object. In short, your treatment should be a simple overview. A treatment should talk about the basic plot of the game, how gameplay would take place, the age group or general discussion of the target audience, and other basic features. In addition, you might include a shorter technical treatment to present the basics of how you would construct the game. For example: This game will feature our new 3D engine, coupled with animated 3D backgrounds. We are constructing roughly 50 scenes, each with several views; these scenes will be rendered with 3D Studio MAX. We will use an IBM development platform and later port to the Mac. The development language will be C++, using several APIs developed in-house and out of house. Overall, we expect a development time of roughly 10 to 16 months. Figure 4.1 shows a sample treatment for a game. Notice that the treatment conveys the essence of the game idea, with the plot and design treatment included to flesh out the game idea. The development section presents the basics of how you see that process coming together. Again, the goal isn’t to tell the reader about all of the development details, but rather to give a good overview of the tools and techniques needed to implement the game. Even at this stage, it’s important for people reading your treatment to understand some of the basic assumptions, like whether you plan to code in C or use a higher-level tool like Director.

Figure 4.1 A sample game treatment. As you can see, a treatment is basically an idea on paper, with enough embellishment to effectively communicate to other potential collaborators exactly what you want the game to be. Anyone who understands the game industry should be able to read your treatment and immediately understand what the game is.

TIP: The basic rule of thumb is to design your treatment well enough to foster further development, without taking the time to write a complete design document, in case the project ultimately isn’t worth pursuing. Many times a prototype or proof-of-concept demo may need to accompany a treatment, as treatments themselves rarely get funded (only proven developers might get away with this).




Creating The Design Document Once your treatment is nailed down and you (or the people you answer to) are satisfied with the initial concepts, you’ll be ready to start designing the game in earnest. The next step is to create a design summary or design document. This is basically a blueprint for the game. It can take many forms, but overall it must be easy to read. It must tell the reader exactly what you intend to build. (Even the marketing folks must be able to understand it.) A design document is much more formal and complete than a design treatment. It has to be, since it is the document people will read to decide whether they want to spend money on your project. And money people follow the golden rule of finance—the one who has the gold, rules. The design document is where you specifically spell out what the person with the money will get. If you can’t tell a convincing story, you’ll have to go back to programming accounting software, washing dishes, or some other exciting profession. Again, if you’re new to game design and development, you may be surprised at the amount of upfront planning put into a game by professionals. LucasArts will develop an idea on paper for up to four or five months before a single piece of artwork or code is created beyond any prototyping. If you’re on your own, spending four to five months planning a game seems sort of crazy. On the other hand, if you’re looking to take a prototype project out to investors to get funding, and you don’t already have a track record, a good design document can be extra helpful. Any early planning you do will pay off tenfold later on; so the more you do, the better. A design document is one of the best planning tools you can use because it effectively communicates important ideas to others. Whenever you are trying to get funding for a project (or trying to make your boss happy), try to follow this general rule: The less of a track record you have, the more detailed your project plan needs to be to get others interested. In fact, many first-time developers might need to spend three to four months on actual development before a publisher gets interested. As game development changes and matures as an industry, developers will need to use formal design documents more often. Why? Because games are becoming more sophisticated, and formal techniques have been developed to help manage projects that require large production teams. And, of course, as games become more costly to develop, the people who finance them will demand more accountability.

A design document can have many different formats. The format you use depends on your product, your publisher, and your own preferences. Some situations may call for a fairly simple design document while others, especially interactive fiction, are going to require very extensive design documents. Design documents can include complete game scripts, complete technical specifications, storyboards, character bibles, and more. We’ll break down some of the basic components of design documents in a moment, but first let’s look at a sample design document. Figure 4.2 shows a document for the same sample game we created a design treatment for earlier.

Figure 4.2 A sample design document.

Starting With The Basic Idea Of The Game First, provide a concise but detailed explanation of the gameplay and the interface the player uses. Basically, this is a more mature version of the design treatment you wrote earlier. “What does the player do?” is the first and foremost question everyone in game development will ask you about your design. In addition to the “basic idea” summary, there are all kinds of different things you can put into your design document. Most large design documents are associated with adventure games or interactive fiction titles. As more and more storage becomes available with CD-ROMs and compression techniques, these games will become even bigger than they are now. This means a lot more planning, and thus a more extensive design document. With these types of projects, design documents can borrow and adapt many ideas used in TV and movie scripts and production notes, such as complete character scripts and storyboards. But because your work is interactive, you’ll need to approach things a little differently.

Detailing The Plot Line Include a detailed story of the game’s plot right up front. Be careful not to turn it into a novel. Later on you will break it out into more detail, but at this point, you want to give the reader just enough detail to understand the elements you’ll present later. Detail the achievements the player needs to complete the game. The goal of every game is for the player to “achieve” something, whether it is simply to get to the end of the story, or to become the supreme ruler of the cosmos. Many games have major and smaller achievements the player must make along the way to get to the “big stuff.” Thinking in these terms, your design document must detail the stages the player will go through to complete the game:

• Major Achievement—What final act is needed for the player to finish the game? • Smaller Achievements—What subgoals must the player achieve to progress to the final section? Starting with the final goal of the game, work backward to create the elements of the story, the subgoals, and their associated tasks that lead up to the final results. Almost all games must “come together” at the end; an easy way to ensure no loose ends is to start from the end.




Detailing Every Section Of The Game Almost every game is “sectionalized” in some form. Arcade games have levels; RPGs and adventures have plots, scenes, and maps; sports games have quarters and innings. In addition, every game has a startup process, perhaps some additional option screens, and some selection menus. When creating your design document, you’ll need to break apart your game into its components, and to detail every single last ounce of your game to the fullest extent possible. Easier said than done, huh? Well, let’s break this down a little to show you how detailed you need to be. First, here’s an overview of the elements used to detail a game.

Developing A System Of Naming And Organizing Because of the number of production elements involved in a game, good organization is a must. Without it, you’re bound to get lost in the woods. This is why design documents are so important. They force you to organize your game, and the depth and quality of this organization carries through right to the last days of development. You must have an extremely organized design document. Make sure to use a good outlining system, either with numbers or a naming convention to make it easy to break apart the elements of the game. Games can have hundreds of different elements, especially later, in actual production. As you break your game into different sections, make sure that everything you talk about is appropriately and logically named.

Everything Means Everything You should have a plan to detail everything you can. If a rock can be moved, describe that it can be moved, how it’s moved, and what the result will be. If you’re creating an RPG and the player can buy armor, list all the armors and other goodies. Be as detailed as possible. For example, list the price of the armor, the resulting features, and whatever else you can think of that’s relevant. Try to draft your game design in “waves of detail,” especially if you are designing a complex game like an RPG or a war game. Avoid working out too much detail in one section because, after a couple of weeks of work, you may have an amazing level of detail in just one segment of a very big project.

If you design your game evenly, you’ll get a sense of completeness for your game design document. Go through the document and build it up in even stages, just like you would a building, first doing the framing, then the electrical, then put up the walls on all the sides, and then the windows. Eventually you will end up with a complete design that has the right balance. In short, this is the same process you’d use to outline any big project.

Description By Comparison One of the best ways to talk about the features, sections, and ideas in your game’s design document is to cite other games and products as being similar or different. (I didn’t tell you to play all kinds of games just for fun, did I?) Some people disagree with this approach because they don’t want to end up making their game sound unoriginal. This viewpoint is wrong. Just because a game is like a few other games doesn’t mean it’s not original. In some ways Quake is like Pac-Man. (Both games place the player in a maze with monsters and powerups.) Comparing your game to others is not a bad thing, as this displays your knowledge of the market. In some cases, your comparison can also show what features were poorly implemented in other games. All the games you have played in the past should help you describe your game; don’t be afraid to talk about your game in terms of others. Just be sure to do it in a way that shows how your game is different. When comparing your game to others, your best bet is to stick to major benchmark games (Quake, Command & Conquer, Wing Commander, SimCity, and so on), recent games, and those that were fairly popular. Keep in mind that an extensive comparison and contrast to every similar game type could be key in convincing someone that the game is indeed a marketable idea.




Outlining Your Game So far we’ve talked about the three general components of the design document: organization and naming, detail, and comparisons to other games. Now let’s talk about some specific outline strategies you can use to carry them out.

Describing The Universal Elements Many games have events and features common to every part of the game. These are the universal elements of your design. Get the universal elements down first and the details should flow from there. Before you start thinking about the specifics of any section in detail, define anything that is universal for that section or for the game itself. For example, if you’re creating a game where the main character can morph into another creature at any time, make sure this description is stated early on. You might want to designate an early section in your document to list and clearly define your universal elements, just like you would in a piece of code. Some examples of universal elements are scoring rules, names of main characters, point scoring, interface elements, types of monsters, how characters are destroyed, and so on.

Detailing The Sections Of Your Game Once you’ve established the universal elements of your game and included a section to document them, the details take over. In most cases, games have obvious subdivisions where the real detail is placed. A level or a scene is the typical division. As you lay out your game, you will find most of your time is spent on “level/scene” design. In some cases, the real meaty details of a game come out as part of the actual production process. For example, the designers of Quake didn’t spend much time writing down the details of their levels. They did that work once they had a level editor and most of the game was up and running. Still, they probably designed on paper how a level would be constructed and the main elements that make up a level. For example, raising platforms and doors with color-coded locks were probably details that were determined prior to actual production; the actual shape of the levels were determined later. Some games, however, require that you define the gritty details during development. For example, the designers of a graphical adventure like LucasArts’s Full Throttle may sketch out all the various

scenes up front, storyboarding them from a written script. Every detail in a game like this might be determined on paper.

TIP: The first key to detailing your game is to figure out exactly the level of detail you can predefine. A strong game design document depends on your ability to detail as much information as possible for each section of the game.

Pre-Programming And Post-Design Details Determine what level of detail you can predefine. That is, what do you know up front about this section of the game? Here’s an example: “This section of the game involves a complex puzzle of figuring out the proper sequence of levers and pulleys to use to....” Second, define what detail will be determined later, for example: “The overall level design will occur during a later level-design process.” Describe in general how levels will be constructed and what they’ll look like. For example, you might design an RPG by creating a big map of various dungeons and towns. Now, you’re not going to map out every single town or dungeon to their ultimate detail until you have a town editor. However, you should detail some of the elements of the towns, such as pubs, shops, inns, and so on. Again, detail everything you can.

TIP: Figuring out your detail design process is simple: The more story-centered your game is, the more likely it is that you’ll first create the majority of your level design on paper and storyboard. The more open-ended the game, the more you’ll bring out the fine details during a level-editing process.




An Outline Of A Section Description Here’s a template for creating the description of a section. You can use it as-is or modify it to fit the game you are designing: • Name of the Section/Level/Scene—Summarize this part of the game with several sentences stating its purpose. For example, “Bonus Level: Player earns bonus points by collecting as many rings as possible in 60 seconds. Set Up Screen: Player chooses number of players, teams, weather conditions, and other game elements.” • Detail—Here’s where you describe the segments (in detail) of this part of your game. List everything the programmers, artists, and musicians will need to know to turn your game into a digital product. The more you leave out, the more headaches you’ll have later on. • Physical and Audio Appearance—Describe the look of the screen and what views are implemented here. Also include a description of the audio features. (What kinds of sounds and music will the player hear?) These items can be divided into subcategories for exacting detail. If the game has a map or multiple screens, draw it out. • Background—Describe the background playfield that the game has at this point. You can use descriptive words or pictures (if you’re coproducing a storyboard or other visual aids). • Foreground Objects and Characters—Describe objects like moving sprites or hotspots. What actions do they perform? How are these actions initiated? Can they be picked up, thrown, and so on? It’s important to maintain a consistent naming convention for these objects as well. • Animation—Make sure that all the animations are listed. For example, if a player can open a chest, describe the animation of the chest opening. Make sure to describe the type of animation you plan to use; is it digitized video, hand-drawn, or 3D rendered? • Music and Sound Effects—Describe what music accompanies this part of the game. What sounds are associated with the player’s actions in this section. Does the chest creak open? • Scripts for Characters—If the characters speak at this point in the game, what do they say? If the game is interactive, what must the player do to further the conversation? You might move all the scripts to a separate part of the document, but make sure to describe here that some sort of dialogue takes place. • Scenes and Transitions—If your story branches, make a flowchart with little boxes for each scene and include a one sentence description of what happens. The goal is to make each scene as independent as possible. By doing that, your game becomes more nonlinear, meaning you can re-arrange those boxes and still have the same outcomes. Include descriptions of nongame sequences such as the opening introduction, credits, and the ending (or endings) of the

game. • Miscellaneous Elements—They’re easily overlooked, but don’t forget that a significant portion of your game includes elements like opening screens, boxes, end-of-game credits, saving and loading game routines, sound setup, and so on. As a designer, try to make these things clear to the user, but also try to be creative. The more you integrate these things into the game as a whole, the less “computer-like” the game will be. This integration contributes to the entire gaming experience. Optional Design Document Sections We’ve discussed some of the formal techniques companies use to design games, but aside from the design document, we haven’t gone into much depth about techniques like scripting and storyboarding. Most of these concepts are more closely associated with television and film. However, many game companies use these techniques as well, especially when they design products like interactive fiction adventure games. When creating design documents, game developers can borrow ideas from scriptwriters and programmers to embellish their explanations of what a game will be and how it should work. Using some implementation examples from major game companies, let’s discuss exactly what these sections are.

Storyboarding As the artwork, animation, and overall size of computer games have increased, a movie and animation technique called storyboarding has been used by artists and programmers to document, sequence by sequence, exactly how games will look. A storyboard is typically built after the elements of the game have been scripted. The storyboard artist works up a mockup of the screen and subsequent animations that will take place in that “scene.” These mockups can range from rough sketches to very detailed drawings. In the case of a game like The Neverhood, which entailed a lot of stop-motion puppet animation, a very detailed storyboard might have been developed to properly give the animators the information they would need.

TIP: If you’re enlisting outside talent for tasks like art and animation, your storyboards may need to have a lot of detail. A detailed storyboard can be among the most valuable design documents, especially when working with content providers outside your company, such as animators, motion capture facilities, or video production houses.




Flowcharting Flowcharts usually conjure up the image of boring steps in a process control system. Nevertheless, they can be very useful for designing games. The concepts of storytelling and interaction need to collide at some point, and many times that collision is a flowchart. Flowcharts are great diagrams to show the branching process stories can take within games. They can help ensure that all game branches end up at the right places. Flowcharts can help storyboarders take your script and create a visual representation of what the game will look like. Flowcharts can be maps, or traditional-looking logic charts (like those found in college programming textbooks—yuk!). Anything that details the actual sequence or placement of events in a game is a flowchart.

Using Character Bibles Many of today’s games have very complex characters with whom the player will interact. To keep track of all of the characters and to help organize scripts and dialogs, developers use what are called character bibles. A character bible is a journal in which the designer simply writes a bio and profile of the characters he or she intends to script later. Writers have traditionally used character bibles to help them design the characters for their novels and other literary works. A character bible can include anything you want. Some designers will write two to three pages about a character’s life: how they feel about things, who they’re married to, and so on. The general rule is to write as much as you’ll need to draw out the character. The description can be as simple as a short synopsis. For example, Sonic from Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog could be described as follows: Sonic is a speedy blue hedgehog with a love for animals; he wants them all to be free from Dr. Robotnik. Sonic can run really fast and he can spin in a tumbleweed fashion as a way of attacking his foes. In addition, Sonic can jump. By combining his jump with a spin, he can land on top of opponents and attack his foes. Sonic is also somewhat impatient: He taps his toes whenever he isn’t moving faster than the speed of sound! Armed with this short description, you should be able to come up with all sorts of ideas for how you want to use the character in your game.

Also keep in mind that many interactive game characters have gone on to fame when licensed for movies, cartoons, comic books, books, and various other products. This is an important aspect for you, the designer, to consider. The characters you create, especially the main characters, need to be well defined on paper, sometimes more deeply defined than they will be in the game. A memorable game character can lead not only to offshoot products, but many (like Humongous’s Pajama Sam, Sega’s Sonic, or Brøderbund’s Carmen Sandiego) have become corporate symbols as well. Your characters could even become movie stars. But don’t count on it and book your characters an agent just yet!

Scripting The concept of scripting, as it applies to computer games, is greatly debated. Traditional scripts for plays, television, and film are linear in nature. A game can be linear; but for the most part, the linear approach doesn’t work especially well for game flow. While a game can have a distinct beginning and a distinct end, what happens en route to that ending (or endings) is up for grabs. Therefore, scripting in the traditional sense is not entirely possible. We say not entirely because certain aspects of any game have traditionally scripted elements. In essence, a nonlinear script is a series of interchangeable scripted “nodes” in a network. So just in case you thought all that traditional scripting knowledge was about to be blown out of the water, relax. We’re just going to add some different twists. The main process of scripting is the notion of branching. In its simplest form, a computer game can offer a player the ability to choose A or B. Of course, in a more complex form, many more choices can be available at any one point, so designers use scripts to make sure they have documented every choice the player can make.

TIP: Computer game scripts are frequently much longer than movie scripts, a fact that sometimes catches traditional scriptwriters off guard. Most Broadway playwrights would fall off their stools when they saw that the script for Wing Commander III was 300 pages. Movie scripts usually contain one page per one minute of screen time, so a 300 page script would equal about a 5 hour movie.

Prototyping Prototyping in game design takes one of two forms: a demo of a particular technology or an interactive storyboard metaphor. In each instance, a development team tries to investigate an idea more fully than can be done with pen and paper. Overall, prototyping isn’t used extensively as a way to show off a design idea, since many people in the business can easily envision a game from paper. Using prototyping technology to show a sample of the content is important, though, as your development team investigates whether they can implement an idea. Rebel Assault started out as a

prototype of a new digital video replay technology that developer Vince Lee was working on. It later evolved into one of the biggest selling CD-ROMs. Typically, prototyping to investigate new concepts is an ongoing process as part of overall research and development. Prototype concepts morph into much more deliberate processes once a designer builds them into a game or a game idea evolves beyond the prototype. You could create a prototype that functions as a storyboard by using a high-level multimedia scripting product such as mTropolis, Director, or even Visual Basic. This type of prototype could help you pitch your game to another company or investor. The prototyping process may simply involve creating an interactive storyboard concept to test the combination of art, video, and sound that cannot otherwise be done with a more conventional storyboarding process. The goal of prototyping is to answer the following questions: What will this product look like when it’s done? What do we need to do? Should we even produce this product at all? Finally, prototyping can be the route a new developer uses to draw interest from a publisher.




The Designer As Engineer A basic design document can be created by a nontechnical person (after all it’s a story, really). A design specification, on the other hand, is more technical in nature and requires the input of the programming team, art staff, and producer. The designer also needs to participate in its construction. One important aspect of the design process is to make sure that your game doesn’t require features that can’t be implemented, are too ambitious, too expensive, and so on. At a large company, this is easily done in two stages: 1. The designer suggests features that he or she would like to see in the game (fast 3D graphics, interactive video clips, stereo images, etc.). 2. The key programmers tell the designer to stuff it! Oh, just kidding. The programmers actually get together with the producer to determine if the design ideas can be implemented. (This is where they get all worked up and remark, “You want it out by Christmas? You’re crazy!”) The programming team needs to set aside time to test ideas that they haven’t implemented before. Especially at a smaller company, where a large staff isn’t available, it’s important to make sure that your design is “doable.” A design needs to push right up against the team’s constraints without bursting the bubble. Many products slip because the company, producer, designer, or someone else pushed for too much at the beginning. Good designers know when to put on their engineering caps to ensure that what they suggest can be implemented both technically (the easier part) and financially (the hard part). This is where designers with technical backgrounds can be especially effective. Without constant feedback and contact with some technically oriented member of the project (either the producer, or more likely the lead programmer), the designer will need to fill in the gaps.

TIP: As a designer, it’s important to make sure you’re familiar with the technical capabilities of your programming staff. That way you’ll begin to produce designs that don’t outstrip the development team’s abilities, to the detriment of the project.

The Design Spec Once you have created the basic part of your design document, you can flesh it out to incorporate a more detailed assessment of the breadth of your project. Unlike other types of software, games include a lot of pieces. This means that your design document needs to include what some people might call the design specification, or design spec. A design spec is sort of a technical version of the design document. While the design document tells you what the game will be like, the design spec is a road map for how you will actually construct the game. We’ll explore some of the details that this design document may provide.

Materials At the beginning of your design process, you’ll need to come up with a list of materials and people required to put together your game. A game is perhaps 10 percent (or even less) programming code, and the rest is artwork, stories, music, and sound. This is why your design document is so important. Once you have created it, the picture of all the additional materials you will need becomes clear. From here, the producer can divide the work and get the content and programming creation underway. For each item you need, you’ll want to state what it is, where it will come from, who will create it, and so on. This would be a specific list of the content items you need to create, most of which would be defined from the detail work of a script and storyboard. For example, list fifty 320×200 backgrounds and two hundred objects, and then provide a description of each. For each object, it’s important to provide a name and a predefined file name. When you’re constructing a game, the amount of artwork can climb so quickly that if you’re not careful, things will get out of hand. Even for a smaller game, take the time to organize the file names ahead of time. You’ll thank yourself later.




Defining Data Structures A key aspect to any game (or any program for that matter) is the various data structures you will employ. Especially with RPGs, war games, and other strategy products, you’ll need to have dozens of objects with associated data structures. The best strategy is to define these components even before you begin programming, and that’s where the design spec comes in.

Creating The Timeline You’ll want to establish your development timeline in the beginning. This is very important, especially if you have outside people investing in your project or you have an impatient boss. Here are a few of the questions you need to ask yourself: • • • •

When is your art going to be done? How much time is needed to write the text? How long will the sound and programming take? Will the development process speed up if more people are added?

Good design documents include a section, usually as part of the technical spec, that provides as detailed a schedule as possible. The typical development cycle is one to two years, with an average of just over one year. As a design moves closer to actual implementation, most developers start laying out an actual project schedule. This responsibility will usually fall into the producer’s hands. Working with the lead programmer, artists, and musicians, the producer draws up a schedule to make sure that the content and programming are being produced at the right time. For example, the producer will make sure that the artwork for the sprites in a game is done before the programmers complete the corresponding section of code. Any good plan must have an associated timeline, especially when you’re dealing with a team that needs to focus on a collective goal. Some companies then take this part of the design document and use a project management program like Microsoft Project. In addition, you also need to deal with considerations for outside sources. For example, if you’re using voice talent and you want a certain actor, say Patrick Stewart (who has supplied voice-overs for

several major games), you may not have the luxury of getting him when you most want him. That means you’ll need to adjust your schedule or you’ll need to find someone else who is available—hopefully not your brother-in-law! The amount of planning required depends significantly on the number of different types of media (movies, sounds, narrations, music, writing, programming, background and foreground animations, etc.) you will be combining in your game, as well as the amount of content. Because each type of media involves different production methods, you’ll need to approach the scheduling for each one in a different manner.

Equipment And Tools To Employ An important aspect of your design spec is detailing exactly what you are going to use to construct a game. What hardware are you going to need? Do you need any programming libraries? Some of these components will need to be evaluated before you begin.

People To Involve Once you’ve figured out what you need to make your game, you’ll need to determine what help you need. Even if you’re a small developer, you’ll probably need at least one artist, one programmer, and some sort of musical talent. Try to take the time in your design spec phase to determine the required skills of the people you will need.

Budget Now you have to figure out what all this is going to cost. If you’re an outside developer, rough out two budgets: one that is your dream budget and one that is your minimum. Also ask your publisher to help with your budget (they’re going to anyway!) and send it around to others to get a good sense of reality. A development budget is fairly simple—most games pretty much consist of labor costs. However, some equipment costs may be necessary, as well as legal, travel, and phone costs. Figure 4.3 shows two sample budgets—one for a game around $150,000, and one that costs more than $800,000. Note these are both outside-oriented projects and thus include a few extra expenses like phone, rent, and legal costs that many first-time developers may fail to think of (even though they’ve budgeted those workstations).

Figure 4.3 Two sample budgets for game design.

TIP: Keep your budgets flexible and your inside budgets (the ones you really use) as low as possible. Always build in some money for inevitable overruns (about 5 to 10 percent) and detail things tightly. Once you’ve delivered and agreed on a final budget with your funding partner (publisher or otherwise) it’s tough to adjust it—don’t fall short on budget projections or you’re going to have a lot of explaining to do.




Can I Sell Just My Designs? Not everyone wants to tend to all the details of game development. At every conference we’ve attended, some novice game developer remarks: “I’ve got this great idea for a game I want to get developed and I’ll make millions from it.” And 99 percent of the time the person continues with, “but I don’t want to program it. I just want to design it.” Dream on! Of course, there are people employed in the industry who don’t do anything but think up ideas and get paid for them. Let’s look at what it takes to be a successful designer. Game Development Experience Required The majority of professional designers who are making money just off their designs have developed a game (or more) on their own or were a programmer, artist, or producer prior to becoming a designer. Most of the successful designers you read about in magazines have been around for quite some time. So if your goal is to be more of a designer than a programmer or artist, you’re going to have to be an awesome designer right off the bat to impress a lot of people. The other (and much more realistic) route is to get your foot in the door as an artist, play tester, assistant producer, writer, or programmer, and develop your design skills. The bottom line is that you’ll need to pay your dues and prove yourself. The Challenge Of Selling Ideas Selling a game idea is a very tough sell and requires a lot of luck and skill. Coming up with ideas for marketable games is tricky, and companies spend millions on market research, technical R&D, and other work to ensure they produce playable, profitable games. The odds are slim that an idea coming from an outside party will be better than the ideas developed by an established company. Your idea has to be so good that they will want to shift resources to your idea over other ideas. That’s a tall order, to say the least. In addition, the majority of industry people have heard it all; they’ve played hundreds of games, and seen just as many ideas. Many of those games, frankly, aren’t that great or marketable; they’re either too similar to other ideas, too far-fetched technically, or not fleshed out enough. Most people pitching ideas have no clue about game development—and it shows.

Expert Advice How Not To Pitch A Game Noah Fahlstein, formerly of Williams, LucasArts, DreamWorks, and now an independent game development consultant, knows more about game design and development than most of us. At a recent talk, he described a typical conversation with someone pitching a game. Caller: Hi, I’ve got this great idea for a game and I want some money, programmers, and artists to make it. Producer: That’s not really done, but what experience do you have? Caller: Well, none, actually, I don’t even really play games that much. I watch my son a lot and most of the games I see aren’t very good and my idea is so original it’s going to be awesome. Producer: So you don’t play games much... Caller: Well, enough to know my idea is great. The caller then rapidly pitched the product only to have the producer tell him that there are several similar games already out.

So is it impossible to sell a game idea? Not exactly, but pretty close. Some people have sold outright designs to companies but it’s really rare. For instance, one large company has only bought one novice designer’s idea outright in all their years. Considering the amount of games they’ve produced, those odds were probably one in three thousand. Many companies don’t even look at suggestions because they don’t want to get involved in a lawsuit for stealing ideas. Some Techniques That Work Hopefully, you are not too discouraged and you’re still anxious to try to sell your ideas. Here are some tips to help you get started.




Track Records Count This may sound like a broken record but it is really important. Always remember: Success breeds success. Get the experience you need before you try to pitch your ideas to some giant company or an investor. If you were going to fund a game, whom would you bet on, a developer who had experience creating commercially successful games or a programmer who took a few programming courses at a school for truck drivers? So often the rebuttal is, “Well, if no one takes a chance on me, how do I get the experience?” Those who say this may not want to settle for the menial “starter” position often required to make it to better opportunities. Get off your high horse, take the stars out of your eyes, and start where you need to start.

Make Sure Your Idea Is Original, Feasible, And Detailed So, you really think your idea is a killer? Well, good for you; at least you’re determined. If you are that determined, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting your idea down on paper in great detail. You definitely have a fighting chance if you can approach a company with a polished design, complete with detailed, well-thought-out design documents, scripts, storyboards, the works—and even this is no guarantee. A prototype always helps. Focus on ideas that fit your skill level. When you hear about a company buying a design from an outsider, the idea usually comes from someone who has real-world background in the subject matter. For example, if you’ve been a rock/mountain climber all your life, maybe you really could design a cool game on rock climbing. You then are selling more than an idea; your expert knowledge about the subject matter helps to make a really unique game.

Pitch A Company, Not An Idea The most common advice is that if you’ve got an idea, develop it yourself. The fact is most outside designs get a green light when a company can pitch not only the design, but most of the means to turn that design into an actual product. If you’ve got a cool idea, get other programmers and artists interested in it, produce a prototype and design document, then pitch the project with your company, not just the idea.

Choose Your Targets Carefully If you’re pitching an idea to a company, choose a company that buys game ideas from outsiders. Don’t blindly mail out letters to hundreds of companies. Read all the trade publications and game magazines, become acutely familiar with the industry, see who buys outside designs more often, match your ideas with companies who are receptive to outside ideas and the type of game you want to make. Don’t pitch an interactive story game to a company that only makes fast action 3D games.

Think It All Through In the end, getting a publisher interested in the design-only approach is just about the toughest road to game development success. It has been done, but substantial work is required. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a game or game design. If you’re determined, you might make it, but the hurdles are high, hard, and frequent. When you look back over this chapter, it really is about one distinct issue: Getting a good idea and making sure you’ve thought it all through. Make a mistake later in the development because you didn’t have a strong plan, and you may never recover. The design process is your only chance to justify the future cost of development while spending very little money. It’s also the only time that changes to the game won’t cost an arm and a leg, or your neck. That’s why major companies take such care and time to get their designs just right. You shouldn’t be any different.




CHAPTER 5 Refining Your Designs Game Design Meets Marketing In Chapter 4, we examined the basic techniques game designers use to generate ideas. We also looked at how ideas are committed to paper before they are implemented in digital form. As you recall, this process can get rather involved, but it’s certainly worth the effort, especially because it can ultimately save you a lot of time and money. We’re now ready to explore some of the other unique and important issues that game designers confront as they develop their creations. Our focus is to look at how marketing issues influence the design process. The considerations we’re about to look at are very important—you don’t want to get into the habit of designing games in a vacuum. Concerns About Game Design What are the major concerns you need to address as you design your games? Many of them are marketing and sales related, such as: • Who is the audience? • What can be done to differentiate your game from others on the market? • Where and how will your game be sold? • What is the online component of your game? • What category is your game? • What is the competition and demand like? • Will you need to use sophisticated graphics and interactivity (realistic 3D, virtual reality, and so on) to entice players to buy your game? • What will your game sell for? • Will you create updates? • Can you possibly add features to expand the market for your game? • Can you design add-on components for your game, such as additional levels, scenes, or stories? • Can you design your game so that it can be ported to other environments (especially

consoles without keyboards) without spending a fortune on development? • Can you afford to license unique material for your game or pay for celebrity endorsements? • Will your game have much international appeal? • Are there ways to design your game so it will have a longer shelf life? • If the game sells well, can you create a sequel? • Does the game serve solely as an entertainment product or can it be used as an educational tool? • Can your game work as a multiplayer game? • Can it work on a network? Some of these concerns will resolve themselves later in the design process, but you still need to think about them as you begin developing your design. If you don’t, you’ll probably regret it later. How your new game ultimately will be marketed is very important, no matter how convinced you are that it’s going to set the world on fire. After all, no matter how good your game design is, if the game doesn’t sell, you won’t feel very good about all of the hard work you’ve done. Your checklist of concerns should definitely include the questions listed here, as well as other concerns that are unique to your development situation. Certainly these questions aren’t the only ones you’ll need to answer, but they stress the point. One of the biggest questions developers ask is “Can I afford to make this product?” The answer is made up of three major issues: • The cost of producing the game, which is also linked to the time it takes to develop it. • The ability of the game to sell and thus recoup the expenses of making it. • The ability of a developer to know those answers (as much as possible) before committing significant funding. As you examine all of the questions we’ve run through thus far, you’ll see that they either concern cost and marketing issues, or creative issues. Let’s discuss a few of the more important marketing-related issues in a little more detail. What Type Of Game Are You Going To Make? You need to answer this question first and foremost. And certainly you need to answer it by the time you’ve taken your idea into the design treatment stage. Essentially, your guiding question should be: “What do I want to end up with when I’m done?”

TIP: If you can visualize your end result, you can better answer the more detailed questions, like the ones described earlier.

Most developers determine which type of game they want to create by both selecting one that interests them and one they think will be a big seller. If you like war games, you will probably say “I want to make a war game.” Or if you see that a new sport, say Ultimate Frisbee, is becoming very

popular, you may decide to make an Ultimate Frisbee game. In both cases you aim for the desired end result. Next, it’s time to think about the details required to carry out your goal.

TIP: What interests you may not make the best product. It is important to either match up an interest to an identifiable market opportunity, or to simply go for market opportunity and keep your interests to yourself. Customer demand is too important to ignore. Consider it a bonus when you can match a personal passion to a product hundreds of thousands of people want.

What Is The Age Range And Gender Of Your Audience? As more people purchase computers and consoles, there is an increasing need to tailor games to different age ranges. The industry can no longer only produce games for a target audience of 13-yearold boys. Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about the need to produce games that females will purchase and enjoy. In fact, several girl-oriented titles, like the hit Barbie CD, have brought new attention to the market. Right up front, you need to identify your target audience. Be careful that you don’t fall into the trap of thinking “My game is so hot, everyone will want to buy it and play it.” If you are that good of a designer, you probably wouldn’t be reading this book. Although it is possible to create a game that has a wide age appeal, most successful games target a certain age group. This is important because if your game is too challenging (or not challenging enough) for a certain age group, it won’t be played very often. In this respect, designing a game is no different from writing a book. If you were writing a sci-fi novel about life in another galaxy, you’d have a clear idea of your reader. If you were writing the book for young adults, you’d make sure that you used shorter sentences and carefully explained technical concepts that are important to your story.




How Many Hours Of Play Will Your Game Allow? Is your game a diversion that is meant for a quick 20-minute play during office breaks? (Hopefully, no one will get caught playing it during work hours.) Is it a mega-long adventure that is meant to last a full 100 hours? Or is it an arcade or sports game that is meant for hour upon hour of repetitive play?

TIP: Consumers assess hours of play in several ways. First, they consider value. That is, what is the cost per hour of play that a game delivers? Some consumers don’t want games that take forever to finish. Again, you need to decide where your product will fall.

What Systems Will Work With Your Game? Is your game meant for a single platform, or will you port it to every known platform in existence? This choice will greatly affect your technical decisions later in the process. A game developed only for Windows can take technical liberties over a project that is designed to be ported to multiple platforms. What Price Point Do You Want Your Game Delivery To Meet? Just as with deciding the platforms for your game, your choice of price point will have significant technical implications. Certainly, a low-priced product will dictate a smaller development budget. This isn’t a question of ultimate profit, but more a question of what budget will produce the best game for the price target you want to deliver. Price is a major consumer concern, and many people are becoming “price shocked” when they see games that reach upwards of $70 or $80. If you want to sell higher volume, try to create lower cost products. This fact makes your price point a major decision, and one that will certainly affect your design. What Distribution Method Will You Use For Your Game? Distribution is everything in the game business. Even the best produced games will fall flat on their face without a well thought-out distribution plan that matches the game. Try to invest as much time and effort as you can to make sure the game you plan to develop can be distributed with your available resources. The three major distribution systems you’ll want to consider include retail,

shareware, and direct mail, or a combination of any of these. If you plan to use shareware distribution, you’ll want to design your game differently than if you are creating a major retail product. Explore the differences among products distributed in various ways and adjust your design to fit what people expect. There are many different ways to distribute your product, and consumers look for the distinct features of each one.

Listen To The Channel You can learn a lot by listening to the distribution horror stories told by other game developers. David Allen, an accomplished game designer and author, developed a fun-to-play adventure/ strategy game called MORDOR in early 1995. He showed the game to a number of other developers and gamers during the course of the game’s development and early feedback was very positive. After the game was published, one of his main distributors, who had planned to put the game in the Software Etc. chain, decided not to take it on because it didn’t have enough flashy graphics. (Remember, 1995 was the year of “shoot-’em-up” 3D games like Doom.) This response sent David and his team back to the drawing board to update the game and make it more salable. Unfortunately, MORDOR didn’t make it onto the big league shelves for the Christmas season. The moral of this story: Talk to your distributor and sales force early in the development cycle. Listen to your publisher, too, because they do understand a few things about what the retail folks and game players are looking for. Don’t always accept their advice outright, but don’t shut them out because you think they may make a mistake, or they may shut you down by cutting off your access to the distribution channel.

Is Your Game Interactive Enough? This may sound crazy, but there are lot of games with a low level of interactivity. If your game doesn’t let the player interact enough with the environment, you’re in big trouble. For example, if you have a populated city, but the player can’t talk to people, this will restrict the interactivity. Taking this principle one step further, if you have a city full of people, but you can only talk to a few of them, you are still restricting the interactivity. So, as you design your game and add components, make sure that they contribute to the interactive nature of the game. It is very easy to end up with a low level of interactivity in your game if you aren’t actively looking to develop this aspect at every turn of the design process.




Addressing The Concerns Of Game Design Start with the biggest creative issue first: “What do I want to make?” Then, flesh out your ideas. Finally, go straight to the cost and marketing issues, which will lay out the parameters for your final creative decisions. For example, let’s assume you decide to make a basketball game. Your first goal might be to create a five-on-five action-oriented game with cut scenes. The scenes could include some digital video footage of various dunks and shots. Next, you should think about the cost and marketing issues. Who is the audience? Can you afford to buy or license the video? Can you afford to use Magic Johnson or Charles Barkley for voiceovers? For what platforms are you going to write? Do such sports games sell better as PC games or as cartridge games? You’ll need to do some creative thinking to answer these questions. But the goal is to determine how much it’s going to cost, how long it will take to make, and what technical obstacles are involved. Let’s say that after much discussion you decide to go ahead with this product. After considering the market and cost factors, you decide to develop for two platforms (Sony and Windows) and to design the game without lots of voiceovers (to save time and money getting licenses). Now that you’ve laid down the parameters for your creativity, you can start to shoehorn your original ideas into those parameters.

TIP: Design and planning exist side by side and are very dependent on each other. Designing a game, especially a major commercial product, requires a fine balance. True design creativity is making sure that you create an artistic and appealing game within the real-world framework of costs and other technical parameters. Creative design is not done on a blank slate.

As we discuss various game design ideas, dilemmas, and issues, you need to understand the context for applying these ideas. They don’t exist in some sort of design nirvana, where anything is possible. It may sound great to create an RPG with 3,000 computer-controlled nonplayer characters (NPCs), all with distinct personalities and their own conversational engines. It’s another thing to pull it off technically, and even more to do it in a feasible time and budget framework.

What Makes A Game Successful?

Are there fundamental principles that can be applied to help you succeed at game design? You bet. There are some specific elements that shape games in general, and interactive computer games in particular. Let’s investigate them so that you can quickly master the art of creating successful interactive games. The Notion Of Interactivity In game design, one thing takes center stage to everything else—interaction. The component that separates games from other creative mediums (such as art, movies, music, and books) is found in the way the player interacts with the medium. The driving force of a game is not the medium itself, but the player’s decisions and actions. You don’t simply stare at or listen to a game—you control it. Designers must create a product that entices people to play, and at the same time, provides the story line, emotional feel, realistic tone, and other qualities that standard creative media give us. This is a tall order, but it is the challenge that makes game development so much fun! Playing games means making decisions. Therefore, our games need to create situations in which the player has to decide what to do, and then he or she can perform that desired action. This can be as simple as in Pac-Man, where the player must decide whether to go up, down, left, or right, or as complex as in a game like Command & Conquer, where the player needs to make key strategic decisions. In some cases, the more challenging the decisions are, the more appealing the game will be. In addition, the greater the player’s ability to affect the outcome of the game, the more the game will lure that player in.

TIP: When sitting down to design a game, try to create entertaining interaction. Provide an easy way for the player to make decisions about the situation in which you put him or her. Then, provide interesting outcomes that lead to new situations. This whole process can start again and again until the final outcome is achieved.

Affecting The Outcome One of the most important aspects of interaction is the notion that players can have the final say in the outcome of your game. When he or she sits down to play a game, that player expects to advance from first to last, save the world, or reach the final level. When you design a game, be sure to make it clear, early on, to what extent the player can change the outcome of the game. You don’t need to tell players up front what outcome they can change or how they can change it; you just need to make it clear that they can affect the outcome. Multiple outcomes is one important concept game designers use to create more playable games. Years ago, most computer games provided only two outcomes—win or lose. For example, a video game like Asteroids or Pac-Man has but two outcomes—either the player finishes the game as a winner or the player gets wiped out. However, many of today’s games, especially interactive stories or RPGs,

can have several entirely different outcomes. Multiplayer games may continue indefinitely, offering players an ever-evolving experience based on their past actions, rather than reaching an absolute outcome. They might take the player on an entirely new adventure or introduce new interactive stories. For instance, if you are playing a war game and you are successful in a certain battle, you could receive a promotion in rank to Captain, Major, or General. A great example of how a player can affect the outcome of a game can be found in Microprose’s Pirates! by Sid Meir. In this game, you take on the role of a pirate captain as you lead your fleet of ships around the Spanish Caribbean battling other pirates, Spanish galleys, and such. The goal is not only to become rich and famous, but to rescue your lost siblings, marry a beautiful woman, and climb in the social ranks of your home country. At the end of the game, either by retirement or forced retirement, the computer tells you what you accomplished during the game and how this has made you a rich, famous, healthy, and happy person in your later years. The outcome changes each time you play the game and thus makes the game more fun and interesting to play.




The Role Of Achievement The underlying goal of playing any game is to achieve something. Success is an ingredient in every game, no matter how it’s designed. Success can take on many different forms. It can be as simple as defeating a major opponent, accumulating points, or moving up to higher levels. When you design achievement into a game, it works in many ways. You can offer multiple achievement goals, like the ones indicated in Pirates!, or you can provide progressive achievements, such as a special opponent at the end of a level, followed every three levels by a “main monster” style opponent, and finally by some “master monster” style opponent at the end. Achievement is a major cornerstone of a game’s process, no matter what forms of achievement that game offers. Achievement means more than winning. It also involves the seemingly natural progression of increased success, as players become really good at a game. Some games offer actual outcomes that are based on achievements made during the course of the game; other games (like many sports titles) have definite achievements like winning a game or the championship, but also can include achievement levels like becoming a really good pitcher or beating friends. What’s important about this notion is that achievement in a game shouldn’t happen in sudden large jumps. It’s a progressive process that happens over a defined amount of time. Additionally, it’s important to understand that a game has to allow for 100 percent achievement by at least threequarters of its potential players. After all, a game isn’t supposed to be anticlimactic because it’s too tough. Players want challenges they can see as clearly surmountable.

TIP: Basic human nature pushes us to achieve. It is not part of human nature to take on an event if no perceivable form of achievement can be gained by doing so. Moral: Don’t design games to deliberately sell cluebooks!

The Role Of Failure The phrase “Game over” is probably the most infamous one introduced by computer games. From their early days, games based on competitive achievement, or any type of achievement, have allowed for varying degrees of failure.

The role of failure in games is an interesting one. In his game Balance of Power, Chris Crawford decided not to present players with a nuclear explosion. Instead, he provided a black screen and terse note that said blowing up the world was not an appropriate reward. Cinemaware’s King of Chicago presents a very chilling scene of a player getting the electric chair. The scene fades to bright white. The first time a player encounters this scene, he or she knows they’ve failed and lost the game. In many games, failure is treated primarily as a setback to the ultimate outcome. In the game Ultima, for example, dying transports you back to the castle of Lord British for a quick resurrection. This evolved because people saved games and then restarted them, thus making ultimate failure moot. It also developed from what we described earlier: Games need to present players with a sense of progress; they can’t be insurmountable. Changing The Circumstances Many games allow the player to control or change the circumstances or parameters of play. Players like to be able to modify the playability of their games, whether this involves simply changing the number of “lives” they can have, or changing all the statistical elements in a war game. By changing the circumstances, designers can offer players features like: • The ability to modify the difficulty of the game • The ability to change the environment of play • The ability to modify levels or game characters Problem Solving We’ve spent some time talking about achievement and failure. One aspect of that paradigm is found in problem solving. While problem solving is most often associated with products like puzzles, it is also a key ingredient in other types of games, including adventure, RPG, and strategy games. For the developer, problem solving involves clearly defining some sort of challenge for the player and communicating the means by which the problem can be solved. Thus, a major element of game design is to create interesting and challenging problems with logical solutions that the player can eventually figure out by playing the game. If the solutions are too easy, the player will finish too quickly and go on to someone else’s games (your competitor’s, perhaps). On the other hand, if the solutions are too difficult to figure out, the player will give up in frustration. This may sound obvious, but many games have puzzles or challenges that are illogical, or just too difficult for the players. For game players, problem solving is directly related to the roles of achievement and failure. People don’t mind the risk of failure (it’s part of the challenge). But if achievement is impossible, a problem becomes irresolvable and, hence, a roadblock. One interesting approach is to construct problems that require the players to draw on their existing knowledge of how the world works. For some games, it’s acceptable to confine problem-solving knowledge to knowledge of the game itself.

However, there are many games, particularly adventure games or “interactive stories,” where you can present real-world puzzles. An example of this is the classic puzzle of being trapped in a giant pit with a board and a rock; a stream of water drops into the pit and then flows into some sort of drain. The player takes the rock and covers the drain, filling the pit with water and using the board to float to the top. A very simple example, but consider constructing these types of puzzles, especially when challenging people who aren’t avid gamers.

TIP: When you make the player an integral part of the problem-solving process, you increase the chances that the player will get hooked on your game. An example of a game that does this well is SimCity.




More About Puzzles It’s best way to think about puzzles as interactive dilemmas. Essentially, you’re providing a situation that offers a unique outcome, based on the choice of the player. Whether you offer a complex brainteaser or a simple jump scheme to traverse a treacherous section of a game world, the player is offered one of three possible outcomes: • Ultimate failure—Either the game ends or the player gets frustrated and quits altogether. • Acceptance of the consequences for failure—Players take the penalty and continue on. • Success at solving—Players overcome the challenge presented and progress toward the ultimate outcome of the game itself. Role Playing And Entering Other Worlds Perhaps the most fundamental appeal of computer and video games is escapism. Most games are roleplaying games, casting you into an imaginary world or situation. People play games for the same reason they go to movies or read books: Humans have an imagination, and most people need to have their imaginations stimulated. While movies and books accomplish that, games take imagination one step further and actually allow players to participate. From a game design standpoint, this means it’s important for you to convince players that they have crossed over to another world. Whether it’s as simple as a shoot-’em-up or as complex as Brøderbund’s courtroom product, In the First Degree, one of the goals is to create a different world, and, within it, a role that the player assumes. Suspension Of Disbelief We just talked about entering other worlds and the distinct human trait of imagination. The ultimate incarnation of this idea is a common design term heard in the game development crowd: suspension of disbelief. When game designers talk about the suspension of disbelief, they are describing what we would call an “imaginative state.” This is the point where a player’s consciousness lapses into the world of the game environment; he or she actually believes they are experiencing another place. Now, you can laugh at this notion, or, conversely, you can say it will be entirely possible when virtual reality hardware arrives. Both notions are a little extreme. Authors, and before the written

word, storytellers, have been able to create the same state in their audiences. Have you ever told ghost stories in front of a campfire, in the middle of the woods? Do it well enough, and you’ll start seeing shadows. Personal Experiences Another core component of game design is the personal experience the player has with the product. There are three key areas of personal experiences that most relate to games: • Having fun—You don’t have to be a rocket scientist (or have worked at Rocket Science Games) to understand that a game has to be fun. Defining fun is, of course, a subjective experience. Only play testing will determine whether a product is indeed fun. It’s important to understand that a game only needs to be fun for those people who will play it. If you’re designing a game specifically for women, you won’t include the same elements that make a game fun for young boys. • Learning—Not every game needs to be a learning experience in the pure educational sense of the term. Instead, think about what all good games require you to learn in order to conquer that game; for instance, finding out the weaknesses of opponents, or figuring out the answer to a puzzle. In both cases you want to plan these events. If you want the player to learn the computer’s weaknesses, you must deliberately plan what those weaknesses are. • Exploring—The most important component beyond fun is the personal experience of exploring an alternate reality. As mentioned a short while ago, we all go to movies or read fictional books for one major reason: escapism. Games offer the ultimate in escapism by combining amazing graphics, artificial intelligence, 3D sound, and wild imaginations with interactivity. Exploring is a key component. Here is my game, explore it, become consumed by it, cast away the world you’re in, and assume a life exploring my world. When you’re constructing a game, you are in essence building a new world to be explored.

Is That All There Is? There is much more to game design than these basic notions. Game design is incredibly subjective, and so far you’ve been exposed to only a few basic thoughts on design. Like any good student, you should continue to search and explore to broaden your knowledge.

One note: All knowledge and inspiration for game development doesn’t come only from reading about game design or playing games. Game design is the renaissance art of the information age. A true renaissance artist is a jack of all trades, and that personality type consumes massive amounts of thought from diverse sources. You’ll do best to search for design ideas and stimuli beyond the small amount of material written specifically about game design. In other words, to create a world, you must experience one!




CHAPTER 6 Storytelling, Design Details, And Interface Design The Art Of Storytelling Storytelling is one of the most basic human activities. Perhaps the most demonstrable difference between humans and animals is the ability to imagine things and describe them to other people. (After all, when was the last time your cat told you a good story?) Cave paintings created 100,000 years ago were possibly the first type of recorded stories. From these humble beginnings, we have evolved into creatures capable of telling interactive stories—perhaps the most sophisticated tool in the history of storytelling. Most games use some sort of story line in one of two ways: either as a simple background tale to enhance the game, or as an entire script to create the interactive flow of the game. In games that use a story line to embellish or explain the circumstances, the story adds a nice element but it is not really essential. For example, most arcade side-scrolling games like Donkey Kong Country or Sonic the Hedgehog are based on some sort of simple story line. This gives the game a little more depth and makes it more fun to play. However, if the story were removed, the game could still stand on its own. The action is the interactive element that makes players want to continue playing the game. These types of games present their stories in the manual or perhaps with some “cut scene” animations and text sprinkled throughout the game. The second category of games uses stories as the central interactive element. These games are stories. Some examples include Sierra’s Quest games or Origin’s Ultima series. In these games, the main goal is for the player to advance through the story. The game designer’s job is to create (or use) a story that gets the reader hooked on the game. Often, the player becomes one of the characters in the story, which greatly contributes to the interactive nature of the game.

TIP: When creating interactive fiction games, you can draw on many of the effective concepts used in theater, television, and movies to make your games more dynamic. Many successful game developers, like Starr Long, the producer of Origin’s Ultima Online, or Annie Fox, who designs for a number of companies, come from theater backgrounds.

A simple variation of story-based games are those that use stories to string together various sections of the game. For example, many simulation games now incorporate story lines to enhance the action. In one of these, a player might fly a series of missions, connected together with a story line, in a flight simulator. This technique can help make a game seem more like a cohesive adventure rather than a series of separate activities. The overriding goal is to keep the player as stimulated as possible by using a story line to enhance the game play. No matter how you choose to incorporate a story into your game, it’s important to give it the proper synergy with the underlying game. For example, a story explaining the premise of an action game needs to be good but simple—you don’t want the story to be too involving for younger actionoriented players, and you don’t want it to overshadow the central element of the game itself. If you’re writing a story-based game, such as an RPG, the story has to be very involving. The success of this genre game will ride as much on the story told as the game play itself.

TIP: Don’t underestimate the amount of help a professional writer or storyteller can provide for your game. Many of today’s story-based games include the work of writers with extensive storytelling experience.

If you’re on a shoestring budget, you might see if you can find a writer willing to work with you or advise you for free, or for a royalty cut. Most writers deserve to get paid, and veteran game writers/ designers will almost never work for free. But you may find some new writer willing to help, in return for the opportunity of exploring a new avenue. How Games Make Stories Interactive When designing a game that is essentially a story, it’s important to understand what makes a story interactive. In the previous chapter, we discussed some of the more fundamental game design features, including achievement, failure, and changing the outcome. By combining these concepts with a story, you can create very effective and entertaining interactive stories.

TIP: You may ask what comes first in an interactive story, the story or the game? In a true interactive story, the story comes first. For a game that uses a story as embellishment, both components can be developed at the same time.

Other ingredients that help to make stories more interactive are the essential game play components, including decisions, skills, puzzles, problem solving, and more. Without them, your game will come across as a dull electronic book. The story requires a level of input and response from the player to unfold and progress. In a sense, the player controls how the story is told.




Linear And Nonlinear Storytelling Two common concepts used by game designers who create interactive stories are linear and nonlinear storytelling. These design concepts are actually used in all areas of game design; however, they are most applicable when we discuss the techniques of game storytelling. A game that is based on a linear story essentially relies on a straight story line, with no deviation or variants. The story is told, some interaction takes place, and depending on the outcome, more story is provided. This process continues until the final story element is presented. This linear approach is used by a majority of interactive story games. Nonlinear story games, on the other hand, are games in which the player doesn’t necessarily follow a specific order to complete the game. Multiple routes are possible and along the way the player must solve various puzzles or problems. In many cases, not every route needs to be investigated. Unlike a linear story, the object of a nonlinear story is to maintain some sort of overall story, but to allow players the freedom to pursue various paths as they wish. Game designers frequently debate what exactly is and isn’t a true nonlinear story line. Some designers feel that a story having multiple routes or variable outcomes is not really different from a linear story line. The player still follows a mostly predefined route, even if the sequence may differ from game to game. For our purposes though, you simply need to understand that a linear story line offers the player no choice regarding the route and outcome of a game. A nonlinear story line, on the other hand, always offers choices so that the player feels like he or she can constantly affect the journey through, and the ultimate outcome of, the story. The best way to think of any game, in relation to these two concepts, is to view them as opposite forces, then figure out what mix of the two your game will have, as shown in Figure 6.1.

Figure 6.1 The opposing forces of linear and nonlinear storylines. Creating Good Game Stories

Some amazing and highly entertaining stories have been made into games. For example, Raymond Feist’s Betrayal at Krondor was a major adaptation of his book. On the other hand, we have some great stories that are only known as games. Ultima IV falls into this category. Both game stories are excellent, yet they were created by two different processes: One was a story turned into a game and the other began as a game story.

How Well Can An Existing Story Be Adapted To An Interactive Game? Many games are built from original works of fiction for marketing and sales reasons. Think about it; books become popular because they present good (or at least entertaining) stories. Once a game developer knows that a particular story is popular, he or she can justify doing the hard work to adapt the story to the computer screen. This is what you might call a safe bet. After all, the game developer should have a ready market for the game—the diehard fans of the original book! Keep in mind, though, that the key to success is in picking a story (or book) that can properly be turned into an interactive game. As with movies, games that are based on books usually require changes to the story to make it work in a different medium. Recall that in the previous chapter we discussed the importance of being able to affect the outcome of a game. The challenge is that stories are linear; they start on page one and always finish on the last page. A game doesn’t necessarily do that. It may end on page 20, 145, 542, or 234. Where it ends depends on the player. So right off the bat, any book will need some adapting. Even if the final outcome of your game is the same as the book, you will need to add plot twists, pitfalls, obstacles along the way, and other modifications. Additionally, you might need to change the ending or provide different levels of endings. Then, people familiar with the original work won’t be predisposed to the game’s final ending. Wouldn’t it be cool to take a tragic ending of a Shakespearean play and make the player’s goal to overcome the fatal flaw of the central character? Games are great vehicles for placing the players into a familiar story line and giving them a “What if?” potential outcome.

How Well Can A Story Emerge From A Game? From a player’s perspective, it’s hard to find a good interactive game that is driven by the story. Instead, every great game story is driven by the game play. The story emerges from the game; the game doesn’t emerge from the story. This factor is crucial to good game stories. The very notion of interactivity means that the decisions and skills of the player will move the story in a certain direction. Thus, the game becomes the interface for the story. The player interacts with the game, which then results in the game presenting the actual underlying story back to the player. This is a very different approach from writing a book or reading one from beginning to end. While a writer may indeed divide a book into component scenes, he or she never has to think about the book being read in a different order, or the need to pose multiple outcomes for the story. In addition, a book writer doesn’t have to worry about how the reader’s skills will affect any part of the story. Understand that successful game stories can draw upon other successful stories or can be entirely

new. Either way, how you present the story and allow the game to drive it back to the player will determine the success of the story. Toward those ends, this chapter contains ideas and advice for presenting stories as games.




Dramatic Unfolding Believe it or not, many games tell the player their complete story up front. This is typically done in the manual or in the game’s opening sequence. For example, the introduction to a manual might tell you something like this: Mort the evil wizard has brought darkness to the land by killing the good King Owen and now it’s up to you to get the great pink staff from the bottom of dungeon Dweezil and use it to kill Mort! Did you ever see a murder mystery in which the detective knows at the start who killed the victim? This would make a rather boring show since you’d be watching the detective fill out paperwork or something equally tedious, instead of learning how to solve the who, what, where, and when of the crime. Too few game designers use techniques of dramatic unfolding. Perhaps it is because many game designers are overly concerned about making their game stories easy to understand, and thus they don’t think about using techniques to keep the player in suspense. A well-designed game places the player in a situation where something is wrong and requires the player to spend time finding out exactly what is wrong. Then, as the problem becomes clear, the player can logically figure out how to change the outcome. This creates an excellent sense of drama and mystery that too few games incorporate.

The Art Of Design Details Now that your general outline is set, you need to figure out the details of your plan. Let’s take a moment to look at some of the more specific decisions you’ll need to make during your early game design stages. We’re not going to discuss all the details now but we want to start you on the road to making the right design choices. Graphical Design Decisions The most important initial game design decision is how the graphical display should be created. Ninety percent of human sensory perception is through sight. And, a more mundane fact, good graphics sell games (even bad games, unfortunately). The graphic abilities of hardware have

improved dramatically. Therefore, many games are rapidly incorporating sophisticated highresolution graphics. This is true even for games that typically don’t require a lot of graphics. It’s pretty straightforward to incorporate graphic realism in most nonfiction material, such as sports events. These games use techniques like motion capture and digital video. But for fiction-based products, there are many different ways to design graphics, interfaces, animation, and background scenes. In many situations art is better than realism. People enjoy games as works of art (just see Myst if you doubt this). As better graphics have allowed for more realistic images, they have also allowed for even more impressive artwork. For example, why not design a game about the Middle Ages, where the characters are animated tapestry representations instead of digitized actors? This is the type of creative decision making that you can incorporate into your designs. Don’t assume that rendering reality is necessarily the best option. The resurgence of animation in the movie industry is a great indicator that the public has a large appetite for characterized or artistic forms of imagery in storytelling. One of the most crucial decisions you need to make is what view (or mix of view types) a game will have. Before computers became as powerful as they are today, this decision was very simple. But today’s computers and consoles allow designers to create very different games with different view types. Let’s explore the various types and identify some key points about each one: • 2D Side Scrollers—Side scrollers are basically used for arcade-style games. Figure 6.2 shows a screen shot of a more traditional 2D side scroller. These games provide multiple levels that the player can advance to as he or she progresses through the game. Typically, each level has its own unique artwork and often new characters (or bad guys) are introduced at each level.

Figure 6.2 Jazz Jackrabbit is a good example of a standard side scroller with multiple levels of adventure. • 2D Top Down—Top down games can come in two flavors: top down view and top down/ side view. With the standard top down view, the player looks at everything top down. This is like standing on top of a tall building and looking down on the ground. With top down/side view, a map is rendered in 2D and the objects on the map are rendered as side or front views. Figure 6.3 shows two of Sid Meir’s games, Colonization and Civilization, which work well in the top down mode because they are based on a map navigational system.

Figure 6.3 These screens illustrate a common view for war games, RPGs, and other strategy map-oriented games like these from Microprose. • Third-Person Three-Quarter View—This view is basically a cousin of the top down view, but it has much more of a 3D look. The graphics are drawn at an angle to the floor to show a view. Origin has been using this view quite successfully in its latest Ultima games. As an example, Figure 6.4 shows how Ultima VIII uses this view. Games like SimCity and Bullfrog’s Syndicate have been using three-quarter views from the start.

Figure 6.4 This view from Origin’s Ultimate VIII shows a really nicely drawn three-quarter view. • 3D Point-Of-View “Step Engine”—This view is perhaps the precursor to what we now call the raycaster. Basically, the “walls” of the view are pre-rendered to certain angles, sizes, and lighting. Then, they are drawn on the screen depending on the x, y, and north, south, east, west position of the character. Movement is limited to 90-degree turns and the depth may take three to five steps to reach the furthest displayed object. This view was used in such early classics as Ultima, Wizardry, Dungeon Master, and The Bard’s Tale. Once faster machines made raycasting possible, this relatively simple graphic view was left by the wayside. • Point-Of-View Polygonal/Raycaster—This is the type of view made popular by many games like Castle Wolfenstein, Doom, Shadow Caster, and System Shock. It consists of a 3D view, with walls and floors, that moves smoothly with lighting and realtime line of sight. Despite the increasing popularity of polygonal-based 3D graphics, raycasters will continue to play a prominent role in gaming. Next-generation 3D raycasting engines, like Bethesda’s Xengine and id Software’s Quake, shown in Figure 6.5, bring further levels of detail and resolution to this graphical view. By using polygons instead of raycasted tiles, they can create far more realistic shapes.

Figure 6.5 This shot from Doom’s successor Quake is actually a polygonal version of the traditional raycaster view. • First-Person 3D Point-Of-View Polygonal—This view is used by generic flight-simulator games, as shown in Figure 6.6. Of course, most flight simulators can also display a thirdperson point of view, but the main simulator view is first-person.

Figure 6.6 A classic flight simulator—Microsoft Flight Simulator 5.1. • Third-Person Point-Of-View Polygonal Or Prerendered—With fast machines becoming available almost overnight, this view is quickly turning into the view of choice for most new games. Either by rendering on the fly (Quake) or prerendering the animations and then just blitting them to the screen (Origin’s BioForge), this presents a third-person view of any number of potential angles. Programmers like to call this technique true 3D rendering on the fly. This is an excellent view for fighting games or games that need to animate multiple characters on the screen at the same time.




Figure 6.7 shows an example of how lifelike graphics animations are created in Origin’s BioForge by combining motion capture with third-person views. This game is a cinematic adventure where you take the role of a Cyborg being. By using a third-person view, Origin was able to create different “camera angles” and produce a more movielike look and feel to the product.

Figure 6.7 Third-person point-of-view graphics created with Origin’s BioForge. Character Creation In the early days, few game designers were able to create characters or personalities out of the crude objects with which players interacted or controlled. Nevertheless, a few games did succeed in bringing personalities to life, such as Floyd the Robot from Infocom’s Planetfall. But for the most part, creating a real character in a computer game was tough. After all, what sort of attitude or personality was conveyed by Pac-Man? Today, computer games have the ability to render high-quality artwork and to display dazzling animation. Armed with large storage capacity, these machines offer designers a powerful tool for creating in-depth characters. And these characters are not just limited to interactive story games. Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog incorporates lots of little animated parts to bring out a more characterlike persona. For example, when left alone, Sonic looks at the screen and, rather peeved, taps his foot waiting for action. In the Ultima series, Origin has reworked their titles to bring out the character in its world’s inhabitants, many of whom, like Dupre and Iolo, span multiple works and have become household names among fans of the series. Game designers can no longer get away with creating one-dimensional static characters. Not only do players frown on 2D graphics, but on 2D characters as well. Let’s discuss some ways to design better characters for interactive games.

Give Your Characters Depth As you develop your characters, write everything in a journal or character bible and include as much

background information as you possibly can. Here are some questions you’ll want to ask about your characters: • • • • • • • • • • •

What is their life like? Are they married? What do they like and dislike? Are they friendly or mean? How do they interact with other characters? What personality quirks do they have? What kind of emotions do they express? Do they have any special talents? Are they generally happy or sad? Do they make people laugh or do they scare the heck out of people? Do they communicate well or do they have problems expressing themselves?

Come up with anything you can that will add to the character’s persona. Of course, not all of these traits will make their way into your game, but they will help you make your characters much more interesting. Your detailed personality descriptions will also help your art staff come up with ideas. The more three-dimensional you design your characters, the more that depth will flow through the game.

Give Your Characters Attitude People relate to characters that express a distinct attitude. Try to go for extremes—make your character especially angry or happy or impatient. The attitude you project greatly helps to define the “motion” for the character, and how the character interacts with the player and other characters and objects in the game. For ideas, look at a game like Sonic or Shiny’s hit product Earthworm Jim. Through ample use of whimsical animation, the main characters have an attitude to which players really respond.

Use Multimedia Sound To Add Depth In RPGs or interactive stories, you can use voiceovers by good actors to give your characters’ voices the proper emphasis. Voice is better than video for adding depth to a character in a story. It leaves open the ability to render a character with a distinct edge and quality through an actor’s voice—rather than relying on a real person’s appearance, which might not perfectly represent what you’re looking for.




Level Design Multilevel design literally adds a lot of depth to your games. If you haven’t yet, play around with some of the games that let you make your own levels. Certainly your game might be different, but the conceptual techniques and issues of designing levels are similar from game to game. Here are some of the more important issues of level design to consider: • What new characters and objects will be introduced? • What new obstacles will be added? • What is the basic layout? • How will the level of difficulty change (for example, will enemies multiply or come at the main character faster)? • What is the design and color scheme? • What will the background artwork look like? • What new animation techniques will be incorporated? • How will the player move from the current level to the next one? • What problems and puzzles need to be solved? Getting good at level design takes quite a bit of practice. The first key to successful level design is to get your hands on a good level editor. A level editor is basically a graphics program that allows you to interactively create all the key components for your level. Fortunately, many tools and examples are available to help you develop your skills. We’ll look at a few of the more popular ones in a moment.

Level Design Vs. Game Design Level design is a world unto itself. Programming a game and designing levels for it should not be considered the same skill set (although one person may possess both skills). There are many stories about developers making a fantastic game engine and level editor, but then bringing in the skills, or having another person develop the specific skills, of level design. It’s a specialty and should be treated as such in your development plans. Some designers like Richard Gray, Tom Hall, and American McGee are known industrywide for their level design prowess.

Level design is the art of taking the resources provided by the complete game engine, and applying the essential ingredients of puzzles and challenges that actually form the game. A game engine is not a game; the actual levels and challenges used by the game engine are the game. That’s why many companies have people who program the game engines and other people who design levels with those engines. Simulating Environments As games become more complex, and developers seek to build entire worlds and self-contained systems, the notion of simulating entire environments becomes more important. Notice that many of the leading developers in the business (Peter Molyneux of Bullfrog; Sid Meir of Microprose; Chris Crawford, Richard Garriot, and company) are now talking about building games with realistic underlying systems, in addition to realistic graphics. There are two distinct types of simulation. The first requires the use of readily available statistical databases and easy-to-define formulas. One example of a game built on this model is a baseball simulation, in particular Electronic Arts’ Earl Weaver Baseball. The world of baseball can be realistically simulated because the statistical data is easily available. You can devise formulas for concepts, like the physics of a hit ball or the speed of a shortstop, fairly easily. The other type of simulation is represented in games like SimCity, which are much harder to create. The data used in such a game is much harder to gather and model into a coherent system of simulation. The challenge of simulation games is in creating algorithmic representations of the world. So instead of having a table of set prices for swords and shields in an RPG game, you would need to include an entire economic system based on the real-world principles of classic supply and demand, and then have the game determine the prices dynamically. From a design standpoint, simulation games require ingenuity and research—there aren’t exactly books filled with these types of formulas! However, a book written by Chris Crawford (Balance of Power: International Politics as the Ultimate Global Game) about his experience making the game Balance of Power can help you explore the thought process behind the algorithmic representation of environments. For those of you not familiar with it, BoP was a game about geopolitical war between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. To create the game, Chris had to come up with algorithmic systems that determine the success of insurgents in a given country, and many other factors. In the book, he provides detailed explanations of the actual formulas he developed, and the research and reasoning behind them. If you take the time to look at the bibliographies associated with some of the more simulation-intensive games like SimCity, you’ll discover the extensive research that was involved in the creation of these games. Simulating entire worlds takes extensive thought and care. After all, “playing God” is not easy. From the humble beginning of a game called Life, computer programmers have been charging forward to create artificial systems. Even looking back at games from the mid-’80s, you can easily see that game developers have a unique passion and approach to this problem. They may even be the ones doing the most groundbreaking work, whether they know it or not!




Algorithmic/Artificial Intelligence Compared To Scripting Creating interesting game environments and, especially, interesting nonplayer characters or opponents is one of the goals game developers have only recently begun to master. There are two techniques you can use to do this: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and scripting. The difference between them is similar to the difference between prerendered graphics and on-the-fly rendering. Scripting is easier to implement and has exacting detail. AI-based processing, on the other hand, is much harder to implement, but it offers some amazing possibilities. Deciding exactly how to use these techniques will probably take a fair amount of time. If you’re primarily a designer, you’ll probably leave some of this up to the programming staff, and concern yourself with only the desired end result. If you are determined to tackle some of these issues on your own, you probably have a lot of learning to do. Chris Crawford, who has over 10 professional games to his credit, has been tackling an AI-type storytelling scheme for over three years. Most games use a combination of scripting and AI. Scripting is used to define the actions and responses of characters. More specialized AI routines and algorithms are used to embellish those actions and make the characters appear to possess humanlike qualities and make decisions about their situations (perhaps then executing a specific script). Consistency Of Design In the movie business, continuity experts are used to make sure that all scenes are consistent with those that precede and follow them. These experts participate in the entire shooting process to prevent mistakes from being made. During the editing process, the continuity expert watches each scene closely and takes precise notes to spot and fix errors. (And despite this, mistakes are often made, such as an actor walking out of the pouring rain into a saloon for a quick drink, and then walking back out into a bright sunny day.) Good games also demand consistent designs. Puzzles must be well integrated into a story, the artwork must be clean and accurate, sprites must be fine tuned and their movements must be adjusted, sound effects must be accurately timed, and so on. In short, nothing should appear out of place. The logic or

strategy needed to finish or excel at the game must be consistent throughout the game.

Some Design Dilemmas One common way to approach game design is to think of it as a series of questions you must answer. These questions deal with the key dilemmas of game design. Game development, as said earlier, is best described as engineering oriented, and engineering is geared toward answering questions and solving problems. How Much Detail Do You Need? Again, Chris Crawford’s book, Balance of Power, provides a very interesting comparison of designing simulations and other games. As a designer, it is very important to understand the differences and challenges. In the book, Chris talks about the main dilemma in creating a simulation. He calls it “verisimilitude in detail.” The dilemma is this: How much detail is needed to make a simulation a good simulation? Put too much in, and it might be too simulative. Put in too little, and people will see it as “less real” and more gamelike. To take this idea further, consider the example of a simulation of a presidential election. People with a background in campaigning would love a game that had all kinds of detail in it, that really simulated every mundane detail in running a campaign. That detail is important to them, since they have such a deep understanding of the process. Now take the same product and put it in front of school teachers and their classes. The amount of detail they would want and accept is totally different. The additional content a political expert might require would push it away from being a “game” that many nonpolitical people would enjoy for its play value. Certainly some of this is a market decision. Early on you have to define the parameters of the market you want to reach. Even then you must consider technical and implementation issues. To produce an election game of the detail a campaign manager would find appealing would take a large amount of research and statistical data. When designing your game, you must decide up front exactly what amount of detail is required. Some game designers work this out by putting in the detail where it is most needed. For example, consider a submarine simulation. If you were going to make it very detailed in one area, what might that be? Of course the “Torpedoing Section.” You might make it easy to move the sub around and find ships to blast; but once you’ve found a ship, the game could allow you to get very involved in the process of firing torpedoes, since this is the focal point of a sub game anyway.

When Is A Task A Chore? In some situations, a game can become so real that the tasks in the game turn into chores. A game titled Falcon, from Spectrum Holybyte, is an incredible simulation that allows you to pilot an F-16

fighter. The simulation is so real that the player has to do many of the tasks a real pilot would do to take off. The work is so extensive that it takes a lot of fun out of the game for most players. While hard-core pilots may like it, chances are it’s too in-depth for the average gamer. Other examples of this defect can be found in some RPG games, where the player spends more time running “errands” than he or she does in real life. This isn’t to say these games aren’t good. Falcon is an amazingly accurate simulation, and many simulation fans crave this level of detail. Understand, though, that many games take the objective of realism a little too far. It’s a problem for many players when “tasks” become more like chores. Although you can see how the tasks contribute to the sense of realism, they end up being more of an impediment to the game. Again, this is a dilemma of having fun contrasted to stressing accuracy and realism. The most elegant games solve this problem by including settings for people to control the realism factors. The higher the setting, the more realistic a game becomes.

TIP: During the game development cycle, it’s important to test simulation games to see how people react to the tasks you put them through. If your tasks turn out to be too simple or complex, you can always adjust them during the testing stage.




Task Bottlenecks Look for “task bottlenecks” in your games. Task bottlenecks are of two types, necessary and hidden. The necessary task bottlenecks are the worst kind. These are the activities that a game requires you to perform over and over to progress through the game. An example of this might be found in an adventure game that adds some sort of gambling element as a way for players to increase cash. In this case, you might spend an entire day playing various tangential gambling games for the sole purpose of raising cash. Not exactly a diverse day, and it creates a bottleneck toward the true goal of the game. Hidden tasks are game flaws that allow players to gain a strategic advantage by repeatedly doing something, even if the designer never actually intended it. For instance, in Ultima III, the town of Death Gulch has some 35 chests of gold in it. In order to raise money quickly, a player can repeatedly rob the gold. It probably wasn’t meant as a game strategy, but it became the de facto way to play the game. Another similar example is in the original SimCity. Many players learned how to set up a city so that it would survive in a constant state year after year, neither growing nor worsening. Subsequently they would collect a net of $3,000 to $4,000 in a cycle. If you were the cheating type, you’d leave the computer on overnight and wake up in the morning with $200,000 in the bank (too bad this can’t happen in real life!). Again, the designers never meant for that to be an element of game play. The trick is to be vigilant for both types of task bottlenecks and put in place things that discourage this type of play. In the example of the Ultima town, the programmers could have made sure the chests were not replenished. In the case of SimCity they could have done several things; one was to add random events to keep the player from leaving a town on autopilot. (The game does have this feature, but it is optional.) Or they could have made it hard to sustain the town by allowing random issues to come up. In addition, they could have had the cash accumulate faster, thus not requiring long waits to raise substantial amounts of money. The bottom line is testing the product to see where players find repetitive tasks they tire of, or can use to circumvent various game problems. Most of the problems you find can be easily solved and will prevent the game from devolving into a series of chorelike repetitions. Applying Market Concerns To Game Design

Many times your designs will need to be altered to fit the demands of the marketplace. When you are designing a game to be sold, it’s important to remember that you must ultimately please your market, and not yourself or the other people working on the game. Your personal goal may be to please both, thus pleasing yourself, but make no mistake: You don’t buy your own game, someone else does, and they may have requirements and expectations different from your own. When incorporating market considerations into your designs, the first step is to know your market. Ask yourself: “Who is the average buyer of this game?” Then, try to make sure you consider their requirements. For example, let’s plan out a deep sea diving game and walk through the market considerations: • Game Summary—Deep Dive: A game about deep sea diving and searching for buried treasure. The object is to find all the loot you can before the evil underwater lost souls get you. • The Market—People who like diving, people who like adventure games, people who enjoy the ocean. Some general assumptions have been made. For example, this game should appeal to people who like adventure games. Thus, the game needs a detailed story—an essential requirement of adventure game fans. To appeal to people who like diving, you’d better make sure to give them a convincing simulation of deep sea diving. After all, people who like diving are experts and they can’t be easily fooled. As you design your game and evolve your target player profile, you will be forced to adapt your ideas and designs to their requirements. Sometimes this may take the game in different directions. Perhaps your original design didn’t have a story, it was a just a diving simulation. The market for adventure games is larger, so you may find yourself forced into adding a detailed story of mystery and intrigue. In today’s competitive market, many game companies are working hard to create games large numbers of people want to play. You can bet they combine market research with market-driven design adjustments to create software that people are requesting. Your personal views and opinions are certainly applicable, but don’t assume that the world is inhabited by people just like you. Assumptions like that can lead to disaster.

TIP: While it is risky to leave the confines of the traditional game-playing market, consider that you can appeal to entirely new markets of people if you combine a sizable interest with a new game idea.




Pleasing Hard-Core Gamers—The Pros And Cons As you are designing your game, make sure you consider the most important audience out there: the hard-core gamers. High-tech marketing doctrine tells us that the rule of thumb is to please the hardcore people, and they will, in turn, generate the enthusiasm to help sell the product. They will recommend the product to other people who may be less “hard-core” and who look to this group for help in making their purchasing decisions. Understand as well that by following this path, you may find yourself so eager to please a hard-core game fanatic that you fail to make a game that might be enjoyed by more casual players. For example, people might not enjoy a war game that takes 400 hours to complete or has over 100 different kinds of tanks. Instead of such a bloodfest, they might enjoy a really good linear story game, or a game about relationships between people. Sure there’s overlap, but more and more developers are looking to define breakthrough games that appeal beyond the core gaming audience. The fact that only a few games accomplish this each year shows how difficult it is. As you design a game, you’ve got to figure out who the audience will be. If you’re like most people who enjoy developing games, you’re probably a member of a hard-core group. You’ll need to force yourself to think beyond your own interests. Even if you’re looking to make a break from the types of games typically enjoyed by hard-core gamers, make sure not to leave out the key features expected by hard-core gamers and reviewers. While features like modem play or networking may only be used by a small percentage of the game market, reviewers and other hard-core gamers with considerable influence will look for them. You don’t want your otherwise-great game to be faulted in reviews and word of mouth. Overall, make sure you understand the types of elements and features that please the game experts. Then, purposefully decide where it makes sense to implement those features and where it doesn’t. The key word here is purposefully. Don’t guess or assume; define what is specifically needed and you’ll have the best chance to create games that please hard-core gamers and perhaps also break out and find newer audiences.

The Art Of The Interface Bill Volk, a veteran game developer, once wrote that the equation for a game is “Interface +

Production Elements = Games.” This is similar in spirit to the classic equation penned by the famous programming language designer Nicholas Wirth: “Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs.” Obviously Volk wasn’t saying that putting a game together is as simple as addition; he was stressing the importance of the interface in game design. His point is essentially: Your game is your interface. The interface is the gatekeeper of all the interaction in a game. Whether you are using a simple joystick scheme or a complete windowing interface with multiple input devices, your interface is the link between the production elements and the player. Interfaces can make or break games. Some years back, a game titled Dungeon Master debuted on the Atari ST. The product amazed people more for its interface than the game plot or graphics, which were excellent in their own right. The interface made the game interesting to play. To feed a player, you dragged and dropped a piece of food onto the player. To arm a player, you dragged a weapon into the player’s hand. These are interface techniques we take for granted today, but back then they were very innovative concepts. This was the first game (and the first software program for that matter) that proved to me how useful a point and click interface could be. Now that we’ve sold you on the importance of having a great interface, what are the ingredients and techniques you need to create one? We could fill an entire book with answers to this question. But there are some basic issues we can discuss to help you create more effective interfaces for your games. Housekeeping Housekeeping tasks set up or prepare a person to play a game. These include the initial setup, loading and saving games, configuring a game, and any online instructions or general documentation. Player Involvement The player involvement factor is probably the most important ingredient that goes into the interface. Essentially, it affects how the player controls the play of a game. Is it by keyboard, joystick, mouse, or a combination of these? Or could another type of input device be used? How do they ready a missile to fire? Is there a sequence of moves that launches a special move? Is there more than one way to do things? All of these questions of player involvement need to be addressed. Input Devices Because devices like keyboards, mice, and joysticks are so crucial, their use should be considered in great detail. It’s important to look at the range of available devices that control the play in a game—especially the new force feedback controls coming out. There are many types of PC joysticks, some with digital input, some that are analog, some with two buttons, and some with one. There are newer devices like full flight controls, steering wheels, and adapters that hook up to consoles to add as many as four to six joysticks for major in-house multiplayer opportunities.

TIP: As you design your interface, make sure you explore the wide range of devices capable of feeding input into the game. Force feedback devices are going to bring a host of new interface possibilities to gaming in the next couple of years. If you’re not examining these possibilities, you’re already a step from the cutting edge of interface design.

Getting A Player Started Fast When was the last time you picked up a new game and read the user’s manual cover to cover before you started the game? If you are like most game players, you probably jumped in head first and tried to figure out how the game works by interacting with the game’s interface. Game players aren’t typical software users. They aren’t interested in learning a lot of new features—they simply want to play! So when you’re designing your interface, make it easy for people to jump right in. Your number one goal should be to make the game and the interface as intuitive as possible. Sure, you can provide a manual, but don’t expect all of your users to read it. Let’s look at some guidelines to help you design interfaces that encourage users to jump right in.




Reducing The Effect Of Using A Computer One of the more abstract concepts of interactivity, and also one of the components of the “suspension of disbelief” concept, is reducing the effect of using a computer. Certainly, when we sit down at a computer, we are aware that we are using the computer to place ourselves in another world. When designing a game, especially its interface, the more you can make players forget they’re using a computer, the more enjoyable their experience will be. One developer was asked why his game came without a manual describing all the monsters and obstacles the players might encounter. He answered that every time the players took their eyes off the screen to reference a manual, they left the designer’s world, thus losing whatever suspension of disbelief they may have acquired.

TIP: Try to make the startup of your game fast and easy. The longer a player works to get into a game, the more apparent it becomes that it’s a game, not reality. You’d think this concept would be a no-brainer, but you still see it day in and day out.

Integrating Help Into A Game Incorporate your manuals into the game as much as possible. Reduce the need for the players to pull themselves away from the screen and input devices to access written text. This can be accomplished mostly through elegant design, but if needed, incorporate the text into the game. For example, if you are creating an adventure game, have the screen open up to a book of weapons or monsters or whatever. Or how about a flight simulator that uses voiceovers to instruct the pilot, like a real trainer would? “OK—ease back on the stick.” The idea is to integrate help into the game and make it part of the overall experience. Another example is if you have a map you want the player to use, don’t make it part of the documentation—incorporate it as a graphic on the screen.

Avoiding The Standard Interface When you design games in the Windows environment, it’s best not to use the conventional Windows interface. If you do, you are reminding players that they are using a computer. Use other objects for buttons and customize the dialogs. Avoid menus and similar elements that remind people they’re using computers.

Integrating The Interface The key message presented here is simple. For many application products, an interface is an absolute gateway to the product’s features. But for games, the goal is to integrate the interface more and more into the fabric of the game itself. As more people take to games, some with little, if any, traditional computer experience, interface issues become increasingly important.

The Evolution Of Game Design All of the items covered in this chapter progressed in an evolutionary (not revolutionary) fashion. Game design will move forward just as it always has. Developers will continue to push out new ideas and more refined versions of existing games. But how do you become a better designer? It’s becoming harder to find games that truly “break the mold” or ones that don’t repeat the same basic mistakes. The trick is to become far more deliberate in expanding your ideas and knowledge about game design. Here are some suggestion to help you enhance your knowledge so that you may build upon, and refine your game design ideas and skills, and hopefully participate in pushing forward the entire medium. Keep A Journal Writing things down (thinking out loud on paper) helps anyone refine ideas and thoughts. A journal is an essential development tool for every creative endeavor. Painters, writers, and musicians use them. As a game designer, you can’t afford not to use one. A journal needn’t contain only game design ideas; it should serve as a place to store ideas in general. When you write down an idea, it begins to take shape and come alive. The process of writing helps you organize and refine your thoughts. Some artists have actually turned their journals into publications. Chris Crawford published a monthly journal, which probably came from his more personal journal. John Carmack publishes his current thoughts on the Internet, weighing in on the latest technical obstacles and new features of his 3D game engines.




You’ve Got To Read No matter what field you’re in, you must read! There is a huge amount of material to keep up on. Although you’ve been presented with a lot of game-related material in this book, you shouldn’t confine yourself to one source. There is a wealth of game-related books and magazines listed in the reference section at the back of this book, to give you a starting point. Increase Your Interaction In the reference section of this book you will find listings for online sites, conferences, and associations that are frequented by developers. Whether you attend any of these simply to listen, or to participate, it’s increasingly important to make sure you’re interacting with people in this business. Just attending several roundtable discussions on game design at the Computer Game Developers’ Conference will help anyone involved in the game industry. It’s important to learn from the experiences of people who have years in the industry, especially if you are a beginner. Even for those of you who are old pros, there is more of a need than ever to share ideas with the industry, in an effort to grow the pie for everyone. Study People And The Market One method to help move game design into new areas is to study people and markets more. It’s important to understand that games are a product, and people who buy products have opinions and ideas that they’re willing to share. As any good marketing person knows, this information can provide keen insight and ideas for game design. As games move more toward mass markets, it’s important to understand that as artistic and creative as they may be, the needs of the marketplace drive the industry. Thus, it’s important to listen to the end users more and find out what’s on their minds and in their dreams. You may find it presents entirely new opportunities. Keep Up With The Industry Finally, it’s important to keep up with the computer and game industry. A lot of new design ideas and games are directly linked to the technology advances that enable them. If you’re not keeping up with

what’s going on out there, how do you expect to implement or come up with new ideas? For example, tomorrow some hardware company might announce a new technology that renders human actors in 3D (a technology Activision is already using). This includes lip-synching and a body motion engine. If you were up on this, you might design a game based on this technology, or apply this fantastic new technology to an existing game. Just remember, if you don’t keep up, someone else will. Do A Game We would be in a lot of trouble if we didn’t say that the best way to move game design forward is simply to develop, design, and construct a game. And make sure you finish it. No matter how bad, how simple, how slow, how great your finished product is, you will learn an immense amount simply by building a game on your own. So game design really moves forward by your ability to surround yourself with the information, tools, and ideas that allow you to build your skills, and, collectively, the industry as a whole. Aside from improvements in computer technology, there is no cut-and-dried sign of advancement in game design. It’s a slow, methodical process whereby developers learn, test their knowledge by practicing their craft, gain from the experience, and then start all over. The Process Of Evolutionary Design The process of evolutionary design teaches us that Rome wasn’t built in a day. A simple lesson, but let’s talk more about what it means to evolve a design. For most developers, evolving a design means specialization. Looking around at the industry, you’ll see that most companies specialize in one or several types of games. Even the larger companies specialize. Brøderbund, as big as it is, tends to focus on broad-based edutainment titles. Electronic Arts, which probably is the most diverse company in the industry, is actually a conglomeration of specific units dedicated to different types of games. For example, EA Canada produces most of the company’s major sports titles, while the Origin unit focuses on major role-playing games, and the subsidiary Bullfrog focuses on cutting-edge strategy games. Additionally, specialization in the industry means that more and more companies are focusing on game engine development. In this development strategy, companies focus on designing various games from an ever-improving underlying engine. Sometimes this means that existing code is upgraded, or it’s scrapped and started from scratch. But in both cases, the company attempts to build on the knowledge it gained from doing a specific type of game. This is usually achieved by adding a series of improvements that will generate a new game of higher quality.

The Future Strange as it may sound, recent talk around the industry has focused on the day when many of the technical issues about games are worked out, and the success of a game will boil down to its designs. In a recent Time magazine story, John Romero (a major designer of Doom and Quake) said that 3D

engines and technology would evolve into a computer equivalent of Technicolor. What he meant by this was clear—at some point the technical issues become taken for granted and the designers must present a compelling game, story, and characters to truly rise above the fray. While that time may be a little further in the future, it’s destined to come. What’s not destined to remain in the background is your idea or game design. That will always remain on an evolutionary track, striving for perfection.




CHAPTER 7 Tips For Successful Game Design Looking at all the fantastic games out there, you’d think that game design is a breeze! Let me be the first to tell you: It’s not. When you undertake a complex task such as developing a blockbuster game, you’ll have many issues to consider. We’ve covered many of these already, although one can never cover enough. In this chapter, we’ll emphasize some additional issues to consider when designing your games, including age and gender. We’ll also look at the different types of games, and discuss some key design ideas and trade-offs associated with each one. We’ve included what we think are benchmark examples of the key games in the key categories.

Playability—The Holy Grail Of Game Development The most crucial element of a game is playability. Unfortunately, this is not easy to assess in any specific component of a game; only after every piece of development is in place can you truly gauge the strength of a game’s playability. Playability isn’t just a measure of how much fun a game is to play, or how incredible the graphics are. It’s the sum of how fun, easy, challenging, and responsive the game is, and how much depth, stimulating graphics and sounds, and other goodies are provided. The key to playability is to strive for the best in every facet of your game. While a game’s ultimate playability cannot be fully determined until you ship it, testing and adjusting it during development will have a big effect. Every little detail can lead to an improvement in playability. Final Playability Doesn’t Become Apparent Until The End This is a twofold lesson. First, make sure to finish your game, unless the people who test your game all tell you that it’s really bad. You won’t ever find out how playable your game is until you’ve completed all the artwork, sound, graphics, and everything else. Second, the end result always proves that every little detail really counts. Players will nit-pick everything in a game, from the out-of-place pixel on the introduction screen to inappropriate sound effects. Anything that potentially detracts from a player’s overall gaming experience can harm the perceived playability of the game.

Test Early And Often—The Halftime Adjustment Your idea probably looks fantastic on paper, but once you start to implement it, things change—usually for the worse! Because of this, every major game goes through an extensive testing process. Even after a completed game document has been approved, companies constantly monitor a game’s development and make many adjustments throughout the development process. So try not to be too attached to your design, even when you have spent months developing it on paper. Something on the screen might not work the way you originally thought, or your perfectly planned animation might be too slow or awkward. Sometimes your testers are going to come back and tell you that your game is too easy, too stupid, too boring, and then some. Be prepared to alter your gameplan based on the feedback you receive. Sometimes the criticisms will be helpful and offer actual suggestions to make your game more playable. Other times they won’t be helpful. You’ll have to be the judge. Just understand that you should test your game’s playability during development, not after, when it’s too late to make crucial changes. Designing Content: Know Your Target Audience The best way to increase the playability of a game is to make sure that it is designed for a target audience. What works for one player may not work for another due to age, gender, educational background, and so on. Thus, some of the most important activities involved in designing successful games are researching and understanding the concerns, wants, and needs of your target audience. Let’s look at some issues involved in targeting games for age and gender. These are examples of how designers target their games and incorporate features that lead to more playable games.




Targeting The Appropriate Age Group The game market is wide open. You can design games for two- to four-year-olds, college-educated adults, or any age in between. Your considerations revolve not only around the maturity required by the situation of the game (complex sophisticated stories would not be for a preteen, for example), but also around such basic issues as manual dexterity (learning games for preschoolers, for example). Let’s look at some age distinctions first: • Early Preschool (ages 2 to 4)—This group has problems controlling the mouse, the keyboard, and other complex input devices. Thus, standard adult joysticks are beyond this group. They can’t type or read. So how do you design a game for them? Preschool children can use the arrow keys and find single letters on the keyboard, and they can use a mouse, if you design the hotspots to be very large. In fact, the hotspots should be no smaller than about 1/12th of the screen. However, speech is the easiest cue for early preschool games. Here are some rules for using speech wisely: • Your game should be so simple that it does not require instructions. Do not use spoken instructions as a substitute for an obvious interface. That said, do use simple phrases to lead the child through the game. • When there has been no input activity for a while, play a phrase telling the player what to do, like “Click on the cat” or “Press the A key.” • Use speech as a payoff. After the child has performed a task, say “That’s great,” “Good work,” or “You did it!” • Use speech to tell stories. • Have the characters in your game talk. This age group especially likes silly noises and words. Young children like bright colors and simple shapes. Unfortunately, publishers like detailed, high-resolution graphics—since their adult taste is quite different. Adults tend to equate complexity with a high price and thus quality. Your job as the game developer is to somehow satisfy both constituencies. Do not make the interface too busy and complicated. The early preschooler’s brain has not yet had a lot of experience making sense of complicated and detailed pictures. Use surprises such as pop-ups, random animation, clever sounds, and so on. Your players last year thought peeka-boo was completely entrancing and now love jack-in-the-boxes. Avoid frightening images. Children of this age are not ready to handle concepts like injury, death, separation, violence, monsters, witches, and bad guys. In fact, almost anything that is not friendly should be

avoided. • Preschool (ages 4 to 6)—Many of the principles that apply to early preschool apply to this age group. These children are becoming more coordinated and can recognize words (although you can’t count on reading). Some have become experts with the joystick and can manage a mouse better, so simplified arcade games are within their abilities. However, it is still a good idea to provide a keyboard interface as well as joystick or mouse controls. Since they may not yet read, a word recognition game is appropriate for this age. • Early Elementary (ages 5 to 8)—At this age, children may enjoy monsters and other bad guys as long as the enemies are “safe.” For example, in the game Word Rescue by Karen Crowther, the enemies are blobs that the player “slimes.” However, in Treasure Mountain, the pixies are friendly and humorous even when they are sneaking up on the player to steal a coin. It goes without saying that violence, injury, blood, and gore are out for this age group. • Elementary/Middle (ages 7 to 11)—These children have reached “The Age of Reason.” They are starting to develop their own peer culture and can think for themselves. At this age, kids begin to identify with the group that is older than they are. You, the designer, must be careful not to present material that is too “babyish.” Your characters should be just a little older than your target player. You can assume that this group reads, although not fluently. There is some controversy over whether the vocabulary should be watered down so that it is well within the child’s resources, or whether one should aim higher. There are arguments on both sides; use your best judgment. You are on solid ground whichever philosophy you choose to follow. • Teens (ages 12 and up)—This age group is acknowledged to be the hardest audience with which to achieve success. About the only games that have caught on are the Carmen Sandiego games. For this age group, the more nontraditional edutainment titles can be effectively developed and marketed to parents, who will buy them for their children. “Cool” is king with this group. Boys are most taken by games like Quake and Virtua Fighter where they can indulge in testosterone feats. Girls are more interested in social activities; sitting down at the computer is not often high on their list. The Internet and its social connotations have helped tremendously with the female segment of the market, but still the focus for this group is sans computer—which is the major challenge to overcome! Online games with social aspects seem to hold a great deal of promise in terms of appealing to girls. This age group is essentially adult in its abilities and brain power. In fact, these teens probably have superior computer skills than many adults. Games that have the best chance at hitting this market are ones that involve cooperative/ competitive play among a group. And yes, you’ve got the thumbs up for monsters, blood, and gore! What would Quake be without these elements? Multiplayer and modem games also fit the bill. • Adults (ages 17 and up)—These players tend to be well-educated adults. Their ability to enjoy and deal with more sophisticated stories and content allows you to pursue nontraditional themes—story lines that would garner a PG-13 or R rating in a movie. Despite the recent call for ratings, there is far more opportunity to create adult-level content. Obviously I’m not advocating a slew of soft-porn games, but think of some of the more sophisticated movies of the past few years, such as Pulp Fiction, Seven, Basic Instinct, Falling Down, and Disclosure, and try to imagine games that push the edge in a similar fashion.




Targeting Gender Considerations I have just a few pointers when it comes to this topic. If you want your game to span the ever-divided gender lines, take these considerations to heart: • Games should have both male and female protagonists. Some even allow the player to choose whether to play a male or female character. • You should not feature significant blood and gore. • You should not feature significant fighting. • Try to avoid gender stereotypes; the male should not always be the leader, the female should not always be portrayed as a sex symbol. • Try to include humor (but not gross-out bodily function humor).

Acquiring Your Own Targets Although game design can be a very intuitive and creative field, you can employ a calculated and deliberate approach to many of the design and development tasks. For example, target a distinct audience and tailor your game for this audience. Then research the market, come up with a detailed plan of action, and execute your plan based on the guidelines determined by your research. Your job is to be creative as you produce a game that your target audience is going to enjoy. But in order to make a product appealing, you have to understand exactly what appeals to your audience. How do designers do this? Here’s a list of suggestions: • They usually make games that they like themselves, serving as their own target audience. • They communicate online and in person with their target audience. They find out the game and non-game interests of this audience. • They carefully ask for, and catalog, consumer feedback from previous game efforts. • They religiously play and evaluate other games. • They constantly read the reviews and opinions found on online services and in magazines. • They attend conferences to exchange ideas and meet with market researchers who can inform them about what interests people. Games are very subjective experiences. That’s what makes them exciting to play as well as to make. No one will ever come up with the 100 percent proven formula for game development success.

However, if you’re careful, creative, and passionate about creating great games, you’ll find a formula for success that works for you and your target audience.

Looking At Each Game Type There have been a lot of game types over the years. Some were obvious genres, like sports games, while others have evolved out of nowhere, such as God games like SimCity. Some titles have proved to be interesting hybrids that combine elements from all types of major games to hopefully create something new. While no one likes to be pigeonholed, it’s important to break down the popular categories and identify what distinguishes top games in each one. While we’ve tried to identify as many top developers and games as possible in each category, forgive us if we’ve missed some. What’s important isn’t necessarily that every title gets mentioned, but the fact that developers should stay up on the best of the past titles as they look for new ones that set the standard in games. Benchmark games are most important because they give you a good sense of what works and what doesn’t in today’s most popular categories. 3D “Point-Of-View” Games Almost every category of game (you’ll learn about all the categories in this chapter) is going 3D these days, but 3D point-of-view games originally built around raycaster engines have evolved into a genre of gaming that is continually popular, even as the engines themselves move into ever more powerful polygonal, Octree, and Voxel technologies. The idea is to put players in a 3D-like atmosphere where they can walk, turn at any angle, and move forward and backward in a fluid motion of unbelievable speed. Although you could also include these games in other categories (for example, Bethesda Softworks’ Arena is a raycasting game that is also an RPG), the number and success of these games has earned them their own category. And, as has been evident by the stunning hit status of Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, Duke Nukem, and Quake, and the emergence of other major 3D games, this new category of gaming is hot. The majority of 3D point-of-view games have been sci-fi-based shootouts. Following closely behind are fantasy-based games, though recently with projects like the western motif of Outlaws from LucasArts, developers are beginning to branch out. Here are some of the benchmark 3D point-of-view games: • Wolfenstein 3D—Wolfenstein 3D was the game that put id Software on the map. It was an instant shareware (and later retail) hit, and thus helped prove that shareware games could be as good, and even better than, retail games. Wolfenstein 3D also proved that game companies who used shareware marketing techniques could make money. Wolfenstein 3D uses a freemoving first-person perspective in a maze-type setting. The walls of this environment are beautifully texture mapped with high-resolution graphics that make people really take notice. • Doom—There is little doubt that Doom created a stir when it came out. Developers like it, not so much for its awesome speedy graphics, but mostly because it encapsulates so many

things that make any game a major hit: It’s easy to get hooked on, it supports multiplayer action, it has detailed level design, it is extendible, and, of course, it’s fun! Figure 7.1 shows an example of the action-packed Doom.

Figure 7.1: id’s Doom was a blockbuster benchmark game.

In the traditional Wolfenstein 3D approach to rendering scenes, walls are treated as individual bitmap images. Walls must be placed at grid points in a 2D map. This type of representation works well for creating scenes that are based on geometric shapes. Doom, on the other hand, treats walls as line segments, with endpoints that are no longer restricted to grid points on a 2D map. This allows the 3D rendering to look more realistic and it gives the player more freedom of movement. • Xengine from Bethesda and Quake from id. While the first two waves of raycasting games were developed by using large graphical blocks, this third wave of games incorporated a much smaller polygon graphics engine to do the work. Not only does the engine tremendously increase the flexibility of the shapes you can form, but the lighting and “pixelation” effects are taken to a much higher level. Figure 7.2 shows a screenshot of id’s Quake.

Figure 7.2: Quake uses a polygon-based 3D engine.




1998 Benchmarks There are a number of major 3D games that people will expect big things from in 1998. The next generation of the Quake Engine will be seen in products like Quake II (id), Daikatana (ION Storm), Hexen II (Raven/Activision), and Duke Nukem 3D II (3D Realms/GT). Then there are the newer engines, which include Unreal (Epic/GT Interactive), shown in Figure 7.3, and the Prey engine coming from 3D Realms later in the year. While there are bound to be others, including more talk about John Carmack’s next generation Trinity engine, already there are many new titles getting ready to try to raise the bar in this category.

Figure 7.3: Epic’s Unreal is among a slew of titles being released that challenge the leaders in the 3D point-of-view category. 3D Point-Of-View Game Design Issues Designing 3D games involves a number of techniques, from high-resolution graphics to fast-action animation. Although the 3D scenes presented in these different games may vary widely, the basic techniques of playing and designing these games are similar. The more obvious components include rendered walls, floors, ceilings, movable objects, and stationary objects. Of course, these games also take advantage of a number of other visual and nonvisual features, including story lines, sound effects and music, story levels, 3D animation, secret doors, and so on.

Speed, Power, And Simplicity The key factors in designing games like Doom and Rise of the Triad seem basic enough: Marry great 3D-like graphics with a speedy and powerful rendering engine and provide for a great but simple gaming system. Add to it dynamic multiplayer abilities and excellent level design and let ’er rip. Of course, this is much easier said than done, and that brings us to a key point: Just because Doom seems like a relatively simple design doesn’t mean it is.

One designer categorized these games in a really succinct way: “They’re playground games.” She was using the analogy of a big defined space that contains all the apparatus for gameplay within it. The rules are simple and it’s designed for interaction between others.

Graphics Power After Doom debuted, many knockoffs appeared. Although some of these games were good in their own right, none seemed to capture the feel and play of Doom. This is an excellent example that proves, even in a category dominated by the graphical power of the underlying game engine, attention to design and level editing is crucial. I once spoke with one of the top-level designers at id and came away from the conversation really understanding their dedication to superior game design. The designer talked about the attention they put into level design. Despite the number of excellent editors and utilities to design new Doom levels, only a handful (perhaps as little as 1 percent) of the levels were good enough to make it into the actual game. Far too often, developing a game that emphasizes high “eye-candy” content is shortsighted. Give your players more credit, and provide them with a superior overall game. We guarantee they’ll keep coming back for more.

Lost In A Maze Many game developers refer to 3D games as maze games because they often take place in a mazelike environment. Creating a 3D game like Doom or Wolfenstein 3D involves building a maze and then deciding where in that maze you want to put different objects. Many developers create design editors, as shown in Figure 7.4, for laying out the borders of the maze. Although the maze is set up as a 2D representation, objects are rendered in a 3D-like atmosphere when the game is played.

Figure 7.4: A third-party, or built-in, level editor is a common part of almost any 3D point-of-view shooter product. The components that give shape to a maze in a 3D world are rooms, walls, floors, ceilings, and so on. Rooms are constructed by placing walls in a maze. The walls themselves are created out of rendered bitmaps. Essentially, a wall is a stationary object that can be placed only at a boundary point in a maze grid.

Multiple Levels Of Adventure

Most 3D point-of-view games provide multiple levels of adventure to keep players challenged for hours, days, and even weeks. Each level of a game can be constructed from a different maze. As the player successfully works his or her way to the end of one maze, the game can advance the player to the next level, where he or she can encounter the next maze and take on new obstacles. The levels are important because they give the game a change of scenery and help the game from becoming visually boring. In this respect, many 3D games are not all that different from arcade-style side scrollers, where the main goal is to navigate your way through a level until you collect enough points to move up to another level. All of the standard tricks can be used, such as making a player locate and pass through a secret door to move to another level or capture a hidden object. If you are really into violence, you can design a game so that the player has to wipe out all of the aggressive villains in order to move up to a new level.

Looking Toward The Future Overall, the future of 3D games will bring not only multiplayer and polygonal additions, but increased speed in the 3D engines being developed. Many of these newer versions will support 3D accelerator cards like the 3Dfx and some are already running on OpenGL-based boards. Other items to look for are better editors for customization (like the new Unreal package from Epic/GT Interactive) and more advanced AI of the monsters. Prepare yourself. The future of this game category is soaring.




Adventure Games And Interactive Fiction Adventure games are among the oldest and most popular type of game in existence. Ever since William Crowther, a programmer at Stanford University, created what became known simply as Adventure, developers and players have been fostering the interactive story. Generally, adventure games are “story based.” By this, we mean that the player moves through the game as if he or she is a character in a story. The story line, which often focuses on current-day scenarios like detective/police stories and horror stories, contains various interactions and puzzles that the player must solve before concluding the adventure. The character under the player’s control tends to maintain his or her (or its!) initial characteristics and skill level, unlike RPGs, which we will discuss later in the chapter. Although the content and unfolding of the story are the most crucial aspects of the game, adventure games also rely on considerable animation to keep players visually involved. Here are some of the benchmark adventure games: • The Infocom Series—The original adventure in the series was Zork, a more sophisticated version of the venerable Adventure game. Zork was a big success and led to some of the more memorable titles in this category: Planetfall, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and The Leather Goddesses of Phobos are among my favorites. Although the games were all text—even though other companies were merging text and graphics—they made a huge impact by producing some of the most memorable games and game characters ever.

TIP: Check out a fan page for the Infocom games maintained on the Web at www.csd.uwo.ca/ ~pete/Infocom/. It has a lot of links and information about this awesome series of text adventures.

• The Sierra Quest Series—Sierra, which has published a number of different games over the years, entered the adventure market with many titles, including Ultima II. Their greatest hit, though, was their Quest series, a product line that continues today. It started with King’s Quest and later, as the series progressed and a sophisticated construction engine and interface were

created, the series expanded to include other masterful products like Space Quest, Police Quest, and Hero’s Quest. Sierra mastered high-end animated graphics, which, back in the days of the Apple II, were quite impressive. Sierra is currently building the next generation of their Quest series, using not only Disney-like animation but full-motion video as they continue to push the edge of graphic quality that players of their games have come to expect. They are also using authors like former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates to help make games like Police Quest much more realistic. Figures 7.5 through 7.7 show some of the screenshots from several of Sierra’s Quest games, as well as Phantasmagoria. Notice the full-screen graphics, the well-drawn figures, and almost “Disney-like” artwork. Overall, most of the games have a similar look to their overall presentation. Finally, look at the latest digital video approach embraced in Phantasmagoria.

Figure 7.5: A scene from King’s Quest VI.

Figure 7.6: A scene from Police Quest.

Figure 7.7: A scene from Phantasmagoria. • Monkey Island/LucasArts Series—Lucas Arts has had some memorable adventure titles over the years, but the most notable was the two-part series of adventures called Monkey Island. They were scripted by Ron Gilbert, who went on to cofound Humongous Entertainment. LucasArts has also made some other memorable adventure games, including Sam and Max (recently turned into a cartoon series), the Indiana Jones series, The Dig, and Full Throttle. All of the LucasArts games have excellent graphics and animation, but most of all, from what I’ve seen and always hear from others, the games are noted for their clever stories and excellent writing. Figure 7.8 shows a screenshot from Monkey Island 2.

Figure 7.8: Soon to have a sequel, Monkey Island 2 was the second installment in this popular adventure series.

1998 Benchmarks With LucasArts planning to release Monkey Island 3 and Cyan preparing the long awaited sequel to Myst, Riven, this somewhat lagging category may find some new titles to push things along. In addition, SouthPeak Interactive, a new company, has created some interesting new video technology it is planning to use in an upcoming title, Temüjin, that could bring a new level of graphics and interaction to the genre. Adventure Game Design Issues Adventure game design involves several concepts that, while not specific to the games themselves, are essential elements for this category.

Stories And Engines It’s quite interesting to note that all of the benchmark games I’ve listed in this category are complete lines of products and were developed by companies that used internally built game engines and game creation systems. Although the engines used to create these different games all come from different sources, there are some inherent similarities in style, interface, and presentation in adventure/interactive story games. Both LucasArts and Sierra have come up with a “common denominator” way of building their adventure games. With the engines working out a lot of the graphical and housekeeping issues, the companies can really concentrate on the driving forces of an adventure game: the story and characters. In addition, the overall commonality of interface and style of play can work well for fans of previous efforts, as they can easily understand how the game should be played.

TIP: Try to build a core engine first and work out as much of the common traits you would need in an adventure game, including maps, movement, conversation interactions, and so on. Then build your games on top of that foundation. Remember though, good games created from the same engine must have a fresh and sophisticated story and design to make them stand out from other games in the series. This mean that you’ve got to design flexibility into the core engine to accommodate a wide range of ideas and potential upgrades.

In short, build a system to support a number of stories you might create. This is an approach that has worked well for some of the leading developers in the adventure/interactive story game category.




Mature Content A key design consideration of the adventure game/interactive story category is content. People who play these games tend to be well-educated adults, and they have the ability to both enjoy and handle more sophisticated stories and content. Traditionally, the majority of adventure/interactive story games, have, like most games, tended to shy away from these themes, but as gaming becomes more widespread, there is far more opportunity to create adult-level content, despite the call for ratings.

Looking Toward The Future As I’ve already hinted, the adventure game is really the closest thing to interactive storytelling. So the future of the category is tied to a more enriched form of interactive storytelling. Adventure games will no doubt continue to be one of the main game staples, but lately the category has lagged. Hopefully, with the interesting code engine ideas being created by developers like Chris Crawford, and new technologies and graphics engines coming from companies like SouthPeak and Cyan, we’ll see even more exciting developments in the future. Edutainment Games When people talk about the great promise of computers and games, many think of what has commonly become known as edutainment—the merging of education and entertainment. This area provides a gold mine for game designers and developers who find genuine satisfaction in creating a game that teaches a skill, while keeping the player so happily occupied that the learning process goes almost unnoticed. (If you really think about it, though, most games are educational because strategic thinking is an essential skill that every one of us must learn.) One of the best edutainment gamers around, Karen Crowther, has produced numerous educational commercial and shareware games for children. Here are some of the benchmark edutainment games:

• Spinnaker Software—Spinnaker Software, now part of the entity known as SoftKey, originally started as a cutting-edge educational software maker. Many of their early efforts for the Commodore 64, Atari, and Apple were memorable edutainment titles like Snooper Troops. The games offered lots of great educational value, and, most of all, great gameplay. If you (or your kids) haven’t played some of these early packages, you’ve missed out. • Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?—If you haven’t heard of Carmen Sandiego, we think you should strongly reconsider entering the game industry. Not only did this game almost single-handedly establish Brøderbund as one of the biggest and most respected game publishers in the world, but it laid the foundation for merging a game with educational content. The series is still immensely popular; check out the PBS children’s game show or the recently aired cartoon series if you don’t believe me. This game has probably done more to educate people about geography in recent years than National Geographic. • SimCity/Seven Cities of Gold/Tetris/Wolf—Often, the phrase edutainment software brings to mind the traditional educational games and publishers. Crossover is a common aspect of the gaming industry. Many games primarily promoted for their game quality also have educational elements. Numerous games over the years, like EA’s Seven Cities of Gold, Maxis’ entire Sim series, Spectrum Holobyte’s Tetris, and Sanctuary Woods’ recent hit Wolf, have all been commended for their high educational content. The follow-up to Sanctuary Woods’ incredible edutainment game Wolf is Lion, shown in Figure 7.9. Using the basic design of their hit product Wolf, Sanctuary Woods redesigned the product to simulate a lion pride’s life on the African plains.

Figure 7.9: Sanctuary Woods’ Lion was the sequel to Wolf; both games combined education with interesting gaming entertainment.

1998 Benchmarks The edutainment category has seen some real consolidation over the last two years with SoftKey acquiring The Learning Company, CUC buying Davidson, and GT purchasing Humongous. However, there hasn’t been a huge new breakthrough in the category, though some of the work with products like Madeline and Pajama Sam has been very high quality. Microsoft is set to release Actimates, a sort of computer version of the Teddy Ruxpin craze, and many new developments are moving online with creations like Disney’s new Daily Blast.




Edutainment Game Design Issues Edutainment game design involves some techniques unique to this category. When developing a game for this category, you must wrestle with many issues, including game type, target age, and target gender. Let’s take a detailed look at some of these issues.

Edutainment Game Categories Edutainment products come in two broad categories: traditional and non-traditional. Let’s take a look at the traditional style first, which I’ve broken down even further by educational content: • Drill and practice games—In this type of game, drill problems are provided and the child is rewarded with a “payoff,” usually an animation at the end of a problem set, for correctly completing a certain number of problems. These games are quite successful with children. Young children who have not yet been drilled to death in school perceive the drill as a game. • The half-and-half game—Games such as Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (discussed earlier) intermix the educational content with the game. In Carmen Sandiego, for example, the situation is a crime scene. The educational portion has the player question suspects and collect geographical clues to determine which geographical location holds the next clue to the investigation. The game portion then presents its challenge: The player has a limited amount of time to locate Carmen’s henchmen and solve the crime at hand. For every wrong guess the player makes when determining the geographical location, precious time is wasted. Geography materials are provided with the game. • Content games—These games represent a middle ground between drill and exploration games and involve three key elements of regular games: exploration, risk, and collection. (More about these elements later.) The educational content is still clear, but it takes a secondary position to the actual game play. The child (especially older kids) perceives the experience to be a game rather than a drill. • Discovery games—The newest fad in U.S. public education today is exploration and problem solving. The idea is that children will acquire academic skills and knowledge on their own if they are given a structured experience in which to discover the information. In my opinion, this approach is somewhat akin to giving a child a computer and telling him or her to write a novel...without first teaching them to type. In this type of game, the child clicks on various hotspots and something happens. Either an animation unfolds, a story is read, or a game is begun. A perfect game for preschoolers.

A nontraditional edutainment game is one that, for one reason or another, really stands out for its inherent educational value, even though it wasn’t actually designed to serve such a role. For example, games like SimCity by Maxis, Seven Cities of Gold from Ozark Softscape/EA, and Wolf from Sanctuary Woods are included in this category.

Age Considerations Perhaps the single biggest factor in designing edutainment products is targeting your age group. Children change so quickly that you must have a clear idea of the age group being targeted. A rough breakdown is shown in Table 7.1. Table 7.1Age-related game design considerations. Age

Game Design Considerations

Early Preschool: 2–4 years

Includes fun sound, bright colors and simple shapes, minimal mouse and keyboard use, and lots of surprises Includes the same considerations as early preschool, with more emphasis on mouse and keyboard use Includes the addition of “safe” monsters and bad guys, emphasis on the mouse and keyboard Includes more mature subject matter and characters (older than your target player) and more detailed instructions Characterized by cooperative/competitive play and strategic planning

Preschool: 4–6 years Early Elementary: 5–8 years Elementary/Middle: 7–12 years Teens: 13 years and up

Notice that some categories overlap. Not all children mature at the same rate, and kids will enjoy some games from neighboring age ranges.

Licensed Properties Games that incorporate Disney characters, the Berenstain Bears, the Power Rangers, or Batman, are developed using what are called licensed properties. The publisher has paid a fee, usually 10 percent of the wholesale income of the game, to the trademark holder in order to use the names and likenesses in the game. In return, the developer promises to adhere to their standards for the content, look, and use of their characters. In fact, most trademark holders require that the developer submit art and scripts for approval. Why would you use a licensed property when such a large chunk of the profits go to the trademark holder? Licenses confer instant name recognition. Every other incarnation of the licensed character (be it TV, movies, T-shirts, action figures, or whatever) is building name recognition that will

translate into potential sales of your computer game. Your publisher will most likely find it easier to get retail distribution because of this name recognition.

Who’s Buying This Game Anyway? Children’s edutainment is difficult to target because the person who is going to buy the game (the parent) is not the one who is going to play the game. Consequently, you need to target your game to two very different audiences. This is especially true for the under-seven set. Additionally, you’ll want to appeal to teachers. If your game is picked up by schools, the site licenses may not make you rich, but the recognition and authority imparted by the school is influential in driving consumer sales.

Looking Toward The Future The future of edutainment games will be in the development of captivating learning experiences that meld games and educational content. Toward those ends, expect to see more multimedia content, connections to online elements, and more refined elements of gaming added to all educational software efforts. Perhaps the largest growth in edutainment will come from games that combine all the major software categories into complete learning environments. In the near future, students might find a complete multimedia reference book on a subject, a complete set of online forums, sites to explore for even more content, interaction with other like-minded students, as well as a complete educational game that helps them develop an even deeper understanding of the material.




Fighting Games Among action-oriented games, fighting games seem to have carved out the most consistently successful niche. With the addition of motion capture and 3D polygon graphical engines in recent years, fighting games have really started to, excuse the pun, kick! Early versions of fighting games were rooted around basic boxing or karate-like moves—pretty boring for today’s kids who get to witness extreme gore and terrifying monsters. And the creativity doesn’t stop there. Most recent fighting games include elements like weaponry (swords and clubs), and special “secret moves” that players have to learn. In fact, some of these moves are so secret that a game can be out for months before the company leaks the move combination or some amazing 12year-old discovers it while kicking the living daylights out of an “old guy” like myself! The fighting game category has really blossomed into a full-fledged string of hit products and, as designers continue creating interesting worlds with monsters and secret moves and weapons, the category will continue to grow. Here are some of the benchmark fighting games: • Karateka—Jordan Mechner’s Karateka was one of the first major fighting games. This blockbuster established itself as a benchmark fighting game because of its breathtakingly smooth animation, complete story line, and strong opponents. These gaming techniques were unheard of at the time but are commonplace in many fighting games today. • Mortal Kombat/Street Fighter/Killer Instinct—While there have been others, such as, Double Dragon, Kung Fu, Black Belt, Way of the Warrior, and Samurai Showdown, 2D side view fighting game purists would definitely say that Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, and Killer Instinct stand out the most. What separates these games from the pack are their infamous “finishing/fatality moves” and interesting characters with special moves and backgrounds. Mortal Kombat has been extra successful, spawning a hit movie and stage show. • Virtua Fighter/Tekken/TohShinDen/Fx Fighter—These games represent the latest in fighting game presentation. Using a high-speed textured polygon engine, these new fighting games provide a true 3D aspect and incredibly intense experience. Virtua Fighter from Sega led the way first as an arcade game and now as Saturn’s showcase CD. TohShinDen and Tekken, created by Namco, are the Virtua Fighters of the Sony PSX platform. Finally, Argonaut/GTE’s Fx Fighter, while not quite up to the same level as the others (but still great!),

brings this specific game type to the PC platform and takes advantage of the power of the 3D API BRender as the underlying technology. Figure 7.10 shows two screenshots from Tekken, which is currently the hot 3D fighting game title.

Figure 7.10: 3D fighting games like Tekken continue to push faster polygon action.

1998 Benchmarks Fighting games are continuing unabated into 1998 with next generation versions of heavyweights like Tekken and Virtua Fighter pushing forward. Fighting Game Design Issues Fighting game design involves several concepts such as character creation, secret moves, violence, and so on, that are essential elements for this category of games.

Character Creation One striking similarity you’ll find among all of the fighting games is the use of solid, convincing characters. As an example, consider Mortal Kombat. The developers showed an incredible amount of motivation and inventiveness in creating a diverse set of opponents, each with a totally different set of strategies, physiques, and characteristics. Sony took this concept one step farther and made one of the characters from Namco’s flagship fighting game, TohShinDen, a key part of their advertising campaign. Although character development is often overlooked by players and is overshadowed by the spectacular graphics and mind-bending combination moves, as a designer you must put considerable thought and care into developing great characters.

Special Or Secret Moves One of the key design elements in fighting games is the “special move,” sometimes called the “fatality move” or the “finishing move.” While each character possesses the everyday kicks, spin kicks, punches, and jumps, each one also has a number of special moves to perform in special situations. For example, a character might jump up in the air and twirl around in a flying, spinning whirlwind only if he or she is far enough away from the opponent and, at the same time, the player presses three buttons simultaneously while moving up, right, and left quickly. Whew! That’s a lot of conditions and key combinations!

Secret moves are similar to special moves with one key exception: They are not documented. And that’s a big exception. Some moves are so secret that it may take several weeks or even months before players discover them. This secrecy creates an incredible sense of discovery for the game. When designing your own games, keep this particular issue in mind. You want your players interested and continually coming back for more. If players learn to identify with some of the characters by becoming particularly adept at manipulating the characters’ special or secret moves, you’ve got them hooked. However, if the game lacks complexity, and your players quickly learn how the computer and the specific characters react in a particular game, the game will lose its appeal.

Violence Needless to say, the majority of fighting games are brutally violent. Is it necessary? Well, I’m not one to make a judgment, so I’ll just present the facts. Mortal Kombat, with its various “fatality moves” like ripping out beating hearts, was one of the major catalysts behind the recent Senate hearings on game ratings and labeling. If you don’t mind having your games labeled, you’ll have no problems.

Continued Inventiveness Here is a thought to ponder over your morning coffee: Fighting games rely on the continued inventiveness of designers to survive. So far, most fighting games have had little inventiveness in their story line, and little has been done to push the games into new areas beyond one-on-one fighting scenario. Maybe you’ll be the one to come up with some new innovative ideas and create the next hit fighting game.




Looking Toward The Future As I said in the beginning, motion capture and 3D technology promise to bring exciting immediate fun to fighting games. The future for fighting games definitely lies in the following trends: • Online opponents—The virtual bar brawl of the computer age is coming. Multiplayer online fighting games should usher in a new reality in fighting games. Online versions promise players a chance to really test their skills. And fighting games are sure to be one of the most popular types of online games, once online gaming hits big. • Integration into larger gaming systems—At a recent Computer Game Developers’ Conference, one of the seminars was on the future of RPGs. One idea that made the rounds was producing a game in which the combat system was that of a traditional fighting game. While RPG fans, who don’t normally gravitate to action games, might not consider this idea with any enthusiasm, the concept definitely shows potential for fighting games to become integrated into complex story lines and serve as an element of a larger game. In fact, a game titled Into The Shadows was set to bring this idea out but fell apart after the development team couldn’t stay together. • Multiple fighters—Most fighting games, due to technical limitations and perhaps some design choice, have been one-on-one showdowns. As speeds increase and polygon counts grow, expect to see a new generation of games that will feature multiple fighters going after each other à la the karate movies of old. God Games: Games That Put You In The Driver’s Seat As you might have guessed, this category of games caters to the egoist in all of us. This concept takes the RPG classification of games to the extreme. In a God game, players have tremendous control in both the macro and micro concerns of the game. God games are basically strategy games in which the player is more a shaper of systems than an absolute commander. In a well-crafted game, the player plans the various courses of action and manages the resources. The game, with the help of some algorithms and a few “random” factors (such as rain in Utopia or fire in SimCity), determines the outcome. The goal of a typical God game is to sustain the underlying system as long as possible. Many game categories, such as war games, have been mislabeled as God games; after all, it’s hardly a goal of the game to sustain fighting. As a God game progresses, the player is challenged by the actual world of

the game. It is the players’ responsibility to monitor the reactions of the system they’re managing to continually provide and mold the system to further levels of existence. In most God games, such as Hamurabi, Populous, Utopia, and SimCity, the system tends to be an actual human society, but as Maxis has proven with products like SimAnt, you can definitely apply the concept to nonhuman systems as well. Here are some of the benchmark God games: • Hamurabi—Hamurabi was one of the first God games I remember playing. In this game, you assumed the role of the Hamurabi, the ancient Sumerian ruler. Hamurabi’s job was to allocate resources and supervise the planting of crops to ensure 10 years of survival. Although this was a text game and there was more randomness to the events than in a modeled environment, it still was captivating. The player was in complete control, simulating the choices and reacting to the outcomes. • Utopia—This is one of my favorite games and the precursor (although not deliberately) to Maxis’ SimCity. In this game, you get to be the ruler of one of two islands; the other player or computer rules the other. Your goal is to build the perfect world, providing food, protection, housing, and education for your citizens. However, if you don’t do the job, your citizens will revolt. The game includes obstacles, such as tropical storms, that can severely damage the island, and aid, in the form of rain, to help crops along. • Populous—When Bullfrog broke through with Populous, it established itself as a frontrunner in the game development field. Populous is a benchmark game not only for great gameplay, graphics, and interface, but also because the game proved so successful that it (and perhaps SimCity) really spawned the “God game” label. The game casts you in the role of a God, creating a world in which the inhabitants live, work, and battle. As God, it is your goal to provide the inhabitants the type of land they need to reign supreme. Easier said than done, as many of us found out. Today, Bullfrog continues to push the God game metaphor with products like Syndicate and now its popular Dungeon Keeper game, which casts the player in the role of a Dungeon Master trying to keep heroes out of a dungeon. • SimCity, SimEarth, and other Maxis titles—We’ve mostly talked about benchmark games, but Maxis may well be the first benchmark company. Starting with the most well-known God game, SimCity, Maxis has capitalized on that success to bring us an entire product line of God games, including SimEarth, SimAnt, SimTower, SimCity 2000 (and now 3000), SimFarm, and SimHealth. At the core of all of Maxis’ games is a strong research base that has enabled them to accurately model systems like a city or a health-care plan. Figure 7.11 shows an example from one of Maxis’ other popular “Sim” products, SimIsle.

Figure 7.11: SimIsle, from Maxis, was a spin-off of their popular SimCity line of God games.

On top of this base, Maxis’ game developers built an extremely intuitive interface and added the elements to turn this highly simulative environment into a game. In addition, they’ve built scenarios and stories into their products and added such random events as earthquakes, or Godzilla destroying a town, to keep the player alert. No company or product has exposed more people to the God game category in such a clear presentation than Maxis.

1998 Benchmarks God games have become one of the more recent staples in the industry and with more power letting developers push the AI and modeling limits of the engines, 1998 will see a slew of popular titles. Dungeon Keeper (Bullfrog/EA), a long-awaited product, will certainly be a popular new title, as will Populous III, the latest version of the game that broke the category wide open. SimCity 3000 from (Maxis/EA) will also raise the level developers shoot for.




God Game Design Issues God game design involves several concepts such as modeling and simulation.

Systems Modeling God games are the most basic form of simulation games. “Simulation games?” you say, “Aren’t those the games like Flight Simulator?” Well, yes, but those type of simulation games are distinct from God games in that they simulate just one piece of military or nonmilitary hardware instead of entire systems, such as a city in SimCity or an ant colony in SimAnt. As you probably have surmised, the nature of God games makes it difficult for designers to model an accurate simulation. Designers put an enormous amount of time into research developing accurate data tables and formulas to reflect, for example, why people move into or out of a city, or the effects of people in relationship to food. The effort is not wasted; what you get is a fun and realistic game. But don’t feel too sorry for the designers. After all, in designing a God game, the designer really is the ultimate God!

Looking Toward The Future What’s awesome about the God game concept is that students, teachers, parents, and gamers all see how unique an experience it provides. God games have found a niche as a novel learning, strategic, and fun gaming experience. So the future is definitely bright. More sophisticated artificial intelligence and modeling strategies are available, which allows designers to create even more intelligent inhabitants and systems, which leads to even more realistic play. There’s no doubt that this gaming category will move into network and wide area network gaming. Count me in when SimCity Online makes its debut! Multiplayer Games Perhaps the hottest buzzword in game development for 1998 and beyond is multiplayer, especially when that word refers to games that are structured as large online games. There have been a wealth of startups formed, with enormous venture capital, to deliver tools and services to build large multiplayer games. Multiplayer games come in many varieties, as shown in Table 7.2.

Table 7.2 Multiplayer game types. Game Type

Description

Multiplayer in the Same Room

The original multiplayer game in which multiple players play the same game simultaneously on the same hardware. With two machines and two modems, players hook up long distance to play the same game. Many games today offer some sort of modem-based long distance playing option because it has become expected by many hard-core gamers and reviewers. This game type allows multiple players over a LAN (Local Area Network). Some folks enjoy this so much that they have purchased second and even third computers and created simple, home-based LANs for games. (You laugh, but I used to hook up home LANs for people all the time.) While adding network capabilities to a game is not going to propel it to hit status, it is a small feature that a number of people want. The future of multiplayer games starts here. Imagine combining modem-to-modem and Local Area Network games. In this scenario, the players don’t have to reside on the same LAN, and even though they use a modem, it’s not a one-to-one connection. A remote access server game has two components, a server product and a client product. People “dial up” the remote server with their client package and engage in simultaneous play with multiple players who have dialed in to play. Unlike past remote server setups that had you dialing in directly to a server, many of the new wave of remote server games are using the TCP/IP networking protocol and setting up server sites all over the Internet. Online multiplayer games are essentially structured like remote access server games, but because the games have the hardware support of a large online service, they can support many more simultaneous players.

Multiplayer Modem Games

Network Game

Remote Access Server Game

Online Service Multiplayer Network Game

Let’s take a look at some of the benchmark multiplayer games: • M.U.L.E.—For many game developers, this isn’t just a benchmark game for multiplayer games, but a benchmark game period. M.U.L.E., developed by Danielle Berry and Ozark Softscape, and published by Electronic Arts, was a fun strategy game that could handle up to four players on the Atari 800. Jockeying for resources, the frantic trading and interaction between the players made this a really fun game to play.

• Doom/Quake—Awesome graphics and vicious gameplay aside, the multiplayer death matches Doom spawned are famous around the world. While other games before it offered networking and modem play, Doom broke the format wide open. And the brilliant id shareware distribution scheme only added to the success of Doom as a multiplayer game. Quake, the latest version of the system from id, has become an online staple since its debut. • Air Warrior—Of all the early major online service multiplayer games, Genie Air Warrior, developed by Kesmai Corporation, became the first major hit, primarily because it offered players multiplayer dogfighting ability. Shooting down enemy planes online is a very cool way to relieve work stress. • The Imagination Network and MPG-NET—If you’re looking to find a plethora of online multiplayer games to evaluate and learn from, these two services are where to look. Developed by Sierra and now owned by AOL, The Imagination Network is part of a growing list of networks that have pioneered the online gaming market.

1998 Benchmarks This category has really begun to heat up over the last two years. Most of the benchmarks cited previously are from the earliest reaches of multiplayer gaming. Now, as the Internet takes the lead, we’ve seen and will continue to see a slew of titles that will set the standard for multiplayer gaming. Diablo (and soon Diablo II) by Blizzard/CUC was a huge hit in 1997, and the model of free Battle.net access proved very successful. Command & Conquer and SubSpace (Virgin) are both still popular online games. However, this category is young and it will be titles debuting in 1998 that might break some incredible new ground. Right now, Ultima Online (Origin/EA) seems poised to take the mutliplayer game to an entire new realm.




Multiplayer Game Design Issues Multiplayer game design involves several concepts that are essential elements for this category.

Your Economic Model One facet of multiplayer games worth mentioning is the economic model you employ to earn money from your game. For example, when designing a multiplayer network game, you control two software components: the server version and the client version. You can give away the client version and sell the server version, or you could give away the server version and sell the client version, set up a licensing fee with remote access server providers, and charge people for their time online. For LAN games, you need to think about how many people can play off one purchased copy of the game. (Everyone? Two? Three?) You might want to consider setting up your game with multiple keys that unlock the ability to add players; players can then get keys by calling a toll-free number. The bottom line is that when dealing with multiplayer game development, how you actually expect to earn money from the product can have a substantial impact on the design and development of the game itself.

Player Interaction In a recent conference, Richard Mulligan, a veteran online service multiplayer game developer, discussed the importance of chat in games. In his game GemStone, the added chat function proved successful; he once logged on at 2 AM to find 12 players huddled together in one room, not playing the game, but discussing the best recipe for peanut butter cookies! The lesson is simple. While the game provides the true interaction for players, the sense of community and heightened player interactivity that comes from chat is an absolute necessity.

Artificial Players Many developers see the need for artificial opponents diminishing with multiplayer games. With human opponents on the other end of the line, there’s no need to create other dynamic opponents,

right? Wrong. The fact is that artificial players in many games become even more important in a multiplayer environment. Just because you have multiplayer capability in your game doesn’t mean that multiple players will always be logged on. For example, if you create a multiplayer racing game but only one player is logged on, you still need to control the other cars to provide the racing experience. Additionally, if a player logs off in the middle of the race, the car can’t just disappear. The bottom line is, that in a large-scale online game, you still need artificial characters to populate the worlds you create.

Looking Toward The Future The category is headed toward the stratosphere. Perhaps the only thing growing faster than these games are online services and the Internet that support them. Until the birth of the Internet, almost all of the multiplayer game market revolved around LANs. Now, the real potential for multiplayer games is from commercial networks, the Internet, and perhaps location-based gaming using connected intranets. These networks, unlike the local corporate LAN, have the ability to support games that might have thousands of simultaneous players. The multiplayer game category is still very much in its infancy. New ideas are constantly emerging, but there are equally as many new problems to go with them. If this is the area you choose for development, you can bet that you’re in for a great adventure. Platform Games Among fundamental game types, shooters came first, then maze games followed. The next evolution introduced a popular category of games that became known as platform games. Platform games revolve around characters that jump, spring, fly, or move through a game as they battle enemies and collect items and “powerups.” Each level takes place on multiple platforms and the character must progress through the level by moving around the various platforms as they overcome obstacles and puzzling situations. Let’s reminisce as we take a look at some benchmark platform games: • Donkey Kong—Perhaps the most well known of the early platform games, Donkey Kong was the number two game behind the Pac-Man series in arcades all over the world. But this game “one-upped” Pac-Man by launching the most well-known gaming character of all time: Mario, the plumber whose only mission in life was to get his girlfriend back from some big ape. • Super Mario Brothers—This game established Nintendo as the premier home video game system and went on to become one of the best-known games in all of gaming. Despite all the hype, Super Mario Brothers was, and still is, a great game with lots of secret rooms and tons of tricks hidden in the game. • Sonic the Hedgehog—This game did for the Sega Genesis home video game system what Super Mario Brothers did for Nintendo: It became a killer game that launched an entire platform. Although Sonic was most certainly inspired by Super Mario Brothers, it took on a look and feel all its own. Especially amazing were the stark differences in play between each level, and the amount of work and number of puzzles built into the game. Figure 7.12 shows a

screenshot from one of the series of Sonic the Hedgehog games produced by Sega. Sonic became Sega’s “signature” game (like Super Mario was for Nintendo) and helped make Sega’s 16-bit system, Genesis, a huge hit.

Figure 7.12: Sonic the Hedgehog was a benchmark title for Sega. • Jazz Jackrabbit/Abuse/Duke Nukem—We include all of these games to point out that the PC, too, can be a great platform for high-paced console-like platform games. Better yet, one of the games is shareware as well. Jazz Jackrabbit, a certain Sonic the Hedgehog knockoff, featured some blindly fast graphics and fun play. Its predecessor, Duke Nukem, was one of the early success stories in PC shareware arcade games. Abuse, the newest kid on the block, is a truly amazing game with loads of advanced-level editing capability and console quality sound, graphics, and animation. • Prince of Persia—We should include several other PC-platform games like the early Data East’s Bruce Lee and Miner 2049er (a personal favorite), but for argument’s sake I’ll leave them out and simply note Jordan Mechner’s tour de force, Prince of Persia. This game boasts incredibly fluid animation and excellent puzzles, and while platform in nature, Prince of Persia looks entirely different from most platform games. • Donkey Kong Country—Donkey Kong Country, produced by the hot British-based software house, RARE, Ltd., utilized a great graphic trick. Even though the basic view of the game is a 2D side-scrolling view, the team at RARE, using high-end Silicon Graphics workstations, rendered all the graphics in 3D. The result was a 2D game with an awesome 3D feel. The graphics and gameplay were such a success the product sold well over 10 million-plus cartridges worldwide! Figure 7.13 shows some of the really spectacular graphic looks RARE achieved for its next generation side scroller.

Figure 7.13: RARE’s use of high-end 3D rendering for the traditional side scroller broke new ground and made Donkey Kong Country a huge hit. • Bug!—I’ve only played Bug! a couple of times, and I don’t consider it the most amazing game. But I’ve included it here as a benchmark platform game because it’s one of the first real 3D-oriented platform games. While Marble Madness and a couple of others have been interesting 3D platform-type products, Bug! strikes me as a true 3D extension of a 2D platform game. Sega is taking the traditional platform game to whole new heights and depths. • Earthworm Jim—This title, which debuted from Shiny Entertainment, was one of the most popular titles of the mid-’90s. Not only was the level design exquisite, the humor and style were truly unique, thanks to the wild mind of cocreator Doug TenNapel. While Earthworm Jim was pretty much a conventional platform title, its novel look and quirky humor made it

stand out. This game showed the creativity and storytelling that can arise from such a simplistic type of game.




1998 Benchmarks The platform game has seen a few popular recent titles such as Crash Bandicoot (Universal/Sony) and, of course, the gorgeous Mario 64 that debuted with the Nintendo 64. In 1998, we should see a new platform game from Earthworm Jim creator Doug TenNapel called SkullMonkeys, and a new Earthworm Jim title is also planned. Platform Game Design Issues Platform game design involves several essential concepts, such as level editing and character creation.

Level Editing If you take a look at some of the benchmark products like Super Mario Brothers and Sonic the Hedgehog, you’ll surely see that level editing is a key ingredient of platform games. Your levels need to be unique from other games and among the levels in your game itself. Make use of complex puzzles for your players to accomplish tasks.

Character Creation Any good computer game has a diverse set of characters. Among the successful platform games, Sonic, Mario, and Donkey Kong have proven to be the most memorable characters. Take a look at the animation used and the characteristics given to these guys as you consider characters for your own games.

Looking Toward The Future Platform games have been the most successful arcade game type of all time. And, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. As computers move more and more toward 3D graphics, platform games are following close behind. For example, Sega’s Bug! showed that, with 3D graphics, the platform game can offer new dimensions of play, while retaining all the great elements that made the 2D side-scrolling platform games great.

Platform games are one of the more mature game categories today, so aside from graphical improvement, gameplay will stay basically the same. But because this category is so popular, expect many more great games in the future. Puzzle And Card Games Puzzle and card games don’t seem similar enough to be grouped together overall, but they really have quite a bit in common. After all, Klondike Solitaire is as much of a puzzle as Minesweeper—both games emphasize problem solving and strategy. Puzzle and card games are both also thought of as diversional or break-type games. Meant to be played in a single short sitting, these products are usually designed and sold as suites—a package containing several different types, or one with many levels. You might laugh at the seriousness of developing these types of games, but the fact is that they sell. (And that is a consideration, right?) Not only will they make you a tidy profit, but you get the satisfaction of knowing that your game has single-handedly put a cog into even the most efficient office’s productivity wheel. Here are some of the benchmark puzzle and card games: • Microsoft and Sierra card games—Among card games, Microsoft’s game packs and Sierra’s Hoyle series have offered a number of excellent card games. In Hoyle’s, shown in Figure 7.14, Sierra has added all kinds of quirky characters to compete against, each with their own style of playing the various games in the package. In addition, the whimsical animations and sound that Sierra has incorporated strengthens the underlying basic game of cards. This provides more interaction and fun experience for the player.

Figure 7.14: Sierra’s Hoyle’s card game uses more than just the typical computer opponent for a little added spice. • The Fool’s Errand—The Fool’s Errand from Miles Computing offered not only a large array of interesting puzzle games, but packaged them around a simple story line that led the player from one game to the next. This is an excellent example of enhancing a plain vanilla puzzle game with a few simple details to create a more interesting overall gaming environment.

1998 Benchmarks The puzzle category has been somewhat dry lately in terms of packaged software. However, if you look online, there are a number of puzzle and card games being played on Web pages like Riddler. com, TheBlip.Com, and Internet Gaming Zone. Many of these are written in Java or Shockwave. The diversional nature of these titles, offering a quick play over a few minutes, seems to bond well with

the Internet, where workers can surf behind the boss’ back or during lunch. Puzzle And Card Game Design Issues Most puzzle, card, or basic board games are easy enough to create as electronic games. However, the more successful and critically acclaimed versions of these types of games tend to be those that strive to create a unique overall gaming environment. Many times, taking a simple game and establishing a more robust version of it with multimedia and other gaming elements can be the simplest formula for success. It is no longer enough to create a simple card game. A better (and certainly more profitable) approach is to create a poker game that takes place in the Old West, chock full of unruly, gunslinging characters and saloonlike settings, complete with music and background sounds. Just an idea!

Looking Toward The Future Overall, the major puzzle and card game market will continue in its current role creating enjoyable, diversionary fun and cool brain teasers. More and more, though, companies will work to find inventive ways to present these basic games in interesting formats.




Retro Games Believe it or not, this is a really fast-growing category. In fact, we think it’s inspiring to see game developers reintroducing classics for newer machines or, in some cases, giving an old classic a complete, modernized facelift. The fact is that some games are classics for a simple reason: They were spectacular games! Take a moment to think of some of the most amazing games you played 10 or 15 years ago. If they were good then, why wouldn’t they be good now? (Some savvy designers thought the same thing.) Is there any reason a good game of Joust would be any less enjoyable today? Or how about Asteroids? Perhaps a good game of Defender? How about some Tempest? Okay, okay, I’ll stop, but I wanted to make sure you got the point. My definition for a retro game is this: a classic game (10 years or older) that is brought back to life by either creating an exact replica on a new platform, or by designing a new version that retains the original game in a recognizable form. Recently, some companies, including Microsoft, have released games that fall into the retro category, and these provide the benchmark products other developers can use: • Microsoft Arcade for Windows—This product includes four classic Atari games completely rewritten for Windows, with the actual sounds digitized from the coin-op versions. They even include entire backgrounds on the games and the original designers—a must, in my opinion. As this concept takes a stronger foothold, we may even have to start including a “where are they now” segment. Superbly done. • Activision Atari 2600 Game Pack I and II—In the early ’80s, as cable and video sales started to take off, there were more movie studio takeovers than there were studios. Why? Because of the vast amount of films that these studios had accumulated, mergers offered incredible potential value through colorization, re-makes, restoration, and reissuing film on video and as pay-per-view movies. Activision recently added a spin to this concept. By joining a 2600 emulator with old game code from their awesome library of cartridges, they were able to remarket on CD-ROM the games that made Activision a household word in the early 1980s. • Tempest 2000 and Defender 2000—When Atari took stock of the vast amount of amazing

games stored in their library, they found a rich set of old favorites in need of a new look, perfect for their new Jaguar gaming system. Two of those games, in what hopefully will be an extensive series of re-makes, are Jeff Minter’s Tempest 2000 and Defender 2000. With new high-tech graphics and more modernized gameplay, they set a standard for reintroducing new versions of old hits.

1998 Benchmarks One company is set to release all the old Intellivision games and many companies with extensive catalogs of titles are looking to release them in support of their newer versions. Recently, Origin Systems released the old IBM version of Ultima IV to several popular disk/magazine periodicals, in promotional support of its Ultima Online product. While the rerelease wasn’t much of a benchmark, the model of doing it for free and via the polybagged CDs that come with top gaming magazines is quite interesting. Other companies have released titles in a similar fashion to online magazine sites. Sierra recently released, for free, Betrayal at Krondor, a very popular adventure game it made several years back. Retro Game Design Issues The benchmark games I’ve presented show the various design routes you can take with this category. You can either update the game for a new platform, much like Microsoft did with Microsoft Arcade for Windows, or you can create a new wave version, like Atari did with Defender 2000 and Tempest 2000. Another approach that we didn’t discuss can be equally profitable and fun. Activision’s Pitfall ’95 introduced an entirely new game, but also included the original version.

Looking Toward The Future The entire computer industry has always had its eye on the future, but retro gaming is sure to be a welcome facet. It’s great to preserve the classics. We also like watching a designer like Jeff Minter from Atari take a classic game like Defender and, while preserving all the elements that made it such a classic, give it an entirely new lease on life with updated graphics and gameplay. I look forward to seeing future generations enjoying those early games just as much as we did.




Role-Playing Games As you probably know, early RPGs were played with pen, paper, and dice. Once the computer came of age, RPGs naturally moved to this new medium. Through the years, there have been some memorable series, some of which have spawned great RPG engines, and others that have pushed RPGs into one of the most popular overall gaming categories. Here are some of the benchmark RPGs: • Ultima—Perhaps the single most successful RPG ever is the Ultima series (shown in Figure 7.15), currently entering its ninth episode. The success of Ultima is due to three main reasons: a great fantasy world, great role-playing capabilities, and an amazing story. In creating the Ultima series, Richard Garriot (a.k.a. Lord British) has always sought to shape a realistic game world first and then place in it a complex story of good and evil.

Figure 7.15: Action screens from the latest Ultima, Ultima VIII. • Dungeon Master—Although Dungeon Master was more of an adventure game than an RPG, several elements—the multiple character party and the stats-based advancement of players—were more RPG in style. • The Bard’s Tale—This game put Interplay on the map. Set in the town of Skara Brae, this game was noted (at the time it was published) for its great 3D graphics. The series eventually expanded to include two sequels. • Wizardry—With the exception of Ultima, no early RPG had the same effect on people as Wizardry. Cavernous 3D dungeons and intense gameplay made this game a favorite among early computer enthusiasts. • Starflight—Starflight, a huge success for IBM and one of the first major space-based RPGs, was significant for its advanced gameplay and incredibly sized game world, which was the result of 1,000 hours of development time. Starflight had one of the largest development teams ever seen in game development.

• SSI AD&D Series—When SSI won the competitive bid to develop the official Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) games, they were best known for their war games, but had recently branched out into adventure games with their ground-breaking Phantasie series. Many AD&D players were eager to see how the games would turn out, and they weren’t disappointed. SSI employed several innovative ideas, including their licensing strategy and their interesting, and sometimes exhaustive, battle sequences. Recently the license rights reverted to TSR, which will employ several companies to create products based on the AD&D world. Let’s hope that SSI will continue to be included in TSR’s stable of developers. • Might and Magic—Might and Magic from New World Computing has been, perhaps, the second most successful series of RPG games after Ultima. The series has featured wondrous first-person point of view graphics and lots of “hack ‘n’ slash” fun. • The Elder Scrolls: Arena—The Elder Scrolls: Arena combines a raycasting smoothmovement engine with a detailed RPG game. Arena has an excellent story line and includes both above- and below-ground graphics. It has become the latest PC RPG product to break through the pack. Bethesda, the creator of Arena, is due to release its sequel with a host of hot features sure to breathe new life into the RPG category.

1998 Benchmarks While several RPG titles will be out and about in 1998, including the latest version of the well-done console RPG Final Fantasy, all eyes are on Ultima Online, which promises to be the best test of the future of the RPG category in the online environment. RPG Game Design Issues RPG design involves several concepts that are essential elements for this category of games, including Non Player Character (NPC) interaction and creating realistic and interesting environments.

Stay Tuned For The Next Episode RPGs are great products to develop because they lend themselves to sequels. Of course, your first game has to be successful to warrant a sequel! If you create a dynamic world with a good story, you can return to it again and again to present new ideas and games to people who enjoy your creations. If you look at all the major RPG products—Wizardry, The Bard’s Tale, Ultima, and The Elder Scrolls—you’ll notice that they are all series games. As you create your initial game, put some thought into ideas that can be expanded in additional versions. For example, you might introduce a character who, in a later game, becomes an archenemy, or you could refer to some sort of lost object that could become the theme for other stories. You will also want to pay considerable attention to the world you are creating. You want your players to involve themselves in your world and enjoy everything that happens within it.

A World Unlike Any Other

As computer adventure games have gotten ever more complex, building worlds has become increasingly more important. In world building, the designer seeks to build an entire working society, including all the characters and the story line involving their “lives.” Basically, the idea is to place the story into an environment, not match an environment to a story. In addition, world building creates a minor dilemma. Although the world is fictitious, it must be realistic. The no-holds-barred approach won’t gain you many fans. Players will evaluate your world accordingly: • Is this new fictitious world different and interesting enough? • Do certain systems in this world work realistically? (For example, when we sell things into a town’s economy, will the price drop?)

NPC Interaction And Conversation The biggest problem in designing RPGs is NPC interaction. Simply put, RPGs can lack depth if characters do not dynamically interact with the game. The solution is obvious: Incorporate more flexibility into the internal simulative engines and AI facilities in games. For example, instead of hard-coding daggers to cost six gold coins, a game could constantly fluctuate the prices of items based on traditional supply and demand algorithms. The goal is to have NPCs relate to the players based on their previous actions, interact more among themselves, and allow the players to involve themselves within the natural order of community interaction in the world being portrayed. Issues like weather and weapons that wear down are also being discussed by developers. Developers are also hard at work creating better interaction, including more lifelike and varied RPG conversational abilities, implementing characters with memory capabilities, and much more.

TIP: As you design your RPGs, give considerable thought to how to implement an increased level of depth and conversational interaction.




Battles And Combat A key ingredient in almost every type of RPG is some form of combat. Combat is the main distinction when differentiating between RPGs and adventure games. Although most adventure games may have a combat sequence, it isn’t a recurring element. The combat aspect of the game is really a miniature war game inside the surrounding RPG game. Players control their characters and arm them with weapons (or spells in fantasy-style games). Then, based upon choices and statistical tests, combat takes place. Surviving characters often see improvement in their combat skills. On a more specific level, the designer needs to decide whether combat will involve decision making on the part of the player, or whether tactical skills should be left to the program.

TIP: Some developers have found a happy medium. They have designed games that allow the player to return control of the combat decisions to the computer at any time during the game. Another approach would be to let the computer offer a variety of tactical options for the player to choose from; for instance, positioning, movement, attack types, and so on.

Heroes of Might and Magic, from New World Computing, offers the player an “auto” feature; this allows the player to watch the computer control the strategy of his or her troops at any point in a battle. The auto feature has two purposes: Beginning players can learn from watching the computer’s tactics, and powerfully situated players, whose positions are so strong that even bad decisions won’t affect the outcome of a battle, can allow the computer to handle combat results with less work on their part and a quicker resolution.

Looking Toward The Future RPGs seem to be somewhat in a state of flux. Perhaps more than any other type of game, RPG designers are struggling to broaden their market appeal while staying true to the RPG ideal; a struggle that is rampant in the gaming industry these days. The problem is that many games haven’t found the proper balance.

Perhaps the biggest move for RPGs will be to large multiplayer gaming systems. RPGs are well suited to multiplayer environments. In fact, several major online RPG games, like GemStone III and AOL’s Neverwinter Nights, were attracting huge crowds back in 1995/96. As games like 3DO’s Meridian 59 and Origin’s Ultima Online take hold, the category should see a bright multiplayer future. Shooters It’s hard to find a more fundamental arcade game than the pure shoot-em-up. From Space Invaders to Asteroids to Galaxian to Xenon to 1942 to Gradius to Tempest 2000, there have been more memorable shooters than we can name in a single breath. However, today, most of the pure shooters are being supplanted by 3D shooters like Doom and BattleTech. The majority of shooters have space motifs or some sort of futuristic Earth scenario. However, a few shooters tap into another style, like 1942, which uses a war theme. New ideas are always welcome. For example, how about a shooter based in the old West? The player rides horseback through a stampede trying to take out renegade rustlers. We know it’s not the most enticing game idea, but it is new! The older a category is, the more benchmark games it has. Shooters is one of those categories that has some of the most classic games of all time. We won’t bother to discuss them at great length. Games like Space Invaders, Asteroids, Missile Command, Centipede, Zaxxon, Galaxian, Galaga, and Defender are so classic that if you haven’t been exposed to at least one of them, you’ve been taking up residence in a cave for the last 20 years.

1998 Benchmarks For the most part, there haven’t been a lot of titles in the shooter category worth talking about, mostly because games are more complex than the pure shooters of yesteryear. Still, a few new ones are debuting, such as Racestorm on the PlayStation, which has all the play mechanics of a traditional 2D shooter but with a 3D facelift. The latest in the infamous Thunderforce series from Technosoft for the Sega Saturn is also considered to be a title that’s moving this genre forward. Shooter Game Design Issues Now that more complex systems with 3D graphics have entered the gaming arena, the pure arcade experience provided by shooters has fallen by the wayside. 3D is, after all, the current rage! Still, traditional-looking “top down” shooters are great games, and are still being pumped out by such prestigious gaming companies as Apogee and Epic. Shoot-em-ups tend to follow a basic “cookie cutter” design of powerups, progressively harder levels, and, at the end of each level, some sort of major obstacle that long ago became known as the “main monster.” So many successful games have used this design that it’s hard to argue against it. Of course, designers employ a creative license in the graphics and background domains.

However, given the number of shooters that have been created and the number of players involved, it’s important that you take into account the prevailing ideas and then carve out a successful product niche for yourself.

Looking Toward The Future Overall, this category isn’t going anywhere; that’s not to say that shooters have run their course, but in terms of design, it’s hard to see them taking large leaps and bounds over time. But then again, isn’t that what makes a shooter so much fun? For many of us, it’s a basic game that still provides hours of nonproductive, mindless amusement.




Simulation Games Simulation games have been among the strongest category of games ever made, with flight simulators leading the way in the category. Simulations are most often associated with some form of military hardware. Examples include Spectrum Holobyte’s F-16, or any of the other tank, submarine, or helicopter simulators. In addition to these warfare simulators, other products like Vette!, a driving simulation, and Scram!, a simulation of a nuclear power plant, have been developed. Also keep in mind that many games have considerable simulative qualities; an average war game is a simulation of sorts, as are many sports games. And as we mentioned earlier, so are God games, which simulate entire systems. Our discussion will only include simulations based on the “vehicle” track, including flight and other military simulators, driving games, and fictional spaceship fighting. Numerous benchmark games come to mind when we think of simulators, but I’ve pulled together a few special ones to highlight: • Microsoft Flight Simulator—Among the early simulation products, the original Flight Simulator has to be the best, if not the longest lived. The original product, which was based on flying a Cessna single engine plane around the United States, has seen numerous implementations over the years (see Figure 7.16).

Figure 7.16: Microsoft’s Flight Simulator, a staple among flight sim fanatics.

Today, Microsoft Flight Simulator continues to provide countless hours of quality simulated flight for millions of flying enthusiasts. Its biggest strength has been the many scenery disks that offer fun flying around the world’s greatest geographic areas, like the Grand Canyon. • Silent Service/F-15 Strike Eagle/Gunship 2000/M1-Tank Platoon—These four titles are only a sampling of the many great simulation products that Microprose has developed. Each of these titles guarantees a simulation that is not only fun, but extremely accurate. Microprose simulations also include some really incredible “missions” that game players must complete in order to finish the game.

• Chuck Yeager’s AFT and FA-18/Interceptor—Over the years, Electronic Arts has provided many interesting simulation products. Two of the earlier simulators were Chuck Yeager’s Advanced Flight Trainer and FA-18/Interceptor, an Amiga title. Both games were excellent products combining well-defined flight simulations with excellent graphics and, in the case of AFT, realistic training, a variety of different planes, and acrobatics. With FA-18/Interceptor, EA used the full power of the Amiga to provide an amazing feast of graphics and sound. Additionally, the game strung its missions together in a loosely knit overall story line, something EA would build upon in future simulation efforts. • Falcon—Falcon, by far, represents the ability to really push the detail level in simulations. Published early in the PC’s history, Falcon’s accurate portrayal of the F-16 Falcon jet was evident even with CGA graphics! From these amazing beginnings, Spectrum has gone on to establish itself as a major PC game company, especially with its high-tech simulations. Falcon was such an accurate simulation that the Air Force worked with Spectrum to create a new lowcost simulation product for its own pilots—the ultimate compliment! • Indy Car Racing/Nascar—One thing that is evident in some of the most successful simulation products is detail; specifically, detail evolved from a love of the subject and the desire of a company to become the top designer of that type of simulation. Great attention to detail is just what Papyrus is all about. And their two racing products are no exception. When it comes to building amazing simulations, this company and these two products are at the top of the list. • Flight Unlimited I & II—From the team behind a number of simulations and great games comes another awesome title that was recently updated with a new release. Flight Unlimited from Looking Glass features an amazing graphics engine and incredible accuracy. This product was built from scratch to provide unparalleled simulation, right down to determining the actual flight by calculating airflow over the wings using sophisticated aerodynamic formulas. • Comanche—NovaLogic has grown to become a major force in the simulation industry. Titles like Comanche, F-22 Lightning, and Werewolf vs. Comanche have been major hits. The benchmark to look at, though, is in the company’s use of voxel graphics technology to create incredibly realistic and fast-moving terrain and ground objects. Voxels, or volume-pixels, are a great technology for rendering terrain-type environs, but it’s quite slow. Voxel Space, NovaLogic’s implementation of voxel technology, brings the necessary speed to this technology that enables it to be used in games like Comanche.

1998 Benchmarks Simulations built on cutting-edge technology means 1998 will see more and more titles coming out that will certainly continue to raise the bar and set benchmarks for the category. Titles like Flight Unlimited II (Looking Glass), the Jane’s Defense Series (EA), and a slew of F-22 games from Interactive Magic and NovaLogic will be looking to push realism to the max. Another interesting title to look for is a new tank game coming from MÄK Technologies, Zombie, and BMG, which was written by a company that previously had worked directly on U.S. Department of Defense simulators.




Simulation Game Design Issues Existing simulations are easily broken down into two categories, but it’s important to remember that a simulation needn’t be limited to them. Let’s take a look: • Military and nonmilitary vehicle simulations—The majority of simulation products center around military vehicles. Entire companies like Microprose and Spectrum Holobyte were founded on the strength of their simulations of major military fighter planes, tanks, and ships. Simulations of nonmilitary machines tend to be products based on sports car racing and standard flight simulators, like Flight Unlimited and Microsoft Flight Simulator. • Space simulations—A lot of simulation products, especially those of a fictional nature, have something to do with space. After all, space is the final frontier and space travel makes for an incredibly appealing simulation program. X-Wing and Space Maxx/Microsoft Space Simulator both offer good insight into a well-developed space simulation.

Verisimilitude Of Detail I learned this term from reading Chris Crawford’s book about his product Balance of Power, which was a simulation of global politics in the Cold War of the mid-1980s. In his book, he explained that a game designer needs to decide how much detail is enough. Sometimes you can have too little detail and sometimes you can have too much. Many simulation designers grapple with this problem all the time. Some designers feel that the word simulation indicates that a product must be as realistic and exciting as possible. However, sometimes striving for this level of real-world detail can make a good game boring or too complex to play. For example, you might want to create a simulation of an airplane by placing great attention on details such as all sorts of preflight checks and technical trivia, but does that really add to the overall game? Sure, it adds to the simulative accuracy, but it might be overkill.

TIP: In the end, you and your testers must determine how much detail to include, but keep in mind that nit-picking details in simulations, however accurate they may be, might be a turnoff. Don’t forget that people play games to escape the menial chores of the real world.

Mission Impossible A lot of the more popular simulation products design “missions” into their simulations, and I’ve heard nothing but positive comments about this approach. As you design your simulations, try to think about the various missions and the overriding story lines you could incorporate into your product. LucasArts has embellished this approach by producing exquisite “cut scenes,” which enhance and tell the story line throughout the course of the game.

Ladies And Gentlemen...Start Your Engines Simulations tend more often than not to be developed around sophisticated 3D graphics engines. It’s no surprise that many of the games spawn sequels or that the engines are used to develop other simulation-style games. The key to producing a string of simulation hits is to come up with an excellent 3D graphics engine (easier said than done) and work to apply that technology to a range of potential simulation situations.

Reinventing The Wheel And Looking For New Opportunities Simulations tend to be one of the most graphically intensive types of games in the gaming universe. Therefore, it’s common to see a new twist on a previously covered topic because developers can “easily” and substantially improve these types of games, through major strides in the graphical presentation of the game. You only need to look at the number of flight simulators on the market to see this premise in motion. Each major breakthrough in 3D graphics sparks a new wave of updated simulations of every type of plane out there. However, the more popular simulators have always been the ones that focus on entirely new ideas. Certainly, Flight Unlimited is Flight Simulator with a much improved graphics engine, yet the designers chose to focus on aerial acrobatics, a completely new variation on the flying theme. Even though a leap in graphical technology gives you the ability to do a WWII submarine simulator, rack your brain to see if you can come up with something better... something new. Your fans will love you for it!

Looking Toward The Future More than most other game categories, simulations are highly dependent on the latest advancements in graphics programming and hardware technology. The companies that have produced benchmark games are all stocked with heavily experienced programming teams combined with massive resources and money. Many of these companies have been plying their craft for considerable amounts of time. Take note: As computers get ever more powerful, an entire new set of development companies, which have been plying their craft in the commercial and military simulation industries for years, will start looking to turn their works into entertainment games. A Pentium II machine with a 3Dfx card and MMX technology provides enough power for quite a bit of high-end graphics. As these companies start looking for new places to make money, expect to see industrial-level simulation experience pour into the games market. Still, the future for this category is not entirely technology based. There’s always room for creativity.




Sports Games Sports games are bread and butter in the computer game industry. Electronic Arts has built an entire company around the strongest sports games in the industry. And EA isn’t alone. Accolade, Sega, and Dynamix have all built successful sports lines as well. Because sports games are such big profit makers, it certainly follows that this category is the most competitive in the gaming industry. Unfortunately, competing successfully in this arena is going to be almost impossible for anyone but the most well-funded and technically adept companies. Sports games are as old as gaming itself and come in two basic varieties (although one has not been nearly as exploited as the other): fictional and nonfictional. Overall, most of the sports games in existence tend to be simulations of actual sports like football, baseball, and soccer. But there’s no reason that this has to be the standard. For example, LucasArts has created some entirely fictional sports games. Now, I’m not sure about you, but I think a hard game of BallBlazer, a futuristic soccerlike game, would do me good. And in EA’s case, they were able to squeeze extra revenue out of an existing investment (a rarity in the game business) when they developed their Mutant League games from the core engines of their nonfictional games. The modern sport game first appeared on the Commodore Amiga, and it was quickly followed by John Madden Football for the Apple IIe, and Formula One Grand Prix for the Amiga. At that point, sports games took off like a rocket. Sports fanatics (at least the ones we know) can never get enough. Here are some of the benchmark sports games: • Intellivision Sports—In its early battles with Atari and their 2600, Mattel successfully created a slew of sports games that were, for the time, well implemented and immensely playable. Skiing, boxing, and football were among my personal favorites. • Microleague and APBA—While other early baseball games like the classic HardBall continued to focus on the action element to baseball, two products came along, APBA and Microleague baseball, that were stat-based baseball simulations. These games were a baseball lover’s dream long before the rotisserie league craze broke out. • EA Sports—“If it’s in the game it’s in the game” is the tagline for what has become the most successful sports line in all of gaming. EA broke new ground with Earl Weaver Baseball, then

they went on to create an entire line of sports titles that they later grouped under the EA Sports label. Each of the games follows the basic design formula devised for Earl Weaver: a great arcade game that is tied to an awesome statistical database. These games offer all sorts of “general manager” options so that you can construct your own teams. You can even trade players and get rid of them when they don’t perform the way you want. Each game is also presented in a format that resembles an actual television broadcast with multiple camera angles, half-time reports, and so on. EA’s design and execution has led to a yearly dosage of spectacular games like NBA Live, NHL Hockey, PGA Tour Golf, and John Madden Football. As far as sports games go, EA is the market and development leader. Figure 7.17 shows screenshots from Electronic Arts’ big sport game hit, NBA Live. Notice how the graphic look is done from a TV production standpoint. Here are two of their most important games:

Figure 7.17: Two action screens from EA’s NBA Live. • Earl Weaver Basebal•—Originally produced for the Commodore Amiga, Earl Weaver Baseball was in many ways a groundbreaking product. Designer Eddie Drombower and producer Don Daglow constructed an entirely new category of game. Earl Weaver was not just a game, it was a simulation. Weaver combined arcade-style techniques with stat-game techniques to create a game that could be played for hours of enjoyment. Tremendous attention was paid to the detail in the game; ballparks were rendered to exacting scale, and wind and actual physical properties were used to determine how far the ball traveled off the bat. • FIFA Soccer 3DO—In 1994, EA added one more notch to its belt with the release of FIFA international soccer. Simply put, FIFA was more than a simulation, it was immersive. From the controllable camera angles to the complete TV-like presentation of the action, an amazing replay feature, and an incredibly rendered 3D stadium, EA stepped into the 32-bit console market and set the standard for sports games. Of special note here are the incredible sound effects EA added to this game; the roar and the chanting of the stadium crowds are out of this world. However dominant EA is in the sports gaming arena, there are other companies that are providing excellent sports titles: Sierra has produced, through its Dynamic subsidiary, the Front Page Sports Series; Accolade has provided several great games, including their most memorable, HardBall; Microsoft, which is developing with Stormfront Studios, is also slated to put out a next generation baseball game. Meanwhile, no doubt EA will continue to build on its past success and continue to bring out the most complete line of major sports titles from baseball and basketball to football, golf, hockey, and even rugby.

1998 Benchmarks Nothing incredibly groundbreaking is expected, but look for the continued progression of the genre from the top players in the field—Sony, EA, Sierra, and perhaps Microsoft—as they push to win market share against each other.




Sports Games Design Issues Sport games live or die on the arcade action and stats produced in the game, as well as how realistic it looks. Let’s take a look at some of these issues.

Action And Stats The key design elements in many sports games are the arcade action and stats-based systems. Back in the old days, most of the sports games focused on one approach or the other. However, once EA hit with Earl Weaver and John Madden, this combined approach took off. Today every major sports game offers itself as an action game in which the skills of the players are based on their real-life counterparts.

Packaging The Game Sports games have recently taken a more interesting approach to the presentation and packaging of both the interface and the overall game. Many of the games now not only try to re-create the look and feel of the actual game, but through the use of announcers, TV-like graphics, half-time scores, and more, they are starting to look like actual television broadcasts. Sony Imagesoft used a license from well-known sports broadcaster ESPN to add an even more realistic touch. Spectrum Holobyte did the same with a tie-in to ABC Sports (now owned by Disney), and Sega debuted a hockey title using TrueMotion’s Digital Video Sprite software to superimpose announcer Marv Albert over the action. These are wonderful examples of how developers are pushing games into new areas.

Looking Toward The Future Because sports games are the single best-selling category in all of gaming, there’s no doubt as to their future. EA built itself into close to a billion-dollar company through its sports games. The biggest new technology that will have an impact on sports gaming is motion capture. Motion capture works really well for sports games because it’s good for capturing fluid human movements (not to mention that motion-capture technology was initially developed to research and help athletes

be better athletes). And we haven’t even touched on the multiplayer possibilities. Not many other game categories lend themselves to multiplayer situations better than sports. EA has already provided Genesis owners with a four-joystick adapter, allowing for all kinds of multiplayer cooperative and opposition play. And I’m willing to bet that complete online football and baseball games, where teams of players compete against each other, are not too far behind.

TIP: On a more mundane level, take note of the trend to provide the game with a sportsbased, TV-like interface, both in gameplay and in packaging. After all, most people absorb their sports through the tube. We suspect we’ll see this interface metaphor pushed so far that it will be indistinguishable from an actual network sports broadcast.

Virtual Reality Games Virtual reality is the catch phrase of the ’90s. We’ve all heard about it, but what is it exactly? Certainly the intent of virtual reality is to invoke a “suspension of disbelief,” and in the area of gaming, that is ultimately a top goal. For the most part, the focus of virtual reality has been on portraying realistic-looking, 3D sights, sounds, and smells that mimic our reality. For the virtual reality games that exist in labs or in virtual arcades, this means reliance on high-tech hardware. Most of the games incorporate head mounting displays (HMDs) or motion tracking equipment to provide an actual “immersive” experience. Of course, only recently has some of the VR equipment become cheap and accessible enough for home users to enjoy it. So far, though, the technology is definitely in its infancy. 1996 looked like a promising year for VR, but headsets failed as they cost too much and software didn’t prove compelling enough. However, as VR technology improves over time, it is sure to garner more widespread use. This means VR gaming will move from a hardware-centered entity to gaming-centered fun. In some ways, VR is here—it’s just not experienced through a traditional VR helmet. With incredibly rendered games like Hexen II, Tomb Raider, and Riven, and force feedback joysticks, there are still a lot of VR principles spilling into gaming. Because VR gaming is a relatively new category, there aren’t many benchmark games to pick and choose from, but let’s take a look at what’s out there now: • Zombie Interactive—Zombie Interactive is one of the hotter software startups of the 1990s. Formed by VR wizards Mark Long and Joanna Alexander, formerly VR researchers at the David Sarnoff Research Center, the company has developed a line of VR-enabled games for the PC. Their first games didn’t fare well, mostly because the hardware market for VR didn’t materialize. Zombie’s games are meant to be played with HMDs as full VR experiences. If you’re not near a location-based VR center, check out the games this company is constructing

for home PC and VR equipment.




VR Game Design Issues VR is very much a hardware-driven experience. Therefore, if you’re going to design and develop a VR game, you must first start by evaluating the hardware options you have and see what that hardware will allow you to do. Among PC-based VR games, you’ll have several different headset decisions, various input options, and more. We’ll go into detail about these options later in the Reference section of this book. You also have to take into account things like hardware and input movement, the restrictions the hardware imposes (it’s hard to type at a keyboard with a large head mounted display), and more.

Looking Toward The Future Again, the question here is hardware. There have been some famous crash and burn stories about creating VR games. Sega spent millions of dollars developing some VR hardware, only to halt development when beta testers complained about dizziness and other health problems like eyestrain. Hasbro, the toy giant, reportedly sank $39 million (yes, million) into a much ballyhooed attempt to create a major VR gaming system for the home, only to yank the cord. Nintendo recently has tried its hand with Virtual Boy, which does some novel things to overcome some of the perceived health problems VR introduces. But the amount of trade-offs it made to deliver Virtual Boy has resulted in what many people consider a completely moronic device. On the PC side, there are several companies pushing a variety of top-quality VR products, like Virtual I/O, VictorMaxx, and others. The problem is that these much higher-quality offerings are also priced too high for mass-market appeal. In addition, each of the various major HMDs has a different set of specs, which makes it impossible for the industry to set a standard. Still, progress is being made. Researchers from many industries are working hard to create next generation hardware that is both safer and more inexpensive. Game giants like Nintendo and Sega are, despite their failures, still working to develop mass-market VR systems; trailblazers like Zombie Interactive are creating demand simply by offering the games; and location-based VR centers are growing by leaps and bounds, showing people today what they’ll have in their homes tomorrow. VR games are here and they offer truly amazing possibilities, but they’re not going to hit the mass market any time soon. For developers who want to push ahead, you’ll need to become familiar with a

great deal of new hardware. War And Realtime Strategy Games War games, like their RPG cousins, have had a significant noncomputer life (and still do to some extent), and just like RPGs, war games have been enhanced by computers. Computer-based war games allow single players and require adherence to a set of rules, which creates a structured gaming environment. Of course, the computer-based versions offer the advantages of multimedia and the sheer speed of computer technology. Over the years, computer-based war games have been a staple of traditional war gaming lovers—those who placed a new RISK game at the top of their Christmas list every year. With computers, though, war games have steadily grown as a game category and include such memorable entries as Eastern Front 1941, Empire, Kampfgruppe, Carriers at War, and Gettysburg. There are several major benchmark war games to note, but we think a discussion about a few benchmark designers and companies is a more logical way to present the work with which you should be familiar when making a game for this category: • Chris Crawford—Chris Crawford, a longtime well-known game designer, developed two very notable works in the war gaming category. Eastern Front 1941 was a historical recreation of the Russian Front during World War II and featured an incredible (for the time) scrolling map of the action and a very easy-to-use interface. His other game, Patton vs. Rommell, was originally developed for the Macintosh and featured a fantastic re-creation of the tank tactics of two of Europe’s greatest generals. • Gary Grigsby and SSI—Gary Grigsby is, in my mind (and I’m hardly alone), the single most accomplished war game designer. He’s created over 15 different games, all known for their incredible attention to detail and historical accuracy. Likewise, SSI is the most wellknown computer-based war gaming company, having produced all of Grigsby’s works, as well as many other notable games. Check out both SSI’s and Grigsby’s work to see some excellent examples of good war game design. • Roger Keating and SSG—Probably best known for their big hit Carriers at War, Australianbased SSG has been creating awesome war gaming programs for at least 10 years. All of their games are known for their attention to detail and flexibility with scenarios. • Empire/Harpoon and other notable products—While I’ve focused on three accomplished war game designers and companies, there are definitely a few other games and designers whose work is worth researching. Harpoon (see Figure 7.18), a game based on the pen and paper masterpiece of the same name, has seen several incarnations through its developer Three-Sixty. Empire, an original mainframe game, has had several wonderful PC versions produced by Mark Baldwin and Bob Rakovsky of White Wolf Software. Additionally, there is the work of Jeff Johanningman and Bob Dunnigan, two veteran game developers. Dunnigan even authored a book on war gaming back in the 1980s that you might still find on the shelves.

Figure 7.18: Harpoon, which has seen several versions, is still one of the most beloved war games. • Warcraft and Command & Conquer—Perhaps the latest and greatest benchmarks, Command & Conquer (Westwood) and Warcraft (Blizzard), ushered in the age of the realtime war games or realtime strategy games (like Led Wars seen in Figure 7.19). Today, it’s one of the most successful, if overpublished, types of games around. Realtime was not invented by Command & Conquer (an earlier game called Herzog Zwei seems to hold that title), but these game really pushed it to the forefront. Since their debut, many new titles in this category are set for release.

Figure 7.19: Realtime strategy games like Led Wars became the new popular game type in 1997.




1998 Benchmarks Many war and realtime strategy games are set to debut in 1998, any number of which could prove to be the next big benchmark in the category. Total Annihilation (GT/Cavedog), Dark Reign (Activision), Led Wars (Ionos), and Rebellion (LucasArts) are just 4 of the 10 to 12 realtime strategy war games expected to be released for 1998. Blizzard and Westwood, the two major power-houses thus far, are also working on new games for the year. In addition, the previously mentioned designers are also working on new products. Tom Clancy, the well-known author, has formed Red Storm Entertainment and perhaps some new take on the strategy/war game may emanate from there in 1998. War Game Design Issues Accuracy is one of the most important issues you’ll have to face when developing war games. There are two types of war games: those rooted in historical re-creations of our world’s history (Gettysburg, Carriers at War, and Eastern Front 1941) and those of a fictitious nature (Roadwars, Warcraft, or Empire). When a designer sets out to re-create a historically based game, the market, especially in the case of a war game, expects accurate detail. However, the outcome of the game does not necessarily have to be 100 percent historically accurate. In this case, accuracy could end up ruining the challenge of the game. Take, for example, Eastern Front 1941. This game is a re-creation of the German offensive on the Russian Front in 1941. History tells us it was an unsuccessful attempt. But if the Russians won every time, the game would cease to be a challenge; a player won’t play if there isn’t a chance to affect the outcome. When confronted with this design issue, be as historically accurate as possible, but create a game engine that allows the player, under the right decisions and circumstances, to change history! After all, one of the appeals of war game products is that armchair generals get to see if their ideas would have changed the outcome.

Looking Toward The Future Taking into account their historical pen and paper past, war games have been around for a long time, and over that time they’ve built up a very strong, dedicated following. Long thought of as very technical and graphically uninteresting products, war game developers in the last few years have been

building increasingly interesting games. Combining improvements like graphical user interfaces, more interesting computer AI, and far superior graphics, the war game has found new fans. Additionally, war games have expanded into realtime with products like Westwood Studios’ Command & Conquer. They certainly have a bright future ahead as multiplayer online products as well. The future for war games isn’t bleak or burning with excitement, but it has a loyal group of players and developers. By increasingly simplifying the play mechanics (though not the games themselves) and refining the graphical components with more multimedia additions, it’s clear that there are even more potential fans to be found.

Foundations For Success Even in the short 15 to 20 year history of computer games, some very specific ideas have emerged to dictate the basic designs and needs of many types of games. Some clear categories of games have also arisen, each with specialized design axioms. In a very short time, a large foundation of work has been laid out by developers around the world, new and old, with deep and not-so-deep pockets. Their labor gives every developer today some very clear starting points from which to develop a new product. Specifics and benchmarks represent incredible opportunities for developers. They clear away a lot of the previous dilemmas developers have struggled with, giving time for everyone to clear new hurdles and push the medium forward. The faster you grasp the important work and axioms done prior to your next design, the faster you can tackle new ground and create the next design-specific or benchmark game of your own!




PART II Building Companies And Products CHAPTER 8 Venture Capital And Other Financing Alternatives This chapter is contributed by Dean Gloster. Dean is a multimedia attorney and partner in the San Francisco law firm Farella, Braun & Martel, where he represents and advises numerous game developers, designers, and publishers, and is involved with many online ventures. He has extensive experience in publishing and distribution agreements, financing, joint ventures, intellectual property licensing, company formation, and sales of software and technology companies. He can be reached at [email protected]. Let’s assume that you’re both a brilliant and well-informed game developer. (After all, you did buy this book.) You have a stable of terrific programmers and artists, and the world’s greatest ideas for an entire line of compelling computer games. You lack only one major ingredient: money. Creating great computer games is expensive. Some high-end games—Electronic Arts’ Wing Commander III, Sierra’s Phantasmagoria, and Interplay’s Stonekeep, for example—cost a reported $3 to $5 million to produce. Although many developers have produced outstanding titles for far less than $500,000, consumer expectations and production values have steadily increased. To meet these demands, developers need to employ some top-notch people. Unfortunately, the most highly talented people don’t work cheaply. In addition, many game developers have learned (the hard way) that developing games simply on advances from software publishers is a low-profit business. As we’ll discuss in Chapter 16, under that business model, software publishers get the lion’s share of net revenue from the title, in return for funding development, manufacturing, and marketing expenses, and assuming product return risks. For developers who want a better economic model, substantial capital is necessary to fund title development with the staff of their choice, to cover manufacturing and packaging costs, and to create an effective marketing and publicity campaign. That’s where this chapter comes in. It’s not easy, but developers with a great team, technology, ideas, growth potential, and a strategy that differentiates their game company from the rest of the pack can get outside funding. That funding is available from a wide variety of venture capitalists, private investors, strategic investors, and even (some) debt financing sources. We will look at those

alternatives.

Project Financing And Company Financing As a game developer, the first question you must ask yourself is whether you are seeking project financing or long-term company financing. There are two different universes of potential funding sources. The first option concerns software publishers and other companies or individuals who finance specific titles or projects. We’ll cover that issue in detail in Chapter 16. The second option for potential funding sources, which we cover in this chapter, is not centered around your current title. These investors are more interested in your company and your plans to grow that business in the future. They’re banking that your vision will reap huge gains on their investment when your company is sold or goes public. Company Financing Alternatives At the initial phase of company financing, a game developer is commonly “bootstrapped”; that is, the company is funded with the founders’ own pockets and current operating profits (and maybe even Visa cards). Keeping a low overhead at this stage is crucial. Some companies find creative alternatives to financial concerns: using interns, offering royalty participations, and giving people onscreen credit in lieu of larger payments help to keep the overhead at a minimum. An extreme example of a developer making creative use of limited resources to bootstrap a company is Verin Lewis of Cyber-ROM Technologies in Ashland, Oregon. He worked on Trilobyte’s original title The 7th Guest and has branched out since that time to form his own development company. While bootstrapping development of a couple of titles, he shares a house with some of his codevelopers rent-free in an artists’ community. He supplements his income as an authorized dealer of Autodesk’s 3D Studio, and he has free access to thousands of dollars of hardware and software every year because of his local cable access TV show, in which he reviews new hardware and software tools. But for many developers, the bootstrapping process is far too limiting. Rapidly growing developers require substantial additional capital to position themselves for anticipated future markets. At some point, they seek outside funding, often from venture capitalists, strategic investors, and private investors. As venture capitalist Mark Gorenberg, a partner with Emeryville, California’s Hummer, Winblad Venture Partners puts it, getting substantial outside funding also allows developers to avoid what he calls “unnatural acts” just to pay the bills. Outside funding, he explains, means that you can “concentrate on efforts to build your business strategically, instead of working on projects that create some current cash flow, but do not help you realize your long-term vision.” Great. But what steps do you take to get that outside funding?




An Overview Of The Funding Process And The Business Plan The search for funding starts with drafting a business plan that establishes an overall vision and longterm focus. Key points include: • • • •

The market for your games How your company will compete effectively in that market What differentiates your products from others in the market What is particularly exciting about your approach

Begin with a short (but compelling) executive summary that describes your company and what is particularly exciting about it. And leave the gushy adjectives in the thesaurus where they belong. Follow that summary with specifics: the key team, competitive advantages like proprietary technology, and the competition. Your plan should also include financial projections that show how the money raised will be used, as well as the obligatory “hockey stick” projections of future revenue and income, which show explosive growth after the infusion of new capital. How long should a business plan be? If it’s used to attract investors, make it as short as possible, and certainly not over 20 pages. Before you grab pen and paper to begin your business plan, take a look at Michael Colby Orsak’s (slightly) tongue-in-cheek sidebar. I’m sure you’ll find it quite enlightening.

Expert Advice Top Ten Reasons Game Developers’ Business Plans Get Tossed In The Trash With tongue only partly in cheek, Michael Colby Orsak of San Francisco’s JAFCO Ventures lists the top 10 reasons game developers’ business plans get thrown out by venture capitalists: 10. Projecting $1 billion in revenue in year three. 9. Valuations based on 3DO (or Netscape). 8. No free game software included (or the software that is included won’t install correctly). 7. More than three Al Gore “information superhighway” quotes in the executive summary. 6. The business plan depends on a platform to be released “real soon, we’re sure.”

5. Oh boy! Another fighting game! (Building your company around a me-too idea is exactly the opposite of what you need to show a venture capitalist. Show them what makes this company different and exciting.) 4. Trust us—all of our titles will be hits. (And the related assertion that we’ll do everything: games, education, reference, edutainment....) 3. Five words: “Online, realtime, 3D interactive movies.” 2. The business plan depends on an extensive network of vapor alliances. 1. Business plan dismisses large, aggressive companies that will compete for market share.

To understand how to draft a business plan, you need to understand how the plan will be read. In my experience, most venture-type investors read (or at least skim) the executive summary, then quickly flip to the section describing the key management or team members. Then they flip to the back of the business plan to see the sources and uses of funds, and when the company projects that it will break even on the basis of operating income. If the investor is still interested, he or she will then read the rest of the business plan, as long as it’s not too lengthy. You can always provide additional information later. The common complaint venture capitalists and other investors have about most business plans is the “lack of focus.” A related complaint is that the entrepreneur seeking funding has never clearly articulated how his or her company is different from the others in the industry (or from the slush pile of unread business plans piling up in someone’s reception area). What Investors Really Care About Interested private investors, venture capitalists, or strategic investors will say “send me a copy of your business plan” when they want to talk with you further. But, the truth is, to effectively raise capital, you need a much sharper focus than can be provided by even a well-written 3-page executive summary and 20-page business plan. You need to reduce what is unique, interesting, and worthy of investment about your company to a short spiel—sales pitch, if you will—that you could write on the back of a business card, or tell someone in a short elevator ride. CEO Steve Blank of Rocket Science Games calls this the “back of the business card or elevator test.” Whatever you think of Rocket Science Games, Mr. Blank was successful in raising over $10 million for a startup game company in a very crowded market. And what are examples of successful pitches? In the case of Rocket Science Games, it was something like, “We will take the storytelling and backstory skills of Hollywood, combine them with the eyecatching production values of Industrial Light & Magic, and bring them to the industry of computer gaming, which is larger than the feature film business.” That got them over $10 million from half a dozen strategic and venture capital investors. Another example is Ed Bernstein, founder of Palladium Interactive and former director of development at Brøderbund and vice president of edutainment products at Mindscape. He offered his potential investors a line of products aimed at the children and family niches, coupled with a new business model for dealing with outside developers that emphasized collaborative publishing and shared risks and rewards. That got his startup company over $6 million from two venture funds. In another approach, the president of AnimaTek boasted that his

team, which included the creators of Tetris and a group of sixty programmers and computer artists in Russia, could produce games for far less than games of equal quality in development in the United States. That got AnimaTek funding from Spectrum HoloByte. If your pitch is simply that you’re going to “create really cool games,” take a number. If, however, your pitch is something like, “We are creating a whole new line of compelling adventure games with themes that will appeal not only to the audience of gamers in the West but also to the growing Asian market,” you are much more likely to find a receptive audience.




If it’s the concise, exciting investment pitch that attracts investors, why go through the trouble of drafting a business plan? Any interested investor is going to ask you probing questions about your business and its prospects. If you haven’t performed the analysis and critical thinking to put together your business plan, you won’t be able to answer those questions, and you won’t receive an investor’s check. And even if you aren’t seeking outside funding, your business plan will still require that critical thinking. Bill Wright, the founder of Wright Financial Solutions in Berkeley, California, advises numerous developers and high-tech companies on strategic planning and financial and accounting systems. He explains, “trying to build a business without a business plan is like trying to build a house without a blueprint. Sure, it’s been done, but it’s not very practical.” Okay—now you have a business plan. Where do you take it?

Venture Capitalists Venture capitalists are often the initial target source of financing for game developers because they are easy to find; there are several published directories of venture capitalists. An excellent one is Pratt’s Guide to Venture Capital Sources (Securities Data Corp., 1995, ISBN 0-914470-74-4). For an even more helpful resource, take a look at this book’s Resources section, which lists nearly 50 venture capitalists who have made recent computer game or multimedia-related investments. In addition to being easy to find, the avowed purpose of venture capitalists is to make minority investments in emerging growth companies. Venture capitalists also have lots of money to invest. Most venture funds have between $30 million and $800 million to manage, and they need to put that money to work on a regular basis in order to generate the kinds of returns that their investors expect. Finally, a number of venture capital firms have specifically targeted the area of entertainment software to make further investments: Gabelli Multimedia Partners was formed specifically to make multimedia software investments; Hummer, Winblad Venture Partners invest exclusively in software companies; NHL Partners is a recently formed $30 million venture fund organized by New Line Cinema and the French media conglomerate Havas to invest in “the development and production of interactive video game software and the distribution and marketing of all multimedia software, including interactive games on a worldwide basis.” And the new Technologies for Information and Entertainment Fund (there’s a mouthful) also specifically targets the entertainment software industry. Who Are These Investors? Venture capital funds are substantial pools of cash generally put up by institutional investors. The

managers of the fund are experienced investors who have a track record of running, advising, or helping prior successful early-stage ventures. Most venture capitalists see thousands of business plans a year and invest in only a handful of companies. (A commonly cited figure is that venture capitalists invest in fewer than 1 percent of the companies they review.) Venture capitalists do not typically involve themselves in the day-to-day management of companies they invest in (unless something is going very wrong), but they do generally sit on the board of directors. Often venture capitalists bring, in addition to cash, extensive industry contacts and strategic advice. They are generally bright, knowledgeable, and broadly experienced in dealing with the kinds of strategic issues that rapidly growing businesses encounter. They often act as a sounding board for entrepreneurs and as a resource in helping to find strategic partners or key management personnel that need to be hired as the business expands. Often, venture capitalists will make several “rounds” of investment, putting in an initial amount, and then as the company continues to meet projections, investing a larger, subsequent milestone. Typical dollar amounts in venture capital financing rounds are $1 to $10 million, although a number of so-called “seed funds” like Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Wasatch Venture Corp., and Mayfield Fund invest amounts between $100,000 and $1 million in early-stage businesses. It is not unusual for several venture capital funds to participate in the same financing round. Although venture capitalists typically put up large amounts of money, they often acquire only a minority interest in the company.




What’s The Catch? For many, this sounds almost too good to be true: There are groups of venture capital investors with millions of dollars to put into early-stage businesses, and all they want is a minority interest. The catch, of course, is that the overwhelming majority of computer game developers (and other earlystage businesses) will never qualify for serious consideration for a venture capital investment. Venture capitalists can afford to be (and must be) extremely selective about the companies they invest in, and they have specific investment criteria that most companies don’t meet: Any realistic target for venture capital financing must have huge growth potential. Venture capitalists target rates of return that in less capitalistically enlightened times were routinely referred to as “obscene.” How obscene? Venture capitalists routinely look for compound annual return rates of 40 percent or more, or 4 to 10 times their money back in a three- to five-year period. Venture capitalists need to target these kinds of aggressive returns because about half of venture capital investments end up as almost complete write-offs. Many others turn out to be only moderately successful. In order to meet their own investors’ expectations, venture capitalists need “home run” returns on a regular basis. That means that most companies that are even quite successful, but merely generate a nice living for the founders and key employees (so-called “lifestyle businesses”), are ineligible for venture capital. Venture capitalists also require that the company have an effective exit strategy: Venture capitalists expect that the companies they invest in will either be sold to a bigger company or go through an initial public offering in the stock market within three to five years, liquidating the venture capitalists’ risky investment and rewarding them with enormous returns. Unless your projections realistically show the necessary growth potential and unless you are prepared to sell your company or go public (which, for a software company, requires growth to over $10 million in annual revenues), you are not a candidate for venture capital financing. In addition, there are a couple of factors that make computer-game developers a particularly hard sell with many venture firms. First, the unpleasant fact is that most developers are not making much money. There are numerous example of developers that are phenomenally successful (like id and Cyan), and many other developers that, like Maxis, have grown from an initial title to become publicly traded companies. Still, these tend to be the exceptions. A 1994 Gistix survey of multimedia companies found that 94 percent of developers were not profitable. And in the last two years a number of prominent game startups such as Rocket Science Games went under. (I’m not as alarmed about that statistic as some other people; multimedia is a young industry.) “These statistics, though,” says Garrett Gruener of San Francisco venture capital firm Burr, Egan, DeLeage & Co., “do make venture capitalists take a hard look at investments in this area.” He adds, “The other problem with

game development is that it’s a hits-driven business.” Unlike many other industries, in which venture capitalists can analyze barriers to entry, competitive features of a product, and niche market preferences, computer games are a consumer product, and any prediction about what consumers will like is something of a guess. “Even in the movie industry,” Gruener explains, “where they have decades of experience, knowledgeable people make mistakes all the time about what will be a hit.” In the much younger industry of computer gaming, he notes, it is even harder to know with confidence what titles (and what companies) will be winners. Even with these difficulties, Burr, Egan, DeLeage & Co. has invested in companies like Brøderbund and Berkeley Systems. What Do Venture Capitalists Want? To a greater or lesser extent, venture capitalists and other venture-type investors typically look at the underlying team, the technology, and the idea. Of these factors, which is the most important? As one venture capitalist recently explained, “If the three most important factors in real estate are location, location, and location, then the three most important factors in investing in an early-stage company are the people, the people, and the people.” (Or, as another puts it, “I’d rather invest in a great entrepreneur with a good idea, than a good entrepreneur with a great idea.”) And what do venture capitalists look for in this team of people? Talent, vision, enthusiasm, energy, a track record of prior success, honesty, integrity, some sophistication about what is required to run a business, and—most important—effective management skills. Mark Gorenberg of Hummer, Winblad Venture Partners, however, explains his firm’s analysis of management: “We’re not interested in ‘boat anchors’—white-haired former executives from another industry just dragged to the meeting to demonstrate ‘management experience,’ even though they know nothing about this company. We like to see appropriate management skills for the kind of business the company is in. If you are a software developer, that may be experience in project management.” As his partner Ann Winblad puts it, “How much experience did Bill Gates have when he founded Microsoft?” She prefers to see someone with vision. What else do you need to attract venture capital? A great team is nice, but they leave the building and go home every night. “You have to have a track record of prior success,” concedes Ed Bernstein, whose Palladium Interactive received over $6 million of venture funding from Canaan Partners and U. S. Venture Partners. “But you also need to show them a unique product, product line, or proprietary technology. And you need a significant piece of the distribution pie.” That means, at a minimum, you have to be planning to distribute your titles through an affiliate label distribution arrangement, with a long-term goal of growing into a publisher yourself. Hummer, Winblad’s Mark Gorenberg explains, “We want to see companies that can capture an area of market real estate and expand that real estate and defend it against competitors.” Other venture capitalists hold similar positions, and are particularly interested in companies like id and Maxis (with its Sim titles) that can create and grow market niches for entire game product lines.




Successfully Approaching Venture Capitalists To recap, the first step is to determine whether your company is actually appropriate for venture capital financing. Is your business going to grow quickly and dramatically with the addition of venture capital, and is your goal to sell your business or go public within three to five years? Do you really have a company that you are trying to finance, not simply a game? I have said it before, but it is worth saying one more time: Venture capitalists fund companies; they do not fund title development. Your second step is to do your homework on your own company. Analyze your strategy and market, create and revise your business plan, and develop your short investment pitch. Your third step is to do some homework on potential venture capital funding sources. Concentrate on firms that have at least some potential of funding software developers. It’s also helpful to approach firms with offices in your geographic area. Although most venture capitalist firms invest nationally, some limit themselves to the area where their offices are located, and it certainly makes the logistics of meeting, due diligence, and monitoring their investment easier. The list of venture capital funds at the end of this book is a nice starting place for your research. For an updated list, check out my firm’s (Farella, Braun & Martel) Web site (www.fbm.com/contnt/artic/ventu.htm). After you have identified potential venture capitalists, do everything possible to get a personal introduction. Again, because of the cascade of unsolicited business plans, an introduction provides you with more credibility and allows your business plan to get more attention than it would if simply skimmed by a summer intern or receptionist. Your attorney or accountant may have substantial contacts in the venture capital industry (particularly if located in the Silicon Valley, San Francisco, or Boston areas), and you may be able to get an introduction through other developers you know who have venture backing. There are also panels of entertainment software-friendly venture capitalists at many industry conferences, including Intermedia, Milia, the Computer Game Developers’ Conference, Multimedia Expo, Multimedia Live!, Seybold, Digital Hollywood, and the annual Fall Multimedia Venture Financing Conference hosted by my firm in San Francisco. These panels are an excellent opportunity to meet a group of venture capitalists, to introduce yourself, to give them a business card, and to give them your one-minute elevator investment pitch. Then, when you follow up with your polite cover letter and business plan, you can start your letter with, “When we met recently at the Intermedia conference, you suggested I send you our business plan. As you may remember, a particularly exciting aspect of our business from an investor’s point of view is....” When you’re looking to find out what’s what on the game developer’s conference circuit, check out my

firm’s Web site, or browse through one of many industry publications that provide this service, including Red Herring, The Multimedia Monitor, The MDG Bulletin, and occasionally, Computer Entertainment News. If you find yourself surfing the Web, stop in at Accel Partners’ Web site (www.accel.com) for a great resource on dealing with venture capitalists.

Strategic Investors Strategic investors may be, in many ways, even better than venture capitalists as a funding source. Numerous established companies have targeted the entertainment software industry for acquisitions, joint ventures, or strategic investments. Why? Well, particularly in the CD-ROM area, many companies have seen the eye-popping growth numbers in entertainment software sales. But there is more to it than that. Entertainment, media, print, and software companies seek to create synergy with their existing distribution channels, or seek to grow rapidly through investments in complementary businesses. Sometimes these strategic investors have different agendas than medium-range profit, ranging from gaining expertise to obtaining access to technology, to locking up a developer from working for competitors, to becoming an instant distribution channel. What are the advantages of dealing with a strategic investor, instead of a venture capitalist? First, typically you don’t have to part with as much of the stock in your company for the same amount of money. Dean Frost is a founding partner of Frost Capital Partners, an investment banking firm in San Francisco that specializes in merger and acquisition work for entertainment and education software companies. He has concluded, after an extensive study of financing deals, that developers’ valuations tend to be significantly higher in strategic investment deals, rather than in venture capital investments. In addition, strategic investors usually have something else to offer, along with money and business experience. They can often provide branded content, additional channels of distribution, access to foreign markets, access to proprietary technology, comarketing opportunities, or other strategic benefits. Finally, strategic investors tend to be less concerned about an exit strategy three to five years down the road from their initial investment because they may be an exit strategy. That is, if they are happy with the performance you have given them as a minority investor, they may want to pay a lot more money for the rest of your company three years down the road.




Who Are These Investors? As long as the computer game industry (or at least the CD-ROM and online end of it) continues to grow rapidly, the world will be full of potentially interested strategic investors. There are three characteristics to look for (other than a large pile of money) in a potential strategic investor. First, there should be some synergy for you in pairing up with this partner. Legend Entertainment, a Virginia-based science fiction computer game developer, received a large investment from Random House. In addition to money, Legend derived several other benefits from that investment, including access to much of the library of Del Rey Books, Random House’s science fiction imprint. Legend also got the opportunity to work on original titles with Del Rey authors, and to have those authors available to do novelizations of its original games. Finally, Legend got an additional distribution channel, as Random House is trying hard to broaden the consumer software retail channel by selling entertainment software in traditional bookstores. Second, there should be some synergy for your investor in partnering with you. Sticking with the Random House/Legend Entertainment example, Random House became an instant channel of distribution for game software, and got an increased opportunity to turn its existing science fiction books into computer games. Similarly, by investing in developer AnimaTek, game publisher Spectrum HoloByte obtained more content to distribute and got access to the skills of another outside developer. If your strategic investor gets some independent benefit from the relationship, this improves your chances of getting the financing in a reasonable period of time. Finally, the ideal strategic investor, in my slightly cynical world view, is a potential dinosaur of a company just two steps away from your software development business. They may be facing obsolescence or be threatened by technological advancements and can only risk investing in a company that is a close cousin to the entertainment software industry. If you can find a related company that is nervously eyeing the future and sees the computer game industry as a way to hedge its bets, you have excellent prospects for a successful strategic investment deal. An example of a strategic investment in a game developer that met all three of these criteria was the investment by Blockbuster Video in San Francisco start-up game developer company CAPS, founded by Judy Lange, who had earlier cofounded Crystal Dynamics. At the time of its initial investment, Blockbuster was in the video rental business, facing rising concern over potential future online or interactive TV delivery of video on demand. In addition, through an innovative pilot program,

Blockbuster was experimenting with rental of computer games in its stores, providing a new distribution channel. Obviously, there were advantages to Blockbuster investing in a computer game developer, and potential advantages to CAPS in having a company like Blockbuster Entertainment as a strategic investor. Finally, at the time of the investment (before Blockbuster’s purchase by Viacom, which itself has more new media tentacles than an octopus), Blockbuster Entertainment fit my model of a strategic investor that might reasonably be nervous about the effect of technology on its own market niche. In this book’s Resource section, you’ll find a directory of a few of the many strategic investors who have made computer game or other online and multimedia-related investments. You can find an updated database of investors at my firm’s Web site (again, www.fbm.com/multimedia).

Private Investors For companies not far enough along to attract venture capitalists and strategic investors, there is still the alternative of private investors. Private investors are commonly known as “angel” financiers, and they can be an outstanding source of capital—if you can find one. The book Demystifying Multimedia defines an angel as someone “who shares the project vision and wants to bring it into existence.” Well, maybe. Typically, the angel shares the money he or she has, and occasionally some of his or her accumulated business wisdom. It is difficult to locate angel financiers unless they have a preexisting connection with the company principals or they have a substantial interest in, or sophistication about, the industry in which they are investing.




Who Are These Angels? Although the venture capital community is far more visible, historically, private investors provide far more capital to startup ventures. But where do you find these investors? The most successful place for obtaining first-stage investments is through friends and family. These people have a preexisting connection to you, and they have more trust in you than a stranger would. Unfortunately, for most of us who are not related by blood (or by being college roommates) to Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, and the Saudi royal family, the amount of money that can be raised from friends and family is limited. So how do you attract investments from people outside your immediate circle of friends and relatives? There have been extensive studies of the profile of typical private investors in startup businesses. A substantial portion of so-called angel investors have a net worth of over $1 million. The majority of angel investors, however, are not millionaires, although they have above-average income. Most of them are business owners or middle managers who are generally about twenty years older than the entrepreneurs that they finance. Typically, private investors can make investment decisions far faster than venture capitalists or strategic investors. They are particularly willing to invest in startups, and they invest much smaller amounts of money; individual private investors generally lay down $50,000 or less. One effective strategy for locating private investors is to network through other professionals that you know. Contact your attorney, your accountant, the people on your board of advisors, and various financial advisors, and supply them with a copy of your business plan with a request that they give you leads. Sometimes you can find investors in your own backyard. How about the owner of that production company who is doing the digitized video for your title? Would he or she be interested in investing in you? Another category of potential investors consists of highly compensated professionals: Doctors, lawyers, and airline pilots are the traditional short list of target investors. (This approach may be particularly helpful if the kinds of games that your company is creating have some special appeal to your investor audience. For example, if you were doing a flight simulation game, your company might have a particular appeal to airline pilots, many of whom are former military jet pilots.) Along this same line, another source of private investors for startup companies includes executives, middle managers, and highly compensated technical people who are leaving much larger companies with golden parachutes, vested stock options, and the like. They often have substantial capital along with relevant business or technical expertise to help make a startup company successful. Various cities also have venture capital clubs, which provide a forum for venture investors and

intermediaries. For a list of venture clubs around the country, contact: Jim Jensen, Association of Venture Clubs 265 E. 100 South, Suite 300 Salt Lake City, UT 84110-3358 801-364-1100 There are even specific networks to put companies together with interested investors. For example, the Silicon Valley Capital Network is located in San Jose, California. (For more information, contact Dennis Laudermilch at 408-541-7627.) For a list of the nearest venture capital networks to you, contact: Venture Capital Network Box 882 Durham, NH 03824 603-862-3558 You can also try to approach intermediaries (finders, business brokers, and loan brokers) who might be able to find private investors for you. In return, those middlemen would get a portion of the money they find for you. Get references on any finder or broker, and be extremely careful when someone asks for a substantial fee up front whether or not he or she can deliver investor money. Computer game developers are in a particularly good business for attracting private investment. In addition to offering the potential of substantial returns if your company is successful, you are in an interesting, glitzy business (even if it doesn’t seem that way at two in the morning when you’re trying to fix a software bug). The computer gaming business gives private investors a substantial amount of “psychic income”—they can tell their friends that they are an investor in a company that develops the world’s coolest entertainment software. You should carefully check out the background and motivations, however, of potential private investors. While it is important to do some research about venture capitalists and strategic investors by talking to the companies they have invested in previously, it is even more important to do this with private investors. Venture capitalists have a fairly standard set of expectations: They do not want to run your company, and they do not need their money back until the end of the target investment period. Private investors, however, can have wildly different expectations and goals. Some of them may need their money back on short notice or may harbor the notion that if they are putting money into your company, they ought to actually start running your company, especially since it looks like so much fun.




Finally, an additional note of caution when dealing with private investors: Liability is less of an issue with venture capitalists, who are extraordinarily savvy, experienced, and unlikely to sue over an investment gone bad. But if you are using a business plan to solicit investments from private investors in the United States, you are subject to federal securities laws. These include the rule that allows investors to demand their money back if they can establish that the investment was solicited on the basis of a “materially misleading” misrepresentation or material omission. In plain English, if you left some information out that would have caused them to rethink their investment, they may have the ability to sue to get their money back. As a result, circulars sent to private investors commonly contain an extensive discussion of the “risk factors” that investors should be aware of before making an investment. (Sophisticated investors understand that this recital of risk factors is necessary under the securities laws and tend not to be unduly frightened by it. Anyone investing in a startup venture is undertaking a highly speculative leap of faith, and should be aware of that.) Even more important: Whenever you are dealing with private investors in the United States, you need to take steps to ensure that you are not an “underwriter” of an unregistered public offering. There are numerous very specific exemptions from the U.S. securities laws (small offerings, intrastate offerings) that allow you to raise money from small numbers of investors without violating the securities laws that otherwise require registration. These exemptions, however, are quite narrow. Painful (or expensive) as it may be, if you are raising money from a group of private investors, you should consult with an attorney when structuring and documenting the investment and solicitation materials.

Debt Financing Alternatives A sometimes overlooked funding source is debt, which allows entrepreneurs to grow rapidly without sacrificing a substantial equity stake. Many small startup companies are funded (at least initially) on the credit cards of the founders. Unfortunately, debt usually requires current interest payments, creating potential cash flow difficulties. For most computer game developers, there is an even more daunting problem about obtaining traditional bank debt financing: It’s impossible. I was amused by an article I saw in a magazine called Morph’s Outpost on the Digital Frontier, targeted at developers, which described how to impress a banker. But the truth is, the only way most startup computer game developers would get money from a bank is with a handgun. Banks obtain no upside in connection with their loans, and in traditional loan underwriting, they demand both a substantial prior operating history generating positive cash

flow and assets with a substantial liquidation value as collateral to ensure repayment. Most computer game developers do not meet these criteria. Still, there are options for debt financing other than standard bank financing. For companies with a substantial operating history that still do not qualify for traditional bank loans, there are commercial finance companies and other similar lenders that may offer slightly less conservative working capital loans and other financing. Unfortunately, these loans typically impose substantially higher terms. Many equipment vendors have arrangements with leasing companies to finance the lease of necessary equipment. Several companies, including Menlo Capital, specialize in providing debt financing to companies with venture capital funding. Some lenders, like Silicon Valley Bank and Imperial Bank, have venture-lending groups. Many banks have special programs for women-owned and minorityowned companies, and there are special programs in many cities for making loans to small local businesses, targeted at job creation. Mezzanine Financing For larger developers and publishers with a substantial operating history, current cash flow, and some assets (even if it’s a future receivable, such as the world’s greatest bundling deal), there is also an aggressive category of lenders, commonly referred to as “mezzanine financing.” Mezzanine financing describes a kind of capital that is somewhere between more traditional senior-debt financing and common stock. In some cases, it takes the form of redeemable preferred stock. In most cases, however, it is some kind of subordinated debt (behind bank financing) with an equity component, such as a warrant to purchase additional stock cheaply, or a feature that allows the debt to be converted into common stock. Typically, mezzanine lenders target internal rates of return of about 25 percent, and a portion of that return is the interest rate payable out of cash flow. For larger companies, investment bankers (discussed in the next section) are a good source of mezzanine lenders. For smaller companies, loan brokers may have some leads.




Small Business Administration Loans Small Business Administration (SBA) loans can also be an excellent financing source for loans between $50,000 and $3 million, depending on the type of loan you are applying for. SBA loans are made by private lenders, such as banks, but they are partially guaranteed by the SBA, a federal agency. Because they are partially guaranteed, private lenders are often willing to make these loans even if there is a greater risk of nonrepayment. The two main categories of SBA loans are the Section 7(a) Program and the Section 504 Program (which is targeted more toward real estate and heavy equipment, and permits loans of up to $3 million and more). The Section 7(a) Program is the most flexible and allows for working capital and equipment loans ranging from $50,000 to $1 million (although individual lenders’ limits may be less than this). The paperwork is typically substantial, but in many areas there are qualified SBA packagers who can assist you in putting together all the documentation. For a recommendation of an SBA packager in your area, contact your local SBA office, found in the white pages of your phone book under “United States Federal Government,” or contact the SBA (www.sba.gov) directly at 202-653-6570. In addition, some private lenders have special SBA programs for smaller loans. Eric Houser of Citibank in San Francisco explains, “With our Capital Access Program, we offer faster loans, with no requirement of a security interest in the personal assets of the owners or the borrower or any personal guarantee.” Although one traditional complaint about SBA loans is the length of time it takes to have them approved, Mr. Houser explains that with his bank’s Capital Access Program, “We commit to a decision within five days, and usually complete funding in 21 to 30 days.” Typically, non-real estate SBA loans are 7- to 10-year term loans (which is longer than standard bank term loans), and interest rates (which are negotiable) range generally from prime rate plus 2 percent to prime rate plus 2 3/4 percent. There may also be an initial guarantee fee of up to 2 percent of the SBA-guaranteed portion of the loan. SBA loans are generally secured by all of the assets of the borrower, and some SBA loan programs require personal guarantees from the principals of the borrower, and sometimes a second deed of trust or mortgage on the principals’ houses. Throughout the United States, tens of thousands of banks and other financial institutions are authorized SBA lenders. The lending criteria of the individual SBA lender may vary greatly in its aggressiveness. Even if you have been turned down by one lender for an SBA loan, another lender may be willing to provide financing. SBA loans usually carry far lower interest rates than you could pay for similar debt financing and there are no prepayment penalties. While other bank loans permit a debt-to-equity ratio of only 2:1 ($2 of debt for every $1 of capital you put into the business), SBA

lenders commonly permit a much higher ratio, allowing you to increase the leverage on your money. So what do you need to show an SBA lender to get one of these loans? It varies greatly from lender to lender. Eric Houser explains the requirements of Citibank in San Francisco, which is aggressively marketing its SBA loan program to software developers and other perceived high-tech companies. “You should have 12 months of profitability with at least adequate cash flow to service the debt.”

Investment Bankers And Underwriters Another group of professionals exists to help companies with financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, private placements, and initial public offerings. “Investment bankers” are somewhat misnamed, since they usually don’t make investments, and they are not bankers. Traditionally, investment bankers are advisors, go-betweens, and underwriters who assist companies either in making acquisitions and investments, or in selling equity or obtaining financing. They help with valuation analysis, due diligence, and deal structures (all of which we will discuss later in this chapter), and are generally well-connected with institutional and other financing sources. Speaking generally, underwriters are banking firms that assist with the distribution and sale of public offerings (initial public offerings and follow-on offerings), and placement agents are investment bankers who assist with private placements of large debt or equity investments. A given investment banking firm might do all these things and also manage a venture capital or bridge financing fund. Investment bankers are essential in public offerings of securities and in large private placements. If well-connected, they can also be helpful in lining up large strategic investors. However, they are generally much less helpful in obtaining venture financing. In addition, most sizable investment banking firms concentrate on transactions of $5 million and more, and prefer to deal with transactions that are much larger. There are, however, a few one- or two-person boutique investment banking firms in various regions that may help with smaller transactions. Investment bankers are expensive, and they often receive compensation both in the form of initial consultation fees and a portion of financing they obtain. Examples of investment bankers with game company experience are Frost Capital Partners, an investment banking firm in San Francisco that specializes in entertainment and educational software companies, and D.H. Blair Investment Banking Co., a New York-based investment banking firm that specializes in private placements and other capital raising for rapidly growing companies with some “sizzle.”




The Funding Process And Beyond You’ve read this chapter, drafted your great business plan, developed your investment pitch, identified your potential funding sources, and networked to get personal introductions. Now what? First, be aware that it takes a long time to obtain to financing. Typically, only private investors are capable of making a decision relatively quickly. But the process of approaching venture capitalists and strategic investors, meeting with them, allowing them to do due diligence on your company, and negotiating the final deal terms can take six months or a year, even if the process is successful. So don’t wait until you are almost out of money to go looking for more. (Besides, investors are often more cautious about putting money into a company that is almost completely out of cash, and in your desperation, you won’t have much leverage to obtain the best terms with your financing source.) Here’s a rundown of the typical funding cycle for an entrepreneurial company (including game developers): 1. The company is initially funded by the founders and some “seed” money private investors, who are often friends and family. 2. As the company gets bigger or further along, it has more to show outside investors and a better ability to generate attractive valuation numbers. 3. The company then approaches venture capitalists and strategic investors. Sometimes, strategic partners are found first, and this network of strategic relationships is part of what makes the company attractive to venture capitalists. Other times, venture capitalists put money into the company first, and then assist the company in lining up strategic partners. Jim Breyer of Accel Partners recommends this approach: “First raise venture capital and insanely focus on developing rich products. Then, your company can be positioned to attract partnerships with major media players such as Disney, TCI, and Microsoft.” 4. Finally, a few years later, after spectacular success, the company goes through an initial public offering, selling a portion of its stock to the public and making the original founders and early-round investors fabulously wealthy (at least on paper) overnight. Or, the company is sold to a much larger software company, and the founders continue to toil away, but as wealthy heads of a division of a much larger company. Due Diligence: Finding Your Worst Nightmare Before Someone Else Does Before writing you a check, any sophisticated investor will insist that your company is properly

organized, that it has the rights to use its technology, that it has appropriate written arrangements with employees and intellectual property licensors, and that it does not have huge lurking tax problems. (For a more detailed discussion of the legal issues you need to address in forming your company and making sure that your company owns the necessary rights to its games, see Chapter 17.) To avoid awkward pauses after questions from your potential investors, it is smart to take care of these problems—or at least to develop a strategy to solve them—before going out to get funding. Above all, however, do not lie to or mislead the investors about these issues: This is not only fraud, but it is definitely fatal to the long-term process of getting along with your investors. Anyone contemplating giving you hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars is placing enormous trust in you. And if you lead them astray once, they will not give you their money. Valuation: How Much Am I Bid For This Piece Of Blue Sky? The issue of valuation (how much your company is actually worth, which can be decided many different ways), particularly with a startup enterprise, is difficult. Still, there are some guidelines. One approach is to look at how Wall Street values current companies that look like what you plan to grow into. Then discount that future valuation for the time it will take to get there and the substantial risk that you won’t make it. If this general analysis sounds like an estimate compounded by a guess, that’s because it is. Although business schools teach several different formulas for valuing mature companies, none of them is particularly useful for startups or early-stage businesses that everyone hopes will grow rapidly. “I wish we could simply use a discounted present value analysis,” says Dean Frost of Frost Capital Partners. “It would make things a lot simpler.” His firm maintains a database of recent venture capital, and other deals involving entertainment software developers, to give them data points for establishing valuation. Mark Gorenberg of Hummer, Winblad explains that his firm is willing to sit down with the entrepreneur and disclose the terms of their other investments to establish a comfort level that the final figures are within a reasonable range. But essentially the process of valuation is a negotiation between a willing seller (you), who wants to sell part of the equity in a company, and a willing buyer (the investor).




Deal Structures How to structure investments in early-stage companies could be the subject of an entire book. Several broad themes, however, characterize investments in growing early-stage companies. First, investments typically come in the form of equity. The investor expects to share in the huge appreciation of your company as it grows larger. Second, the initial round of investments are typically for only a minority ownership interest in the company. The investors understand that the founders need to have a substantial incentive for toiling night and day to create the value for everyone, and they also understand that the founders’ equity stake may be further diluted by later rounds of investment, as the growing company needs still more capital to expand. Third, initial-round investors often insist on the right to participate in later financing rounds at some favorable stock price, in order to prevent extreme dilution of their equity ownership stake, and to reward them for making the most risky first-stage investment. As an entrepreneur, you should be somewhat careful about how your deal is structured; you want to preserve maximum flexibility for later investments. More important, if your first-round investors are private individuals in the United States who are not “accredited investors” under the securities laws, they may not be able to participate in later financing rounds without enormous legal complications. Typically, there is a broad array of minority investor protections in negotiated deals, like prohibitions against distributing all of the money made by the company in the form of inflated salaries. Also, in venture deals there are often provisions that allow the investors to replace management, or to take over control of the company if it falls radically short of projections. Investors also often insist on some kind of downside protection, so that if the company is only modestly successful and is sold after a couple of years, they will get their investment back—before the entrepreneurial founders (who have been receiving a salary this entire time) see any upside. Common ways to arrange this deal include structuring part of the investment as a note convertible into stock, or giving the investors preferred stock (convertible into common) with a priority right to payment upon liquidation or sale of the company. After You Cash The Check You buy this book, create the world’s coolest computer game development company, come up with a focused strategy and brilliant business plan, talk to investors, and get to the point where you now have a check for several million dollars in your hands. What next? Well, you will find that a lot of things change once you get substantial outside funding. For example, your first voice mail message may be from your programmer, asking for a raise. It is remarkably easy to go through a huge amount

of money in a short period of time, once you have it. Tim Draper, founding partner of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, a venture capital fund that specializes in smaller “seed” investments in startup companies, explains that he likes to make investments in the range of $100,000 instead of $1 million. This is because entrepreneurs always spend exactly as much money as they have, and the company’s level of overhead and focus on profitability is set at a very early stage. A critique of many startups that received huge initial funding was that they never figured out how to keep overhead low and focus the corporate mission on becoming profitable. How do you avoid this “venture bloat?” Probably the best rule is to hire only great people. This rule will limit your growth (there are only so many great people around), but it will often pay off in the long run. Another important rule after you get funding is to continually provide your investors with regular information, even (or especially) if you are starting to miss the projections in your business plan. Almost everyone who invests in startups and early-stage companies understands that the projections may not be met, but no one likes to be surprised by bad news that should have been apparent (and revealed) months before. Finally, the best advice for any developer who has received funding is to make great games and sell them in huge numbers to consumers. The results will make consumers happy, your distributors happy, your investors happy, and you happy. And they say money doesn’t buy happiness.




CHAPTER 9 Getting A Job In The Interactive Entertainment Industry There are many myths about working in the game industry. The reason that most people, especially rookies, don’t land their dream job is because they’re not aware of what companies are looking for. Fortunately, getting a job in the game development industry is not as tough as people make it sound. But it’s not easy either. On the plus side, the game industry is growing rapidly, which means that companies are aggressively hiring people with various backgrounds. This means that you don’t need to be an expert game programmer to get a job. On the downside, companies are looking for talented people who represent the cream of the crop. The top tier companies are quite selective; they are accustomed to taking their pick of applicants because many programmers, designers, and technical people are dying to work for them. Competition is fierce—many people are waiting in line for the same precious job. But if you follow some of the suggestions and tips presented in this chapter, you’ll be one step ahead of the pack.

On The Road To Success Those new to the game development industry often buy into the misconception that getting their game published is the same as getting a job with a game development company. This isn’t the case. Getting a job involves going through the process of finding a job: checking the classified ads for game development job listings, sending your résumé to companies, going on interviews, and so on. Having your title published, on the other hand, involves constructing a game, submitting it, and negotiating with a game publisher. In this chapter, we’ll focus on techniques that are useful in landing a job at a game development company. We’ll start by looking at some of the specific skills and talents you’ll need. The Love Of Games If you talk to anyone in charge of hiring talent for a game company, they’ll tell you that they look for people who love games. In other words, the more obsessed you are, the better. In fact, in a recent Game Developer magazine interview, Blizzard CEO Allen Adham stated that the key to Blizzard’s success has been to hire people who love computer games for every position in the company, from top to bottom. Think about that. Adham attributes most of Blizzard’s success to this simple strategy.

So, if your main reason for getting a job in the games industry is to make a lot of money or hang out with interesting people, forget it. If, deep down, you’re not a game player at heart, you probably should look for another profession—perhaps writing device drivers or designing database applications. Job Search Tools Every job seeker needs to put together a job search toolbox. Here’s what the typical job toolbox contains:

Your Résumé It goes without saying that you need a good résumé to get a job. Without going into too much detail (there are dozens of books on the market about constructing a résumé), you should highlight your skills, previous job duties and accomplishments, and your educational background (especially as it relates to game development). Keep in mind that your résumé is generally your foot in the door with a company, and therefore it should get to the point and succinctly convey your worth. Even if you have a fantastic demo, it may never get seen if your résumé comes across as amateurish. Make sure that you put your email and personal Web site’s URL on your résumé.

Your Web Site A Web site is often the second means by which companies will assess you, especially if you did not submit a game demo, animation demo reel, or audio tape/CD (in the case of composers or sound effects technicians). For this reason, it’s important that your Web site look professional. Don’t worry about creating some flashy site using JavaScript, frames, ActiveX controls, and so on. Just make sure it’s easily navigable and showcases your technical expertise. This can be in the form of downloadable game demos you’ve developed, 3D Studio MAX .FLC files, papers or articles you’ve written about game development (even if they were never published), technical tutorials, op-ed pieces about the industry, and so on. Communicate what you know and what you’ve accomplished. Think of this as an extension of your résumé, with the benefit of multimedia support.

TIP: Don’t forget what your Web site might say about you at hiring time! At the risk of getting flamed for being too conservative, I recommend you temporarily ditch any pages from your personal Web site that may convey the wrong impression. By this I mean any fanzine pages honoring the likes of Sandra Bullock or David Duchovny, pages with political rants, and anything that might say too much about you or give the wrong impression. Don’t get me wrong—this type of content doesn’t offend me—but just remove the links to those pages until after you’ve got the job offer in hand. You never know what may rile someone, and if it’s something on your site, you’ll never know because they simply won’t invite you to take the next step in the hiring process.




Your Portfolio Or Demo Game Many areas of game development, such as programming, art, animation, music, or sound effects, require you to create a portfolio of your work. This portfolio should be as professional and as unique as you can make it. You don’t have to make it too extensive, but it should present samples of your best work. Artists tend to put a portfolio of artwork on videotape—especially animation. Demo reels abound in art circles, so make sure yours stands out and covers a gamut of basics. 3D animation should look really good; gone are the days of the simplistic slapped-together 3D animated demo. Producers are looking for people who understand character design, lifelike movements, and the ability to stage and tell a story. If you’re not sure what a good graphics demo reel looks like, check out the last great games you played from top producers and you’ll instantly realize the level being sought.

TIP: Check out www.cdrom.com, which has a huge archive of absolutely wild demos. These examples might give you some inspiration for your own demos. Many are written by whiz-kid European programmers. More than a few of the demo authors have been offered employment by leading game development houses. If you create your own demos and upload them to the Internet or another online service, make sure to include information about yourself and indicate that you are looking for a position with a game company. I’m amazed at the number of demos I come across that don’t include information about the author.

If you are a programmer and want to demonstrate your development talents, create demos of your more interesting or technical creations. If you have written a complete game, even if it’s outdated in terms of technology, show it off because a completed project demonstrates that you have what it takes to complete a game. From my conversations with various human resources people in the game industry, I’ve discovered that they specifically look for people who have finished projects. The game industry is crowded with people who are full of great ideas but short on implementation.

Business Cards You need business cards. They’re a must if you ever plan to attend a conference or any other face-toface networking event. Don’t forget to put your email address and Web site URL on your card as well.

Increasing Your Profile There are a number of steps you can take to “raise the value of your stock.” There is no better way to convey your knowledge than by teaching that knowledge to others. It not only demonstrates what you know, it shows off your verbal and/or written communication skills. It also says something about your generosity (after all, imparting knowledge is a gift). With that said, here are some opportunities to stand out from the rest of the pack and get noticed.

Write For Magazines We happen to know that this is an excellent way to get your name out in the industry, because Alex and Tor both edit one of the few magazines that targets the game development market. Getting your name on a magazine article provides fantastic exposure to other developers and hiring personnel. After a good article comes out, we often get phone calls and email from HR personnel at various game companies, inquiring about the author of an article and asking how they can be contacted. Why? Because an article displays your technical knowledge and writing skills, which can catch the eye of companies looking to hire. On top of everything, you also get paid to write articles, which may provide enough to upgrade your motherboard or get that new 17" monitor you’ve been eyeing. To sum up, writing for a magazine increases your presence. If you have an idea for a magazine article, try pitching it to an editor. While we can say that we’ve rejected most of the articles that come our way, due to space constraints in the magazine, we’ve also let a fair amount of developers with no writing experience take a stab at an article, only to be amazed by the fine job they did on it.




Speak At Conferences This is another way to increase the value of your stock and get noticed by companies. Like pitching a magazine article, submitting a session abstract to a conference producer like Miller Freeman, IDG Expos, or SOFTBANK Forums is a long shot. These companies get hundreds of session abstracts for every conference, and the conference manager must sift through them all and choose the few that look good. A number of years ago, Alex Dunne worked for the Software Development Conference, and presently works side-by-side with the crew that produces the CGDC, so he knows how difficult it can be to get your abstract accepted. However, if your abstract is chosen, speaking at a conference is fantastic exposure. Most people merely think about the benefits of standing up and talking in front of a hundred or so people. However, the exposure you receive from getting your name (and possibly your photo and bio) in the hundreds of thousands of preconference brochures that are sent out is just as valuable. And, if you are accepted to speak, the networking you can do after your session is amazing. People will come up and ask questions, and you’ll collect a number of business cards. Don’t forget to create handouts for the class, including your contact information.

Speak Your Way To Success Often it’s much harder to be chosen as a speaker for a conference than to get a magazine article published; there are not that many openings, and competition can be fierce. One back door that (in my opinion) hasn’t been noticed by many people is the role of a roundtable moderator/leader. For instance, at the 1997 CGDC, there were sometimes a half dozen roundtables in session at a time. Moderating doesn’t carry the same weight as speaking in front of a podium, but often it’s more personal and conversational. If you have an aversion to public speaking (and don’t we all), roundtable can be a lot less threatening. Right before this year’s conference, the CDGC was actively looking for roundtable moderators (via their Web site). This indicates to me that not enough people are aware of that opportunity. To get more information about speaking at conferences, check out the Web sites for various industry shows. If there isn’t any information about speaking opportunities, either send an email or phone the conference manager. Ask to be put into their prospective speaker database or request their Call For Abstracts for the next upcoming conference. Make sure the abstract you submit covers a technology that’s currently popular, and it doesn’t cater to any particular product. Also get your hands on the previous year’s conference’s brochure and see what sessions they offered and how they were written up. That will help you tailor your abstract to their particular tastes and style.

If you are selected to speak, be prepared to cover the cost of traveling to the show; that’s how it generally works unless you’re a Mike Abrash.

Be Active On Usenet/Forums Have you ever visited Usenet groups like rec.games.programmer? How about CompuServe’s Game Development forum (GO GAMEDEV)? If the answer is “No,” or “Yes, but only to lurk,” you ought to consider more actively posting to these forums. Just like speaking at a conference, this can be a little frightening at first. Posting your words for all to see leaves you open to ridicule. However, once you’ve done it a few times, and you get a feel for the atmosphere of the forum or newsgroup, you’ll lose your inhibitions quickly and come to enjoy it. Even the rec.games.programmer newsgroup, which has had its share of flame wars over the years, becomes familiar territory once you’ve browsed the posts for a few weeks and get to know the personalities.

TIP: If you’re new to newsgroups or forums, here’s some advice: First, find out where the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page for the forum is located. Read it carefully, because it will prevent you from asking a question that has already been asked a thousand times in the forum (and answered numerous times). Next, lurk for a while and get to know the personalities of the regulars who post. Finally, when you feel like jumping in, post a message. It can be a statement, an observation, a technical question, or simply a reply to someone else’s posting.

Becoming active in newsgroups and forums can help you in (at least) two ways. First, you’ll get to know other people in the industry and you’ll build relationships. It goes without saying that networking is critical when looking for employment. Second, headhunters often troll newsgroups looking for people to fill positions. Posting an answer to someone else’s technical question will sometimes earn you an email later on from a headhunter, filling you in on a job opening that they know about. However, take these communiqués from headhunters with a note of caution. Sometimes they come across extremely enthusiastic and make it seem as though you have an excellent shot at a job, then (depending on all kinds of intervening circumstances on their end) you may never hear from them again. Once you’re comfortable posting in whatever forum you prefer, try to remain a consistent contributor. That doesn’t mean you have to post every day, but pop in on a regular basis. Posting a note or two once a week for a year is much better than posting a flurry of messages in one month and then abandoning the forum for a long stretch. It takes time for others to get to know you online, so you should understand the value of being a consistent contributor.

TIP: Remember that you and your online persona are inexorably linked together. People sometimes forget this when posting a note to a newsgroup. Once you hit the Send button, your message is out there for all to see, so don’t fly off the handle, insult others, or brag about your abilities. Some folks forget this, and it can be brutal becoming the pariah of a forum. Maintain and encourage online civility and humility. Here endeth the lesson.




Game Development Careers One of the most important pieces of advice for software developers is “keep up with the technology.” This is especially true for game development, where games often have to incorporate whiz-bang technology to gain the upper hand over the competition. Granted, cutting-edge technology is not (nay, should not be) a prescription for a game’s success. But suffice it to say that if it comes down to you and one other person vying for a game development position, if all other factors are equal, the employer will take the person whose skill set and tool experience is most up to date. How do you know if your skills and knowledge are current? It’s not too difficult to tell—just look at what skills and experience companies are asking for on job opening notices. Here are some traditional game development positions and the skills, professional background, and years of experience most often requested by employers.

Note: Keep in mind that the salary ranges listed will vary according to your years of experience, geographical location, benefits package, potential royalties or bonuses for hitting sales targets, size of company, and so on. For example, a large game company located in New York that sells millions of dollars of games is likely to pay more than a small game company located in Iowa. Don’t walk into your next job interview and tell the personnel department that you expect to make $100,000 for the producer position because you read that producers make $100,000 per year! Conversely, understand that the top salary for some positions may be low given your specific skills; if you really are worth over $100,000 a year, you may be able to negotiate such a salary, even though it may be outside of the scale of the position for which you are applying.

Producers Salary Range: $40,000 to $100,000+ Producers are basically product managers; they serve as the go-between for management/marketing and the creative people who actually construct a product. But keep in mind that most companies define the producer’s role a little differently. In some situations, the producer serves as the overall designer, working to ensure that a product’s many disparate parts are designed properly and come together to create the complete, successful game. At other companies, the producer serves more as a

project manager who looks after the programming team and keeps things on track. As the salary range indicates, producers take on different levels of responsibilities. Expect that producers at the top end of the pay scale are required to manage more people and resources, whereas producers at the lower end may only be required to manage a small team. Typically, many companies fill the producer position by promoting from within. Companies look for individuals who are very dedicated (working long hours), have managerial talent, are team players, and have good people skills. Most postings you see for producer positions indicate that only candidates with previous producing experience should apply. If your goal is to become a producer, the best strategy is to land another position within a game company, develop management skills, and prove that you have the right stuff to lead people and coordinate major projects. Summary of professional skills needed: • A real knowledge of the game industry. Recruiter Marta Daglow offers these words of advice: “If you ask a producer what top five titles are similar to the product they are managing, the producer would know this cold.” • Knowledge and experience with the tools and resources available for game development. • All of the skills associated with software project management, including scheduling, tracking, coding, and testing. • Expertise at licensing software. Many producers play active roles in helping the development staff license software, artwork, and other intellectual properties for constructing games. • Business management experience, including hiring and firing staff, performing reviews, recruiting, and so on. • Thick skin. The best producers know how to manage projects without letting their egos get in the way. They know how to survive in a world with enormous egos and they are able to do whatever it takes to make their creative staff work as smoothly as possible. • A college degree is typically required by most of the larger game development companies, although in some cases experience can be a substitute. Many producers have degrees in computer science, business, or art.




Programmers Salary Range: $30,000 to $100,000+ Programmers really drive the technical innovations in game development. Typically, game companies organize their programming teams into subgroups, where each group has a particular expertise and assignment. For example, one group may be involved in programming graphics engines and another group may work on editors or other development tools. Each group is often directed by a lead programmer, typically someone who has more than a few years of writing games under his or her belt. There are about three to four main programming job titles used by companies, but for the most part they seem to fit into the three job descriptions I’ll present in this section. But before we look at each of these specific job descriptions, let’s discuss some of the basic skills and requirements that professional game companies look for when hiring programming staff.

Professional Programming Experience Is A Must Game companies don’t want to hire game programming wannabes; they want the most experienced coders and professional-quality software designers. The technical demands game development companies place on programmers are probably much higher than those in other industries. Advancements in game technology move at the speed of light, and many programmers find that they have to work as hard as they can just to keep up. First and foremost, a thorough understanding of the C and/or C++ programming language is usually necessary (although some companies prefer other languages and thus won’t be as concerned with whether you are a C expert). Since oftentimes programmers drop down into Assembly to optimize critical code segments, knowledge of Assembly is also important. You should also know as much as you can about APIs (such as Microsoft’s DirectX), graphics, animation, algorithms, data structures, code optimization, vector mathematics, physics, and methodologies such as object-oriented programming. If you are just graduating from college with a computer programming background, you may qualify for a lower-level programming position, but you’ll really need to have some solid coding skills as well. The more projects you become involved with in college, the better. If you are interviewed by a game company, make sure that you mention your school-related experience. It’s highly recommended that you have a fully functioning game demo available to show prospective employers.

A good game demo can compensate for shortcomings elsewhere in your résumé and has led to many game developer job offers. Some companies may hire inexperienced programmers for entry-level software testing positions. But in order to move up the ladder and get more into programming, you’ll typically have to take the initiative and develop the needed skills on your own.

Knowledge Of Multiple Languages Is A Plus More and more development companies are using products and tools like Director (and its scripting language, Lingo), mTropolis, Visual Basic, Delphi, Java, and in-house programming languages to make games. Even big companies like Electronic Arts have staff programmers with extensive Director experience. C/C++ may be the primary language in the industry today, but if you can easily move from one language to another, you’ll be much better off. In the future, many more games will be developed using multiple languages and tools.

Be A Player As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, you must enjoy games. Many recruiters try to find programmers in other industries who have a love for playing games. As Marta Daglow confirms, “We’ve recruited programmers from HP who we found, interviewed, and discovered that they really loved games. Some of them have become our best programmers.” It’s practically assumed that a game developer is well-versed in the currently hot games. If you don’t have an affinity for playing games, you probably don’t have a good understanding of the gameplay elements critical to a title’s success. If so, that’s a huge strike against you.

Don’t Neglect Your Communication Skills Programming is sometimes learned to the deprivation of other essential skills, especially communication. So, don’t expect pure programming talent to be your only calling card. One company head told me they turned down a programmer, despite some good demo code, because the applicant was terrible at communicating his skills and interest in the job. Remember that you’ll be working as part of a team, and you’ll have to work very closely with people who don’t know a thing about programming (such as artists and animators). Your ability to convey technical concepts and ideas to nonprogrammers is a huge factor in working well as a team, and consequently very important to the game itself. Here are the most common levels of programmers employed by game development companies.




Junior Programmers Salary Range: $30,000 to $50,000 To be a junior-level programmer for a game development company, you need a good education with specialized programming skills such as graphics, animation, video, sound, and code optimization. Programmers start at the junior level and stay there until they move up to project leader or senior programmer. Junior programmers often work directly under a lead programmer and often specialize in a particular area such as coding game editors or engines. Many major companies recruit entry-level programmers directly out of school and train them on the job. An increasing number of junior-level programmers work with in-house languages. Many companies create sophisticated game engines that provide extensive programming features, such as scripting languages. Junior programmers often learn the craft of game programming by using these in-house languages and tools. Specialized programmers typically have expertise in the nontraditional languages and development platforms such as Director, Visual Basic, Delphi, or Java. Summary of professional skills needed: • You must be good at working with others and taking orders and criticism from the top-level programmers. (That is, you must be willing to accept the fact that you are the low person on the totem pole.) The quickest way not to get hired for a junior-level position is to act like you just programmed Doom IV and you think you’re better than everyone else. If you have this kind of attitude, you’re better off trying to start your own game company. • You must be willing to stick around for a while. Most companies don’t want to invest their time training you to become a top-notch game programmer only to have you leave in a year or so. Of course, they can’t make you stay, but you can bet they will be cautiously looking for the most dedicated and reliable programmers they can find. (If you get an interview and someone asks you what your long term goals are, don’t say, “I hope to start up my own game company next year and compete with you.” Instead try something like, “I hope to work with a company that is on the leading edge, like your company, for the next 10 years.”) • If you want to get a position programming more creative applications and tools, video, animation, music, and so on, you need to clearly demonstrate you have the specialized skills required. For example, if you want to get a position programming the sound and music libraries, make sure that you tell the company all about the music courses you took in school

as well as the programming courses. • Experience with alternate languages and development platforms can be a real plus, especially if you plan to get hired for a more creative programming position. At the same time, you should have some experience programming in C/C++ since most alternate languages are used in conjunction with these. Therefore, companies want their creative programmers to be versed in C/C++. • A college degree is not always required; however companies often will look for those programmers with some type of formal training in computer programming.

Technology Programmers Salary Range: $40,000 to $70,000 Technology programmers don’t specifically participate in writing a game. Instead, they work behind the scenes to create all sorts of important proprietary code such as game engines, development tools such as level editors and high-level scripting tools, and libraries that other project teams use to construct games. Many companies actively look for programmers who have excellent “tool-building” skills. More and more game companies are embracing this approach because of the escalating costs of game development. Summary of professional skills needed: • You must have two or more years of programming experience in areas such as graphical systems, user interface design, video compression techniques, and realtime rendering techniques using C/C++ and Assembly. • Both low-level programming experience and good math skills are required. Typically, the technology programmers are the “rocket science” programmers in a game company. • You must demonstrate the ability to work with multiple architectures. Often, game console hardware and software experience is a must. • Games industry experience isn’t essential but is definitely a plus. • A college degree is typically required by most of the larger game development companies, although in some cases experience can be a substitute. Many technology programmers have advanced degrees in computer science or engineering.




Lead Programmers/Senior Programmers Salary Range: $50,000 to $100,000+ Qualified candidates should have three or more years of professional programming experience in C/C ++ or another popular high-level programming language, as well as some Assembly programming skills. The lead programmer must also have a good working knowledge of computer architecture in general, and specific hardware-level experience with the equipment in use at the company. For example, if you are applying for a position at a company that develops games for the Power Mac and you only have PC programming and hardware experience, you probably won’t be hired for the job. Because a lot of game development is done on PCs these days, most lead programmers are very experienced with this platform. Experience with RISC systems and any specialized consoles is also especially in demand. Lead programmers with solid industry experience typically command salaries that are at the top end of the programmer salary range. Summary of professional skills needed: • Specific programming skills include 2D or 3D graphics, animation programming, low-level hardware programming, thorough knowledge of game development APIs (like DirectX), and very strong optimization skills. Work experience with other major game development technologies such as sound, video, artificial intelligence, object-oriented programming, and tool development is a real plus. Many game companies are currently developing multiplayer games that can be played across networks like the Internet. Thus, experience with Internet programming, protocols, and languages like Java could be important in the near future. There is increasing demand for developers who can port games to the latest 3D hardware accelerators like the S3 Virge, 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics, and 3Dlabs PERMEDIA chip sets. And last, a strong background in mathematics (particularly vector math) and physics. • Strong writing and communication skills, as well as math skills, are required. The lead programmer must often update management as to the progress of the development team. • Good software management skills. Managing programmers is a real art, and good lead programmers know the tricks for pulling together all the parts of a team effort and keeping a project on schedule. Usually, staff programmers who are promoted to the position of lead programmer are not those with superior programming skills; they are the ones who demonstrate leadership ability and understand the critical development cycles from design to coding to testing.

• A college degree is typically required by most of the larger game development companies, although in some cases, experience can be a substitute. Many lead programmers have advanced degrees in computer science or engineering. Designers Salary Range: $30,000 to $75,000 Game designers may or may not have a computer programming background. Typically, they come from some sort of creative field such as film, music, or even theater. Designing a computer game is unlike designing anything else, as we discussed earlier in this book. There are a few isolated schools that actually teach game design (such as Toronto’s DigiPen), but, in general, you must learn game design through experience. Many companies use two or three designers to develop a game. This staff might include writers, programmers, artists, producers, and so on, but usually one person is in charge of the overall design of the game. Designers tend to be groomed in-house. Often, a key member of the project team (often a programmer) doubles as the designer. On the other hand, some companies contract out the design work to professional writers or designers. Summary of professional skills needed: • You should have professional writing experience (preferably in areas like TV, film, publishing, or theater) and professional game design experience. • Knowledge of the design issues covered in the design section of this book (see Chapters 4 through 6). You should also be familiar with the game business as a whole. • Programming skills, theater, or video experience is also a plus. Programming skills (or at least thorough knowledge of programming technology) are particularly valued. Why? First, the boom-bust cycles of game development make it attractive for companies to hire designers who can double as programmers, as the need arises. Second, it’s very desirable for designers to understand the technical limitations inherent in game design. A designer who can’t grasp programming constraints like polygon budgets, color palettes, downsampled audio, and so on will come up with high-flying concepts that cannot be implemented. Software Testers Salary Range: $25,000 to $40,000 Once a game enters a beta test phase, three things are important: All of the bugs or playability problems must be detected, the problems must be fixed, and the game must not remain in the beta testing stage for too long. This requires expert planning—so much so that many companies employ professional testers. Of course, this may seem like a simple enough job: Play games until you find all the problems, and make sure they have been fixed. However, professional game testing requires extensive planning,

aggressive analysis, and thoroughness. In addition, testing doesn’t necessarily involve play testing or design testing; it often involves grueling debugging sessions in which you spend all day trying to recreate errors found by others, so that you can ensure that the product will ship without bugs. Testing is commonly an entry level position at many game companies. This job is often used as a proving ground. Many of today’s programmers, marketing people, and producers started in testing. If you’re looking to get your foot in the door, testing is a common way. Some companies look for programming knowledge while others hire those who play their games. Summary of professional skills needed: • Serious testing positions are not just for game players. While a true love of games is certainly a requirement, many professional testers have a technical background. (Many might be junior-level programmers hoping to move up quickly in the company.) • Good communication skills (verbal and written) are required to report bugs and suggest improvements. • At large companies, testers may be called upon to put together comprehensive testing plans and documentation. • Don’t approach this job thinking you need only your joystick; you’ll need a critical eye and a lot of patience to do the job well. Testing sessions, particularly approaching the ship date of the game, can be long and tiresome.




Writers Salary Range: $30,000 to $50,000 Interactive fiction products are becoming very detailed and complex. For the most part, game companies hire writers on a contract basis. But with scripts like that of Wing Commander III, which was about 300 pages, more companies are bringing full-time writers on board. Some games require a lot of scripting, and scriptwriting for a game is often much more intensive than writing another type of script. While many game companies employ writers specifically for scripting, quite a few writers have developed their specialized skills to become full designers. This is a common career path for ambitious writers. Summary of professional skills needed: • You must have a professional portfolio of your writing. Companies are most interested in any work you’ve done for television, theater, and film. You need to demonstrate that you can write well and develop scenes that have a high degree of interactivity. As games typically involve multiple final outcomes, you must be able to conceive a plot with many different expanding branches and story lines. Writing for games is not an exercise in linear plot development. • You must demonstrate a good working knowledge of what is needed to write and adapt scripts for games and other forms of interactive entertainment. Don’t go to a job interview with the attitude that writing scripts for games is the same as writing scripts for film. • Obviously, previous game experience helps tremendously. Artists Salary Range: $25,000 to $60,000 Although programmers tend to get much of the glory for the successes in game development, artists are equally important. After all, what would Doom or Myst be without their spectacular art? Just like their programmer counterparts at large companies, artists tend to work in groups. Often, a lead artist or art director serves at the top, and specialized artists work under the lead, hoping to move

up the ladder and someday take charge. Most companies seek to hire artists who have specific skills, such as 3D modeling or 2D animation. Rarely do companies demand that an artist have every skill. Another myth is that companies don’t consider top-notch fine arts background such as illustration or sculpting skills. While self-trained computer artists are in demand, many top companies look for artists with traditional training. Some companies even require that you take illustration tests—so make sure you bring your #2 pencil to the interview! If you’re a self-trained computer artist or a traditionally trained artist with minimal computer skills, there are many community colleges that offer art classes and classes in computer art programs. If you find yourself lacking formal training in some aspect of art creation, you might investigate this opportunity to develop your skill set. Summary of professional skills needed: • A degree in fine arts is recommended. • You must demonstrate a portfolio of work. Many companies also expect to see actual pen and paper illustration experience as part of your portfolio. • When seeking 3D artists, companies look for people who have experience with modeling, animating, and creating texture maps and lighting. • Palette manipulation techniques and any experience with palette issues and optimization for consoles, the Internet, or Windows. Understanding the technical aspects of color is very important. • Experience in the industry is a big plus (although it’s not required). Companies typically look for artists who have skills with the following programs: • 2D tools such as Photoshop 4.0, Illustrator, Deluxe Paint, Fractal Design Painter, and texture packages. • Image processing tools such as DeBabelizer and various Photoshop plug-ins like Kai’s Power Tools and Alien Skin’s Eye Candy. • 3D tools and plug-ins such as Softimage, 3D Studio MAX, LightWave, Alias| Wavefront, Nichimen, or MultiGen. • Conceptual art capabilities with pen and paper. Animators Salary Range: $30,000 to $80,000+ The categories of artist and animator are often combined, but in reality the tool sets and techniques are somewhat different. Game artists typically design in two dimensions, such as the textures for texture mapping. Their work is usually upstream from the animator, who is responsible for creating 3D models of objects, mapping the textures onto objects, and then animating those models using special software. The artists and animators work closely together, but the animators also work closely with

programmers, which isn’t always the case with artists. Animators must have a cinematic eye as well as an artistic eye, because 3D animation software is closely akin to filming a movie: You create and position characters and objects, create a background, set up stationary or dolly-mounted cameras, set up lights, and so on. 3D animation can be painstaking work. It can take hours or days to set up a shot so that it achieves the desired realism and sets a certain mood. The animator often has to work within some tough technical constraints, such as being forced to use a certain color palette or create a scene using a small number of polygons (the building blocks of 3D models). If you don’t have formal 3D animation experience, there are a number of schools that offer classes in tools like 3D Studio MAX. There are also quite a few books on the market that can step you through the learning process of these tools. When interviewing, be sure you have a demo reel of animation clips you have created. Most companies won’t consider you for a position without first seeing the quality of your work. It doesn’t have to be animation from a game, but it should show off your technical abilities. Summary of professional skills needed: • Experience creating and working with 3D models. • Polygon reduction techniques. • Lighting techniques. • Character animation techniques (such as inverse kinematics and motion capture). • Experience in the industry is a big plus (although it’s not required). Companies typically look for artists who have skills with the following programs: • 3D Studio MAX • Softimage • trueSpace • Alias|Wavefront • Nichimen • MultiGen • LightWave




Musicians Salary Range: N/A Even at large development companies, it’s rare to find an in-house musician. Instead, many companies contract out the musical work, although they usually tend to work with the same musician (once they find one they like). You can also find companies like Rob Wallace Music that will hire musicians for contracts they’ve set up with game development companies. A company like this performs the work of getting projects and making sure that everyone gets paid. This can free you to concentrate on the music. Most musicians charge flat fee rates, based on the size and depth of the work required. See Chapter 12 for an extensive discussion of producing music for games. Summary of professional skills needed: • As with artists, a “portfolio” of work on a demo tape should be submitted. • Experience in the game and multimedia industry is almost a must these days. • Complete knowledge of MIDI, FM synthesis, and digital audio production and sequencing is required. • Capable knowledge of the different console musical and sound systems is often required. • Skills with interactive music engines are a plus. These engines apply scoring techniques with algorithms to create on-the-fly, dynamically changing music scores based on the gaming situation. Marketing And Sales Salary Range: $30,000 to $75,000 Once a game is completed, the job of selling it becomes the major focus. (Of course, the marketing and sales staff are always working to position and sell the game, even during development.) The complexity of marketing and selling games has increased tenfold over the past few years because of the many distribution possibilities that have emerged. There are a large number of niche markets and each game platform requires a different tactic. This means that marketing is very important at most companies.

Today, many companies look for marketing people with game industry experience. In a business where shelf space and distribution avenues are at a high premium, good marketing people are highly sought. If you don’t know the difference between a rack jobber, shareware, affiliated label, and bundling deal, don’t bother applying. Summary of professional skills needed: • A solid college degree. An MBA may be required for high-level marketing positions. • Previous sales experience within the game or computer industry is a must these days. Most applicants have a minimum of two or three years’ experience. • A thorough understanding of distribution and consumer markets as they relate to selling game software. • Any technical background is a plus. A good understanding of the computer and online industries, and games in general, is important. Variants And Hybrids I’ve outlined the broad categories for many of the typical jobs in the game development industry. But remember that every company is different. For example, some companies may treat a designer as a producer and others may have as many as four different types of producers (just like in the movie business). Some companies employ directors and other hybrid positions. Many of these “offshoot” positions aren’t advertised. (When was the last time you saw an advertisement for an assistant producer?) This means that these other positions are usually filled by promoting people who are already employed within the company or by using recruiting agents. You should also keep in mind that the titles used to describe positions are not that important. In fact, they can often be very misleading. To get a clear picture of what a job is all about, take a close look at the skills required by the position. Also consider the company offering the position. For example, a highly technical company might advertise for a producer position. Because of the way the company operates, they actually may be looking for programmers with production experience. Additionally, note that at many companies, the job lines may be further specified or blurred. On a large project such as Wing Commander, you might have associate producers and dozens of programmers with leads and associates. At smaller companies and on smaller projects, the designer/ producer/lead programmer might be one person who takes on a lot of responsibility. Understand as well that the job descriptions presented in this chapter only cover people specifically involved in producing the games. There are, as in any company, jobs concerning technical support, management, and such. One need not be interested in filling any of the aforementioned positions to find work, yet I suspect you wouldn’t be reading this book if you weren’t interested in them.




How To Find A Job You have the skills and you’re not already employed in the industry or you’re looking for a new adventure. Here are all the avenues you want to explore when searching for that game development dream job. Local Newspapers This is typically the first route that most job seekers pursue, because it is easy to scan the classified ads and those jobs tend to be in your locale. However, unless you’re living in an area with a high density of multimedia development (such as San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, or New York), the local classified ads probably won’t be your primary source of leads for work in a game development house. Even if you do happen to locate a listing for a game development position, there is a high probability that everyone else in town has also seen it and is scrambling to get their résumé to that company. In short, the odds of finding work this way are small. Magazines Recruitment ads in trade magazines such as Next Generation, Game Developer, and Interactivity are common and usually give more information about the hiring company and the position that is available. Recruitment ads generally fall toward the back of these magazines, often clustered into a recruitment section. The drawback is that these ads are from companies that aren’t necessarily in your vicinity. Job Fairs Depending on the job fair you choose to attend, you are either making an excellent decision or wasting a large portion of your day. I’ve seen job fairs promote themselves as large gatherings for the multimedia industry, only to find large numbers of biotech and telecommunications companies inside. The bottom line is that, before you go, you should investigate exactly which companies will have booths at the show. You can often check this out on the job fair’s Web site or by calling the company that manages the show. On the other hand, there are some incredible job fairs for game developers. By far our favorite is put on by the CGDC every year. I have to admit up front that Tor and Alex’s employer, Miller Freeman,

manages this show. However, we don’t think that there are too many people who would disagree with our assessment of the CGDC job fair. At the 1997 conference, there were over 60 companies attending, and the lobby was littered with fliers for job openings at game development companies. In fact, after the show Alex took all of the fliers that he could get his hands on, scanned them, and turned them into an Adobe Acrobat file, which we distributed on the Game Developer Web site. That Acrobat file is on the CD-ROM accompanying this book. It will give you an idea of the quality of the companies that attended and what types of positions they were looking to fill. In terms of time well spent in a job hunt, not much comes close to what you can achieve at the CGDC. The biggest drawbacks are that the show is only once a year, it will cost you to get in (this year an expo-only pass cost $100), and unless you live in Northern California, you’ll have to cough up some travel expenses. Trade Shows While closely related to job fairs, trade shows aren’t focused on hiring. Shows like E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo), Siggraph, Internet World, NAB (National Association of Broadcasters), the CGDC, and smaller vendor-sponsored shows like Macromedia World are opportunities to find out who’s hiring and what new technologies you should investigate. Working a trade show as a job seeker is a fine art, however, and you shouldn’t be pushy or expect that it will be easy. The exhibitors at these shows pay a lot of money—tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars—for a few days on the show floor, and they don’t necessarily want to deal with job seekers pushing résumés in their faces as they try to sell their products. Be discreet, and show some common sense when approaching a booth. If it’s busy, don’t interrupt someone to talk about their hiring situation. Wait until customers have cleared out, and then approach the booth. Ask questions about their products, their company, their plans. Then craftily ask whether they have openings. You’ll find them much more receptive. Another good trade show angle to pursue is attending the parties at night. All of the major shows have sponsored events at local clubs after the show floor shuts down, and these events are prime for networking and making connections. Again, I recommend the subtle approach. Don’t hand out résumés at a party, because they may wind up as beer coasters later in the evening. If you strike up a conversation with someone who works for a company you’re interested in knowing more about, just swap business cards and follow up the following week with a phone call or email. It would amaze you how many people have lined up work this way.




Web Sites The ability to quickly update and globally announce job openings on the Web has turned it into the number one way to find high-tech career openings. I’m assuming that if you’re interested in working in the game development field, you’re already wired with at least one ISP account. If not, quickly close this book and get one, because without Web access you’re closing yourself off from a vast number of job listings. Armed with nothing more than an Internet-ready computer, a Web browser, and an ISP account, you’ll find the task of seeking game development work an order of magnitude easier. You’ll find a wealth of job search information on the Web. This is probably old news, so let’s just jump to the sites that will do you the most good.

Company Sites Naturally, you’ll want to regularly check the Web sites of companies that you’d like to work for. I used to bookmark individual pages on the various company sites where I was interested in working. Then I would quickly jump from bookmark to bookmark to see what had changed. Now there’s an easier way to do job searches, using Internet Explorer’s Web Agent-based technology.

TIP: Internet Explorer will keep track of Web pages you specify, and when a change is made, it will notify you automatically. By telling Internet Explorer to watch your favorite companies’ job listing pages, you’ll be one of the first to know when a new opening is posted.

Job Listing Sites Recently, sites like E-Span and the Big Board have cropped up to serve the growing boom in Webbased job searching. Essentially, these sites are giant databases of job postings that firms pay to list. For job hunters, the sites provide a free way to search and query these job listings. I highly recommend registering yourself with these sites (which allows companies to find your name based upon your job interests and qualifications), and checking their listings as often as possible.

Magazine Sites Some magazine Web sites (again, we’re talking trade or niche magazines like Game Developer and

Next Generation) have special sections that list job openings. Although I don’t rank these listings very high up the food chain in comparison to company sites or job listing sites, ignore them at your own peril, since they sometimes get postings that you can’t find elsewhere.

Newspaper Sites If you live far from a multimedia hub like San Francisco, but you’re willing to move if you find the right job there, check out the San Francisco Chronicle’s listings. And no, you don’t have to subscribe. Most major metropolitan newspapers have Web sites that mirror their daily hard copy content, including classified ads. For instance, the Chronicle’s site, SF Gate (www.sfgate.com/ classifieds) has all the classified ads going back at least a week, and you can even perform queries using keywords like “C++” and “game.” If San Francisco isn’t your desired destination, check out papers in other major gaming areas like Seattle, Austin, and North Carolina’s Research Triangle.

Search Engines Conducting a simple query on Web-based search engines like Yahoo!, AltaVista, Excite, and Lycos can come up with a number of job opportunities. I’ve found Yahoo! particularly helpful; it contains a specialized job hunting subsection, which is tailored to specific metropolitan regions. Forums And Newsgroups Companies sometimes post notes in newsgroups, looking for talent. One newsgroup in particular that has a steady (if not overwhelming) number of these types of posts is rec.games.programmer on Usenet. For instance, on a recent random day, I counted five job openings posted to that newsgroup by companies looking to hire, and one by a headhunting firm looking to represent developers for an opening they knew about.

TIP: You can often get valuable advice from Usenet regulars simply by posting a note asking for insights and opinions about a particular company. You don’t have to state that you’re thinking about applying for work at the company or have an upcoming interview (in fact, I’d recommend not divulging that information, since you don’t know how that might taint people’s responses).

SIGs/User groups A fun way to meet others with common interests in game development is at local user group meetings or Special Interest Groups (SIGs). Whether your interest is programming, animation, audio, or some other facet of the industry, you’ll likely be able to find a group of people in your area who get together on a regular basis to discuss the technology and industry. Events are generally fairly low key, and may even be held at a local tavern. In my area (Marin County, California), there is an organization called the North Bay Multimedia Association (NBMA), which holds monthly lectures about the technical, legal, and business aspects of game development. There’s time for light

schmoozing beforehand, then a lecture or panel lasting about 60 to 90 minutes is held on a predetermined topic. They’re fun, cheap (usually $5 or $10 at the door), and provide a great way to learn about the industry and to network. Headhunters Because the talent pool of game developers has lagged behind those willing to invest money for creating and publishing games, firms have emerged to help companies find talent. Talent agencies and headhunters provide a valuable service. As more talent (such as actors, artists, and writers, who have traditionally worked through agencies) become aligned with the game development industry, talent agencies have stepped in to bridge the gap. A list, with brief descriptions for each of the betterknown agencies, is in the resource section of this book.




The Interview If you think every game company interview is an excuse to show up in shorts and that free T-shirt you got at E3, think again. Just because a company liked your demo reel and résumé doesn’t necessarily mean you’re in. Many companies can’t afford bad hires and so a final interview is usually involved. Doing Your Research As any good job interview book will tell you, you can’t go into an interview unprepared. There are certain basics you must know. Here are the types of information you should become familiar with: • Learn the company’s history, including its hits and misses. Which of its games have been big sellers? Which were dogs? Did any make it into the Top 10? What’s its distribution model? Who’s its publisher? Who has worked for it in the past? What sets its games apart? Who’s its competition? Try to figure out what made particular (especially the most recent) games good or bad. • Try to identify any inherent strengths or weaknesses in the company. Typically, strengths are much easier to point out (at least, they’d better be—unless you want to be out looking for another job in six months). But knowing a company’s weaknesses can be just as important. For instance, are its games constantly shipping late? Are promised features or functionality often left out? Are the games getting good or bad reviews from consumer magazines like Computer Gaming World and PC Gamer? Is there high employee turnover? Are its marketing efforts solid? • Why do you want to work for the company? Are you a fan of their games’ genre? Have you heard good things about the company? What do you bring to the table in terms of skills and knowledge? • What is the market like for its upcoming games? Is the company doing yet another Myst clone using a team of Director developers? Or are they pushing the technological envelope? • Does the company support popular platforms? Is it languishing in the 16-bit cartridge environment or staying up with the latest 32- and 64-bit consoles and operating systems? • Play some of its recent games. If you don’t like playing the games the company is developing, you’re surely not going to want to spend long work weeks creating its next title. You ought to love the games. • Does the company have a good reputation? Are players talking about millions of bugs and

poor customer service? Or does it have a good track record of producing satisfied customers and generating positive word of mouth? • What is senior management like? Try to get some background on them. While this may not sound like it would be of much worth, consider that GTE’s recent exit from the game market was due in no small part to upper management’s lack of game development experience. Without adequate leadership, even the most technically proficient companies can hit the skids. • Is the company public or privately held? Where’s funding coming from? Will it dry up? Again, this may not initially sound too important, but consider a scenario like the recent closure of Rocket Science. After burning through its venture capital money without producing a solid hit, the company failed to raise money when more was needed. The company shut its doors earlier this spring, and its developers were laid off. Now, it’s not easy (or even possible sometimes) to get this kind of insider information, but it’s wise to at least know where investment dollars are coming from. • Are employees coming or going? Try to get a sense of who is joining the company and who is leaving. Earlier this spring at the CGDC I was surprised to see job opening fliers being distributed by Apple. This, of course, was hot on the heels of a massive downsizing by the company. I was very perplexed by the mixed message it was sending out. Be wary of companies who are laying off developers while the company is simultaneously increasing its marketing head count. That can be a signal of a bad climate for developers or misplaced staffing priorities. However, it’s not always the end of a company when a lot of developers leave. For instance, recently a number of big names left id Software. But I have no doubt that the company is as solid as ever. The bottom line is to size up who’s coming and going, and to try to get an understanding of why they’re doing so.

TIP: The easiest way to get background on a company is the Web. First, go to the company’s Web site and see what they’re up to. Search Deja News (www.dejanews.com) using the company’s name or latest titles as the keywords. This may reveal the public’s sentiments regarding the company and their games. If you want to see what the consumer magazines thought of the company’s latest games, go to sites like Computer Gaming World (www.zdnet. com), PC Gamer (www.pcgamer.com), GameSpot (www.gamespot.com), c|net’s Gamecenter (www.gamecenter.com), or other consumer Web sites. Often reviews of games are archived on these sites, and you can pull them up by performing simple keyword searches.




Know Thyself Going Into The Interview If you land an interview, you’re doing well. The company has seen your résumé, and probably samples of your work or a demo game as well. Now is not the time to throw away that momentum by blowing the interview. Prepare yourself for the interview by performing a quick personal assessment. Know the answers to the following questions and be able to state them comfortably and concisely: • Why do you want the job? What languages/tools do you know? How many projects have you used them on? Don’t say you’re familiar with DeBabelizer simply because you installed it once six months ago and converted a JPEG to a GIF. Be realistic about your depth of experience. • What projects have you worked on in the past? Be prepared to explain whether they were completed, whether they made money, and whether or not they received positive reviews. • Did you hit milestone? Why or why not? If you’re looking for a management position, reflect on how much management experience you have. How many people did you manage? How did the project come out? What was your biggest challenge as a manager? Game development projects often hit potholes. Be ready to talk about a time in a past project when things got rough psychologically (whether due to shifting schedules, a critical module not coming together as expected, a key team member leaving, venture capital drying up, and so on), but you persevered. Be ready to convince the interviewer that you’re motivated, creative, and willing to learn. Going For The Interview With preparation under your belt, you’re ready to make your first—and hopefully not final—face-toface impression. Here are a few rules of thumb.

Show Willingness And Ability To Learn This can be as important or more important than the skills you already possess. Companies know that finding the right person with the right mix of skills is a long shot. If they are asking for four skills in a classified ad (“Must know Visual C++, DirectX , and have 3D graphics and Winsock experience.”), they know they’ll be lucky if they find someone who meets two of those four criteria. However, what

they must see above all else is that you’re prepared to learn. Be ready to cite experiences in which you were technically up against a wall and pulled a rabbit out of the hat by trolling a newsgroup for help, or by researching the topic in a book. Also, don’t come across as a know-it-all; there are so many posers in the industry already. The company that hires you will soon find out whether you know all that you claimed to in the interview. And people have been known to get the boot from a company within days of starting the job, simply because it was discovered that they weren’t as hot as they made themselves out to be.

The Technical Interview—Be Prepared If you are applying for a programming position, you may be asked to answer some questions in order to demonstrate technical proficiency. Companies are waking up to the fact that people aren’t always as good as they say on paper, and some people like to bluff their way through interviews. So interviewers often ask programming applicants about graphics programming techniques, C/C++ syntax/usage, or other revealing topics. Sometimes these questions are verbal, but sometimes companies provide written questions and leave you in a room to finish them on your own. Microsoft has long practiced this kind of applicant screening, and they don’t always ask programming-oriented questions. For instance, an interviewer might ask an applicant, “How many gas stations are there in the U.S.?” By observing how the applicant solves the problem (in this case, watching what assumptions are made about the size of the driving population in the country, the average automobile’s fuel economy, number of cars in the country, and so on), the interviewer gleans important information about the applicant. I recommend reading Jim McCarthy’s book Dynamics of Software Development (Microsoft Press, 1995) for more information on the topic. Bring questions to ask the interviewer. These questions could be taken from the list in the last section (what platforms are they targeting, how are teams organized, and so on). Do not ask questions like “Will I have to work long hours?” You should be willing to put in the necessary hours when deadlines are approaching. If you’re not, then either you don’t understand the realities of software development, or you may want to look into a different career. However, if you’d like to get a sense for how long a work week is, be tactful when bringing up the subject. Ask the interviewer what the typical work week consists of for people in that specific job. That’s an honest question, and one that should not offend an interviewer. Find out whether you’re coming into a project midstream or whether it’s beginning. Depending on the situation you could be hurled into a project that’s already been worked on (and may be behind schedule or in need of your ability to pick up where others left off) or a new project where you’re going to be part of it from the ground up. If you’re an artist/animator, bring samples of your work. There are actually many stories of artists and animators getting job offers right on the spot based on their portfolios. A videotape of animations is a good idea. Some companies also set up pencil tests or have you sit and work on their equipment to see your overall skills—so be prepared to do some on-site demonstration.

TIP: Know what to wear to the interview. Wondering how to dress for an interview in this

industry is not uncommon, given its casual nature. Knowing whether to wear a suit or to come dressed more casually is important. You don’t want to look overdressed, nor do you want to appear unprofessional or worse: disinterested and not serious about the position. In general, most game development companies are very laid back when it comes to apparel. I’d be surprised if there was one company in the U.S. that had a formalized dress code. However, the way to handle this situation is easily resolved. Just call up the company in question and talk to someone in human resources or recruiting. Simply explain that you have an upcoming interview and that you’d like to know what the recommended interview attire is. They won’t steer you wrong.




I Thought This Was Supposed To Be Fun Many newbies in the industry are shocked at the answers to their questions about working at top game development shops around the world. Finding a job can seem downright ugly at times. The games business is tough, it’s risky, and companies can’t waste time with people who either aren’t skilled enough or aren’t dedicated to learning the skills or working hard. Thus the requirements are high and the process is complicated and formal. A job in the game development industry is a job; it’s real life. People are also shocked to find out that game development salaries are actually below the industry averages, especially in the bread-and-butter programming positions. In part, this is due to the “fun factor”; people are willing to take pay cuts from their corporate programming jobs to work at game companies. The other factor is that hits-based companies are trying to stay as lean and mean as possible, in case not every title sells. All of this affects the games job market. If you understand this ahead of time, and are prepared, you can take the ugliness out of the process and actually have fun. There’s nothing more welcomed by a recruiter or HR person than job candidates who come in with a fantastic demo reel, a solid résumé with great programming fundamentals, great communication skills, and an eagerness to grow with the company and dedicate themselves to a team. These people are snatched up faster than college sports stars at draft time. Prepare yourself correctly and you may be, too.




CHAPTER 10 The Basics of Console Development Developing games for any of the platforms described in this book is certainly not to be taken lightly, but console development, especially, is a real challenge. Console development is tricky because you must first figure out whom you need to contact so you can learn how to become an approved developer. You must also consider a number of other issues in your endeavor to develop games for Sega Saturn, Sony PSX, Nintendo 64, M2, or any other console. This chapter will sort out some of the obstacles and set you on your way to becoming a hotshot console developer. For the most part, developing for consoles requires a developer’s best friend: cold, hard cash. While computer games can also involve large development funds, a console product absolutely requires a major financial commitment. To develop for a console, you will need clearance from the company that controls the console hardware, or from a publisher evaluating your company or your product. These folks aren’t looking for games created on a shoestring budget; they are looking for major talent who can turn great ideas into big, money-making games. Only experienced developers with track records in the games market—especially with consoles—will find the road an easy one to walk. This isn’t to say an upstart couldn’t break in, but roadblocks are specifically set up to sort out only those with the best potential and the desire to develop awesome games that will sell.

Understanding The Particulars Of Console Development For many developers, the biggest test of console development is deciding whether they’re up to it. The start-up costs and factors of console development are altogether different than PC game development. Costs are higher, talent pools are smaller, demographics are different, and the market dynamics are skewed toward a few top tier titles and companies with big-time marketing and distribution muscle. The start-up costs for console development are far greater than developing for the PC. Once you’ve created a product, the economics of getting it to market are also different. With PC game development, a developer is aided by shareware, low-cost development, or the ability to find a publisher later in the development stage. The console market is also even more hit-driven than the PC

market. Console users also tend to be younger, and as the price of consoles fall, so will the age of its users. If, after considering these factors, you still feel up to taking a crack at console development, the first thing you need to do is evaluate the various consoles in use. You’ll need to be realistic and decide if you have a chance of being accepted by the manufacturer you’re targeting, or by an established game publisher that has development deals. If you take on a console project as a result of working with a publisher, for the most part, that publisher will help set you up with the appropriate development platform. However, if you’re dealing directly with a manufacturer—either by choice or necessity—you’ll need to begin by inquiring about official developer status. This task can be somewhat time-consuming and frustrating. Not only do you have to reach the right person, but you’ll have to spend some time answering that person’s questions and concerns regarding your interest in developing for their platform. Chances are that this process will involve some sort of application questionnaire. Consoles, being proprietary in nature, require a number of special tools for game development. Once you are accepted by the manufacturer (or when you submit your application), you will need to purchase these tools, which come in the form of cross-development kits. You can purchase a kit from the console manufacturer or through another manufacturer, such as Cross Development System in England. The typical cross-development kit runs anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000. As you will see, not all cross-development systems work on PCs. Macs can be used in some cases, as well as SGI. A cross-development kit from any of these companies is not going to include the computer hardware you’ll need. That equipment can cost you thousands of dollars. Remember, though, this is nothing compared to what you can make on a good game for any of the hot console systems. With almost 10 million Sony PlayStations sold worldwide, developers are jumping on the bandwagon. If you want to develop for PlayStation, the first step is to find a publisher who can obtain a Sony development kit, or somehow convince Sony to give them one. John Spinale, the director of Apocalypse, a game expected out by Christmas ’97 from Activision, suggests working with a publisher: “I would, because even if you coerce Sony into giving you development hardware, without a publisher in place, there is still the very large chance that you would sink a lot of money and effort into your title without a lot of payoff.” The PlayStation development kit consists of a PCI-based PlayStation card and development software. You also must be able to burn PlayStation CD-ROMs, which requires specialized software because PlayStation CDs are unlike other formats. Once you’ve gotten the SDK, you’ll need to work through all the basic development libraries that come with the console. In many cases, they need a lot of extra work. Once you have the code and development foundation in place, you can begin construction of the basic game engine.




Console Artwork Perhaps the biggest difference between console and PC-based development is content construction. The console world revolves around the display offered on a living room television set and that creates a host of issues for developers. Danny Matson, who led the artwork team on the Apocalypse game for the Sony PlayStation, says, “The process of developing art for the PlayStation is also a little more involved because you go through additional steps to eventually render the art as it will appear on a user’s television set. The TV actually aliases art for you, but at the same time contrast and color differences are very different from what you might be used to on a PC monitor. So you have to adjust for that by trial and error. On the PlayStation you have to go through about six more loops to get to the display test than you would on a PC product.” Some tool manufacturers offer estimation tools that are supposed to present, on a PC, a rendering of what the artwork will look like once it’s moved to a console system. But they aren’t perfect. Another problem is that TV variance is even stronger than that of monitors. I doubt that the majority of developers reading this book will be capable of, or interested in, developing console-based products on their own. Still, these consoles represent a majority of the revenue related to game development, and you may find yourself in a situation where you could develop for one of these systems. This chapter provides you with enough information to get you started. Publishing, Ratings, And Development Issues For Consoles What is perhaps most special about consoles is the business model developers go through. Not only are expenses higher (from all accounts, development costs seem to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 percent higher) but the publishing and marketing costs are higher too. In every case, games go through a rigorous testing and review process at the console manufacturer. Games are tested for bugs as well as overall quality (and content, too), reports are sent back and, ultimately, after everything is satisfactory, the console manufacturer will allow a product to be released to manufacturing. Once a product is released to manufacturing, there are other costs that you don’t have on the PC

platform. Foremost among them is the royalty a console manufacturer makes on every piece of software that is sold for their system. In addition, console manufacturers—especially Nintendo—may make more money on the actual manufacturing of the product itself through markup. There also may be a market development cost, where a few dollars from each title are placed in a marketing pool used to promote the platform overall. 3DO used this when it needed to raise more cash for the marketing of its platform in the early years of the 32-bit race. Console games must also be rated. Publishers submit their products to the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB). This works like the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) board, which independently rates movies for the film industry. The ESRB was formed by the IDSA (Interactive Digital Software Association) to rate games for console and PC publishers. After the publisher has signed off, the console company has signed off, the rating has been established, and the product has been manufactured, it’s released. Typically, a console product will be released in a very high-profile manner; many top companies will spend up to a million dollars or more for major titles, and television advertising isn’t rare. As you look over the background of each system, and the tools that you need, keep in mind that the background is important to understand. It gives you a good idea of how much money and work is on the line when it comes to developing for console-based entertainment systems.

System Breakdowns In the interest of getting you up to speed with the systems in use, I have prepared a section detailing the specs on each of the console systems. This coverage includes brief overviews of the developer programs, and kits the parent company makes available. I also have listed many of the major companies that produce work for the key console manufacturers. What is interesting is that all of the major consoles have taken different approaches and align themselves with different strategic partners. This introduces a number of headaches when trying to decide how and where to make money in the console market. For example, the Nintendo 64 has sold phenomenally well and provides a wealth of power. Yet its reliance on cartridges, Nintendo’s own strict third-party rules, and expensive SGI-based development systems, can provide major obstacles for a small developer. To overcome the problems, a developer may have to wait for Nintendo’s rumored 64DD optical drive or get backing from a major publisher. This means that you have to look at the total picture when deciding on console development. Start by selecting the types of games you want to produce, review the budget you have (including promotional funds if you plan on publishing your product yourself or as an affiliated label), and see which machine fits best. By concentrating on the software you want to sell, and the hardware platform that best supports your creations, you’ll be able to make an educated decision based on the product that will generate the most revenue for you.




Sony PlayStation While Sony’s PlayStation represents the consumer electronics and entertainment giant’s first foray into the console market, Sony has been developing computer and video game software for years. Known also as the PSX, the PlayStation brought Sony into entirely new ground as this company reached for a large share of the overall gaming pie. Although other companies, both past (Mattel) and present (Hasbro and 3DO), have had difficulty entering the console market after successful leaders have been established, Sony has held its own. Sony has created an elegant system with a lot of horsepower and they offer it at a low price. Many industry experts once thought the console gaming market belonged to Nintendo and Sega, but Sony has made its mark. Ironically, the PlayStation was initially designed in conjunction with Nintendo, but at some point Nintendo closed a deal with SGI and ditched Sony for the high-flying workstation maker. Not satisfied to be left at the altar, Sony pursued the development of the console—the PlayStation is the fruit of Sony’s efforts. Sony has also garnered significant third-party support with more than 120 licensees in the U.S. and another 350 in Japan and Europe. Many former PC-only developers, like Bullfrog, have gone on record as saying the PSX is the first console they will support. In the past, these companies might have licensed their products to another company to develop the console version; today, they’ll develop the console version themselves. With all that fanfare and some impressive hardware, Sony’s PSX should definitely be on your evaluation list if you’re considering developing for consoles, and it must be on your list if you already are developing for consoles. Sony is in a great position. The company has great distribution muscles—after all, it is one of the world’s most recognizable and favored brands. In addition, their movie and TV studio and music publishing expertise (Columbia Pictures and Sony Music), and their software development expertise (Sony Entertainment and subsidiary Psygnosis), put them near the top of the electronic entertainment industries.

The PSX Specs The PlayStation is a product of the Japanese arm of Sony, and is manufactured in their multitude of

plants throughout Japan and the Pacific. Here’s a brief rundown of the PSX specs: • CPU—The Sony CPU is an R3000A made by MIPS, a Silicon Graphics chip division. The R3000A is a 32-bit RISC chip running at 33.8 MHz, providing 30 MIPS (Millions of Instructions per Second) of power with a bus bandwith of 132MB/second. The overall operating system, which takes up 512K of ROM and 64K of RAM, is a multithreaded operating system. Sony has created an extensive set of C libraries to allow programmers to access all of the key APIs for the machine. • Graphics Processing—At the heart of Sony’s graphics processing power are two special graphics coprocessing chips. First is the Geometry Transfer Engine (GTE), which handles hundreds of 3D polygon-specific tasks. The GTE runs at 66 MIPS and is capable of approximately 1.5 million shaded or 500,000 texture-mapped and light-sourced polygons per second. The PSX also provides the Digital Video Processor (DVP), a specific chip for processing digital video. The DVP supports JPEG and MPEG1 compression, among other schemes, and helps to easily stream data directly off CD-ROMs to the system. Sony definitely targeted the two major next-generation graphics properties with its custom silicon and it shows in the games. Overall, the entire graphics system provides for 16.7 million colors, resolutions from 256×224 to 740×480 (though higher resolutions may have a lower color scheme), and thousands of sprites, which puts it in strong competition with other consoles. • Sound—Would you expect the company that invented the CD, the Mini-Disc, and the Walkman to skimp on sound? Hardly. The PlayStation features a full DSP, with 24 channels of sound and full CD-quality audio. The PlayStation supports MIDI instruments and allows you to load up to 512K of sampled waveforms. Digital effects like looping, digital reverb, and pitch modulation are also available. • Memory—Like most consoles, the PlayStation has several types of RAM including the main RAM (16 Mbits), VRAM (8 Mbits), sound (4 Mbits), and a buffer for streaming data off the CD-ROM. The machine also supports RAM cards (128K) to store saved game information. • CD-ROM Drive—The Sony PlayStation includes a double-speed CD-ROM drive with a 300Kbps data transfer rate and a maximum capacity of 660MB of information. • Peripherals—Sony has said they are going to make a PlayStation mouse, a “combat cable” to play head-to-head against a friend using two TV monitors, a four controller unit for sport games, and an analog joystick for flight simulations.

Entering The Sony Development System To become a Sony developer, you need to secure developer status from Sony, which costs $18,000 and buys you one Sony development kit. The Sony development system, developed by SC Systems in England, is PC-based. It comes with two ISA cards that basically make up the PlayStation hardware; a separate CD-ROM drive connects to the cards. The system uses the hard drive to simulate CDROM throughput. The software includes a GNU C compiler, an assembler, numerous libraries, and various other tools. A development system is also available from PSY-Q, which will be described later in the Key Console Development Tools section.

Sega Saturn In the first round of the second coming of consoles, Sega was just an ugly stepchild to Nintendo. But when the hardware shifted to 16-bit, Sega broke through. It launched the Sega Genesis System before Nintendo released a comparable system, and learning from past mistakes, Sega captured major market share, transforming themselves into a major player in home video games. Knowing that getting out in front of a new generation of consoles is key to success, Sega has brought forth the Saturn as its leading entry in the 32-bit/CD-ROM console wars. Sega is also using its leadership position as perhaps the premier developer of video arcade game units worldwide to boost sales of its console. Its arcade division has pumped out groundbreaking games like Virtua Fighter, Out Run, Hangon, Sega Rally, Virtua Cop, and more. These divisions moved those hit products to the Saturn, but it still significantly trails Sony PlayStation.




The Saturn Specs The key thing about the Saturn is that this machine has a lot of silicon. Programmers I’ve talked with who are working with the Saturn claim that it’s tougher to program than the Sony, but that’s because there are so many chips with so many features to unlock. This is the quintessential double-chip machine; most of the key components have two chips working in parallel. Let’s take a closer look: • CPU—The Saturn contains two Hitachi SH2 RISC CPUs, both running at 28.6 MHz and 25 MIPS. Both CPUs are connected to the RAM, so both can exchange data with memory, directly increasing the overall speed. The CPU contains a 4K data cache, and it has the ability to execute complex mathematical functions—a must for 3D graphics. The Saturn boasts two types of buses: one is used to extract data from the CD-ROM and cartridge expansion and send it to the central controller, and a second bus, which is 16-bit and runs at 28 MHz, connects directly to the video and sound subsystems from the central controller unit. • Graphics Processing—The Saturn has two major graphics chips: VDP 1 and VDP 2, with VDP being an acronym for Video Digital Processor. The first VDP is the sprite and geometry engine for the Saturn. The chip has two 256K frame buffers to handle rotation, and it can pull data from a 512K “texture RAM cache” for special texture effects. The VDP 1 handles both 2D and 3D sprite draws, and can map sprites into the geometry engine. The second VDP chip concentrates on background graphics. This chip can generate up to five simultaneously active backgrounds, and can rotate two playfields at once. It is also possible to have three normal scrolls at the same time as a field of rotation. These two chips definitely pack a solid one-two combination. Sega claims the Saturn can handle up to 200,000 texture-mapped polygons per second and 60 frames per second animation. Resolution runs from 320×224 to 720×576, with 24-bit true color graphics giving 16.8 million available colors. • Sound—The Saturn is equipped with two incredible sound chips—a 16-bit Motorola 68EC000 sound processor running at 11.3 MHz, and a Yamaha FH1 processor running at 22.58 MHz. You get 8 FM channels, 32 PCM channels, FM synthesis, PCM synthesis, 44.1 KHz CD-quality sampling rate, and 2 CPUs. Other features include Direct Memory Access (DMA) for file transfer, a 16-channel digital mixer, and a 128-step digital signal processor. There’s more power here than ever before seen in a console or personal computer. • Memory—The Saturn has 2MB of RAM, 1.54MB of VRAM, 512K of audio RAM, and a 512K CD-ROM cache. • CD-ROM Drive—The Saturn is equipped with a double-speed CD-ROM drive, providing for 320K of transfer throughput. • Peripherals—Aside from the normal joypads and joysticks, the Saturn’s most interesting

peripheral is the steering wheel setup produced for its driving games. Sega has always been a major creator of driving games (Outrun, Virtua Racing, Sega Rally) and this console immediately featured this peripheral.

Entering The Sega Development System Contact Sega to become a registered developer. Development kits for the Saturn are provided by Sega subsidiary Cross Development System, a UK-based developer of major console development products. (See the Key Console Development Tools section for a breakdown of Cross Development’s SNASM2 development system for the Sega Saturn.) PSY-Q also markets a set of development tools for the Saturn. Nintendo Ultra 64 Nintendo. The name is synonymous with the resurgence of consoles, having single-handedly recreated the market back in the late ’80s. While Nintendo lost market share in the 16-bit console arena because of hardware holdups, they are coming back with a vengeance with their next-generation Nintendo 64. Nintendo is banking on a system so superior in quality that it will redefine consoles and blow away the market. Nintendo sent hearts racing when they announced the developer of the Nintendo 64 would be graphics chip and workstation leader, Silicon Graphics, Inc. The teaming of the leader in console hardware with the leader in graphical workstations was exciting news, to say the least. In addition, Nintendo’s announcement of an entry price of under $300 was considered unbelievable since SGI workstations can cost over $25,000 dollars on the low end.




The Ultra 64 Specs The Ultra 64 is perhaps the most interesting of all the consoles. Technologically, it can be summarized in three letters: S-G-I. When word broke that SGI and Nintendo were working together, many skeptics wondered how Nintendo would be able to cram SGI technology into a box that would cost less than the circuit board work for an SGI workstation. Here are the specs: • CPU—The Nintendo 64 is powered by a 64-bit custom-designed R4000 series MIPS chip from Silicon Graphics running at 93.75 MHz. The specs say it can hit 125 MIPS and 100+ MFLOPS (Millions of Floating Points per Second). • Graphics Processing—The graphics on the Nintendo 64 are powered by SGI technology scaled down (or better yet, shoehorned) to fit this system. Using a custom graphics processor SGI calls the “Reality Immersion” chip, the Nintendo 64 is capable of 320×224 to 640×480 resolution with a maximum 32-bit RGB pixel-color frame buffer support and standard 21-bit color output. Reports claim a performance of 100,000+ realtime, texture-mapped polygons per second, with all kinds of incredible realtime graphics effects like texture mapping, morphing, scaling and rotation, shading, transparency, antialiasing, and more. I suspect that the majority of these graphics features are handled through a comprehensive set of graphics APIs built into the operating system software. With SGI behind this system, how can it be anything less than amazing? • Sound—The Nintendo 64 features stereo 16-bit sound (CD-quality) DSP and 64 PCM channels sampled at 44.1 KHz. • Memory—The Nintendo 64 has Rambus D-RAM 36 Mbits (4.5MB) at a maximum transfer speed of 4,500 Mbits per second. The cartridges will store quite a bit of information, retrievable at near-RAM speeds. • Cartridges—Nintendo 64 games will be released on 8MB (64 Mbit) cartridges. In addition, it will use a large-scale compression scheme to pack those cartridges with massive amounts of data in an effort to compete with CD-based systems. • Peripherals—The Joypad for the Nintendo 64 is almost as revolutionary as the machine itself. What Nintendo did was meld a digital gamepad (good for arcade-style response) with an analog joystick device (great for flight simulation-style games) on the same controller. On top of that, controllers have ports for SRAM cartridges, which allow players to save game information. This is a handy feature for fighting games and RPGs.

Entering The Nintendo Development System

Nintendo is the most exclusive of all the console companies. Unless you’re among the cream of the developer crop, your chances of publishing an Ultra 64 game are pretty slim. In addition, the hardware costs are pretty steep because the development environment centers around SGI technology (what’d you expect? a Timex Sinclair?). Perhaps, if you sign a hot game to a major company like EA, you might get a shot. But unless Nintendo changes its strict policy (one that has been incredibly successful for them), your best bet is with Sony, Sega, or the other consoles. M2 It’s difficult to detail exactly what M2 is. The original plan was to release it as an add-on product to boost the original 3DO’s power in the wake of the hot new systems being launched by Sega, Sony, and Nintendo. However, as the M2 technology progressed, the overall direction of 3DO has taken some dramatic turns. In late 1995, 3DO sold the M2 technology to Panasonic, their partner in the first 3DO project. In doing so, 3DO signaled that they were getting out of the console hardware business and concentrating instead on software for many platforms (especially M2), developers tools (like their MPEG encoder), and the Internet. Matsushita/Panasonic meanwhile announced—soon after acquiring the M2 technology—that it was getting together with Sega to produce a next-generation 64-bit platform, which will probably be a derivative of the original M2 spec. This merger has benefits for both parties involved: Sega will have a backup plan should Saturn ultimately stumble, and Panasonic will be bursting in on the console market. The new system spec, like its 3DO console predecessor, is intended to be manufactured by several companies at once. The company has also licensed the 3D portion of the 64-bit M2 technology to Cirrus Logic for the development of high-end 3D graphics chips in the PC market.

The M2 Specs The M2 is really more of a next-generation specification than a true product line. Still, it’s an impressive array of technology and certainly will warrant serious development investigation once products based on the spec actually hit the store shelves. • CPU—The M2 is built around a custom-designed RISC-based PowerPC 602 CPU running at 66 MHz. In case you aren’t familiar with the PowerPC technology, this is the chip (which is a collaborative design between IBM, Apple, and Motorola) that the Power Mac is based on. • Graphics Processing—The M2 is a full 64-bit system with potential rendering speed of 100 million pixels per second and 1 million polygons per second. The M2 hardware features such graphics routines as hardware MPEG-1 video, texture mapping, MIP mapping, Gouraud shading, filtering, and 3D perspective correction (the perspective correction feature has to be seen to be believed!). • Sound—The M2 features a 66 MHz DSP chip providing 32 channels of digital sound with

hardware MPEG audio decompression, and 44.1 KHz CD-quality sound. • Memory—The cool thing about M2 memory is that, unlike other consoles, it has one big memory chunk (4MB to 6MB) that is applicable to graphics/video, sound, and any other general systems. This approach makes it much easier on programmers because they don’t have to deal with multiple separate units of RAM. • CD-ROM Drive—Chances are that M2 products will use either a quad-speed CD-ROM drive or, if costs permit, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), which would provide an amazing amount of storage capacity. • Peripherals—The M2 is powerful enough to provide Web surfing capabilities, so aside from the usual array of joysticks (both digital and analog), I suspect that a mouse and a keyboard will also see the light of day to add Web access.




Entering The M2 Development System Based on past 3DO specs, I am guessing that the development environment for the M2 will be Macbased. Despite its ties via hardware and software specs to the Power Mac, the fact remains that the M2 is a Macintosh system. Until final specs ship, the up-front developer cost isn’t currently available. Sony Net Yaroze Yaroze means “let’s do it together” or “let’s work together” in Japanese. The name symbolizes the concept of getting members to work together. Net Yaroze isn’t for console pros but for hobbyists who want to create their own games for a console system. Yaroze costs $750 (plus tax and shipping) and includes a special PlayStation, a serial cable to connect the system to a PC or a Mac, and a CD that includes PlayStation programming libraries, a C compiler and debugger, and other development tools. Net Yaroze will not be available in stores. It is an extension of the services provided by Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc.’s Research & Development department. Net Yaroze integrates a World Wide Web site with support areas, file download areas, message areas, and so on. No live telephone support is available and access to the Web site is limited to one year, renewable for a small fee. Net Yaroze participants can share their work with other members by posting their work on Sony Computer Entertainment America’s designated server, Web site, or any other location authorized by SCEA. The standard consumer PlayStation is not designed to run Net Yaroze titles directly. Net Yaroze members can apply to become a fully licensed commercial developer at any time. Sony plans to offer the Net Yaroze system for as long as the demand warrants. Initial feedback is that it may be for a long time. The Yaroze concept has never been tried before for console development, but Sony hopes to lure gamers looking for something new and challenging. While Yaroze might not revolutionize the game industry, some kid starting out on it just might. However, don’t plan on finding fame and fortune through a game you developed on Yaroze. And Sony suggests you do not join Net Yaroze unless you are already familiar with the basics of C programming and computer use. Net Yaroze is not a game. Sony says it hopes to publish commercial products containing software developed through the Net Yaroze system, but the chance that any one project will be published is very slim. SCEA also offers a professional development program, which all serious developers should consider.

What You Need To Develop For Yaroze The software system requirements are 16MB of RAM minimum, 32MB recommended; 60MB of free hard disk space; Windows NT 4.0 or higher for PC, PowerPC 601 processor or higher and System 7.1 or later for Mac. Also required are a 486 DX2 66 MHz or better IBM-compatible personal computer with one or more serial ports, an Internet connection, 2X CD-ROM, 10MB of hard disk space, 4MB of RAM, a mouse, and an SVGA monitor. Members will also need to be familiar with the C programming language and have the ability to access the Internet and the World Wide Web. To run Net Yaroze on a Mac, you’ll need CodeWarrior, a development environment designed by Metrowerks Corporation. They also provide the same software for Windows 95/NT. CodeWarrior for Net Yaroze includes an NIST certified ANSI C compiler, a C++ compiler that tracks the emerging ANSI/ISO standard, inline assembly support, a project manager, full-featured editor, class browsers for C++, and a source-level debugger for Net Yaroze. Code Warrior for Net Yaroze retails at $299, but special pricing will be available if you purchase the tools from Sony at the same time as the Net Yaroze hardware.

Entering The Yaroze Development System To register your interest in Net Yaroze, visit the appropriate Web sites. In the U.S. and Canada, visit www.scea.sony.com/net/join.html. In Europe and Australia, visit www.scee.sony.co.uk/yarinfo/. In Japan, visit www.scei.co.jp/net/. Orders for Net Yaroze will only be accepted through the mail. Submit your complete mailing address.

Key Console Development Tools Too bad that when you program for a console you don’t just fire up your favorite PC or Mac C compiler, make the game for that machine, and then hit the “Sega” button for a new console version. What is good, however, is that with these newer PC-like 32-bit consoles, the tools available to program console games are powerful. Three major companies develop the software and hardware interfaces that allow you to program for consoles. If you’re truly interested in developing for the console market, I suggest that you get on the phone to one or all of these companies. SN Systems PSY-Q PSY-Q is a subsidiary of Psygnosis, a major game developer and subsidiary of Sony. They sell the main suite of products for developing for the Sony PlayStation, including C compilers, assemblers, and debuggers. PSY-Q has also recently moved into the Saturn development market. I recommend that you stop by their Web site (www.snsys.com), which has a great deal of information about their development products.

Cross Development Products This company has been a leading developer of console development products for quite a while, having shipped development kits for Atari’s Jaguar, Sega’s 32x and Genesis, and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Recently, Cross was acquired by Sega and has concentrated on a Saturn version of their SNASM2 development system. Unfortunately, they haven’t yet put up a Web site. To get information about all of their development products, you’ll need to send them email ([email protected]).




Metrowerks, Inc. Metrowerks (www.metrowerks.com) develops, markets, and supports a complete line of programming tools used to develop software for a number of operating systems and microprocessors, including an environment specifically for PlayStation development. While it supplies a compiler for the Net Yaroze product, it also produces a more robust commercial developer version as well. Across all platforms, Metrowerks’ CodeWarrior products have more than 70,000 registered users.

Consoles Today, Consoles Tomorrow While some PC developers have wished that consoles would go away, it’s not going to happen. Looking at some of the market analysis material presented later in this book will convince you of that. What has made some developers biased against consoles is that the earlier consoles were tough to program, the markets were tightly controlled, and cartridges were costly to manufacture and ship. In one generation that has all changed. Today, consoles can be programmed in C instead of Assembly. In addition, most consoles use CD-ROMs instead of cartridges, which provides for tremendous storage capacity and cheaper production costs. Consoles also have amazing graphics features and power, state-of-the-art sound chips, and much less rigid development rules. It’s no wonder that many previous PC-only developers, such as Bullfrog, Origin, and Spectrum Holybyte, are actively producing console games. In an interview with Next Generation magazine, Peter Molyneux of Bullfrog stated that Sony PlayStation programming was like programming for the PC. In addition, as we’ve seen with the PowerPC-equipped M2, there is a growing convergence of computer technology, operating systems, and consoles. At some point in the near future, perhaps all consoles will be stripped-down PCs with features added for gaming. If that change does come about, anyone who can program and develop for a PC will be able to develop for the console market, too.




CHAPTER 11 Creating Game Content The most dramatic change in computer games over the years has been the technological advancements in graphics and sound capabilities. Combining quality artists with faster machines and top-notch programming has pushed game art to heights many didn’t even think about back in the days of Atari 2600 and Intellivision. Although no game can stand on its artwork alone, eye-catching, intense graphics can signify a quality game. Take a look at the popular games—their graphics are hardly what we’d call lacking. Then comes sound. There has been an incredible amount of progress from the creation of the humble Sound Blaster 8-bit card in the 1980s to today’s 32-bit wavetable synthesis with full DSP chips. We’ve come a long way from the beeps and blips of the original PC speaker. In addition, software progress, which includes Dolby mixing, 3D sound techniques, and interactive MIDI, has continued to push computer-generated music into more sophisticated areas. Throughout this chapter, we’ll discuss some useful tips on developing or contracting both art and sound for your game. Our job is not to give you a trained tutorial on how to make the world’s best artwork or sounds—we’re not going to make you better artists or musicians in one chapter—but what we can do is lay out all the options. When it comes to content and games, there are three major issues—the conceptual work that requires pure artistic and musical talent, the management of content creation, and the possibility issue (Can it be done?)—which determine the how, where, and why of applying content to your product. In the end, there is more than one approach to getting art and music content in a game—and the best problem-solvers consider them all. Let’s first identify the types of content in a game. We’ll start from the most abstract concepts and narrow them down to the format level. In the end, we’ll know the types of content and formats, and the differences between them. Essentially games contain four fundamental types of content: • Visual—Artwork, animation, and/or video • Musical—Recorded or electronically generated • Aural—Sound effects and/or speech

• Textual—Dialogue, narrative, information Each of those categories has many subdivisions. For example, music includes recorded live music played back through digital audio or directly off a CD, MIDI music or MOD files, and speech synthesis, just to name a few. Animation can be precalculated or created on-the-fly by the game engine itself. Sound effects can be of various formats, including surround sound. Thus, to further refine this list we need to look at each content type in depth.

Visual Content Graphics have been the number one content type for nearly every game created. Either through still imagery, animation, or digital video, visual artwork defines a great deal of a game’s content. Game art breaks down into three fundamental genres: functional art, realistic art, and artistic art. • Functional Art—Any element created to communicate a game function. Icons, for instance, are an example of functional art. • Realistic Art—An attempt by the artist to depict an actual element. Anything that strives for photorealism, like digital video and scanned images, are examples of realistic art. • Artistic Art—Any drawn element that results in an interpreted view of the subject. Artistic art examples include human faces, emotions, and alien worlds. From a less philosophical standpoint, we can break this category into three functional types: standard 2D artwork and animation, 3D artwork and animation, and video-based visuals. Two-Dimensional Artwork And Animation The bulk of the artwork in the games industry is 2D. Although some 2D images are drawn with a “3D look,” the images you see on the screen are simply 2D pictures drawn with perspective. (3D packages are also used. More on this in a moment.) You can create 2D artwork in many different ways, from the old “pushing pixels” method to hand drawing and scanning to digital photography. No matter what system of artwork you use, at some point your artist will have to tweak the image on a pixel-by-pixel level. Products like Deluxe Paint and Photoshop are the tools of the trade for this work. For many sprites and smaller game elements, a single pixel can make all the difference in the final image. The attention to detail in your artwork can make or break your game. Hand drawing an image and then scanning the drawing is one of the most basic ways to create art, but it’s one of the best. This approach works especially well for games needing traditional handanimation imagery, such as what you see in the Sierra or LucasArts adventure games. With the resurgence of Saturday morning cartoons and movie animation, you will find many skilled illustrators waiting to take a crack at your game art. You needn’t look farther than your local animation school. Just be prepared to pay; good animators are in very high demand these days. A recent Wall Street Journal article talked about the cutthroat tactics the large animation studios like Disney and Warner Brothers are using to attract top students and seasoned animators to their

companies.




Three-Dimensional Artwork And Animation There are two major types of 3D graphics and animation in the games industry: those that are prerendered and those that are rendered on-the-fly by the game engine itself. As mentioned briefly when explaining 2D imagery, much of what we call 3D art is simply prerendered 3D imagery. The newest revolution in 3D art is, however, high-end 3D graphics that are drawn on-the-fly (again, more on this in a moment). While “on-the-fly” 3D graphics have been around for a while, today’s technology is so amazing, it truly is redefining computer gaming. Both techniques are rooted in creating 3D models, but from that point forward, they take decidedly different paths to final implementation.

3D Ray-Traced Animation Best seen in products like The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour, 3D ray-traced animation is king of prerendered 3D animated games. Using Autodesk’s 3D Studio MAX, Softimage, or any other good 3D artwork product, the artist creates a model for the image. After all the cameras, textures, and shading have been added, the artist can then animate various objects and move the entire view of the scene. The program renders every frame (this can take a quite a long time, even on high-end systems), creating a “fly-through” sequence. The sequence is then played back during the game. The results, however canned, can still be a critical element in top products. It’s a production value item that, while the antithesis of interaction, still can be a key ingredient to draw someone into the story.

On-The-Fly Polygons You only need to play a game like Virtua Fighter or Virtua Racing from Sega once to understand the term “on-the-fly” 3D graphics. This technique is really quite impressive. Once an image is rendered (we’ll get to that in a moment), the wireframe information is provided to the program, which then draws any derived animations from it on-the-fly. No images are prerendered; the speed of the computer and the programming code handles all the work. Using a 3D modeling package, the artist will create a typical 3D polygon file. This file is then usually converted from the 3D format of the construction package to one used by the 3D routines of the program. Many of the 3D APIs on the market that help construct on-the-fly 3D games come with conversion programs for this step.

Of course, true on-the-fly animation is limited by the complexity of the image you wish to create. The more points and polygons an image contains, the harder it will be to make it fast enough for gamequality animation. Thus, you not only need good artists, but ones who can carefully construct cool 3D images without using thousands of polygons in the process. Until the world is filled with supercomputers, the art of creating incredible low-polygon imagery will be a critical and craved skill.

Uses For 3D Animation Let’s look at the most common applications for 3D animation in games today: • Cut scenes are the noninteractive scenes in a game used as embellishment or as a cinematic-like storytelling device. For example, in LucasArts’ big hit X-Wing, scenes show the fighter flying in and out of the mother base. The player doesn’t control the action in any way; the animations solely serve to enhance the environment. The downside is that players typically get tired of these embellishments. • Canned movement is simply the use of precompiled game sequences. Although players have the ability to choose the direction their character takes (a sure hit), their choices are limited by the number of sequences available. Depending on your game, this technique can really enhance the gameplay. It is also a great deal of work. But when used correctly, canned movement can provide the striking animation and graphics consumers die for. Increasingly, companies are turning to engines such as QuickTime VR (or in-house equivalents) for such work. • Realtime is 3D content generated in realtime by the computer, which is constantly recalculating the math and redrawing the screen at frame rates fast enough for animated output. As computers have become fast enough, this is what the term 3D gaming has grown to mean. There are, of course, many types of realtime 3D game techniques, from polygons, to voxels, to raycasting. In most cases, though, worlds are premodeled, the textures for these worlds are generated ahead of time with animation, and mapped textures are rendered in realtime.

Musical Content It is amazing how little attention has been given to music in games. Ironically, it can be one of the most memorable aspects of a game and incredibly important to the playability of the product. Unlike artwork, which has many types, the variances of musical content are few. There are three key types of musical content: electronic music, recorded music, and algorithmic music. • Electronic Music—Whether it’s MIDI, MOD, or some other format, this form of musical content is based on the synthesized playback of musical notes by the computer. The advantages of this include less memory and the ability to access the CD for other content instead of Redbook audio (which we’ll look at more closely later in this chapter). • Recorded Music—Instead of relying on the computer to synthesize music, many games use the CD or large digitized files to play back recorded music, much like a conventional CD or

audio tape would. The advantage of digitized prerecorded music is that it can include any type of music or effect, including lyrics. • Algorithmic Music—A newer form of music deserving its own category is algorithmically produced music. In this case, software decides the music, based on various conditions, which might include the game situation. Drawing from a range of clips and musical theory, the computer creates a flowing musical score on-the-fly, rather than by any absolute predetermined means. The advantage of this is less repetitive music and the ability to have it better meld with the circumstance in the game at any given moment. Still, this type of musical content is very much in its infancy.




Aural Content What would any game be without a full complement of sound effects? Silent movies, no matter how great they were, disappeared the second someone figured out how audiences could hear an explosion sound and people speak. Games have had sound effects since the days of Pong—but unlike those earlier sound effects, today’s sounds are created with a whole new level of technology. With exciting DSP technology and 3D sound mixing, gamers are getting a chance to play games with full voice and 3D sound that brings new meaning to games named Quake. • Basic Sound Effects: Foreground and Off-Screen Foley Noises—Sounds that take place based on visible events are foreground effects. Foley sound effects represent sounds not created by objects you see in the scene. In Doom and other 3D shooters, not all the enemies are in the scene, but you can hear them. 3D sound provides audio that seems to take place outside the view area of the screen. In effect, this sound technique widens the field of play “beyond the monitor.” With the rise of 3D sound techniques, you need to consider sound placement and the mixing techniques to achieve these effects. • Speech—Speech can be developed in two ways: prerecorded as a digitized audio file, or synthesized by computers. Until recent breakthroughs, synthesized speech (which, of course, is far less storage intensive, but much more complex to generate) had been rarely used in computer games. However, expect it and its interface cousin, speech recognition, to increasingly climb in prominence as quality synthesis and voice recognition become more possible. Until then, precious storage space will be used to provide pre-recorded voice quality to games.

Textual Content Textual content may seem fairly straightforward; after all, text is text. However, there really are three key areas of text content that are generated for games: scripted dialogue, narrative text, and informational text. • Scripted Dialogue—Whether spoken or simply displayed, any interaction between a user and non-player characters will involve the construction of some sort of script. This content can be an overwhelming task in some games. Substantial work may be needed to create dialogue, as many games require large scripts to provide for the multitude of different situations that may arise.

• Narrative Text—This is text that presents a narrative aspect to the game. This type of text can be a description of an object, a place, or a person, or it can be a story element presented at various intervals, such as between levels or at certain critical points in the game. In any case, it is narrative and not dialogue oriented. • Informational Text—This includes any text description that helps the player understand the game, whether it’s a Help file or an interface element. Not exactly the domain of professional writers, but nonetheless crucial.

Tip: A good game requires text that is written by a professional. (We’re not talking about when a programmer adds a few words to denote how many kills a player has or the level they’re on.) Anything longer than a sentence or two will be better if it’s written by a skilled writer.

Identifying Key Content File Formats Identifying the categories of content is nowhere near as much work as drilling down into the various formats. As everyone knows, all formats are not created equal, and that means learning not just the actual name of a format, but the ins and outs of that format, as well. These file formats are mostly used in the content creation process. It is not uncommon for developers to create their own custom formats for storing and using content in their games. Resource files and other files that store content for the game engine can be of any form the developer finds most useful. So while these formats all are important, they’re not necessarily the final way the actually finished content will be used in a particular game. Visual Formats With so many different graphics types and tools, it’s no wonder there is a plethora of file formats for visual content. While some companies, such as Microsoft and Apple, are trying to come up with allencompassing file formats for multimedia content, it’ll still be some time before the numerous .XXX file formats game developers encounter are few and far between.

Graphic File Formats There are dozens of file formats in the graphics arena, but only a handful are truly worth discussing: • PCX—A prominent PC graphics format popularized by PC Paintbrush, an early paint product. • BMP—The dominant Windows graphics file format. • TIF—Higher-end graphics format used extensively by scanner and graphics packages. • IFF—Created by Electronic Arts to become the dominant Amiga file format; popularized by Deluxe Paint, EA’s well-known Amiga paint program. • JPG—Short for JPEG (Joint Photographic Expressions Group), a highly compressed format

that is dominant on the World Wide Web. • PSD—Photoshop file format. • PNG—Short for Portable Network Graphics, this format was created by the graphics programming community to replace GIF, after an algorithm copyright dispute created a licensing crisis. • GIF—Popularized on CompuServe and now a major format on the Web, this format isn’t used much in retail products. Its life on the Web is far more robust, with several derivatives, such as Animated GIF, used extensively. • PICT—This is the dominant Mac graphics file format.

3D Imagery File Formats In the last three years, 3D imagery has come a long way. The number of formats has grown with the addition of some notable newcomers, including the Microsoft Direct3D Model and Apple’s 3D Metafile format. Table 11.1 lists and defines all the major formats. Table 11.1Major 3D file formats. File Format

Description

3DS MLI DXF FLT LWxx POV QD3D OBJ

Main format for Kinetix 3D Studio MAX files 3D Studio MAX’s material-library format Widely used 3D file format created for AutoCAD Format used by MultiGen LWLO, LWOB, and LWSC are all LightWave object and scene files POV-RAY format Apple’s QuickDraw 3D Metafile format Wavefront object files




Video File Formats And Codecs The terms codec and digital video get tossed around so easily that a lot of inexperienced people get confused. Simply stated, a codec—short for compression-decompression—is a format for describing how video is stored within a digital video file. And the digital video file is a format that describes how much video is there, what codec it’s using, and other higher-level information. There are two major types of file formats—Video For Windows (AVI) and QuickTime (MOV)—and several different types of codecs, including Intel Indeo and Cinepak. When you create a video file, you will choose one of the various codecs to work with the ActiveMovie or QuickTime system to deliver your digital video to the user. Each codec has many different features and abilities and, likewise, pluses and minuses in regard to those features and abilities. In addition, the ability for developers to stream video over the Web, and the rise of products like DVD coupled with more powerful hardware, has brought forth a host of new codecs that are of interest. For many reasons (chief among them the slim chance that you’re going to be able to produce a better video codec), the majority of developers work exclusively with “off-the-shelf” solutions. Let’s take a look at what’s available:

SuperMac Cinepak This is one of the granddaddies of video-compression technology. Microsoft, 3DO, Sega, Atari, and Creative Labs, to name just a few, have all been on the Cinepak bandwagon at one point or another. Although Cinepak is still often used because of its excellent cross-platform capabilities, age has its disadvantages as well. This is a codec in desperate need of an upgrade; newer products like Indeo Interactive and TrueMotion are moving in. Rumor has it that Radius is introducing an update soon; check their Cinepak Web site for more information.

Indeo Indeo is available for free from Intel, and comes standard with Video For Windows. The codec, while mainly wedded to the Windows platform, is available for Video For Windows, OS/2, and QuickTime (Mac and Windows versions), making it an excellent cross-platform solution. The latest version continues to build upon the excellent playback performance and image quality Indeo is known for.

On a Pentium processor-based PC, Indeo can support full-screen digital video. Indeo Video Interactive is a new Indeo codec. This codec is not a replacement for Intel Indeo; rather, it is an interactive addition to the Intel family of codecs. This version uses a hybrid wavelet-based software video that enables realtime interaction and control of video and graphics, with emphasis on sprites over video and video on top of other video. Not only do you get this increased interactive focus, but the new codec features improved image quality, especially at lower data rates (great for animation playback), and a new scalable quality feature that optimizes performance on Pentiums (it is Intel after all, what’d you expect?). Indeo Video Interactive boasts several cool features: • Transparency—This feature allows you to display video or graphics of different shapes on a video or graphics scene, and interactively control the playback on the fly. • Local Windows—This feature allows you to create independent simultaneous video playback windows when presenting a large video playback or a graphics scene. This technique is especially useful for creating panned video. For example, imagine a car chase scene in which you actually pan from right to left, on-the-fly, during the video feed! • Random Keyframes—A lot of video codecs place keyframes at specific intervals in the video—not the most flexible or perfect way to provide fresh image quality. Indeo Video Interactive allows placement of keyframes anywhere in a movie. • Change Saturation/Contrast/Brightness Controls—Indeo Video Interactive allows you to change all these specifications on-the-fly. Now you can send brightness up to pure white in a car crash or black out in a steep dive in an airplane! • Scalable Quality Feature—With scaling, you no longer have to settle for video quality that fits your lowest-end machine to the detriment of the most capable. • No Cost—Intel will license Indeo Video Interactive to any software developer for free and on a royalty-free basis.

MPEG MPEG was formed to enable full-screen motion video with a high compression rate. The system is based on JPEG, which created a uniform standard for the compression and rendering of still image files. MPEG can achieve frame rates up to 30 frames per second by storing a full screen at the beginning and every four frames thereafter. Then MPEG works out the differences between each frame of video. A very neat idea, but it has some drawbacks. First, MPEG can’t cut to any frame automatically because you can only look at still full screens in the file (every fourth frame). In addition, MPEG uses such a complicated mathematical process, that users must have a really fast Pentium system or special MPEG-equipped accelerator boards to handle it. The other codecs we’ve seen are software-only systems. For the most part, developers will likely stay away from MPEG and concentrate on the other existing software-only codecs.




TrueMotion This is currently one of the best digital video codecs in the business and was recently licensed by Microsoft for inclusion in the ActiveMovie media framework. While developers will still have to license the codec and order the tools to ship TrueMotion-capable titles, the inclusion by Microsoft ensures strong performance, and the availability of TrueMotion capabilities on players’ machines. TrueMotion, according to Duck Corporation, its developer, is “The only video frame-specific, software-only video compression solution available today that provides true television quality across multiple platforms. Content developers can compress video images once and play them back on a variety of computer and gaming platforms.” TrueMotion features a compression rate of 20:1 and fullscreen playback. TrueMotion’s licensing system works on a product-by-product basis, with Duck taking a percentage per unit shipped. As Duck’s president Stanley Marder puts it, “We’re right in there with you; if you don’t make money, neither do we; if you do well, we all make money.” Apparently many major game companies agree. Licensees include Sega, Capcom, Nintendo, Electronic Arts, Crystal Dynamics, GameTek, Magnet Interactive, and many more. Getting a handle on TrueMotion’s capabilities has been tough. Until recently, you had to deal directly with Duck. Now you can bypass the company for evaluation purposes. While game developers shipping a product need to contact Duck concerning licensing fees, there is a package out on the market for other developers featuring the TrueMotion-S technology. The product, from Horizons Technology, is aimed at the non-game developers/users that Duck doesn’t want to deal with. You can purchase this version for approximately $495. If you like the results, you can contact Duck to get the full license property and comprending technology to proceed with your game. Comprending is a combination of two common digital video technologies, compression and rendering. This product allows you to create “video sprites.” Essentially, most digital video used in games has been a single file that contains all the foreground and background images. With comprending, you can take one or more digital video files and actually overlay that video on top of a background image on-the-fly. For example, imagine that you’re developing a basketball game and you want to pull out from the action, which is full screen, and overlay a couple of announcers on the background. The comprending

engine allows you to decompress and draw a digital video announcer (filmed, say, on a bluescreen) and immediately overlay it on the screen. Another example might be a football game in which all the players are digital video sprites! This is wild stuff that promises to ensure that digital video will be used in a much less linear way.

Smacker If you told really smart game developers to go into a room and write a flexible and useful gameoriented digital video codec and playback library, they’d go in the room, pick up the phone, and call RAD Game Tools. They would order Smacker, hide it in the desk drawer for three months, look busy when you walked by, and spend the time playing games. Smacker was originally developed to help with a game RAD Game Tools, its maker, was working on. Most digital video codecs work to please a huge group of developers, some of whom could care less about making games. Smacker concentrates on the key aspects of digital video essential for today’s game developer: • It’s optimized for only 256-color files. Most codecs have to account for 24-bit color and scalability. This means their compression schemes and speeds aren’t always optimal for the 256-color images that make up 99 percent of games these days. Smacker is fully optimized for 256-color mode, which results in better playback speeds and quality, and tighter file compression. • It’s designed for developers, not end users. Smacker includes lots of goodies for developers, including support for FLC and FLI files, AVI files, and sequentially numbered image files. Smacker also supports Smacker calls from your code with a full API you can order. In addition, Smacker provides a script language, which offers a load of interactive scripting features. • It allows you to touch up compressed files with Animator Studio. Once files are compressed, you can touch them up to improve their quality. Smacker specifically works well with Animator Studio, a popular animation product from Autodesk. • It increases playback speed. For some codecs and their users, compression speed is often a major concern. However, for game developers looking for maximum performance on the playback end, Smacker doesn’t let them down. So which codec is best? Each codec offers something the others don’t; they’re all different. All the codecs are used by at least one game on the market today. The answer to the question then is to use whatever works best for you. For the most part we would use Smacker with its wide range of features useful for the game developer. Indeo Video for PCs is also a good option. With its wealth of features, it’s sure to be used quite a bit. For consoles, and perhaps now Windows, TrueMotion seems to have made some considerable gains. It’s used for a number of today’s top console titles, and Microsoft building it into Windows should be a huge boost to it on the PC platform. Musical File Formats

When it comes to musical file formats, first and foremost is MIDI, the dominant file format for computer-generated music. With the rise of CD- and DVD-ROMs has come the use of Redbook audio, which streams music right off audio tracks on the CD. Finally, there are some alternative electronic music formats, like MOD, that have also been used. In addition, the option of simply looping some short digital audio files isn’t out of the question.

Redbook Audio Named after the color of the book that describes its specification, Redbook audio is essentially tracks laid out directly on the CD for playback. Many games are turning to Redbook audio either by using mix-mode or CD-enhanced mastering processes. The great benefit is that you have the widest latitude in terms of musical content, including lyrics. The downside, of course, is that Redbook audio tracks suck up precious space on the CD and data can’t be accessed from the CD while a track is being played. Finally, production costs for developing music that is compelling enough for Redbook audio may be prohibitive for some developers. Don’t underestimate the cost of audio production when going this route.




MIDI MIDI is the tried-and-true standard of most computer game music. Since it is a series of computer bytes that represent notes to be played by the sound card, MIDI’s extremely useful for game developers. MIDI songs are quite small, which can really help to limit your memory overhead. In addition, MIDI can be quite interactive; you can change MIDI data on-the-fly, and quickly and fluidly weave in and out through different soundtracks. In the past, most musical notes produced by sound cards for MIDI were done with FM synthesis. Today, though, all the major sound cards use a process called wavetable synthesis. Wavetables are made up of stored samples of instruments that are used to create sound. Some cards even allow programmers to load their own sample instruments.

The MIDI Offspring Since the introduction of the MIDI protocol, four other MIDI standards have appeared: • • • •

MIDI Show Control 1.0 MIDI Machine Control 1.0 Standard MIDI Files 1.0 General MIDI System, Level 1

The MIDI Show Control and MIDI Machine Control standards specify a set of system-exclusive messages that can control various types of nonmusical equipment. The Show Control focuses specifically on stage lighting and sound control systems, although it is designed to control just about any kind of performance system, including mechanical stages. The Machine Control standard specifies system-exclusive messages to operate audio and video recorders. The biggest problem that surfaced after the widespread adoption of the MIDI protocol was in sequencer file formats. Shortly after the introduction of the first MIDI-equipped synthesizers, several sequencer programs appeared. Each software developer created its own proprietary format, which meant that you couldn’t create a music sequence with one program and play it back with another. So in 1988, the International MIDI Association published the second component of the MIDI standard, Standard MIDI Files 1.0. Standard MIDI files are built from chunks, which contain some header information and a series of data bytes.

Standard MIDI files made it possible for musicians to share their files, regardless of hardware and software platforms. But this new standard brought to light another problem. The tracks in a MIDI sequencer file may specify a program number, which determines the instrument sound, or patch, with which that track should be played. But every instrument has its own assortment of patches. So, while program number 30 on one synthesizer might be a brass section patch, the same program number on another instrument could be a tympani drum, or a sci-fi phaser gun. Playback of a standard MIDI file might produce all the right notes, but on all the wrong instruments. The General MIDI System standard attempts to solve this problem by offering a standard program list, consisting of the 128 most common patch types, from pianos to gunshots (literally—General MIDI program 1 is ‘Acoustic Grand Piano,’ and program 128 is ‘Gunshot’). General MIDI also specifies a layout for percussion instruments, called the General MIDI Percussion Map. Percussion is a special case, because nonmelodic percussion sounds, such as drums, cymbals, and cowbells, need to occupy only one note position, so you can theoretically fit up to 128 separate percussion sounds in one patch. General MIDI includes 47 percussion sounds, and specifies that percussion should be transmitted on MIDI channel 10. If a composer writes a song using the General MIDI setup, he or she would not need to create a custom set of MIDI instruments for the music. This makes working with outside musicians a breeze. Unfortunately, as some have pointed out, General MIDI can be a pain to convert to dedicated consoles that don’t feature built-in General MIDI sounds. In this situation, you would have to supply the instrumental sounds in digital form for consoles, which takes up a lot of memory. In addition, General MIDI works against the philosophy of creating customized sound. Because all the instruments are standardized, even different compositions can sound surprisingly alike. Your own tests will decide how canned your music sounds, but be aware that, as with anything else in game development, you sacrifice one thing for another—in this case you’d sacrifice a more customized and varying set of instruments for an easier approach. General MIDI is considered a system rather than a specification, because not all instruments need to comply. In fact, that would defeat the purpose of programmable synthesizers, which enable artists to continually invent new sounds. Some synthesizer modules are designed specifically for use as General MIDI devices, and come preprogrammed with compliant patches. Other synthesizers support a General MIDI mode, but also provide a separate programmable patch bank. And some instruments don’t support General MIDI at all, unless you program and arrange the patches yourself.

Creating And Composing MIDI Files MIDI is a large industry unto itself. All sorts of different instruments, primarily keyboards, can now be hooked into MIDI setups for composing music. The primary product a MIDI musician uses for composing a song is a MIDI sequencing package. There are quite a few prominent sequencing products from makers such as Cakewalk, Mark of the Unicorn, Opcode, Passport, and Voyetra. These packages are pretty much overkill for you if you’re just experimenting with MIDI files. In that case, consider picking up one of the good shareware packages available, like WinJammer.




MOD MOD files could easily be considered a type of digital audio file, but they’ve got such a peculiar history and structure they really are a format unto themselves. MOD files got their start on the Amiga and have now migrated to the PC, Mac, and even workstations. They are part sample file and part music file. Modules are digital music files, made up of a set of samples (the instruments) and sequencing information that tells a MOD player when to play a sample on a particular track at a specified pitch. Thus, MODs are different from pure sample files such as WAV or AU, which contain no sequencing information. MODs are also different from MIDI files, which do not include any custom samples or instruments. The approach is kind of like combining WAV files and MIDI and coming up with a new format. The samples are called instruments, but they don’t have to be actual instrument sounds; any sample can be part of a MOD file, which is what makes them so special. You can have voices, sound effects, or even crowd screams. Most music—in terms of what modern musical groups produce—is comprised of four distinct tracks: drum, bass, rhythm, and a “lead” track. Programmers applied this concept to the Amiga and utilized all four of the Amiga’s “voices” to replay digitized samples of instruments on these tracks. By looping and switching instruments on the tracks, programmers created a software reproduction of some really amazing sounds. In addition, lyrical snippets could be added because the playback technology was based on digital audio and not FM synthesis. MODs are extremely popular in the demo world because they offer a way of making music of an acceptable quality rather cheaply. With the advent of high-quality sound hardware, new generations of MODs have even risen to a sound quality nearing that of professional-quality sound tracks. Sequencing information is based on patterns and tracks. A pattern is a group of tracks with a certain length, usually 64 rows. The tracks are independent of each other, meaning that a four-track MOD can play four voices or notes simultaneously. The patterns can be sequenced in a playlist, so that repeating the same sequence of patterns doesn’t require rewriting them. This makes MODs a hybrid between pure sample data files, such as WAV, VOC, or IFF/8SVX, and pure sequencing information files, like MIDI. On the downside, MOD files can have tinny pops, which occur as a result of poor sample quality and

the type of sound card used. Since its debut, the MOD format has undergone numerous facelifts resulting in several versions. Unlike MIDI, no one controls the MOD file format so new MOD formats have appeared often. You can find new MOD file formats with up to 32 simultaneous channels, a maximum of 255 instruments, possible sample rates of up to 48 KHz, and 16-bit source samples of (almost) unlimited size. Although these newer formats can be useful, you should investigate their effect on the speed of your game as they can be quite taxing.

The MOD Offspring There are three main components to the major MOD formats: • Number of instruments that can be programmed into the file • Frequency range of the samples • Number of channels or digital streams that can be played at one time Let’s take a quick look at each of the popular MOD formats in use today: • MOD—This is the main type of MOD file in use today. It was the first standard and it is based on the original Amiga format. There are several slight variations offering more instruments, but the basic capabilities of this format support 31 instruments with four playing at any time at an 8-bit resolution. • S3M and MTM—S3M and MTM are somewhat similar in their format. Both offer 8- and 16bit samples and both are capable of supporting 32 simultaneous channels of music. S3M can support up to 99 instruments. To build MOD files, you should use the ScreamTracker format editor for S3M and the MultiTracker editor for MTM. S3M also can mix in some FM instruments—up to nine on Sound Blaster and Sound Blaster Pro cards. • XM—This is the latest and greatest format on the scene. It supports up to 32 tracks, 128 instruments, multisampled instruments, an extremely large sample size, and lots of MIDI support. Samples can be 8 or 16 bits. The FastTracker editor can be used to create files of this format.

Creating And Composing MOD Files Creating a MOD file requires a MOD writing program commonly called a tracker. So far, we have heard of only one MOD tracker for Windows, called EasyMod. The other major trackers are all DOSbased. The ones most often used include ScreamTracker, created by European demo team Future Crew, which supports the S3M format as well as many other former MOD formats. FastTracker II supports S3M and all kinds of samples and several other MOD formats. The MultiTracker Module Editor 1.01b is not as full featured as the previous two, but each MOD editor is different enough to warrant playing with several to find your favorite. Mac fans can use MacMod Pro, which is capable of creating MODs from 4 to 32 channels. In addition to creating and editing MOD files, you’ll need a way to convert your MODs. Unfortunately, converting between different formats and especially to non-MOD formats is a difficult process. Converting from one of the later MOD formats to an earlier format is not for the faint of

heart; going from an earlier format to one of the latest incarnations is far easier and there are a couple of products to help you out. PT-MID for the PC and the Mac converts general MIDI files to a couple of MOD formats. The converted MODs still require some tweaking and re-editing using a MOD editor. Aural Formats You commonly run into three aural formats: • WAV—The basic format of digital audio files on the Windows platform. • AU—The basic format of digital audio files on Unix platforms. • AIFF—The Apple Interchange File Format is found throughout the Macintosh platform, as well as in SGI circles.




Speech File Formats There are some optimum file formats for prerecorded speech audio files, like The DSP Group’s TrueSpeech format. For file formats that will pass through a text-to-speech engine, like Microsoft’s Speech API, there is no outright standard. Each one may require specialized handling of the text fed to the engine, to maximize the phonetic abilities.

3D Sound Formats There is a plethora of formats still battling it out in the 3D arena. This market is wide open until next generation systems and users begin to settle on some basic standards. QSound, from QSound Labs, has had some early success, as has SRS Labs with its SRS immersion technology. A3D from Aureal has been used by GT Interactive and LucasArts among others—it’s based on work done by subsidiary Crystal River Engineering.

The Construction Process We’ve covered the types of content that games consist of, and we’ve looked over the formats in which content comes packaged. Now comes the fun part: actually making the stuff. Of course, the options only increase at this point. Call us crazy, but it’s amazing how many tools one can buy to put together the ultimate content creation lab. Almost every major package offers two, three, or more features that its rivals don’t offer, making it almost necessary by default. It’s common for a big 3D game to have content created in LightWave, 3D Studio MAX, and Softimage. There’s good reason to own and use three or four different texture creation products, not to mention at least two image processing products, and a couple of sound and music creation tools. Labor Alternatives No matter what sort of content you’re creating, there are four major routes to consider. Three of the four routes are out-of-house solutions, for content flexible enough to not need in-house development. With items like music, cut-scenes, sound effects, speech, and so on, it can be very useful to know what outside routes you can consider. • In-House—The majority of content production is done in-house at the development group or publisher. The control over costs and timing—especially for day-in, day-out needs of

constructing a game engine—often makes in-house work a necessity. In addition, especially with 3D modeling for realtime games, there needs to be a constant interaction between the programmers and artists to create the optimal mesh. • Outsourcing—Many companies outsource segments of their content production. This tends to be in specific areas that don’t necessarily require a full-time staff or constant interaction between the programming and art staffs. It’s common to see music outsourced, as well as animated cut scenes. Many times, as with motion capture and digital video, it can be too complex or costly an item to produce in-house. Some companies have even been known to outsource hand-animation sequences and sound effects creation. • Partnership—This is a combination of in-house control and outsourcing for expertise or capability. It’s common for items like video production or motion capture to use outsourced locations or teams that are under day-to-day direct control of the art staff and design team. Instead of ordering a motion capture file, or doing it in-house, the art staff rents out a center for its own use. This is the route people take when they don’t have the need or money to bring the whole operation in-house, but they want tight control. • Library/Stock Purchase—The popularity of 3D modeling libraries, especially those offered by Viewpoint DataLabs, has created a strong market in the games industry for stock purchasing to help cut down on content creation time and costs. Other items that companies might purchase are sound effects libraries, texture libraries, and, in specific cases, stock artwork. Visual Content Construction When it comes to creating any kind of visual content, several key packages and possibilities come to mind. The basic toolbox consists of 2D drawing and painting tools, a 3D modeler and animation package, various libraries of meshes and textures, some conversion tools, and some image acquisition hardware. Most game artwork starts as concept art, pencil sketches, and the like. These items quickly help an artist develop an idea of final form, and they cost a lot less than diving into the systems themselves. Concept art may even take on traditional storyboard qualities, particularly if animation is involved. From there, most projects use a multitude of routes to develop the artistic concepts into final game art. It is perhaps the most labor-intensive part of game development. First, an entire art plan is developed, consisting of a ledger of all the elements called for in the program. Elements are then assigned to team members or are farmed outside the company to various freelancers, outsourcing shops, or animation houses. In that light, this section will summarize the basic hardware and software toolboxes to be considered by artists of all skills and sizes. In the Resource section of this book, you’ll find contact information for every item, and then some.




Basic Paint And Imaging Packages Everyone, even the artistically challenged, needs to have a basic pixel-pushing art package. Even if you aren’t drawing lifelike human forms, you still need to construct simple icons, change a color, or round an edge. You don’t need to pay an artist to do simple tasks. Fortunately, you’ll find plenty of economically priced paint products for both the PC and the Mac. When evaluating paint packages, you’ll want to make sure that you have a super pixel-by-pixel editor. You may also want to get a package that incorporates a lot of artistic tools and imaging tricks for some of the fancier tasks you intend to perform. Either way, make purchasing a good paint package a top priority. When it comes to core 2D painting and imaging, the toolbox is fairly straightforward. There are six major packages that developers use. Photoshop by Adobe, now in version 4.0, is the primary imaging package in the graphics industry. Fractal Design Painter from MetaCreations is an exquisite painting package that many fine artists use to create backgrounds. Animator Pro, from Kinetix, while marketed as an animation package, features an excellent set of bitmap editing tools. The package is most similar to the old favorite (and still oft-used) Deluxe Paint II.

Tip: Looking for cool art? Consider browsing publications from the U.S. government. Believe it or not, most of the art, along with maps and other goodies, is not covered by U.S. copyright laws. There is a wealth of artwork out there. You’ll especially find good stuff for military games and geography-oriented art, including maps and other items that can be useful.

Deluxe Paint II, while out of print, is still favored by many developers for its excellent interface and bitmap graphics focus. Meanwhile, Paint Shop Pro, a shareware package from JASC, has the distinction for being a poor-man’s Photoshop that gives even the lowest budgeted developer a powerful tool for creating all sorts of artwork. Finally, DeBabelizer from Equilibrium, due to its wellexecuted palette manipulation and batch processing tools, is a staple for every developer (some would call it a religion).

Artwork Hardware Accessories You can input artwork into a computer by using scanners, digital cameras, or even tablets. Scanners The best bet for introducing hand-made artwork into a computer is to use a scanner. Digital Cameras Digital cameras are useful for creating natural-world 3D images for your computer. They’re also great for capturing real-world textures digitally (a brick right off a wall, for example). The game The Neverhood from DreamWorks Interactive used a digital camera to capture hundreds of frames of animation. Clay sculptures were photographed for walkthrough segments, and stop-motion animated sprites were also used. Digital cameras have become very popular, so you can find a lot of offerings from many major manufacturers. Ideally you want to get a camera with 1024×768 or better resolution. Kodak, Olympus, Minolta, and Polaroid all have excellent models that sport that level of resolution. Tablets Many artists prefer to create art by hand, and for them, using a tablet with many of the cutting-edge graphics programs is a necessity.

3D Rendering And Animation Today, a 3D rendering package is a necessity for almost every developer. 3D rendering, of course, doesn’t come cheap—3D Studio MAX is a $2,000+ package. Higher-end products require you to buy $15,000 of hardware just to run an equivalently costly $8,000 program. Calling the modeling market crowded is like calling New York City a village—it doesn’t come close. The multitude of packages, add-ons, and accessories one can consider utilizing is staggering. However, some specific packages are most used and favored by developers. The big six in this market are Alias|Wavefront’s Animator, Microsoft’s Softimage, Kinetix’s 3D Studio MAX, Nichimen’s N-World, MultiGen’s GameGen, and NewTek’s LightWave. Following behind those packages are a second tier of products that, though considered a little less robust, are still capable and are less expensive. This tier would include Caligari’s trueSpace, MetaCreations’ Ray Dream Designer, Infini-D, and Strata’s StudioPro. Hash’s Animation:Master is another lower-priced product that receives rave reviews for its high-end functionality. For most 3D work, you’ll simply be able to wrap a texture onto a surface to create a 3D shape. However, for many forms, especially organic forms, these textures don’t always wrap

correctly—you’ll often find that the object has inconsistencies, tears, and bleeds. In this case, you can use some 3D paint programs or features in your favorite packages that allow you to paint directly onto the surface of a 3D object. This technique allows you to add a tremendous amount of detail to the 3D objects in your games. Not all of the major 3D rendering packages offer 3D painting features in a native form (3D Studio, for example), so you’ll need to get a plug-in product.




Textures These days you can never have enough textures. Accomplished 3D artists typically develop an extensive library of textures. But we all have to begin somewhere. As more and more 3D games are developed, the demand on 3D artists is growing dramatically. Rapidly building a complete texture library should be one of your primary concerns when ramping up for 3D production. There are many different texture creation products and stock libraries available, and as you might expect, they are all sufficiently diverse that you might want to purchase as many of them as you can afford.

Acquiring 3D Models Face it, 3D modeling is intensive work, so anything you can do to improve the speed and accuracy of your modeling work can be a welcome addition. Fortunately, the 3D market is growing so fast that there have been a number of new tools you can use to acquire models faster than by hand alone. Three-Dimensional Libraries Available from various vendors (listed in the Resources section) are a slew of CD-ROM libraries of common 3D models such as chairs, animals, and figures. Many developers continually collect these often inexpensive libraries to build up a huge stock library of objects to draw from. Online Libraries As 3D worlds become constantly more complex, the use of 3D clip art is going to increase. There are many reasons to use 3D art and just as many reasons to not use it. Most notably is that many models are optimized for game development, meaning they’ve got a large amount of polygons, which isn’t exactly good for on-the-fly animation. Others aren’t exactly what you want, and still others are just not very good. However, there are some quality 3D libraries and 3D model “brokers” that you can use to cut down on the time and cost associated with in-house 3D model production. Viewpoint DataLabs is best described as a 3D modeling brokerage. Artists can actually submit 3D models for Viewpoint to resell. The whole process works over the Internet. As this database grows

and catches on, it will become an incredible resource for those out-of-the-way models—like spacecraft, human figures, and such—that are so often needed for games. Viewpoint bought the rights to the Avalon’s online 3D database, which was the leading Internet site for public domain 3D models. Some time ago, Viewpoint also took over management of the old China Lake free 3D model archive. The Mesh Mart, being developed by Richard Tilmann, is another online 3D object broker with mesh object files. Other companies are also launching mesh sites for the growing number of 3D modeling artists and developers. A complete list of these sites can be found in the Resource section. Cyberscanner Using either the MicroScribe modeling tool or the laser-developed Cyberscanner, you can take clay models, actual objects, or entire people, and scan them in as a complete mesh file. Cyberscanner’s full-blast human scanner is quite expensive, but some firms like Viewpoint actually have them onsite for one-time use. Three-Dimensional Conversion Products Unfortunately, not every developer uses the same packages to produce games. Even some of your own packages might not offer compatible file formats for you to move among products. InterChange, available as a plug-in to 3D Studio or as a standalone for Windows, translates between over 20 different common 3D file formats, including 3D Studio, LightWave Objects & Scenes, Wavefront, Alias polysets, RenderWare, AutoCAD DXF, and POV-RAY 2.0. InterChange preserves geometry, surface information, hierarchy, rotational centers, and more.

The Art Of Motion Capture One of the fastest growing technologies in game development today is motion capture animation, also referred to as performance animation. This revolutionary animation technology combines sophisticated 3D modeling software, special video technology, and live subjects for capturing actual movements. With it, developers are able to create incredibly fluid and lifelike digital actors for games. There are two applications of motion capture technology: magnetic and optical. Depending on the method, subjects are fitted with either magnetic or optical transmitters on their limbs and joints. With optical systems, the transmitters are reflective sensors and high-tech cameras record the subject’s position as he or she moves. A magnetic system, on the other hand, works with a set of attached sensors to return realtime position and rotation data. The difference (some might say the advantage) with the magnetic system is that instant feedback is provided to the subject, allowing readjustment if necessary. For either scheme, the basic process is the same: The subject is monitored by the system, with spatial and positional coordinates transmitted at a rate of over 100 times per second. The information is then

recorded to a database. From this database, the information is translated into a motion file that can be applied to a 3D object—using Wavefront or 3D Studio, for example—and animated accordingly. Not only does motion capture eliminate the necessity to animate by hand, but the quality of the motion is much better. And, depending on your game, motion capture techniques can be quite cost effective. As you have probably guessed, motion capture is perfect for products like fighting games that incorporate realtime animation with polygons.




Magnetic And Optical Solutions Optical systems are considered less accurate than magnetic systems because the optical sensors can overlap in a field of view. It’s difficult to work out which sensor should be where, which results in more maintenance. Still, many companies are employing optical systems because of the freedom they provide, and the results are reflected in the games constructed with them. Acclaim Entertainment’s inhouse system is an optical system. Figure 11.1 shows how performers are outfitted for optical motion capture.

Figure 11.1 Optical systems make it easy to capture multiple performers, since they free you from the wires associated with magnetic systems. Most motion capture systems are of the magnetic type. The sensors on the subject’s body are connected to the main unit by wires, which sort out positional and orientational data from the varying magnetic fields generated during movement. One disadvantage of the magnetic system is that distortion can be introduced if you use it in an area that contains a lot of steel. If you can’t receive good AM radio signals, chances are a magnetic system might be hampered. Of course, you should test it and work with the manufacturer to be sure. Another disadvantage of magnetic systems is that movement is often restricted by the wires used to track it. Luckily, most games don’t require large movements for their captures and now companies like Polhemus have debuted wireless versions of their systems. Motion Capture Vs. Traditional Animation Techniques Now that you’ve been introduced to motion capture, let me take a moment to point out why rendering 3D animations with motion capture—when applicable—is superior to traditional animation keyframing methods. In keyframing, you create two different positionings of an object and then the computer creates animation by rendering the in-between frames, based on movement information you

give it about the object. This information includes precise details about how the object, and what it affects, moves from one place to the other. Some programs are able to do this with a powerful technology called inverse kinematics, but even this technique is not as “pure” as motion capture. Motion capture is powerful because it supports a more precise form of natural movement; it captures exact information from a live source and it does not interpret a fictional movement.

Motion Capture Is Not A Godsend Motion capture is an exciting new technology, but it’s not the “end all-be all” of animation. Traditional animation will always be necessary; you can’t simply replace it with motion capture. Some mythical role-playing games, for example, work best with traditional animation, considering the space limitations and number of different motions you might have. Motion capture solves a slew of animation problems, but it’s not a full-purpose animation solution, and it brings with it a whole crop of new problems. Many of the systems, both custom and off-theshelf, magnetic or optical, limit the number of nodes—between 15 and 20—that you can track in one session. This basically limits you to human forms—and never more than one at a time. (Although you may have two subjects interacting, you’ll most likely capture only one of them at a time.) In addition, you’re dealing with a huge amount of collected data that needs to be shoehorned into a game, which also limits the size and sophistication of your captures. In-House Or Outsource? So you’ve decided that motion capture is the solution you need for a particular game. Now you must decide if you’re going to do it in-house or if you should outsource the project. Your decision will be based on costs, expertise, and the schedule—the usual factors in a game decision-making process. I suggest that you go out-of-house for your first attempt, but make sure you take an active role in the process. That way you can bring your next project in-house, and apply your experience and expertise. A number of companies are outsourcing motion capture, most notably Acclaim Entertainment. A number of providers have begun to spring up and, with the potential of this technology in the future, there will, no doubt, be many more outsourcers putting their hands into the pot. Wavefront, a division of Silicon Graphics, Inc., that markets high-end animation and game development software, has certified a number of its customers to provide performance animation motion capture services using Wavefront software and SGI hardware. Check with Wavefront for more information on suggested studios. These providers offer expertise, on a contract basis, with “data stages.” They can help anyone who hasn’t yet invested in an in-house motion capture system.




Choose Your Motion Capture Studio Wisely Everyone’s got their own way of doing things in this business. When you are evaluating companies to do your motion capture work, you need to determine what services, besides the actual motion capture, they are willing to provide for you. Services such as editing are crucial to your final product and not all studios offer that. Trust me, captures are never clean; additional editing work will need to be done. Make sure you get a studio that is willing to help, and can work with your art or animation staff to make sure you end up with a useful file. Capturing More Than Full Body Motion You may not have considered this approach, but motion capture works for more than just human body movement. Some systems, like Adoptive Optics Associates’ Face-Trax, can capture facial expressions as well. Using the same process as in body motion capture, a subject has reflective stickers placed on his or her face. A head-mounted display (pictured in Figure 11.2) relays the facial movements it reads from those stickers. While most games have concentrated on the full motion capture technology, no doubt the use of this technique for interactive movies and talking 3D graphics will occur in the future!

Figure 11.2 Using a motion capture screen to capture facial expressions.

Combining With A Bluescreen For the most part, motion capture is not combined with bluescreen techniques. But the use of a bluescreen stage allows you to show the subjects how their motion capture is being displayed in relation to their surroundings within the game. The realtime interaction with the background that the bluescreen provides can be invaluable to the final product. It’s a unique twist, no doubt, but one worth looking into, depending on the situation

you are trying to replicate with motion capture.

Tip: Steven Spielberg doesn’t show up to film a scene before he storyboards and scripts it. And the actors don’t show up unprepared either; they have probably run through the scene several times. While not on the scale of filming a movie like Jurassic Park, motion capture requires procedures similar to storyboarding, scripting, and rehearsals. You must develop a detailed list of the motions you need and, if need be, storyboard them as well. You also need to make sure your subjects completely understand the motions they are to perform and have thoroughly practiced them beforehand.

Understand Your Modeling Software Once you have your motion capture files, you’re going to manipulate them within 3D animation software. Most of the major packages like Alias, Wavefront, Softimage, and 3D Studio have various ways of handling the files. Before you spend a lot of time manipulating your files, become thoroughly familiar with how your software will work with the files. Also, a lot of the major motion capture studios have developed some great in-house tools. More than a few might license or sell their in-house technology to you for your own use. When you talk to the various studios, check to see what software they’re using and if they have any special tools that you can use to help with the files back at your place.

The Bottom Line: Will Motion Capture Cut Costs? If money is tight, motion capture may not be for you. Obviously, costs will vary from center to center, but my research seems to indicate that costs range from $2,000 to $3,000 per day for capturing and $1,000 to $2,000 for editing services on those files. A typical day results in 50 to 75 captures, so a game with 300 captures, including editing services, can run you anywhere from $12,000 to $30,000—the cost varies greatly depending on the studio rate and the complexity of your captures. The problem with such cutting-edge technology is that you have to spend a lot up front to save later on as you get the experience of how to apply it to become more productive. Motion capture can save you money, but not until you’ve invested a fairly large initial sum of money to get the basic technology you need. If you can hang on as the technology and your experience improve, the savings will materialize. Because of the high up-front costs, some companies have decided not to invest in their own motion capture equipment. Instead, they work with motion capture providers or experiment with a growing number of motion capture “clip files.” Learning with these tools tends to be less costly.




Digital Video When used properly in games, digital video is an excellent feature. Unfortunately, it has not always been used well, and has become synonymous with poorly designed linear games that use it as a way to splash lots of eye candy on the computer screen. The term digital video can represent two distinct things. Most of the time it is used to describe live action that was captured by cameras or from a VCR, and then converted to a digital video file for playback by the computer. Digital video can also more generally describe any animation that is stored in various file formats (more on this later). For example, an artist might create a fully featured 3D animation and render the animation as a “digital video” sequence by storing it in an digital video file. Linear, full-motion video games are commonly called interactive movies. They make up the majority of games featuring digital video. These games are like movies in that they have a single plot line and involve filmed sequences. Games like The Sewer Shark, Night Trap, The 11th Hour, Phantasmagoria, and Blown Away! are some past top-selling digital video titles. Other productions use digital video sequences as a filmed version of the animated “cut scene,” sometimes even adding a little interactivity to boot. Games such as Wing Commander III and IV, as well as Rebel Assault I and II, use digital video sequences effectively in this regard. Still other productions use spot digital video within the game. For example, Electronic Arts’ Shockwave, a futuristic space flight shooter, uses some small digital video sequences to embellish a heads-up display in the game; commanders pop up on the video display to offer advice and information. Digital video has worked really well as an embellishment to some games. But when digital video takes center stage (as in Sewer Shark), the quality and technical drawbacks of a total full-motion video game have not panned out. That may change if one company has its way; North Carolina-based SouthPeak Interactive (www.southpeak.com) has created a new digital video engine that looks like an advanced version of QuickTime VR. It combines 3D movement with video that may be the future of the video-in-game content medium. You truly have to see this technology to believe it.

That said, let’s dive in and get a better understanding of how we can successfully add digital video to our games.

Money Talks—The Digital Video/Dollar Equation When it comes right down to it, resources are the biggest factor in producing digital video. Larger companies like EA have set up their own studios or they work with Hollywood production houses to do their video. They hire union talent, bringing in the full stream of makeup, lighting, audio, and other production services. For Wing Commander IV, Origin (an EA subsidiary) decided to build and use actual full sets, a landmark first. Most companies simply use bluescreening techniques to merge digitized actors with computer-generated backgrounds. For the well-funded companies, production budgets can reach several million dollars. Wing Commander IV’s budget was rumored to have been over $10 million! But don’t count yourself out yet. While EA and others push the production budget to stratospheric levels, some companies are striving to produce digital video on very modest budgets. While producing digital video means spending money, it doesn’t necessarily have to mean millions. Resourceful developers will find ways to use digital video effectively, no matter what their budget.

Hardware Necessities If you’re going to capture your own video, the first major decision you’ll need to make is exactly what equipment you’re going to use. This book isn’t going to give you specifics about every kind of video hardware (it would take an entire book to do that!), but we have gathered some good starting points and tips from several developers working with digital video.

Consider Renting Hardware Consider this: You have $1,000 budgeted for a camera. While you can get a great Hi-8 camera for $1,000, that same $1,000 could rent some even higher-end equipment for a day. In addition, renting equipment takes the pain out of obsolescence—get the best equipment you can for the project you’re doing now! Contact the local film office of your state government; most publish a complete book listing all kinds of vendors and video production help found locally in your state. You can find national renters of high-end equipment in Videography and other major video production magazines And don’t forget, equipment goes far beyond the camera and a deck. There is a plethora of other hardware you can bring in to improve and affect your video in the production phase, including capture boards and bluescreens.

Video Cameras

It’s very difficult to recommend a video camera. Technology is moving so fast that prices are dropping daily. In addition, the digital video setups used by major companies can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, this high price tag doesn’t mean you can’t create good digital video with cameras that fit within your budget. Among video mavens, Avid is a major force, leading the way with comprehensive nonlinear, digital video editing products. From editing systems to sound editing and scoring products (Avid owns Digidesign), to lower end products like Elastic Reality and Media Suite Pro, Avid is a player in every aspect of digital video production. If you’re looking to build a major in-house digital video studio, Avid should be on your short list of vendors. There are a number of retailers in the digital video business, and I don’t really want to recommend one over the other, but sometimes you need to break your own rules. B&H Photo is one of the largest, most complete high- to low-end video equipment dealers in the country with an extensive mail-order business. For a mere $9.95, you can purchase their complete (and I mean complete) catalog of equipment—guaranteed to make you drool. Even if you don’t order from them, the catalog is worth having as a resource bible of equipment available to solve your needs. Sony manufactures systems for both home and full-scale professionals. Their cameras and decks are used worldwide and they have been increasingly integrating their products on the low end for personal computers and digital video use. Along with Sony, Panasonic and JVC round out the top trio of high-end camera and video equipment manufacturers.




Capture Boards Most of the major video card manufacturers make a large assortment of “frame grabbing” boards. You might check any of the regular multimedia magazines for the up-to-the-minute rundown of the latest and greatest. Here are some of the more popular board manufacturers for PCs and Macs: • Intel Smart Video Recorder Pro—The Intel Smart Video Recorder Pro is a very versatile video capture board that comes with all kinds software, including Asymetrix’s Digital Video Producer (though most people upgrade to Adobe Premiere). This capture board is an excellent choice for small developers with a limited budget. • Radius—If you’re a Mac developer, you’re certainly familiar with Radius, the leading maker of Mac-compatible video equipment. Radius offers a complete line of boards and other video equipment from the low- to mid-high-end range. • Truevision’s TARGA—For a higher-end solution consider Truevision’s series of TARGA boards, which offer high-quality digital capture. You might also look into the TARGA 2000N, a top-rate, lower-end solution (for both PC and Mac) that includes Adobe Premiere.

Bluescreens While some people have successfully used blue sheets and blue-painted backgrounds, a professional bluescreen is the way to go if you’re looking to achieve top quality. Professional bluescreens emit light, instead of reflecting it as a blue wall would, so professional bluescreens maintain the consistency of colors. In addition, a bluescreen uses a shade of blue that is difficult to duplicate. In short, if you’ve got the budget, use a real bluescreen; the savings in aspirin alone will be worth it.

Tip: One disadvantage with bluescreens is that, depending on your use of them, you are limited in the number of simultaneous camera angles you can establish. You probably won’t consider many different angles, but it’s an interesting point.

Software Considerations

Purchasing the software to compose your digital video files is just one more crucial decision in the world of digital video technology. In this section, I’ve listed both low- and high-end editing packages for your perusal. Let’s take a look: • Adobe Premiere—Premiere is aptly named because it is indeed at the top of the heap of digital video editing products on the market today. Premiere is available for both Windows and Mac platforms. Suffice to say, you want to get the most powerful computer and memory setup you can afford to allow the full power of this program to shine through. • Asymmetrix’s DVP—Although Premiere is the benchmark product against which most other digital video editing products are judged, I would be doing you a disservice to list only that package. Asymmetrix’s DVP, a drag and drop video editing product for Windows, is one product worth mentioning. • in:sync Razor—This digital video editing package is a nice alternative to Adobe Premiere. in:sync Razor comes in two distinct flavors: The regular Razor is a Windows 3.1/95 application, while Speed Razor is a full-blast 32-bit Windows NT video editing application. As far as I know, it’s the only native NT digital video software package around. Check out the in:sync Web site (www.in-sync.com), where you’ll find a fully capable demo of in:sync Razor. Unfortunately, the demo works with black and white video only, but for evaluation purposes (or for that film noir game you’ve been planning) you’ll find it useful.

Higher-End Editing Systems The average game developer doesn’t need much more than Adobe Premiere to help capture and edit digital video. However, if you want to move up a step to a more robust process, there are several major systems that you can evaluate. You’d have to have a large block of complex digital video needs to warrant investment in these systems (some are upwards of $20,000), but many companies are making the investment and are building complex digital video studios. Telecast, one of Radius’ top-of-the-line products, uses a special version of Adobe Premiere as its editing software. The specialization is mainly to support some proprietary time coding information, but otherwise, it should be easy to use for all you Premiere junkies out there.

Comparing Major Digital Video Engines Apple hit the market first when it debuted QuickTime, a scalable video technology to play back digital video files in a window on the Mac. QuickTime was a software-only solution, and it ushered in the age of digital video files. Microsoft, not wanting to let Apple have a key edge, and recognizing the importance of digital video, followed with a Windows engine it originally called Audio Video Interleave (the origin of the Video For Windows extension .AVI). This became Video For Windows. Both engines can display digital video at rapid rates and full-scale resolutions, depending on the underlying hardware, and both work with a variety of codecs. The big difference is in cross-platform capabilities—unlike Video For Windows, QuickTime has both a Windows and Mac implementation.

Some developers decided to use that cross-platform capability to design digital video games using QuickTime. However, as they found out, the QuickTime for Windows implementation was, well, buggy. Supposedly a number of bugs have been fixed in the latest version. I see more developers using QuickTime for Windows as a result. With tighter programming hooks, more documentation for Windows developers, and wider consumer acceptance (since it’s part of Windows 95), Video For Windows has become the standard.

Tip: As with any other process in game development, you could outsource your digital video. For many companies, even large ones, outsourcing digital video shoots is the method of choice. For the most part you are still in control, but just about everything concerning the actual filming and processing, and sometimes direction and other film-oriented work, is taken care of by the outsourcing company. For outsourcing services, you can contact the local film office of your state government, as mentioned earlier in this chapter.




QuickTime VR And Microsoft Surround Video QuickTime VR is an extension of Apple’s core QuickTime digital video engine. QuickTime VR uses an innovative 360-degree panoramic photography technique that gives VR-like immersive experiences of real-world spaces and objects. Users can experience spatial interactions without special VR equipment. All in all, it’s a novel use of digital video with some surprisingly interesting results. What’s great about QuickTime VR is that you can create scenes by modeling them on a computer or by stitching together 360 degrees of photographic stills taken with a camera and a special tripod. QuickTime also supports what it calls Object Movie Elements. These are items that you can move around independently to see all the sides of the item. QuickTime VR development is possible only on the Macintosh platform, but playback is possible for Mac and Windows. Apple will license both the QuickTime VR runtime software (for Mac and Windows) and the authoring tools (for Mac only) to developers. In addition to the costs of the tools, there is a modest royalty arrangement for distributing the QuickTime VR runtime software. Apple has broken it down into two title types: CD-ROM titles and Enhanced Audio CDs. For CD-ROM titles, if you ship less than 25,000 units, there is no royalty, and over 25,000 units the cost is $400 for every 5,000 units shipped. For Enhanced Audio CDs (like CD +), if you ship less than 50,000 units, there is no royalty, and for over 50,000 units it is $750 for every 25,000 units. Of course, when one giant makes a move, the other is sure to be following quickly in pursuit. Such is the case with Surround Video. Even though I have confirmation that Surround Video exists, there is no hard evidence. Technically, Surround Video is vaporware. However, let’s discuss it anyway so you know what it is if you see it. Surround Video is basically Microsoft’s answer to QuickTime VR. Microsoft, however, is promising that Surround Video will be royalty free (a definite swipe at the royalties Apple is charging for QuickTime VR). Surround Video has an editor and playback engine for runtime playback. This engine can put together and display 360-degree photographic images taken with a panoramic camera (just like QuickTime

VR), and solves the distortion effect through a remapping algorithm. The editor supports scripts that define hotspots, scene transitions, sounds, and overlaid bitmaps. Until Surround Video ships, however, QuickTime VR has this new video technology to itself. To obtain more information on Surround Video, send email to [email protected]. Tips For Making Better Digital Video Creating quality digital video is a matter of understanding the potential pitfalls. If you’re planning to invest in this technology, make sure to read this section for some advice on making your digital video the best.

Creating Smoother Playback The smoothness of digital video is directly related to the number of frames you see per second. Even though high frame rates produce smoother playback overall, lower frame rates can be smooth enough, mostly depending on the image you’re trying to place in a digital video file. Table 11.2 lists the frame rates for several common types of video. Table 11.2Common frame rates. Video Type

Frame Rate

Saturday-morning cartoons Standard film PAL TV NTSC TV Doom II on a Pentium 120

12-15 frames per second 24 frames per second 25 frames per second 30 frames per second 35+ frames per second

The average compression ratio for video is 20:1. This figure is an average because the exact compression ratio depends on the complexity of the video content and the quality desired in the video playback. If the content of the video is very complex and has a large number of changes between frames, more space will be required to store the needed information. The more complex the content, the more space it requires, and the lower the compression ratio. Another factor for smooth video is the placement and number of keyframes in the video file. Keyframes are fully digitized frames, not “tween” frames that your codec has made. Of course, there are some trade-offs. Investigate the possibilities and see for yourself.




Capturing Video Here is a list of tips for this most crucial area. Consider the following as a kind of checklist that you should review each time you set out to capture video: • Understand your camcorder. Consumer-grade camcorders provide a good quality signal when shooting live, but some models do not play back from recorded videotape. When digitizing from videotape, it is best to use a high-quality editing deck rather than a camcorder. • Get the right color. Use a time-base corrector, which matches the video levels from the source to a standard television color bar test pattern. This ensures that black appears as pure black, white is not too bright, and the colors are accurate. Using a time-base corrector can correct some of the video quality errors inherent in some consumer-grade video equipment. • Strive for the cleanest video possible. Clean video is a must. The best compression works best with clean video. If colors bleed and lots of “noise” is visible, not only will you be stuck with poor-quality video, you will be forced to use a less acceptable compression scheme. • Use the best system your budget allows. We talked about this earlier, but it bears repeating: The idea is to shoehorn your development process, and in digital video that means capturing your video with the rawest digital form. Capturing at a compression level can introduce noise and artifacting. You ultimately want to get a setup that has an incredibly fast hard drive and lots of memory. This will allow you to select a really raw form of capture. Once that form is captured, you can use a product like Adobe Premiere to “shoot it down” to compressed levels for playback in your game. • Tweak the PC. If you’re intending to capture straight to the hard disk, you might want to consider giving your hard drive a quick tune-up. Optimizing your hard disk can affect the overall quality of the capture. Also keep your eye on the things that slow down the system, like other programs running, TSRs, and such. • Prerecording? Bring extra tapes. If you’re capturing now, and editing and composing later, it’s best to overshoot than undershoot. Buy some extra tape and take several shots of the same scene. Trust me, when you bank on perfection the first time through, you’re bound to end up a loser. • Don’t forget the lighting. Any production person will tell you lighting is one of the key ingredients for all good production. It’s key, not only for a good-looking video, but stable lighting can help tremendously in producing clean crisp colors, which reduces noise. If you have the money, I highly recommend bringing in a lighting production person. If you’re on a tight budget, truck on down to your local library and get a good book on lighting. It’s that important. You should really make lighting a priority in your digital video education.

• Adjust for proper video levels. A tip I picked up from the SuperMac Web site was to adjust for proper video levels. Some codecs (like Radius’ Cinepak) work best with a signal providing even distribution of luminance and signal levels. They suggest capturing a single frame then loading that frame into Adobe Photoshop. Then you can run a histogram to get a perfect roadmap to calibration. • Experiment with frame rates. The frame rate determines how much data is compressed as the video is captured. Generally, the lower the frame rate, the lower the quality of the video. Most multimedia users agree that 15 frames per second (fps) is the minimum acceptable frame rate for digital video. However, some videos (for instance, videos with limited motion) can go as low as 10 or 12 fps with no apparent loss in smoothness. Try capturing at different frame rates to see which one works best for your application. • Avoid dropping frames. If possible, you don’t want to drop any frames during capture. Video files with dropped frames will appear to stutter during playback because some of the original video frames are missing from the file. If your capture utility reports dropped frames during capture, try capturing several shorter segments and edit them together. Also, don’t use disk compression programs like MS DoubleSpace or Stacker. Compressed drives are slower and will affect performance. • Set up digital video palettes. If you’re not careful, digital video can cause huge palette problems for your program. Before you start capturing lots of video, make sure to match your video palette with your program’s palette. The trick is to make sure that all other onscreen graphics that are present when the video plays adhere to the same palette. I recommend that you use the standard palette many codecs use (especially in the case of Intel Indeo, whose palette optimizes playback as well), or create your own. Intel maintains a great source of information on digital video palettes on its Web site at www.intel.com.

The Audio Component Your sound is as important as your video. If your audio isn’t up to snuff, you’ll watch your game collect dust on the computer store shelves. • Calibrate audio levels. Use the software that came with your sound card to properly calibrate the input audio levels on all of the audio sources that will be used in your project. Set the audio level so that the majority of the sound is close to 0 decibels. Going past 0 decibels is likely to result in distorted audio. See your sound card documentation for more information. Several wave editing applications allow for the WAV file to be normalized, which digitally boosts the gain. • Use the lowest sampling rates for audio. When capturing video to a file, use a really low audio rate to cut down on the bandwidth and allow for a higher capture rate. Later, using Premiere, you can capture and lay down an audio track separately. Postprocessing Options There are many different products to help you enhance your overall digital video file. Adobe After Effects is to digital video what Adobe’s Photoshop is to photo imaging. Like Photoshop,

After Effects offers a plug-in architecture, which means other vendors offer additional effects to work within the After Effects program. For PCs only, there is Autodesk’s Animator Studio Pro, which can add a host of animation capabilities. This package offers a nice range of features to enhance your digital video. Don’t settle for the capture and compress form of digital video. Raw digital video might as well be stick figures you drew and animated by hand; it looks crude. Extensive postproduction will go a long way toward making cool digital video for your games.




Performers: Getting The Best For Your Buck Many developers might think they can cast their friends or themselves in roles for their games, but as the pros have learned, it doesn’t always work. Just as demand for faster and better graphics has fueled ever more amazing graphic engines, the same is happening for in-game acting talent. The first wave of games seemed to forsake real talent and hoped to amaze us with the pure spectacle of digital video itself. Today that just doesn’t cut it. Good actors are good actors for a reason! Their nonverbal acting and professional delivery can make a big difference. The more extensive your digital video is, and the longer the actual individual scenes are, the more you need high-quality talent. In the Organizations part of the Resource section, you’ll find listings for organizations like the Screen Actors Guild, The Directors Guild, and other performing arts organizations. Many of these organizations have specific contracts covering the use of their members’ talent in interactive games. If you get a contract with a big company to create a title, you might need to work with organized talent because they’re obliged to do so. Always check with the publisher to make sure of the specific situation. Union talent provides a great way for you to get top-notch performers. Of course, they do come with a price. Electronic Arts’ subsidiary Origin Systems had a walkout of union talent off the set of Wing Commander IV, when some technicians objected to the working policy. While some renegotiation led to a return to work, they did lose some shooting time. The walkout was a symbol of gaming’s new era, where working with highly skilled talent can introduce a whole new set of problems that aren’t necessarily of a technical nature!

Expert Advice The Poor Man’s Guide To Digital Video I asked Ian Firth of Diversions Software to share a few quick notes about his experience working with digital video. Ian is the author of several popular shareware and low-end commercial products. His current project is a major effort called Void Pirates. For this game, Ian wanted to have a number of digital video sequences. There was one catch: Ian doesn’t work for Electronic Arts; he works for Diversions Software—and is the only employee, I might add. Thus Ian’s budget wasn’t exactly big. (Heck, a set for Wing Commander IV probably cost more than Ian’s entire budget!) However, Ian has used hard work and a few tricks to create some really amazing digital video for his game. He proves that even a low-end developer can use a supposed high-end technique to make a really fine product. Step 1: Buying A Camera (If you have a video camera, skip to Step 2.) Start at the local media or camera store and look for a brand name video camera that has Hi-8 output. You will be able to find one between $600 and $5,000, depending on features. I use a Sony CCD TR400, and the list price has dropped from $1,500 to around $900 since I bought it early in 1995. Here are a few tips to keep in mind while you’re looking: • Try to get the best camera you can, but be especially vigilant for the camera’s lighting specifications; remember, lighting is key! • If you plan to record first then digitize, consider buying a separate deck for digitizing; many built-in camera decks are of a lower quality than standalone decks. Step 2: Buying A Capture Card Video capture cards come in a variety of styles. Some offer capture only, while others offer output to tape as well. The Intel ISVR Pro offers exceptional quality at a decent price (around $500). Install the capture card into your system, and set it up according to the installation manual. Plug your video camera into the capture card, and turn it on. Then just run the capture software that came with the capture card. You should now be looking at a live feed of your humble home office. Step 3: Bluescreen Options To create a bluescreen for home use, you have several choices. The first requires a half gallon of

paint and a roller. I painted my living room wall blue for the production of Void Pirates. It was easy, and cost about $10. You can also use blue (or green) paper, cloth, or bedsheets to create your bluescreen. Another technique is to hang a screen away from a wall allowing it to be backlighted, which offers a better quality of color. The key is to achieve a solid color without hotspots or dark areas. Step 4: Lighting I use two 600-watt video lamps, purchased at the local camera shop for $375 a pair. Even though 1200 watts sounds like enough, it still resulted in underexposed images, due to my camera’s low light capabilities. Light placement is critical. You want to maintain even color while making the subject apparent. Experimentation is key. At this point, you can begin filming your characters and their dialogue, to tape, using the capture card as an onscreen monitor. This technique allows you to save your video on videotape, and dump it to disk as needed, since it consumes large amounts of disk space. Step 5: Creating Background Art I created the backgrounds using Caligari trueSpace2. It’s quite a full-featured package, costs a lot less than 3D Studio, and runs in Windows. In order to scale the backgrounds properly for the planned shot, I created a 3D dummy human model where I want my actual human subject to be placed. The model is then removed before rendering. Step 6: Final Capture Capturing the video from tape is outlined in the capture card’s documentation, and is a simple affair. I capture all my video at 24 bit. Indeo and Cinepak are 24 bit by nature, but include a fixed 256-color palette in the codec itself for playback on 8-bit displays. Keying involves cueing your video and selecting the color to be removed. A background image is then placed behind the character, and they appear in your virtual set. Once captured, the digital video can be manipulated with video editing software. Adobe Premiere is the choice of professionals, and is my recommendation for quality work. For editing, I use Indeo 3.2. The color palette is nice, if a bit dark. I also use it because everyone else uses Cinepak, and I wanted to be different. Using Premiere, I add simple effects like a green tint or a simple transition. When I’m satisfied with the output, the video is then saved to disk, and compressed for CD-ROM playback. Step 7: Postproduction The overlays were hand drawn, and overlaid one at a time. Needless to say, I won’t work this way again. I now use Autodesk Animator Studio Pro, which removes the need to work one frame at a time.




Constructing Musical Content Essentially, there are two major routes to producing musical content for a game. You can hire a musician (either on staff or via work-for-hire) to compose original music for a title, or you can attempt to license existing music for a title. While licensing is not a common route these days, it has been done (EA’s Road Rash was a well-known example) and in the future we expect it to become more prominent. Musical content construction comes down to two items—working directly with original composers or jumping through hoops to license existing work. Working With A Musician Considering that music has the ability to put you into a certain mood, you may wonder why so few games have music that you actually like. The answer is twofold: First, no one can create music that everyone likes; and second, music is often overlooked by the game industry. During the past few years, however, music in games has emerged from the backstage to take its place at the podium. Nowadays, much more attention is being given to the music. Some games even feature popular rock groups in their credits. This section discusses everything you need to know once you decide to outsource your musical requirements. I’ll go over the type of composers and musicians you should look for, where you can find them, and, most important, what abilities they need. This is by no means the definitive guide, but it should give you some valuable insights. Let’s begin by discussing the various types of composers you will encounter when you decide to hand the music to someone else.

The Professional Interactive Composer If you’re serious about creating quality sound, the only way to go is to hire a professional. Although you will find many fine composers scoring for TV and film, you really want to narrow your search to those composers who concentrate on games and multimedia titles. There are over a dozen major game/interactive composition houses around. They’re good, they know the business, and they’ve done games. These musicians know MIDI inside out. They’ve worked with digital audio, and will be familiar with

the formats and sound capabilities of all the cards and consoles. You will find this to be a huge advantage when you need to tweak the score to play on the various systems on which your game runs. Many composers in the industry are independents and contract to other companies as well. Taking this into consideration, you will need to shop around to find composers who are able to meet your time frame. My advice is to hook up with a large production house rather than dealing directly with a single composer. A production house has a large base of composers working for them. They will be able to find a composer to suit your needs within your specified time frame and within your budget.

The Professional Composer Notice that the word interactive has been omitted from this heading. Professional composers and musicians have this annoying habit of not understanding that the medium on which their work is being performed is limited by various technical aspects (e.g., MIDI voices available on a given platform). Don’t underestimate the importance of a composer’s experience (or inexperience) with interactive formats. If you can get them to understand these limitations, chances are that they’ll see it as a challenge and produce good stuff. If not, don’t even bother. The problem, as you might expect, is that you have to be able to get their music on the computer. I discuss this process in detail later in this chapter. But the benefit of using a professional composer is that you draw on talent without computer experience. It’s a tradeoff, but if you can find a composer who is willing to give you 100 percent, there’s no reason the technical lack of experience should matter if they (as well as you) make an effort to work it out.




Amateur Musicians You’re producing your first game, it’s not a triple-A title, it could be nice shareware. You can’t afford a professional composer. What options do you have? There’s always the guy across town with the MIDI setup. And there are plenty of wannabes aching for a shot at the big time. And who knows. If you’re lucky, you might find an unknown dying to work for peanuts. A few pointers on dealing with amateurs. You want to find a perfectionist who is willing to go the extra mile to produce quality music. Of course, some kind of musical background—like being able to write scores—should be mandatory. And finally, you need to find someone who is willing to listen to instructions (and you need to be able to provide explicit instructions). Essentially, it comes down to finding someone whose musical ambitions and desire to do things is as passionate as the work you’ve put into your game. Finding A Composer Here are some simple tips for finding musicians or letting them know how to find you: • Post Want Ads Online—The best place to look for composers, aside from the multimedia resource guides, is online. A post on CompuServe’s Game Developer and MIDI forums, and some of the top Web sites like Happy Puppy, should bring you a considerable list of replies to sift through. Be sure to define what you’re looking for and ask for a package of files demonstrating their talents. If you want a particular style, mention that, too. • Individuals and Companies—There are independents who roam around, and companies like Sega’s music group, Rob Wallace Music, and Team FAT, which represent a trend toward forming companies to offer a broad range of styles. • Web Sites—Again, the best place to look is online. Many of the companies producing sound have Web sites with demo music downloads and contact information, plus references to products they’ve done. In two hours of surfing, we came across numerous home pages for qualified, experienced game musicians and sound editors. A simple visit to the various Web search engines like Yahoo! and AltaVista will get you surfing around to pro musician sites in no time. • The Computer Game Developers’ Conference and the CGDA—You can also find good musicians at the CGDC. Many of these folks bring demo tapes with them, so be prepared to listen. The CGDA directory also list numerous professional game-oriented composers.

Hiring A Composer Hiring a composer or musician is a major decision but it’s not too hard to do; you will need to simply take the time to listen to a lot of demo tapes. It’s a good idea to constantly recruit musical talent. Musicians are very often individual contractors and can be tied up at any given time, so it pays to build up a stable of reliable musical talent. When evaluating a demo tape, it’s a good idea to listen for multiple implementations—for example, a song rendered as digital audio, General MIDI, and perhaps as a wavetable. If the composer also engineers sound effects, be sure to get a sample disk and look for sounds rendered at different rates and such. A good musician will be able to tweak the same song or sound to enhance it individually in the various file formats and specifications. You’ll want to also find out their technical background—just because they know MIDI doesn’t mean they’re technically astute. Remember, the variance in sound cards can have a tremendous affect on the approach to producing music for games. The more technically astute your composer proves to be, the better he or she will be able to handle those little adjustments, or provide you with several variations of their music. Working With Your Composer Now that you’ve gone to the trouble of hiring a composer, you want your working relationship to be productive. If you’ve hired a professional interactive musician, you will probably not have to be involved too much after your initial discussion, until the “finished” product is at your door. You cannot expect the other types of composers and musicians to be fluent with computers, and most likely you or someone on your staff will have to help them. Spend the time to work out any technical jargon and be precise about your needs. You probably have more experience with computers than the composer, and you’ll have to be patient. Likewise, the composer should realize that your ultimate musical knowledge is limited to “I know what I like.” As the developer, it’s ultimately your responsibility to make sure the composer knows as much about how you plan to use his or her work in your game as you do. Make sure to thoroughly discuss the formats you’re going to use, where in the game MIDI is going to be, how you like your files to be formatted, and the associated naming conventions.




Licensing Music And Digital Audio An alternative to dealing with a musician is to work with a music publisher to obtain licensed music for commercial use. Licensing music isn’t as difficult or expensive as you might think, although cost is dependent on the artist, the catalog, the song, and length of what you want. As mentioned, one great example of using licensed music in a game is Road Rash by Electronic Arts. For this title, which is a motorcycle racing game with the added feature of having to knock down your opponents using batons and chains, EA went out and licensed music from grunge rock bands like PAW and Soundgarden. The result was mind-blowing sound, complete with lyrics that complemented the title like no other score could. Wow! I bet you can’t wait to start adding the latest Techno hit to your newest shoot-em-up. Before you get too far ahead of yourself, let’s look at the realities. Licensing music is a major research project and is best left to either a good lawyer who has multimedia knowledge or a rights acquisition specialist. A rights acquisition specialist can get the music you want much faster than you will. If your time is worth money, give the money to the specialist and save the time.

Who Owns The Song? The first thing to understand is that a performer is not necessarily the owner of a song. For example, there are numerous versions of “All Along the Watchtower,” but the owner of the song is not necessarily the person recording it, or even the composer. It belongs to the entity that owns the publisher who owns the rights. In addition, if you got the rights to “All Along the Watchtower,” you can’t use U2’s or any other musician’s version of it without their additional permission. Complicated, huh? Welcome to the world of licensing music. Now you understand why it hasn’t been used too often. This is why a rights acquisition specialist is useful; they know the ins and outs of who owns what, and you don’t.

Not Every Song Is Available One funny thing about ownership is that it gives you control. Just because music is licensable doesn’t mean every song ever written is available to license. You can be sure that Bobby McFerrin’s famous song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” isn’t available for your Doom-like slugfest. (Although, you never know. Maybe Bobby is an avid gamer!) And forget organizations like Disney—they have their own

multimedia projects and they’re not in the business of licensing hit animated songs to competitors. When you try to obtain licenses to use music, you’ll need to do a little homework. Define a number (the more the better, most don’t pan out) of songs, groups, and genres for your rights acquisition specialist to work with. And let him or her do the leg work.

Remember The Audience Make sure you know what your intended audience is listening to before you spend money on licensing music. Making a wrong move here can be pretty embarrassing and costly. You might consider bringing in someone who’s previously put together soundtracks for television or movies to be on the safe side.

Digitizing Your Song Once you get the rights to a song, you need to digitize it for use in your game. Before you rush out to Tower Records to buy Soundgarden’s latest for your cyberthriller, check with your rights acquisition specialist (see how important these are?) to see if you can get the masters from the licensing company to send to your sound techie folks.

Producing Aural Content Aural content production consists mostly of two items—recording original sounds and then digitizing them for mixing and modification, or pulling effects from sound effects libraries. There are also some composers who specialize in creating sound effects. In either case, in-house, out-of-house, or via stock library, everything comes down to a few key tools and technologies worth knowing about. Sound Editing Tools To create great sound effects, you’ll need good editing software. For the most part, you will be creating sound effects from CD-ROM libraries. Although these libraries provide brilliant sound effects, they rarely include the perfect sound. It will be up to you to edit and experiment with your sound files to get exactly what you’re after. This is where the editing packages come in. The trick is to use a package to manipulate existing sounds or design a new sound that will keep your players coming back for more.




There are about a half-dozen programs you can use to create professional sound effects. Most often used is Sonic Foundry’s Sound Forge and Digidesign’s Sound Designer. Both feature excellent quality and great features, as well as plug-in technologies that allow companies (such as 3D sound mixing technology companies) to provide new mixing capability for effects. SoundEdit 16 from Macromedia is a popular Mac sound editor and Alchemy from Passport Designs is also a top-notch product. On the shareware side, two well-known Windows programs are used quite a bit. Cool Edit and GoldWave are quite popular packages among budget-conscious developers. Disc-To-Disk from Optical Media International includes one of those odd little utilities that make you say, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Disc-To-Disk captures CD audio digitally right off a CD-ROM, bypassing the need to run it through your sound card’s digital-to-analog converter. The results are crystal clear. You can store the results in several popular sound formats and then go to town with your favorite sound editing program.

All About Microphones If you’re going to do your own digitizing, first go to a music store and get a top-rate microphone. Unfortunately, most of the microphones provided with regular sound cards are not of professional quality. Recently, I came across the following potential resource for information about microphones: Allen Sides Microphone Cabinet: 800-233-9604 This CD-ROM provides a complete run-through of everything you ever wanted to know about microphones. You’ll have to shell out $69.95, but if you’re looking for a major resource for purchasing just the right microphone plus recording techniques, this is your source. If you really want to explore sound, you might want to look into some of the other equipment you can get to improve your sound effects, like portable DAT recorders for field recording. If you want to get the ultimate in audio equipment, check out the various magazines like Electronic Musician and Keyboard for the complete scoop on major audio gear.

Sound Effects Libraries And Stock Most major publishers have extensive archives of professional-quality sound effects libraries. The rest of us have to build our own library. Luckily this task is fairly easy. You may have to lay down some money, but if you look hard, you can find good sound collections that provide everything you need to develop lots of new sounds on your own. You can purchase sound effects in three ways: one at a time, as single CDs, and as sets of CDs. Most of the companies I have listed in the Resource section charge between $50 and $150 for a single CD and up to several hundred dollars for a set of CDs. Some of the most often purchased libraries include The Hollywood Edge libraries, Sound Ideas, Network Music, and Valentino to name a few. (For more, see the Resource section.) If that is still too rich for your blood, you can check some of the various Web sites listed in the Resource section, which allow you to download single sound effects. There are also dozens of stock sound companies that can assemble digital files or tapes of sounds you might need. You may pay dearly for custom stock like this, but sometimes it’s the fastest way to find that special sound effect you want. Text-To-Speech These days, it’s not unusual to find games that use spoken words in addition to text. If you decide to develop such a product, it’s important to understand that spoken words carry as much weight as any other portion of your game. Don’t settle for your next-door neighbor to do the voiceovers; professional voiceover artists and actors are available, and the difference is considerable. Unless your neighbor happens to be an accomplished actor, your voiceovers might be missing such subtleties as voice pitch, emotion, and proper enunciation. This isn’t to say you need to bring in Don Pardo to do every major voiceover piece; just give spoken words the same consideration you give to any other “castable” performance in your product. Spoken words add realism to a product, but they are often not enough. In certain situations, you will find it necessary to reinforce the spoken words with a text display: • Children’s products should have a text display to help kids read along as they listen. • Some adventure and RPG products embed clues into conversations that players have with non-player characters. In this case, a text version of the talk might be useful to help the player remember everything that was said. • Closed captioning for hearing-impaired folks should be a consideration when you design a game with spoken words. Don’t assume that the introduction of spoken words removes the need for the text. There are a host of companies working on implementing text-to-speech engines for the game, Internet, and multimedia market. IBM markets VoiceType, First Byte has an engine, as does Lucent Technologies.

The Quest For Better Content We’ve spent a lot of time exploring content production and we’ve only scratched the surface. That alone should say something about the trials and tribulations of developing games. At the same time, user demands for more and better quality animation, 3D graphics, sound, and bigger budgets are pushing people to the extremes to create the most dazzling effects and worlds imaginable. That sort of pressure requires developers to use every trick and tool imaginable. We’ve tried to identify the types of content and to cover the basics of how to get it from concept to content. For the most part, it’s a combination of four elements: money, time, tools, and experience. Content is about 60 percent of a game’s fiscal and time budget. Experience comes from spending time and trading tricks and tips with other developers. These types of things could take hundreds of pages—we’ve resorted instead to listing online sites, magazines, and other items of interest where you’ll find more tips and tricks than you can imagine. You’ll often find that no matter how much you read—you’ll learn most by simply diving in. Every tool you add may give you new features that make new concepts possible. That is why it pays to keep up on all the different possibilities and products. As the industry progresses each year, it’s worth asking one basic question: “Is there a better way to create this content type?” The developers who constantly seek cutting-edge answers will build advantages over others, and hopefully, also build better games with better content for all of us to marvel at.




CHAPTER 12 Dealing With Software Publishers Developing great games with brilliant designs, terrific graphics, slick programming, and great playability is difficult enough. But doing the rest of what it takes to sell a great game may be even harder: designing packaging, manufacturing the product, raising money for expenses, managing product fulfillment, establishing relationships with distributors and retailers, running effective marketing and public relations campaigns, securing retail shelf space, and providing technical support. Fortunately, some companies are willing to do all this (and more) for developers. These companies are software publishers. In theory, software publishers have excellent distribution and marketing programs in place and the money to support them; they can fund your development costs and then do a great job positioning, launching, and marketing your game, generating huge sales and royalties. In reality, of course, your mileage may vary. Software publishers, however, don’t provide this funding, distribution, and marketing just as a public service for the developer community. Generally, the more services a software publisher provides, the greater the percentage of net sales revenue it will retain for itself. Many developers suffer great stress when approaching and dealing with software publishers. Such a meeting has a built-in conflict since both parties want to maximize their returns. Many times, this can be a healthy environment where a little friction goes a long way, but unless you know how to negotiate with publishers and put together a distinct strategy that works for your situation, you can easily get burned.

Get Your Act Together First And Know What You Want The biggest advantage a publisher has over a developer is experience and organization. While you might enter into negotiations several times a year, your publisher is probably entertaining and talking with dozens of other developers. Many developers approach publishers in a disorganized fashion; they go into negotiations with some or all of the following problems: • You are nearly or completely out of money to fund development. Publishers are like sharks attracted to blood when cutting deals with cash-poor developers. They may act like angels at

first, but if they sense you’re about to lose your dream or have to quit because you’re out of money, watch them convince you to cut a deal that is much more advantageous to them. This is a situation that many publishers encounter all the time—and it can kill you. While you may want to push the development of a game as far as it can go before bringing it to a publisher, don’t take it up to the last penny. Have a cushion of at least three to six months when you go for a deal. Any less, and you’ll be at the publisher’s mercy. • You have not thought through what you need or want from a publisher. The first question a good publisher will ask you is: “What do you want?” This is your one chance to define your terms. If you haven’t thought this through properly, you’ll either overreach, undercut yourself, or simply fumble. Make sure you know what you want from the deal. Provide the publisher with your vision for your game, your company, and your relationship with the publisher. For example, you might say, “I need $500,000 to finish this project on time, and I want at least a 12 percent royalty. Overall, my big goal is to get my game to market and begin work on a new series of ideas. If things work out, I would like to develop a long-term relationship that secures distribution and advances for my next few ideas, which I can outline to you later, after this deal is complete.” • You have no term sheet, no legal counsel, no appointed representative. When you walk in to see a publisher, you’ve got to bring the tools of organized negotiation. That means you need to have written out your terms for a contract. You also want to have secured the advice and counsel of a lawyer so you don’t slow negotiations when nasty legal questions come up. Finally, appoint someone on your team to act as your representative to a publisher—someone on the team to be the point of contact with the publisher. With these three pieces of the puzzle in place, you’ve got the logistical structure set up to begin negotiations. • You have not worked out team and title ownership issues. The biggest hidden problem in negotiating with a publisher can be your failure to resolve all the ownership and voting issues within your own company. Before you sign a deal, make sure your team agrees on every aspect of the ownership of the game and your company. One friend of mine had a hard drive held hostage by a minority partner after a deal was signed, because the partner wanted a bigger share (no terms had been reached between them). Ultimately, my friend paid for it. If he hadn’t gotten that drive back, he would have lost three weeks of work, which could have jeopardized the negotiated delivery dates.

Choosing A Software Publisher You should approach several different software publishers. Not only will it increase your chances of having your title published, it may give you leverage to obtain a better deal if you have several interested publishers. Be careful not to approach every publisher in the book. Negotiating is tough work, and you will find your hands full dealing with just one or two publishers, let alone four or five. How do you choose among publishers? Use the following criteria: • Select one that has demonstrated the ability to sell games similar to yours. Publishers vary in their track records, effective distribution, and marketing commitment. • Choose a publisher that has a producer (the person who handles your game’s development from the publisher’s perspective) who is someone you believe you can work with effectively.

• Pick a publisher that has worked successfully with other outside developers. Many publishers in the game business don’t work with outside developers at all, or have specific divisions or labels that handle outside developers. Find out before wasting your time talking to the wrong people.




How To Approach A Publisher Without An Introduction Although it may not be the best way to approach software publishers, cold calling isn’t the worst way, either. Sometimes, it’s the only way. Most submissions to software publishers are, in fact, made “cold,” or unannounced. Before you pick up the phone and start dialing publishers, however, you can take a few steps to advance your cause. These may help reduce the time needed for the publisher to get to know you and your game—as time is always the biggest casualty of not having a warm introduction to the publisher. Email Introduction Send an email message to the publisher’s contact person. A simple phone call to the company or a look at its Web site can usually get you the appropriate name and email address. In your email message, request a submission agreement package and ask when you might call to discuss your game. You may want to include a synopsis of your company and your game; if you have any preliminary screen shots, include those as well. Keep the message brief, however. Once you have received the submission agreement forms, prepare a more complete package describing your game, and send that to the publisher as soon as possible. Call at the time the contact suggests. Always work within the publisher’s schedule, and continue to use email until you have established a phone rapport with the contact. Private FTP Site One great way to ensure that submissions go smoothly is to set up an FTP site to store demos, screen shots, and examples of your game. You can then easily direct product managers to the work by giving them the location and password to your FTP site. This makes your game available immediately to them. It’s also an excellent way of quickly providing updates and patches to submissions that are still being considered. Not all managers will want to download the game, especially if it’s quite big, so be prepared to send it to them via either a CD-ROM or Zip disk.

Tip: When you’re ready to show off a game, have CDs made and set up FTP files ahead of

time, so you can accommodate product managers who want to look over a game immediately.

Company Brochure Many times, a game submission is as much about your company as it is about the game. Develop a company brochure—it should look good and describe the company, its past products, the principal team members, and so forth. You should have the brochure available in electronic and printed form to send along with submissions. The faster a publisher who doesn’t know you can learn about and get comfortable with your background, the better. A nice company brochure can be a useful tool. Follow-up Calls Either the publisher is going to call you right away, or you will have to schedule a time to call. Whenever that call does get made, simply ask how you can help the publisher get through your submission. Also, find out what sort of schedule the publisher follows. Scheduling is the key to getting through the submission process. If you understand the schedule, you will know when to expect an offer. Be honest about your own time frame, but don’t rush the publisher. Keep your followup call short and finish by establishing when next to check in, and how. A good first call accomplishes three key tasks: it identifies if the contact has looked at your game and if you need to address any early needs or problems (for example, the demo doesn’t work); it gives you an idea of how the publisher’s review system works—especially the time frame; and it establishes how and when to follow up with the company. Going From Cold To Hot Cold submissions are about patience and working to establish a strong contact at the publisher, who will shepherd your game through the process. During this process, your job is simple: Don’t be pushy, but do spend the time to get to know the company and any contacts. At the same time, keep your eye on the clock—even cold submissions shouldn’t take four months for a response. Also, don’t wait too long for an initial phone call back from the person who handles submissions. If you haven’t gotten anything back in 10 to 14 days, don’t be afraid to bug them with call.




How To Network And Get Publisher Introductions While cold submissions aren’t a bad way to approach a software publisher, a better way is to find a contact at a publisher who can champion your submission and help move it to the top of the stack. The most effective action you can take to help yourself in the software world is to meet with other people in the industry. Trade shows and conferences are the best place to do so, but you might also scan newsgroups and other online forums to find people in the software publishing business. Once you’ve interacted with them (perhaps just chatting at a show or debating a topic on a message board), initiate an email correspondence. Your message can be as simple as, “Hello, it was nice to meet you.” Do this within a week of your encounter to solidify the bond as close to the meeting as possible. Later, as you get closer to submitting your game, you might send an email message asking if you can send your demo, or the best way to get in the door. Chances are, you’ll get some great help. The trick is to make your initial contacts at least four to six months before you will need their help. You don’t even have to mention your game at this point. Instead, just reply to a question a potential contact posts, or if you happen to meet someone at a trade show, ask an interesting question to get the conversation started.

Tip: The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) and the Computer Game Developers’ Conference (CGDC) offer seminars on negotiating deals and signing publishing agreements. Since experienced developers have hundreds of stories and lots of good advice, you should consider attending these. Not only are such seminars good places to meet people who’ve done deals before (a good source for mentors), you may pick up a new tactic to use in negotiating your next deal, or you may learn from others’ mistakes. Don’t miss these networking opportunities. E3 and the CGDC are also excellent places to meet producers and managers for top game companies and show off your games. But try to arrange this ahead of time, instead of just walking up to people at the show.

Another way to get in the front door is to hire lawyers and other professional advisors who have contacts in the software industry. They may be worth the price if you can have access to their Rolodex.

The game industry also has agents who might help. Not only can they introduce you to the right people, but they can do all the follow-up work and advise you on how and where to submit your game. Agent fees can vary, but be careful not to pay an agent more than you can afford. Many agents work on flat fees or percentages that cap out.

Tip: Networking really pays off. Many developers want to score points with their publishers by introducing them to new talent and products. As long as your game doesn’t bump right up against theirs, they may be able to help you make it through the front door.

Expert Advice Before You Approach The Publisher Dean Gloster, a prominent game industry attorney, has several ideas on what you need to do before you begin the publisher search or negotiating process. Rule 1: Go As Far As You Can Before you approach a publisher, you need to put together a package that will show well. Why? Because that’s the best way to get a good publishing deal. This year, Jason Everett, who screens submissions at Brøderbund Software, will receive more than 1,200 proposals, but Brøderbund will publish only three entertainment titles. These numbers are less daunting at most other publishers, but the point is, what you submit has to stand out. “The further along a developer is,” confirms Scott Lahman, a director of development for a publishing company, “the more likely you are to get a deal.” He adds, “You can also almost always command a better deal.” The further along the developer is, he explains, the less risk the publisher has in funding the remainder of the development. Remember, however, don’t burn through every last cent you’ve got. As emphasized earlier, leave a cushion to pull you through the negotiating phase. Rule 2: Have An Original Idea, Not A “Me, Too” Title In a comment echoed by almost every software publisher, Gail Williams, manager of the Corel home product line, says, “We want to see new and interesting ideas, rather than second-generation ‘me, too’ titles.” Scott Lahman adds, “You have to explain why this product is different and better than something [similar] already out on the market.” Rule 3: Assemble An Impressive Team Unfortunately, in this industry, ideas by themselves are a dime a dozen: Almost everyone who has ever played a computer game thinks he or she has a great idea for an even better one. But (with the

exception of game designers who have had a prior hit) few people are being paid just for great ideas. What publishers want are developers with not only a great idea, but with a team to turn the idea into a compelling product. “The most common weakness of rejected submissions,” says one publisher, “is not having a complete team, or having a team that won’t match our standards.” Rule 4: Be Persistent, And Develop A Thick Skin The director of development or product submissions at a major software publisher is a busy person. Often, you have to be persistent (while being professional) to get your phone calls returned or your submission reviewed. Networking for a personal introduction is helpful. Contact everyone you know in the industry to see if they can get you an introduction somewhere, and go out of your way to introduce yourself to potentially interested publishers at industry conferences and trade shows that developer relations people attend. Do not take rejection personally. Your submission can be rejected for many reasons that have nothing to do with its merits. The publisher may have a similar adventure game already under development, may have decided to move away from genre titles, or may have made a financial decision not to work with outside developers for a while. Even if you receive several rejections (or a lot of rejections), it takes only one yes—and, remember, there are literally hundreds of software publishers to approach. Submitting proposals to software publishers requires substantial effort and time—contacting the publishers, obtaining their submission agreements, assembling your materials, sending your submission to them, and following up—and enthusiasm. Your enthusiasm for your title is sometimes your best selling point with publishers. “You have to have persistence and passion for your title,” says Rachel Bernstein of Frog City Software, a San Francisco-based startup developer. Before signing a deal with a major publisher, Bernstein approached about a dozen publishers and entered into preliminary discussions with several. Rule 5: Have Great Production Values Whatever you are providing to a software publisher—sample screen shots, character designs, sample art, audio, or a demo—you should aim for outstanding quality. You often get only one shot with a publisher, so you should strive to stand out with a high-quality production. (A videotape with a rambling narration by your lead programmer is not the ideal way to persuade a publisher that you can create a game.) Rule 6: Do Not Submit Wildly Unrealistic Budgets And Timetables This rule has two components. First, if you are a first-time developer, it is unrealistic to expect that a software publisher will give you a $1.5-million advance to develop your first title. Perhaps you should scale back your expectations and start with a smaller project where a publisher can work with you without the same financial risk. Second, in their enthusiasm (or desperation to get a deal), developers often propose unrealistically

small budgets and time frames for completing a product. This is a mistake. Knowledgeable publishers are generally aware of the actual cost and time involved in creating compelling games. A remarkably unrealistic budget or time frame signals that you may have poor project management skills. “It’s definitely a litmus test,” explains Jason Everett of Brøderbund Software. “If the budget is not realistic, it’s a sign that the developer has not been down that track before.” Furthermore, a developer who has promised a title for an unrealistic budget and delivery date, and then comes back to the publisher after reality sets in, will have trouble getting more money. That developer may end up going broke, having the title axed, or losing most of the prenegotiated royalties as part of the workout deal under which the publisher funds title completion. Realistically, the only two ways to know with any certainty how much a title will actually cost are to have developed a similar game in the past, or to break down the title into each component part and actually create or pay for some of the items in each category. To do this budgeting, however, you have to have a clear idea of everything involved in the game. Usually, you do not have all of this information when you first approach a publisher. One alternative is to set an early milestone in your development agreement (after completion of a complete technical design document, for example), at which point you and the publisher would assess the complete scope of the project and set the final budget.




Building Leverage Assume, for argument’s sake, that publishers have all the leverage—you either agree to their terms or hit the highway. Since you’re starting out with zero leverage, what can you do to even things up? Table 12.1 presents some possibilities. Table 12.1Tactics for increasing a developer’s negotiating leverage. Leverage Tactic

Advantage

Disadvantage

Develop most or all of the game prior to finding publisher.

Since the publisher has reduced or no development costs, you can usually negotiate a higher royalty rate. A game close to completion can better demonstrate techniques that may be crucial to gaining the interest of a publisher for a new company.

If no publisher likes your game, you’re out the cash yourself. If a publisher feels no risk, it might not work as hard to sell the game. You would miss the helpful advice a publisher could offer during development.

Premarket the title If you can prove market demand yourself or use for a game like id did with Doom, shareware and demos to you might be able to command build consumer interest. better terms. Shareware success can often bring forth a publisher.

This is best used for developers who have a finished game and can support demo or shareware distribution, as well as general inquiries. You need to do this before you submit your game to a publisher, not after. Pushing a game through the submission process at just one publisher is a lot of work. How many phone calls and how much time can you afford to spend on multiple publishers? Some publishers will react negatively if they feel they’re being used as bidding bait. Be careful not to burn any bridges.

Make simultaneous submissions.

If a publisher feels it risks losing a game to a competitor, it will be more interested in closing a deal quickly.

Negotiate face to face.

If the deal doesn’t work out and you paid good money to travel to the publisher’s location, you’re out the cash. Work through as much as you can on the phone, then finish face to face. There is never a downside to being Don’t go broke and It is to your advantage if a don’t quit your day job. publisher senses that you can hold able to walk away without a deal—unless you are overconfident or out and that getting a deal isn’t arrogant about that ability. about next month’s mortgage. Face-to-face negotiations tend to work through thorny issues faster and get better results. Make sure you come prepared to do a deal, however, and not just waste time.

Preparing To Negotiate When negotiating a deal, you must be absolutely prepared on three key points: • Know what you want in the agreement and know your absolute minimums. Identify the few items you absolutely have to have, whether they be code protection, options for another deal, a time frame, or an advance. Put these together on a term sheet that outlines in a simple manner what you’re looking for. Do not list your dream numbers across the board. If you don’t have the leverage and walk in looking for $2 million on your first deal, you’ll most likely be bounced out before you can sit down.

Tip: Any time you define a number, set three thresholds for it: a dream number, an acceptable number, and a bare minimum. This will help you identify quickly your numbers-based negotiating strategy. For example, if you’re talking budgets, maybe your dream is $750,000; but you’re going to open with an acceptable level of $600,000 and be prepared to say it can’t be done for less than $500,000. You have to know your minimums, because if you negotiate below them, you’re in trouble. Make your minimums as low as possible, however, so you don’t jeopardize a deal by not realizing you could have gone 20 percent lower.

• Know what you absolutely don’t want in the agreement. Beginners often don’t do this, but, often, what is important about a software publishing agreement is what you give up, not what you receive. Thus, you have to think about what you will never accept under any circumstances. For example, a software developer I know wasn’t happy with two key clauses in a contract he was negotiating. After really working him over, it became clear that one of the two was the real sticking point and that he could live with the other one. At that point he proposed accepting the negotiable one in exchange for removing the point that was really a deal killer. It worked and everyone got what they wanted. Had he not decided that only one of the two was truly important (which took a lot of work to decide) he might never have successfully completed negotiations. • Know what you will accept in the agreement and what you’re willing to work through even if you don’t want to. Identify what items you don’t like but will accept if they are jeopardizing

the agreement. Have these available to offer as trade-offs or to show good faith. For example, say you’re upset about the milestone structure in an agreement and ask to have it removed, but know you could live with it. Later, if negotiations are stalled, you can accept it in a trade on another point to get the discussion going again. The key is to have all of these acceptable items identified as soon as you can.




Expert Advice Dean Gloster’s Key Points In Making The Deal Dean Gloster of Farrella, Braun and Martell (on the Web at www.fbm.com) has put together a number of key points that come up in most publishing negotiations and contracts that are well worth highlighting. After you have impressed the software publisher enough to get to yes, it is time to negotiate the specifics of your publishing deal. Before you propose specific business terms to your publisher, talk to an experienced lawyer familiar with negotiating game development and publishing agreements or at least talk to everyone you know in the industry about what’s reasonable and what you ought to expect. Then, send a term sheet or outline of the specific business points you would like to see addressed in the final agreement to your publisher to start the negotiations. It is not a good idea to wait for the publisher to generate the contract and then to negotiate from their standard language; reach a business agreement on the main deal points first, and then ensure that the final agreement reflects that basic business deal. How aggressive should you be on your initial term sheet? Pretty aggressive—it is your starting position for negotiation. (But not so aggressive that you brand yourself as patently unrealistic and unreasonable.) Once you finally get a publisher interested in your work (and they are ready to write you an advance check), there are a number of key issues you’ll need to know about to negotiate a good deal. Of course, at the top of this list is the royalty rate, but you’ll also need to know how royalties are calculated and who has which rights. Royalty Rates Numerous publishers claim that they will not pay a base royalty of more than 10 percent in a standard publishing deal to a first-time developer. Often, smaller publishers with less effective distribution will promise higher royalty rates. Developers are often better off going with an established, large software publisher, even at a lower royalty rate, because of more effective distribution and marketing. The computer games market, in particular, is driven by hits. A developer’s track record in creating a hit may be more valuable in the long run than a slightly higher royalty rate with a less-effective publisher. Still, to many developers, even a 15 percent “standard” royalty seems outrageously low.

Developers can address the meager royalty issue three ways in negotiations with publishers: • Developers argue, with some justification, the “typical” industry royalty rates should be modified, because they are based at least in part on outmoded business models from the 16bit cartridge game industry (and, to a lesser extent, on software sold on floppy diskettes). With CD-ROM–based games, the publisher’s risk from unsold inventory is substantially less than it was with the old 16-bit cartridges—because of the lower cost of goods sold—and the royalty should be adjusted to reflect this. • Well-advised developers try to ensure that the milestone advances from the publisher are sufficient to cover all the developer’s costs, including the salary of the principals, plus some amount to cover inevitable cost overruns, delays, and a little money to last the developer until the start of the next project. Often, developers assume that a larger budget will kill a project. Within limits, this is often not the case. A product manager for one software publisher recently explained that “when developers propose budgets of much less than $500,000 these days, we assume either that they don’t know what they’re doing or they aren’t going to produce the high-quality product we need.” Budgeting and planning are absolutely critical. If the developer cannot pin down certain costs (such as required content, name vocal talent, and so on) at the time the development agreement is signed, it should include milestone advances of a specified amount, plus the unknown costs of these additional items, which are to be jointly determined later. • Even when the publisher will not budge on the base royalty, a developer can often obtain a “step-up” royalty after a certain number of units are sold. Thus, the 15 percent royalty might increase to 18 percent after 50,000 units are sold; 20 percent after 100,000 units; and increase again after 200,000 units. Given that software publishers’ gross margins are typically 60 percent or more, they often agree to a higher step-up royalty. Royalty Calculation Also important is the formula used for calculating the royalty. Typically, royalties are payable on some sort of “net sales revenue,” “adjusted gross income,” or other similar formulation, based on the publisher’s actual receipts, minus certain expenses or reserves. Typical deductions include sales taxes, duties, shipping and insurance charges paid to third parties, replacements, refunds (including reasonable price protection refunds paid by the publisher to its retailers or distributors), and often a reasonable reserve for returns. Some publishers also deduct the cost of goods sold. From the publisher’s perspective, it is important not to pay royalties on items that are not ultimately receipts (where, for example, massive returns occur). From the developers’ perspective, the deductions from gross income should be narrowly defined to ensure that they do not: • Swallow the obligation to pay royalties • Reflect the publisher’s general overhead costs A publisher that pays royalties on sales revenue, but not on shipping and handling, has every economic incentive to charge $26 per unit, plus $5 shipping and handling, instead of $30 per unit

and $1 shipping and handling. You therefore might want to replace a deduction for “shipping and handling” with “actual shipping costs paid to unaffiliated third parties” or “reasonable shipping and handling costs not in excess of $3 per unit.” Likewise, a reserve for returns might become a “reasonable reserve for returns for six months, not to exceed 10 percent of the units shipped.” While these provisions are negotiable, there are limits on a publisher’s flexibility: A publisher with numerous titles on the market is not going to reinvent its royalty accounting system for a single developer. Royalty Recoupment In a standard publishing deal, milestone development payments are usually treated as an advance against royalties, and are “recouped” from the royalties otherwise payable to the developer. (A milestone is a defined point in the development of a product when the developer turns in the work he or she has accomplished.) The way these royalties are recouped, however, makes a huge difference to the developer. In a standard recoupment arrangement as proposed by a publisher, where the milestone advances to finance development are $500,000 and the developer’s royalty is 15 percent, the developer would not see any royalty income until 15 percent of the publisher’s net sales revenue equaled the $500,000 advance. By that time, the publisher would have received a total of $3.33 million in net sales revenue, and (with most game titles) would have enjoyed substantial profit. An ideal alternative is to negotiate for payment of royalties shortly after the publisher’s break-even point. You can accomplish this in several ways, including a higher deemed or “shadow” royalty rate on the first 30,000 units sold, or an agreement that after a certain number of units are sold or the publisher’s net sale revenue exceeds a certain dollar figure, the milestone advances will be deemed to have been recouped. A different approach is for the developer to receive a portion of each royalty payment, while the rest goes to recoup the advance. Thus, for example, two-thirds of the developer’s royalty, otherwise payable, could be applied to recoup the milestone advances, and the remaining one-third would be paid to the developer. Unlike the royalty based on the publisher’s break-even point, this does not increase the ultimate amount of royalties paid to the developer, but it does accelerate the payment of royalties to help with the developer’s cash flow. Sequels, Ports, And Derivative Works To profit from a potential hit, publishers will want the right to create upgrades, or sequels, and foreign localized versions. They will also want the right to port the title to other platforms or to license the right to perform the port. Typically, interactive-oriented publishers also want the right to license derivative works, such as novelizations, and to license the characters for merchandising, television, and movies. Often, the publisher may even want the explicit right to create future games using the same interface and underlying software engine. In addition, a publisher interested in working with a talented developer again often gets a right of first negotiation or right of first refusal on the developer’s next title.

On the other side, if appropriate, developers should demand either to retain certain rights or to receive a royalty from these ancillary uses. A typical negotiated agreement might result in the developer having a first right of refusal to do ports, sequels, and derivative software royalties; in any event, even if the port, sequel, or derivative work is created by someone else, the original developer receives a smaller, passive royalty. Developers should try to retain some back-end (termination ability) or upside (potential for further profit); occasionally, they might even negotiate for a reversion of rights if, for example, the publisher has not developed a sequel or ported the title to a specific platform within a specified time. Developers are commonly successful in negotiating sharply higher royalties on certain categories of licensing revenue (bundling, foreign localization republishing) where the software publisher is not exposed to inventory return and other typical publishing risks. Ownership Of The Code And Tools Publishers that have paid for the entire cost of creating a title generally insist that they own the code and have at least a license to the software tools to permit them to modify or enhance the title. Developers also need to have the right to reuse tools, the underlying software engine, or even portions of the code and the basic interface for later games. The agreement should clearly spell out the rights of both parties. Developers who retain ownership of their tools often define the bulk of what they need to create their next title in the list of “tools” in the agreement. Code access is always required by publishers of console games because they need to verify that it complies with the platform specifications. Don’t expect to retain the code to any product done for a non-PC game device. Termination Publishers generally reserve the right to reject any milestone deliverable and to terminate the agreement if identified deficiencies are not cured within a specified time. In addition, publishers usually reserve the right to cancel a project “at publisher’s absolute discretion, for any or no reason.” Given rapid change in the marketplace, and the lengthy timeline for developing a great game, this provision is critical for publishers. They want the right to cancel a project if it no longer makes marketing sense. The developer has several important termination issues to consider. First, if the contract is terminated at an early stage, the developer of an original title often insists on the right to take the project elsewhere, and in return must often refund all or a portion of the original publisher’s advances upon striking a new publishing deal. If the milestone schedule is set up so that the bulk of payments are at the end of the project, the developer should negotiate either to change this milestone schedule or require a “kill fee” if the publisher cancels the project simply at its discretion. A kill fee both makes project cancellation less likely and ensures that the developer is paid for all the work performed to date. If the publisher decides to reject any milestone deliverable, the agreement should specify how and when the developer is notified. If the developer does not hear from the publisher within a specified

period of time as to whether a milestone deliverable has been accepted or rejected, the agreement can provide that two business days after an additional notice from the developer, the milestone is deemed accepted. Any rejection of a milestone deliverable should specify the problems that need to be corrected, and the agreement should provide a reasonable period of time for the developer to correct any deficiencies. For the protection of the developer, the agreement should specify the publisher’s representative who is authorized to speak for the publisher. Miscellaneous Provisions Publishers need explicit representations and warranties that the developer has obtained all necessary rights in the title and the publisher’s use will not infringe any rights of any third parties, together with a broad agreement to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the publisher if the representation and warranties are not true. A developer will want a reciprocal provision covering any materials or licensed content provided by the publisher. Publishers will want a continuing obligation of the developer to cure identified errors and may want some additional consulting services in connection with ports or foreign localizations. The developer will want a time limit on these provisions, particularly if they require the developer to provide additional services without payment. A developer should have the continuing right to audit the books of the publisher to verify the accuracy of the royalty payments, and if the audit reveals a significant underpayment, the cost of the audit should be borne by the publisher. If any confidential information (proprietary tools and the like) is being disclosed, the agreement should include a confidentiality/nondisclosure provision. Finally, developers—who often have far less money than publishers for resolving legal disputes—typically want a quick and relatively inexpensive dispute-resolution mechanism, such as arbitration. The arbitration paragraph can provide that the arbitrator must be knowledgeable about the consumer software industry.




Additional Negotiating Tips Dean Gloster makes some great points, but I want to append to them some other ideas to consider. You Have To Trust The Other Side If you are trying to negotiate a publishing agreement so airtight that you don’t have to trust the publisher’s word, stop right now. It can’t be done, and it’s not worth the effort. If you can’t trust the publisher not to cheat you, then you shouldn’t be negotiating with it in the first place. Appoint One Person To Negotiate With The Publisher Your development team may consist of five programmers, but negotiations could get quite messy if they were all involved in the negotiations. You need to assign one person to the task. Many teams even hire someone specifically as their business person, a peer to the team (as opposed to a manager), who handles all such matters. This person should be able to represent you in a clear and effective manner. Don’t send the first person who volunteers, or the best programmer; choose the best businessperson and communicator. Once you’ve selected your representative, enforce the rule that no one else talks to the publisher; all communication flows through the contact, no matter how important or trivial.

Tip: A one-person entry point can be quite effective in generating a little hidden leverage. You can easily set up a good cop/bad cop situation when you provide only one point of entry for the publisher. When an objectionable issue comes up, the single contact can easily sympathize with the publisher, but claim it has to be worked out because “the rest of the team” won’t go for it.

Have Legal Counsel In The Wings, And, If Possible, A Mentor When you are haggling with a publisher over contract terms, you may want to turn to a lawyer for help. Your lawyer (who should be at least software savvy, with multimedia expertise a definite plus) might spot problems that you don’t and may suggest language or ideas to work out thorny issues.

Furthermore, if a lawyer is involved to some degree in helping shape the contract, he or she may be able to defend you more effectively in court if it ever came to that. Your goal, however, is to use lawyers as little as possible. They may make the publisher nervous, and they are expensive—a good lawyer can easily run $250 to $500 an hour—although they could cost you even more later if they have to get you out of a bad contract. Some lawyers may be willing to charge less for first-time developers because their goal is to help you become big enough for bigger work down the line. Another useful aide is a mentor—someone who has been there before. If you’re a first-time team cutting your first publishing deal, you are well advised to find people who’ve done this before and can help you evaluate the terms of your contract. Find several people to bounce ideas off of and build your own consensus.

Tip: Several good guides to law and contracts in the software business are available. These can contain useful background information to educate yourself on all the ins and outs of software contracts. Software industry attorneys and developers who’ve gone through the process before can be a great help, but books, articles, and other written material can help you rely less on hired experts and more on yourself. Just like this chapter, however, they are just a starting point. As the saying goes, “Someone who has himself as an attorney has a fool for a client.”

Be Patient I can’t stress this enough: Deals can take a lot longer to come together than you think, and the number one reason negotiations can break off is that one side wants to rush the process. I know from personal experience this doesn’t work. You can’t make someone do a deal any faster unless you get lucky or a real bidding war erupts. If you are making some progress every time you talk to the publisher, then stick to that time frame. Don’t be alarmed because someone doesn’t get back to you as soon as expected. Keep your cool and stay on target for the big goal: closing the deal. Use Email To Send Contracts Back And Forth Some publishers may not want to email contracts back and forth, but most will. This will give you an electronic version of the contract, so you can use a word processor’s compare function to check for changes and identify whether the resulting language is acceptable. Emailed contracts also are easier to send off to mentors and lawyers for comments.

Tip: An electronic version of a contract allows you to use the search and replace function. Many times, when I have problems understanding contracts with lots of difficult terminology, I copy the definition from the front of the contract and replace the words in the document with

the long definition. I also do this with the names, putting in my name where the publisher has used some generic term, such as Developer. This way, I can see the real terms of the contract and understand it better. You can also search for and highlight each time a definition has been used by a publisher. This is important because you want to see specifically where a change in definition affects the underlying contract areas where the definition is used.




When In Doubt, Ask The Publisher First You come across something in a contract—perhaps code access rights—that you don’t like. Before you jump to all sorts of conclusions and rush to ask for a contract change, call the publisher and investigate why that clause exists. Just act dumb and ask why. You can often avoid making unnecessary changes or losing your cool by simply asking a publisher for an explanation. For example, a publisher I dealt with included lower royalties for overseas rights. Rather than immediately counterproposing that all rights be equal (which would have been shot down and made me look foolish), I figured I’d just ask why. The publisher explained to me (confirmed later by a mentor) that the costs were higher overseas and the reduced royalty was to compensate for this. It was also clear, even without my asking, that this was a non-negotiable point. I saved valuable negotiating capital by not even trying to change it. Many times, the terms publishers ask for seem to be strict, but often they’re based on that publisher’s views of the market and developers in general. When you see terms you don’t like, ask why they exist and the reasoning behind them. The terms may be rooted in a concern that can be resolved another way than is initially obvious. For example, one publisher wanted access to the source code of a game. The developer did not like the idea of handing over source code, but instead of saying no outright, asked why. The publisher simply wanted the ability to create translations of the software for other languages. Thus, the counterproposal by the developer was an agreement to do all the localization work and hand over the source code only if the developer couldn’t supply in any form a properly localized version of the software. It worked, and the developer was able to remove the source-code clause from the contract. Always Change Something In A Contract Say you get a contract that’s perfect the first time you read it (yes, this can happen). Maybe I’m superstitious, but my advice is to look for something to change in every contract—even if it’s symbolic. The reason is that in order to change something in a contract you have to know it inside out; you have to have considered every possibility.

Other Types Of Agreements

In your negotiations with publishers, you may come across several other types of agreements. Here are some of the more prominent ones you should know about. The Boilerplate I love this term. A publisher may suggest starting with a boilerplate contract. This is essentially the publisher’s standard agreement. It can be one-sided, and, of course, they hope you’ll sign it. You’ll almost always want to tell them you’ll start over from scratch. Before you reject it, however, take a look at it. A boilerplate contract often reveals the publisher’s true desires, and it can sometimes be the basis of a negotiation. The Nondisclosure And Submission Agreements Publishers merely want to protect themselves when they ask developers to sign a nondisclosure or submission agreement. A nondisclosure agreement is meant to prevent information leaking out about confidential strategy moves that may be revealed during the course of negotiations. These agreements are usually straightforward, but I’ve seen several that have some far-fetched ideas about what the developer must give up in signing one. Always run this stuff past your lawyer just to make sure you’re not signing more than just a simple don’t-talk agreement. A submission agreement is practically a requirement to get in the front door of a number of software publishers. It protects them if they already have similar games as yours under development, so you won’t sue them for theft of your idea. In fact, many managers are forbidden to look at or accept game submissions until a developer signs such a document. Many developers are leery of submission agreements. The fear is that a company looks at your game, then develops it, leaving you out in the cold. This could happen, and it has happened. More often than not, however, it doesn’t. If your idea and implementation are strong enough, a publisher will probably feel much more compelled to work with you than cast you off and start from scratch. In short, your best protection against theft of your ideas is to make them easier to buy than to steal. As a last resort, consult your lawyer about how you might protect your product submissions from outright theft. It’s not easy, but you may be able to put yourself on firmer footing if an unscrupulous publisher does try to pull a fast one. Again, review submission agreement forms with your lawyer, especially if you see something that seems out of the ordinary. Letters Of Intent Letters of intent are also common in the software industry—or any business, for that matter. Sometimes, a publisher sees a lot of promise in a game or developer and wants to get negotiations going. If that’s the case, they (and you, too, can ask for this as a catalyst) forward a letter of intent. This document is an offer to enter into good-faith negotiations in hopes of reaching a deal. It usually

sets a time frame and demands that the developer cut off negotiations with other publishers. Does a letter of intent mean a publisher is serious? Most of the time, yes, and often you can use it to test just how serious. After a period of back and forth discussions about their so-called interest in your game, ask for a letter of intent. It’s a good tool to make them step up to the plate or pass.

Tip: One danger to watch out for—and this is really your own judgment call—is when a publisher uses a letter of intent to cut you off from getting a deal with any company, because you’ve got a game the publisher would rather not see come out. It’s really hard to say how prevalent this tactic is, but you can usually avoid it by trying to find a good fit between your game and the publisher. For example, don’t go to a publisher of a flight simulator with your own flight simulator. Go to a company that isn’t in this market now, but might be looking for a way to enter it.




Prototype Funding Agreements Often, a publisher isn’t ready to enter into a deal, but does want to see more—an improved demo, proof of concept, technical design document, or sample first level. If the publisher strongly believes in the developer, the publisher may even be willing to pay for this step. If so, the parties sign a simple letter of agreement, in which the publisher agrees to advance a small amount of money (typically, $10,000 to $40,000) in return for a deliverable. What does the publisher get out of this? Typically, the developer does a lot more work than what the publisher pays for. The agreement also provides that until an exclusive negotiation period expires (typically 30 days after the deliverable is turned in), the developer can’t take the project to any other publishers; effectively, for a small amount of cash, the publisher gets an exclusive option for a limited period of time. Furthermore, the risk is somewhat limited: These agreements usually provide that if the parties cannot agree on the terms or if the publisher loses interest, then the developer must pay back the advance, as soon as the developer strikes a publishing deal with someone else. What’s in it for you, the developer? You get the necessary cash to get further along with your title. Even if the publisher providing this interim funding passes on the deal, you still have an even more impressive game to show other publishers. Finally, as Howard Saroka of Phillips Media Games explains, “Once a publisher has paid you something, you get a lot more attention” than the pile of other proposals sitting around.

Avoiding Publisher Horror Stories News flash—not all publishers are looking out for your best interests. The world is full of publisher horror stories and deals gone wrong. Some of these stories are true; others are tall tales spun by disgruntled developers. It is common knowledge that developers complain about their publishers, and publishers complain about their developers. Sometimes, these complaints are justified, sometimes not, but you need to be on your guard to avoid a starring role in a horror story. Your responsibility in protecting yourself is twofold: • Don’t make deals without being able to accept the consequences. Developers will often fall on the sword in the software industry (especially with games) to get their first game to market. This can be acceptable to some degree if the strategy is to reap the rewards on subsequent games after breaking through. Companies typically like to work with experienced developers,

and sometimes that route is paved with garbage deals. • Don’t put yourself in a vulnerable position. That means being vigilant without being paranoid. You won’t do yourself any favors by looking for the catch at every turn; but neither can you be complacent. Here are some pitfalls to be aware of with publishers and how to avoid them. Publishers That Make Grandiose Promises In all my time in publishing books and software, I’ve never had a publisher that did not realistically explain the outlook for my product. While they would never take a product that they didn’t believe could sell, the ones that kept expectations low and on the level impressed me the most. That old saying, “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is,” is great advice in the publishing business. Run the other way if you hear grandiose promises. Publishers That Run You Around In Circles Avoid publishers that might have an interest in delaying or stopping you from bringing your title to the market. Work to get publishers to make fair and timely responses to your negotiating points or submissions. If they stall beyond reason, take it upon yourself to move the process forward or end the discussions. Publishers That Use Amorphous Terms To Describe Their Efforts On Behalf Of Your Product A phrase you often see in contracts is that the publisher will make “best efforts” to sell a product, or will maintain an “industry level of support.” This type of terminology sounds good, but in reality it’s worthless. Who really understands what “best efforts” are? While pulling such language out of contracts may be difficult, most publishers will agree to give you a marketing synopsis, and, sometimes, you can get some quantifiable items placed in the contract that signify what kind of effort will be made. For example, you might get a minimum guarantee of how many units will initially be manufactured and shipped to retailers, or how much the marketing launch budget will be.

Tip: Unless your publisher does amazing things, you probably will never be 100 percent satisfied with their marketing efforts. Instead of complaining, however, work to shore up your publisher’s efforts. Talk to the marketing department and sales staff to find out how you can help them. Avoid spending money, but find ways that can help you improve your marketing—such as doing online chats, visiting user groups, and attending trade shows.




Publishers That Want Worldwide Rights To Your Game, But Don’t Have A Worldwide Infrastructure Some issues don’t necessarily come up in contract negotiations, but are important to ask about. Publishers will try to grab as many rights to a game as they can. For example, many software developers don’t pay enough attention to rights outside the U.S. Yet, according to many reports, some companies derive 60 percent of their revenue from overseas business. While lower royalty rates for games sold outside the U.S. are common, I’ve never seen this decrease to be more than 20 percent. Don’t be afraid to ask publishers to take rights for only those countries they can do business in. They may not be happy about such a request, but if you think you can find a better partner in Australia than your publisher can, holding on to those rights can pay off. Your publisher may make a poor, or no, sales effort outside its established sales territory. In a day and age where software can zip around the globe and be put to market faster than you may imagine, don’t think for a minute that you don’t have a global product on your hands when you finish a piece of software.

Tip: Ask early on about your publisher’s ability to establish a worldwide presence for your software. Then formulate a plan that either accepts the publisher as sole distributor or counters with a different proposal that gives you the flexibility to find international sales partners on your own.

Publishers That Want 100 Percent Ownership And Rights To Products Any good publishing agreement includes clauses that can revert ownership and rights back to you if certain circumstances develop. Don’t sign away every last right. Make sure that the rights revert back to you if the publisher doesn’t deliver your game to market by a certain time. This prevents a publisher from buying and then shutting your product down before it ever gets to market. Also, avoid contracts that don’t let you retrieve your rights after the publisher has stopped selling your game. Publishers That Are Marginal

Someone once advised me against going to a small publisher. True, big publishers have certain advantages, but they don’t always want to deal with you (that’s the advantage of being big). However, this advice does have some merit. Many publisher horror stories follow the same basic plot: A developer gets a deal with a publisher only to see that publisher go out of business or hit hard times; consequently, the game never hits the market, or if it does, the publisher cannot afford to push it through the sales channels—and the developer is left holding the pieces. To avoid these situations, keep up to date on industry news and avoid publishers that may be having financial problems or that don’t have the marketing ability you think you need. Know who the players are and how the latest titles from other publishers are doing. Be aware of who the rising stars are. Every big company started out small, and the next big publisher might be right around the corner. Also take note of startups formed by executives who break off from a bigger company. Although they may be small and have no track record, these companies have great potential. In the end, make sure you’ve got ownership rights or some form of recourse if your publisher goes out of business. What you want to avoid is being mired in court or without rights for so long that you can’t salvage the shelf life of your game.

After You’ve Reached An Agreement You’ve signed the contract, handed over the gold master, and now you’re waiting to count the royalties. What you do at this point, however, is more important than what you did to get the agreement. The stronger your follow-up after the agreement is signed, the better your chances of strengthening your game’s success and your success with the publisher. An agreement with a publisher is a marriage “until death do you part.” This means you need to be a good partner. Don’t just shove your gold master on the desk and walk out waiting for the next royalty statement. Spend time working cooperatively with your publisher on promotion, marketing, and product updates. Get to know all the people at your publisher who will work on your product—marketing, sales, production, documentation, etc. Ask them what sort of input you can provide that can help them do the best job on your game. They won’t necessarily come to you; you have to go to them.

Summary To find a publisher, you must be a good matchmaker. You must do the research and work your contacts to seek out a publisher that offers a good fit—anything less will usually be a waste of your time. In the end, it is up to you to avoid the pitfalls and drive the process to successful completion. You

can’t avoid making some mistakes, but if you spend the time and solicit the advice to prepare yourself to find and deal with publishers correctly, you won’t make the big mistakes. If you’ve made it all the way through this chapter, you’re certainly off to the right start in seeking a good publishing arrangement. Getting your software published is the great part about being a developer—negotiating the agreements isn’t. Once you’ve been through the process a few times—and built up some good contacts, a little market leverage, and some experience—then it’s like riding a bike. You’ll rarely fall off the bike again.




CHAPTER 13 The Ins And Outs Of Packaging, Rating, And Manufacturing Your Game As a software developer, you have the option to get into the manufacturing end of the business as well. You may want to do this because you’re selling your own games, or you’re an affiliated label. Before you dive into manufacturing, you must decide whether you have the time and desire to be involved with the long list of manufacturing details, or if you can find a company to do it for you while remaining within your budget. It’s actually one of the key decisions you need to consider before going on as an affiliated label or self-publisher. Mario Vassaux, President of Ionos Software, a software publisher, and Media Technics, a software manufacturer, knows both ends of the business. “[It’s] really important to determine... do you have the time or the inclination to really sit down and get into the onesie-twosie manufacturing details... or are you going to be able to find a company to do it for you? Usually that’s the best way to go.”

Setting A Budget And Choosing A Manufacturer Developing, manufacturing, and getting a piece of software to market isn’t much different from any other business venture. The first thing you need to do is create a budget—a realistic budget—and stick to it. You should not go to a manufacturer, talk up your hot new product, and then ask them to quote you a price. “What you’ll get back is something that’s really inflated and way too expensive,” Vassaux said. “That’s what usually scares most developers away from manufacturing.” As you set your budget, break your product down into its components. If you’re afraid you’ll forget something, check out some of the software you own, dig through the packaging, and consider how it relates to what you want to do. The number of details can be nearly overwhelming, but it is important to consider every aspect. Sweating the details before you start will allow you to get through the manufacturing process with the least stress. Some things to consider: • Think about the treatment of your product. How fancy do you want to get with the packaging? Is the packaging going to sell the product? Certainly it should. • Who is the target? Will you sell your software as a shareware/upgrade product or through mail order? If you plan to mail your product, it must be easy to ship and economical to do so.

If it will be sold retail, will it be a low-end product? Or a top-notch “Triple-A” product? • What medium will your product be distributed on—CD-ROM or disk? Diskettes are still a viable medium. However, the CD route is more economical once you get past three diskettes. If you reach this point, you are better off pressing a CD. If you decide to go with a retail CD, you must remember it needs a container. First, you’ll probably need a box, and you’ll most likely need a reinforcement inside the box—such as a corrugated insert—to help the box hold its shape. • How about the CD itself? Do you want two-color art? Four-color? Five? Silk screening? Will you utilize a jewel case? If so, how will you keep the jewel case secure inside your packaging? • Should you consider CD-Enhanced or DVD? Both are becoming available and both—especially DVD—are extremely expensive to produce. But if the application requires it and you think there is a market for it, you can find a company that will press either for you. Then there are the odds and ends to include—documentation, instructions, trading cards and maps for certain games, etc. • Once you’ve figured out what you need, how do you plan to get it? Your two primary options are going at it piece-by-piece—a box here, an insert there, printed directions somewhere else—or working with a company that can fill all of your manufacturing needs. Time will be a primary factor in this decision. Do you have a month or so to dedicate completely to becoming a buyer? If so, it might be a good idea to shop around. If not, a onestop shop might best suit your needs. Which manufacturer you decide to work with depends largely on your budget and the size of your product. If you are a small development company or individual developer who wants a personal relationship with your manufacturer, a smaller one-stop shop will serve your needs better than one of the big places. One advantage of working with a smaller company is the opportunity to reach them at any time regarding any problem. In short, match your size to your manufacturer’s size.

Pressing CDs CDs can be pressed for between $.50 and $1 depending on the quantity. Most of the larger houses will do a minimum of 1,000 CDs for $1 each. Your mastering cost could be about $500, although with most one-stop shops, you can get the mastering cost waived. If you can burn your own master, then your manufacturer can do their internal mastering for free. This is generally done only at smaller houses. If you decide on the DVD format, it is generally closer to $2 or $3 to press a disc, although the prices are falling. The silk screen on your CD can often be included in the price. When creating the art for the CD, always get the specs from the presser. Specs vary from company to company and there are some areas on a CD that can’t be touched. Get a kit from your presser with a sample CD or template.

Packaging

Whoever coined the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” never worked in the game business. Most software sells because of good packaging. The price of packaging depends, of course, on how creative and colorful you want to be. For example, a box like that of Redneck Rampage, which includes multiple colors, embossing, and foil, could cost as much as $2 per unit in low quantities or $.50 per unit in large quantities. A more typical package, for example, Microsoft Word, with four or five colors, generally costs between $.38 and $.50 in large quantities. There are a number of companies that will do your artwork for you, if needed. You can find packaging designers on the World Wide Web, by asking your publisher, or by checking with the various software associations. You’ll also have to get a UPC symbol, which is the responsibility of the developer or the publisher. Simply pay a fee to the UPC council and you will receive a code number for your company. You’ll be allowed a certain amount of digits that represent each of your products. Your localization agent will take care of getting you a European sales number should you need it.




Common Game Packaging Practices As I mentioned earlier in the book, the first game packages were Ziploc bags. Then, simple cardboard or plastic packaging was introduced. Electronic Arts created an entirely new approach, which followed the record industry’s model. EA created album-style packaging with lush graphics and “liner” notes. Other companies followed EA and packages became fancy in short order. For their Ultima series, Origin created awesome manuals that were printed on parchment-like paper. Origin also included cloth maps of their game world and small “trinkets,” such as fake coins of the realm, to further enhance the overall package. One company actually packaged its tennis game in tennis ball canisters. But times have changed. Today there are too many products taking up limited shelf space and packaging has had to change to meet the demands of the retail shelf. Aside from the switch to CD-ROMs from floppies, the biggest change in packaging is not in the innards but in the box itself. Most software now is placed on its side on the shelf, so spine space has increased. Some packages have as much as a 13/4-inch-thick box to properly show the title of the product when viewed from the side. Fortunately, game companies still believe in providing documentation and other embellishments. Developers want consumers to know that a game is more than just the CD-ROM it’s stamped on. One thing that separates games from other types of software are the additional features such as maps, posters, and other aids. Some games even include background novellas or comic books. It’s important to think about the packaging and required documentation as you develop your game. If you have the budget to include extras, don’t be afraid to let your creativity run wild. Tips On Package Design Here are some additional points to consider when designing the box for your product: • Game buyers are not always the people who play games. Go into any Software Etc. store three weeks before Christmas (or any time for that matter) and you’ll witness the “blind gamer.” This is an adult, most often buying for a child, who wanders around looking for a game to purchase. He or she will browse the sections, soaking in the information from the

packaging, looking for something that will satisfy the person for whom they are buying the game. This is especially true with educational games. What’s important is that the buyer doesn’t play games, and wouldn’t know the name of a hit game. They rely either on the marginally more-informed sales staff or, often, the box itself. Lesson: Boxes need to be informative; you’re targeting uninformed buyers, not the intended recipient. • There are more uninformed purchasers of games than other media. This is a variation of the previous point. In this case, the purchaser is the person who will play the game, but is as uninformed about games as the “blind gamer.” Many times, these purchasers are first-time buyers or occasional gamers. They don’t read game magazines and they’re not on the Internet praising their favorite games. In many cases, they’re often impulse shoppers, dropping into the game store or section looking to buy something. Packaging is key to how they make their buying decisions. Lesson: Not all gamers are created equal and many mass-market consumers do not read up and plan their purchases. They shop on impulse. Your packaging needs to make them understand why your game is so much better than the other choices. Review quotes and screen shots work well, and you might even consider placing charts on the package that compare rival products to your own to help make the case. • Screenshots still sell games. If P.T. Barnum were a game developer, his entire box would be plastered with screenshots. While it might make many developers cringe, the fact is, graphics sell. “Sexy” screenshots showing high-res 3D graphics can be a major factor in creating a package that sells itself. While even avid gamers know that awesome eye candy can mean low interactivity, everyone has succumbed to the allure of screenshots at least once in their life. Lesson: Many consumers are apprehensive about purchasing a package that doesn’t show screenshots. Be careful, though; screenshots are often the most misleading information on a box. Don’t be deceptive and use phony screenshots; make sure the shots depict key game play features. Preparing, Pricing, And Assembling Game Packaging Only a few years ago, CD-ROMs were relatively expensive to duplicate, especially in lower volumes. Today, CDs are rapidly replacing disks as the primary distribution media and you can bet costs will continue to decrease. Many large and small duplication companies have emerged, offering you a selection of services. Creating a CD-ROM is a two-step process. First, you need to make a master CD. This is often called a gold master. Then, the master CD is used to duplicate other CDs. If you don’t have the equipment to make your own gold masters, don’t worry. Most of the professional CD duplication companies will make a master for you for a small charge (less that $500). All you need to provide is a backup tape or SyQuest cartridge, or some other type of media. Although most duplication companies work with a variety of media, make sure you check with them before you go to the trouble of creating media to submit to them. In addition to manufacturing a CD-ROM for your product, you’ll need to produce and manufacture other materials, including a box, manual, and so on. You’ll also need to have all of the materials assembled to create a finished shrink-wrapped product. You’ll find that prices will vary depending on

which vendors you use. Make sure that you shop around and get multiple estimates for any manufacturing tasks.




SPA Packaging Guidelines Recently, the Software Publishers Association (SPA) issued some guidelines on “Desktop Software Publishing.” These guidelines were distributed to help publishers understand how to properly package software so consumers wouldn’t be confused by it. Here are some of the more helpful points they suggest: • Include the product title on all sides of the box: front, back, and all flaps and spines. • Place the platform and media specifications on the front and the left spine. The recommended descriptions to use are: DOS, Mac, Windows, MPC3, Unix, OS/2. (For media type, use 3.5" disk or CD-ROM. Other media identification is at the publisher’s discretion.) • Place the stock keeping unit (SKU) on the bottom flap with the second choice being the back lower-right corner. This is the UPC/ISBN/EAN label that is usually scanned at the checkout counter. • Place ratings logos on the front of the package. Check with the council that rates your product for specific information. The SPA and the Computer Game Developers’ Association (CGDA) strongly recommend use of the Recreational Software Advisory Council’s (RSAC) content-based ratings system. • System requirements should be on the front corner and on an adjacent side spine. The other option is to place them on a lower-back corner and adjacent side spine. At a minimum, the following need to be identified and specified: • Operating system version/platform version number (for example, Mac OS8 or Windows 95) • Memory/physical RAM requirements and recommendations clearly specified, to include total memory required, including OS overhead • Video board support, which includes number of Mac bits or DOS/Windows video memory • VGA or SVGA graphics/video resolution/color depth stated as number of pixels horizontal by number of pixels vertical by number of colors (for example, requires 640×480, 256-color graphics) • CD-ROM drive speed (single, double, quad, 6X, 10X) • Hard disk required (footprint) and available hard disk space (for example, 80MB free HD space required) • Audio sound board support (for example, Requires 16-bit Sound Blaster compatible) • Use the smallest size package you can for each product to enhance shelf space and address environmental concerns.

• Check with your channels of distribution to find out their packaging requirements. The following are general guidelines: • Make sure the box is at least a minimum of 18 pt SBS or equivalent strength and puncture resistant. If the spine is greater than 11/2 inches and the principal front display panel (the front of the box) is greater than 7×9 inches, you should consider a higher-caliber stock, an insert for internal support, or both. Goods damaged in shipment that never make it to the shelf represent between 5 and 10 percent of the product that is returned. • Make the product as “theft proof” as possible. Retail is experiencing a theft problem. Shrink wrap and stickers are being slit and CDs are being removed from the outer package. Secure the CD in an insert away from the top or bottom of package. • Make sure to emphasize environmental considerations and recyclability in your packaging.

But Wait There’s More! In addition to the guidelines listed above, also consider that you now need to include information about any enhanced 3D graphics cards your product works with. There is also now MMX enhancement to consider advertising, as well as compatibility with force-feedback joysticks. Packaging Standards Depending upon your market, you’ll need to have at least one of the following symbols or numbers placed on your products: • Uniform Product Code (UPC)—Uniform Code Council (513-435-3870)—A UPC symbol is required for retail sales. It’s a price point bar code used for product identification and inventory. • International Standard Book Number (ISBN)—ISBN Agency (908-665-2895; Fax: 908-4646800)—An ISBN number is required by bookstores and libraries to identify the title and publisher for inventory and for a Books in Print listing. • European Article Number (EAN)—(516-487-6370)—To sell a product in stores overseas, you’ll need a European Article Number. Call the number listed here for more information.

All About Game Ratings The idea of labeling or rating content in games has been around for a while. Several companies began placing labels (saying, for example, Mature Audiences) on their products some time ago. Sega even instituted its own rating system in the early ’90s. Then along came Congress in 1994. Congressional hearings sponsored by Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) responded to growing public outcry over violence in games, especially in fighting games such as Mortal Kombat. The hearings, and the threat of Congressional intervention, accelerated a drive to create a voluntary rating system that would inform parents about potential objectionable subject matter in games.

Two groups were formed out of this movement and both offer processes to rate games. You will probably find use for at least one if not both organizations and their programs. To publish a game and sell it in almost any major retail outlet, you’ll be required to include some sort of content labeling or rating label on the product box.




The Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) In September 1994, the ESRB (www.esrb.com) was started by the IDSA, a major organization in the gaming community made up of the biggest names in the games industry. The ESRB was set up to rate interactive software, much like the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) rates movies. Nearly 3,000 products from over 200 publishers now carry the ESRB rating icons. Turnaround time for a rating is about three to four business days, sometimes more. Games are submitted to the ESRB with an application for rating. The ESRB also rates online games. According to ESRB rules, if you distribute a previously rated product online, you must include the original rating. New online games are rated just like packaged products. Three independent, trained judges rate each product. The judges are chosen from a range of backgrounds, races, and ages and aren’t employed by or related to anyone in the interactive entertainment industry. The three judges are randomly chosen from a pool of over 100 demographically diverse people. These judges have been trained to look for certain criteria to determine how a product fits into the ratings categories. After receiving a rating, the publisher places that rating text and applicable logo on its box. The ESRB enforces these copyrighted materials to ensure no unscrupulous use by publishers. In fact the ISDA has an “Advertising Code of Conduct” that lays out the specific rules governing the use and placement of the logos and descriptive text on the box, and in print and television advertising. While ratings can be appealed, it is more likely that you will work with the board to determine what adjustments need to be made to achieve the rating you desire. ISDA representatives and participating organizations and dealers enforce their ratings through periodic spot checks. The ESRB also maintains a Web site, sends out mailers, and has an 800 number to educate the public about game ratings and the games rating process. To date, over 1 million calls have been taken by the 800 number. The ESRB rates games in the following categories:

• Early Childhood—Suitable for children three and older. • Kids to Adults—Suitable for children six and older, but can appeal to adults. Contains minimal violence and some “comic mischief” or “crude language” (think Bart Simpson). • Teen—Teen titles are for children 13 and older. Titles may contain violent content, mild to strong language, and sometimes suggestive themes. • Mature—With content only for persons ages 17 and older, these titles tend to have more violence than Teen rated products. In addition, titles may contain mature sexual themes. • Adults Only—These titles are for people 18 or older and are not intended to be sold to minors. • Rating Pending—Publishers can use this label on products that are still awaiting final approval. In addition to the labels on the front of the package, the ESRB also uses content descriptors that detail exactly what sort of game or contents in the game exists. This includes phrases and keywords like “some adult assistance needed,” “suggestive themes,” or “realistic violence.” Recreational Software Advisory Council The RSAC (www.rsac.org) was formed in 1994 and is a nonprofit organization created in response to growing Congressional action regarding entertainment software. While the RSAC now concentrates on game software, its mission covers all forms of entertainment software, and it has also cooperated with the various groups working on World Wide Web content issues. All of this is especially focused on children’s use and their exposure to this medium. The actual group that initially formed the RSAC’s mission and system of operation was called the Computer Game Ratings Working Group, which includes the following organizations: • • • • • •

Software Publishers Association Association of Shareware Professionals Shareware Trade Association and Resources Computer Game Developers’ Association Educational Software Cooperative Software Entrepreneurs Forum

The RSAC rating process was formulated to be an objective content-labeling system. It was designed by a panel of industry veterans, parents, educators, and experts, including Dr. Donald F. Roberts of Stanford University, who has studied the effects of media on children for nearly 20 years. The board of the RSAC is made up of a wide-ranging group of psychologists, educators, publishers, media researchers, and pediatric specialists, ensuring a very well-rounded approach to an issue affecting a lot of groups. The RSAC projects that it has rated over 1,000 software titles since its inception.




Details Of RSAC Ratings And Process The basis of the RSAC system is a disclosure format based on answers given in an electronic questionnaire. The questionnaire is designed and distributed by RSAC, and is completed by the software publisher. The questionnaire is a custom computer program that leads the publisher through an entire set of questions, analyzes the answers, and prints out a complete review of the product. This approach is great because a publisher can quickly see, during development, what kind of rating they can expect and make adjustments on the spot, without spending a tremendous amount of time and money going through redevelopment. The program starts with a general question in three major areas of content (violence, nudity/sex, and language) to determine with a quick yes or no if such content exists. Those three categories, and the RSAC procedures for specifically identifying them, have been reviewed by numerous professional groups, including Media Scope and the American Academy of Pediatrics. If these three general questions are answered “no,” the program returns a pre-confirmed rating of ALL (suitable for all audiences). If one or more of the questions is initially answered “yes,” the program launches into a series of questions to determine the exact nature of potentially objectionable content. The questions answered “yes” at this next stage launch even more specific questions until the ultimate rating of the content is determined, removing the subjectivity inherent in a scale system. For example, the RSAC asks: “Does the software title depict blood and gore of sentient beings?” It’s a yes or no question, so there is no room for confusion or interpretation. All the ratings are tentative; the publisher must submit the form for approval. The ratings determined by the program are based on published algorithmic approaches to content, as devised by researchers. The valuable aspect of this is that the approach is consistent for all titles; the rating is the same for anyone creating a similar product. They are not judged by a panel and are not open to subjective feelings (as the sample RSAC question indicated). However, the ratings you receive can be appealed (there is an extra cost to handle the work) just in case you don’t agree with the outcome. Also, because of its algorithmic approach and software program updates, new ideas and refinements can be rapidly incorporated into the entire RSAC process. The RSAC used a lot of variables to determine the specific ratings in its system. Here are some examples of the variables used to determine a violence score for a product. For the language and

nudity/sex categories, a similarly extensive set of variables is used. • Types of Violence—Aggressive Violence, Natural/Accidental Violence, Benign Immobilization, Sports Violence, Strategic Aggression • Portrayal of Target or Victim—Human, Nonhuman Sentient Being, Realistic Non-Sentient Object, Realistic Nonsentient Object with Implied Social Presence, or Symbolic Nonsentient Object • Level of Damage to Target or Victim—No Apparent Damage, Minor Damage, Damage, Death or Destruction • Victim’s Stance—Threatening or Nonthreatening • Consequences to Player—Reward for Aggression or No Reward For Aggression The ratings in the categories apply a score from 1 to 4. Using violence as an example, the RSAC would give a Level 4 rating to a product that “contains gratuitous or extreme violence.” The RSAC accounts for various inconsistencies that may result. For example, a war game might be considered pretty violent, but because of built-in exemptions for things like “strategic aggression” or sports games (like boxing), the rating program adjusts the rating. The questionnaire and definitions in the system are designed to force a higher, rather than lower, rating in cases of doubt.

Filing The Disclosure Statement And Assignment Of The Rating When the game and its accompanying rating form have been completed, the next step is the filing process. An officer of the publishing company must sign the Statement of Compliance that comes with the review forms. The entire package is then sent to the RSAC where it is reviewed to confirm that the process was completed correctly by the publisher, and the subsequent rating is consistent Once this review is approved, the publisher will be notified that the rating has been registered by the RSAC, and the rating and RSAC trademark can then be used in ads and packaging.

Appealing A Rating Ratings given by the program can be appealed to the RSAC directly. Appeals will be decided by a ratings review panel comprised of volunteer parents and educators. Successful appeals provide feedback and information useful in improving and refining the rating application methodology.

Consumer Use Of The RSAC Rating System The graphic depiction of the rating conveys the rating result at a glance. If there is no potentially objectionable content, the title will display an ALL rating. If one or more subject areas register a rating above ALL, the title will show the rating received in the three variable subject areas on a scale of 1 to 4. In addition, a short description of the potentially objectionable content is included for each subject area.

The RSAC also distributes a chart that explains the rating levels in more detail to assist consumers in making fully informed decisions. This information is provided to the editorial press, supplied to retailers for display in stores, enclosed in recreational software packages, and posted on numerous bulletin boards and online services.

RSAC Pricing Structure The pricing for the RSAC rating process is very inexpensive and is intended to support small developers: • Companies with over $1 million in revenue pay $400. • Companies with $100,000 to under $1 million in revenue pay $250. • Companies with under $100,000 in revenue pay only $50. The payments are based on the latest fiscal year revenues. Recently the RSAC also announced that a company can negotiate reduced rates for bulk submissions (say for a previously unrated back catalog of titles). The reduced rate is handled by the RSAC’s executive director. Hardship (probably meaning you’re broke or a small developer with tons of old titles to re-rate) is also considered for reduced rates.




Documentation It is important to stick to standards when producing the documentation that will be included in your package. If you can stay within the parameters of what already exists, the likelihood of minimizing your costs is there. For example, when dealing with trade liner cards, you don’t have to pay for dye cuts because there are already existing standard tools. If you have a CD-ROM booklet, it is wise to follow music industry standards, since this will likely be your manufacturer’s bread and butter. Documentation for games can be done in three forms: as part of an extensive manual, for a complex product like an RPG or simulation; a simple CD insert, which might be all that’s needed for an arcade-style product; or placing a manual on the CD itself, either in Acrobat format or as a help file. When doing a CD insert, your duplicator should handle the printing of it. Simply design it in Quark or PageMaker and submit it with your gold master. More extensive documentation may have to be printed and then shipped to the packaging company for inclusion. Larger style manuals like this are also best done by a professional writer working in conjunction with the game’s producer. Figure production costs for writing, editing, and layout to run about $30 to $40 a page unless you do it all on your own. Printing shouldn’t be much more than $1 to $4, depending on size, color, number of pages, and quantity ordered. Don’t forget about additional optional documentation objects, like maps, quick-key cards, and posters as well. Again, these items may have to be manufactured separately and shipped to the packager for final assembly. Finally, understand that documentation can be a plus to a game’s overall experience. Origin Systems has for years created extensive documentation for its Ultima Series that has been a high-quality accessory to the overall strength and success of the series.

Timing You should allow about 10 days production time for a run of 10,000 CDs. If at all possible, you should avoid scheduling your production for the month before Thanksgiving. Recently, manufacturers have been getting busier as early as July. This is all due to the music industry’s Christmas CD rush. Other than Christmas, the fall is the busiest time for new music to hit stores, so plan accordingly or allow for more time.

Distribution If you are manufacturing for worldwide distribution, this is accomplished relatively easily through companies such as Synram, which have plants around the globe. You can get your CDs manufactured overseas and then work with fulfillment and localization houses. A good reference magazine is Computer Software Manufacturing News. If you go the retail route, drop shipping to stores is preferable. Many developers are working out of their garage or basement. One thousand boxes is four or five skids worth of product—more than you want to stick in your garage. Ask your service provider to do fulfillment and drop shipping. You’ll pay a percentage or a flat fee for this service.

How Manufacturing Can Affect Your Finances Many independent developers put most of their effort into creating a game—saving money by simply developing it themselves. However, when you get to manufacturing, no amount of hard work is going to package, document, and shrink wrap your product for you. Thus, you have to actually pay money to get your product in a salable form. The key to remember is that the second you’ve finished developing a product and you’re moving on to manufacturing, you’re going to tie up a lot of money. If you’re the new kid on the block with no credit history, you will be asked for a personal guarantee and/or payment on delivery. If you have good credit, the longer you can wait to pay the manufacturer, the better. The idea is to pay the manufacturer with the profits from your product. Ideally, if your product sells fast or you can get terms that let you manage your cash flow by not having to pay every time you manufacture, you won’t tie up all your money simply making the product. In the end, manufacturing is a cash flow issue. Just because you make a game doesn’t mean it will sell. You want to is keep as little money as possible tied up in unsold merchandise. That means keeping runs as small as possible to fulfill your orders. Remember, in some cases it’s better to be understocked than overstocked.

A Word Of Warning “The biggest mistake in the software industry I’ve seen is people saying ‘I have a hot product and I’m going to sell 100,000,’ ” Vassaux says. “Then [they] all of a sudden start coming up with million-dollar [plans]. Unfortunately, a lot of people get money somewhere and they spend it all on packaging and materials and not on the marketing. The most important thing is to spend the money on marketing and sales and worry about the demand when you’ve got it....Sometimes it’s almost better to make the retailers wait than for you to wait for the retailers to carry your product.”

Wrap Up

Most developers will never have a hand in manufacturing their game. However, many developers will feel the effects of this part of the process. Ratings affect the design of a game, and even if they don’t affect the content, they add yet another step before you can bring a title to market. While your publisher may develop documentation, you can bet that they’ll rely on you to help. And if there is one thing many developers talk incessantly about when it comes to their publisher, it’s packaging. Despite the old saying, a lot of people do judge a game by its cover. The more you pay attention and contribute to the packaging of your game, either by providing awesome screenshots or helping to explain the game on the back of the box, the less you’ll leave to chance, and the better the chance that your game will sell to the right people.




PART III Understanding The Market And Legal Issues CHAPTER 14 Game Industry Analysis And Market Outlook Successful game companies like EA and Acclaim have a secret weapon. They spend a great deal of money analyzing everything related to the entire game industry—from people’s hobbies and interests to market trends and driving technology factors, including hardware sales, software sales, and so on. They turn over every rock they can, and they use the information they gather to get a better understanding of the people who play games. Their success is based on what they know about their potential customers—what platforms their customers use, what games they’re buying, what features they want in their games, and more. For example, when skateboarding became a very popular sport, EA did its homework, spotted the trend early, and delivered Skate or Die, one of its biggest hits. To be competitive, you’ll need to develop your own techniques and systems for performing market research. Fortunately, there are ways to do market research without spending as much as EA and Acclaim. You’ll find that market research is well worth the money spent, especially when you consider that the ideas you’ll glean from it could become a key factor in the success of your game and company. One of the things that separates the big companies like EA from the small developers is not so much their ability to spend money on market research, but their willingness to do so. Designing games solely by research-driven material is not a good idea—but designing in a vacuum isn’t either. Developers who use research—but don’t let research use them—will find the right balance that lets them focus their creative ability where it can do the best work to make games people want. This chapter is designed to give you a good understanding of the types of basic research that exist, where to find them, and to provide ideas on what analysts and market research people feel about the current state of the market.

Identifying The Types Of Research Available We’ll start this discussion of the software market by identifying the types of research you come across and their specifics.

Polls And Surveys Polls and surveys are both statistical gatherings. The difference between them is that a poll is usually done via telephone, and respondents are usually screened to a greater degree than in a survey. When done properly, a poll should be more exacting than a survey. Surveys are usually solicited via the mail, at conferences, or, most recently, via the Web. The problem with a survey is that you’re not fully in control of the mix of respondents, nor are you sure they understand the questions perfectly. Still, surveys can be effective and, in large-scale settings, surveys are generally cheaper to conduct than polls.

Tip: Typically, a poll is more accurate than a survey, especially for consumer-based versus industry-based research, where random phone polling may be tough to conduct. Polls and surveys are only as good as the methodology that was used to gather the results. You’ll want to examine the circumstances under which either the poll or survey was conducted. Key factors to look for are how random the sample was, how big the sample was, and what questions were asked to gain diversity in a sample.

Analysts Reports There are essentially two types of analysts: those who work in technology or traditional research firms like Jupiter Communications, Forrester, or Yankelovich, and those who work as CFAs (Certified Financial Analysts) for Wall Street brokerage houses or investment banks. In either case, these people conduct interviews, gather surveys, and examine other research, company reports, and news stories. They then attempt to make predictions about markets, companies, or overall trends. Analysts also have different methodologies; some rely more on statistics, others rely more on gut instincts. CFAs have specific methodologies but are usually more focused on balance sheets and predicting company earnings than overall market potential. Focus Groups Focus groups are qualitative research tools, not statistical tools. A focus group consists of 20 or so qualified participants who debate issues and answer questions posed by a moderator. A focus group is designed to give you an in-depth look at how and why consumers make decisions. When you need to conduct focus group-based research, most likely you will have to hire a research firm that will conduct the groups and detail the findings in a report.




Sales Data/Metering Reports It’s common to find research based on, or completely comprised of, sales data or metering data. Companies that have set up reporting systems at some point along the sales route will usually conduct sales data research. When looking at sales-based research, it’s important to note at what point the data was collected. In addition, pay attention to what extent of the market has been covered. It’s very hard for even the best research company to cover 100 percent of the market. PC Data, one of the best companies for retail software sales data, covers only 50 percent of the stores where software is sold. While that percentage is high enough to provide them with fairly accurate readings, it’s not perfect. Also, sales data can be misleading. Alexander & Associates, which does research on the home interactive entertainment market, doesn’t trust sales data because a significant portion of the market that purchased a console may not be the ones actually using it. Instead, they rely on surveying people. The difference is simple. Let’s say sales data indicates 500,000 home-based computers were sold. Does this mean the market of home users has grown by 500,000? If you were surveying those exact 500,000 new owners, you might find that a significant portion bought them for the office and not the home. Second, even if the computers were purchased for the home, additional questioning might indicate that these users have never purchased software, making them inactive owners. Thus, you can see that making exacting predictions from sales data is not always smart.

How Can I Conclude Anything If It’s Not 100 Percent Accurate? After reading everything that is right and wrong about the different types of research, you may wonder whether any of it is good enough to plan around. Despite its drawbacks, the majority of research is quite good. However, there are some tips that can help you more smartly conduct research for planning purposes: • Take everything with a grain of salt. Most research has some sort of weaknesses, but weakness doesn’t mean flaws. Make sure you understand the context in which any report is created. Compensate for any opinions or results you think are off base by collecting some background research of your own and understanding the market in general. If you’re purchasing research, you almost always can phone the researcher or project manager and ask them to explain puzzling findings, or their personal opinion. Research is not an exact science, so make sure you don’t bet the entire farm on one finding or set of numbers. • Try to find consensus research. Monitor basic findings from rival research companies to

see if there is close or wide range in their findings. Many times, research analysts using standard practices will come to the same consensus. While this isn’t a guarantee that the findings are correct, finding a wide range of estimates will certainly let you know that there is still a lot of flux in the numbers and uncertainty in general directions.

Finding Free Research There are a number of ways to monitor and collect market research without spending much money. A lot of basic research is available for little or no cost to you. You just have to know where to look and what to expect from free research: • Wall Street research—The people on Wall Street aren’t slouches when it comes to research. Many leading investment banks issue some of the best reports that you can find about the software industry. Many of them are freely available either via the Web or the phone. Morgan Stanley analyst Mary Meeker provides great material for free via the Morgan Stanley Web site (www.ms.com). • Press releases—Most research companies post press releases announcing the findings of major reports and studies. You can find these research releases almost daily by scanning the two major promotional wire services: businesswire.com and prnewswire.com. Search using the names of big research firms (e.g., Jupiter Communications) or keywords like Market Research Study, Software, Hardware, etc. • Samples and abstracts—Most major research companies publish abstracts of their research that sometimes contain details other than what went out in a press release. Sometimes full reports or sample reports are also available for free. These can often be somewhat dated (usually a year or so old), but can still be useful reads, especially if you can’t afford the current reports. Outdated reports are not a complete waste of time; you just need to consider that while trends may be correct, absolute predictions will be less precise. Some key reports and findings, though, may be very useful. • Academic papers—Private market research firms are not the only source of critical information about the technology marketplace. Many academic studies, such as those done by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology on Web demographics, or papers written by business professors, can be excellent sources of critical research that are essentially provided for free. Don’t pass up this insightful bastion of information. • Trade publications and industry news sources—Many times trade magazines and industry news sources such as c|net’s News.com will publish articles about, or containing, market statistics and information from top analysts. For those on a budget, searches of popular trade information resources can provide key information. • Trade organizations—Many trade organizations—especially the SPA (Software Publishers Association)—conduct research and surveys for their members. They provide this work as a member resource, and it can often be of excellent quality, and otherwise expensive to collect.

Tip: I keep a simple database containing research clips from articles I read or Internet sources that I come across. I simply clip the article and add some keywords. This makes it easy to go

back to this research when I’m looking for good statistics for a proposal or presentation to back up my ideas.




A Foundation For Analysis: The Household Approach When it comes to statistics, I like to keep things simple. Trying to gather piles of statistics and demographics seems like a waste of time to me. To lay the groundwork for an analysis of the games market, let’s look at a very simple breakdown of the consumer categories that make up the universe of potential game players. Our breakdown will focus on the average household. A household is a common unit used in many marketing/survey/polling situations, especially those concerning products that are purchased and used by an entire family, or portion of a family. Table 14.1 shows a household unit breakdown from an older survey done by New York-based Alexander & Associates. It still serves as an excellent example to illustrate our point. Table 14.1 The average computerized household.

Millions of Households Mean Household Size Mean Age Mean Household Income % Married % Children Present % College Graduate % With PC % With CD-ROM % With VGS

All HH

PC and VGS

PC Only

VGS Only

None

92.9 2.73 45.6 $36,830 55.8 37.4 24.9 24.4 7.6 28.8

9.6 3.75 35.9 $52,803 68.3 68.4 36.7 100 40 100

13.2 2.69 40.4 $54,951 64.1 32.6 50.3 100 32.6 0

17.3 3.46 33.9 $34,811 59.6 69.3 15.5 0 0 100

52.9 2.35 49.9 $29,207 49.8 21.9 19.4 0 0 0

For the latest survey (which includes far more information), contact Alexander & Associates about their “Video Games and PC Benchmark Study.”

As shown in Table 14.1, four types of households are researched in the game industry: • PC-only households—These households are the bread and butter of the computer game industry. They number over 13 million and tend to be middle- to upper-income families. • PC and video game households—This group doesn’t vary much from PC-only households, although they tend to have more children. They also tend to have younger children (which explains the video game unit). They are also less educated. While their income is the same, because they have more children, these families have less disposable income. The majority of these families view consoles as better for their kids, and use them in addition to the conventional PC they also own. The other part of this group is hard-core game fanatics who want anything and everything concerning games. • VGS only—The console-only crowd shows a dramatic drop in income from the first two households we discussed, which explains the lack of PCs in the household. A $150 game system is far more affordable than a $2,000 computer. Additionally, education levels of these households drop dramatically. This group represents the middle- to lower-income household. They enjoy games, but can’t afford large computer systems to play on (and as the data shows, they don’t like expensive consoles either!). • No System—The poorest and oldest of the bunch. A large part of this segment consists of senior citizens who have fixed incomes and minimal interest in video games. The rest are simply an assortment of people who don’t want or can’t afford any game platform. Over time, this segment will steadily shrink as the population changes to include more and more people who are quite familiar with interactive games, computers, and gaming platforms. I doubt that we will ever see a time when this group no longer exists; there will always be those who choose to sit on the sidelines of the technological revolution.

From Households To Trends: A Brief Market Outlook Now that you have a basic understanding of the four basic “food” groups of the game market, let’s look at where the market is heading. The Battleground For PC Households The biggest shifts in the next year or two will continue to be influenced by the maneuvering of Intel and Microsoft to establish the PC as a major game platform. What, you ask; isn’t it already? Absolutely not, I don’t care how biased you are; numbers don’t lie. Console games outsell PC games close to four to one. However, there is a shift happening in the industry and Microsoft is leading the charge. The growth of PC gaming is happening in those households that previously identified themselves as owning a PC. This is a two-tiered move: The households that currently own only a PC are increasing their purchases of interactive entertainment, and the households that own both a PC and a console are increasingly turning to PCs for their gaming needs.

A Losing Battle

Let me take a moment to separate fact from fiction and desire: There is no data to suggest that VGS households will move to the PC platform. Unless computers become available for drastically reduced prices (less than $500) or, as I like to say, “buying a PC becomes as easy as buying a car” with complete “MSAC” (Microsoft Assistance Corporation) financing, this group will continue to purchase console-only systems. In addition, those households without any system have a lower income and more mouths to feed. These families will definitely not be putting a $1,000 to $3,000 multimedia PC on their list of needs. PC Hardware: Moving Toward High-Tech Gaming Capability The current trend is a move toward establishing the PC as the bona fide game platform, complete with high-speed network/modem connections, large screens, sophisticated 3D graphics boards, force feedback joysticks, and symphonic-quality sound capabilities. While it’s great that PC manufacturers and owners are adding all this cool hardware, the additional computing standards and hardware features mean more for developers to keep track of. For the savvy developer, this means watching sales of 3D graphics cards, input gear, modems, and more. Some of this data will be available from the manufacturers themselves, but many developers will need to subscribe to hardware sales figures to get a more exact idea of whether or not they should create a game that embraces the new technology.




Consoles: The Rock Of Gibraltar In Gaming Systems If you’re thinking about developing for a console (or you already are a console developer), you certainly haven’t had an easy time picking a path to success. Which console do you develop for? The first three generations (Atari 2600, 8-bit, and 16-bit systems) had very long lives. Unfortunately, the current era of consoles has a much shorter life expectancy. Just as 32-bit systems are getting started, 64-bit consoles are beginning to move in. The various next-generation 64-bit hardware components like Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) and the amazing 3D chip sets are almost ready today to become components of tomorrow’s game consoles. This technology is moving ahead far faster than many companies originally anticipated. Consoles aren’t ready to give up the race to the PC. If you don’t believe me, consider the following factors: • There is a large definable video game segment that isn’t going away. The companies playing or getting ready to play in this arena understand this fact and don’t need to hold back developing for consoles. They understand that the console business isn’t going to die because PC gaming takes over.

Tip: According to Lee Isgur of Jeffries Securities, in the dedicated game universe, when a new platform is introduced at $250 to $300, the person who buys that hardware will buy six to nine titles in the first year. When the platform gets down to a $100, you’ll find that in the first year, the person who buys that platform will buy only three or four titles.

• New players want in. The very fact that there is a basis for the long-term existence of the console market coupled with the past success of manufacturers in the market has drawn in new players. This is one of the primary reasons we’re seeing a higher turnover rate in technology and types of systems. With more companies trying to establish a foothold in defining the market, there is more of a tendency to debut new hardware faster in an attempt to gain a prominent position. And that’s not all. PCs are catching up fast in the game race, forcing consoles to leap-frog even faster. Today’s 32-bit players are almost outdated as far as capabilities needed to deliver the killer 3D graphics that developers are looking for. The market is wide open for new developments. • The battle has far larger stakes than you think. Looming over everything is the fact that

many of the new players, particularly Matsushita and Sony, think that these next-generation consoles will eventually emerge to be the “set-top box” of the future. With the advent of DVD and HDTV (high definition television), there will need to be a full-service set-top box to handle the emerging TV-based services. Many console developers feel that the game console will turn into the key delivery platform for these next generation TV services. Thus, the stakes are high. A market could emerge that would dwarf anything seen so far. Deep-pocketed companies like Sony and Matsushita will sink millions into this emerging market. After all, they want to be the ringleaders when the market matures 10 years from now. It’s easy to see that consoles are going to be a major force for some time. And if you decide to pursue console development, you should closely follow the market. Many console developers are setting up their development processes on high-end workstation equipment and creating tools that allow them to develop above the console fray. If you are part of a large firm, this may be an approach you want to get familiar with.

From Households To The Industry We’ve identified the types of research you can find and we’ve explained the key aspect (at least in the U.S.) that drives the basic tenants of the market (i.e., Households are split into several key blocks of users based mostly on income allowances and children.). All of that bubbles up to produce a plethora of industry research that, when examined in unison, gives you as developers some strong insight on where the industry has been and where it might be headed over the next couple of years.

Industry Snapshot And Trends According to the 1997 IDSA (Interactive Digital Software Association) “State of the Entertainment Software Industry Report,” the game market in North America alone reached $3.7 billion in 1996, and IDC/LINK (a leading market research division of IDG) is expecting it to go from $5.3 billion in 1997 to $8 billion in the year 2000. Almost 40 percent of all homes have a PC, with about two-thirds of those PCs sporting CD-ROM drives. In terms of the next-generation 32/64-bit consoles, worldwide installed bases should reach 30 million by 1998. Overall, not a bad picture. Still, the industry remains incredibly hit based. Only a handful of titles crack the million-unit-selling list on the PC, despite the millions of PCs available. Many CD-ROMs barely crack 100,000 units sold in North America. Layoffs at startups that don’t make the Christmas season are frequent, and overall, in a medium that has a market that will turn on a dime, the risk (and stress) can be high. Still, with the globalization of entertainment software, especially with the rising tide of the Internet and worldwide PC shipments, the industry is growing at a strong clip. The IDSA says global entertainment software sales are at least $10 billion. In addition, the IDSA says that each major region—the U.S., Asia, and Europe—are all doing about the same amount of business. Employment According to that same IDSA report, approximately 90,000 people are directly employed within the

entertainment software industry, and employment is growing at an annual rate of 26 percent. To my knowledge, this is the only report that has ever pegged the number of people working within the industry. Unfortunately, it did not break down the numbers into various job categories such as programmer, animator, tester, and so on. The report did cite the growing importance of artists and animators in game development, and that, whereas in the past, a typical ratio of programmers to artists/animators was 2:1, today that ratio has flip-flopped in favor of the latter group.




Sales According to IDC/LINK, unit sales for the PC game/entertainment software sector were up 19.7 percent from 1995–1996, and they estimate that it will grow again by 25.8 percent in 1997. That corresponds to a projected 18.4 percent increase in revenue for 1997 over the previous year. On the console side, unit sales of games actually declined by 10.3 percent from 1995–1996. But, probably due to the success that Nintendo 64 cartridges are having, combined with the price wars between Sony and Nintendo, IDC/LINK projects that the console market will bounce back strongly in 1997, posting a 36.2 percent increase in unit sales and a whopping 47.3 percent increase in corresponding revenue over 1996. While we tend to take all analyst projections with a healthy grain of skepticism, I feel that their trends are basically sound. Consoles are hot, and if the prices continue to erode, I believe they will gain entry into more and more homes at an astounding rate. Again, as mentioned just a little earlier, predictions call for 30 million next generation consoles to be in homes worldwide by 1998. Sony is clearly the market leader now. Nintendo is moving fast with the Ultra 64 and sits in second place. Sega is a sizable but distant third and may be shifting its focus solely to software or a new wave of a machine as it fails to push the Saturn into killer-sales territory. Some companies are canceling or not pursuing Saturn projects. But don’t count them out; anything can happen to push this platform into a more viable market position. At the same time, Sega might find new success with a new platform down the line, just as it went from worst to first when it debuted the Sega Genesis in the late 1980s. Arcade Growth The arcade market has suffered from its mythic highs in the 1980s but now seems potentially poised for a comeback. Arcade gaming as an industry is down several billion dollars, but now the industry is working to reestablish itself with a better cost structure and jazzed up super-arcades that appeal beyond games, and to adults and parents. On the cost and logistics side, the recent work by Intel (and Microsoft) to present a universal platform for arcade game development will, for the first time, give arcade owners a lower cost of goods and provide developers a standard development platform. By basing it on standard PC technologies like

Pentium processors, Windows NT, and DirectX, the field of developers will also grow, providing a fresher and faster flow of new games. Finally, the entire industry is hoping to benefit from multiplayer gaming, as arcade machines start linking to national intranets that connect players in arcades and other location-based entertainment (LBE) centers around the world. According to Lee Isgur of Jeffries Securities, the demographics of coin-op players is heavily dependent upon the location of the game itself. In the arcades, the demographics are largely preteen and teenage boys—similar to what is found in the video-game market. If you look at arcades based in movie theaters, the demographics get slightly older, with males ranging in age from 10 to 20 years old. The patrons in airport arcades are typically 20 years old and up. So location is critical in terms of how the product will pan out. In terms of new development, the number of arcades has dropped significantly from its peak. But now several companies, including Sony, Sega, DreamWorks, and others, are building entirely new arcades that include basic video-game machines, large VR rides, restaurants, bars, and more. The centers like the Sega/DreamWorks GameWorks in Seattle and Las Vegas represent the rebirth of the arcade. While recent reports from industry experts like 4th WAVE seem to suggest that some of these large centers are still working out the business kinks, the market seems to be headed in an upward direction. Online Space Despite the amount of press and attention that game networks like TEN, Mpath, Engage, Wireplay, and others are generating, the reality is that online gaming represents only a small fraction of the overall industry revenue. IDSA pegs the contribution of online games at 4 percent of overall game industry revenues. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which are the often cited problems of Internet latency and bandwidth problems. The problems with today’s Internet-based games run deeper than these technical difficulties, however. To date, there have been few games that have been developed especially for the Internet. Some people refer to this problem as the lack of a “killer app”—a new and different title that makes use of the technology in previously unthought of ways, redefines the genre, and is a commercial hit. These types of games are on the horizon, but right now the industry is primarily milking extra dollars out of standalone titles by adapting them for the medium. Companies surveyed in a recent IDSA Economic Impact Study stated that they believe online gaming will account for about 15 percent of game industry revenues within three years. On the other hand, a recent Forrester Report estimates that online game revenue will be approximately $540 million by 1999, a figure that (by my calculations) seems slightly more conservative than predictions in the IDSA report. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the online gaming market, there’s no question that developers are rushing headlong into this area. A Forrester Report that surveyed a number of game development companies revealed that a stunning 76 percent of them currently have “Internet games” under development. Whether the term Internet game means a hybrid game (CD-ROM based with an

Internet component), a completely Internet-based game, or something else, is unclear. What is clear, however, is that a large portion of developers are building some kind of Internet support into their games. Currently, the best set of actual numbers has been from two of the larger online gaming networks. Shortly after their relaunches, Mpath and Internet Gaming Zone reported a combined membership nearing 400,000 users. That growth, while mostly made up of free registrations, suggests a potent future for the segment—especially if they can get a strong business model behind them.




Distribution Distribution is a very hot topic in the game industry—especially as the consolidation among top publishers like EA, Maxis, Virgin, Brøderbund, GT Interactive, and CUC continues. There are three key areas of distribution you can now find in the industry: retail, Internet based (shareware and electronic software distribution), and demo CDs included with magazines. The retail channel picture isn’t looking rosy for game developers and publishers. Dwindling retail shelf space, combined with the large number of titles published every year, is making it more and more difficult to get in front of consumers’ eyes. This means that large chain stores like Toys ‘’ Us and Wal-Mart have more clout, since the games they pick up see wide distribution. It can make or break a title. Some publishers are signing exclusive deals with retailers, as did Electronic Arts, which recently announced that Toys ‘’ Us would be the exclusive outlet for its games. These kinds of arrangements might become more common, as it guarantees wide distribution for the publisher and gives the retailer a monopoly on certain games. The Internet has been an especially attractive means of getting PC-based games into the hands of players since id’s success with Doom. It still has the advantage of being a cheap and easy means of distribution for game developers, but I feel it’s becoming less attractive for a number of reasons. First, since the release of Doom, games have increased in size dramatically. Consider Brøderbund’s The Last Express, which recently shipped on three CD-ROMs, or Rocket Science’s final title, Obsidian, which shipped on five discs. Neither would be appropriate for Internet distribution, even as a demo, because of the huge graphic and animation files they contain. The problem is that games are growing larger than even the fastest modems (and patience) can deal with comfortably. Second, unlike DOS-based Doom, today’s PC games are largely targeting Windows 95, which typically means they’re based on Microsoft’s DirectX libraries. However, because of the rate that DirectX versions are being released, games are having to include the latest DirectX files to ensure that the game’s functionality is supported at hardware and operating system levels. That additional overhead means more files to download just to get the most basic parts of a game working properly. Finally, I’m sensing the beginning of a backlash by some developers and publishers toward giving away too much over the Internet. It’s not that the value of trial game levels is going away, but that the demos are getting so extensive that consumers get too much game play out of them, and don’t feel the

need to purchase the full version. Time will tell whether this sentiment affects which games are distributed on the Internet, and how they are distributed, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on. Poly bagging (the term magazine publishers use to describe the plastic bag that magazines are sometimes encased in) discs in with consumer magazines seems to have taken off over the last year. Ziff-Davis’ Computer Gaming World and Imagine’s Next Generation and PC Gamer, among others, have demo discs bundled with their magazines on a regular basis. While subscribers sometimes have to pay a little extra to get the disc included with the magazine, every poll I’ve seen shows that demo discs are highly valued by gamers. We anticipate that distributing game demos to players will only increase in popularity as games get larger and more complex.

Challenges Facing The Industry Even well-funded startups like Rocket Science Games have failed. For all its predicted growth and maturity, it’s not easy to survive in the games industry. Despite better tools, a larger base of consoles, and a reinvigorated and geographically expanding PC games market, all developers have to face significant challenges on both the technical and business side as they compete for sales. Increasing Technical Complexity The game development industry has long been on the forefront of hardware and software innovation. It shows no signs of slowing down. As we roll into 1998, new technologies will further delineate the “A” titles from the rest of the pack. Consider the following: • The 3D hardware accelerator market will boom in 1998, pressuring developers to add more visual impact to their games. • The market for 3D audio acceleration is beginning to gear up, with companies like Diamond and Creative Technologies putting technology like Wavetable and 3D audio within the reach of consumers. • MMX technology will be fairly widespread in the hard-core gaming market, and this audience will be expecting games that take advantage of these multimedia optimizations. • Force-feedback input devices, initially championed by Immersion and integrated into joysticks by CH Products, Logitech, and Gravis, recently got the nod from Microsoft. • Consumers are coming to expect more and more realism (such as realistic physics simulation, better AI, realistic lighting), while at the same time demanding extensibility and customizability in their games (built-in level editors, scripting languages, configurable AI, and so on). • The advent of online game services like Battle.net has underscored the importance of security in online games, to prevent cheaters from altering the rules of the game to give themselves an unfair advantage.




Increasing Business Costs And Complexity The game development industry isn’t standing still when it comes to the business side of things, either. While the technology continues to evolve in leaps and bounds, the billions of dollars that this market generates in revenue every year makes people recognize the importance of name brands, comarketing, and acquiring intellectual capital. Chew on these facts: • Games are getting more expensive and more complicated to develop, publish, and distribute. The IDSA estimates that the top games now cost $1.3 to $2 million to produce, which is about twice as much as they cost just two years ago. Spending $10 million on a highly anticipated game is no longer unheard of. • Game development companies are getting swallowed up more often, reflecting a consolidation in the industry. Over the past couple of years, smaller development firms like SSI, Blizzard, and Sierra On-Line have become subsidiaries of larger firms. • We’re seeing more complex partnering arrangements—Hexen II was developed by Raven, published by id, and distributed by Activision. There is also more outsourcing of work, and reliance upon freelance artists, animators, and programmers rather than adding to the internal head counts of companies. • Games are increasingly tied in with movies, placing additional scheduling pressures and, to a large degree, dictating content (witness recent releases like Starfleet Academy, Star Wars Yoda Stories, Star Trek Generations, and The Arrival). Multiplayer online capabilities are becoming less of a value-added feature and more of a requirement. When you consider all of the additional technical challenges, coupled with the increasing complexity on the business side, it’s tempting to think that project life spans have increased accordingly. On the contrary, what’s quite astounding is that the IDSA says that the traditional 18-month development cycle is still the benchmark that companies plan around. This indicates to us that schedules will slip with increasing frequency unless companies formalize their development practices (including adoption of development metrics) and get more regimented about their development cycles. Fundamental Hardware Forces The single most important decision you can make as a developer is to select which systems to write games for, or port existing games to. Even though you might realize that computer games are most profitable in the PC market, within this market there are several different “platforms” based on

installed configurations. So when you develop a game for the PC, you need to consider the options: 8MB machines, 16MB machines, CD-ROM availability, 32-bit Windows, and so on. In addition to designing games that work on a large installed base, developers also want to know how installed bases will change by the time their games ship. For example, if you are planning a great state-of-the-art flight simulator, do you design for today’s millions of base-level Pentiums or do you design exclusively to take advantage of a large installed base of Pentium IIs expected in the future? To fully understand how market tracking works, let’s step back and discuss the three fundamental factors involved in studying the interactive entertainment industry as a whole. They are Moore’s Law, the growing demographic of “exposed interactive consumers,” and the overall world growth of entertainment spending. These factors are fundamental to the current and future growth of game development.

Moore’s Law You might not have heard of Gordon Moore, but you have definitely heard of the company he helped found, Intel. Moore’s law results in the following axiom: Every two years processing power doubles and the cost for existing processing power decreases by a factor of two. In lay terms, the money you pay to buy a machine today will buy you a machine twice as powerful two years from now. And the machine you buy today will then be available for half the price you just paid. When Moore first made his statement, which was specifically about the number of transistors on a chip, many people in the computer industry laughed; they figured at some point that computing power would hit a wall. Technically it will, but the truth of the derived axiom doesn’t seem to be in any danger of faltering. Proof enough: So far, it turns out, he hasn’t been wrong yet. As more powerful technology has decreased in price and become affordable for mass market consumption, developers are pressed more than ever to take advantage of that power to make newer and better games.

Exposed Interactive Consumers Another major factor to consider is Lee Isgur’s exposed interactive consumers trend. This trend is perhaps the driving force behind the game business. It shows us that the number of people who acquire an appetite for interactive entertainment is going to grow some tenfold by the year 2010. Consider these facts: The video game business is roughly 20 years old. Everyone who is over 20 was born at a time when interactive products weren’t available. In addition, most major interactive gaming products weren’t widely available in homes until 1980. And if you believe that the mass market of interactive gaming didn’t really start until Nintendo was introduced, the market is only about 10 years old! This means that the industry is still in its infancy; it will continue to soar as we move into a world where the entire population will have been born at a time when computers and video games are

common forms of acceptable entertainment.

Growth Of International Entertainment Spending A recent article about Toshiba and Time Warner in Forbes magazine described a joint venture to open 450 movie theaters in Japan. The two companies also are getting ready to wire Japan’s cable market, which is very primitive. Despite Japan’s economic success, many Japanese do not spend a huge amount of money on electronic forms of entertainment. The U.S. leads all countries on percapita-based spending on entertainment. We do like our leisure time! The rest of the world is quickly catching up, though. Many new economies are growing to the point where a sizable portion of their population has the means to afford such luxuries as movies, a TV set, or even a $200 Nintendo or $2,000 computer. As the rest of the world enters the realm of high-tech entertainment, more opportunities will exist for developers of interactive products. Now is the time to start planning for these expanding global markets.




Platform Analysis One of the best ways to examine any software market—and especially its future—is by taking a platform approach. By examining the current platforms, their future, and upcoming platforms, you can determine an insightful outlook of where the games industry (or any software segment) is headed. Intel-Based PC The Intel-based PC remains the platform of choice for the lion’s share of the game developer community because of its open architecture, the audio and visual capabilities it affords games, lower development costs, the large number of developers who understand PC game development technology, the booming market for PCs in the home, the wealth of technical information available to developers interested in developing PC games, the ability to freely distribute games or demos over the Internet, and the rapid evolution of the platform’s abilities. IDC predicts that the U.S. home multimedia PC market will continue to grow throughout the year, if at a slightly slower pace than in 1996. Many analysts feel (and I certainly share this sentiment) that consumers will hold off on purchasing their next PC until the current wave of Intel-sponsored technologies such as MMX and AGP are available at a reasonable price. While this hiccup in PC upgrades isn’t necessarily good news in the short term, I believe that Intel’s recent interest in adapting its hardware especially for high performance multimedia software will have huge benefits beginning in early 1998, when these systems start appearing in homes. Christmas 1998 should see some pretty fantastic games for PCs. Table 14.2 provides an overview of the state-of-the-art PC system being developed within the next year. Table 14.2Entertainment PC ‘98 system summary. Required

Optional

200 MMX compatible CPU 32MB RAM with Rambus memory

Device bay Cardbus for mobile PCs

OnNow support

Universal serial and PCI buses DVD-ROM Driver support for 3D software acceleration Consumer PC audio Internal 56Kbps modem USB gamepad or joystick included, I/O devices that use external bus Two USB ports, one front accessible Two IEEE 1394 ports, one front accessible All input devices (wireless or wired) are HID (Human Interface Device) driver compliant Full AGP implementation 2D/3D hardware acceleration Video port and VPE support Cable TV tuner with TV output and color keying DVD-Video and MPEG-2 playback capable Analog video input A/V multiplexer/crossbar Consumer PC audio and music synthesis support RF support for wireless devices (e.g., PC enhanced cordless telephone, wireless remote, and speakers)

3D hardware acceleration, Advanced Graphics Port (AGP), Video port, Analog cable TV tuner, TV output Digital music ready, Music synthesis High-speed uplink; Digital broadcast satellite support Remote control with standard minimum button requirements IDE drives use IEEE 1394 bus

Windows 95/98/NT Windows 95 has become the operating system of choice for the bigger game developers. Microsoft’s DirectX (which stands at version 5.0 as this is written and should be out in 6.0 sometime in 1998), while far from perfect, has done much for Windows game development. Since its humble beginnings just two years ago, DirectX has gone from basic capabilities, like DirectDraw and DirectSound, into a means of adding 3D audio, Internet services, and force-feedback input features into games. The recent tirades against Direct3D and in favor of OpenGL notwithstanding, Microsoft is certainly helping push Windows-based gaming to new heights. Without belaboring this discussion any further, let’s just say that this is the future of PC gaming, whether you like it or not.

The most important undertaking for both products in terms of game developers will be better DirectX and driver support. In addition, several new licenses, such as the one for Duck’s TrueMotion CODEC will also be included. Also, expect direct DVD support, improved Internet access, and an interface more tightly bonded to Web surfing. In terms of drivers, the new universal Win32 Device Driver System (WDD) will help solve many device-oriented driver snafus that have plagued Windows since the beginning. The WDD also unifies the driver model between NT and Windows 95 (something that has been a royal pain for a while). Windows 98 continues Microsoft’s drive to push the PC into the living room by increasingly improving features oriented toward home users—enhanced Internet, push technology, gaming, online, and consumer electronics integration. Despite the “improvements,” Windows 98 and Windows NT 5.0 will provide the basic OS and the game/multimedia/online aspects developers care about. While many hard-core gamers will upgrade to the latest and greatest version of the OS, many households won’t. That means supporting different levels of users; some who will be running Windows 95, and others who’ll be running Windows 98 or NT. While this may not turn into a nightmare, the potential is there and developers will want to watch this rollout very carefully.




DOS As much as Microsoft wishes it would go away, there are still a significant number of titles on the market that are either entirely DOS-based or support DOS and Window 95. This is due to the large base of game developers comfortable developing DOS titles (and perhaps not willing to invest time learning DirectX until the SDK architecture stabilizes), and the legions of consumers who have not—or cannot—upgrade to Windows 95 and who therefore represent a captive market for DOS games. Perhaps there is the general feeling in some consumers and developers that Windows 95 is not the ideal game platform that Microsoft has touted it to be. When Windows 98 ships (which will have DirectX built into the operating system) and many of the soon-to-be-released PC hardware technologies have hit the mainstream (such as MMX, AGP, and USB), there might be a large number of fence-sitters in the DOS world who finally upgrade their hardware and operating systems. While the U.S. market is adopting 32-bit Windows, it’s important to note that this isn’t the case in some foreign markets. If you are developing a game and expect to realize some revenue from Latin American and East Asian markets, you should be aware that these areas still use DOS to a large extent. Mac The poor Macintosh. The platform that ushered in MYST has been sadly relegated to second-class citizen in the game market, due to shrinking market share (currently at about 10 percent of overall home multimedia PCs, according to IDC), stagnating hardware technology, and Apple’s recent decision to put its Game Sprockets into “maintenance mode.” Apple does not view game development for the platform as one of its top priorities. Apple was present and accounted for at the 1997 CGDC, and, in fact, had a prime booth location right in front of the main doors to the expo hall. Unfortunately, their booth traffic was a little on the light side—somewhat reminiscent of a ghost town. Because of its problems, you’ll see fewer and fewer Mac-based games coming out, and the ones that do support the Mac will come out 90 days or more after their Windows 95 counterparts. Publishers by and large develop for Windows 95 first (due to its large market share), and they are less and less willing to hold up a Windows 95 title’s release while the Mac port is completed. Hence the staggered release dates while the port is finished. However, I’d wager that even fewer games will be ported as time goes by.

On the up side, a survivor of the Sprockets team at Apple publicly stated on various Usenet forums that the company has not abandoned game development entirely. He said he is working with the team that is developing their next generation operating system, code named Rhapsody, in an effort to ensure that the operating system will contain the key game-related features and capabilities required for high performance games. IDC predicts that the market share of Macs will actually increase to 12 percent by 2001—due to clone makers licensing the Mac OS—but that is still a small market overall. The Mac game market is still one worth playing in, but most developers seem to be porting a select few titles to the platform. NovaLogic, for instance, commits to porting only one of its hottest products each year to the Mac platform. Console Platform Outlook The current specifications for the four major console devices are compared in Chapter 11. Concerning the future, the news and rumor mill info we’ve seen indicates the following: • The M2 will debut from Panasonic, perhaps in 1998. The system specs are strong enough to hit at that time. • Sega, possibly, and Sony, most likely, will also announce new hardware in 1998; speculation is strong that Sony’s next console will be backward compatible with the software from the current PlayStation. • Nintendo seems to feel strongly that its current platform will stick around until 2000. In the meantime, it is expected to debut an attachment to the current system that will add an optical drive for mass storage and a modem for connectivity. Down the line, it may even integrate this into a single product. • Several other companies are working on console-style systems, but no one’s talking publicly. These systems range from hybrid WebTV/Console systems to next generation settop boxes that offer server-based console experiences. • Expect the next round of consoles—after the current generation—to standardize on DVDbased drives. Arcade PC The following shows the specification for the Arcade PC initiative put forth by Intel at the 1997 Computer Game Developers’ Conference: • • • • • • •

Windows NT 5.0 using DirectX 5.0/6.0 as the multimedia API 233 MHz Pentium II 32MB of memory 2D and 3D graphics acceleration Full duplex audio 56.6 Kbps modem Universal Serial Bus

• Standardized casings and replaceable controls Arcade owners can expect the cost of a basic unit to drop from $15,000 to $5,000, giving them entirely new margins to work on. No one has predicted how the ultimate installed base will pan out, but several manufacturers have endorsed the system. Intel isn’t going to restrict title development for the systems, so developers should be in the clear provided they can build distribution of the product in the arcade channel. The Arcade PC initiative, though from Intel, does include Microsoft’s Windows NT as the OS. Microsoft will probably refer to this specification as a derivative of whatever it defines for the overall Public PC, much as it defines Entertainment PC as a derivative of its Basic PC spec. The baseline graphics controller is Quantum 3D’s Obsidian 2440 card. This card uses the 3Dfx chip set and delivers peak performance of 450,000 triangles per second.

Looking Closer At PC Hardware Hardware will take large strides forward in performance over the next 12 months, due to the introduction of MMX, AGP, USB, the Pentium II, and a number of other hardware advancements off of the motherboard. The Motherboard The release of higher speed Pentiums, Pentium Pros, and Pentium IIs will, of course, boost game performance. However, when coupled with MMX technology (which enhances the performance of certain multimedia-related calculations that the processor handles), the new AGP technology (the next step up from old PCI bus architecture, which enables higher throughput between memory and the processor), and USB (providing high data rates between the computer and input devices), there will be a tremendous improvement in computer performance.




RAM/Video Memory With the price of RAM down near $4 per megabyte as this is being written, there’s good reason to think that by Christmas ’97 the standard machine will come with 32MB and that graphics cards will come with 4MB of memory standard. With that much memory, coupled with AGP, games in 1998 will start to make use of the additional memory resources available, possibly by using larger textures (or multiple textures per polygon), better digital audio (possibly positional), and so on. 3D Accelerator Cards The 3D accelerators have not yet lived up to their promise, although there is hope on the horizon. There are a number of problems with this market. First, there are many front-runners in the market. Each of these chip manufacturers is struggling to wrestle market share from the others. Consumers won’t buy their cards until there is a significantly large base of applications/games that support the chip’s features. That requires developer support and, thus, developers are hesitant to accelerate a game for a small consumer. Hence, we’re looking at the old chicken-and-egg syndrome. Second, the features that 3D accelerators support are all over the board. Jon Peddie Associates (JPA), one of the most often quoted market experts on 3D, is predicting that 3D chips will become the standard. In a release for a study conducted on the 3D desktop graphics market, JPA is figuring some 42 million 3D chips will ship in 1997, rising to over 142 million in 2000 (at that point almost every machine should come standard with some type of 3D chip). CD-ROM Despite the marketing push behind the DVD format, the CD-ROM will not die overnight. On the contrary, in the near term it enjoys some advantages over DVD. For instance, the first DVD drives coming out on the market are single and double speed. While a single speed DVD transfers data at 600KB/second (the equivalent of a double speed CD-ROM), the DVD still lags far behind the data throughput of today’s CD-ROM drives (which now are at the 24X speed). DVD-ROM A recent study indicates that the market for DVD drives and players will generate $349 million in revenue for companies in 1997. By the year 2000, the market is expected to grow to $4.1 billion.

InfoTech, a Vermont-based firm, recently released sales projections as part of its DVD Assessment Study, which expects that 80 million-plus units will be installed by 2005. Of course, a large portion of the DVD players will not be DVD-ROM players hooked into computers; instead, they’ll be standalone players or part of next generation game consoles and set-top boxes. Take note, however, that the market for higher-end consumer PCs, like the Entertainment PC specification, is actually dictating a switch over to DVD-ROM drives. So, as those systems switch over to DVDs, every time one sells, the installed base of DVD-capable machines will jump accordingly.

Looking Closer At Software Now that we’ve taken a look at the hardware side of the market, consider for a moment the software. Each year, the graphics get better, the simulations more accurate, the AI a little more intelligent. Thus, developers not only have to predict the future of the hardware, but exactly what the state of the art will be, in terms of software. This is an even harder area to precisely predict. Still, we’ve put together the following, which outlines what we see as the future of the basic aspects of games to come in the next 24 months: • Speech, 3D Sound, and Digital Music—Using sophisticated voice font technology, games will increasingly offer on-the-fly generated speech where it’s applicable. Speech recognition, already used in a few titles, will really catch on at some point in the not-too-distant future. • Multiple Views—As the 3D code for games gets better and better, expect developers to institute increased use of cinematic camera effects. As seen in hit titles like Mario 64 and Tomb Raider, with a full 3D polygon environment, a developer can switch the viewpoint (or camera) around the screen to create dazzling cinematic effects such as a tracking shot, wide angle, or close-up. 3D games will increasingly rely on traditional motion picture camera and staging techniques to improve the depth and emotional aspects of the game’s interface as it’s presented to users. In addition, by switching cameras and providing multiple ways to watch the action, developers will optimize the design and game play to focus on the type of viewpoint (first person, third person, overhead) that is best for the current area of the game the player is working through. Activision’s upcoming Apocalypse is a good example of this emerging software feature.

The Web Sun’s Scott McNealy loves to say “The Network is the computer.” I’d paraphrase for a little more exactness and say that “The Web is a platform.” While different computers offer platform-specific advantages for various types of Web content (e.g., Java runs faster on some platforms than others), Web-based content is created without specific hardware in mind. As long as one conforms to the specifications, a compatible piece of hardware, whether it be a WebTV, an Intel-based computer, or Unix workstation, should be able to access it to some degree. HTML is a perfect example of a Webbased platform. Java is another. Looking at market research for Web-based platforms involves a slew of key tracking elements that go into the mix. While most of this is generic, it’s important to all game developers. To be sure, though, we’ve added some additional emphasis on game-related aspects of the Web.




State Of Connected Web Devices Jupiter Communications predicts that the number of devices accessing the Web will grow to over 210 million by the end of 2000, with over 160 million users. This includes a lot of different devices, not just computer workstations or servers, and not just home or business. Eventually, all sorts of items like copiers, fax machines, ATM machines, pagers, and Coke machines could in some form be connected to the Internet. The concept of connected Web devices and demographics is not just a household or corporate issue. Consider the recent initiatives at the national and local level to connect elementary and high schools to the Internet. Connecting all these schools could create some extremely interesting opportunities for software developers. Current statistics seem to indicate that about 10 percent of schools are connected to the Internet. Jupiter Communications recently stated that they expect 90 percent of U.S. schools to be connected to the Internet by 2000. There are primarily three devices used on the Net: servers, routers, and clients. You are either the source of information (servers), the one who delivers it (routers), or the end user (clients). In each case, developers would do well to understand what the breakdown of these three key areas is.

Internet Servers When it comes to identifying Web servers connected to the Internet, most people turn to the Netcraft survey. The most recent numbers are available on the Netcraft survey site located at www.netcraft. com. Tables 14.3 and 14.4 show the market shares for major browsers as of the middle of 1997. Table 14.3Major server market share. Developer

Number of Installations—June ’97

Apache

489,695 *

Microsoft Netscape*

186,079 135,387

NCSA

68,278

*

Netscape number represents share of all Netscape server products. Microsoft number represents share of servers of any type running on Windows 95 or NT operating systems.

Table 14.4Top servers. Server

June ’97

Percent

Apache Microsoft-IIS NCSA Netscape-Enterprise Netscape-Commerce Netscape-Communications

489,695 167,759 68,278 50,423 37,359 36,244

43.83 15.02 6.11 4.51 3.34 3.24

Internet Clients When it comes to Internet clients, there are two interesting big picture numbers to keep track of and a number of smaller items that affect the client market. First, one should look at the number of capable devices connected to the Internet. This gives you a good idea of how much room there is for the market to grow and, on a worldwide basis, gives you an idea of which global markets are heating up. IDG recently released a press release containing some basic information about the number of households with PCs in major countries connected to the Internet as of 1997. The following shows there is still a lot of room for growth, even in the U.S.: • • • • • • • • • • •

Australia—8.9% France—6.5% Germany—11.7% Hong Kong—12% Italy—5.8% Japan—18% Singapore—7% South Korea*—6.3% Taiwan*—10.3% United Kingdom—9.5% United States—16%

For * countries, the sample was only among major urban areas where PCs would actually be prevalent. A key aspect of connected Web devices is the underlying access software. While hardware dictates the capabilities of the software that runs on it, the software that allows access to the Net dictates the capabilities of its users. Thus, all eyes are on browser platforms from Netscape and Microsoft. The browser battle was originally won by Netscape, which crushed a room full of hopefuls to gain nearly better than 80 percent market share. However, one late hopeful has come back to push the race into overdrive and knock back Netscape’s browser. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer has gained significant share, especially among consumers, against Netscape’s Navigator. In fact, recent estimates from Jupiter indicate that in the consumer market, Netscape’s share will drop to under 40 percent by the end of 1997.




Web User Demographics Web user demographics are exceedingly important to developers creating content, Web casts, or trying to build audiences for their Web sites. When the market for research about Web user demographics began to formulate in 1994/95, there were several studies done that raised eyebrows for their methodology. Even good research about Web user demographics isn’t an exact science. By far, though, the most oft-cited and well-received studies are those conducted by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan Business School. Self-selected surveys (as opposed to phone polls) bring together a great deal of information about the current demographic state of the Web. The latest surveys compiled thousands of statistics, including information about gender, political affiliation and registration, usage numbers, geographic location, access speeds, and much more. I’ve included some of the key results from the latest survey here, but the complete dataset and informative graphs and charts can be found at www.gvu.gatech.edu/ user_surveys/.

GVU’s Seventh WWW Survey The GVU (Graphics, Visualization, and Usability) Center at the College of Computing at Georgia Tech University produces self-selected surveys done directly on their Web site. While not a random sample, the data has held up well when compared demographically to other surveys. The latest survey, completed in the spring of 1997, found 30 million Web users in the U.S. alone, though year-to-year growth had slowed from its double-digit initial surge. 44 percent of users reported not wanting to pay to access sites because they knew they were able to access the content on other sites for free. The average age of users responding to the survey was 35.2. This age finding is skewing upward as older users begin to access the Web more. There is a 69 percent/31 percent male to female ratio in the U.S., while European users were split 85 percent/15 percent. In terms of access, 60 percent of U.S. users access from home, while only 40 percent of European users report primary access from home. Users accessed the Web mostly to gather information (86 percent) with searching, browsing, work, education, communication, and entertainment (in order of importance) coming next. Surprisingly (or not so if you consider the current state of e-commerce) only 18 percent of users cited shopping as a common activity, even though over 70 percent of respondents reported using the Web for seeking information about hardware and software over $50.

After finding that information, they actually purchased the items offline. Finally, the report summarized the impact that the Web has had on everyday consumers. 35 percent of U.S. respondents claim they use the Web instead of watching TV on a daily basis.

Aside from the well-respected Georgia Tech studies, there is a host of other research on Web demographics and their wants and needs. One market Jupiter Communications tracks significantly is the emerging “kids online” market. In a recent release, Jupiter reported that, as of 1996, there were about 4 million children between the ages of 2 and 17 accessing online content. That market is expected to grow to over 20 million by 2002 and reach almost $2 billion in revenue for developers. Currently AOL is the leader in this market, but Web-based content and specialized content like Disney’s Daily Blast is expected to be big as well. European growth of the Internet is further behind than the U.S. Telecommunications infrastructure being what it is in Europe, and because fewer households own quality PCs, overall usage—while explosive in growth—is still not great. IDG recently developed a Web index, which it is using to “measure the intensity” of the development of Internet activity in Western Europe. The most recent index indicates that, in terms of millions of users, Web usage in Western Europe will go from around 10.9 million in 1997 to around 27.5 million by 2000—significant, but not overwhelming. Another study, which pegged Germany as the leading online country in Europe (due to the presence of the online service T-Online, with more than 1.4 million users), expects the combined home and business population of Net users to climb to over 35 million by 2000.




Connected Bandwidth Issues When it comes to bandwidth, there are six major flavors of access speeds one can commonly track: • Modem Speeds up to 56Kbps—Modem speeds range from 14.4Kbps to 33.6Kbps on average, but a newer class of modem that can almost get up to 56.6Kbps has now been rolled out. Most users will survive at lower speeds, but the higher-speed population is growing. • ISDN—ISDN lines are either very expensive or cheap, depending on the local telephone company. Overall, though, while ISDN use is growing, it doesn’t seem to be taking off as an all-out solution to bandwidth problems. A combination of technical difficulties and costs, coupled with the rise of other potentially more enticing possibilities by cable modems and xDSL technology, may hamper the growth. Still, everyone who moves to ISDN will be able to operate at a much higher bandwidth than a typical modem user. • T1/T3—A typical T1 line costs around $1,000 a month and T3 or better is much more expensive, making them mostly available to corporate customers. While the growth of corporate customers is important, the T1/T3 line market has little to do with anyone but the most advanced and cash-ready individual customers. • Cable Modems—Cable modems are a new growth population in the bandwidth market. Using the same cable that brings cable television into the home, advanced cable systems are able to provide near-Ethernet speeds to users. The overall numbers seem to indicate that by the year 2000, 4.5 million cable modem users will be online in the U.S. That number rises to over 10 million by 2005. Holding back the overall growth is that only 12 million cable customers are equipped with capable two-way networks that can support cable modems. That number is expected to jump by nearly 10 million over the next five to six years. • xDSL—Research by Fuji-Keizai USA division predicts that as many as 1.5 million xDSL subscribers could be online by 1999. xDSL is also known as ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line) and several other first letter variants (hence the use of the x moniker). All of these “DSL” phone line technologies promise much faster throughputs than ISDN or plain old telephone service (POTS). While there is a plethora of equipment, and many trials going on, xDSL is going to roll out slowly until prices and testing can move into a real-world situation. • Wireless and Alternative Bandwidths—At first, many thought Teledesic and other satellite systems such as Iridium, which would deliver a global network for fast wireless Net access, were “pie-in-the-sky” dreams. As 1998 approaches, not too many people are laughing. The progress made by several companies using traditional ground-level wireless networks, and those going the satellite route, has been amazing. Developers will want to watch the wireless technology, and the satellite route as well, because these networks could bring fast bandwidth

to millions of users faster than anyone imagined it could be available. Satellite and wireless aren’t the only interesting Net access technologies; there are several schemes in the works to deliver higher speed access through traditional electrical lines. While there are no imminent rollouts on the horizon, if the technology can get robust enough, it could prove to be yet another exciting catalyst to a world of faster-than-modem-speed Web users. • Bandwidth Overall—Bandwidth is growing. The availability of faster modems and the rise of cable and xDSL technology, coupled with the growth of ISDN, means that a large portion of customers outside of corporate environments could be surfing through Net content at speeds better than 56Kbps and as high as Ethernet speeds. Just taking a combination of cable modems and xDSL technology shows that 6 million households/users could be online with megabit speeds. These customers will want content and products that fulfill the power of their access speeds, so, as these markets grow, look for similar growth in demand for video, multimedia content, downloadable software, and online games. Each time a large wave of users upgrades to faster bandwidth, a whole new slew of market opportunities is going to open up.

Finding Out More About The Games Market: From Questions To Solutions There are still many questions to answer about the games market. In this section, I pose the questions developers are asking about the future of the game industry. I’ll provide some answers by directing you to the current available research channels.

Which platforms are doing well? To check out the console arena, you can simply order a standard market share report. You can also consult with the actual hardware companies to find out what’s hot. I get this sort of simple data from various company press releases all the time. Be careful, though; the real key is not in the number of consoles in the market, but how the software for that console is selling. Find out how the average title sells on the platform for which you’re considering developing, and also find out how many titles per console are sold in a year.

Which PC platform should I support? For tracking the PC platform, you’ll have to turn to the major market research firms like IDC or Dataquest to get an accurate gauge of the machines available with a given feature set. Another way is to track sales of hot games that require a certain hardware level. For example, if a Pentium 150–only game sold one million units, you can safely assume that there is an ample market for good games needing that sort of horsepower. The catch is that you have to wait to see the sales before you move.

Which types of game categories are selling well? PC Data will, for $2,500 a year, send you monthly sales reports on PC game software. Aside from your own knowledge of the market, this sales data will help you determine average sales for

successful games in various categories.

Which platforms are being used in international markets? This is definitely a job for the major market research firms that don’t just track sales of PCs and consoles. IDC and Dataquest, for example, are worldwide firms that follow many major international markets.




How can I find out what price points are working? PC Data and NPD’s “SofTrends” offer market share listings of games by pricing. This information will give you a very good idea of what price points are the best for moving the most merchandise. It will also help you determine what products similar to yours are selling for.

Who are the leading publishers and what’s their market share? To find the key retailers, read the three major retailing trade publications: Computer Reseller News, Computer Retail Week, and SMART: Computer & Software Retailing. To find the hottest publishers, check with PC Data, which publishes a monthly listing of publishers by market share.

What types of people are buying games? What types of games are people looking for? Most developers answer these more qualitative questions by looking at their player response cards, which help them to glean information about their customers from questions like “What magazines do you read?” or “What’s your favorite sport?” Some companies will bring in market consultants who track trends. You can also explore answers to these questions using phone surveys or focus groups. The NPD Group performs semiannual surveys about who’s buying what in the software world. It’s part of their “SofTrends” marketing report. Electronic Arts takes a more creative approach by inviting local school children to come by and play games and then they interview them. I must stress, however, that whether you are part of a huge corporation or an independent, the best source for information is going to be your publisher. If you are working with a company that has been publishing games for a while, they should have an exhaustive database of customer profiles for different games. This is what they’re there for—take advantage of it.

Expert Advice The Top Ten Myths About The Interactive Electronic Entertainment Industry This information was provided by David Cole of DFC Intelligence, the market research and intelligence division of Digital Futurities Corporation (DFC). The company has offices in San Diego, San Jose, and Austin, and is a leading provider of information on the interactive and online entertainment industry. DFC services include off-the-shelf market reports, custom reports, strategic planning, and business development to a number of game industry companies. It also publishes DFC Interactive, a monthly newsletter on trends and thoughts in the interactive entertainment universe. You’ll find them listed in the reference section, as well as on the Web at www.dfcintelligence.com. Myth 1: The Sony PlayStation and Nintendo 64 are sure bets to continue to do well; the Sega Saturn doesn’t have a chance. The interactive entertainment industry is filled with hype, and no one is better at hype than the major platform providers. The next generation 32- and 64-bit systems are the most talked about platforms the industry has ever seen. Everyone seems to have a favorite. The Sony PlayStation and the Nintendo 64 are the clear leaders. The problem is that today’s darling is often tomorrow’s alsoran. Consumers are the ones that have the final say. With the next generation systems, it appears that most consumers will take some time in voting. It is difficult to predict exactly how well a given system will do with any accuracy. With interactive entertainment, everything can be changed by a handful of developers working in anonymity. The industry’s successes are built on the sudden appearance of software titles like Super Mario Brothers, Sonic the Hedgehog, Doom, and MYST. These are the titles that sell hardware systems. The problem is that no one can tell exactly when or where the best titles will appear. The Nintendo 64 has become the hot new system since its September 1996 release. Super Mario 64 is quite possibly the most successful game ever, in terms of the sheer excitement it has created in the marketplace. Nintendo has a loyal following, incredible marketing and distribution, and an eye for top quality content. These are the key ingredients for success in the interactive entertainment industry. The fact that Nintendo is sticking with cartridge is immaterial to most game players who care only about games, and not the underlying storage technology. On the other hand, Nintendo faces many challenges. The Nintendo 64 should carve out a healthy share of the market, but probably not the 50+ percent Nintendo is used to. While consumers may not care about the difference between CD-ROM and cartridges, they do care about price and the type of games available. PlayStation and Saturn titles are around $50. Sega has begun pricing some of its older in-house titles under $30. Sony can be expected to follow suit. With cartridges, the Nintendo 64 will have a hard time keeping their prices competitive. Then there is the unavoidable fact that many titles, most notably sports games, will appear on every system except the Nintendo 64. As Mario excitement dies down, Nintendo will be forced to come up with a second act. In short, there are many consumers who simply will not go for the Nintendo 64.

The success of the Nintendo 64 shows the fickle nature of the interactive entertainment market. Last year, the Sony PlayStation was the most hyped system on the market. It sold 100,000 units in its first two weeks of North American release and ended the year with close to 400,000 units sold. Industry analysts pegged the PlayStation as the next generation system to beat. The PlayStation won round one, but in many ways it was only a minor victory. The PlayStation has an installed base of around 2 million hard-core game players. It has finally begun to penetrate the mass market. However, the hype over the PlayStation’s release is over and it is now on Sony’s shoulders to continue delivering the goods. The only thing that winning round one did for Sony was to ensure that the PlayStation would be around to do battle in the later rounds. The problem Sony has is internal software development. Sony’s in-house team did a commendable job in making some quality titles available for the PlayStation launch, but the main question remains: Can they keep up the pace? Sony’s developers had time to work on the first PlayStation titles, now they must deliver on a consistent basis. Sony’s in-house team has been stronger than expected, but they still have not proven to have the proficiency of companies like Sega and Nintendo. Meanwhile, there is Sega, which finds itself in the position of being an underdog. There should be no underestimating the hole Sega has dug for itself. The company has essentially overextended itself by trying to be all things to all people. With numerous hardware systems, as well as software titles, Sega simply lost focus. Sega has made many promises it didn’t keep and systems like the Sega CD and Genesis 32X were failures that turned off many of the company’s best consumers. The Saturn is badly behind and there is a strong possibility the system will never go anywhere in the U.S. However, it would be a major mistake to write Sega and the Saturn out of the picture. Sega has thrived in the underdog role before with the Genesis and could very well do it again with the Saturn. The Saturn is only one hit title and a solid marketing campaign from being back in the race. The Saturn has a strong software library; Sega has an incredible brand name and is a proficient software publisher. It must be remembered that over 15 million U.S. consumers bought a Sega Genesis. Most of these consumers have not yet purchased a new system. When it comes time to buy a next generation system, a large portion of these consumers are likely to look at the Saturn first. Sega’s challenge is to turn those initial looks into completed sales. Matsushita is another major player to watch. The company is Sony’s largest competitor and owns some serious technology in the form of 3DO’s M2 system. The problem is that Matsushita is inexperienced in the interactive entertainment business. Matsushita has paid $100 million for the M2 technology but has otherwise not shown it is fully committed to the business. The most intriguing chance for M2’s success is if Sega came on board. The two companies have been in talks but no partnership has been announced. A Sega/Matsushita combination, if it occurs, could be several years in unfolding. The moral is that there is no stability or safe bet. We can make well-educated guesses but the

dynamics of the marketplace are unpredictable. Currently there are few Nintendo 64 titles being published, resulting in limited competition. However, if everyone decides to publish for the Nintendo 64, the sales potential for an individual title will decline, even as the market grows. This is what occurred with the PlayStation. Meanwhile, there is a system like the Saturn where software currently has limited sales potential. The Saturn is likely to have few software titles released in 1997, but assuming a Sega comeback and limited competition, the platform could become quite profitable for publishers. Myth 2: The interactive entertainment industry can only support two major systems. The myth that the industry can support only two systems is so pervasive that many accept it as fact. However, we strongly disagree with this assessment. In fact, we believe that, at a minimum, there will be three systems that carve out a healthy market share. It is likely that there will be four separate next generation systems, each with around 20 to 30 percent of the market. The successful launch of the PlayStation has helped confirm that position. The myth that only two systems can survive comes from past behavior. Generally consumers have gravitated toward one or two systems and the others have failed. However, the systems that failed never obtained widespread retail distribution or had a mass of quality software available. The Sega Master System, the NEC TurboGrafx 16, and the Sega CD were failures because of poor quality software. Software publishers are now accustomed to releasing titles for a number of systems and most are supporting multiple platforms. Meanwhile, consumers have been divided into camps. These consumers will buy the systems released by the companies they are loyal to. It also must be remembered that the demographics of the interactive entertainment industry are changing. In the past, video game systems were marketed as a toy for children. The next generation systems are being marketed to a diverse audience, as more adults play games. The larger number of potential owners means there is room for more platforms. In addition, there is the possibility that one system may appeal only to adults, while another appeals mainly to children. The adult market is more diverse. Children tend to follow their peers and buy the system that is most popular. Adults tend to look for something that is reasonably priced and has the software they like. Adults are less likely to buy a system simply because it is popular. In short, there is no reason the market can not support three or four separate platforms. As the industry expands, it becomes harder for any one company or system to satisfy the increasingly diverse consumer needs and interests. The end result is a fragmented market. Hardware manufacturers will not be happy about having smaller market shares. The razor-andblades model, where hardware systems are sold at cost and money is made on software, is becoming more difficult to emulate. Recently, hardware companies have been forced to sell their systems at a loss. Meanwhile, with a number of competing systems on the market, there is a downward pressure on software prices and royalty fees paid to manufacturers. The result will be smaller profit margins for hardware manufacturers. The next few years are likely to see a trend

toward industry standards and a lessening of the role of hardware manufacturers. This will be a slow process, but it is inevitable. Look for consolidation to slowly occur as leading hardware manufacturers attempt to “buy” market share by making deals with their competitors. Myth 3: A) Aggregate sales of next generation systems are sure to be greater than the current 16-bit market. B) The 32-bit market has died before ever having a major impact. The first generation games for the 32- and 64-bit systems are already proving far superior to 16-bit games. The next two years are likely to see the release of titles that could not have been imagined a year ago. Coupled with this is the fact that the number of consumers interested in games is constantly expanding. Together these trends make it seem inevitable that the next generation systems will take the interactive entertainment industry to new heights. It is likely that aggregate sales of the currently announced 32- and 64-bit systems will exceed their 16-bit counterparts. However, there are many things that could go wrong and there is always the possibility that none of the next generation systems will do well. The chances of this occurring may be remote, but they are there and should not be ignored. For the bulk of consumers, games are a pastime, not a necessity. There are many compelling entertainment choices competing for limited consumer time and money. Interactive entertainment is an expensive hobby and the next generation systems require a large initial investment. Many consumers already own 16-bit systems, and 16-bit software is readily available at bargain basement prices. For a consumer on a limited budget, the tired, old 16-bit systems may provide enough interactive entertainment for the short term. In addition, many industry insiders may be surprised at the large number of current 16-bit owners who are completely unaware of the next generation systems. The number of competing systems on the market will only make consumers more hesitant about buying a next generation system. There will be many people who wait for prices to come down to see which system emerges as the leader. This could result in a situation where all the next generation systems have slow sales. On the flip side, there are many who argue that the 32-bit market is already dead. The success of the Nintendo 64 and the emergence of Matsushita’s M2 technology on the horizon have led many experts to argue that the Sega Saturn and the Sony PlayStation no longer have any chance. There is of course a possibility that the 32-bit systems will die a quick death. However, we view this as a remote possibility. Matsushita’s M2 appears to be some time off. Meanwhile, the Nintendo 64 will dampen 32-bit sales but should not entirely eliminate these systems. The Nintendo 64 simply leaves too many consumers unsatisfied. For one, sports games, the most popular game genre, are all but nonexistent on the Nintendo 64. Many consumers buy a system just to play sports games. These consumers are likely to go for a PlayStation or Saturn. Although it is possible that none of the next generation systems will do well, it is unlikely. The 32and 64-bit systems offer significant improvements over their 16-bit counterparts. Many consumers will be unable to resist the temptation and will have to buy at least one system. At the very least,

the Nintendo 64 should carve out a healthy market. However, smart money would also bet that at least one or more of the 32-bit systems has strong sales. It may take several years, but aggregate sales of the Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation, and Nintendo 64 should surpass the current 16-bit systems. Myth 4: Retail shelf space is limited and online distribution could become a major boon to small developers. Obtaining distribution in the retail channel has become a source of frustration for many small publishers and developers. There are many companies that view the Internet and the potential for online distribution as a way to open new channels and reap the profits they have previously been denied. Online distribution is coming and it is likely to wreck havoc on the current power structure. However, it would be a mistake for a company to operate under the assumption that online distribution will stop the trend toward consolidation and the need for a company to be highly capitalized. Even in a world of online distribution, an alliance with a big player is likely to be a necessity. The idea of not enough retail shelf space is a myth. There are far too many products, considering existing consumer demand. Few consumers would complain that there are not enough titles from which to choose at the retail store. Furthermore, few consumers complain about not being able to find the titles that don’t receive distribution. Selling entertainment products is all about getting the product in front of consumers in as many locations as possible. Many purchases are an impulse buy. Impulse buys only occur when a product is in front of the consumer. Currently, most online distribution schemes require the consumer to seek out the product. There is no chance for capturing the impulse buy. Of course, there is the possibility of creating impulse purchases online. For example, a company can buy an advertisement that pops up any time a user logs on to America Online (or another ISP). But guess what—the cost of buying those advertisements will only go up as they become more efficient sales tools. The companies that were once buying shelf space will start buying screen space. Even in an online world the cost of marketing will not go away, it may even get worse. Small companies must have some type of alliance with a well-capitalized partner. Myth 5: Windows 95 will bring explosive growth to the computer games market. Windows 95 promises to bring much-needed stability to the computer as a game platform. It makes it easier for developers to create titles that work on different hardware configurations. The installation difficulties that have plagued the computer game market in the past are partially alleviated by Windows 95. Windows 95 is slowly replacing DOS as the platform of choice for computer games. However, even if Windows 95 continues to deliver as promised, it will not have a large impact on the total size of the market for interactive entertainment played on the PC. Installation difficulties are only one small part of the problem with the PC as a mass market game system. The PC remains

a device that appeals to a high income audience. Meanwhile, console systems are more affordable to the mass market. To buy a PC that plays the latest game titles, it is still necessary to spend $2,000 or more. To compete with the next generation systems, PC game developers will be forced to continue to develop for the high-end PCs. In the next few years, games will require special addons like MPEG cards, 3D cards, increased memory, Internet access, and so on. To play the latest PC games, it will still be necessary to spend about $300 a year on upgrades. Playing games on a PC appeals to a core group of hobbyists. These consumers will continue to play PC games. There will also be an increasing number of “hardcore” PC gamers. The problem is the number of consumers who have both the time and money to spend on PC games is growing nowhere near as fast as the growth in PC sales. In what may strike many as ironic, the growth of PCs equipped with CD-ROM drives and modems may actually fuel the sale of the next generation console systems. The PC is a useful tool that is becoming an essential appliance. The problem is, PCs are so useful that every member of the family wants access. Many consumers may be introduced to interactive entertainment when they purchase a PC. However, people may also find themselves, and other family members, wanting to use the PC to get work done or go online. A family or individual in this situation can buy one or two more PCs, each specifically dedicated to a specific task or used solely by one family member. However, if a PC is going to be used mainly for entertainment, many consumers may decide to buy a console system instead. For many consumers, the $200 to $300 spent on a dedicated game machine is a better investment than spending $3,000 for a machine that is dedicated solely to entertainment. Myth 6: Interactive entertainment is a hits-driven business. To be successful, a company must shoot for best sellers. It is true that in the video game industry, the most successful companies have been those that have released the biggest hits. However, this does not mean companies with products that appeal to a narrow segment of the market cannot be successful. In fact, companies that create niche products that appeal to a loyal group of core consumers are likely to be very successful. Meanwhile, many companies that continue to shoot only for hit products will fail. Like other entertainment industries, it is likely that interactive entertainment will evolve to the point where products are developed for a wide variety of tastes and interests. Of course, the best sellers will always be the fighting, racing, and action games that appeal to adolescent males. However, all the major publishers will be aiming at this target group. To create a best seller will require spending increasingly large development and marketing budgets. For smaller publishers, the best chance for success is to carve out a specific niche and deliver products to consumers whose tastes are slightly outside the mainstream. Companies like Brøderbund, Maxis, Sierra On-Line, Spectrum Holobyte, Squaresoft, and Origin have done well by creating products that are not the stereotypical action titles. These companies build brands that appeal to specific consumers. Brands like Carmen Sandiego, SimCity, King’s Quest, and Ultima have long life spans, across a number of titles. Then there are products like Warcraft II and

Command & Conquer, which can be seen as breakthrough hits in smaller, previously “undiscovered” genres. The moral is that the economics of the interactive entertainment industry are such that banking on one or two hit titles is a surefire road to doom. The goal must be to build a franchise of products and a loyal customer base that can provide a revenue stream for years to come, across numerous titles. This is the model required for success in the interactive entertainment industry. Myth 7: Industry consolidation will result in a major industry shakeout and bring an end to the small, independent developers. Many people predict that there will be a major shakeout in the interactive entertainment industry in the next few years. What this does not consider is the fact that shakeouts in the industry are constantly occurring. Publishers and developers constantly come and go. At the present time, the established companies are perhaps more stable than ever before. Given the past history of the industry, this is not saying much. People who claim “there will be a major shakeout in the next year,” give the impression that this is something new for the industry. It also gives the impression that the industry is due to collapse. In interactive entertainment, shakeouts are happening all the time and are necessary for the healthy growth of the industry. Consolidation will continue to occur. However, consolidation does not mean an end to independent development companies. One thing large companies are not good at is creating compelling content. A well-oiled bureaucracy is not the type of organization that inspires creativity. The small, independent development companies are needed to develop products for larger organizations to distribute. Larger companies are slowly coming to realize the value of top development talent. As a result, leading developers are in a position where they can name their price and insist on complete control of a project. Distribution channels are likely to be controlled by a few major players. However, small development companies will thrive doing what they do best: creating the products that people want to buy. Myth 8: Software prices must be high because consumers perceive lower priced titles as inferior. One of the most absurd arguments that has been advanced by otherwise rational people is that consumers will only buy interactive entertainment if it is priced over $40. Many people say that titles priced in the $20 to $30 range will not sell because consumers will perceive them as being of lesser quality. Of course, many titles priced under $30 have not sold well. However, there is a problem with making blanket statements that consumers enjoy high prices. In the past, with low priced software, consumer perception has matched reality. Titles were priced low because they weren’t any good. If quality titles are priced below $30, consumer perception will change immediately. The problem with lowering prices has been the high cost of goods with cartridge products. CDROMs are much cheaper to manufacture and this allows for more pricing flexibility. The current

problem is that lower prices require an increase in volume to make up for the lost revenue. Eventually software prices will come down to reflect reality. Many game titles are fun, but only for a short period. Other titles provide many hours of enjoyment. Currently, pricing is the same for all types of titles, when it should reflect the amount and quality of game play a title provides. Titles that only provide a short amount of game play must come down in price to compete with the rental market and other pay-per-use options. Titles that provide long-term game play can command a higher price. Already, next generation software is priced below comparable 16-bit titles. Sega is leading the charge, pricing software from $19.95 to $49.95. Many older titles for the PlayStation and Saturn are now below $30. These are often quality titles and their low prices are an indication of things to come. The biggest attraction of CD platforms may prove to be lower software prices. Myth 9: A) Interactive entertainment is enjoyed only by adolescent males. Most consumers prefer passive entertainment and do not want to be “interactive.” B) The teenage and young adult market is more profitable than the youth market. Of course, adolescent males are the main buyers of interactive entertainment. However, the demographics of the industry are changing. There are now many young adult males who grew up playing interactive entertainment and are continuing to do so as adults. There is another group of adults who are being introduced to interactive entertainment when they buy a multimedia PC bundled with software. This group includes a substantial number of females. Multimedia has received an enormous amount of attention from the general media, and even adults who have not played interactive entertainment software are curious about this new form of entertainment. The next generation systems from Sega and Sony have actually targeted young adult males as the primary target. So far, people in the 18- to 35-year-old age group have had a large say in making the Sony PlayStation a success. This is problematic in some ways because the younger age group remains the leading buyer of interactive entertainment. Both the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn are emphasizing racing, fighting, and 3D shooting games. These are traditional game genres that appeal to the traditional video game audience: adolescent males. Many adults like these types of games, but generally not enough to justify a purchase of a new system. Adults are notable for their diversity of tastes and interests. They are a harder mass market to reach and penetrate. The one genre that does well with a large number of young adults is sports games. Many consumers will buy a game system to play only sports games. The adult market will take time to penetrate. A system must build up a diverse library of software that appeals to the wide variety of adult interests. It will also take considerable time for adults to become aware of the new systems. Unlike children, interactive entertainment remains a fringe interest for most adults. The major mistake companies like Sony have made in targeting the adult market is assuming that they have more economic spending power than the youth market. In fact, the adult market is more price sensitive than the youth market. To a 10-year-old boy, a Nintendo 64 may be all he wants out

of life. For this type of consumer, a game system is one of life’s necessities. However, to an adult, a game system is usually well down on the list of important purchases. The adult market is growing, but the youth market will remain the bread and butter of the interactive entertainment industry. On the other hand, there are many analysts who claim that interactive entertainment is always doomed to appeal only to children and a small group of young adult males. The argument is that after a hard day at work, people want to come home and be entertained, without participating. This argument has gained particular credence among traditional media companies in the film and music business. What this argument ignores is the fact that people have always been interactive and continue to be so, even in the face of expanding passive entertainment choices. Sports, card games, board games, books, puzzles, online services, location-based entertainment, and many other activities are all interactive in the sense that they require significant participation from the end user. The problem interactive entertainment has faced is that it has been targeted toward a narrow audience. Not everyone wants to play intense shooting and hand/eye coordination games. Many consumers prefer more cerebral products. Females in particular do not seem to go for the traditional action games. However, women do enjoy card games and board games. They also enjoy certain interactive entertainment titles like Tetris, Monopoly, MYST, SimCity, and Trivial Pursuit. In the long term, an interactive entertainment machine should appeal to a broad range of consumers. Currently, console systems have a narrow appeal because they are expensive, have limited software, and only focus on a narrow category of interactive entertainment. This will slowly change as more consumers gradually become aware of the different things an interactive entertainment machine can do. It will not happen overnight, but eventually games should appeal to all age groups and sexes. Someday, game machines will be purchased for the enjoyment of the entire family. Myth 10: With faster processing power, 3D graphics, full motion video, the growth of the Internet, and the potential for multiplayer games, there is no limit to the growth potential for the interactive entertainment industry. Technology is improving and more people than ever are interested in interactive entertainment. Many analysts feel that there is no limit to the growth potential for interactive entertainment. Of course there are some major limits. The interactive entertainment industry will experience steady growth, but it will be over a period of years and generations, not the exponential growth many expect. Technology changes rapidly, but consumer behavior evolves slowly over time. The most radical change occurs among children. It is difficult to get an adult who has never used a computer to start playing interactive entertainment. Children are not afraid of change and will embrace new technology. Furthermore, children continue to use the products of their youth as they age. The problem is that children age slowly. This is bad news for a company that wishes to broaden its demographic appeal today. The good news is that interactive entertainment has been around for over 20 years. There is now a significant portion of the population under the age of 35 that grew up

playing video games and using personal computers. These adults are comfortable with interactive entertainment. However, even assuming adults buy into interactive entertainment, growth potential is limited. There are many products and activities competing for limited consumer dollars. Many entertainment choices are free or inexpensive. Interactive entertainment remains expensive. A networked family game may be very appealing, but it is competing with a deck of cards. When there is a major difference in price, many consumers will choose the deck of cards and use the money saved on something else. To realize its strongest growth potential, the interactive entertainment industry will have to support advertising in products. The real growth potential in the interactive entertainment industry will be recognized when advertisers start to finance products and allow networked family games to compete, on a cost basis, with a deck of cards.




Wrap Up The critical points about the market are clear. To most every developer, the increasing sophistication of hardware, coupled with the expansion of the consumer base and, especially, the Web, are the fundamentals that push forward more specific market issues, such as who’s going to sell the most games or be the biggest publisher. It’s important for you to constantly keep up to date with how these fundamentals are playing out. It’s one thing to know that hardware is going to get more sophisticated, but what are the specs? Who has the cash to buy the new toys and what is the current split between households that have consoles or computers or both? This kind of knowledge is critical to you, especially in terms of your development cycle. Many triple-A games take a year to 18 months to complete and that means developing for emerging hardware and market specifications. A developer needs to know these things. This chapter and the next one lay out both the fundamentals and some keen specifics that are driving the interactive industry. In the reference section, and with the advice at the beginning of this chapter, you’ll find all the basic information you need to keep up. That means you have no excuse—when you sit down to develop your next title, you can’t say you don’t have some semblance of where the industry (and your next title) will be headed.




CHAPTER 15 Understanding The Structure Of The Games Industry The business of games is about two things: having fun and making money. Of course, you can have fun making great games, but you need to also make money or else it won’t be fun for very long. The obvious solution to this dilemma is to make money by making games. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not quite so easy. Making a great game is only the first 50 percent of your journey. The second 50 percent is wrapped up with publishers, distributors, retailers, advertising outlets, venture capitalists, and consumers. It doesn’t take much research to see that the best game companies are headed by wizard developers who are also well versed in the business of games. Once you have a deeper understanding of this business, you will be better prepared to work in the industry, and the quality of your games will improve.

The Structure Of The Game Business Understanding the business of games means knowing how software is distributed, how games and game companies are funded, how shareware works, and what promotional tools publishers and developers use to get their games accepted and appreciated by customers. We’ll cover all these topics in this and the next several chapters. Let’s begin with Figure 15.1, which illustrates the basic key relationships in the game development business.

Figure 15.1 The basic structure of the game development industry. As you can see in the illustration, there are five basic categories of “players.” Let’s look at them in detail.

Capital Financial capital flows to developers and publishers to help produce a product. In return, the investor seeks a “piece of the action,” usually some sort of ownership either of the product or the company. In the games business, capital comes from a variety of sources. Venture capital is one source, but it tends to be rare these days. The last big venture capital deal for a shrink-wrap product-oriented company was Rocket Science, and like other rockets, it crashed and burned. Lately, venture capital has focused on online gaming networks and companies. Publisher-based financing is the biggest available pool of capital, with large publishers like EA, Eidos, Microsoft, and GT Interactive financing startup companies. These startups are usually comprised of veteran developers. Microsoft recently funded Chris Roberts (of Wing Commander fame) to the tune of $65 million for 10 titles, while John Romero’s ION Storm reportedly got $14 million from Eidos for a multititle deal. In many of these cases, the publisher may also receive an equity stake in the developer as well. Other forms of financing mostly focus on developers either funding themselves (with royalties or past savings), or getting localized or strategic investment from what are commonly called “angels.” These investors may be well-off private individuals dabbling in venture capital. For the most part, financing is a tough road in the game business—this is a risky business and capitalists, by nature, do not like to take big risks. The best bet lies in attracting capital from sources previously experienced in the game business, and today that primarily means publishers. Developers And Publishers The bread and butter of the industry—development groups and publishers, which are many times one and the same—are the key point where products are created. This is also the most rapidly changing group represented on the chart. Every year new developers come and go, as do publishers, and over the life of the industry, the publisher arena has evolved into a consolidated few market leaders. Whereas in the 1980s there seemed to be many publishers of all shapes and sizes, the competitiveness of the industry has seen many mergers, acquisitions, and failures, resulting in the rise of a dozen “super-publishers” that control much of the industry: • • • • • • • • • • • •

Activision Brøderbund CUC Electronic Arts GT Interactive Infogames Interplay Microsoft Nintendo Sega Sony Virgin Interactive Entertainment

While there are other publishers, the companies cited here, many of them publicly traded, make up a huge portion of the market share. Even within this group there are rumblings of mergers that would lead to further consolidation. There are also plenty of publishers outside of this group, including Eidos, SSI/Mindscape, Microprose, LucasArts, and 7th Level, which could easily merge and acquire their own way straight to the top. Many are predicting that, over time, the game publishing industry will come to resemble the record industry, in which four or five publishers control 85 percent of the market. Ironically, as publishers seem to be consolidating, during 1996 and 1997 it seemed like many top development teams were expanding. As many of the large production and publishing houses like Origin, EA, Microprose, GT, and Davidson grew, some of their developers, including Sid Meir, Peter Molyneux, and Chris Roberts, reached a level of experience and fame to warrant moving out on their own. In addition, many developers hated the ever-creeping corporate deadlines and product development approaches larger publishers began implementing to make ever tighter and more important ship dates. As id proved with its “we’ll ship when we’re done” attitude, many developers are realizing the power they hold, especially if they have incredible track records and if they’re a separate corporate partner rather than an employee. In addition, a tighter focus on product development and creativity seems to shine brighter at smaller, more focused developers. Thus, on the developer side, the trend in the industry seems to be a return to smaller, more independent-oriented companies. What is important to understand about this evolving structure is that experience reigns as the industry matures. Developers with great track records are finding new freedom and riches by founding their own development companies. However, these companies are not loose cannons in search of a publishing agreement. Instead, they tend to be experienced teams that are signing exclusive development deals. These deals may lock them into working with specific publishers, but they leave the developers free to create and deliver in a manner they set. Their track record also justifies large outlays of money. These deals tend to focus on equally experienced and powerful publishers. Not many of the bigger deals have involved small developers or publishers.




So, while publishers consolidate, developers seem to be proliferating. The result is actually more stagnant (though competitive) than it may seem, as many of these development teams tend to be exemployees of the largest companies jumping ship. Thus, while perhaps decentralizing game development creativity and focus, these deals actually reinforce the trend toward fewer publishers, which has been happening since the first two industry shakeouts. To developers, this means that more publishers will seek multiple-titles deals, exclusivity to your development efforts, and equity exchanges to create a separate, but still tight bond, that is just short of being directly employed by them. Online Networks Relatively new to the industry, online game networks are growing in their importance. These networks are best thought of as aggregators. Much like retailers provide a one-stop shop for all your boxed-software needs, and arcades collect all the top titles for easy access, online networks are attempting to do the same for Internet-based gaming. Companies like TEN, Mpath, AOL, Internet Gaming Zone, Wireplay, and Engage are looking to be one-stop shops of online gaming. Strangely, none of these companies is looking to be a publisher as much as they’re looking to be distributors. Only a few online networks have also acted in a publishing vein. That may change, however. While many of the traditional publishers held back from the expense of launching their own networks, recent moves (such as EA’s investment in Mpath and Microsoft’s purchase of Internet Gaming Zone) have created a tighter bond between the notion of publisher and online game distributor. This may accelerate as electronic distribution and online-only products, like Ultima Online, SubSpace, and Meridian 59, become more popular. Publishers will not want to be shut out of this exciting new channel. Many have been content to wait while they watched others pour money into launching this new area of gaming. But it’s become clear they can wait no more. The result is that we expect our chart, while accurate at the moment, to begin to show a closer bond between publishers and the online gaming networks. Distributors And Retailers

Once a publisher has a title ready for market, they will turn to a combination of direct sales to consumers and retailers, but they will also make use of distributors. Some publishers also distribute (EA for instance), but they may also move products through some of the larger software distributors that serve many of the individual stores and vendors. These companies, such as ABCO, American Software, and Navarre, are key to reaching the many smaller accounts not served directly by a publisher’s sales force. See the next chapter for more information about distribution. Mail order is another form of retailing, but it primarily serves the hard-core portion of the market: those gamers looking for discounts, and in some cases rare or just-released products. These middlemen are all powerful forces in the industry and they buy the largest quantities of product. Distributors don’t automatically take product, nor do resellers. They bring products and companies on board that they want—you have to sell them just as much as consumers. In fact, many times you need to sell the distributor first, then sell the consumer. These companies employ “buyers” for a good reason. They are the gatekeepers and you need to do quite a bit to get through the gate. It’s important to understand the impact distribution can have on the overall health of the industry. Several companies lost a lot of money and sales in 1996 when it was announced that Software Etc. entered Chapter 11. The loss of all that shelf space resulted in an industrywide tightening. In addition, as key outlets like Wal-Mart and CompUSA dominate, they will increasingly become more exclusive in letting new developers or products reach the shelves. The bottom line is that the retail store is where money changes hands. As it consolidates and gets more focused, everyone will have less of a chance to fit through the pipe. Developers should also take note of the impact of electronic distribution and online gaming on this sector of the industry. Distributors and retailers exist mostly to provide a physical means of transporting a product to market. While they certainly won’t die off completely—and physical distribution will remain the predominant way to sell games for some time—distributors and retailers will lose a great deal of market share if online and direct distribution take hold more. Consumers Who plays games? While that question may seem important, don’t forget that the real consumers are the ones who pay for games, not necessarily those who play them. Cash flows from only two real end points—investors and customers. You would never accept investment from a penniless investor, just as you would never push a game on a consumer who isn’t ready to pay. Lots of games are sold as gifts, or are bought only with parental approval. Think about who is actually buying your game. And remember you can sell directly to these consumers; these days it’s easier than ever using online strategies. Why This Is Important You’re probably scratching your head and wondering why on Earth you need to concern yourself with all this business trivia. All you want to do is make great games, right? Well, for one thing, I’ll bet you want your games to make money. And second, you probably want to build a successful

company that allows you to keep making great games without landing in the poorhouse. We’ve met many developers who work hard and program amazingly great games, but they don’t have a clue how they can get published, build a business, attract customers, and master other business issues. So, please spend some time keeping up with the entire industry. While tackling the business portion of the industry may not be as immediately beneficial as learning the latest texture-mapping scheme, in the end it could prove to help you achieve success.




Understanding The Natural Developer Progression The folks at Looking Glass Technologies, the makers of Flight Unlimited, represent an excellent example of what we call the natural developer progression—the various stages a game development company goes through when making the transition from a small design team to a full-blown publisher. While not every publisher goes through every stage (many cash out in an acquisition or go out of business), this set of stages gives you some excellent insight on how to reach for success in the game development field: • Stage 1: Develop the first product. A team of developers bands together to produce their first project. • Stage 2: Publish the product. The team signs with a publisher, or they self-publish their project using shareware channels. • Stage 3: Broaden the scope. Building on past success, the team begins to develop a strong company with development and industry expertise enabling growth. The goal is to build more and better products. • Stage 4: Build a track record. With a suite of products produced, the team establishes a brand name among consumers and industry players. • Stage 5: Widen profiles. The team, either through an affiliated label or an exclusive publishing agreement, locks down a long-term distribution arrangement. Spin-off products are typically developed and published to provide the developer with more income streams. • Stage 6: Become a full publisher. Once a development team reaches affiliated label status, they are one step from becoming their own publisher. At this stage, the developers must incorporate a sales force and make their own key distribution contacts. In addition, the developers now begin to solicit other developers to distribute or publish their products as well. There are two key points missing from this progression that shouldn’t be overlooked. First is the raising of capital. At some point in this cycle, a developer needs to secure a significant amount of capital. This can take the form of a small seed fund from a publisher or benefactor for producing a specific product, or it can be major funding from venture capital financing or even a public offering. Public offerings and venture capital deals are fairly rare in the traditional game business, but there has been a lot of publisher-based financing such as Eidos’ deal with ION Storm or Microsoft’s deal with Digital Anvil. Second, there is the potential for cashing in. Especially today, many developers never reach the stage

where they become full publishers. Not only does this stage take a lot of work and capital, but there isn’t as much room for full publishers as there once was. Many developers cash out either after creating a company capable of producing several quality games a year, or once they reach the higher profile of affiliated label status.

Choosing Your Business Model There are many different ways to make money in the game business today, as compared to three or four years ago. Not all approaches work as well as others, and some of the newer ideas are somewhat esoteric. Becoming familiar with the different business models is important because it can affect the games you decide to make. For example, if you decide to build on a model that simultaneously develops games that work on multiple platforms, you can’t design games that take advantage of many platform-specific features. Or, if you decide to make money with shareware, you need to design games that work well as shareware—these tend to be well-executed arcade products, so developing an RPG wouldn’t be a good choice. Let’s define some of the business models in use today. Shrink-Wrapped Models The bread and butter money makers of the game industry are games that are sold in finished form at retail outlets throughout the world. Ninety percent or more of the game industry’s total revenue comes from retail products. In our opinion, there are two emerging business models for creating shrink-wrapped retail games.

High-End When it comes to pricing, the software business is becoming two tiered. You either pull out all the stops in your marketing efforts to create a blockbuster high-end game, or you go for a more valueconscious approach. High-end strategies are built around two basic philosophies: You can create a product that uses a sophisticated 3D game engine and features well-known performers in high-quality digital video, or you can simply sell a product for a lot of money to make up for expected small sales figures (even good games may sell as few as 30,000 copies).

Low-End For a long time, most new software was high priced. Sure, there were some value-conscious software packages (anyone remember the British-based Mastertronic?), and companies like EA reissued games that had been out a year or more with budget-friendly price tags, but these weren’t exactly what I’d call quality low-end products.

Today, though, companies like SoftKey, Corel, and Microsoft (yes, Microsoft) are cutting prices to provide new games at prices more appealing to customers. The developers of these products are learning to make games with less development time and lower costs. They’re taking advantage of overseas programmers, and using time-saving programming libraries and art tools. While all developers seek to lower development costs, many companies are specifically designing their products so that they don’t need a lot of multimedia features that cost a lot to produce. With the retail business model, you have to decide which road you want to take and stick with it. If you want to sell games for $19.95, you can’t create games that cost $12 million to produce (unless you plan on selling 1.2 million copies or more just to break even). Likewise, if you plan on regularly asking consumers to fork out $79.95 for a game, it had better be amazing. Shareware/Freeware Models We’ll discuss much more about the shareware model in the next section, but let’s list the business models it’s spawned.




Direct Sales/LCR (Low-Cost Retailing) LCR, the sale of full versions of released shareware at retail, got big for a while but has died down recently. As faster modem speeds have come along, and more sophisticated electronic delivery means come together, the real movement will be to directly sell the full version of shareware games online. Shareware has increasingly become popular as companies like Apogee, Epic, and MVP have launched themselves solely on the backs of shareware products, while larger publishers such as Interplay and Virgin have also embraced shareware models. In addition, posting the shareware version on public computer networks allows developers/publishers to cut low-cost retail (LCR) publishing deals, which provides them with royalties. (These are deals where a company sells your shareware version at retail, for a low price, and you receive a royalty, say $.30 a copy on a $5.00 game.) Some shareware developers, such as id and Apogee, have taken this model a step further and, instead of cutting multiple LCR deals (many LCR deals are nonexclusive), they distribute their LCR games on their own, or give exclusive license to a specific publisher for their retail sales. This allows them to have more control over the retail distribution of their shareware. We’ll look at details of shareware marketing in the coming chapters.

Critical Mass The critical mass approach is just a further progression of the direct sales business model. With this approach, developers use shareware not only to make money through direct sales of the full version of the product, as well as LCR sales; they also use the critical mass from a successful shareware version to catapult a revised version into success in the retail sector. Interplay and id Software used this model to successfully market Descent and Doom.

Razor And Blades This approach is a newer, emerging derivative of the shareware concept. With the razor and blades model, a company publishes a game as shareware and then sells a series of new modules over time. These enhancements might be quarterly CDs packed with new levels of play. Unlike the traditional shareware model, the idea is to promote a game engine. One company that used this approach in an interesting way was Crack dot Com. This startup has

produced a game called Abuse, a fun-to-play platform game. After the initial release, the company began to solicit new levels from customers, which they can create with a built-in editor. If Crack dot Com liked the level, they placed it on a CD of levels that they then sold. For their work, the level designers receive a small royalty. This model came about after developers saw the huge after-market companies created by packaging CDs full of new levels for games.

Sponsored Games While it’s only been a fringe business, advertising in games is sure to take off. As more and more people begin spending time away from TV to play games, advertisers are going to have to shift funds to this medium. In this business model, a game developer creates a game that revolves around a specific advertiser. The advertiser would provide funding and would package and promote the game, giving the developer a flat fee or a royalty based on the number of downloads. For example, Jeep might pay a developer to create an off-road racing game that allows players to drive all the different Jeep models in a cross-country, off-road race. Users could send in registration cards for the full version or visit a local dealership for it. And you know what car dealers say, “Just get ’em in the door, the sales staff will do the rest.” Online Models The newest business model in the game industry revolves around the growing online universe. Currently, many major industry players are developing products that combine the fun and moneymaking potential of the Internet with games. Let’s look at the more common emerging business models.

Timed/Subscription-Based Online Game Providers The online universe has found revenue success primarily through selling time or subscriptions to their services. Most online gaming business models work the same way: Developers or publishers receive money from people who pay to go online and play the games. Sometimes the games will be based directly on the Web or on an online service; other times, a network will be used to simply route messages to and from different machines running locally based game software.

Retail Shrink-Wrapped Clients Using this model, companies sell the program used to play the online game as a retail product. Customers get all the online time they want (or they pay a fee), but need to purchase the product to play the online game.

Licensed Server This isn’t an obvious business model yet, but it could be a potential money maker in some situations. In this setup, developers create their own server product that handles the client package they also produce. The package, or the rights to sell client packages and run local servers on the Internet, is then licensed to various parties with those parties paying into a franchise-like royalty scheme.

Sponsored Online Approach The online advertising business has been much slower to develop than many had originally thought. Unlike retail-sponsored products, online games can offer advertisers a chance to tailor their ads to demographics. In addition, they can attract multiple sponsors, as opposed to the more exclusive opportunities of retail sponsorship, which are limited in their advertising flexibility. Already, several Web-based game developers, like The Riddler Project (www.riddler.com) and AT&T Web Shop Downtown Digital (www.dtd.com), have been creating Web-based games that depend on advertiser fees for revenue.




Expand The Retail Model As online gaming has grown throughout 1996 and 1997, the most compelling online model has been one based simply on selling more retail units. In this model, a compelling multiplayer segment is created and offered for virtually nothing or absolutely free. This portion of the game allows people hours of additional enjoyment beyond the single player model. That addition drives retail sales even higher as people want to get the game to play it online. The most notable example of this has been Blizzard’s Diablo—a product people could play online via Blizzard’s free Battle.net service. Since the online service was free, Diablo was an online hit. Many more copies were sold at retail as a result. Quake, and other titles like Command & Conquer, have benefited at retail because of their online components. But Diablo was the first time that an online version was deliberately released to crank up sales of the retail version. It’s important to understand that this model requires you to keep your online segment costs low. Unlike more expensive online products, the investment needs to be contained because all the revenue is based on a short time-limited run of the shrink-wrapped product. This creates a basic problem: Because you need to keep the online investment small, you must also keep the feature base and robustness of the online portion minimal as well. This caused problems, for instance, on Battle.net, when hackers and cheats began assaulting the service, and when, after some great initial time, the online component became fairly repetitive. However the model did work overall and contributed greatly to the game’s success.

Enhanced Service Model This model is a cross between the plethora of free services that have arrived and the more upscale services that have had a hard time breaking through. Many major online gaming services (and other vendors) have created a model in which there is a large free aspect to their services and products. But users need to pay a one-time, monthly, or other fee to get into an enhanced area, which may involve tournaments, faster latency times, or other special features. This enhanced service model is similar to that of shareware or other prominent “upgrade” schemes that are the lifeblood of many portions of the technology business. It’s hoped that hard-core players or major fans of a product will be willing to pay extra fees for enhanced service. Meanwhile, the free aspect makes it certain that the market uses the product to begin with. As many are finding out, a

game has to have a fan base before people are willing to pay more to experience the enhanced product. In addition, many games like Quake, or other types of twitch games (arcade products), benefit from enhanced services that themselves may cost extra to implement (e.g., guaranteed low latencies). Overall, this model seems to be progressing. As the subscription-only formats began to crumble, it became clear that some sort of free models had to develop. As models such as Battle.net or advertising-subsidized models have sprouted up, the number of players signing on has improved dramatically. Players are learning the benefit of enhanced service, so, in a roundabout way, the payto-play model has returned in a slightly different context.

Microtransactional model While this model is very much in its infancy, several prominent people, including video game pioneer Nolan Bushnell, see a chance for a micro-transactional model to develop in the online gaming industry. We call this “virtual quarter” because it will essentially be based on paying a small one-time fee—perhaps $.25 to $1.00—for access to the game. Like arcade games, these games will allow play for as long as you can sustain the qualifications, such as not dying, beating a time limit, etc. It’s yet to be determined whether this model will take off, mainly because the commerce systems for microtransactions are still not broad enough to make it as easy as dropping $.50 into Sega Rally at the local arcade. However, that will change as companies like Wave Interactive Network, First Virtual, and Digital River improve their transactional process.

Development Business Models In the previous section, we discussed many of the overall models you can use to structure your business ideas. This should give you a good start, but it won’t help when you decide to actually begin developing your game. In this section, I’ll show you the models you can use to develop your game. Whether you choose to simultaneously develop a game for multiple platforms (not really an option for smaller developers), or plan to incorporate licensed property into your game, you need to decide this before you begin development. Technology First Model In an age of MMX, 3Dfx, Quake Engines, and Voxel Space technology, many developers are constructing development business models based on first bringing a key technology to life, and then creating a game with it. While this has been a problematic model at times, it is increasingly potent as computers take on power that creates real room for strongly implemented software technologies to be the forefront draw. NovaLogic is an excellent example of a company that is using this model effectively. It created a fast Voxel-based technology that supplies an incredibly realistic terrain engine. The technology, dubbed Voxel Space, has had several iterations over the years, and each time it has created new opportunities to bring out exciting state-of-the-art titles. With this terrain engine in place, the company saw a great

opportunity to build cutting-edge flight and military simulations. The technology leapt first and the game followed. As a result, the Voxel Space technology has become a brand for the company. It has leveraged this to some success against other military games by hyping the realistic terrain and graphics the technology generates. Of course, id Software and other “engine-first” developers have also found this to be a successful model.




Key to this business model is commitment. Technology-first development is an R&D-intensive task in which a game might not go into development for months until a capable technology is provided. And sometimes, it isn’t until after the technology is developed that the idea of what game to make becomes obvious. In addition, how many times has a technology lead model crashed and burned when the technological goals didn’t materialize? It was reported that John Carmack had several restarts before the Quake technology proved capable enough. Thus, a developer and its backers need to be able to withstand the time and resources it can take to pull this model through. Many times these projects start with fairly open-ended goals, so tracking the progress and predicting its outcome can be far tougher than other straightforward game development projects. The upside to the model is that, when it works, you have a specific technology platform to leverage in the market. Clearly, success here gives you some exclusivity, as your resulting technology should be unparalleled until others catch up. Second, developers following this model usually find the ability to reap multiple streams of revenue as they license or create numerous products over the technology’s life. These multiple streams are what often justify the expensive investment in R&D, time, and risk in this model. Further success here is dependent on two items: quick capitalization of the technological lead (remember others will catch up), and immediately defending the technology through constant upgrading and, if necessary, through patent protection if you feel your discovery is incredibly unique. Technology Engine And Licensing Model As gaming gets more and more complex and technology-based engines become a key element to the business, there is an increasingly engaged model based on simply supplying core-game engines to the development market. Whether a developer of an engine chooses to only license the engine, or produce a game with it and also license it, is up to them. Overall, though, this is another model in which a game engine is developed first and games are developed second, usually by additional teams and under license. Key to a developer deciding on this model is figuring out on which side of the equation they’d do best. There are equally interesting success stories on both sides—just look at id on the engine side and Raven on the game production side. When choosing to be an engine creator, you have two key decisions to make. The first is what

conditions you will set to sell the engine, and second is whether you will also construct a product from it. In this model, you are intentionally choosing not to exclusively hold on to the engine. It’s assumed you expect to make a lot of money from licensing the engine. Things to consider are the amount of licensees, price, code access, support contracts, developmental partnership, and more. You’ll want to set these conditions and stick to them. If you decide to create a product from your own technology, realize that you may muddy your identity. By bringing out a game, you will be far more than a technology company; you’ll also be a game developer. That means the product needs to be a very competent game—much more than just a technical example of the engine’s power. That means including all the extras, such as some sort of story, characters, gameplay, and other design elements. It also means hitting a development schedule, marketing work, and more. On the upside, though, it can be a complementary strategy to your licensing model. If your game proves extremely successful, it can help bring business to your engine. In addition, by shooting for a game-capable engine, you will make sure it’s state of the art. Also, the insight gained preparing a commercial title for your engine will help your licensing partners down the road. Ever since id made significant headway with the licensing of the Wolfenstein, Doom, and Quake engines, this has become a much more popular model of business for some core teams. Two keys seem apparent though. First and foremost, the engine has to be technologically head and shoulders above current offerings, and, second, it’s important to have a technology take on a brand appeal. How many times have you heard of a game that touted itself as based on the Doom or Quake engine? Even today’s next generation engines, like 3D Realms’ Prey engine, or id’s next generation Trinity engine, are excellent examples of the need to name and promote their development. As people begin to recognize these engines, sales for games based on them will follow. Simultaneous Release Model This approach is quickly becoming a major practice in the game industry. Using well-managed crossplatform development techniques (including simply waiting for the last version to be completed), developers work to ship the same game title across multiple platforms simultaneously. These products include not only the various computer and console platforms, but also various language and cultural versions. As we hinted at earlier, only larger publishers who can afford parallel development teams, and to wait for the lagging versions to get finished, are really able to pull off this development scheme. If you can swing it, simultaneous releases make excellent business sense. All the advertising costs can be concentrated at one time, paid for from the profits of multiple product sales. EA, for example, uses this scheme particularly well for its EA Sports label. By simultaneously releasing EA Sports games for PCs and other platforms, they can spread the costs and benefits of their TV advertising across the sales of all the different versions of the software. Another issue that comes into play is the problem of piracy. Although many games are playable no matter what language appears on the screen, you wouldn’t market a Japanese translation of a game in

India. Software pirates, however, aren’t concerned with that issue, and actively resell various translations to any market that can use them. By releasing all translations at one time, companies are able to maximize their efforts against pirated versions. In the multiplatformed, global market that is the game business, companies are increasingly turning to worldwide, simultaneous platform releases as the development and business model of choice. And, until the entire world agrees on one hardware platform and one language, this model will continue to be the most pursued business model by larger developers well into the future.




Platform Specificity Model Some game development companies have found that they can earn revenue, or find development capital, from hardware companies by pledging to create software that takes advantage of the underlying technology. The disadvantage to this approach, however, is that a game so closely knit to hardware is difficult to port to other platforms. Portability is a valid concern; however, it is shortsighted to say that platform specificity closes the book on simultaneous releases. The issue boils down to lag time. If you can create a game that takes full advantage of the features of different hardware, and the lag time between the first version being completed and the next version is short enough, you could pursue both development schemes. Many smaller developers, especially PC-focused houses, work more toward platform specificity because they see no potential in other platforms. Perhaps the game in development is fundamentally different from one platform to the next (trying to port a digital video-driven game to a cartridge-based console, for example), or the developer doesn’t have the funds or experience in-house to move a game to multiple platforms. Sometimes the developer feels the consumer responds better to a product that pushes the capabilities of the hardware they already own. Whatever the reason, creating a game for a single platform has been extremely lucrative for many developers. Licensed Property Development Using licensed property in a game has proven to be extremely popular and profitable for game developers. Whether you choose to make a game based on Marvel’s X-Men, Disney’s latest animated film, or an NBA team and player, you will surely find success with consumers. Companies like Acclaim, 7th Level, Electronic Arts, and Virgin have all aggressively pursued licenses of various types to either drive their design ideas or enhance already developed products. There’s also a very positive flip side to the licensed property business model—creating original characters and game worlds that themselves generate licensable products. For example, a developer might create a series of children’s games based on a striking-looking alien, then earn revenue from licensing the alien for children’s clothes, books, television, you name it. If you don’t believe it, take a look at Table 15.1 to see a list of games and the products their creators have licensed.

Table 15.1Licensed products generated from original games. Game

Developer

Licensed Products

Carmen Sandiego

Brøderbund

Wing Commander Mario Brothers

Origin/EA Nintendo

Myst Doom

Cyan id Software

PBS game show, Fox Television cartoon, backpacks, and more Series of books Cartoon, movie rights, and everything else you can think of Movie rights Movie rights

Next time you sit down to develop your game, put a little bit of thought into the characters and worlds you design. You might just find your original ideas plastered on the silver screen!

Find Your Focus In just a few short pages we’ve talked about the structure of the game industry. We’ve also covered the progression of a standard development effort, the various business models companies employ to make money from their ideas, the types of development schemes and how those affect revenue, and several examples of companies and products that use innovative distribution and business models to find success. What all of these companies share in common, despite the emerging variations in their business and development philosophies, is a focused and determined approach to creating and marketing their products. You too will have to develop this approach if you wish to grow your company into one of the blockbusters making headlines today.




Forecasting The Future One theme that we’ve touched upon again and again in this book is that the game development industry is still very much in its infancy. Just as in any business, part of the game business is focused on trying to predict the future. From my work as a market watcher, and in my discussions with numerous industry people, here are a couple of trends to expect in the future. Distribution Changes The game business is maturing and that means distribution is consolidating. In 1996 alone, many companies were acquired by larger players or merged with other companies (Papyrus was acquired by Sierra, Nintendo bought 20 percent of British-based RARE, and The Learning Company merged with MECC and SoftKey). The reason is simple: There are too many publishers. In order to secure better distribution and marketing muscle, companies are bulking up by selling out to larger publishers or merging. This consolidation also means that, over time, fewer and fewer companies will actually control access to retail distribution. Although a boon to big business, this doesn’t mean smaller developers will be left out in the cold. Small companies and other publishers are turning to the growing online publishing model. Once the wrinkles are ironed out of credit card security and high-speed connections, there is no doubt that the World Wide Web will become a major component of retail software distribution. With the Web, developers can more easily bypass publishers, distributors, and retailers, and market directly to consumers, increasing their profits and decreasing their headaches. Innovators And Market Makers The structure of the game business is settling into a much clearer picture of what we call innovators and market makers. Innovators are the actual developers and companies that create the next great game or new business or development model. Market makers are those companies that move those innovations into wide-scale sales and business success. While in the past companies wore the hats of both the innovator and the market maker, the business has become so big and dynamic that companies are now forced to commit to one or the other. Zombie Interactive and id Software, forever the innovators, have taken the plunge and turned over the marketing and distribution of their endeavors to GT Interactive.

On the other side of the equation, companies that aren’t exactly development powerhouses have invested their time in creating lower-cost versions of successfully launched software, in hopes of broadening the units sold and making more money. In between are a few stalwarts, like Acclaim, Electronic Arts, and Brøderbund, who have been around the block enough times to successfully pursue both avenues. However, these giants still find themselves turning to smaller companies for new ideas: EA turned to Bullfrog and Origin for innovative new ideas to market, Brøderbund turned to Cyan (famous for their blockbuster Myst), and Acclaim gobbled up developers Iguana and Probe. It is clear to me that the future of the game business will shift from a bunch of companies trying to do it all, to an equally large, if not larger, group of companies defining their paths as either innovators or market makers. The result will be a more focused set of companies that can deliver great products to a wider group of consumers, using more innovative techniques for development, distribution, and business alignments. And that means a growing list of mind-bending games.

It’s Up To You Game development is one of the most exciting industries. It’s an industry with multitudes of technical innovations and financial surprises occurring every day. In addition, it sits at the intersection of many emerging technologies, including interactive television, the World Wide Web, virtual reality, and more. But also remember that amidst all of this excitement are a slew of failures, big and small. Many of those failures can be attributed to a lack of understanding about the business side of the industry. The business of games is really about creating your own economic and marketing models that allow you to turn your technological experience into successful money-making products. How you choose to make money with games and how you execute that choice will determine your success. In this chapter we’ve outlined the general trends for you. In the next several chapters, I’ll concentrate on the nuts and bolts of turning your ambitions of building a successful game development enterprise into a reality.




CHAPTER 16 Publishing, Promoting, And Selling Games Once you have developed your brilliant, revolutionary game, you will want to sell it—assuming you want your game played by other people, and assuming you wouldn’t mind being paid for the blood, sweat, and, most likely, tears involved in developing this game. To get to this point, of course, you have to know how to publish and sell your game. We’ve covered the ins and outs of publishing deals, but not the actual process that publishers go through to sell a particular product. Whether you’re thinking about being a publisher, or just working with one, it’s important to know one of two things: Either you need to know the particulars of selling games yourself or how you can help your publisher better sell your game. Before deciding which route is best, you need to honestly evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, assess your resources, and consider all your options. Ask around—the more developers you can consult for their experiences, the better. You must find the best approach for your specific situation. Not every avenue may be available to you. After all, a publisher won’t necessarily take on your latest game just because you want them to. But that doesn’t mean your program is not worth selling. Some markets, while worth something to you, simply aren’t worth the time of bigger publishers. In many vertical markets, self-publishing may be the only means of getting your product out there. With all this in mind, you can now turn your attention to deciding which is the best way for you to sell your software and finally make some money.

Reaching Your Customers Game packaging and distribution have come a long way from the days when products were placed in Ziploc bags and dumped on the shelves, or in the bins of independently owned stores around the country. Today, there are many more sophisticated ways to distribute and earn money from games. In the game business, the term publisher often refers to a person (or company) who performs a number of activities—from coming up with ideas, funding the development, and creating the packaging, to developing or managing the processes required to take a finished product to market. Of course, not all publishers perform every one of these tasks. The purpose of this chapter is to get you up to speed on different publishing activities and to help you become an expert on how games go

from your hands to consumers. You’ll learn about techniques like packaging and promotion, and you’ll learn how to successfully deal with retailers, distributors, and customers. First we’ll look at self-publishing, often a daunting prospect. Then we’ll look at what you, as a developer, can do to help your publisher sell your product, if you choose to take that route.

Should You Self-Publish? You may decide to self-publish for several different reasons, not the least of which is that it may be your only option. Before you decide to self-publish, however, you should weigh the benefits and difficulties of doing so, as well as considering other options. Get as many opinions as you can. Talk to people who have successfully become publishers, as well as those who have struggled. Consider the costs carefully. If you decide to self-publish, you must understand the heavy responsibilities. As the publisher, you will be required to provide the entire business infrastructure needed to support your distributors, as well as your customers. While earning all the profits and having more control over the life of your product, you also assume all the risks as a self-publisher. This means warehousing, credit collections, shipping, sales, marketing, packaging, advertising, and other inventory costs. Obviously, the publisher needs to be financially prepared to handle this increased overhead and cash investment. Although self-publishing can be an intimidating prospect, it can also bring the most rewards, both creatively and financially. That’s why many pursue this goal. Self-publishing gives you the option of growing your company; it gives you ownership of intellectual properties; and, if you are successful, it offers the opportunity to cash out, either by going public or being bought out by a large software company. Alternatives To Self-Publishing There are alternatives to the sometimes overwhelming prospect of self-publishing. Here’s a quick rundown.

Developing For A Publisher This involves the lowest risk, but with this added security comes the lowest return. A developer generally works with a publisher, which distributes the product under its brand name and pays royalties to the developer. Royalties, usually based on net revenues, can be paid against an advance. The publisher is responsible for marketing, advertising, sales, and distribution costs. The publisher also plays a significant role in the development process and, in most cases, owns the source code and copyrights to the content. The primary advantage and disadvantage of developing for a publisher are two sides of the same coin. The advantage is that the publisher is responsible for marketing, sales, and advertising, thus releasing the developer from that financial burden. The disadvantage is that this doesn’t guarantee the publisher will do a good job. You, the developer, must rely upon the skills and effort of the publisher. You may also find you do not have complete control over the content.

That doesn’t mean developing for a publisher should be discounted. It allows developers to improve their skills, while being paid and without incurring a great financial risk. You can also work for more than one publisher at a time if you have more than one piece of software in development. If you are fortunate enough to hook up with a successful publisher, you have the opportunity to learn different aspects of the business and make a decent amount of risk-free income.

Copublishing You may be able to move from a typical publishing arrangement into a co-publishing agreement. This means you assume all the risk of producing the software, with little or no input or money from the copublisher. In return, the copublisher handles manufacturing, marketing, and distribution. Because the copublisher’s initial outlay is less, you will likely receive a higher royalty rate than you would expect in a typical publishing arrangement. Ownership is one advantage a copublishing arrangement has over developing for a publisher. The developer usually owns the source code and copyrights and, thus, retains creative freedom. Copublishing has its disadvantages, too. The developer must assume some developmental risk and may not have complete control over marketing of the product. If the product is successful, the financial return is less than it might be with self-publishing.




Affiliated Label This is a sales and distribution partnership designed for the developer who can complete products but needs sales and distribution support. Affiliated label developers are responsible for doing their own marketing, advertising, and PR. Many times they also call on larger accounts alongside their distributing publisher. The affiliated label system, which is popular in the gaming business, helps eliminate distribution concerns, but also still allows the developer to do its own marketing efforts. The money paid to the developer is based on a percentage of the wholesale price. The publisher usually assumes most of the financial risk and, therefore, has a higher potential return. This is another natural step toward self-publishing, but without the cash-flow responsibility. Still, the arrangement is less rewarding than self-publishing.

What’s Your Role? Most developers think that once their game is in the marketing department’s or publisher’s hands, they can sit back and wait for the royalty checks to roll in. That is not the approach I’d recommend. Even if you have the powerhouse marketing machine of Acclaim or EA on your side (and most of us don’t), you should constantly ask yourself what you can do to get more people to buy your game. Royalties are not based on how great your game is or how many polygons you’re moving per second; the success of your game is based on the number of copies that are sold. And that should be pretty important to you. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to get your game better advertised, reviewed, and promoted. We’ve put together a set of rules which, with a little luck, will help you obtain more successful sales: • Rule #1: Get to know the marketing and sales departments and get on their good side. If you are not on a first-name basis with the people who are marketing and selling your product, you’re already in trouble. Come royalty check time, you might find that being obnoxious or just plain ignorant of them costs you. If the marketing folks like you, they just might work a little harder and sell a few more copies of your game. They might even allocate more of their precious ad budget to your game. • Rule #2: Educate the sales and marketing people. The point of Rule #1 is to become marketing’s best friend; Rule #2 tells us to become their mentor. The one thing you can count on is that the sales and marketing people aren’t technical and they’re not always avid game

players—even if they love games. They are very busy, handling up to 40 products at one time. Thus, you need to do everything you can to make them knowledgeable about your game. The more they know about it, the better they’ll be able to be position it, and the more the retail buyers will be excited about it. Most companies have standard techniques for taking information from developers and getting it to the marketing and sales staffs. This information is the absolute minimum they need to do a good job—you should try to be more proactive and ask what else you can provide. • Rule #3: Make yourself available. Successful game developers often find themselves being treated like stars. This newfound stardom translates into potential interviews and features with top magazines and other media like Wired or NPR radio. Make it known to your new friends in marketing (see Rule #1) that if they can get your game covered by setting up an interview, you will do it. You can also go online and mingle with the gaming masses, or have people who worked on the project hit the newsgroups and the various online sites and talk about the game. There is nothing hard-core gamers (your best bet for a national sales force) like better than to interact online with their favorite developers. You can inform them about tricks and tips, programming techniques, and more. Don’t expect any marketing department to do this sort of thing for you—they’re busy enough as it is. • Rule #4: Promote your company. Imagine you’re a lead developer and part owner of Great Games, Inc.—a small development house that just published a game through Monster Games, Inc. While Monster Games will focus on promoting that game, you need to focus on promoting your company. First, you want people to associate the new game with your company, making them want any game you produce in the future. Second, you want other developers, publishers, investors, and such to take notice. This is where interviews and online presence can be the most helpful. But don’t just blast out of the gate talking about your company and how great it is. You have to be careful not to make the publisher or the marketing crew angry (see Rule #1). Coordinate with them; they may want to cultivate your company name as well. Let them know what you’re doing to get your name out there. Your priorities may be different, so be careful not to turn differences into disputes. • Rule #5: Don’t assume your marketing and sales people know anything about marketing or sales. Over the years, publishers have really excelled at selling games. Today, at a medium-size publishing company, the marketing people tend to be veterans of the industry with college degrees. In short, they know what they’re doing. However, we all know that not all publishers are created equal. In fact, some score pretty low marks when it comes to marketing. Their idea of marketing might be buying a few ads in some game magazines and getting two or three of the big chains to carry the game. They’re not pushing for the big reviews, posting marketing information on the newsgroups, working hard to get demos to the store sales people, and so on. Again you have a role in this; learn more about marketing in the games industry and coordinate with the sales and marketing staff to make sure they’re doing all the things you think should be done. But please be tactful; you don’t like someone telling you how to program, and they’re not going to like someone telling them how to market. If they aren’t pushing your game to all the magazines you know about, exchange press lists with them. If they don’t do reviewer’s guides, do it yourself. If they’re not buying ads in major trades and you think they should, try asking them why they haven’t, in a nice letter.

But don’t whine, moan, and make nasty phone calls, which will come back to haunt you (again, see Rule #1). The bottom line is if the PR and marketing machines aren’t as amazing as you’d like, you’ll probably have to pick up the slack. But do it with a smile.




Just because the game has been completed doesn’t mean your work is done. You have a huge role to play, no matter what sort of developer you are. Simply by being more vigilant and aggressive about the marketing and sales of your game, you might help sell several thousand, if not tens of thousands, more copies. This could mean thousands of dollars more for you.

How Game Software Is Sold For most of you, publishing a game is not going to be a major concern—you’ll develop a game and hand it off to a publisher, hoping they know what they’re doing. However, just because a publisher can get you into a software chain like Egghead or Software Etc., doesn’t necessarily mean you’re destined to make a lot of money or end up in the game hall of fame. There are literally dozens of different retail outlets, and an array of promotional responsibilities that you or your publisher must take into consideration to ensure a successful venture. The first thing you need to know is that software—especially consumer software like games—gets sold in many different ways. The second thing you must understand is that each sales outlet handles your product in very different ways. Most large publishers service accounts through their own extensive sales forces. They’ll call on the accounts directly or work via meetings, trade shows, and phone calls to secure orders and promotional opportunities. Smaller publishers will work mostly on the phone but may also employ a channel marketing firm to help make direct calls on accounts. These firms are like sales forces for hire; they’ll visit and work their key accounts on behalf of a suite of different developers. In affiliated label situations or small publisher situations, some sales calls may be done as joint ventures, with a direct representative of the development company accompanying the sales people to better communicate with large chains and accounts. As a game developer, you’ll need to deal with six specific methods of distribution: • • • • • •

Distributors Retail outlets Mail order outlets Direct consumer outlets Bundling Try before you buy (a.k.a. shareware)

Let’s take a look at each of these categories. Distributors Although you can directly approach large retailers, you’ll need to work with distributors to ensure your products get in the hands of as many national and international independent stores as possible. If your product isn’t on the shelf, it won’t sell. There are two major types of distributors: national distributors, like Merisel and American Software (although Merisel also distributes worldwide) and regional distributors like ABCO (although anyone can order from these distributors). You need to decide how to best approach distribution to ensure good coverage. Reading the trade publications and talking with retailers will help you gauge which distributors will be able to fill your needs. Another type of distributor is the rack jobber. Rack jobbers are distributors that physically manage the retail stocking of a particular alternative retail outlet. For example, Kmart and Sears use a rack jobber named Handleman to order stock, and to restock products in their stores nationwide. Some publishers can sell directly to such alternative outlets, but usually only the largest publishers like Maxis, with best-selling products like SimCity, are able to go direct. The rest of us need rack jobbers. Retail Outlets The retail environment for computers has changed as rapidly as the technology sold in the retail outlets. Both industries have seen rapid growth, shakeouts, success, and fierce competition. Originally, software—especially entertainment-oriented software—moved through independent chains. Cartridge game products received mass distribution through traditional electronics chains and toy stores. Today, though, the retail environment is much more complex and the number of traditional computer and console retailers (not to mention the not-so-traditional outlets) has grown exponentially. Many different types of retail software outlets currently exist, especially those that sell interactive entertainment products. While you may need to make a specific stop to pick up the latest business application, you’ll find games like Quake everywhere you look. Let’s take a look at the retail outlets that distribute game software.

Software And Computer Chains This group includes the large computer software chains like Egghead Software, Electronics Boutique, and CompUSA. When dealing with national giants like these, you’ll work directly with buyers from the company. Although these chains are still a great place to sell your games, you have other options now that the gaming industry has become a major source of revenue for retailers.

Bookstores Bookstores are rapidly becoming major outlets for software. In fact, a growing group of super

bookstores like Borders and Barnes & Noble have entire software stores within their walls. Some of the larger superstores like Borders buy directly from publishers; others use rack jobbers. Most of the smaller shops and chains will use a distributor. However, bookstores mainly sell educational-type software.

Consumer Electronics Stores Stores like Circuit City and East Coast-based Nobody Beats The Wiz are long-time video game retailers that are increasingly distributing PC software. These outlets generally stock only the top 50 or so titles, and many use rack jobbers to get their merchandise.

Major National Retailers For a long time, Sears has been a major retail outlet for software. However, joining them now are massive nationwide retailers like Toys ‘[rr]’ Us, Kmart, Wal-Mart, Caldor, Staples, and Office Depot, among others. All of these outlets carry a large stock of both video and PC games (again, only the top releases), and most use rack jobbers to fill their shelves.

Regional Heavyweights Regional stores, like their nationwide counterparts, carry large stocks of the best-selling releases, but only in a particular area of the country. In New England, there is a chain of stores called Lechmere, which is as popular as Wal-Mart. You should learn as much as you can about the regional players in various parts of the country; getting your product sold in these stores can be very important.




Other Outlets There are several other key outlets available beyond those we’ve mentioned, including record stores, small toy stores, educational stores like Cybersmith, office and warehouse clubs, and direct educational dealers like Scholastic.

The Dispublisher Dilemma Dispublisher is an industry slang word for software companies—such as EA and Davidson—that also manage the distribution for other companies in the industry. In some cases, they also serve as the rack jobber for a particular chain. For example, GT Interactive works with Wal-Mart. This approach allows these companies to manage their own product lines (and gives them premier status) and have control over other product lines. This doesn’t sound too fair, does it? While no one has gone to court over this practice and some companies don’t seem bothered by it at all, dispublishers definitely cause some friction in the industry. My advice is to realize that dispublishers can create some tough situations for smaller developers. Many larger publishers don’t practice this approach, and they have the means to ensure excellent distribution by getting around the roadblocks built by dispublishers. These more ethical publishers are the companies you want to do business with.

The Retail Lesson Most retailers, with the exception of software and computer-only chains, carry only a handful of titles. The game business is increasingly becoming a “hits-based” business. Because most consumers don’t search out the local computer store and end up buying much of their software in places like Wal-Mart, it’s getting very tough to crack the stranglehold of distribution. If you want to stay in this business, you’ve got to persevere. Avoid publishing your own games and instead try to sign with an established player. Also, make use of alternative channels of distribution (such as shareware) to get your games where they belong—in the hands of consumers. Mail Order Outlets

You’ll find several major mail order companies in the U.S. and in Europe. Typically, these outfits do large catalog mailings or take out large ads in major trade publications. Many of these companies also sell advertising space in their catalogs, which allows you to be featured prominently in their mailings. The three types of major mail order outlets include: • Major mail order software catalogs—These are massive organizations such as PC Warehouse, MacConnection, and Insight that sell a great deal of ad space in their catalog and mail hundreds of thousands of catalogs to consumers. The advertising placed by vendors helps pay for the high costs of printing and mailing the catalogs. • Special catalogs—These catalogs tend to be a hodgepodge of different computer, software, and electronics items. Although they lack a particular focus, they can be effective at reaching consumers. • Retail-specific mailings—Many of the major computer chains like Electronics Boutique and CompUSA also have mail order divisions. Sears and other non-electronic chains also send out catalogs. But just because you’re on a store’s shelf doesn’t mean you’ll be in their catalog—usually you need to pay extra money.

The Mail Order Paradox Mail order can be one of the trickiest propositions for publishers. Here’s how it works. You call up a major mail order catalog company and ask to be featured. They say “Sure!” Then, they hit you with a $6,000 advertising fee to include a small listing of your product in their current mailing. (If you expected to get the listing for free, forget it!) The company then uses that money, which is basically profit, to drastically cut prices—often below what you’re selling your product for at retail. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up competing with yourself by cutting the price of your product in the retail store to keep your client happy. On top of it all, if the product doesn’t sell, you’ll be out both the cost of manufacturing the product and the few thousand dollars you spent to get your product in the catalog. To protect their business, most companies carefully plan how they use major mail order catalogs. Here are some guidelines to follow: Try to avoid large, costly ads, unless you get a special deal. The goal is to be carried in a catalog for increased access, not to break the bank. Leave the product marketing to reviews and other promotional efforts. Don’t add to your advertising budget just to be included in a catalog. (In fact, being in the catalog should be one of the last items on your spending list.) Overall, consider timing the catalog placement to hit four or five weeks after your product has been on retail shelves. This will give your retail customers a jump-start to spread the word about how great the game is. Keep in mind that mail order tends to be more useful with Mac-based products; PC software tends to sell more aggressively in retail channels. Console products sold by mail order tend to reach customers looking for exported titles instead of games they can find on the shelves. One way you can reduce your exposure with direct mail catalog companies is to trade product for catalog space. With this approach, you run an advertisement in the catalog, and you pay for the

advertisement by supplying the catalog company with free stocking units of your product. If your product sells well, you can break even quickly and the additional products that are sold will help you make a profit. Again, be careful not to overcommit. Start small and work your way up to larger ads.




Direct Consumer Outlets Game players are scattered around the globe. Customers for your products can be in such remote areas as the north woods of Maine or as far away as places like Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. You don’t want to give these customers any excuse—such as not having access to software stores or mail order—not to buy your game. You need to provide them with direct access to your products. Many of the most successful publishers run incredibly successful direct sales divisions. EA, for instance, garners several million dollars from their direct sales. Most companies get direct sales by maintaining a toll-free phone number staffed with operators to process credit-card orders and shipping people to send out products. Today, however, direct sales also means developing an active Web site and commercial online presence. Companies can also enhance their direct consumer sales with shareware marketing, as well as direct mail efforts. My favorite example of a targeted direct mailing is the birthday card I get from Electronic Arts, offering me a discount if I purchase one of their products directly from them. Be careful though; the key to setting up a successful direct sales division is to avoid competing with your retailers and mail order outlets. Keep everything on the up and up and never undercut your retailers.

Tip: Many companies are experimenting with direct consumer sales of specialized products. For example, Origin offers special limited editions of two of their popular series—Wing Commander and Ultima—and Brøderbund has constructed customized versions of its popular Carmen Sandiego series. These products are specially packaged collector’s editions, sometimes complete with signed boxes and more. Of course, a premium price is often attached. This approach can be a great source of money and it appeals to your hard-core fans, especially if a popular product has a sequel.

Bundling Welcome to the wonderful world of bundling—please fasten your seat belt and move your tray into the upright position; it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Bundling is big business in the PC arena. The basic scheme is to bundle a collection of software for one low price, or as a suite of software to go along with a hardware product like a CD-ROM drive. Depending on who you talk to, bundling is the greatest publishing and distribution device ever created, or it represents the dark side of the industry. The three types of bundling practices used in the game business are: • CPU add-on bundling—Many of the direct mail manufacturers like Gateway 2000 bundle multimedia packages and software with their systems. This is an inexpensive way to edge out the competitors and offer the customer more value. Oddly enough, not many game manufacturers have been aggressive in this area. They have most likely held back because hardware vendors were originally pushing “one size fits all” systems instead of specific systems for home consumers. • Peripheral bundling—Again, as a way of creating some small advantage over their competitors, many CD-ROM/multimedia upgrade kits offer games as incentives to get consumers to buy their kits. • Retail bundling—Retail bundling simply involves bundling a group of games together for one low price. Some companies do it themselves, while others, such as Sirus, who’s famous for its five-foot packs of CD-ROMs, enter into agreements with bundlers.

Tip: Look for manufacturers not currently employing a bundling scheme. For example, modem manufacturers might be interested in your online game. Often, the developer must take the initiative in the beginning of a bundling relationship.

The Perils Of Bundling Bundling has taken on a life of its own because of a glut of games and a booming hardware business made up of companies constantly searching for a marketing edge. (Remember the multitude of multimedia upgrades and CD-ROM players?) Couple this with a market full of budget-minded consumers, and voilà, you have bundling schemes! Bundling has been a double-edged sword for the industry. It allows for massive distribution and quick profits for the producers whose software is bundled. (Developers usually receive a small royalty that compounds by the sheer volume of the product distributed.) However, earlier bundling deals flooded the market with mostly older and, at times, inferior products. As a result, many companies have become turned off to this approach. Today, though, bundling is making a comeback. Many bundling deals now feature new software or new versions of older software. In addition, while the first wave of bundling was accelerated by multimedia upgrade kits, today’s bundling is being pushed by 3D graphics cards, 3D glasses, new input devices, and next generation modems whose manufacturers are looking for more than just the obligatory throw-away game.

As you can see, bundling is reemerging in a more mature form. Many of the top-tier developers are working to get bundling deals. They’re being more deliberate about the details of the deal, and many have set up specific salespeople to secure and manage bundling opportunities.

Hold Your Horses! More often than not, bundling deals are acquired by companies with products already completed and on the market. While it happens, it’s rare for a company to be approached to bundle a game before or during its development. So, before you run off to secure your first big bundling deal, finish a product and get it in distribution. Bundling schemes usually work for developers who take the initiative and understand the dynamics of the process. This often involves taking the time to produce specialized versions for bundlers (many times this means customizing your games to the hardware manufacturer’s specifications), searching out key bundling contacts, and, in general, accepting a far lower than average royalty rate.




Try Before You Buy And Electronic Software Distribution Known in many forms, most commonly as shareware or demoware, the rise of the Web is fueling the notion of direct sales via sophisticated electronic distribution and try-before-you-buy marketing strategies. In the future, we expect that the direct purchase of game software over the Web and other online means will grow to dominate the market, from the odd garage-built game to the supermultimillion-dollar efforts. The key to this market is to have a strong online promotional effort and a good commerce model in place, in addition to building a good game and demo version. The world got a wake-up call when companies like id, Apogee, MVP, and Epic rode the shareware wave to some fairly strong sales in the mid ’90s. Now, as this method matures from a novel business approach to a standard practice, there is an amazing amount of interesting work you can do in this distribution channel. Shareware Shareware was the first real try-before-you-buy method, and is synonymous with the entire idea of putting out a piece of a product for free and then charging for an enhanced version once a user finds they can’t do without the full version. Shareware is one of the fastest growing distribution and business models in the games industry, especially among smaller developers. For this reason, we decided to devote some extra time to it in this chapter to help you understand the role shareware plays in the game business. With shareware, a game is typically broken into two parts: one that is distributed freely (called the shareware version) and an upgrade, which is distributed for a price. The goal is to entice players with your freebie so that that they bang down your door to purchase the upgrade, which is bound to be even more amazing. Many companies now use shareware as both a direct marketing tool and as a process to promote a game that will eventually wind up as a retail product. id Software successfully took that route when they released Doom as shareware, offering an upgraded version with additional features and 20 new levels of play. id experienced phenomenal success with Doom, which created such a stir over future versions that they had to ship 500,000 copies of Doom II to meet the demand.

Of course, id Software, aside from developing an awesome game, spent a lot of time learning the peculiarities of shareware. From earlier efforts like Wolfenstein and Commander Keen, they learned how to make the shareware concept work to their advantage. So in the interest of accelerating your knowledge of how shareware fits into a developer’s toolbox (and sending you on your way to becoming the next success story), let’s start with a discussion of the pros and cons of shareware.

Pro: Shareware Offers Higher Per-Unit Margins Perhaps the biggest advantage shareware offers is the money that gets placed directly in the hands of the developer. Because shareware is a direct selling method, there are no middlemen to take away the profits. Let’s look at an example: Product X sells for $35. A variable cost to cover simple packaging must be included, as well as the cost of shipping. We’ll use $8. That means if you sold directly using shareware, each sale would yield you $27. Typically, a standard royalty with a publisher on a $35 product would be somewhere around $2.50. Thus, with shareware direct sales you’re making almost 11 times more. Of course, actual situations may vary, and you’ll have overhead and the cost of your time to pack and ship the orders. But the point is clear: Shareware is a powerful development and distribution model that can possibly increase revenue through much larger profit margins.

Pro: Increased Distribution And Longer Shelf Life Shareware titles will continue to make you money as long as people want to register them (a good reason to make sure your game is top notch). Since “shelf space” is made up of thousands of potential server archives, products can be available to consumers long after they’re in retail. In fact, Apogee was receiving orders for some of its first text adventures five years after those titles made their debut. Cyberspace, the main outlet for shareware, spans far more of the world than do retailers. So unless your product is amazing and you hook up with a major international publisher such as Electronic Arts, shareware on the Internet may be your only hope to reach international markets or out-of-theway places. Translations might be a problem, but shooting the bad guys is a fairly universal concept.

Pro: Extremely Low Entry Cost If you are a small or part-time developer, shareware publishing offers you a really cheap way to get your software “in the channel” and potentially make money—you need only consider distribution costs and the time you put into your project. Trying to create your own retail distribution, however, can cost thousands and thousands of dollars.

Con: Shareware Registrations Are Very Low

Unless you have an awesome hit, your total registrations are not going to make you fabulously rich. Yes, we just told you about id’s big hit with Doom, but trust me, Doom was the exception to most of the rules in the games industry. There has never been a real study of the registration rate for shareware, but many veterans place it at 1 to 2 percent or less of people who acquire the shareware version. That means even if 10,000 people have the shareware version of your game stored in their hard drives, the total number of registrations might be 100 to 200 people.

Con: The Money Is In Retail Shareware distribution of a game is often used as only one of many distribution schemes. While Doom, Terminal Velocity, and Epic Pinball certainly made some money from direct registrations, the bulk of their profits came from low cost retail (LCR) deals (which pay some tidy royalties) and publishing of the full version at retail. The only time a game makes the bulk of money on shareware upgrades is if it never makes it to retail. We’ll talk more about distributing your product as a retail game later on.




Con: Protecting Yourself And Your Product While shareware can be quite successful for developers, it can also be extremely vicious. Many authors report seeing retail copies of their shareware being distributed by unauthorized publishers. Some developers don’t understand all that is involved in uploading their game and then wonder why people didn’t register. Others get burned by signing bad LCR agreements. These things happen mostly because developers don’t take the proper precautions or initiatives to make shareware work for them. We’ve listed several resources that can help you learn as much as possible about shareware. Check them out in the Reference section—especially the Association of Shareware Professionals and other marketing organizations and shareware-helping Web sites.

Developing A Good Shareware Game Remember, shareware is a system to distribute your product; it’s not a product in and of itself. The trick to developing good shareware is to make a game that is designed to work well with the shareware concept. Here are the three key things that make for a good shareware game: • Shareware versions should be compressed for quick download time. A majority of shareware is distributed over online services and the Internet, which means that short download times are key to getting large amounts of downloads. You can do this easily by omitting the large graphics and sound files. • Shareware games need to hook players quickly. Because your consumers haven’t spent a lot of money to get your product, they have nothing to lose if they find it boring or difficult to play. It’s essential that you capture your audience quickly and keep them interested. Games with familiar rules work well, as do games that can be played for short intervals during the day. Card games have been among the more successful shareware games because many people know the rules, and they can play a few rounds of Solitaire before the boss makes it down the hall! • Keep ’em coming back for more. The object of shareware is to provide a full gaming experience without providing a game that leaves customers completely satisfied. It’s a difficult balancing act, but one you need to find. Most successful shareware games are structured in stages or levels, which is why you haven’t seen many RPGs or interactive stories done as shareware.

Upgrade Schemes The most important detail decision to make in designing a game for shareware is deciding what will go into the shareware version and what will go into the full version. Creativity in upgrades is the key to making your shareware product a success. Features (or limitations) like time-outs (Play my really cool game, but not for more than five minutes at a time!) or thirty-day trials (If you don’t buy my game in thirty days, I’ll explode!) don’t really work well. The main reason is that they don’t provide a complete gaming experience. With that in mind, let’s discuss some common schemes used by shareware authors: • 1/3–2/3 Rule—Scott Miller from Apogee software pioneered the idea now commonly referred to as the “Apogee Method.” He thought that a game should be divided into thirds, where the first third of the game would be the shareware version and the remaining two thirds (called episodes) could be purchased directly from Apogee. This is a scheme that has worked tremendously well. • Enhanced Play and Features—A big trend in shareware recently has been to include both enhanced play and hot features in the full version of the game. For example, Apogee’s upgrade to its shareware game Terminal Velocity provided users with more episodes to play, access to higher graphical resolutions, more powerful weapons, and other game play enhancements. Be careful not to hold back features that make the game enjoyable. For instance, offering an upgrade from 22 KHz sound to 44 KHz sound in the full version is fine, but omitting sound in the shareware version is not. • User-Defined Levels—Perhaps the one feature that made the full version of Doom most desirable was the chance to play user-defined levels. The shareware version of Doom didn’t offer the ability to play the thousands of new levels that were designed by fans of the game. If you wanted to play those levels, you had to have a registered version of the product. And looking back, one of the reasons for the commercial success of Doom was the fact that everyone wanted to play those additional levels.




Understanding The Nuances Of Distribution There are two facets to distribution you’ll need to concentrate on: Free distribution, which means getting the game out to the public using many different techniques; and paid distribution, which is basically LCR royalties on shareware versions of your game. Let’s discuss the various distribution outlets for demos and shareware first. Then, we’ll more specifically talk about LCR distribution. Shareware games that are sold in retail outlets run the gamut from disks in sleeves sitting in a cardboard box on store counters to beautifully packaged games indistinguishable from ordinary retail games. Contrary to popular belief, many shareware authors report that retail sales are a poor source of registrations. Here’s why. Retail customers are used to walking into a store, paying their money, and then owning the merchandise. Telling them that they must register for the full version of a game when they think that they already own the game just doesn’t work. Don’t completely discount this source of income, however. The sheer mass of distribution will surely bring in a registration or two. But retail does offer another approach. If you receive royalties on these sales, they become a source of income that can bring in hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month. Prior to the Web and more advanced direct online selling technologies, LCR was an important item in the success of shareware developers. Once shareware proved itself to be a viable and profitable method of distribution, a lot of small companies hopped on the bandwagon and got into the retail shareware distribution business. Here’s how it worked: A vendor would download shareware games, put them on disks, and sell them at user group meetings, to local retailers, and through mail order. This shareware became known as low cost retail because typically the products sold for $5 to $15. What a deal! The only person who didn’t make out well was the developer! These LCR vendors didn’t pay royalties on those sales. At first, it was felt they were doing a service getting the product out to the user community, enhancing the chance for a full registration. Well, for many developers, especially game developers, that argument got old. As shareware products became more sophisticated, it was clear that the selling of shareware was a lucrative business and some companies were cleaning up. As a result, developers began enforcing their rights to distribution, and began banning the rights to reproduce copies of the shareware for distribution on disks or CD-ROMs. At this point, the larger shareware houses had no choice but to offer royalties or flat fees to developers or go out of business. Today, many shareware products are so good that they typically end

up boxed and marketed in the full version by a first-rate publisher. LCR has waned quite a bit, and while there are still disreputable vendors out there illegally reproducing shareware, savvy developers are now aggressively developing and enforcing CD publishing agreements.

Royalties And Flat Fees Before you negotiate a royalty agreement or a flat fee payment with a shareware vendor, do some investigating on the vendor in question. As I’ve pointed out, there are many reputable shareware vendors, but there are a few out there who would just as soon scam you. If you think that a vendor who approaches you with a potential publishing deal is a fly-by-night or disreputable operator (contacting other prominent shareware developers can get you this information), the flat fee option tends to work best. In addition, most shareware developers use flat fee contracts for dealing with international publishers. In the case of a reputable, well-known publisher with a good distribution track record (again easily corroborated by other developers), a royalty agreement works best.

Exclusive And Nonexclusive Distribution Deals The majority of non-shareware games are published through contracts that name one publisher as the exclusive publisher of the product. Many times this is because the publisher puts up the money to develop the product, and is technically the owner or part owner. In the shareware world, the money to create such a product is usually from the developer’s own pockets, so ownership of the product rests with them. Thus, the majority of publishing deals in the shareware world are nonexclusive. Shareware publishers usually sign multiple publishing deals with vendors in order to maximize profit and distribution. Sometimes, to accommodate a specific deal, the developer might agree to make some slight modifications to the products. These modifications usually involve removing the word shareware from the product, making language changes for international distributors, or even making a special version of the product. When you sign an LCR deal that requires you to make such changes to the product, consider adding a development cost. Asking for a fee can sometimes weed out less serious distributors. Make sure you are clear as to who handles the technical support for a shareware product once you turn it over to a shareware publisher for distribution. If the publisher will be handling technical support, you’ll want to be sure the game has been modified to direct calls to the publisher. The last thing you want is to get hordes of people calling you about something you have no responsibility for. Some companies, notably the larger shareware companies like id, Epic, and Apogee, have gone to exclusive publishing agreements in order to better control the distribution of their software. In addition, some of their offerings have reached a level equal to that of retail offerings. Thus, exclusive deals with distributors that have national distribution networks are really a necessity.




Promoting Your Shareware The first fact of shareware is that in order to get a registration, your game must be downloaded and played. In other words, people have to know it’s there. And that comes down to one thing: promotion. We’ve talked a little about traditional game software, but shareware is a special case and definitely warrants discussion. Many of the popular game magazines like Computer Gaming World and PC Gamer now have regular columns devoted specifically to shareware. And, interestingly enough, some major daily newspapers are also featuring online and shareware columns. Both of these resources can be exploited to your advantage. When contacting game magazines as a shareware author, ask specifically to have your package forwarded to their shareware columnist or directly contact that columnist through email. (Many writers provide their online address as part of their column.) Don’t forget to promote your shareware to other publishers, too—it’s an excellent way to prove how great your game is. However, for it to be successful, you should make sure that publishers see and hear about the success of your product. Make sure to broadcast successful download numbers, shareware awards, and other items that might attract the attention of a publisher looking to put out the full or upgraded version as a standalone retail product.

Next Wave Distribution Outlets Several emerging outlets could change the face of game software distribution. While these upstarts won’t replace the old standbys, they certainly provide new ideas to solve several key problems with game distribution. Sponsored Products And Giveaways A sponsored product is one in which a company, seeking advertising exposure, will fund the development with the expressed interest of attaching or integrating an advertising message to the product. The advantage runs two ways: The game brings glory to the developer and sales (hopefully) to the advertiser.

I am surprised that, to date, there are so few sponsored products. Although this idea is in its infancy, I think it will become a major segment soon. The demographics of game players, the ferocious competition for consumer dollars, the growing trend among advertisers to employ unconventional marketing methods, and the desire (and need) for development houses to find new ways to earn money will ultimately lead to more sponsored products. A sponsored product might be given away or sold for a small fee, but our guess is that large advertisers will fund a shareware version of a product, allowing for high-quality shareware titles. The development houses could then sell an upgraded version that will bring in a profit above and beyond the money earned constructing the original game. In the meantime, the advertiser guarantees a nice outlet of millions of people who will experience the shareware version. This business model is not too different from that of network television, in which a studio shares development costs of a network series (usually at a loss) in return for hopes of success in syndication. (Until recently, the networks didn’t get a piece of syndication profits.) Meanwhile, the network makes the advertising revenue from the show. High-Speed Telephone Lines And Cable Networks As the software and games industries enter the wired world, new distribution opportunities are heating up. Already, Sega is pioneering the idea of network distribution. Using a special cable network and cable modems, subscribers can receive up to 50 games per month to play on their Sega Genesis. Currently, Sega subscribers pay $14.95 a month for access to the Sega channel. @Home, a cable modem startup venture of cable giant TCI and venture capitalist Kleiner, Perkins, rolled out recently, as did Time Warner’s Road Runner. @Home and Road Runner allow for rapid downloading of PC games by offering Ethernet speeds for Internet access. And a new company, ITV, is about to debut a box that hooks up to remote PC servers via the cable line to offer multiplayer games over your television. Microsoft and Electronic Arts are early signees, so it seems quite promising. While there’ll still be a need for CD-ROMs (or DVDs), the direct purchasing and downloading of software, either on a program-by-program basis or by subscription fee, could certainly rise to prominence over the next five to ten years. Kiosk Setups Some newer distribution companies are experimenting with kiosk systems, which distribute CDROMs that are made-to-order on site. Working with a large database of games, the system actually uses a CD-ROM writer to create the CD on the fly. This setup greatly reduces shelf space problems and can integrate product demos as well. Documentation can be provided for products requiring a great deal of instruction. The tests we’ve heard about involve placing the kiosks mainly in retail outlets such as bookstores,

and even supermarkets, not currently selling much software. One of these days, you’ll be getting ready to leave work and you’ll get a phone call from home asking: “Please bring home bread, milk, eggs, and Unreal.” The Future The key issue to solve in the future is the shelf space problem. Because the game industry is currently a “hits-based” business, the majority of retail outlets selling games are small and only stock the top 10 to 15 percent of available titles. However, at some point, this distribution approach will change. As the business becomes more mass market and average sales per game increase, expect more superstores to hit the market and expand the retail space available for games. In addition, expect prices to fall because volume will increase. Following all of this, there will be a rise in distribution methods like the Internet, and an increase in direct sales of games. With the Internet and the Web comes the virtual shelf, where the developer gets to determine how long a product remains available to the general consumer. In addition, the increasing popularity of games played directly over the Internet will become its own major distribution system. While players won’t necessarily download or purchase these games, the revenue and distribution system will be one to understand and many analysts are predicting it will be a $1 billion-plus sales channel by 2000. Still, the retail customer is going to make up the bulk of sales in this industry for the time being, and even as newer distribution outlets become more popular, the product’s retail success will remain a major factor in overall revenue for developers.




Expert Advice Interview With A Sales Guru During the research work for this book we interviewed Ken Tannenbaum. Ken had been a top sales representative with Electronic Arts, and is now National Sales Director for Viacom’s Virgin Interactive Entertainment. Wal-Mart, Kmart, Toys ‘[rr]’ Us, Barnes & Noble—these major chains are now selling a great deal of software. What sort of advice do you give to companies trying to reach this channel? Do you rely on distributors? Do you go direct? It varies. Good Times (GT Interactive) has an exclusive with Wal-Mart; they act much like a rack jobber. Kmart and Sears use the Handleman company, also a rack jobber. Barnes & Noble is buying from a distributor. We try to sell direct as often as possible. How important are the major software chains, and which smaller regional chains are major software retailers? How do you deal with these chains and how is it different from working with a distributor account? As the PC becomes more of a mainstream market, the mass merchants will become more important. The lion’s share of PC entertainment software is sold by Best Buy, CompUSA, Computer City, Electronics Boutique, and Neostar. These accounts are sold directly. The account list is different for the console business. The smaller regional chains (for example, Fred Meyer and Lechmere) are important because they offer more places to sell products. Which catalogs do you see as useful for selling games? Do they sell space? Retailer catalogs are best (for example, Electronics Boutique Direct Mail). The other successful venues are MacWarehouse, PC Warehouse, PC Connection, and so on. They do sell space; they have full-time people whose only job is selling space in the mail order catalogs. It usually is not cheap. There seem to be about a dozen to two dozen major distributors for game/consumer software.

(These don’t include companies like Egghead.) Can you describe in general terms how a company would deal with these distributors on new product distribution and day-to-day relations? There is an inherent problem with the way people view distributors in this industry. Most of them are order takers, not sales people. To work effectively with a distributor, you need to call on the account (that is, visit them) and give them an order to accept. Thus, the distributor is purely a physical distribution system, not a sales force for you. To succeed, you either need to have your own sales force or work with a publisher as an affiliated label. But until you have the critical mass to hire your own sales people, you’ll have to settle for using publishers and relying on their efforts to sell the product. Are there any major differences in distributing console products versus PC products? The console products are usually sold on a one-way sale—no returns. [This is a misnomer because you have to mark down dud or dead titles, so while there are no returns of units you still must return cash to the reseller.] PC products are sold with returns. If a PC title does not sell at retail in the first three weeks of release, you can count on taking it back; the retail shelf space is so tight that the retailers will not accept a mark down and will request a return. Do you have any warnings that a “go-it-aloner” should be aware of when distributing products? If you are a small publisher, most of the retailers and distributors will not pay the bill until the next title is released. They might pay for what has sold, but they usually hold payment to protect the inventory that they own. What sort of things do you think work well when selling a game to the consumer? What sort of promotions work well to pull game software through the channel? Do rebates work (buy two, get one free)? Whether you choose rebates, sample disks, buy twos, buy a product and get a free T-shirt or other item, you need to presell your product (using promotion and advertising) to be most successful. Any tips on how to maintain shelf space over time with a product? The product quality will dictate a long-term shelf space. For example, SimCity, 7th Guest, Nascar Racing, all stay on the shelf a very long time because game players love these products. Do you have any thoughts or information about distributing overseas? Selling overseas yourself is tough. It’s best to sign up with an established publisher like Virgin.

All About Game Press Reviews With shelf space so tight and the number of titles growing, game reviews are incredibly important. Game reviews can be divided into two categories: those that reach core gamers and those that reach outside this group to the casual gamer and mass markets. You’ll want to reach the core group first, because they influence other consumers who look to them for advice. Keep in mind that most game reviews that get published outside of the trade are written by people who are hard-core gamers (even though their audience isn’t). And because the reviewers are often given limited space (as opposed to a magazine chock full of game reviews), they review only games they like. That means successful previews or early reviews can catapult into great reviews outside the normal publications, and get you known to a more mass-market consumer. Types Of Reviews First, when we use the term review we’re not necessarily talking about a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” assessment of your game. We’re being far more general. A review, in my opinion, is any press description of your game. There are several types of reviews, which I’ll discuss in the following sections.




The Preview You can occasionally get a publication to preview your game by sharing it with them before the game is completed. In most cases, a magazine’s editorial board will preview only those games it considers to be groundbreaking or tremendously innovative. When you’re sure you have a product that fits the bill, send a demo, along with a nondisclosure agreement and some background information—of course call them first. Right now previews are very big—they help sell magazines and more publishers want to use them to build interest. Many companies are giving exclusives to certain magazines to secure a preview article. One thing we have to stress: Don’t go soliciting a preview until you clearly see the light at the end of the development tunnel. There’s nothing worse than showing off a preview, getting that coveted article, and then not shipping for months. Several products have had problems concerning early previews and late ship dates. A preview should be the beginning of a series of steps taken to build demand for a product. Starting too early can kill the entire timing of such efforts. Key to this endeavor is keeping the press informed during the development process. Once the game world gets word of your development’s existence, they’re going to start tracking it closely. Make sure that once you’re on the press radar you stay there. Send updated demos at regular intervals, fire off emails letting editors know the most updated estimated ship date (it’s best to provide a quarter goal rather than a specific date) and keep a steady stream of screenshots coming. There used to be a time when previews were rare; developers working alone simply kept the product under wraps until it was so close to shipping it didn’t seem like a preview. However, with shelf space at a premium and millions riding on a title’s development success, the preview has become almost the most important press hit a company can get. During the development stage, it’s important to realize that PR is but one more task alongside coding and artwork development. As you’re developing the game, take time out for building the latest PR version, and realize that giving interviews and providing demos for press is extremely important.

The “It’s Shipping” Announcement An announcement review is nothing more than a press release. At this stage, you’re hoping to get a

nice blurb—explaining that the game is available and what it’s all about—in the new product release or news section of a magazine. Sometimes you can get lucky, and have a large feature hit at the same time, but most likely it might be a later issue before a full-fledged review will be printed. Of course, with Web site magazines, it may only take a few days after shipping for product reviews to come out.

Getting That Review Secured The actual review is, of course, the biggest and best thing you can do to promote your game. As with any review, once you clinch the commitment, you want to do everything you can to make it a positive review. Aside from making a good game, the other crucial component of getting a good game review is the logistical handling of the review. Reviewers are not playing games simply because they like them; it’s their job and they expect some professionalism from you to help them with their work. Essential to all of this is a good press review kit. The first step for getting your game reviewed is to get past the hundreds of other products in front of editors. The best way to do that is to create an attention-getting press review kit. A press review kit is a complete package of information and accessories to help reviewers quickly experience as much of the game as possible, and help them prepare a review. Your kit might include all kinds of press- and company-related information, the full game package, and a reviewer’s guide. Some companies also pack in goodies like T-shirts or some interesting game-oriented trinkets. For example, if your game is about snowboarding, you could include a fake ski pass or some funky ski glasses. While these trinkets won’t win the reviewers’ praise, it’s a nice gesture and probably motivates them to boot up the product. Perhaps the most essential component after the game itself is the reviewer’s guide. A reviewer may have only two to three days, or even less, to evaluate and write a review of your game, so you want your reviewer’s guide to be top notch. The idea is to provide the means to accelerate their experience of the game. For example, assume you’ve developed a great adventure game with 50 different scenes and three distinct paths. Your reviewer’s guide would show the reviewer step-by-step ways to experience the game. Basically it’s a cheat guide, but the purpose is to make sure that the reviewer sees all the best features of the game. Because the reviewer’s guide is so important, let me take a minute to discuss some of the other elements you should include: • Make sure that you have a complete list of all the specifications of the game, especially if you have copies for different platforms. The reviewer may only be playing with the IBM version and never experience the specs needed for the Mac version, so make sure it’s right there for him or her. Don’t forget the price, ship dates, publisher, and other essential facts. This information should be included on the first page of your reviewer’s guide. • Embellish your guide with information about who developed the product and how it was done. If you feature some amazing technology like video sprites, explain that in the review kit. Production elements help the reviewer to realize how much work went into the project and

may also help them to embellish their review. • Include cheat codes. Anything you can show the reviewer to provide a total game experience will help. You needn’t share everything, but remember, not every reviewer will have the patience (or skill) to see everything in a game. You might even want to make a special review copy that has different cheat codes to prevent your real codes from getting into the hands of the general public—just make sure the reviewer knows what you’re up to. • If your game allows the user to save sessions, save various games in progress for reviewers to load and play from. • Let the reviewer know about planned add-ons, and give them contact information for development team members. • Include a disk packed with the best screenshots for their layout people.




Other Reviewers Once you’ve created an awesome press review kit, don’t just sit on it. Let the world see what you’ve created in your laboratory! Think about all the other types of reviewers out there who can be of some importance to you: industry analysts, people at other game companies, reviewers at industry magazines, online forum sysops and Web site editors, and, most of all, distributors and retail buyers. All of these people might not review your game in a written consumer magazine, but an early favorable opinion can be equally important. You never know when a producer at a major company might happen upon an excellent review and offer you a big-time publishing deal. Hey, it can happen! Blindly mailing out hundreds of press review kits can get mighty expensive, so when you’re designing your budget, take time to think beyond the circle of major magazine reviewers. Oh, and send me one too while you’re at it!

Public Reviews The rise of the Internet, newsgroups, and online forums means that a whole new category of reviewer has arrived. Users, many of them hard-core gaming fanatics, have created an extensive network of Web sites, newsgroups, chat rooms, forum boards, and more to disseminate the latest and greatest news, reviews, and previews of the newest games. They may operate a fan site devoted to a particular hardware platform, or a particular game, or they may just be roving the newsgroups, popping in to discuss the latest shipping titles and whether they’re good or not. These people may not be reviewers for major gaming magazines, but they’re a potent force in the market. Word of mouth is no longer a recommendation from a friend around the corner. With the Internet, one newsgroup post in the right area may be seen by thousands of interested users. Some news posters are very well known and, based on past posts, their reviews can carry a lot of weight. The point is that you can’t ignore this incredible outlet. While this group is a free-for-all bunch, and not as easy to deal with as the press, it still needs to be worked. Begin by setting up a monitoring program. The newsgroups are filled with misinformation that, from time to time, needs a good post to rectify runaway rumors. You can start by monitoring for posts about a particular product through

Deja News or HotBot (two excellent newsgroup search engines). This is an easy enough exercise and should be part of any basic PR work. When trouble hits, or a particularly kind post hits, be sure to respond in a strong manner and with good netiquette. Many times, it’s good to simply answer the misinformational post in a succinct manner, with the right information. Flash some credentials, such as “I work for the publisher and here are the facts….” Other times, when it’s a great post, you might want to post a thank you note and offer to answer some posted questions about the game. On the newsgroups, PR is best done on a response basis—you wait for a chance to jump in by responding and not by initiating, especially if you’re supporting the sale of a product. When you do jump in, it’s best to be able to bring something to the table, and many times the developer of the product or some other major star on the team might be a good thing. As a developer you may want to monitor newsgroups yourself, since many publishers fail to do this well. However, be sure to inform your publisher about this and clear particularly touchy message responses and other items through the PR people—they’ll want to be on top of everything and make sure you’re helping. However, as a developer, your presence on the Internet and on the Web, schmoozing with the community of game fans, can be among the best things you can do. Resources Promoting your game is a major undertaking; getting it reviewed is simply one of the more important elements. If you’re just starting out, we suggest you invest some time in picking up a few sample reviewer’s kits. We were able to get several by making a few phone calls to some major publishers who regularly send out reviewer’s guides. Another important resource is a listing of the press contacts to whom you will send your reviewer’s kit. In the Reference section of this book, we’ve provided about as comprehensive a list of game magazines as you’ll find anywhere; however, for specific contacts (the names of the editors and reviewers), you’re going to have to do a bit of homework and look over the mastheads or call the editors directly. You should consider alternatives to the mainstream trades: local papers, nontraditional game magazines, and even television shows like c|net or GamePro TV are great places to start. Game magazines hit the core of the gaming market, but an entrepreneurial developer will cultivate other sources as well.

Game Promotion And Advertising When it comes to promotion and advertising, games are somewhat akin to any other packaged goods—you buy ads and do promotions to create demand. But games are also unique and require special attention. Advertising in the interactive entertainment field has really paralleled the maturation of the industry. What began as small black-and-white ads for mail-order games in the back of arcane computer hobbyist magazines has grown to include multimillion-dollar marketing budgets, including trade shows, traveling caravans, television ad buys, in-store promotions, and, of course, splashy four-color

ads in dozens of special interest magazines. Nothing speaks more of the maturity of an industry than advertising. Any marketing textbook will tell you that, as products find less ground to compete based on features and technology, more advertising is employed to distinguish a product from the competition. Certainly games still find ample room to compete on features, but that difference isn’t as great as it used to be. Just look at the top-tier golf games—Links, Microsoft Golf, and PGA Pro Tour. Because they all seem similar to a blind consumer’s eye, the ground now shifts to marketing, promotion, and advertising to establish higher volume sales. Advertising is incredibly important, and understanding how games are advertised can give you a better idea of how the industry operates as a whole.




Understanding Advertising Costs The first aspect of advertising you need to understand are costs and how they’re determined. Advertising costs are typically evaluated in terms of Cost Per Thousand (CPM; M being the Roman numeral signifying 1,000). CPM defines a given medium’s cost basis to reach 1,000 people. So if a magazine rates its CPM at $100, and it has 100,000 subscribers, you’re looking at a cost of $10,000 to place a full-page ad. The CPM varies in price depending on how the magazine and its advertisers view the reader mix. Next, demographics come into play. For example, GamePro is a major magazine with over 300,000 subscribers, but its average reader is considerably younger than the average Computer Gaming World’s reader. CGW also has a smaller subscriber base. Although CGW might have a high CPM, because advertisers are willing to pay more to reach the older, and probably wealthier, demographic, a single page in GamePro would probably be more expensive because of the larger circulation. Print Advertising And Beyond Advertising games has primarily been a print medium enterprise. We’ve listed many magazines in the Reference section that accept ads to promote games. But while print is the primary way to advertise your game, there are many other forms of advertising being used in today’s increasingly mature market. Let’s look at all of them and see how they’ve been used to advertise games.

Print Advertising And Promotion We’ve provided a comprehensive list of all the major gaming magazines we could find. (They’re in the back of the book.) The magazines are important because, among other reasons, advertising in these magazines is the number one way to promote a game. But beware: Publications like Computer Gaming World are not the only place to run advertisements. Increasingly we’ve found two consumers of games: people who are hard-core game players, and people who play games occasionally. These two groups find their information from completely different sources. Game players are your hard-core audience. These people enjoy many types of games and purchase games on a regular, if not habitual, basis. They read magazines like Computer Gaming World, Next Generation, and other trade publications.

A lot of people who play games, on the other hand, are consumers who purchase a game every once in a while. The key here is that the games these folks purchase parallel an interest they have in their real life. For example, take the bank executive who plays golf. Does he find out about Links Golf from Access by reading Computer Gaming World? Not likely. For this market, an ad in Golf Digest might be just as good, if not better, to promote the game. Exploring alternative advertising outlets that aren’t game oriented, but reach the same target market—especially among special interests like sports, driving, military, and so on—should be your first advertising foray outside of game industry media. Game developers need to address the market beyond those consumers who spend the majority of their time at the mall in Software Etc.; they need to reach people who may spend most of their time in the supermarket, or at a Wal-Mart.

In-Store Promotion Two types of promotions are used at the retail level—co-op and simple in-store promotional campaigns. Co-op, which is used much more by hardware manufacturers, is basically an agreement between a retailer and the distributor/publisher or developer of the product to jointly purchase advertising. This is a good tool to use in areas of the country such as New York City or San Francisco, where you might need to purchase local media to make an extra sales push. Most publishers, however, can usually get by with simple in-store promotions for their store-specific marketing campaigns. These include offerings like in-store rebates, free sampler discs, in-store demos, or videotape reels of upcoming titles. Remember, many game purchases are decided in the store, on the spur of the moment. Once your fabulous campaign has generated enough interest to get consumers into the store, you can then try various ideas to entice the consumer to buy your product as they’re browsing. This technique is especially useful after the game has been out for a while.




Online Promotion Online services are growing so fast that no one can keep up. The amount of new users and new content providers coming on board every day is simply amazing. The low cost of establishing an online presence provides developers with the ability to talk directly to consumers—one of the most desirable forms of marketing today. Here are a few tips for those of you using online outlets to promote your products: • Don’t count on or wait for your publisher. Sure, your publisher wants to sell your game as much as you do, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to promote your games online as aggressively as you will. Many developers create their own promotional Web sites that work in conjunction with their publisher’s site. Always discuss something like this with your publisher, but be sure to think about taking the initiative and building your own online presence. • Don’t limit yourself to one service or just the World Wide Web. The online world is extremely segmented. Users on AOL don’t often have accounts on CompuServe. And not everyone on America Online uses the Web. To have a complete online presence you need to cover all the bases—establish outlets in many of these self-contained online areas and set up a Web site, too. Certainly costs are a factor, but a lot of the services offer different levels of presence, from a full forum to participation in a group forum like the Game Publishers Sections on CompuServe. Either way, it’s an excellent way to potentially reach millions of consumers. • Promote the online sites, too. If you’re placing ads or doing any sort of promotion on your own, make sure the online site or Web site is prominently displayed. • Don’t be static. One of the biggest challenges of operating an online promotional venture is keeping it fresh. Make sure you spend the time to update, upgrade, and introduce new content to your online forums. For example, start an electronic mail newsletter that talks about the site and new events or products that are debuting. You can use a typical mailing list server to get subscribers. Other ideas would be to schedule contests and monthly chats with the people who made the game (building up name recognition for your programmers can be a plus). Whatever approach you take, make sure you do something. It’s such a waste to see companies spend the time to build an online presence only to let it become stagnant. • Be creative with your online promotions. The best online forums, especially Web sites, are those in which the company takes a creative approach. Spend some time browsing other

publishers’ sites to get your creative juices flowing. Sierra On-Line recently debuted a Web site that allows users to customize the site to their liking. By allowing users to control the site, Sierra has gained insight into users’ tastes in games!

Television Advertising Console hardware companies have made their mark in the world of TV advertising by promoting both their consoles and software. Surely you’ve seen the wild “SE-GA!” spots, which propelled Sega into market leadership as the advertising established them as the “hip” hardware for kids to own. If the power of advertising had never been seen before in the game market, it certainly was evident with Sega’s campaign. Still, as the games industry has grown, other companies have gotten into the act and established their credentials in the use of television advertising. The most notable of these has been EA with its EA Sports ads featuring a deep-voiced announcer who proclaims “If it’s in the game, it’s in the game!” Unfortunately, TV advertising is not a suitable promotional strategy for most developers. In order to justify the cost of TV advertising, publishers are working to simultaneously release multiple games of similar style (for example, a line of sports games) on multiple platforms. That means tighter coordination between subdevelopers, tighter deadlines, and different programming and art development processes. So even though only 1 percent of publishers can consider TV advertising, it really does have that “trickle down” effect. The trick to television advertising is simple: Focus your media where it can best reach your target demographic (cable’s ESPN is one good example) and build brand image. While announcing a new product is certainly good (and that’s an important aspect of advertising), good TV advertising concentrates on creating brand recognition. For example, look at EA’s ads. While they may specifically talk about a certain product, say John Madden Football, they spend a considerable amount of time conveying a basic message “Buy EA Sports games.” EA is looking to cement the EA Sports brand as the sports game. In situations that force consumers to make a choice between similar products, advertising is the medium that gives the edge. Sports games are perhaps one of the more mature gaming markets, and so it’s no wonder that TV advertising here has been especially active. A common misconception is that TV advertising is prohibitively expensive—when used correctly, you can achieve an amazing amount of exposure for a relatively smaller amount of money than you might think. In fact, as new networks like MSNBC emerge, and a growing number of computercentered shows like The Site, c|net, and GamePro TV launch, there will be more and more niche shows that aim directly at core computer- and video-game users. These will be a critical target for many game companies still stuck on print-based advertising.

Wrap Up

When it comes down to it, what makes money is someone in the game-playing public buying a copy of your game. For all the money promised along the way, for all the spreadsheet and sales analysis, it boils down to how many people pay a store clerk for your box. The information in this chapter is important because, so often, good games fail in the sales and promotion process, not in the development process. An active and savvy developer can help avoid poor sales by being as knowledgeable as possible about how their game is sold. That makes them either good self-publishers, savvy affiliated label partners, or formidable partners to their publisher’s efforts. Every company needs to be part sales and promotions staff, no matter what its direct focus is. The process of getting a product promoted and sold is even more team oriented than game development. So, while your effort may mostly be on making the game, the greater your ability to garner sales, the more revenue you’ll receive to fund your next game.




CHAPTER 17 Legal Issues In Game Development This chapter is contributed by Dean Gloster. Dean is a multimedia attorney and partner in the San Francisco law firm Farella, Braun & Martel, where he represents and advises numerous game developers, designers, and publishers, and is involved with many online ventures. He has extensive experience in publishing and distribution agreements, financing, joint ventures, intellectual property licensing, company formation, and sales of software and technology companies. Let’s say you have great skills, wonderful game ideas, top-notch team members, and the goal of developing games as an independent company. But with independence comes responsibility: You will have to contend with legal issues when running your game company and making your games. Fortunately, you have a guide—this chapter. In it, I will cover how to form a game development company, provide an overview of what game developers should know about intellectual property, look at key issues when dealing with employees and independent contractors, and examine what you need to consider when licensing other people’s intellectual property to make your game.

Game Development Company Formation Issues There are four issues you should address early in the process of forming your game company: • Who will own your company and what is the business deal between the principals? • What is your vision of what your game company will do? • What form of business entity are you going to operate (for example, partnership, corporation, or sole proprietorship)? • How will you handle the departure—voluntarily or otherwise—of any of the original founders? Who Owns What? The days of the lone-wolf game developer, where one person could write the code, produce the art, design the game, and even make the funny background noises, are just about gone. Creating great games requires a talented team of designers, programmers, and artists. Typically, game development

companies are now founded by a group with complementary skills, who are willing to risk a substantial amount of their time (and forgo more stable and lucrative opportunities elsewhere) to participate as original founders of a new company. Sometimes several of these founders continue to work at their day jobs somewhere else during the startup phase, until the new company is well established. But haggling over business points among friends may be less pleasant than figuring out how to make the world’s best adventure game. In the rush to create a great game and manage a startup business, it is easy to neglect the little step of getting an agreement in writing among the participants: Exactly who owns what? Unfortunately, it’s also often difficult to get a fair agreement in writing at the outset of a venture, when individuals’ roles and commitments are still subject to change. But even though it’s difficult, you should come to some agreement. The consequences of not agreeing can come back to haunt everyone involved. Even wonderfully well-intentioned people operate differently and have remarkably selective memories. There are three rules to addressing the relationship among founders, initial employees, and initial independent contractors of a game development company: 1. Get the ownership deal in writing. 2. Provide some mechanism for preserving flexibility, because people’s roles change. 3. Ensure that any agreement gives ownership of the intellectual property rights in the game to the new game development company, so that no one individual can veto going forward to create the title. Here are several alternatives that preserve flexibility, while still putting a basic deal in writing: • The cofounders could consent to an agreement letter stating their intent to divide ownership of the company, but acknowledging that its allocation of ownership is a nonbinding statement of intent, and that they intend to enter into a definitive, mutually negotiated, written agreement six months later. The agreement should clearly provide for what happens to all of the intellectual property rights in the game they are developing if the parties do not ultimately reach agreement. For example, if someone doesn’t reach agreement with the company, he or she can be paid a specific amount for the work done to date. Finally, when the roles are clear, the founders should enter into a final, written agreement. • A second alternative is to create an arrangement so that the founders’ ownership rights “vest” over time. This ensures that anyone who leaves or is forced out by the others has a much smaller ownership share. Perhaps more useful is an arrangement that allows the founders to each receive a vested ownership interest to begin with. Of course, this ownership interest could be subject to a buyout right of the departing founder’s interest by the other partners (at a modest sum, which increases over time). Often key team members may end up volunteering huge chunks of time, as a title is developed before there is any money from investors or a software publisher to pay them. One approach with these project members is to enter into an agreement like the Work for Hire Agreement included on the CDROM. Such an agreement stipulates that the key team member offers a specified amount of time, or

specific services such as writing the code for a running demo, doing character design, drafting the proposal, creating the interface, or doing the game design. In return for this work, the individual will then be hired for a fee to be mutually agreed upon (including, perhaps, a share in eventual royalties) if the game developer gets funding to complete the title. The critical element of the agreement is that if the individual and the game developer cannot later agree on terms for going forward, the game developer still has the right to use the code, art, or other deliverables in the final title upon paying a specific fee set forth in the agreement. An arrangement like this protects both parties’ expectations, preserves flexibility going forward, and still gives the fledgling game development company the comfort of knowing that, for the set fee, it can use the deliverables created by the independent contractor.




Your Vision Or Mission Statement If you are going to devote long hours to creating a game development company and making great games, you should start by devoting some attention to your long-term goal. A clearly articulated goal of what you plan to do over the next few years will help your future strategic planning, build a shared vision among the founders, and even assist you with future recruiting. Spend the time to brainstorm and refine your long-term goals. (It will also prevent enormous grief if you discover early that the founders have radically different long-term goals that must—or cannot possibly be—accommodated.)

Forming Your Game Development Company A business can be organized in one of several different forms. For example, you can set it up as a sole proprietorship (one individual “doing business as” a game development company), a general partnership, a limited partnership (where limited partners do not put their own assets at risk), or a corporation. Tax, personal liability, overhead costs, and the need to raise money from outside investors are considerations that guide your choice of entity. We could go on for many pages about the advantages and disadvantages of each form, but that discussion would be only a little more interesting than a Web site featuring random pages from the tax code. Instead, I’ll just present a brief discussion of the alternative entities most often used in the U. S. I’ll also present some of the important considerations you’ll want to think about before deciding among those entities. For most fledging game development companies, the issue of choosing the form is not enormously time critical. For example, you can initially form a partnership or sole proprietorship, and then later incorporate when other founders join the company, you raise funds from outsiders, or you actually get that publishing deal and then need to enter into a lease for space and equipment. Sole Proprietorship In a sole proprietorship, a single individual operates as a business, either under his or her own name or by filing a fictitious business statement (Joe Smith, doing business as “Incredibly Entertaining Software”). Except for filing a fictitious business name statement, no government filing or minimum tax payment is required for a sole proprietorship. You work on your own, hire people as necessary, and deduct your business expenses from your state and federal taxes.

The drawback to a sole proprietorship is that the owner is personally liable for all of the business’ financial commitments, including all contracts, leases, and other obligations. This would include obligations that arise if someone is injured by one of your employees on company business. That risk of personal liability is often the motivation for a sole proprietor to form a corporation. Another motivation is that other business entities provide greater flexibility to raise money from investors. As a sole proprietor, you may convince your rich uncle to loan you $100,000 in seed money to start your title. Most investors, however, want to share in the upside appreciation of any startup, so they want an equity ownership position in a corporation, partnership, or limited liability company. General Partnership In some respects, being a partner in a general partnership is like being a sole proprietor. Each partner is personally liable for the obligations of the business. The partners are taxed as individuals, reporting their share of the partnership’s income and their share of the partnership’s expenses. Forming a partnership does not require any legal formalities or government filings. In practice, however, the issues surrounding partnership are much more complicated than doing business on your own.

Joint Personal Liability To the outside world, partners are a unified force. Each partner has the authority to make commitments for the partnership by his or her actions alone, and all partners are jointly and personally liable for all of the commitments made by each partner. So, if one day a partner impulsively purchases a graphics package for $40,000, the partnership will be obliged to pay that amount, even if everyone else thought it was a bad move. If the partnership doesn’t have the money in the partnership accounts to pay for the software, each partner will be personally liable to the vendor for the entire amount. If only one partner has the personal assets to pay the debt, the vendor has the right to collect from that one partner. The partner would have the right to be reimbursed by the partnership, but, as far as the outside world is concerned, the risk and responsibility of all partnership actions lies with each individual partner.




Pitfalls In Forming A Partnership Forming a partnership is very easy—almost frighteningly so. If two or more people work together for profit as co-owners of a business, they are partners—whether they explicitly agree to be partners or not. Partners that don’t have a written agreement stating the terms of their deal will have those terms dictated by state law, even where the end result is unfair. One term that will be imposed, in the absence of a written agreement to the contrary, is majority control of the partnership. The majority has the power to make business decisions for the partnership and each partner will have to pay his or her share of the cost of the decision, even if some partners disagree. Another term imposed without a written agreement to the contrary is joint ownership. Joint ownership means each partner owns a pro rata share of all of the assets of a partnership. Everything contributed by the partners that is used in the business and all of the income the partnership receives is split evenly between the partners, regardless of the value of the assets and services rendered by each individual partner. Consider this scenario: Mark has owned a game development company (a sole proprietorship) for seven years. He owns a lot of equipment and has nurtured a solid, if small, client base. Edie is a marketing consultant. Mark and Edie agree to work together to expand the company but do not discuss the details of the deal. After one year, both Mark and Edie decide they should go their separate ways. What is Edie entitled to when the company breaks up? Her attorney says: “One-half of the company. The two were partners. Though Mark may have contributed more, each may be entitled to 50 percent of the company when the partnership ends.” The importance of getting a written agreement is covered later in this chapter, but the point of the story is this: Becoming partners should be a conscious and thoughtful decision. If you agree to be partners, your agreement about how profits, risks, and responsibilities are going to be shared needs to be in writing and signed by everyone involved. For tax purposes, a partnership is thought of simply as a group of individuals, sharing in the profits and losses of the partnership. Each partner reports his or her share of the partnership’s income and expenses on his or her individual tax return and pays the tax due on that amount. Though the partnership doesn’t pay any tax itself, it has to file an informational return with the Internal Revenue

Service, giving the income and loss attributable to each partner. As always, before deciding what contributions will be made by each partner, or how income and losses are going to be divided up, talk to an accountant or lawyer about the tax implications. Limited Partnership Limited partnerships are designed to encourage investment in partnerships. Similar to the way the corporation shields shareholders from liability, a limited partner’s risk won’t exceed his or her contribution so long as he or she does not play an active role in the business. But active involvement may trigger the same personal liability faced by the general partners. As in general partnerships, income and losses are passed through to both general and limited partners and reported on individual tax returns. Unlike general partnerships, state governments typically require a certificate of limited partnership, disclosing information, including, among other things, the name of each partner and what interests each has in the partnership. Corporations A corporation is a distinct legal entity, separate from the individuals who form, own, and run the business. The corporation provides some attractive benefits, but its legal requirements pose certain burdens.

Limited Liability Of Shareholders The main advantage of doing business as a corporation is limited liability. Unlike a general partnership or sole proprietorship, the corporation is solely responsible for its financial obligations, not its owners. The shareholders’ only risk is the time and money each has contributed to the corporation. Of course, every benefit has its price. To have the benefit of limited liability, a corporation must operate as a distinct entity, separate from its founders and managers. “Separateness” is achieved by following certain formalities, including corporate record keeping, annual shareholders’ and directors’ meetings with records (known as minutes), and certain shareholder and director voting procedures. Failure to respect these formalities may subject the owners of a corporation to legal liability.

Incorporating And Staying Incorporated Each state has different requirements when you form a corporation. Generally speaking, the founders file articles of incorporation (often just a one page form) with the Secretary of State and, in many states, pay a yearly minimum corporate tax. The corporation will also need to apply for an employer identification number from the Internal Revenue Service to be used when dealing with the IRS. Once incorporated, in addition to the internal record keeping that needs to be done, the state government requires yearly informational filings, including the names of the current officers and the

address of the business’ main office. This information, along with fees, will also be required by states in which the corporation does business, even though the main office is elsewhere.

Tax Issues Standard “C” type corporations are also separate entities for tax purposes, which creates a potential disadvantage to doing business as a corporation—double taxation. The corporation pays income tax on its net income. If the corporation then pays any dividends to shareholders, that money is treated as income to the shareholders and taxed again. Since corporations can’t deduct dividends to their shareholders, the effect is to tax the corporation’s income twice, once at the corporate level and once at the individual shareholder level. Typically, in a corporation with just a few shareholders who also work for the company, the double tax isn’t a problem. Shareholders can take money from the company in the form of salaries. Since reasonable salaries are deducted by the corporation as a business expense, the income is taxed only at the individual level and the double tax is avoided. Note that, if those salaries are particularly high for the type of job performed, the Internal Revenue Service may decide that the company is avoiding tax and tax the corporation on the amount that exceeds a reasonable salary for the job. Shareholders may also be taxed if they get stock in the company in exchange for work they have done (that’s compensation income).




S Corporations One way to avoid the “double taxation” of a standard C corporation is to elect to be treated as an “S Corporation” (named after everyone’s favorite bedtime reading, subchapter S of the Internal Revenue Code). An S corporation pays no income tax at the corporate level. Instead, income or loss of an S corporation is simply passed on directly to the shareholders to be reported on their individual income tax returns, avoiding double tax on the income. At the same time, like any other kind of corporation, the shareholders in an S corporation are not personally liable for the company’s debts and obligations. The benefits of the S corporation are not available to every corporation. For example, an S corporation is limited to 35 shareholders, all of whom have to be individual citizens (or resident aliens) of the United States. Partnerships and corporations cannot be shareholders in an S corporation. An S corporation can issue only one class of stock, meaning that each share of stock has the same right to dividends, and to the company’s assets, if it goes out of business. Also, an S corporation cannot have a subsidiary. Like the restriction on classes of stock, the S corporation has less flexibility in its business planning.

Limited Liability Company Though a relatively new development, limited liability companies (LLCs) are recognized in many states and are already very popular, largely because they are less restrictive than both S corporations and limited partnerships. LLCs have limited liability like a corporation and the tax benefit of being taxed like a partnership. But LLCs do not have the same restrictions as S corporations: The owners can be any type of entity, not just individuals, and there is no maximum number of members. LLCs do not restrict how the owners’ rights to money or liquidation proceeds are divided up, as corporations that are share based do. LLCs can own subsidiaries. Unlike general partnerships, the management of the business is not restricted to owners of the business; the owner can either manage the business him- or herself or appoint management to handle the day-to-day operations of the business. Unlike limited partnerships, all of the members can be actively involved in the business without the risk of personal liability. The downside is this: Forming an LLC entails more effort and expense than other types of companies. State laws typically require both the filing of a document called “articles of organization”

and that owners sign an operating agreement establishing such terms as the voting rights of members, sharing of profit and losses, contribution obligations, and restrictions on transfers of interests.

What Happens When A Founder Leaves? You should have a written agreement among cofounders about what happens when one leaves. The remaining founders don’t want a partner or shareholder’s ownership interest sold to a stranger, and they don’t want to reward someone who is no longer contributing to the business with a continuing share in the growth of the game development company.

Tip: There are two difficulties in structuring any fair arrangement. First, with any closely held game development company, the value of a partial ownership share is a huge question mark. Second, any buy-out arrangement of a departing owner shouldn’t require so much cash that the game development company can’t continue. The system you set up shouldn’t reward the first person to leave if the business runs into trouble.

There are no easy answers, and no one solution suits all companies. There are, however, some common, workable variations. The important thing is to have some arrangement in writing. Even if this arrangement has to be later revised as the company’s situation changes (again, in writing), it will provide guidance in the event of a breakup. It is much easier to agree, in advance and in abstract, before individuals’ perception of what is fair crystallizes around their own personal self-interest. Death or disability are easy to handle: Once your game company is generating substantial revenue, you can cover the risk that one of the key owners will die or become disabled by funding a buyout with term insurance, bought by the company (which should be relatively inexpensive, especially if all of the founders are relatively young). If there are only two owners of the business, a common buy-sell provision is the standard negotiating technique of letting one party cut the cake and the other party determine which half to take. Either owner may announce to the other that he or she wants out by selling ownership interest for a certain sum or by buying the other owner’s interest for the same amount. The other owner, then, will have the choice of whether to buy or sell, though he or she will have to do one or the other. It is generally a fair arrangement, although it does not take into account that one party may have far more money to fund a buyout. Another common alternative is for the owners to collectively value the business every year. Any departing owner’s value would be paid out over some specified period of time. If the parties cannot agree on a valuation, they could submit the issue to binding arbitration, and the arbitrator would decide how much the value changed from the last-agreed valuation. A variation on this approach is to use “baseball-style” arbitration, where each side proposes a fair valuation to the arbitrator, who only has the ability to pick the best of the two numbers. This has the effect of encouraging each party to pick a number closer to the middle. Finally, some established companies use specific formulas based on a percentage of revenue of a specific period, and so on.

Whatever your buy-sell arrangement is, it should also provide for what happens to the intellectual property of the company. Most often, since the departing partner or shareholder is being paid for his or her share of the value of the company (including its intellectual property) all rights remain with the company. But partners or shareholders might also agree, for example, that each of them has the right to reuse the software tools and underlying game engine.




What Every Game Developer Needs To Know About Intellectual Property Almost everything a game developer creates or relies on to make a living involves intellectual property. Games, licensable characters, and software tools can be protected by copyright. Proprietary technology and know-how are protected as trade secrets. A name, goodwill, and reputation are protected by trademark law. And often game developers license intellectual property from others (proprietary tools, code, art, characters, and just about everything else that could go into a compelling game). What follows is a brief overview of relevant intellectual property considerations, how they matter to you as a game developer, and (where relevant) how to protect your intellectual property rights. Trademark Rights Trademark rights (including service marks) allow you to protect a name and the associated name recognition with consumers. Additionally, they give you the right to prevent others from using confusingly similar names to promote similar products. Is this important? Absolutely. First, it allows you to build value in your company through name recognition. (Retailers and consumers who bought vast quantities of the last games from id and Cyan will also buy their next ones.) In addition, failing to secure proper rights to your marks means that after you have spent enormous efforts promoting your name and putting it on boxes, another developer or publisher with rights to a similar name might go to court to prevent you from distributing the games. How do you obtain trademark protection? It’s easy. In the U.S., so long as no one else has registered it first, protection is established by your use of the mark “in commerce.” You come up with a great name for your game development company (“WizardWarez”) and then use it in connection with your goods or services. The mark doesn’t have to be registered, but if the mark is not registered, the mark is only protected in the geographic area in which it’s being used. For example, if you are using your name for 3D modeling and rendering in the San Francisco Bay Area, someone else can use that name for similar services or goods in and around Austin, Texas. You can expand the geographic area where you have exclusive rights to your mark by registering it with either the state government (generally a waste of time) or with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Registering your mark with the state government allows you to stop other subsequent uses of a similar mark within that state. Registering with the federal government allows

you to stop subsequent users of a mark similar to yours for similar goods or services throughout the U. S. Finally, you can also register your mark in other countries to obtain exclusive rights to the name in those countries. Your first step is to run a computerized database search to see if anyone else has already registered your proposed mark (or applied to do so) for your category of goods or services. An inexpensive and thorough database is TRADEMARKSCAN, available through the Dialog Information Service. If this database search shows that no one has previously registered the same mark for your category of goods or services, you can then take the next step and have a trademark search firm such as Thomson & Thomson do an expanded search. This will also pick up companies using the name in commerce that have not registered the mark. At the time of this writing, the cost of an expanded Thomson & Thomson search for a single mark in any one category is $330. Their URL is www.thomson-thomson. com. If no one else is using your proposed mark, a trademark attorney can file a simple application for registration of the mark with the Patent and Trademark Office. Trademark registration is not something you should put off. The rights of different users of the same name are tied to: • The entity that registered the mark first. • Whether someone registered the mark before someone else began using it.




Copyright Almost everything a game developer creates is potentially protected by copyright law—the code, art, game design, user manual, and the finished game. Originally, copyright protected original “literary and artistic” works in any tangible media. The law has since been clarified to specify that copyright extends to protect software code (avoiding messy disputes over whether a set of ones and zeros is actually “literary” or “artistic”). Copyright, however, only protects the expression of ideas, not abstract ideas themselves. (You can’t, therefore, copyright “boy meets girl,” but you can copyright a film or book based on this premise; you can’t copyright the idea “player shoots monsters,” but id could copyright Doom.) Copyright is not just one right, it is an entire bundle of legally protected rights: • The right to make copies of a work • The right to distribute the work • The right to publicly perform or display the work • The right to create derivative works (such as sequels, ports to other platforms, Saturday morning cartoon shows, or comic books) The “author” of a work (art, code, or game design) owns the copyright as soon as it is created in a tangible medium, whether or not the copyright is registered. If the work is created by an employee within the scope of that person’s employment, the employer owns the copyright. But if the person creating the work is an independent contractor with some substantial discretion over performing his or her duties, the independent contractor owns the copyright unless there is a written, signed agreement making the results “work for hire.” These issues are discussed a little later in this chapter, under the heading, “Working With Employees And Independent Contractors.”

Tip: In the U.S., a copyright does not have to be registered to entitle the author of the work to copyright protection. But registration does provide some advantages, including the right to sue for statutory damages if someone else infringes your copyright.

The process for registering a copyright in the U.S. is simple: Obtain the correct form from the U.S. Copyright Office, fill it out according to the instructions, and return it to the Register of Copyrights with a filing fee of $20 and a deposit (copy) of the work that you’re seeking to register. For a

computer game or demo, use Form PA. If you are simply registering text, use Form TX. The copyright office is remarkably easy to interact with. You can request up to 10 copies of the form, together with the applicable circular (R55 — “Copyright Registrations for Multimedia Works” for a computer game), by calling the copyright office at 202-707-9100. While you’re at it, ask for Circular 1, Copyright Basics. If you need more help about the specific form, the copyright office’s general information number is 202-707-3000, or contact an intellectual property lawyer. Right Of Publicity Individuals also have a protectable interest in their name and likeness, that allows them (and in some states, allows their heirs) to prevent the commercial use of their identities without compensation. Most often, the right of publicity is invoked by celebrities to protect their rights to receive compensation whenever their name or likeness is used to promote a product.

Tip: The protection of “name” and “likeness” are interpreted pretty broadly. Professional radio talk show host Howard Stern sued over the online use of a photograph of his, er, posterior, and former Tonight Show host Johnny Carson successfully sued to prevent a portable toilet manufacturer from promoting its product as the “Here’s Johnny.”

The right of publicity is a patchwork of various state statutes and court decisions. It has been expanded to cover “look-alike” and “sound-alike” actors impersonating celebrities. (Little known legal fact: While you can carry a concealed handgun in Texas without a license from the state, you cannot perform as an Elvis Presley impersonator without a license from his estate.) If you are going to use the name and likeness of anyone (particularly a celebrity) in your game or when promoting your game, you need to obtain permission from that individual. (And more than likely, you’ll need to fork out some cash!) Moral Rights In some obscure jurisdictions like France (and, to some extent, California), authors may have certain “moral” rights, including the right to have their name associated with their work and the right to prevent others from later modifying that work. Typically, intellectual property agreements require authors to waive their moral rights.




Patents If you invent a “new and useful process, machine, or improvement” that has utility, is novel, and is nonobvious (that is, something well beyond an extension of the current state of the art), your invention may be patentable. Certain categories are not patentable subject matter, including abstract ideas or principles, laws of nature, scientific truth, and mathematical algorithms. Nevertheless, concrete inventions, including processes, may be patented even if they use underlying algorithms and laws of nature. After some dispute over the matter, courts and the Patent and Trademark Office now accept that software-based processes and inventions (not just mechanical ones) can be patented. The Patent and Trademark Office, however, has more difficulty researching prior art with software patents. There are current efforts underway to change U.S. patent law, but at the time of this writing, patents are available only to the first inventor of a specific invention. To qualify as the first inventor, the invention must be both conceived first and reduced to practice with diligence. If you believe that you are the first inventor of a novel invention (a unique new 3D rendering engine, motion capture technology, method of digitizing video, and so on), should you file an application for a patent? It depends. Unlike copyright—where even if you don’t register, your creation of certain intellectual property gives you rights—a patent is a legally granted monopoly from the government. The holder of a patent has the right to exclude all others from making, using, or selling the invention throughout the U.S. for a period of 17 years, even if someone else develops the same technology independently. (Patent rights, however, are subject to being lost in court upon proof that the patent was not properly granted.) If you intend to build your company around a core proprietary technology (or intend to later derive huge revenues from licensing it to the rest of the industry), it may make sense to seek patent protection. Further, patents (and even patent applications) may create value in your company in the eyes of potential investors and acquirers. But there are disadvantages to applying for a patent as well: • In order to obtain a patent, the inventor must disclose the invention in great detail, so that another person could reproduce the invention in accordance with the claim of the patent. This is not as great of a problem as it may seem, because under current law, patent applications are not a matter of public record until a patent is actually granted or denied. • The patent application process is much more involved than simply applying for a trademark or registering your copyright, and there are substantial costs involved (such as paying the patent lawyer).

Trade Secrets A final category of legally protected intellectual property is “trade secrets,” which may include many of the ideas, processes, techniques, and know-how that somehow does not fit into the other categories. Trade secrets of a game developer might include game ideas, techniques for digitizing video, special methods of collision detection, or even lists of potential investors. Trade secret protection is generally governed by state law, and varies substantially among states. Generally, though, a trade secret is proprietary information that gives your company a competitive advantage and which you maintain as a trade secret. And how do you maintain information as a trade secret? First, it has to be the kind of information that is not generally known in the industry. Second, the information must be treated as confidential and kept secret. Trade secret law is unusual in that it is always applied retroactively: If there is a dispute over whether someone has misappropriated one of your trade secrets, the question is, did you undertake reasonable steps to maintain it as a trade secret? These steps would include limiting access to the information to those with need to know, by having employees and independent contractors sign confidentiality agreements, and disclosing the information to the outside world only in connection with signed confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements. A sample short-form nondisclosure agreement is set out on the CD-ROM.

Working With Employees And Independent Contractors When you hire people to help you with your title, key issues include making sure that the company owns and protects all of the work done for the project and giving the people who help you an incentive to produce great work.




Owning The Rights Your company creates a great new game. The game was your idea. You assembled and led the team. You might reasonably assume that your company owns all of the rights in that title. But it may not. If the people who worked on the title were employees of your company whose work was within the scope of their employment, your company does own all of the rights of the title. But the general rule is that if independent contractors (not employees) create something, they own the copyright to the resulting work, not the company that hired them, unless there is a signed agreement in writing. Of course, if an independent contractor contributes work that is going into a computer game, you certainly have at least an implied license to use that work in your computer game. But there is a huge question over the scope of that license, and whether you can reuse the work in ports to other platforms, sequels, or if you can use it at all if there is some kind of payment dispute. There is also a highly technical argument that anyone making a contribution to a computer game is contributing to an “audio-visual work” and you own the rights to their contributions, even if there is no written work for hire agreement. To be on the safe side, though, you should always obtain a written work for hire or assignment of copyright agreement from your independent contractors (and from anybody that a court may later decide was an independent contractor). The sample Employment Agreement and sample Independent Contractor Agreement on the CD-ROM both contain extensive work for hire and assignment of rights provisions. Protecting The Rights—Trade Secrets And Noncompete Agreements In addition to owning the copyright in the works your company creates, it’s important to protect your company’s proprietary technology and other trade secrets. The people you hire are going to know the most about your project; you have to make clear to them that certain information is secret and that they have an obligation not to disclose it to people outside the company. Again, getting a signature on a written agreement (see the Nondisclosure Employment and Independent Contractor Agreement on the CD-ROM) is the best way to show a court that you kept your confidential information secret. Incentives And Profit Sharing Startup ventures often make the mistake of handing out equity in the company too freely and too

quickly. This is tempting when there’s little money to offer as incentive to join the company. But having a large number of shareholders with voting and other legal rights in the company can make life difficult. If, down the road, the company wants outside investment, diluting the company equity detracts from the image of strong management and business skills that you must project. Key project employees may not be key to the company’s long-term issues. Very often, the better form of incentive is profit sharing, such as a royalty bonus pool. Instead of handing out ownership of the company, you can give key project employees a share of the royalties from the title they are working on. For example, the hiring developer agrees to contribute to the bonus pool a percentage of the royalties received from the game, after payment of specific loans from the founders. The definitions should be precise—you don’t want to fight about the amount of money in the pool. The bonus pool is then shared by all of those employees and independent contractors who are part of the bonus pool program. One “golden handcuffs” approach is to require employees to still be around to share in any royalties (which discourages turnover). A different alternative is to have each recipient’s shares in the bonus pool to “vest,” meaning they become effective after certain milestones are reached. For example, if programmers leave after six months, they get only part of their share in the pool, while if they stay through the beta testing, they get their whole share. Tax Requirements If you hire employees, there are certain tax obligations. In the U.S., every employer must withhold income from employees’ paychecks for both income tax and social security taxes, and those amounts must be paid to the government. If no income is withheld, the employer, including both the company and the individuals responsible for payroll, may be liable to the government for the full amount that should have been withheld. In addition, the employer pays its share of social security taxes, federal and state unemployment tax, plus worker’s compensation insurance. Even if you call someone an “independent contractor,” the IRS can come back and later insist that they be treated as an employee, under a multifactor test. (If, for example, someone is working full-time for you for two years, using only your equipment, they’ll be an “employee” for tax purposes, whatever you call them.)

Tip: As your company grows, you may want to reward long-term key employees with stock that vests over time, to give them an incentive to stay with the company and to build its longterm value. You can set up a “qualified” incentive stock option plan with certain favorable tax treatments.




Licensing Intellectual Property From Others As a game developer, you may end up having to license a wide variety of intellectual property from others to make your games (or to make them as compelling and marketable as possible). In addition to software tools, you may license a game engine, art, and music. In addition, your game may be based upon third parties’ intellectual property: Numerous games are based on licensed characters, science fiction books, or celebrities (particularly in the case of sports titles). Key content that you license from other people may be valuable in two different ways. First, great content (compelling design, art, well-written code, and great production values) makes a great title. Second, certain key content may have some brand or “marquee” value, creating the all-important marketing hook. Particularly in the world of PC/CD-ROM, where there is a brutal retail shelf-space squeeze (more titles out than there is shelf space for them) and an almost complete lack of an effective preview mechanism, a marketing hook is increasingly critical. Software retailers (and publishers) are increasingly looking for an angle that will make a particular title catch consumer attention and achieve huge sell-through numbers. For example, with the launch of the game title The Daedalus Encounter, the presence of Wayne’s World actress Tia Carrere was almost endlessly hyped. Particularly with sports titles, licensing is a substantial sales factor.

Tip: Game developers have to understand the multiple layers of “markets” they must sell to. First, a developer seeking outside funding for a proposed title has to convince the publisher of the title’s appeal. Second, the publisher or its distributor has to convince the retailers that the title will sell enough units to justify shelf space. Third, based largely on what is on the box, consumers must be persuaded to buy the game.

Rules For Licensing Content In case it has not been obvious from the rest of this chapter, intellectual property rights in computer games are complicated. The following rules, however, may save you from substantial grief in this area.

Acquire Or License Content From The Right Owner

This commandment is violated with remarkable frequency. Let’s say that (for whatever reason) you want to license a film clip as part of your computer game, and you know that Turner Broadcasting owns the film. They are willing to license a short clip to you for an outrageous fee, but as you sign the papers you are puzzled when your contact at Turner innocently asks “and how much did you pay everybody else for this clip?” Your use of that film clip, it turns out, might also infringe upon the copyright owner of the music playing in the background, the publicity rights of the actors who appear in the film, the copyright owner of the underlying book that the film was based on, and a nearly limitless number of other rights holders (and professional guilds) that will either demand payment or threaten to sue.

Get Representations, Warranties, And Indemnities Any time you license intellectual property from a third party, you should have them “represent and warrant” (that is, promise) that they have all necessary rights to the materials, that they haven’t assigned any of those rights to anyone else, that they have the power to enter into this agreement, and—most important—that your use of the intellectual property in your game will not infringe upon any rights of any third party, including patent, trademark, copyright, and trademark rights. You should also have them agree to “indemnify, defend, and hold harmless” your game development company from any liabilities or expenses if their representation and warranties are breached. These are fancy legal words meaning that they agree they will not seek any recovery from you of any cost or expenses in connection with third-party claims of infringement, that they will pay you back for any settlements or legal judgments that you have to pay, and they will pay the cost of your attorney’s fees in dealing with third-party claims. Of course, an agreement like this doesn’t do you much good if the person giving you an indemnity doesn’t have assets, but it does force them to at least consider whether they have clear title for all the rights they are licensing to you.

Get All The Rights You Need If appropriate, when you are negotiating for rights in connection with your game, ensure that you get the rights for sequels, ports to other platforms, future platforms, interactive TV or online distribution, a waiver of moral rights, and public display rights so that you may show the material on your demo reel or at trade shows. If you have an agreement that some material is provided as work for hire, ensure that you also have license of all copyright rights in the material from the author: Some countries outside the U.S. do not recognize “works made for hire.” The agreements I draft typically say not only that materials provided are a work made for hire, but also that the author: • Assigns copyright in the work • Grants worldwide, perpetual license to use the work • Covenants not to sue over your use of the work The business deal, of course, may be that you are receiving only narrow rights, and that the party licensing those rights to you is free to exploit the work in other media. But do make certain that you have all of the rights that you may need, or that you have prenegotiated a price if you decide to acquire rights for ports, sequels, and other derivative works.




Acquiring Rights Cheaply In addition to those general rules about licensing intellectual property for your game, here are some suggestions on how to license intellectual property without going broke in the process:

License Key Content, Not Everything Under The Sun Because there are often multiple rights holders, it is critical to identify the truly key content and to avoid paying large royalties (or up-front payments) for content that is not critical. If, for example you are creating a baseball game, you might license one celebrity, to use his name and appearance on the title (“Cal Ripkin’s Endurance Baseball—So Compelling You’ll Be Playing It For The Next Forty Years”). If, instead, you want to use the rosters of all the professional baseball teams, you might instead negotiate an agreement with the Professional Baseball Players Association. Finally, if you want to use the teams and their logos, you may have to negotiate with Major League Baseball. Licensing all three would probably cost so much that the licensing fees would make it impossible to make a profit on the game. Similarly, one recognizable celebrity doing voices for your title (or appearing in your video-based title) may give you a substantial marketing hook. But hiring a whole host of name acting talent would provide rapidly diminishing returns (and rapidly increasing costs).

Nonexclusive Rights Are Less Expensive Than Exclusive Rights Let’s say you want to license particular music for your game or the computer game rights to William Gibson’s latest science fiction book. In either case, if you simply get nonexclusive rights, the owner of the intellectual property will generally charge you less, because he or she has the right to license the same property again to someone else. You can get most of the benefits from an exclusive license by simply negotiating for a head start: a blackout period of, say, 18 months, when they can’t license the same rights to anyone else.

Pay In Something Other Than Money Credit (someone’s name on a splash screen) is often helpful in closing a deal, and increasingly, game developers and publishers have been able to do tradeouts or provide publicity value as a way to reduce key content acquisition costs. For example, if you, a large record company, license this intellectual property for our CD-ROM title, we will include hot links to your Web site. In theory, you might even get payment from someone else for putting their name or product in your title. Motion

picture producers routinely receive hundreds of thousands of dollars for “product placement” (putting products in their films).

Pay Fees Or Royalties, But Not Both You can reduce up-front payment costs by giving people a share of your royalties. If at all possible, however, avoid both having to pay a substantial up-front license fee and giving the same person a substantial share of your royalties.

Pay Royalties Only Out Of Your Net When you agree to pay royalties, be sure that you only pay licensing fees based on a percentage of what you actually receive, not your publisher’s gross. It can be a huge mistake to agree up front to additional payments based on certain sales figures, only to later find that because development advances from the publisher are recouped out of royalty payments to you, you are still not receiving income from your game at the time you are obligated to pay licensing fees.

Use An Option To Tie Up Content Cheaply One way to minimize the cost of acquiring content (especially at a time when you have very little money) is to simply acquire an option to use the content, in return for a small payment and an agreement to pay more later if you use the content. For example, you could negotiate with the author of a science fiction book to get an exclusive two-year option to create a computer game based upon the book. If you exercise the option and actually go forward to create the game, the agreement could provide that you would be required to make additional minimum payments (and perhaps royalties). In the meantime, you have the legal ability to cut a deal with a software publisher, and you know that you won’t be wasting your efforts in designing a game around intellectual property that you will not be able to acquire. Similarly, if the artists, programmers, or other independent contractors you work with are unwilling to grant you broad rights (other platforms, sequels, foreign language adaptations) without substantial additional payments, you might negotiate with them to at least fix the price in advance when you do wish to acquire those rights later. (Otherwise, once your game is a hit, they would have enormous leverage to extract much more money out of you.)

Wrap Up This chapter is not a substitute for specific legal advice on your situation, and many of these areas raise complicated legal issues. But with this brief overview of some of the basic legal issues that you face, you should have the background to help your game development company prosper and to help you protect the legal rights to the great games you plan to make.



Table of Contents

PART IV Resources This Resources section is not intended to be an exhaustive and totally comprehensive list, but we hope it is broad and deep enough to be useful to you. There is certainly a lot more information that we could have included, but several guiding criteria may have kept these items out, including the fact that we either overlooked it or just never saw it in the first place. We tried to focus mostly on commercially viable and tested products. For example, a number of 3D engines we found or saw information for were incredible, but they weren’t included because they really weren’t ever going to end up in a name-brand commercial release. On the flip side, a very commercial engine like id Software’s Quake might have been omitted because, even though it is extremely viable commercially, it may not be widely available. A phone, fax, or even an entire resource entry might have been omitted because, despite our efforts (including calling or emailing), we got no response from the company. When you’ve got this many companies to find out about and only a certain amount of time, some information is bound to fall by the wayside. Keep these items in mind as you send out what we hope are hundreds if not thousands of emails that will clue us in on improved items, new products, and other additions a future version of this book might someday contain. As you find new stuff, help us out by sending notes and ideas for improving the Resource section. (Send any information or comments you have to [email protected]. net.) In fact, we hope you scrawl in the margins, add all sorts of new notes and companies, and make this book a scrapbook of sorts. We’re not resting either—we’ll be adding more and more information for future editions.

Resource A Books Everyone reading this book probably has at least some of these books taking up space on their bookshelf. While some of these texts are old (and yes, some are out of print), what we’ve tried to present is a strong list of recommended reading that identifies key books in key categories of concern to people making games.

While many seasoned developers will find most of the books a little behind in terms of the latest techniques, the graphics books, especially Foley-Van Dam and Michael Abrash’s Black Book, will find a place in any veteran’s library. Finding your favorite books is also made easier now that you can order books through the Internet. We’ve tried to solve the problem of which books you should buy, and our partner in developing this Resource section, Computer Literacy Bookshops, has solved the how to buy these books part. They operate not only four of the best bookstores on the planet, but through their online division, Cbooks, they sell thousands of books via the Internet. Computer Literacy is located on the Web at www.cbooks.com, and we’d like to thank them for helping us provide you with a great list of books and the basic information about each one.

3D Modeling And Animation 3D Computer Animation John Vince Addison Wesley ISBN: 0201627566 Price: $45.25 Pages: 363 Publication Date: November 1992 Media Included: None Covers current techniques for 3D computer animation and the basics of 3D math. Good entry-level text.

3D Computer Graphics, Second Edition Alan Watt Addison Wesley ISBN: 0201631865 Price: $43.95 Pages: 500 Publication Date: September 1993 Media Included: None Covers basic techniques for producing realistic shaded 3D solids in code, with examples in Pascal.

3D Studio Hollywood & Gaming Effects David Carter, Editor

New Riders ISBN: 1562054309 Price: $50.00 Pages: 260 Publication Date: Nov. 1995 Media Included: CD New Riders has produced a number of gorgeous graphics creation books, including this one which covers special effects trickery. The text shows you valuable techniques that would take years to discover alone!

3D Studio MAX2 Clay Sculpture, Digitizing & Motion Stephanie Reese The Coriolis Group ISBN: 1576101509 Price: $49.99 Pages: 450 Publication Date: January 1998 Media Included: CD Covers alternative techniques to produce killer 3D animation using 3D Studio MAX 2.

3D Studio MAX F/X: Creating Hollywood-Style Special Effects Jon Bell Ventana Press ISBN: 1566044278 Price: $49.99 Pages: 494 Publication Date: July 1996 Media Included: CD Covers how to create such 3D effects as illusion, camouflage, illumination, and simulation. Focuses on how to recreate 3D techniques from TV shows and science-fiction and fantasy movies.

3D Studio MAX Plug-Ins Guide Stephanie Reese The Coriolis Group ISBN: 1576101347 Price: $49.99 Pages: 608 Publication Date: June 97

Media Included: CD Want a book that goes top to bottom through all the public and commercially available 3D Studio MAX plug-ins? Look no further! The CD-ROM contains 130 useful plug-ins, plus source code, animations, demos, and tutorials.

Advanced Animation and Rendering Techniques Alan Watt and Mark Watt Addison Wesley ISBN: 0201544121 Price: $42.95 Pages: 455 Publication Date: November 1992 Media Included: None This book is a clear account of the foundations and state-of-the-art techniques in the 3D graphics programming field.

Character Animation with 3D Studio MAX Stephanie Reese The Coriolis Group ISBN: 1576100545 Price: $39.99 Pages: 416 Publication Date: November 1996 Media Included: CD This book focuses specifically on character animation and highlights the secrets of creating true movement in your 3D creations. Focuses on human and animal anatomy, then describes how creatures move and how to simulate the movement accurately with 3D Studio MAX.

Designing 3D Graphics Josh White John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 0471149268 Price: $39.95 Pages: 383 Publication Date: August 1996 Media Included: CD A guide to creating realtime 3D graphics for games and virtual reality.

Digital Character Animation George Maestri New Riders ISBN: 1562055593 Price: $55.00 Pages: 369 Publication Date: December 1996 Media Included: CD George Maestri has written about character animation for DV magazine and has produced a stellar text on creating advanced animated characters. A great book.

Fast Algorithms for 3D Graphics Georg Glaeser Springer-Verlag ISBN: 0387942882 Price: $49.00 Pages: 306 Publication Date: August 1994 Media Included: Disk Covers the theoretical and practical math and the processes behind creating fast graphics with C programming. Topics covered include hidden surfaces, shadows, reflections, patterns, spiral curves, and surfaces.

LightWave 3D 5 Character Animation Doug Kelly Ventana ISBN: 1566045320 Price: $49.99 Pages: 703 Publication Date: January 1997 Media Included: CD Lots of designers use this affordable but advanced modeling and animation system. This book covers all sorts of animation staples such as lighting, motion, caricature, composition, rendering, and work flow as they relate to LightWave.

LightWave Power Guide Dan Ablan

New Riders Publishing ISBN: 1562056336 Price: $44.99 Pages: 587 Publication Date: October 1996 Media Included: CD LightWave Power Guide focuses on the most powerful functions of LightWave, highlighted by examples of those functions in use. Topics such as LightWave’s plug-in architecture, character animation, inverse kinematics, and advanced modeling are covered.

Softimage Design Guide Barry Ruff and Gene Bodio The Coriolis Group ISBN: 1576101479 Price: $39.99 Pages: 250 Publication Date: November 1997 Media Included: CD Not everyone can afford Softimage (even the NT version), but why not bone up on it and get a better handle on a package that is coming down in price (and may be your next modeler if you take that new job at some well-off developer)?

Design Computer Gamesmanship Levy, David Simon & Schuster ISBN: 0671495321 Price: $12.95 Publication Date: March 1984 Media Included: None This hard-to-find title covers some of the key fundamentals of developing intelligent game programs.

Entertainment in the Cyber Zone, First Edition Chris McGowan and Jim McCullaugh Random House ISBN: 0679758046 Price: $19.00

Pages: 390 Publication Date: February 1995 Media Included: None Interesting text looks over the many types of interactive entertainment software and how it is designed and consumed.

Game Theory, Third Edition Guillermo Owen Academic Press ISBN: 0125311516 Price: $39.95 Pages: 447 Publication Date: October 1995 Media Included: None Game Theory has served as a standard text for game theory courses since the publication of the first edition in 1968. The third edition updates several recently developed subfields.

Inside Electronic Game Design Arnie Katz and Laurie Yates Prima Publishing ISBN: 1559586699 Price: $24.95 Pages: 276 Publication Date: October 1995 Media Included: None A fun book that describes the game design process from raw concept to design specifications document to finished product.

Interactive Writer’s Handbook, Second Edition Darryl Wimberley and Jon Samsel Carronade Group ISBN: 188545211x Price: $24.95 Pages: 368 Publication Date: January 1996 Media Included: None Looking for some guidance when it comes to writing and constructing interactive stories? This book

covers many key practices, concepts, and tips.

The Complete Wargames Handbook James F. Dunnigan Quill ISBN: 0688086497 Price: $12.95 Publication Date: December 1992 Media Included: None This book is out of print, but it covers many of the early products in wargaming.

Director Director 6 and Lingo Interactive Macromedia Peachpit Press ISBN: 0201696355 Price: $49.95 Pages: 270 Publication Date: July 1997 Media Included: None One of the better books on Director from Macromedia’s own imprint.

Lingo and Shockwave Sourcebook Vineel Shah and John Musser John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 0471168939 Price: $39.95 Pages: 496 Publication Date: February 1997 Media Included: CD Another solid Director book with complete coverage of the Lingo language.

Lingo!: An Advanced Guide to Director’s Scripting Language Tab Julius New Riders Publishing ISBN: 1562055925

Price: $45.00 Pages: 361 Publication Date: June 1996 Media Included: CD The definitive guide to high-end Lingo programming, written by Tab Julius who has done a number of Director-backed games.

Graphics The Animator’s Workbook Tony White Watson Guptill ISBN: 0823002292 Price: $18.95 Publication Date: September 1988 Media Included: None Award-winning animator shows basic animation drawings and techniques that have worked before computer animation and still work now. This is great since many newbie computer animators complain of a lack of fundamental animation knowledge.

Cartoon Animation Preston Blair Walter Foster Publishing ISBN: 1560100842 Price: $24.95 Publication Date: January 1997 Media Included: None Loved by cartoonists, animators, and film buffs alike, a veteren of animation covers the fundamentals of drawing for the screen, with tips on two- and four-legged figure construction, body and facial movements, realistic dialogue, and other techniques such as drawing speed, impact, weight, and recoil.

Computer Graphics: A Programming Approach, Second Edition Steven Harrington McGraw Hill Text ISBN: 0070267537 Price: $46.25 Publication Date: Feb. 1987

Media Included: None Another hard-to-find, out-of-print book that adds to your basic texts on computer graphics.

Computer Graphics: An Introduction to the Mathematics and Geometry M.E. Mortenson Industrial Press ISBN: 0831111828 Price: $36.95 Pages: 381 Publication Date: December 1988 Media Included: None Including numerous illustrations and exercises by a top professional, this book will be a welcome addition to your library.

Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice, Second Edition James D. Foley and Andries Van Dam Addison-Wesley Publishing ISBN: 0201121107 Price: $68.95 Publication Date: July 1990 Media Included: None Also known simply as the “Foley/Van Dam” book, it is perhaps the staple text on graphics programming that every developer proudly showcases on his or her shelf, not to mention referring to it over and over!

Debabelizer: The Authorized Edition Lise Despres and Paul Vachier Hayden Books ISBN: 1568303246 Price: $45.00 Pages: 383 Publication Date: January 1997 Media Included: CD The official book on a product almost every developer has in his or her arsenal.

Digital Camera Companion

Ben Sawyer and Ron Pronk The Coriolis Group ISBN: 1576100979 Price: $29.99 Pages: 400 Publication Date: February 1997 Media Included: CD A large FAQ of information on digital cameras.

Digital Cinematography Ben de Leeuw AP Professional ISBN: 0122088751 Price: $40.00 Pages: 265 Publication Date: January 1997 Media Included: CD Strong basic text that isn’t platform specific, this book covers lots of the basics of animation, lighting, and camera angles that will be applicable to almost any 3D package.

Digital Image Processing, Third Edition Rafael C. Gonzalez Addison Wesley ISBN: 201508036 Price: $73.11 Pages: 716 Publication Date: April 1992 Media Included: None Comprehensive text on such items as morphing, compression, and other fundamental graphical algorithms.

Digital Image Warping George Wolberg IEEE Computer Society ISBN: 0818689447 Price: $64.00 Pages: 318 Publication Date: January 1990

Media Included: None One of the many fundamental texts you see on programmers’ shelves. Covers all the major concepts and includes tons of algorithms, math, and other useful information for today’s graphics programmer.

Electronic Moviemaking, Third Edition Lynne S. Gross and Larry W. Ward Wadsworth Publishing Company ISBN: 0534507476 Price: $50.95 Pages: 282 Publication Date: October 1996 Media Included: None Interesting text that focuses on the increasing use of electronic equipment in conjunction with traditional filmmaking, and emphasizes the combination of film and video as a storytelling medium.

Game Graphics in C++ Len Dorfman McGraw-Hill ISBN: 0079119514 Price: $34.95 Pages: 382 Publication Date: September 1995 Media Included: Disk This book is a little dated, but it covers lots of basic game graphics programming issues for creating animation and special effects.

Graphics Gems Andrew S. Glassner AP Professional ISBN: 0122861663 Price: $49.95 Pages: 833 Publication Date: June 1993 Media Included: Disk One of the originals in the aptly-named Graphics Gems series.

Graphics Gems II

James Avro AP Professional ISBN: 0120644819 Price: $59.95 Publication Date: October 1993 Media Included: Disk A great resource for graphics programmers.

Graphics Gems III David Kirk AP Professional ISBN: 0124096700 Price: $59.95 Publication Date: January 1994 Media Included: Disk Provides countless pages of graphical programming hacks, tricks, and tips. Found on many a game programmer’s bookshelf.

Graphics Gems IV Paul Heckbert AP Professional ISBN: 0123361559 Price: $49.95 Pages: 575 Publication Date: May 1994 Media Included: Disk Graphics Gems IV is the newest volume in the Graphics Gems series.

High-Resolution Computer Graphics Using C Ian O. Angell John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 0470216344 Price: $49.95 Publication Date: May 1990 Media Included: None A foundation book for programming advanced computer graphics. It includes program listings, which are a way of describing the algorithms required for the solution of given problems, and covers

numerous topics such as matric representation of transformations.

How Did They Do It? Computer Illusion in Film & TV Christopher W. Baker Alpha Books ISBN: 1567614221 Price: $20.00 Pages: 182 Publication Date: May 1994 Media Included: None Industrial Light & Magic is opened up and its techniques and ideas for creating cutting-edge special effects are revealed in this book.

The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson Hyperion Books ISBN: 0786860707 Price: $60.00 Publication Date: October 1995 Media Included: None This is a coffee table book that covers the wonders of Disney animation and provides a good inspirational source for animators of all types—including games.

Image Synthesis Theory and Practice N. Magnenat-Thalmann Springer Verlag ISBN: 0387700234 Price: $59.00 Publication Date: January 1988 Media Included: None Looking for more graphical texts to puruse for that latest special effects code? Here’s another that comes highly recommended

Industrial Light and Magic: Into the Digital Realm Mark Cotta Vaz and Patricia Rose Duignan Del Rey ISBN: 0345381521

Price: $79.50 Pages: 330 Publication Date: November 1996 Media Included: None More of an inspirational text than an informative one, this book is still well worth a look for anyone creating advanced 3D graphics, animation, or digital video for games.

Introduction to Computer Graphics James Foley Addison Wesley ISBN: 0201609215 Price: $51.59 Pages: 559 Publication Date: August 1993 Media Included: None An introductory adaptation of Computer Graphics: Principles, this book is excellent for beginners.

Mathematical Elements for Computer Graphics, Second Edition David Rogers McGraw Hill ISBN: 0070535302 Price: $42.80 Publication Date: August 1989 Media Included: None Another basic text on graphics programming math and algorithms.

Michael Abrash’s Graphics Programming Black Book Michael Abrash The Coriolis Group ISBN: 1576101746 Price: $59.99 Pages: 1,376 Publication Date: July 1997 Media Included: CD His latest and greatest book, the Graphics Programming Black Book includes virtually everything he has ever written about performance coding and realtime graphics, and includes a CD full of source code.

Painter 4 Wow! Book Cher Pendarvis Peachpit Press ISBN: 0201886448 Price: $44.95 Pages: 250 Publication Date: August 1996 Media Included: CD Painter is a great product for graphics creation, and this is the best book about Painter, with tons of examples, advanced techniques, and color plates.

The Photoshop 4 Wow!: Macintosh Edition Linnea Dayton Peachpit Press ISBN: 0201688565 Price: $44.95 Pages: 300 Publication Date: October 1997 Media Included: CD The top-selling Photoshop book with 238,000 copies currently in print. The new edition is expanded and updated for version 4. An awesome title with lots of great examples and full color plates.

The Photoshop 4 Wow!: Windows Edition Linnea Dayton Peachpit Press ISBN: 0201688573 Price: $44.95 Pages: 300 Publication Date: July 1997 Media Included: CD One of the better books out there that covers the ins and outs of Photoshop. Lots of color plates and advanced techniques well shown.

Principles of Digital Image Synthesis Andrew S. Glassner Morgan Kaufman ISBN: 1558602763

Price: $99.95 Pages: 1,200 Publication Date: March 1995 Media Included: None Covers lots of advanced graphics programming techniques and algorithms.

Publishing Digital Video Jan Ozer AP Professional ISBN: 0125319428 Price: $34.95 Pages: 557 Publication Date: March 1997 Media Included: CD Jan Ozer is Mr. Digital Video, and this book proves to be an excellent guide to producing video for electronic and Internet distribution.

Special Effects in Television, Third Edition Bernard Wilkie Focal Press ISBN: 0240514351 Price: $49.95 Pages: 272 Publication Date: March 1996 Media Included: None An interesting title for those using digital video in their products. This book covers some of the basic video techniques used to produce special effects in TV and other mediums.

State of the Art in Computer Graphics: Visualization and Modeling D.F. Rogers and P.A. Earnshaw (Editor) Springer Verlag ISBN: 0387975608 Price: $118.95 Publication Date: July 1991 Media Included: None From top academic computer publisher Springer Verlag, this text covers cutting-edge ideas in the computer graphics and visualization field.

Zen of Graphics Programming, Second Edition Michael Abrash The Coriolis Group ISBN: 1883577896 Price: $44.99 Pages: 800 Publication Date: April 1996 Media Included: Disk One of the top-selling graphics books of recent times. Microsoft/id Software programmer Michael Abrash shows everything he knows and has written about graphics programming—a must-have for every game programmer. One of the best-written programming texts ever.

History Hackers Jonny Lee Miller MGM Press ISBN: 6303908128 Price: $96.99 Pages: 448 Publication Date: February 1996 Media Included: None An awesome tale of the early days of the computer movement, this book includes numerous stories on early game development shops.

Joystick Nation J. C. Herz Little Brown ISBN: 0316360074 Price: $23.95 Pages: 228 Publication Date: June 1997 Media Included: None Author J.C. Herz takes a crack at explaining the cultural impact videogames have had on a new generation.

Software People

Doug Carlston Simon & Schuster ISBN: 0671509713 Price: $17.95 Pages: 280 Publication Date: October 1985 Media Included: None Written by the founder of Broderbund, this book is a must-have. Covers all the early years of the computer game business and tells tales of some of the legends of the industry.

Macintosh Black Art of Macintosh Game Programming Kevin Tieskoetter Waite Group Press ISBN: 157169059x Price: $39.99 Pages: 793 Publication Date: February 1996 Media Included: CD A solid Mac game programming book, of which there are only a handful.

Macintosh Game Programming Techniques Cary Torkelson Henry Holt & Company ISBN: 1558514619 Price: $39.95 Pages: 432 Publication Date: June 1996 Media Included: CD Again, one of the few books written about Mac game programming for those interested in writing the next Marathon.

Sex, Lies, and Video Games: How to Write a Macintosh Arcade Game Bill Hensler Peachpit Press ISBN: 0201407574 Price: $34.95

Pages: 402 Publication Date: January 1996 Media Included: Disk Snappy title for a book on a subject that isn’t documented very much.

Management/Business/Marketing All I Really Need to Know in Business I Learned at Microsoft: Insider Strategies to Help You Succeed Julie Bick Pocket Books ISBN: 0671009133 Price: $16.00 Pages: 160 Publication Date: June 1997 Media Included: None A former senior product manager at Microsoft explains everything she learned about business and management while working at Microsoft. Good text to get a handle on the pressure and techniques on the frontline of software battles.

Code Complete Steve M. McConnell Microsoft Press ISBN: 1556154844 Price: $35.00 Pages: 855 Publication Date: May 1993 Media Included: None Along with the works of Jim McCarthy and Steve Maguire, this is one of a slew of must-have books on software construction from Microsoft Press. Covers the art and science of the entire development process, from designing to testing.

Debugging the Development Process Steve Maguire Microsoft Press ISBN: 1556156502 Price: $24.95 Pages: 188

Publication Date: August 1994 Media Included: None From the author of Writing Solid Code comes another in a series of excellent software engineering books put out by Microsoft Press.

Dynamics of Software Development Jim McCarthy and Denis Gilbert Microsoft Press ISBN: 1556158238 Price: $24.95 Pages: 184 Publication Date: July 1995 Media Included: None If you haven’t heard of Jim McCarthy or his TeamX software development boot camp, don’t worry—but you should worry about not having read this book. In it you will find the candid wisdom of Jim McCarthy, a software industry veteran and the director of Microsoft’s Visual C++ development group. The book is one of the best books about how to build great software teams and, thus, great software. A must-read.

Entrepreneuring: The Ten Commandments for Building a Growth Company, Third Edition Steven C. Brandt Archipelago Publishing ISBN: 1888925027 Price: $14.95 Pages: 208 Publication Date: March 1997 Media Included: None Entrepreneuring: The Ten Commandments for Building a Growth Company, 3rd Edition, presents operating principles that have stood the test of time in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. With over 100,000 first-edition copies sold, it’s a great read for those of you trying to build the next great independent development shop.

How to Drive Your Competition Crazy Guy Kawasaki and Scott Adams Hyperion Books ISBN: 0786881631 Price: $12.95

Pages: 234 Publication Date: August 1996 Media Included: None Another of Guy Kawasaki’s books on how to market, sell, and win in the high-technology industry. Good information on the cutthroat aspect of the gaming industry.

How to Sell Your Software Robert Schenot John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 0471063991 Price: $29.99 Pages: 304 Publication Date: January 1995 Media Included: None Covers lots of the fundamental ins and outs of bootstrapping your own software business. There aren’t many nuts-and-bolts books about starting a software company, and the ones that do exist tend to tell you to start by obtaining $3 million in venture capital—this one doesn’t.

Legal Care for Your Software, Third Edition Daniel Remer Nolo Press ISBN: 0873370376 Publication Date: January 1987 Media Included: None Covers all the basics of law for computer software programmers and publishers. You’ll still need a lawyer, but why go into a meeting undereducated?

The Macintosh Way Guy Kawasaki Scott Foresman ISBN: 0673461750 Price: $21.55 Publication Date: August 1989 Media Included: None The first book of Guy Kawasaki’s that launched two sequels. It’s essential reading for any developer who needs to wear some sort of business and marketing hat as well.

Make Money Selling Your Shareware Steven Hudgik McGraw Hill ISBN: 0070308659 Price: $29.95 Pages: 335 Publication Date: March 1994 Media Included: Disk This hard-to-find book by one of the more successful shareware marketers gets you up on all the basics and ideas behind this mass-marketing medium that has launched many a game. A little dated but still good for those totally undereducated about shareware-style business models.

The Mythical Man-Month Frederick P. Brooks Jr. Addison Wesley ISBN: 0201835959 Price: $25.77 Pages: 322 Publication Date: July 1995 Media Included: None One of the legendary books on software, The Mythical Man-Month focuses on software engineering facts and thought-provoking opinions. It is a must-read for any programming team leader under a ship-by-Christmas deadline!

Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules Steve McConnell Microsoft Press ISBN: 1556159005 Price: $35.00 Pages: 647 Publication Date: July 1996 Media Included: None One of the most recommended software engineering texts around. Get your development schedules under control and on track! If you wrestle with development mileposts and deadlines, this book can show you the tested strategies and tactics you need to keep your projects on time and on budget.

Selling the Dream

Guy Kawasaki HarperBusiness ISBN: 0887306004 Price: $13.00 Pages: 337 Publication Date: August 1992 Media Included: None Another one of Guy Kawasaki’s books on how to market, sell, and win in the high-technology industry. Covers the emotional side of producing and promoting a product with heavy evangelism.

Software Project Survival Guide Steve McConnell Microsoft Press ISBN: 1572316217 Price: $24.99 Pages: 250 Publication Date: October 1997 Media Included: None This is the latest text from software engineering guru Steve McConnell. Developers will want this as much as they do his other texts, like Code Complete.

Writing Solid Code Steve Maguire Microsoft Press ISBN: 1556155514 Price: $24.95 Pages: 256 Publication Date: May 1993 Media Included: None Another software engineering must-have from Microsoft Press. Covers how to create wellconstructed, bug-free code.

Miscellaneous Carronade’s Interactive Media Directory, Seventh Edition Clancy Fort Carronade Group ISBN: 1885452136

Price: $75.00 Pages: 450 Publication Date: February 1997 Media Included: None A phonebook of a text—lists all sorts of companies and other key contacts in the multimedia industry that people might want to know about.

Music And Sound 3D Sound for Virtual Reality and Multimedia Durand R. Begault AP Professional ISBN: 0120847353 Price: $49.95 Pages: 293 Publication Date: Sept. 1994 Media Included: None 3D sound isn’t a standard practice in gaming yet, and there aren’t many other books written on the topic.

Interactive Publisher’s Handbook John Kalb Carronade Group ISBN: 1885452071 Price: $24.95 Pages: 320 Publication Date: June 1996 Media Included: None Another Carronade Group book that contains listing after listing of information for those people publishing in the interactive arena.

Sound & Music for Multimedia David Javelosa M&T Books ISBN: 1558515550 Price: $34.95 Pages: 352 Publication Date: January 1997

Media Included: CD Formerly of Sega and now a major instructor and columnist on music creation for New Media Magazine, David Javelosa has years of experience creating and showing others how to create electronic music for multimedia and games. This book covers the technology and design process of interactive software sound effects and music.

Programming Action Arcade Adventure Set Diana Gruber The Coriolis Group ISBN: 1883577063 Price: $39.95 Pages: 512 Publication Date: September 1994 Media Included: Disk Covers how to create games, written by someone who loves doing it. Focuses mostly on side-scroller Mario Brothers-type games using C. Also includes information on using Fastgraph, a well-known graphics library, and marketing tips. Book includes disk with shareware version of Dos Fastgraph.

Black Art of Java Game Programming Joel Fan, Eric Ries, and Calin Tenitchi Waite Group Press ISBN: 1571690433 Price: $49.99 Pages: 933 Publication Date: November 1996 Media Included: CD Java game programming hasn’t taken off yet, but several books are exploring how to create such basic game needs as animation, sound, and other multimedia staples. Black Art of Java Programming covers many game programming basics as they apply to Java programming.

Black Art of Visual Basic Game Programming Mark Pruett Waite Group Press ISBN: 1571690050 Price: $34.95 Pages: 539

Publication Date: October 1995 Media Included: CD Covers lots of higher-end subjects for VB programmers creating games.

Build Your Own Flight Sim in C++ Chris Lampton and Andre Lamothe Waite Group Press ISBN: 1571690220 Price: $39.99 Pages: 638 Publication Date: April 1996 Media Included: CD Update of the bestseller Flights of Fantasy, but refreshed with lots more code and techniques.

Build Your Own PC Game in Seven Easy Steps Using Visual Basic Scott Palmer Addison-Wesley ISBN: 0201489112 Price: $36.95 Pages: 504 Publication Date: December 1995 Media Included: CD Covers lots of basics on game development for VB addicts.

Building a 3D Game Engine in C++ Brian Hook John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 0471123269 Price: $39.95 Pages: 421 Publication Date: May 1995 Media Included: None From a developer now working on Quake II at id Software comes a very good text on building a 3D game engine.

C++ Games Programming

Al Stevens and Stan Trujillo M&T Books ISBN: 155851449x Price: $39.95 Pages: 360 Publication Date: July 1995 Media Included: CD Somewhat dated, but includes a bunch of information about shareware, freeware, and public-domain graphics and modeling tools. Good for the hobbyist/budget developer.

Computational Geometry and Computer Graphics in C++ Michael J. Laszlo Prentice Hall ISBN: 132908425 Price: $57.00 Pages: 266 Publication Date: September 1995 Media Included: None This book describes some basic problems in computer graphics and computational geometry and presents practical methods for solving them.

Computational Geometry in C Joseph O’Rourke Cambridge University Press ISBN: 0521445922 Price: $27.95 Pages: 346 Publication Date: June 1994 Media Included: None Another basic text on 3D graphics programming.

Cutting-Edge 3D Game Programming with C++ John De Goes The Coriolis Group ISBN: 1883577705 Price: $39.99 Pages: 736 Publication Date: July 1996

Media Included: CD Covers lots of the basics and some more advanced items concerning creating realtime 3D graphics and animation in C++.

DirectDraw Programming Bret Timmins M & T Publishing ISBN: 1558514600 Price: $39.95 Pages: 362 Publication Date: March 1996 Media Included: CD Lots of examples and code about the heart of the DirectX graphics system.

High Performance Windows Graphics Programming Stan Trujillo The Coriolis Group ISBN: 1576101487 Price: $39.99 Pages: 432 Publication Date: October 1997 Media Included: CD Covers higher-end techniques for creating fast, high-impact graphics under Windows.

Inside DirectX Team DirectX Microsoft Press ISBN: 1572316969 Price: $44.99 Pages: 550 Publication Date: November 1997 Media Included: CD Microsoft’s own crack at explaining DirectX programming to the masses.

Introduction to Algorithms Thomas H. Cormen, Charles E. Leiserson, and Ronald L. Rivest

MIT Press ISBN: 0262031418 Price: $63.00 Pages: 1,027 Publication Date: May 1989 Media Included: None There are books on algorithms that are rigorous but not complete, and books that cover masses of material but are not rigorous. Introduction to Algorithms combines the attributes of comprehensiveness and comprehensibility.

More Tricks of the Game-Programming Gurus Greg Anderson Sams ISBN: 0672306972 Price: $49.99 Pages: 568 Publication Date: July 1995 Media Included: CD A much better book than its companion, the popular Tricks of the Game Programming Gurus.

OpenGL Programming Guide Jackie Neider, Tom Davis, and Mason Woo Addison-Wesley ISBN: 0201632748 Price: $34.95 Pages: 516 Publication Date: August 1993 Media Included: None The official guide to learning OpenGL.

OpenGL Reference Manual OpenGL Architecture Review Board Addison-Wesley ISBN: 0201632764 Price: $34.95 Pages: 387 Publication Date: January 1993 Media Included: None

The official reference document for OpenGL.

PC Game Programming Explorer Dave Roberts The Coriolis Group ISBN: 1883577071 Price: $34.95 Pages: 512 Publication Date: November 1994 Media Included: Disk An award-winning but dated book. It is well-written and great for beginning programmers.

Programming Computer Games in C Robert Marmelstein M & T Publishing ISBN: 1558513809 Price: $34.95 Pages: 563 Publication Date: September 1994 Media Included: Disk Another dated book that still might be useful for beginners trying to get their hands on everything they can.

Programming Games for Beginners Christopher A. Howard Sams ISBN: 0672303132 Price: $26.95 Pages: 466 Publication Date: September 1993 Media Included: Disk An introductory game programming book on Visual Basic.

Texturing and Modeling; A Procedural Approach David S. Ebert AP Professional ISBN: 0122287606

Price: $39.95 Pages: 332 Publication Date: October 1994 Media Included: None Book contains a toolbox of procedures, textures, and objects that programmers can use to build a library of routines.

Tricks of the Game Programming Gurus Andre Lamothe, John Ratcliff, and Denise Seminatore Tyler Sams ISBN: 0672305070 Price: $45.00 Pages: 746 Publication Date: August 1994 Media Included: CD A little dated now, but this can be a good book for beginners. It includes some nice introductory work on graphics creation by Denise Tyler

Tricks of the Mac Game Programming Gurus Jamie McCornack, Ingemar Ragnemalm, and Paul Celestin Hayden Books ISBN: 1568301839 Price: $50.00 Pages: 861 Publication Date: July 1995 Media Included: CD Filled with tips, tricks, and detailed instructions, this book guides users through the world of Mac game programming.

VB Programmer’s Guide to the Win32 API Daniel Appleman Ziff Davis Press ISBN: 1562762877 Price: $49.99 Pages: 1,517 Publication Date: April 1996 Media Included: CD

No VB game programmer who is seriously considering creating a game for Windows should be caught dead without this book.

Visual Basic 5 Web & Multimedia Adventure Set Anthony Potts and Chris D. Coppola Coriolis Group ISBN: 1576101053 Price: $49.99 Pages: 646 Publication Date: January 1997 Media Included: None This book has some really good coverage of executing numerous multimedia staples with Visual Basic.

Win32 Game Developers Guide With DirectX 3 Jason Kolb Waite Group Press ISBN: 1571690301 Price: $39.99 Pages: 474 Publication Date: January 1997 Media Included: CD Even though Microsoft is up to DirectX 5, much of the graphics primer here is still pretty applicable if you’ve never used DirectX before.

Windows 95 Game Developer’s Guide Using the Game SDK Morrison, Michael/ Weems, Randy Sams ISBN: 0672306611 Price: $49.99 Pages: 598 Publication Date: January 1996 Media Included: CD Covers how to create distributable Windows 95 games, and focuses on the Windows Game SDK. Also includes marketing tips.

Windows 95 Game SDK Strategy Guide

Clayton Walnum QUE ISBN: 078970661x Price: $49.99 Pages: 580 Publication Date: January 1996 Media Included: CD Covers the creation of games with the DirectX game SDK.

Windows Game SDK Developer’s Guide Martyn Deobald The Coriolis Group ISBN: 1883577845 Price: $39.99 Pages: 570 Publication Date: June 1996 Media Included: None Covers the basics of Microsoft’s game SDK.

Zen of Code Optimization Michael Abrash The Coriolis Group ISBN: 1883577039 Price: $39.95 Pages: 449 Publication Date: December 1994 Media Included: Disk This hard-to-find “from the trenches” programming guide written by Abrash is a classic. Covers dozens of common and not-so-common optimization techniques to squeeze the most out of your cutting-edge code.

Virtual Reality Virtual Reality Homebrewer’s Handbook Robin Hollands, Chris Hand, and Sean Clark John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 0471958719 Price: $39.95

Pages: 362 Publication Date: October 1996 Media Included: CD One of the few VR books worth checking out. Outlines the basics of VR technology hardware and software, and offers an extensive survey of the gear you can buy. Because of this background information, it’s a good first stop for those developers trying to get a glance at the VR landscape.

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Resource B Conferences There are quite a few conferences that game developers of all types should go to. Not only are these conferences absolutely the best way to network and do business in the industry, but you can have a great time at some of them. However, games conferences can be very serious. In an industry as scattered as game development, conferences can provide a brief glimpse of what’s happening in the industry and an opportunity to get up to speed with where you and your products need to be by the time you ship. The first place to start for any game developer is the Computer Game Developers’ Conference. The CGDC is run by Miller-Freeman now, after being built up from its humble beginnings as a gathering in the living room of game developer Chris Crawford’s house. There’s less of a grass roots feel these days—the industry has grown so much that the conference is now a very big deal. The best advice you can get is to go to this conference. After CGDC, the next best conference/trade show to go to is the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). Before E3, the Consumer Electronics Show was where software companies would debut all their new products. However, as the games industry grew, a games-only trade show was needed, and with the help of the IDSA and IDG’s trade show division, E3 was born. It is the number one place to get a good picture of every new game in the works for the coming year. While key products are sometimes shown behind closed doors due to the game industry’s competitive nature, E3 is still the place to see it all in a few days and go home knowing what the state of the market is. And while E3 is far more a “suit” show than CGDC is, Game Developer magazine and E3 have been working together to beef up the conference aspect of E3 to offer talks and panels that are worth attending after you wear your feet out on the show floor. Aside from the big two of CGDC and E3, there are several other conferences worth visiting. The European Computer Trade Show (ECTS) is the E3 of Europe, though not quite as big. However, if you want to network and get a better grip on the Euro-game scene, this conference is for you. Siggraph is also a key show. Even though games aren’t the focus of this legendary love fest for computer graphics, Siggraph is a key place to find a 3D animator, catch up on the latest techniques and software, and explore everything graphical from realtime 3D to high-end SGI and NT graphics software. Finally, Jupiter Communications’ online games conference is growing as a focal point for the emerging online market. It isn’t really a developer conference like CGDC; instead, like other

Jupiter conferences, it focuses on marketing, business models, and industry outlook, an immensely important set of subject matter. So, as you explore attending as many of these conferences as possible, think CGDC first, E3 second, with ECTS, Siggraph, and Jupiter falling in behind. And again, send in that email if you hear of new conferences or want to suggest ones we missed.

Game-Development Specific Computer Game Developers’ Conference Miller Freeman, Inc. 600 Harrison Street San Francisco, CA 94107 415-905-2200 www.mfi.com Conference URL: www.cgdc.com Location for 1998: Long Beach, CA Conference Dates: 5/3/98 - 5/7/98 Cost: $650-1500 Topics: Everything concerning making games Who Should Attend: Anyone interested in making games would be crazy not to attend. Speaker Information: Contact the CGDC conference department at Miller Freeman. Submit topic, outline of content, and background for consideration by the organizing board. The oldest and most important conference for game developers. This show has grown from its humble beginnings to a full-fledged conference, including a huge exhibition floor packed with tool and game industry companies. Not to be missed!

Graphics 3D Design Conference Miller Freeman, Inc. 600 Harrison Street San Francisco, CA 94107 415-905-2200 www.mfi.com Conference URL: www.3dshow.com Location for 1998: San Francisco Conference Dates: 6/3/98 - 6/6/98 Cost: $25-$1,195 Topics: 3D design techniques

Who Should Attend: 3D developers Speaker Information: Contact the 3D Design organizing committee at Miller Freeman. Submissions can be done through Miller Freeman’s Web site. This conference addresses the latest technical information for 3D designers. The educational program focuses on both basic skills and new technologies in modeling, animation, special effects, authoring, audio, and design.

Siggraph Association for Computing Machinery 1515 Broadway 17th Floor New York, NY 10036 Phone: 212-869-7440 Fax: 212-944-1318 www.acm.org Conference URL: www.siggraph.com Location for 1998: Orlando, FL Conference Dates: 7/19/98 - 7/24/98 Cost: $50-$750 Topics: Graphics Who Should Attend: Game developers and artists. Siggraph is the number one non-gamespecific conference of importance to the game development community. Speaker Information: Contact the ACM Siggraph organizing committee. Academic papers, conferences, and presentations must be submitted to the organizing committee for consideration. For more information, go to the Siggraph Web site. Papers are expected to cover high-end topics. The most important graphics-focused conference, Siggraph is the place where everyone that has something to do with computer graphics (especially 3D) meets to display their products, as well as present important papers and panels on graphical products and research. An awesome place to recruit and be recruited for artwork production postitions. The 1998 show is the 25th anniversary of Siggraph.

Silicon Graphics Forum Silicon Graphics 2011 North Shoreline Boulevard Mountain View, CA 94043 Phone: 415-960-1980 Fax: 415-961-0595 [email protected] www.sgi.com Cost: $895

Topics: Hardware development, operating systems, graphics, Java, VRML, Web development, digital media, content creation, supercomputing, enterprise computing Who Should Attend: Software developers This is SGI’s top annual conference for developers. The conference is open to anyone, and attendees can chose from nine concurrent tracks.

Important for Game Developers Comdex Fall Comdex 300 First Avenue Needham, MA 02194 Phone: 617-433-1650 Fax: 617-449-2674 [email protected] www.comdex.com Location for 1998: Las Vegas Conference Dates: 11/16/98 - 11/20/98 Cost: $100-$1,295 Topics: Converging channels, developer’s tools, the Internet and intranets, networking and telecom, software, multimedia, etc. Who Should Attend: Computer professionals The world’s leading computer industry event. In addition to a massive exhibit floor, the conference features top-level speakers and technology conferences. Comdex Spring, which in 1998 runs from April 20-23 in Chicago, is run in conjunction with Windows World, the international flagship event for experiencing Windows-based products. Sister conferences include Comdex Canada, Brazil, Montreal, Asia, Hispano America, and Uniforum.

Electronic Entertainment Expo Interactive Digital Software Association/MHA 1130 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 710 Washington, DC 20036 Phone: 202-833-4372 Fax: 202-833-4431 [email protected] www.idsa.com Conference URL: www.mha.com/e3/ Location for 1998: Atlanta Conference Dates: 5/28/98 - 5/30/98

Cost: $75-$1,000 Topics: Games, game development, retailing, industry, distribution Who Should Attend: Everyone involved in game development, especially marketing, sales, and PR types, but also developers and producers Speaker Information: Two tracks of conferences are produced. Contact MHA event management for more information. or contact the IDSA directly. After CGDC, E3 is the next most important conference to be at if you’re in the industry. It offers perhaps the single most important glimpse into the state of the industry and every product that might ship by the following year.

European Computer Trade Show Miller Freeman, Inc. 600 Harrison Street San Francisco, CA 94107 415-905-2200 www.mfi.com Conference URL: www.ects.com Location for 1998: London, England Conference Dates: 9/8/98 Topics: Software, games, retailing, and distribution Who Should Attend: Game developers interested in the European game and software scene The number one computer conference in Europe, ECTS is the European equivalent to a combination of E3 and Comdex. If you’re a developer in Europe, or interested in broadening your European base, this is a must-attend.

Internet World Mecklermedia Trade Shows 20 Ketchum Street Westport, CT 06880 Phone: 1-800-MECKLER Fax: 203-454-5840 [email protected] www.internet.com Conference URL: events.iworld.com Location for 1998: New York (Fall) & Los Angeles (Spring) Cost: $50-$1,395 Topics: Strategic business issues, Internet implementation, developing technologies Who Should Attend: Members of the MIS, Web development, networking, corporate enduser, distribution, and VAR communities Speaker Information: See Web site for information and to submit conference session proposals.

Internet World—with conferences around the world and throughout the year—is the industry’s oldest and largest Internet, intranet, and World Wide Web event. Events are Spring and Fall Internet World in Los Angeles and New York respectively, as well as conferences in Columbia, the United Kingdom, Berlin, Mexico, Israel, Portugal, Hong Kong, Australia, Brazil, France, Canada, the Philippines, Chile, Monterrey, and Sweden.

Software Development Miller Freeman, Inc. 600 Harrison Street San Francisco, CA 94107 415-905-2200 www.mfi.com Conference URL: www.mfi.com/sdconfs Location for 1998: San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Topics: All aspects of software development Who Should Attend: Professional developers Speaker Information: Contact software development organizing committee for information. Check Miller Freeman’s Web site for submission deadlines. Software Development is probably the top conference for professional programmers of all kinds. Web Development conference runs along with it. The spring conference is the larger of the two.

SPA Annual Conference Software Publishers Association 1730 M St. NW Suite 600 Washington, DC 20036-4510 Phone: 202-452-1600 Fax: 202-223-8756 [email protected] www.spa.org Conference URL: www.spa.org/meetings/conferen.htm Location for 1998: Chicago, IL Conference Dates: 9/12/98 - 9/16/98 Cost: $725-$1,300 Topics: Software publishing of all kinds Who Should Attend: Software developers, industry executives Speaker Information: Contact the main SPA office in Washington, D.C., for more information. More than 1,200 industry executives, SPA members, and non-members can network, participate in

informal sessions, and discuss issues. In 1998, the Spring Symposium runs from March 21-25 in San Jose, while the 14th Annual Conference will be held from Sept. 12-16 in Chicago.

Web-Related Interactive Conference and Expo Softbank Expos 303 Vintage Park Drive Foster City, CA 94404 Phone: 415-578-6900 Fax: 415-525-0194 [email protected] www.sbexpos.com Conference URL: interactive.sbforums.com Topics: Interactive development This Softbank-produced show centers on the growing interactive development industry. Specific topics at past shows have included Web technology, distance learning, online information services, design, and the interactive classroom.

Macromedia User Conference Macromedia, Inc. 600 Townsend Street San Francisco, CA 94103 Phone: 415-252-2000 Fax: 415-626-0554 [email protected] www.macromedia.com Conference URL: www.macromedia.com/events Location for 1998: San Francisco Conference Dates: 10/1/98 Cost: $699-$899 Topics: Director, Lingo, and Shockwave Who Should Attend: Developers using Macromedia products Speaker Information: Request information through Macromedia’s Web site. This is the top conference for those using Macromedia products, especially Director, Authorware, and Shockwave. The Macromedia User Conference is held every year in the fall.

Online Games Jupiter Communications

627 Broadway Second Floor New York, NY 10012 Phone: 800-481-1212 Fax: 212-780-6075 www.jup.com Location for 1998: Los Angeles Conference Dates: 11/21/98 - 11/22/98 Cost: $1,300 Topics: Web and online games Who Should Attend: Anyone involved in the development of Web or online games Speaker Information: Contact Jupiter Communications—information is available on their Web site. Online Games grew out of the annual Online Developers’ Conference and covers the development of Web- and online-based games.

Shareware Industry Conference Shareware Industry Awards Foundation 401-767-3106 [email protected] www.sic.org Conference URL: www.sic.org/conference-98.html Location for 1998: Rhode Island Conference Dates: 6/1/98 Cost: $50 Topics: The business of shareware, for both newcomers and industry leaders Who Should Attend: Anyone involved in using shareware in publishing should consider attending. Speaker Information: Contact conference mangement or go to their Web site for more details. Shareware Industry Awards and Ziff-Davis Interactive Award winners are announced at this conference.

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Resource C Developer Programs Developer programs are the best way to gain the really critical information you need to stay ahead. As a professional, you want to have the best access there is to existing technical information. No book, magazine, or conference is going to be as helpful as a solid and well-run developer program. In addition to the technical information and discounted products you normally find, many also offer excellent comarketing opportunities for you to take advantage of. What we’ve tried to present is not only as complete a list as we could find, but a few good details about each one including, where possible, the cost and benefits of the programs. Many of them are actually fairly inexpensive, and when you look at either the discounts or free stuff some of the costlier ones contain, their value is clear. Our advice is that you sign up for as many of these programs as possible. What you don’t have a need for now may actually be useful down the line. In addition, developer program members tend to get special news and information about new products. One of the best aspects of developer programs for new developers is the ability to get in on the beta. Sometimes this can be very important because being the first game out to take advantage of a hot new hardware product can help rack up sales. Just look at the sales of products that have been the first to take advantage of a hot new graphics card and you’ll know what we mean. Developer programs are also useful because they might be the only way to gain access to the private developer conferences many companies run. While these conferences will be packed with information about the products the company sells, they’re also packed with fellow developers. Many programs have special BBS offerings or mailing lists for developers to join that can also be excellent hidden networking opportunities. In short, developer programs are one way to show other developers and investors that you’re serious about your programming. By taking advantage of these programs and using them to find information you need, as well as indicating your seriousness to other partners and developers, you can get the most out of these resources.

3D Graphics

3D Labs Developer Support 3D Labs 181 Metro Drive Suite 520 San Jose, CA 95110 Phone: 408-436-3455 Fax: 408-436-3458 www.3dlabs.com Program URL: www.3dlabs.com/enter.html Qualifications: Email requests for entry forms to [email protected] Program Length: 1 year 3D Labs provides access to its developer Web site, plus help with coding and driver issues for both their Glint and newer Permedia 3D chip technologies.

Alias|Wavefront Conductors High-Voltage Plug-Ins Alias|WaveFront 110 Richmond Street East Toronto, ON M5C 1P1 Canada Phone: 416-362-9181 Fax: 416-362-0630 [email protected] www.aw.sgi.com Program URL: www.alias.com/General/conductors/conductors.html Program Email: [email protected] Alias|Wavefront is one of the top 3D modeling and animation systems. Conductors is the main developer support program for those creating plug-ins for Alias|Wavefront.

ATI Developers Program ATI Technologies Inc. 33 Commerce Valley Drive East Thornhill, ON L3T 7N6 Canada Phone: 905-882-2600 Fax: 905-882-2620 [email protected] www.atitech.ca/dr Cost: Free Qualifications: Fill out application for approval.

Program Length: Indefinite at ATI’s discretion If you are looking to develop for any of ATI’s drivers or graphics boards, such as the 3D Rage card, this is the place for you.

Kinetix Developer Forum Kinetix 642 Harrison Street San Francisco, CA 94107 Phone: 415-547-2000 Fax: 415-547-2222 [email protected] www.ktx.com Program URL: www.ktx.com/developer/index.htm Qualifications: Members must pay an annual fee, have an email address, and complete an application form. Acceptance is at the sole discretion of Kinetix. Program Length: 1 year The Kinetix Developer Program is mostly for developers interested in creating plug-ins and other utilities for their

Power VR VideoLogic Home Park Estate Kings Langley, Hertfordshire WD4 8LZ United Kingdom Phone: 01923-260511 Fax: 01923-268969 [email protected] www.videologic.com Program URL: www.videologic.com/devlink/devlink.html Qualifications: Send information to [email protected]. Include name, title, company, address, telephone and fax numbers, development platform, and brief summary of intent. Program Length: 1 year Provides access to the PowerVR developer Web site, plus help with coding and driver issues.

Rendition Ready Rendition 1675 North Shoreline Boulevard

Mountain View, CA 94043 Phone: 415-335-5900 Fax: 415-335-5999 [email protected] www.rendition.com Program URL: www.rendition.com/devarea.html Qualifications: Complete application on Web site Program Length: 1 year Provides access to Rendition’s developer Web site, plus help with coding and driver issues.

Softimage Partners Group Softimage 3510 boulevard St. Laurent Suite 400 Montreal H2X 2V2 Canada Phone: 514-845-1636 Fax: 514-845-5676 [email protected] www.softimage.com Program URL: www.softimage.com/Softimage/default.htm Program Email: [email protected] This is a one-stop shop dedicated to helping you create products that work with Softimage applications. It covers everything from handling external relationships and hardware certification to SDK programs and plug-in registration.

STB Authorized Developer’s Program STB Systems 1651 North Glenville Drive Richardson, TX 75081 Phone: 972-234-8750 Fax: 972-234-1306 [email protected] www.stb.com Program URL: www.stb.com/devel/intro.html Qualifications: Must fill out form on Web site and be accepted by developer relations group. Program members receive free products, access to a special developer Web site, STB Authorized Developer’s Program SDK, discounts on other products, evaluation units, and beta news and input.

StereoGraphics Developer Program StereoGraphics 2171 East Francisco Boulevard San Rafael, CA 94901 Phone: 415-459-4500 Fax: 415-459-3020 www.stereographics.com Program URL: www.stereographics.com/html/developers.html Cost: $100 Program Length: 1 year This program offers developers the support they’ll need to produce 3D stero-vision software. Developers can download SimulEyes VR drivers and complete documentation for CrystalEyes and SimulEyes for free.

Total Immersion 3Dfx Interactive, Inc. 4435 Fortran Drive San Jose, CA 45134 Phone: 888-FOR-3DFX Fax: 408-262-8874 www.3dfx.com Program URL: www.3dfx.com/developer/ Qualifications: Contact developer program: [email protected]. Fill out application on Web site for more information. Program Length: 1 year The program contains SDK and documentation for Glide and D3D development for 3Dfx. Total Immersion offers marketing support, press-related event opportunities, comarketing, and advertising. There is also a special communication channel to 3Dfx partners, customers, and other developers, and input into next-generation hardware.

Miscellaneous Creative Labs Developer Program Creative Labs, Inc. 1523 Cimarron Plaza Stillwater, OK 74075 Phone: 408-428-2345 Fax: 405-742-6646 [email protected]

www.creativelabs.com Program URL: netra.cle.creaf.com/wwwnew/tech/devcnr/devinfo.html Cost: Free Program Length: 1 year Includes technical support, access to comarketing, and advance information on new products.

Diamond Developer Relations Diamond Multimedia 2880 Junction Avenue San Jose, CA 95134 Phone: 408-325-7000 Fax: 408-325-7070 [email protected] www.diamondmm.com Program URL: www.diamondmm.com/developer-relations Program Email: [email protected] Cost: Free In addition to providing programming assistance to individuals creating Diamond-compatible software and hardware, the following marketing opportunities are available: bundling, demonstration CD-ROM, product catalogs, co-advertising, Web site links, trade show participation, and an online catalog.

Matrox Registered Developer Program Matrox 1055 Saint Regis Boulevard Dorval, QU H9P 2T4 Canada Phone: 514-969-6300 Fax: 514-969-6294 [email protected] www.matrox.com Program URL: www.matrox.com/mgaweb/develsup.htm Cost: Free For more information, email [email protected].

Xtras Developer Program Macromedia, Inc. 600 Townsend Street

San Francisco, CA 94103 Phone: 415-252-2000 Fax: 415-626-0554 [email protected] www.macromedia.com Program URL: www.macromedia.com/support/programs_services.html Cost: $249 Program Length: 1 year The Xtras program provides the technical assistance needed to develop Xtras. A subscription provides access to email listserv, an Xtra listing on Macromedia’s Web site, discount advertising in Macromedia Connections, opportunities to demo your Xtra in Macromedia’s booth at trade shows, and more.

Yamaha Strategic Business Alliance Yamaha 6600 Orangethorpe Avenue Buena Park, CA 90620 Phone: 714-522-9410 Fax: 714-228-3913 [email protected] www.yamaha.com This program is not designed for end users or the technically inquisitive.This alliance was formed to ensure good communication between Yamaha and developers who support Yamaha products.

Online Games Engage Content Developer’s Program Engage 17922 Fitch Avenue Irvine, CA 92614 Phone: 714-752-5510 Fax: 714-752-5516 [email protected] www.gamesonline.com Program URL: www.gamesonline.com/developers/main.html Qualifications: Talk directly to vice president of business development. Provides access to the Engage developer and content partner program.

Mpath Foundation

Mpath Interactive 665 Clyde Avenue Mountain View, CA 94043 Phone: 415-429-3900 Fax: 415-429-1901 [email protected] www.mpath.com Program URL: www.mpath.com/mpath_foundation/ Mpath Foundation provides an array of solutions to match the business requirements of its customers. Companies interested in entry-level solutions have the flexibility to upgrade their system to incorporate higher network performance schemas and management modules.

S3 Game Developer Support S3 Incorporated 2801 Mission College Boulevard Santa Clara, CA 95052 Phone: 408-558-8000 Fax: 408-980-5444 [email protected] www.s3.com Program URL: www.S3.com/support/gameapp.htm Qualifications: Application S3 has programs for Internet and game developers. Joining the game developer program gives you access to the S3d Toolkit, up-to-date product information, and the latest drivers for Open GL and Direct 3D, among other items.

T.E.N Developers T.E.N. (Total Entertainment Network) 500 Howard Street Suite 400 San Francisco, CA 94105 415-778-3520 [email protected] www.ten.com Program URL: www.ten.net/html/ten_developer.html Qualifications: Fill out form and join developer’s area. This developer program includes online APIs, samples code, and testing software.

WorldPlay Game Development Partners WorldPlay Entertainment 577 Airport Boulevard Suite 300 Burlingame, CA 94010 415-548-0277 [email protected] www.worldplay.com Program URL: www.worldplay.com/developers.html WorldPlay offers developers a Software Development Kit that gets you the information needed to adapt new or existing games to Worldnet.

Peripherals DevLink VideoLogic Home Park Estate Kings Langley, Hertfordshire WD4 8LZ United Kingdom Phone: 01923-260511 Fax: 01923-268969 [email protected] www.videologic.com Program URL: www.videologic.com/devlink/devlink.htm Program Email: [email protected] DevLink delivers news and information about software version updates and new products, and a guide to VideoLogic’s favorite Internet sources of multimedia information.

NuVision Software Development Program NuVision Technologies, Inc. 1815 North West 169th Place Building 3060 Beaverton, OR 97006 Phone: 503-614-9000 Fax: 503-614-9100 [email protected] www.nuvision3d.com Program URL: www.nuvision3d.com Qualifications: Email inquiries to [email protected], fill out form, and wait for

acceptance. Nuvision markets 3D stereoscopic glasses for gamers and has a developer program to encourage developers to build products around their hardware.

Platform Intel’s Developers’ Insight Intel Corporation 2200 Mission College Boulevard Santa Clara, CA 95052 408-765-8080 [email protected] www.intel.com Program URL: developer.intel.com/sites/developer/index.htm Cost: Free Qualifications: None Program Length: Indefinite Contact Intel for more information.

Macromedia Professional Developer Support Network Macromedia, Inc. 600 Townsend Street San Francisco, CA 94103 Phone: 415-252-2000 Fax: 415-626-0554 [email protected] www.macromedia.com Program URL: www.macromall.com/macromall/macromedia/DEVELOPER/info/ TSDPPWEL.html Cost: $399 Program Length: 1 year This is the main developer program for Macromedia, especially for Director users. As a subscriber to the Professional Developer Support Network, you will receive either email or toll-free phone development assistance from Macromedia’s Senior Support Engineers. You can also purchase additional one-hour increments for $99. As a PDSN subscriber, you are entitled to a listing in the referral network on macromedia.com. The referral network features developer information, including areas of expertise, current clients and projects, and links to developer Web sites. PDSN subscribers also receive a 30 percent discount on

the cost of attending the 1997 Macromedia International User Conference (good for up to two attendees per member company).

Microsoft Developer Network Microsoft One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052 Phone: 206-882-8080 Fax: 206-883-8101 www.microsoft.com Program URL: www.microsoft.com/msdn/ Cost: Free to $2,000 Qualifications: Free version available to online registrants. CD subscriptions available to paying customers. Program Length: 1 year The Microsoft Developer Network includes a Professional Subscription, Universal Subscription, and Library Subscription. The Library Subscription delivers information through the quarterly MSDN Library CD-ROM. The Professional Subscription is for people who want to develop solutions with the latest versions of Windows 95 and Windows NT Workstation, including prelease versions, and need access to Microsoft SDKs and DDKs for API-level development. You receive the quarterly Library plus a set of CD-ROMS. The Universal Subscription provides a single suite of tools and technology. You receive all the benefits of a Professional Subscription plus a full year of additional products. There is also a lightweight, free developer program that you can sign up for on their Web site. So even if paying Microsoft for access to their developer program isn’t in your reach, there isn’t any excuse not to be a little closer to those colorful folks in Redmond.

Silicon Graphics Developer Program—Enterprise/Explorer Silicon Graphics 2011 North Shoreline Boulevard Mountain View, CA 94043 Phone: 415-960-1980 Fax: 415-961-0595 [email protected] www.sgi.com Program URL: www.cuviello.com/_clients/_sgi/DPhome.html Cost: $300/company Qualifications: Product description or plans. Product must run on SG workstations and be distributed to SG end users outside of the developer’s organization, either commercially or as public domain. Program Length: 1 year SGI offers a comprehensive developer program with several different tracks, including Artisans and

Online Developers. You get access to materials, marketing opportunities, a specialized Web site, and much more. SGI has also launched a specialized OpenGL development program that includes forums, training classes, and more. Well worth checking out.

Sound/Music Qmixer/Qsound Developer Support QSound Labs, Inc. 2748-37th Avenue NE Calgary T1Y 5L3 Canada Phone: 403-291-2492 Fax: 403-250-1521 [email protected] www.qsound.ca Program URL: www.qsound.ca/support.htm Program Email: [email protected]

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Resource D Developer Tools and Products For this section, we deliberately didn’t list every last tool that you might want to see. We’ve tried to list some of the bigger tools in each category, as well as some of the more inexpensive tools the hobbyist or budget-conscious developers might want to check out. For example, while we’ve listed all the major 3D modeling and animation packages, we deliberately didn’t attempt to list all the major 3D Studio plug-ins. There are so many that it would have been a book in itself to list them all. In fact, Andrew Reese and Marlene Harrell are taking on that project for the 3D Modeling And Animation Marketplace, which will be another book in this series. We deliberately tried not to provide much in the way of opinion. Versions change constantly and new features are added, so reviews can get dated. That is best left to magazines like Game Developer, Interactivity, and 3D Design, which can give you more up-to-date assessments. This is one of the reasons we provide the Periodicals resource section. Many of these tools provide demos; if a demo is mentioned in the listing, you can assume that it is available from the company’s Web site. For the few entries that say a demo is available on CD-ROM, that means the demo is too big for a download. If you contact the company, it’ll mail you a CD containing the product demonstration.

3D Audio QSound QSound Labs, Inc. 2748-37th Avenue NE Calgary T1Y 5L3 Canada Phone: 403-291-2492 Fax: 403-250-1521 [email protected] www.qsound.ca Product Type: 3D audio technology and SDKs

Cost: Call Supported Platforms: Mac, Windows Requirements: Sound editor with Qsound plug-in Demo Available:www.qsound.ca/iqmain.htm Qsound is a leading processing technology and format that lets developers create 3D-enhanced sound effects.

3D Engine 3D Game Machine Virtually Unlimited 16 Roveray Geneva CH-1207 Switzerland Phone: 4122-700-7170 Fax: 4122-700-7016 [email protected] www.virtually3d.com Cost: varies Supported Platforms: Mac, Windows Requirements: C/C++ Demo Available: Yes A commercially viable 3D engine for game developers.

Console Tools Console Development Tools Cross Development Products 23 The Calls, Leeds West Yorkshire LS2 7EH United Kingdom Phone: 44 (0)113-242-9814 Fax: 44 (0)113-242-6163 [email protected] www.crossprod.co.uk Cost: Call Supported Platforms: Windows 95 for development, Saturn Requirements: Windows 95/NT and specialized console development hardware Cross Development Products develops specialized console development tools, including hardware

and full development environments. It’s well known for its Saturn development tools authorized by Sega.

Fusion64 Paradigm Simulations 14900 Landmark Boulevard Dallas, TX 75240 Phone: 972-960-2301 Fax: 972-960-2303 [email protected] www.paradigmsim.com Product URL: www.paradigmsim.com/intdevsys.html Product Type: Integrated development system Supported Platforms: SGI Requirements: Nintendo 64 development status Paradigm Simulations’ integrated service offers one-stop shopping for the construction of SGI-based Nintendo 64 development enviroments, featuring 3D modeling and animation, code development, and more. This system includes package deals involving SGI workstations, popular modeling and animation packages, and more.

Psy-Q Console Development Environment SN Systems Limited Quayside, 40 Hotwell Road Bristol BS8 4UQ England Phone: 44 (0)117-929-9733 Fax: 44 (0)117-929-9251 www.snsys.com Cost: $3,000-$6,000 Supported Platforms: Sony, Saturn, and Nintendo 64 systems available, Windows 95/NT for cross-development Requirements: Windows 95/NT and specialized console development hardware The Psy-Q console development system is a complete compiler/debugger and hardware interface for development of console products. It’s available in versions for Sony, Saturn, and Nintendo. The Nintendo system is the first not to require the fabeled SGI “Dream Team” development package—it runs on a PC-based Windows system.

Ultravision Paradigm Simulations

14900 Landmark Boulevard Dallas, TX 75240 Phone: 972-960-2301 Fax: 972-960-2303 [email protected] www.paradigmsim.com Product URL: www.paradigmsim.com/inttools.html Supported Platforms: SGI Requirements: Nintendo 64 development system Paradigm Simulations’ Nintendo 64 development environment features 3D modeling and animation. Paradigm produces 3D modeling and development packages for a number of military and commercial vendors and is the developer of Pilot Wings, an early N64 flight game.

Digital Cameras Agfa ePhoto 307 Agfa 100 Challenger Road Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660 Phone: 201-440-2500 Fax: 201-440-5733 [email protected] www.agfa.com Product URL: www.agfahome.com/products/prodfam/studiocam.html Supported Platforms: Mac, Windows The ePhoto 307 is Agfa’s low-end point-and-shoot camera with 640×480 resolution. Agfa PhotoWise and Adobe PhotoDeluxe are included.

Canon EOS DCS 1 and 3 Canon One Canon Plaza Lake Success, NY 11042 Phone: 516-488-6700 [email protected] www.usa.canon.com Supported Platforms: Mac, Windows The DCS 1 is Canon’s top-of-the-line camera with maximum resolution of 3060×2036. It shoots one frame per second and uses the Canon EOS-1N body. The DCS 3 is a high-end, one-shot, add-on camera with 1268×1012 resolution. It can take 2.7 frames per second and offers full compatibility

with Canon EF lenses.

Fuji DS-505/DS-515 Fuji Photo Film Co., LTD. 555 Taxter Road Elmsford, NY 10523 Phone: 914-789-8100 [email protected] www.fujifilm.com Product URL: www.fujifilm.co.jp/eng/505/indexe.html Supported Platforms: Mac, Windows The DS-505 and DS-515 are high-end cameras with 1280×1000 resolution, PCMCIA card support, and a 35 mm Nikon camera body. The DS-505 shoots up to one frame per second; the DS-515 shoots up to three frames per second.

Kodak DCS 420 Eastman Kodak Company 343 State Street Rochester, NY 14650-0518 Phone: 716-724-4000 Fax: 716-722-1178 [email protected] www.kodak.com Product URL: www.kodak.com/daiHome/DCS/DCSIndex.shtml Supported Platforms: Mac, Windows The DCS 420 is a high-end camera featuring a 35 mm body and 1524×1012 resolution, PCMCIA card support, and an internal microphone.

Minolta RD-175 Minolta Corporation www.minoltausa.com Product URL: ows.minoltausa.com/minolta/owa/productlist.list?line=di Supported Platforms: Mac, Windows The RD-175 is a high-end, one-shot camera utilizing 3 CCD chips for 1528×1145 resolution. It has PCMCIA card support and uses a traditional camera body, which accepts all other AF-series lenses.

Olympus D-300 series

Olympus America 2 Corporate Center Drive Melville, NY 11747 Phone: 516-844-5520 [email protected] www.olympusamerica.com/digital Product URL: www.olympusamerica.com/digital/docs/digproduct.html Supported Platforms: Mac, Windows The D-300L is a low-end camera with a 1024×768 resolution.

Polaroid PDC 2000 series Polaroid Corporation 549 Technology Square Cambridge, MA 02139 Phone: 617-386-2000 Fax: 617-386-3118 [email protected] www.polaroid.com Product URL: www.polaroid.com/digcam/digcam.html Cost: $2,000 Supported Platforms: Mac, Windows The PDC 2000 series is a group of mid-range cameras, all of which sport 1600×1200 resolution, builtin flash, and a 38 mm lens. An optional 60 mm lens attachment is also available. The difference between the three models—the 60, the 40, and the T—is the size of their internal storage.

Sony DKC-5000 CatsEye Sony 550 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10022-3211 Phone: 1-800-472-SONY Fax: 212-833-6938 [email protected] www.sony.com Product URL: www.sel.sony.com/SEL/bppg/new/index.html Supported Platforms: Mac, Windows The high-end DKC-5000 is a studio camera with three CCD chips and a 1520×1144 resolution.

Digital Video

Adobe Premiere Adobe 345 Park Avenue San Jose, CA 95110 Phone: 408-536-6000 Fax: 408-536-6799 [email protected] www.adobe.com Product URL: www.adobe.com/prodindex/premiere/main.html Cost: $995 Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac, SGI Requirements: Mac: 6MB RAM; Windows 95/NT: 10MB RAM; SGI O2: Irix 6.3; capture equipment recommended Demo Available: www.adobe.com/prodindex/premiere/demoreg.html The most often-used and popular digital video editing package, it offers a wealth of features, as well as plug-in technology for adding various effects packages. Available for the three major game development platforms. Almost every major codec is produceable with this package.

Cyberware Whole Body Scanner Cyberware 2110 Del Monte Avenue Monterey, CA 93940 Phone: 408-657-1450 Fax: 408-657-1494 [email protected] www.cyberware.com Product Type: 3D Scanner Cost: $410,000 Supported Platforms: NT, SGI Requirements: Specialized software running on SGI Indigo 2 workstation Cyberware scanners are currently too expensive for almost every developer, but may drop in price someday. Until then, developers will work directly with service bureaus like Viewpoint Datalabs to rent time on their Whole Body Scanner to create impeccable scans of humans or other large objects. Activision took this route to create a perfect 3D model of actor Bruce Willis for the game Apocalypse.

Digital Studio Softimage 3510 boulevard St. Laurent

Suite 400 Montreal H2X 2V2 Canada Phone: 514-845-1636 Fax: 514-845-5676 [email protected] www.softimage.com Supported Platforms: NT Requirements: A fast Pentium system running Windows NT and Play’s Trinity platform Digital Studio provides a single, integrated development application for working on digital production projects from start to finish. Digital Studio integrates professional nonlinear video editing and compositing, painting, digital-audio editing, titling, special effects, and project media management.

Final Cut Macromedia, Inc. 600 Townsend Street San Francisco, CA 94103 Phone: 415-252-2000 Fax: 415-626-0554 [email protected] www.macromedia.com Cost: $1,000+ est. Supported Platforms: Mac This unannounced and near-finished product from Macromedia is expected to compete heavily with Adobe Premiere for a major segment of the digital video market. Written by the original Premiere development team, many digital video addicts are eagerly awaiting its arrival.

Speed Razor In:Sync 7920 Norfolk Avenue Seventh Floor Bethesda, MD 20814 Phone: 1-800-864-7272 or 301-656-1700 Fax: 301-657-5071 [email protected] www.in-sync.com Product URL: www.in-sync.com/html/products.cfm Product Type: Digital video editing Supported Platforms: Windows NT Demo Available: Yes

Speed Razor is a leading non-linear video editing and compositing software for Windows NT. You can edit video on unlimited layers, mix six or more audio tracks in realtime output to D1 quality video, and more.

TrueMotion Duck Corporation 375 Greenwich Street New York, NY 10013 Phone: 212-941-2400 Fax: 212-941-3853 [email protected] www.duck.com Product Type: Digital video Cost: Free Supported Platforms: Windows, DOS, Mac TrueMotion provides superior realtime digital video. While the tool set is free, you still must pay a licensing fee and pay for the encoding. TrueMotion produces full 640×480, 3fps, 24-bit RGB video at better-than-television quality for software on today’s computers.

Game Engines 3D Game Engine Tools Animatek 77 Geary Street Suite 500 San Francisco, CA 94108 Phone: 415-477-0610 Fax: 415-477-0626 [email protected] www.animatek.com Product URL: www.animatek.com/our.htm Cost: $5,000-$50,000 Supported Platforms: Windows and Sony Playstation Demo Available: Yes Animatek, an innovative game developer, has for the last year or so been producing a number of exciting game engine tools developers may want to investigate. Caviar is a realtime 3D character rendering tool for realtime playback. Z-buffered Branched Movie Technology makes possible a new kind of VR environment where you can create incredible multi-

path 3D movement with pre-rendered scenes from 3D Studio, including z-buffering. Realtime Bones is a realtime implementation of the well-known Bones plug-in for 3D Studio. You can export Bones files and play them back to the applied mesh in your game engine in realtime. These shipping technologies will be joined by several other engines for 3D game animation, including Varimotion, which provides advanced “tweening” and interpetation algorithms for on-thefly 3D motion graphics. All these products, source code, and development systems really have to be seen to be appreciated. Licensing is available in several formats that range from $5,000 to $50,000 in price and includes onetime or per-product based systems.

NetImmerse Numerical Design, LTD 1506 East Franklin Street Suite 302 Chapel Hill, NC 27514 Phone: 919-929-2917 Fax: 919-967-3237 [email protected] www.ndl.com Cost: Call Supported Platforms: Windows This commercially available and viable 3D engine has been used in several commercial products.

Graphics 3D Studio MAX Kinetix 642 Harrison Street San Francisco, CA 94107 Phone: 415-547-2000 Fax: 415-547-2222 [email protected] www.ktx.com Product Type: 3D modeling and animation Supported Platforms: Windows 95/NT Requirements: Pentium at 90MHz minimum, Windows NT 3.51 or Windows 95, 32MB RAM, 100MB hard drive swap space, graphics card supporting 800×600×256 colors under Windows NT Demo Available: Yes

Perhaps the leading 3D modeling and animation tool around, MAX is the big brother (and we do mean big) to Autodesk’s original 3D Studio product (still offered in version 4). MAX has gotten rave reviews and a suite of plug-ins too numerous to mention here. The product should be in release 2 by the time this book is on the shelves.

Animation Master Hash, Inc. 2800 East Evergreen Boulevard Vancouver, MA 98661 Phone: 360-750-0042 Fax: 360-750-0451 [email protected] www.hash.com Product URL: www.hash.com Product Type: 3D modeling and animation Cost: $199 Supported Platforms: Mac, Windows Requirements: 32MB RAM Hash’s Animation Master is a well-respected product that packs dozens of high-end features into a low-cost package that may appeal to many developers.

DeBabelizer Pro/Toolbox Equilibrium Three Harbor Drive Suite 111 Sausalito, CA 94965 Phone: 415-332-4343 Fax: 415-332-4433 [email protected] www.equilibrium.com Product Type: Graphics processor Cost: $595/$399 Supported Platforms: Mac, Windows 95 and NT Requirements: 486 or faster processor running Windows 95 or NT 4.0, 16MB RAM (32MB recommended), 20MB hard drive space for installation, 20MB hard drive space for operation, 256-color or greater display adapter, CD-ROM drive Demo Available: www.equilibrium.com/WinSoftwareDownload.html DeBabelizer is the premiere image-conversion and color-reduction tool and the industry standard for automatically preparing graphics, animations, and digital video for multimedia, Web, and desktop productions. DeBabelizer Lite is available for those with smaller budgets. DeBabelizer Pro is the

Windows version; Toolbox is for the Mac.

Fast Track Nichimen Graphics 12555 West Jefferson Boulevard Suite 285 Los Angeles, CA 90066 Phone: 310-577-0500 Fax: 310-577-0577 [email protected] www.nichimen.com Product Type: 3D modeling and animation Cost: $9,995 Supported Platforms: Windows NT and SGI Requirements: For NT: Version 4.0 with service pack 1 or 3, hardware-accelerated OpenGL version 1.1, 1280×1024 screen resolution with 24-bit color, three-button mouse, 200MB free hard drive space, 128MB RAM, 256MB swap space, Ethernet and TCP/IP installed Fast Track is a top-end 3D modeling and animation product.

flesh Digits ‘n Art Software Inc. 305 de la Commune Street West Suite 100 Montreal, QU H2Y 2E1 Canada Phone: 514-844-8448 Fax: 514-844-8844 [email protected] www.DnAsoft.com Product URL: www.DnAsoft.com/flesh.html Product Type: 3D modeling and animation Cost: $6,900 Supported Platforms: SGI Requirements: Any Silicon Graphics workstation with 24-bit color and Z buffer, IRIX 5.3 or higher, 96MB RAM for 1024×1024 texture resolution, 128MB RAM for 2048×2048 texture resolution, 256MB RAM for 4096×4096 texture resolution Flesh provides true realtime painting and sculpting capabilities. Version 1.8 features improved speed (from 300 percent to 400 percent) giving a smoother brush stroke, an improved tablet driver, advanced import/export capabilities for geometry and image files, and compatibility with the latest release of Softimage 3.7 and Alias 8.0.

GameGen Multigen 550 South Winchester Boulevard Suite 500 San Jose, CA Phone: 408-261-4100 Fax: 408-261-4101 [email protected] www.multigen.com Product URL: www.multigen.com/prodist/mgproducts/ggii/page1.htm Product Type: 3D modeling and animation Supported Platforms: SGI, NT Requirements: NT: 32MB RAM, 133MHz, 1GB disk space, 1024×768 resolution. SGI: Indy workstation, IRIX 5.3 or later, 32MB RAM, 24 big planes for graphics. GameGen allows you to import media, build optimal models and game art, and assemble and prototype fantastic scenes, all in one toolset.

Infini-D MetaCreations 6303 Carpinteria Avenue Carpinteria, CA 93101 Phone: 805-566-6200 Fax: 805-566-6385 [email protected] www.metacreations.com Product URL: www.metacreations.com/products/infini-d Product Type: 3D modeling and animation Cost: $599 Supported Platforms: Mac Requirements: Power Mac: 16MB RAM Demo Available: Yes A Mac-only product, Infini-D is another well-priced but powerful 3D modeling and animation package. It’s worth checking out for developers trying to avoid the thousands of dollars a product like 3D Studio MAX goes for.

Lightscape Lightscape Technologies, Inc. 1054 South DeAnza Boulevard San Jose, CA 95129

Phone: 408-342-1900 Fax: 408-342-1910 [email protected] www.lightscape.com Product Type: Visualization and lighting Cost: $495 Supported Platforms: Windows 95/NT Requirements: Pentium computer or compatible and Microsoft Windows 95, NT 4.0, or NT 3.51. Minimal system configuration is 500MB of hard disk, 32MB of RAM, and a 16-bit SVGA display. An OpenGL-compliant, 24-bit 3D graphics accelerator card is optional. Lightscape is a 3D modeling product that greatly improves the artist’s ability to control lighting and rendering issues in a 3D scene.

LightWave NewTek, Inc. 1200 Southwest Executive Drive Topeka, KS 66615 Phone: 913-228-8000 Fax: 913-228-8099 [email protected] www.newtek.com Product Type: 3D modeling and animation Supported Platforms: NT LightWave is a well-known modeling and animation package that got its start on the Amiga, but has fully and robustly made its way to the Windows platform. The product is used in many production and game studios and has a wealth of hard-core fans.

N-World Nichimen Graphics 12555 West Jefferson Boulevard Suite 285 Los Angeles, CA 90066 Phone: 310-577-0500 Fax: 310-577-0577 [email protected] www.nichimen.com Product Type: 3D modeling and animation Cost: Call Supported Platforms: SGI and NT N-World is one of Nichimen’s major modeling and animation products. This higher-end product is

used to develop large-scale world spaces.

Poser 2 MetaCreations 6303 Carpinteria Avenue Carpinteria, CA 93101 Phone: 805-566-6200 Fax: 805-566-6385 [email protected] www.metacreations.com Product URL: www.metacreations.com/poser Product Type: 3D modeling and animation Cost: $149 Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac Requirements: Mac: 68040 7.5, 12MB RAM. Windows: 486, 16MB RAM Demo Available:Yes A product that has to be played with and seen to be appreciated, Poser is an incredibly easy and effective way to design and animate humanoid figures. Animation and models can be outputted to a number of major formats compatible with you favorite big-time 3D package.

QuickTime VR Apple Computer, Inc. 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino, CA 95014 Phone: 408-996-1010 [email protected] www.apple.com Product URL: quicktime.apple.com Product Type: 3D modeling and animation Cost: $500 Supported Platforms: Mac, Windows (playback only) The QuickTime VR kit comes with two large binders of information, all the software you need, and an instructional video. To produce a QuickTime VR scene, you need an advanced panoramic tripod or one of Kaidan’s specialized VR rigs, and the Apple QuickTime VR Developer Kit.

Ray Dream Studio 5 MetaCreations 6303 Carpinteria Avenue Carpinteria, CA 93101

Phone: 805-566-6200 Fax: 805-566-6385 [email protected] www.metacreations.com Product URL: www.metacreations.com/products/rds/ Product Type: 3D modeling and animation Cost: $299 Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac Requirements: Mac: 20MB RAM; Windows: 486, 16MB RAM Demo Available: Yes A low-end 3D modeling and animation package in price, but not power. Ray Dream Studio is a good choice for those developers on a budget but still looking for a strong modeling and animation product to play with and use.

Softimage 3D Softimage 3510 boulevard St. Laurent Suite 400 Montreal H2X 2V2 Canada Phone: 514-845-1636 Fax: 514-845-5676 [email protected] www.softimage.com Product Type: 3D modeling and animation Cost: $7,995 Supported Platforms: NT and SGI IRIX Requirements: For NT: Workstation with Intel Pentium Pro, Digital Alpha, or MIPS R4400 processor; Windows NT 3.51 with Service Pack 4, or Windows NT 4.0; OGL Graphics Accelerator Card; 1024×768 minimum resolution; 64MB RAM; 1GB hard disk; 200MB swap file. For SGI IRIX: IRIX 5.3 or higher; enhanced support for IRIX 6.2, R5, 8, 10K. This is the flagship Softimage product and has set standards for fully integrated 3D modeling, animation, and rendering software. Version 3.7 also offers full nonuniform rational B-spline modeling, polygon and color reduction, enhanced inverse kinematics, and other artisitic workflow features. There is also an SDK available.

Softimage 3D Extreme Softimage 3510 boulevard St. Laurent Suite 400 Montreal H2X 2V2

Canada Phone: 514-845-1636 Fax: 514-845-5676 [email protected] www.softimage.com Product Type: 3D modeling and animation Cost: $13,995 Supported Platforms: NT and SGI Requirements: same as for 3D Softimage 3D Extreme offers all the features of Softimage 3D, plus advanced modeling, rendering, and particle/dynamics capabilities.

Softimage Eddie Softimage 3510 boulevard St. Laurent Suite 400 Montreal H2X 2V2 Canada Phone: 514-845-1636 Fax: 514-845-5676 [email protected] www.softimage.com Product Type: Compositing Cost: $7,995 Supported Platforms: SGI Requirements: IRIX 5.3 or higher, 64MB RAM minimum for video resolution, 128MB RAM minimum for film resolution and SGI O2 configuration, Wacom Tablet support Softimage Eddie is a compositing system for the Silicon Graphics platform that offers a low-cost alternative to high-end postproduction systems. Users can apply special effects, paint, and other features prior to rendering, and view the effects in realtime at multiple resolutions. It performs many of the functions of a full video postproduction facility while avoiding the expense of online editing.

Softimage Toonz Softimage 3510 boulevard St. Laurent Suite 400 Montreal H2X 2V2 Canada Phone: 514-845-1636 Fax: 514-845-5676 [email protected]

www.softimage.com Product Type: Paint and animation Cost: $12,995 Supported Platforms: NT, SGI Requirements: For NT: Intel or Alpha based workstation; Windows NT 3.51 or 4.0; 48MB memory for video, 96MB for film; 64436 color graphics board display with 800×600; SCSI and Ethernet port. For SGI: Any SGI workstation including O2; IRIX 5.3, 6.2, 6.3; 24-bit and 8-bit support. Softimage Toonz is 2D cel-animation software for traditional cel animators who work in film, video, interactive games, and other visual media. Previously available only on the SGI IRIX platform, animators will for the first time have access to all the capabilities of the high-end Toonz production environment on Windows NT.

Sumatra Softimage 3510 boulevard St. Laurent Suite 400 Montreal H2X 2V2 Canada Phone: 514-845-1636 Fax: 514-845-5676 [email protected] www.softimage.com Product Type: 3D modeling and animation Supported Platforms: NT and SGI Sumatra is Softimage’s next generation 3D animation system. It is the world’s first collaborative nonlinear animation system.

Surround Video SDK Black Diamond Consulting 195 Hanover Street Suite 22 Portsmouth, NH 03801 Phone: 603-430-7777 Fax: 603-430-7778 www.bdiamond.com Product URL: www.bdiamond.com/products/surround/default.htm Product Type: 3D modeling and animation Cost: Call Supported Platforms: Windows Demo Available: Yes

This kit contains the Surround Video Editor, the Surround Video Link Editor, the Surround Video API, and the Surround Video Internet Control, which is what you distribute to users to view files in their browsers.

trueSpace3 Caligari Corporation 1955 Landings Drive Mountain View, CA 94043 Phone: 415-390-9600 Fax: 415-390-9755 [email protected] www.caligari.com Product Type: 3D modeling and animation Cost: $795 Supported Platforms: Win 95/NT Requirements: 486/DX CPU, Windows 95 or NT, 16MB RAM (32 preferred), 115MB hard disk space trueSpace3 is designed to produce 3D models, photorealistic images, and animations for game designers, graphic artists, designers, technical illustrators, and multimedia and Web producers. trueSpace3 has new features such as realtime metaballs called “Live Skin,” 3D paint, inverse kinematics, forward dynamics, PlastiForm surface engraving, 3D plug-ins, accurate collision detection, integrated VRML browser, VRML 2.0 support, and Direct 3D support.

Hardware Tools MicroScribe-3D Immersion Corporation 2158 Oaragon Drive San Jose, CA 95131 Phone: 408-467-1900 Fax: 408-467-1901 [email protected] www.immerse.com Product URL: www.immerse.com/WWWpages/MS.html Product Type: 3D digitizer Cost: $2,995-$4,995 Supported Platforms: Windows, Alpha, Mac, SGI, Amiga Requirements: 3D software MicroScribe-3D is a mechanical arm that lets you plot 3D points off of models into a variety of

programs. An excellent choice for artists creating clay models of monsters, 3D sprites, or other moldable 3D obects.

Wacom Art Pad and ArtZ Tablets Wacom 501 Southeast Columbia Shores Boulevard Suite 300 Vancouver, WA 98661 Phone: 360-750-8882 Fax: 360-750-8924 [email protected] www.wacom.com Product URL: www.wacom.com/productinfo/showcase.html Product Type: Drawing tablet Cost: $500-$3000 Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac Requirements: Drivers All Wacom graphics tablets offer 256 levels of pressure sensitivity to pick up every nuance of artistic expression. They also come with the Wacom Erasing UltraPen, which is cordless, batteryless, and pressure-sensitive.

XGT Series pressure-sensitive tablets Kurta 12210 Plum Orchard Drive Silver Spring, MD 20904 Phone: 301-572-2555 Fax: 301-572-2510 [email protected] www.kurta.com Product Type: Graphics tablet Supported Platforms: Mac, Windows This family of pressure-sensitive tablets offers 256 pressure levels, a built-in menu strip, customizable function keys, instant tablet scaling, and an airbrushing mode. The tablets feature a variety of pointing devices, cordless pen, cordless 4-button cursor, and corded 16-button cursor.

Imaging Adobe Photoshop Adobe

345 Park Avenue San Jose, CA 95110 Phone: 408-536-6000 Fax: 408-536-6799 [email protected] www.adobe.com Product URL: www.adobe.com/prodindex/photoshop/main.html Product Type: Imaging Cost: $699-$995 Supported Platforms: SGI, Mac, Windows 95/NT Requirements: Mac 68030-7.1, 16 MB RAM; Windows 486-3.1/95/NT, 16 MB RAM; SGI5.3, 32 MB RAM Demo Available: Yes The most often-used image processing package around—almost every developer worth their salt has a copy. Offering a wealth of features and plug-in filters galore, the latest version, 4.0, recently shipped. For those of you not familiar with this package, a warning—it is a processing package, not an artistic creation product!

Installation Tools InstallShield InstallShield Corporation 1100 Woodfield Road Suite 108 Schaumburg, IL 60173-9946 Phone: 708-240-9111 Fax: 708-240-9120 www.installshield.com Product URL: www.installshield.com/products/default.htm Cost: $245-$795 Supported Platforms: Windows 95/NT Demo Available: Yes InstallShield is the number one installation utility. It comes in three major flavors: InstallShield Express, InstallShield Professional, and Install From The Web. An international version is also available.

Languages C++Builder Borland

100 Borland Way Scotts Valley, CA 95066 Phone: 408-431-1000 Fax: 408-431-3249 www.borland.com Product URL: www.borland.com/bcppbuilder/ Product Type: Language Cost: $799 Supported Platforms: Windows 95/NT Demo Available: Yes The latest incarnation in Borland’s long history of C compiler products.

Director 6 Macromedia, Inc. 600 Townsend Street San Francisco, CA 94103 Phone: 415-252-2000 Fax: 415-626-0554 [email protected] www.macromedia.com Product URL: www.macromedia.com/software/director Product Type: Authoring language Supported Platforms: Mac, Windows Requirements: Mac: Power/040 16MB RAM, 7.1, Quick 3D; Windows: 486 16MB RAM, Windows 95/NT, Direct 3D recommended Demo Available: Yes There are basically two major authoring environments that have been used to create commercial products: Director from Macromedia and mTropolis from mFactory/Quark. Director, however, is the king, having been behind dozens of products. It has a major language, Lingo, known by thousands of programmers, and has dozens of extensions. In addition Macromedia has developed Shockwave, which lets Director-developed products be played back over the Web. Programmers have used Shockwave and Director to create hundreds of mini-Web games over the last two years.

Visual Basic Microsoft One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052 Phone: 206-882-8080 Fax: 206-883-8101 www.microsoft.com

Product URL: www.microsoft.com/products/prodref/195_ov.htm Product Type: Language Cost: $799 Supported Platforms: Windows 95/NT Requirements: 486DX/66Mhz or higher; 12MB RAM for Windows 95, 24MB for NT; 30115MB hard disk space; VGA or higher monitor Visual Basic has been used to develop games, though not nearly as many as have been created with C or even Director. Nonetheless, this language offering from Microsoft is a useful tool for beginner programmers, or as a quick tool to develop backend editors and other custom development utilities.

Visual C++ Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052 Phone: 206-882-8080 Fax: 206-936-7329 [email protected] www.microsoft.com Product URL: www.microsoft.com/visualc Supported Platforms: Windows 95/NT Requirements: 486DX or better; 20MB RAM for Win95, 24MB for NT; 50-500MB disk space; VGA monitor Visual C++ is the main C compiler offered by Microsoft. It may be purchased as a standalone product or as part of Microsoft’s comprehensive Visual Studio development suite.

Visual Café Symantec 1452 Kifer Road Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Phone: 800-554-4403 or 408-253-9600 Fax: 408-253-3968 www.symantec.com Cost: $199 Supported Platforms: Windows 95, NT Requirements: Windows 95/NT, 80486 processor, 24MB RAM (32MB rec.), 60MB hard disk space, CD ROM drive, VGA video (SVGA rec.) Demo Available: Yes One of the first visual Java development products that shipped for Windows, this product provides an alternative to Sun’s underpowered JDK 1.1 and Microsoft’s Visual Java development environment.

Visual J++ 1.1 Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052 Phone: 206-882-8080 Fax: 206-936-7329 [email protected] www.microsoft.com Product URL: www.microsoft.com/visualj/ Cost: $99 Supported Platforms: Windows 95/NT Requirements: 486 or higher; 12MB RAM for Windows 95, 24MB for NT; 33-50MB disk space; VGA or higher monitor Demo Available: Yes Microsoft’s main Java development tool, Visual J++ is best known for its integration with other Microsoft development tools, as well as the included suite of products to help generate Javadeveloped ActiveX controls or compile to native Windows code.

Motion Capture Adaptive Motion Capture System Adaptive Optics Associates 54 Cambridge Park Drive Cambridge, MA 02140 Phone: 617-864-0201 Fax: 617-864-5855 [email protected] www.aoainc.com Product URL: www.aoainc.com/et/et.html Cost: Thousands Supported Platforms: Windows NT, SGI Adaptive Optics offers Multi-Trax Optical Motion Capture System, Face-Trax Facial Expression Capture System, and Creative Motion Editor (CME) Software for SGI.

Ascension Motion Capture System Ascension Technology P.O. Box 527 Burlington, VT 05402 Phone: 802-860-6440

Fax: 802-860-6439 [email protected] www.ascension-tech.com Product URL: www.ascension-tech.com/products.htm Cost: Thousands Supported Platforms: Windows NT, SGI Ascension Technology offers MotionStar Wireless, Flock of Birds, and MotionStar. MotionStar Wireless is a magnetic tracker minus the cables that hinder the movement of the performer. Flock of Birds ($2,695) is a modular tracker with six degrees of freedom for simultaneously tracking the position and orientation of one or more receivers over a specified range of +/- 4 feet. MotionStar is a turn-key motion-capture tracker for character animation. They also make SpacePad ($984) for capturing player movement in location-based entertainment systems.

LIFEsource Digits ‘n Art Software Inc. 305 de la Commune Street West Suite 100 Montreal, QU H2Y 2E1 Canada Phone: 514-844-8448 Fax: 514-844-8844 [email protected] www.DnAsoft.com Product URL: www.DnAsoft.com/life.html Supported Platforms: SGI Demo Available: Yes Version 1.5 offers plug-ins for Softimage and an Alias converter enabling data captured by LIFEsource to be imported into these systems for post rendering. This provides advanced 3D character animation capabilities, including skeleton, facial, and finger animation. LIFEsource is a combined hardware and software solution using magnetic trackers for the body, optical markers for the face, and resistive sensors for the hands.

Motion Analysis Motion Capture System Motion Analysis 3617 Westwind Boulevard Santa Rosa, CA 95403 Phone: 707-579-6500 Fax: 707-526-0629 [email protected] www.motionanalysis.com

Cost: Thousands Supported Platforms: Windows NT, SGI Optical motion capture system.

Polhemus Motion Capture Systems Polhemus 1 Hercules Drive P.O. Box 560 Colchester, VT 05446 Phone: 802-655-3159 or 800-357-4777 Fax: 802-655-1439 [email protected] www.polhemus.com Product URL: www.polhemus.com/ourprod.htm Cost: Thousands Supported Platforms: Windows NT, SGI Star*Trak is a wireless magnetic motion capture system. Ultratrak Pro is a turn-key solution developed specifically for performance animation. Fastrak is a highly accurate, low-latency 3D motion tracking and digitizing system. Isotrak II is a mid-range motion tracking and digitizing system. Insidetrak is a low-cost 3D motion tracking board that plugs into an ISA slot in your computer. 3Draw and 3Draw Pro are 3D/2D digitizing tablets that allow you to capture the threedimensional coordinates of complex objects by digitizing their surfaces.

Paint And Animation 3D Paint, Amazon Paint, Piranha Animator Interactive Effects, Inc, 1431 Warner Ave Suite F Tustin, CA 92780 Phone: 714-247-1200 Fax: 714-259-0939 [email protected] www.ifx.com Cost: call Supported Platforms: SGI Interactive Effects offers 3D Paint, Amazon 3D, and Piranha Animator. 3D Paint allows you to paint directly onto the surface of 3D models imported from Houdini, Softimage, Alias/Wavefront, and others. Amazon will run on any SGI workstation capable of texture mapping. Piranha Animator is an

Amazon-based animation system providing digital effects for film and video.

Animator Pro/Studio Autodesk 111 McInnis Parkway San Rafael, CA 94903 Phone: 800-879-4233 Fax: 206-860-2196 [email protected] www.autodesk.com Cost: $295 (Studio) Supported Platforms: Windows Requirements: Pro: 486/Pentium PC, Windows 95, 12MB RAM; Studio: 486/66 Pentiumbased, Windows 3.1 or 95, 8MB RAM Demo Available: Yes Animator Pro is arguably the best PC-based animation package available. The animation features include a full set of graphics functions, including airbrush, lines, fill, and other visual characters. The program also supports onion skinning for line art animation. Animator is available in Pro and Studio versions.

Painter 5 MetaCreations 6303 Carpinteria Avenue Carpinteria, CA 93101 Phone: 805-566-6200 Fax: 805-566-6385 [email protected] www.metacreations.com Product URL: www.metacreations.com/products/painter/ Product Type: Paint/imaging Cost: $299 Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac Requirements: Power Mac 7.5: 12MB RAM; Windows 95/NT: 486 DX, 16MB RAM Demo Available: Yes The leading artistic paint and drawing package on the PC and the Mac. Its strength, besides dozens of tools, paint brushes, and Adobe plug-in compatibility, is its ability to mimic many natural artistic styles, including charcoal, pen, ink, and pencil. Packed with features, it’s an awesome tool that screams for a drawing tablet to be ultimately effective.

Paint Shop Pro 4.12

Jasc, Inc. P.O. Box 44997 Eden Prairie, MN 55344 Phone: 800-622-2793 Fax: 612-930-9172 [email protected] www.jasc.com Product URL: www.jasc.com/psp.html Cost: $69 Supported Platforms: Windows 95/NT Requirements: 486, Windows 95/NT, 8MB RAM Demo Available: Yes This lower-end shareware product is a good choice for beginning and hobby developers. It offers much of the major functionality of Photoshop for a fraction of the price—including support for Photoshop-compatible plug-ins like Kai’s PowerTools. It’s also good for developers looking for a smaller sized, quick-to-load substitute for Photoshop.

SDKs BRender Argonaut Technologies, Ltd 70 Colindale Avenue London, NW9 5ER United Kingdom Phone: 44 0181 200 5777 Fax: 44 0181 200 9866 [email protected] www.argonaut.com Product Type: Realtime 3D SDK Cost: $16,000-$90,000 Supported Platforms: DOS, Windows 95 Requirements: C compiler, Target development system Demo Available: Yes BRender was developed by Argonaut, a game developer with a deep 3D graphics history. The product is a competitor to Direct 3D and is available to support title development on several different platforms, including consoles.

Diamondware Sound ToolKit DiamondWare 2095 North School Road

Suite 12-288 Chandler, AZ 85224 Phone: 602-917-3474 Fax: 602-917-5973 [email protected] www.dw.com Product Type: Sound SDK Cost: $250 Supported Platforms: DOS, Windows Requirements: Visual Basic, Delphi, or C/C++ Demo Available: Yes DiamondWare’s Sound ToolKit is perhaps the leading low-priced, non-DirectSound SDK to use when developing sound effects and MIDI engines for games. One other benefit for those of you not using C is that DiamondWare has developed code for VB and Delphi programmers, as well as traditional C/C++ veterans.

Fastgraph Ted Gruber Software P.O. Box 13408 Las Vegas, NV 891112 Phone: 702-735-1980 Fax: 702-735-4603 www.fastgraph.com Product Type: Graphics SDK Cost: $249 Supported Platforms: DOS, Windows Requirements: C compiler/VB Delphi Demo Available: Yes An excellent graphics API with rabid fans around the world, Fastgraph has successfully migrated from its DOS roots into the Windows field. DirectDraw may be free, but Fastgraph comes with unparalled support, lots of sample code, and interfaces into DirectDraw, and it provides a great API. It still offers backwards compatibility to older versions of Windows.

I-Force Immersion Corporation 2158 Oaragon Drive San Jose, CA 95131 Phone: 408-467-1900 Fax: 408-467-1901 [email protected] www.immerse.com

Product URL: www.force-feedback.com Product Type: Input SDK Supported Platforms: Windows 95 Requirements: Windows 95/DirectX5 2.0, I-Force supported input Demo Available: Yes A competitor to DirectInput and Microsoft’s own Force Feedback technology, this SDK and joystick technology is your only choice outside what Redmond is offering. Several major joystick manufacturers are on board, and there is an API interface that works with DirectInput.

Interactive Networking Engine RTIME 31611 Elliot Avenue Seattle, WA 98121 Phone: 206-281-7990 Fax: 206-281-7686 [email protected] www.rtimeinc.com Product Type: Online games Supported Platforms: Mac, Windows 95, Windows NT, Unix Requirements: C compiler and ability to test online code Demo Available: www.rtimeinc.com/html/demo.html RTIME’s engine is derived from its previous background as a military software developer. It is perhaps the most promising alternative to Microsoft’s Directplay networking technology. The company has successfully put together several releases and a strong support network behind the product.

Miles Sound System RAD Game Tools 307 West 200 South Suite 1003 Salt Lake City, UT 84101 Phone: 801-322-4300 [email protected] www.radgametools.com Product URL: www.radgametools.com/miles.htm Product Type: Sound SDK Cost: $3,000 Supported Platforms: Win 3.X/32, Windows 95/NT, Director Requirements: C compiler Demo Available: Yes

Miles Sound System was originally developed by programmer John Miles, who now sells it through Rad Software, makers of Smacker, which has continually updated and improved support for the product. Along with SOS and DiamondWare’s STK, Miles is one of the major alternatives to use instead of, or alongside of, Microsoft’s DirectSound. Used in dozens of commercial titles, there are many fans of this product. Note: There is also a Director Xtra for the Miles Sound System.

NetNOW Human Machines Interfaces, Inc. 30 East Broadway Suite 180 Eugene, OR 97401 Phone: 503-687-6509 Fax: 503-687-6479 www.hmi.com Product URL: www.humanmachines.com/dev Product Type: Multiplayer technology Cost: License Supported Platforms: DOS Requirements: C compiler Demo Available: Yes NetNOW, from the folks that brought you the Sound Operating System, is a full-fledged network gaming API.

OpenGL Silicon Graphics 2011 North Shoreline Boulevard Mountain View, CA 94043 Phone: 415-960-1980 Fax: 415-961-0595 [email protected] www.sgi.com Product URL: www.sgi.com/Technology/OpenGL/ Product Type: Graphics SDK Cost: Free Supported Platforms: Many Requirements: C compiler on target development system, OpenGL driver SDK, OpenGLcompatible graphics card Demo Available: Yes OpenGL is the main 3D graphics API standard developed by SGI, but it is available on dozens of platforms. The technology really heated up in 1997 as John Carmack (Doom/Quake), Chris Hecker

(Definition Six), and other top 3D game coding experts began to publically announce their open support for this API over Microsoft’s Direct3D API.

Renderware V2.1 Criterion Software Westbury Count Buryfields, Guildford, Surrey 6U2 5AZ United Kingdon Phone: 44 1483-406-233 Fax: 44 1483-406-211 [email protected] www.csl.com Product URL: www.csl.com/RenderWare/ Product Type: Graphics SDK Cost: $1,000-$25,000 Supported Platforms: Windows 95/NT, DOS, Mac Requirements: C++ Demo Available: Examples on site RenderWare is a major 3D graphics SDK from Canon subsidiary Criterion Software. The product offers a suite of APIs and has been used by dozens of commercial developers. It has fairly easy and reasonable license fees for commercial release, and good support and code development. It competes with offerings from Microsoft and Argonaut.

SciTech MGL SciTech Software 505 Wall Street Chico, CA 95928 Phone: 916-894-8400 Fax: 916-894-9069 [email protected] www.scitech.com Product URL: www.scitechsoft.com/devprod.html Product Type: Graphics SDK Cost: $299.95 Supported Platforms: DOS, Windows 3.1/95/NT Requirements: C++ Demo Available: Yes A well-respected graphics API, SciTech’s MGL draws on SciTech’s experience in high-speed graphics and graphics card technology. The API also uses SciTech’s own DirectDraw style technology, WinDirect.

Smacker RAD Game Tools 307 West 200 South Suite 1003 Salt Lake City, UT 84101 Phone: 801-322-4300 [email protected] www.radgametools.com Product URL: www.radgametools.com/smack.htm Product Type: Video/animation/codec/playback Cost: License, $3,000 Supported Platforms: DOS, Windows 95/NT Requirements: Content creation product Demo Available: Yes Smacker is a gamer’s tool. The product and accompanying API helps developers render excellent, highly compressed digital video files from 256 color .FLI (Animator), .FLC, and .AVI files commonly created for cut scenes in games. The product is first a compressor and CODEC technology, but also consists of a well-designed playback API and code engine that is specifically useful for game developers. Many major companies have used Smacker Technology in their products.

Sound Operating System Human Machines Interfaces, Inc. 30 East Broadway Suite 180 Eugene, OR 97401 Phone: 503-687-6509 Fax: 503-687-6479 www.hmi.com Product URL: www.humanmachine.com/dev.htm Product Type: Sound SDK Cost: License Supported Platforms: DOS, Windows 95/NT Requirements: C compiler Demo Available: Yes The Sound Operating System, along with Miles and DiamondWare’s STK, is one of the three major alternatives to Microsoft’s DirectSound API. Like its competitors, SOS works in conjunction with DirectSound to enhance programmer access and capabilities to produce excellent sound and music engines for their products.

Sound Editing Alchemy Passport Designs 100 Stone Pine Road Half Moon Bay, CA 94109 Phone: 415-726-0280 Fax: 415-726-2254 www.mw3.com/passport/passport.htm Cost: $695 Supported Platforms: Mac Alchemy is a high-end package by one of the leading music software companies.

Cool Edit Syntrillium Software Corporation P.O. Box 60274 Phoenix, AZ 85082-0274 Phone: 602-941-4327 Fax: 602-941-8170 www.syntrillium.com Product URL: www.syntrillium.com/10/cool.htm Cost: $25, $50, $100 Supported Platforms: Windows Requirements: Windows 3.1/95/NT, 4MB RAM, and 2MB free hard disk space Cool Edit is the most used shareware sound editor. Three registration schemes are available: $25 (Lite), $50 (Basic), and $100 (Preferred).

Disc-To-Disk Optical Media International 51 East Campbell Campbell, CA 95008 Phone: 408-376-3511 Supported Platforms: Windows Disc-To-Disk captures CD audio digitally off a CD-ROM, bypassing the need to run it through a sound card’s digital-to-analog converter. The results are crystal clear, and you can store them in several popular sound formats and then use your favorite sound-editing program.

GoldWave

Chris Craig P.O. Box 51 St. John’s, NF A1C 5H5 Canada [email protected] www.goldwave.com Cost: $30, $50 Supported Platforms: Windows 3.1 or 95 GoldWave is a digital audio editor, player, and recorder. It supports several WAV formats, such as PCM, MULAW, ADPCM, and other file formats such as VOC, Amiga, 8SVX, Sun, and NeXT. It can also display and edit separate channels of stereo sounds. You can register Gold Wave as standard for $30, deluxe for $50.

Sound Designer II Digidesign 1360 Willow Road Menlo Park, CA 94025 Phone: 415-688-0600 [email protected] www.digidesign.com Product URL: www.digidesign.com/Newdigiweb/Digiprod/sound_designer2/index.html Cost: $495 Supported Platforms: Mac Requirements: 16MB RAM, system software 7.1 or higher. Sound Designer II is one of the most popular sound editors available for the Mac. It features plenty of effects and professional editing capabilities, and supports plug-in technology.

SoundEdit 16 Macromedia, Inc. 600 Townsend Street San Francisco, CA 94103 Phone: 415-252-2000 Fax: 415-626-0554 [email protected] www.macromedia.com Product URL: www.macromedia.com/software/sound/ Supported Platforms: Mac This longtime Macintosh sound-editing package is available as a standalone tool or in one of the

multimedia authoring bundles offered by Macromedia.

Sound Forge Sonic Foundry, Inc. 100 South Baldwin Street Suite 204 Madison, WI 53703 Phone: 608-256-3133 Fax: 608-256-7300 [email protected] www.sfoundry.com Product URL: www.sfoundry.com/pages/forge.htm Cost: $495 Supported Platforms: Windows Demo Available: Yes This very useful sound editor includes all kinds of effects and plug-ins for expandability. Sound Forge is the most-often used sound editor, and you can check it out by downloading the savingdisabled demo from Sonic Foundry’s Web site.

Sound Effects Libraries The Hollywood Edge The Hollywood Edge 7060 Hollywood Boulevard Suite 1120 Hollywood, CA 90028 Phone: 800-292-3755 or 213-466-6723 Fax: 213-466-5861 www.hollywoodedge.com The Hollywood Edge is one of the most used sound effects libraries around. The Hollywood Edge has collected several thousand hours of sounds that it compiles into CDs and online archives for purchase. The sets are available both directly and through many major stock music and sound companies.

Network Music Network Music, Inc. 15150 Avenue of Science San Diego, CA 92128 Phone: 800-854-2075

Fax: 619-451-6409 www.networkmusic.com Demo Available: Yes This library contains more than 5,500 sound effects compiled on 72 CDs. Check out the Web site to request a demo CD or browse the catalog.

Sound Ideas Sound Effects Libraries Sound Ideas 105 West Beaver Creek Road Suite 4 Richmond Hill, ON L4B 1C6 Canada Phone: 905-886-5000 Fax: 905-886-6800 [email protected] www.sound-ideas.com Product URL: www.sound-ideas.com/sfx2.html Demo Available: Yes Sound Ideas has aggressively promoted itself to the game community. You can order a free demo and a full catalog by sending email to [email protected].

Valentino Sound Effects Library Valentino Production Music 500 Executive Boulevard Elmsford, NY 10523 Phone: 800-223-6278 [email protected] www.tvmusic.com Demo Available: Yes The Valentino Sound Effects Library covers nearly 50 CDs and is a complete library pulled from television, radio, and feature films. You can order an audio CD demo and a catalog by sending email to [email protected], download a complete listing of files in Adobe Acrobat format from the Web site, or order a CD-ROM for Windows or Mac that demos every selection in the library.

Stock 3D Models 3D Props Commercial/Residential Autodesk

111 McInnis Parkway San Rafael, CA 94903 Phone: 800-879-4233 Fax: 206-860-2196 [email protected] www.autodesk.com Product URL: www.ktx.com/3dprops Cost: $199 per set Supported Platforms: DOS, Windows 3.1 and higher Requirements: 486-based PC or higher; 12MB RAM, VGA display, 3D software A well-organized, impressive collection of royalty-free 3D models, from heavy machinery to dishes, that you can customize and import into 3D Studio. Commercial features polygonal models of equipment, vehicles, and other commercial figures. Residential includes furniture and other residential items.

AcuModels Acuris 951 Hamilton Avenue Menlo Park, CA 94025 Phone: 415-329-1920 Fax: 415-329-1928 [email protected] www.acuris.com Product URL: www.acuris.com/acumodel/acumod.htm Cost: varies Requirements: 3D modeling package Polygonal 3D models sold individually, including human anatomical parts, terrain maps, cities, cars, military vehicles, aircraft, animals, sports equipment, medical, and miscellaneous objects.

Blocks and Materials 2 KETIV Technologies 6601 NE 78th Court Suite A8 Portland, OR 97218 Phone: 800-458-0690 or 503-252-3230 Fax: 503-252-3668 www.ketiv.com Product URL: www.ketiv.com/mu-bm2.htm Cost: $299 Requirements: 3D modeling package

Over 1,000 blocks of people, cars, aircraft, watercraft, parks, masonry, computers, and more. Also includes more than 900 textures, including wood, water, clouds, and building materials.

CAD 3D Models on CD CAD Technology 90 Louisa Chapel Road Box 1117 Franklin, NC 28734 Phone: 704-369-3979 Fax: 704-369-3972 Cost: $295 Requirements: 3D modeling package Polygonal models of people, plants, and furniture sold individually or in a collection.

ClipModel Library Acuris 951 Hamilton Avenue Menlo Park, CA 94025 Phone: 415-329-1920 Fax: 415-329-1928 [email protected] www.acuris.com Product URL: www.acuris.com/clipmod/html/clipint.htm Cost: $249 Supported Platforms: PC, Mac, and Unix (onDAT) Requirements: 3D modeling package More than 100 polygonal models in a collection of six libraries: interior furnishings, exterior elements, geography, male human forms, female human forms, and human faces.

Cyberprops 3Name3D 1202 West Olympic Boulevard Suite 101 Santa Monica, CA 90404 Phone: 800-993-4621 or 310-314-2171 Fax: 310-314-2181 [email protected] www.ywd.com Cost: $395 per volume

Requirements: 3D modeling package Medium- to low-resolution models in a variety of styles in categories such as outdoors, chairs, decorative, appliances and electronics, architecture, lights, weapons, tools, furniture, and other household items.

DataShop for DirectX Viewpoint DataLabs 625 South State Street Orem, UT 84058 Phone: 800-328-2738 or 801-229-3000 Fax: 801-229-3300 www.viewpoint.com Product URL: www.viewpoint.com/datashop/x/ Cost: Free-$2,500 Supported Platforms: DirectX Requirements: 3D software, Direct 3D This product, from 3D stock model giant Viewpoint Datalabs and Microsoft, contains more than 4,000 DirectX-compatible and streamlined 3D meshes. The first 2,000 models are free due to a license fee Microsoft paid to Viewpoint. The other 2,000 or so models may be unlocked by paying Viewpoint. Unlocking can be done in groups or you can unlock all of them for $2,500.

David’s House Acuris 951 Hamilton Avenue Menlo Park, CA 94025 Phone: 415-329-1920 Fax: 415-329-1928 [email protected] www.acuris.com Product URL: www.acuris.com/dh.htm Product Type: Stock 3D model Cost: $149 Supported Platforms: PC, Mac, and Unix (onDAT) Requirements: 3D modeling package A 10-room colonial house furnished and decorated with 3D models.

Humanoid Crestline Software Publishing

Box 4691 Crestline, CA 92325 Phone: 909-338-1786 [email protected] ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/crestline Cost: $195 Requirements: 3D modeling package Models of a man, a muscular man, a woman, and a child sold in a collection. Includes pre-assembled hierarchies with walking and running motion files, as well as morph targets for facial features. Available for Imagine, 3D Studio, and Lightwave.

Kinemodelz Crestline Software Publishing P.O. Box 4691 Crestline, CA 92325 Phone: 909-338-1786 [email protected] ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/crestline Cost: $195 Requirements: 3D modeling package Individually sold models of humans and animals using seamless geometry.

People For People 1 People for People Software P.O. Box 1678 San Luis Obispo, CA 93406 Phone: 800-544-7066 Fax: 800-544-7067 [email protected] www.peopleforpeople.com Product URL: www.peopleforpeople.com/prodinfo/prodinfo.html Cost: $195 Requirements: 3D modeling package Polygonal models of humans. The company calls them “simple, dignified human models for computer artists.”

Professional Designer 3D New World Graphics

2500 Baynard Boulevard Wilmington, DE 19802 Phone: 302-777-4904 Fax: 302-777-4905 [email protected] www.nwginc.com Cost: $179 Requirements: 3D modeling package Surface models of 3D image utilities, human figures and clothes, trees, and vehicles. Collection contains 750 models in 7 libraries

Stock Art Artbeats Stock Art Artbeats Software Box 709 Myrtle Creek, OR 97457 Phone: 541-863-4429 Fax: 541-863-4547 www.artbeats.com Cost: See summary Artbeats offers a plethora of stock art including Wood and Paper ($199), Leather and Fabric ($199), Marble and Granite ($199), Exteriors ($249), City Surfaces ($249), Reelfire ($499), ReelExplosions ($499), and ReelTextures ($349).

Pyromania Visual Concept Entertainment Box 921226 Sylmar, CA 91392-1226 Phone: 818-367-9187 Fax: 818-362-3490 www.vce.com Product URL: www.vce.com/pyro.html Cost: $199 Supported Platforms: Mac & PC This is a special effects product that consists of high-resolution images and animation of explosions, fire, smoke, and space explosions—all the fun stuff. You can use these images royalty free in any product. Pyromania 1 for PCs and 2 for Macs cost $199 each. Pyromania Pro has yet to be priced.

Textures Photo Textures BeachWare 9419 Mt. Israel Road Escondido, CA 92029 Phone: 619-735-8945 Fax: 619-735-8945 [email protected] www.beachware.com Cost: $24.95 Supported Platforms: Macintosh Requirements: Color Mac, 4MB RAM, imaging package Texture images of earth, rocks, sky, plants, and more.

Texture Creator Three D Graphics 1801 Avenue of the Stars Suite 600 Los Angeles, CA 90067 Phone: 310-553-3313 Fax: 310-788-8975 [email protected] www.threedgraphics.com Product Type: Texture maker Cost: $129.95 Supported Platforms: Windows 95/NT and Mac Demo Available: Yes A recent arrival to the texture creation crowd, Texture Creator is a well-reviewed texture-making product and one of the few available for the Windows platform, as other packages have remained Mac-only.

Texture Universe Autodesk 111 McInnis Parkway San Rafael, CA 94903 Phone: 800-879-4233 Fax: 206-860-2196 [email protected]

www.autodesk.com Product URL: www.ktx.com/texture_universe Cost: $149 Requirements: 486-based PC or higher, SVGA display, paint or drawing package Texture Universe is a collection of 3D textures and backgrounds. Categories include metal, fabrics, wood, signs, and more.

Textures on CD Caligari Corporation 1955 Landings Drive Mountain View, CA 94043 Phone: 415-390-9600 Fax: 415-390-9755 [email protected] www.caligari.com Product Type: Stock textures Cost: $299 Requirements: Imaging program Textures include wood, stone, glass, etc. and are sold on CD-ROM individually, in a collection for Windows, and bundled with trueSpace2.

VR Rigs Kaidan VR Rigs Kaidan 703 East Pennsylvania Boulevard Feasterville Business Campus Feasterville, PA 19053 Phone: 215-364-1778 Fax: 215-322-4186 [email protected] www.kaidan.com Kaidan is a major manufacturer of digital camera and video VR accessories. Kaidan makes three major panoramic heads—the top-of-the-line QuickPan QP-4 ($600); the QuickPan QP-5 ($400), and the QuickPan QP-6 (under $500). Kaidan’s Magellan Object Rigs make it easy to position an object and then strap a camera to a moveable boom to shoot the object with precision. There are several versions including the small Magellan QC ($400), the mid-sized Magellan 1000 ($2,000), and the motorized Magellan 1500 ($6,000). The Meridian C60 ($9,999.95) series is the next step up for very high-end performance.

Table of Contents


Table of Contents

Resource E Miscellaneous Problem: Where do you put everything that can’t fit neatly into one of the previously listed sections? Solution: Miscellaneous, of course. But don’t let this category fool you, here is where you will find some of the most useful information in the Resources section. We’ve listed the names, addresses, and background information on funding sources, major retailers, other notable development houses (as opposed to publishers), distribution and mail order houses, testing labs, joystick manufacturers, video card manufacturers, and sound card manufacturers. (For video and sound card manufacturers we tended to shy away from mentioning product names because these change so frequently that we didn’t want to create any confusion.) This information tends to be the type that many people want handy at the worst possible moment. So hopefully we’ve provided you with a useful resource. We want to thank Dean Gloster of Farella, Braun, and Martell for the list of venture capital sources presented here. This list is constantly being updated by Dean, but the majority of the firms mentioned here were selected because they were listed as having funded or shown interest in funding interactive gaming products. Keep in mind that very few interactive products are funded and these sources are not interested in funding games. However, if you’ve got a groundbreaking game system or a new game technology, you could find these company listings very helpful. The chapter on funding your startup earlier in this book will also prove incredibly useful, so you may want to refer back to it. Again, as with other categories, we stuck with the major companies—the real players in the market. If you notice a company we should add, be sure to send it to [email protected].

Distributors American Software and Hardware Distributors 502 East Anthony Drive Urbana, IL 61801 Phone: 800-225-7941 Fax: 217-384-2055

[email protected] www.ashd.com

Ingram Micro Inc. 1600 East St. Andrew Place Santa Ana, CA 92705 Phone: 714-566-1000 Fax: 714-566-7733 [email protected] www.ingrammicro.com

Merisel, Inc. 200 Continental Boulevard El Segundo, CA 90245-0948 Phone: 301-615-3080 Fax: 310-615-1270 [email protected] www.merisel.com

MULTiMiCRO 9393 L-H Lafontaine Anjou, QU H1J 1Y8 Canada 514-354-3810

Navarre Corporation 7400 49th Avenue North New Hope, MN 55428 Phone: 612-535-8333 Fax: 612-533-2156 [email protected] www.navarre.com

Saturn Solutions, Inc. 6520 Abrams Montreal, QU H4S 1Y2 Canada Phone: 514-856-5656 Fax: 514-856-5657

[email protected] www.saturn.ca

SVG Distribution 8411 South La Cienega Boulevard Inglewood, CA 90301 Phone: 301-568-9800 Fax: 310-568-2474 [email protected] www.svgdist.com

Tech Data Corporation 5350 Tech Data Drive Clearwater, FL 34620 813-539-7429 [email protected] www.techdata.com

Triad Distributors, Inc. 422 North Rivermede Road Concord, ON L4K 3R5 Canada 905-738-5262

Game Schools DigiPen Applied Computer Graphics School 500-530 Hornby Street Vancouver, BC V6C 2E7 Canada Phone: 604-682-0300 Fax: 604-682-0310 [email protected] www.digipen.com The Digipen Applied Computer Graphics School is located in Vancover, B.C., Canada and is registered with the B.C. Private Post-Secondary Education Commission. The mandate of the school is to provide comprehensive programs for students interested in becoming either video game programmers or 3D computer animators.

NBCC Miramichi 80 University Avenue P.O.Box 1053 Miramichi, NB E1N 3W4 Canada Phone: 506-778-6004 Fax: 506-778-6134 [email protected] www.miramichi.nbcc.nb.ca Digipen is on the west coast of Canada, NBCC is on the east coast. While the two schools are not related, they pursue the same goal of teaching people how to program and design interactive entertainment.

Gaming Peripherals CH Products 970 Park Center Drive Vista, CA 92083 Phone: 760-598-2518 Fax: 760-598-2524 [email protected] www.chproducts.com CH Products manufacturers a full line of IBM PC-compatible and Macintosh controllers for computer games, education, and simulation. The line includes the Mach Series, the Joystick Line, the F-16 Series, the Throttle Line, yokes, pedals, gamepads, force feedback, and other accessories.

Logitech, Inc. 6505 Kaiser Drive Fremont, CA 94555 Phone: 510-795-8500 Fax: 510-792-8901 [email protected] www.logitech.com Logitech is a longtime PC hardware manufacturer that has made a number of input devices.

Reality Quest

1821 Lefthand Circle Suite A Longmont, CO 80501 Phone: 303-682-2689 Fax: 303-682-4332 [email protected] www.theglove.com Reality Quest produces The Glove, a video game controller designed for next-generation gaming systems. Fitting over a user’s right hand, The Glove works for both analog and digital titles. At press time, The Glove was scheduled for nationwide distribution for the Sony PlayStation during the fourth quarter of 1997 and for the Nintendo 64 shortly thereafter. The Glove requires no special set-up software.

SideWinder Microsoft One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052 Phone: 206-882-8080 Fax: 206-883-8101 www.microsoft.com SideWinder is Microsoft’s hardware/gaming devices group. Products include the SideWinder 3D Pro Joystick and Game Pad family, the SideWinder Precision Pro, and the SideWinder Force Feedback Pro.

Stereoscopic 3D NuVision Technologies, Inc. 1815 North West 169th Place Building 3060 Beaverton, OR 97006 Phone: 503-614-9000 Fax: 503-614-9100 [email protected] www.nuvision3d.com NuVision produces stereoscopic 3D viewing systems and the Windows 95 SDK, WinSPEX/3D. The WinSPEX/3D SDK allows stereoscopic imaging to be added to computer games designed for the Windows 95 operating system.

ThunderSeat Technologies

6330 Arizona Circle Los Angeles, CA 90045 800-884-8633 ThunderSeat Technologies makes game seat products that heighten the “in the driver’s seat/cockpit” feeling of driving and flying titles.

Mail Order Micro Warehouse, Inc. Online Services 1720 Oak Street Lakewood, NJ 08701 Phone: 800-397-8508 Fax: 732-942-2502 [email protected] www.microwarehouse.com

PC Connection, Inc. 528 Route 13 South Milfred, NH 03055 Phone: 603-446-3383 Fax: 603-423-5766 [email protected] www.pcconnection.com

Major Retailers Babbage’s/Software, Etc. 2250 William D. Tate Avenue Grapevine, TX 76051 Phone: 817-424-2000 Fax: 817-424-2002 [email protected] www.software-etc.com

Barnes & Noble, Inc. 122 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10011

Phone: 212-633-3300 Fax: 212-675-0413 [email protected] www.barnesandnoble.com

Best Buy Co., Inc. 7075 Flying Cloud Drive Eden Prairie, MN 55344 Phone: 612-947-2000 Fax: 612-947-2422 [email protected] www.bestbuy.com

BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc. One Mercer Road Natick, MA 01760 Phone: 508-651-6500 Fax: 508-651-6114 [email protected] www.bjswholesale.com

Circuit City Stores, Inc. 9950 Mayland Drive Richmond, VA 23233 Phone: 804-527-4000 Fax: 804-527-4194 [email protected] www.circuitcity.com

CompUSA, Inc. 14951 North Dallas Parkway Dallas, TX 75240 Phone: 972-982-4000 Fax: 972-982-4276 [email protected] www.compusa.com

Costco Companies, Inc./Price Club

999 Lake Drive Issaquah, WA 98027 Phone: 425-313-8100 Fax: 425-313-8103 [email protected] www.pricecostco.com

Egghead, Inc. 22705 East Mission Libery Lake, WA 99019 Phone: 509-922-7031 Fax: 509-927-4372 [email protected] www.egghead.com

Electronics Boutique, Inc. 931 South Matlack Street West Chester, PA 19382 Phone: 610-430-8100 Fax: 610-430-6574 [email protected] www.ebworld.com

Funco, Inc. 10120 West 76th Street Minneapolis, MN 55344 Phone: 612-946-8883 Fax: 612-946-7250 [email protected] www.funco.com

Hastings Books, Music &Video, Inc. 3601 Plains Boulevard Suite 1 Amarillo, TX 79120-5350 Phone: 806-376-2300 Fax: 806-374-0093

Kmart Corporation

3100 West Big Beaver Road Troy, MI 48084 Phone: 248-543-1000 Fax: 248-543-5635 www.kmart.com

Office Depot, Inc. 2200 Old Germantown Road Delray Beach, FL 33445 Phone: 561-278-4800 Fax: 561-265-4400

OfficeMax, Inc. 3605 Warrensville Center Road Shaker Heights, OH 44122-5203 Phone: 216-921-6900 Fax: 216-491-4040 [email protected] www.officemax.com

Staples, Inc. One Research Drive Westborough, MA 01581 Phone: 508-370-8500 Fax: 508-370-8989 www.staples.com

Target/Dayton Hudson Corporation 777 Nicollet Mall Minneapolis, MN 55402-2055 Phone: 800-800-8800 or 612-370-6948(DHC) Fax: 612-370-5502 [email protected] www.targetstores.com

Toys ‘???’ Us, Inc. 461 From Road Paramus, NJ 07652

Phone: 201-262-7800 Fax: 201-262-7606 [email protected] www.tru.com

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc./Sam’s Club 702 Southweat Eighth Street Bentonville, AR 72716-8611 Phone: 501-273-4000 Fax: 501-273-1917 [email protected] www.wal-mart.com

Manufacturing And Duplication Corporate Disk 1226 Michael Drive Woods Dale, IL 60191 800-634-3475 www.disk.com Corporate Disk is a longtime packaging and duplication company.

Kao Infosystems 40 Grisson Road Plymouth, MA 02360 508-747-5520 www.kaoinfo.com Kao is a huge manufacturing, duplication, and fulfillment company that runs all the duplication and packaging operations for Microsoft.

Mediatechnics 7944 East Beck Lane Suite 240 Scottsdale, AZ 85260 602-607-3785 Mediatechnics is a medium-sized manufacturing and fufillment company, a division of game

software publisher Ionos, Inc.

Megasoft, Inc. 819 Highway 33 East Freehold, NJ 07728 Phone: 908-431-5300 Fax: 908-866-9376 www.megasoft.com Megasoft is a major duplication and fufillment operation.

Modus Media 690 Canton Street Westwood, MA 02090 Phone: 781-407-2000 Fax: 781-407-3800 Modus is a division of R.R. Donnelly, the large book and printing company. It has major facilities throughout the world, as well as fufillment and e-commerce capability.

PAC Services, Inc. 17735 NE 65th Street Redmond, WA 98052 Phone: 452-882-2121 Fax: 425-869-1349 www.pac.com PAC Services is a large duplicator with fufillment operations.

Online Game Networks DWANGO [email protected] www.dwango.com One of the first multiplayer server companies on the map, DWANGO got a big push when it had servers that were deemed excellent for games like Doom and Heretic. It currently has a deal with Internet Gaming Zone.

Engage 17922 Fitch Avenue Irvine, CA 92614 Phone: 714-752-5510 Fax: 714-752-5516 [email protected] www.gamesonline.com Engage hopes to provide a leading-edge environment for game and entertainment developers to access consumers via all major online channels with one port and one business deal. Among its access partners are America Online, Prodigy, and EarthLink.

H.E.A.T. Sega of America 150 Shoreline Drive Suite 200 Redwood City, CA 94065 415-508-2800 [email protected] www.sega.com H.E.A.T. is a division of Segasoft and is trying to become one of a number of major online gaming networks.

Internet Gaming Zone Microsoft One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052 Phone: 206-882-8080 Fax: 206-883-8101 www.microsoft.com Internet Gaming Zone (www.zone.com) was an independent gaming network before Microsoft purchased it in 1996. It has now become the site for all of Microsoft’s online gaming activities.

Kali, Inc. P.O. Box 6916 Athens, GA 30604 706-613-0447 [email protected]

www.kali.net Kali is not so much a network as a technology that greatly enables Internet multiplayer gaming. A large following and usage make it necessary to put it amongst the other bona-fide networks listed here.

Kesmai Corporation 609 East Market Suite 303 Charlottesville, VA 22902 804-979-0111 [email protected] www.kesmai.com A longtime big developer of online games, and now a division of News Corp., Kesmai Corporation is the holding company for three divisions: GameStorm—its name-brand online gaming service, ARIES Online Games—a major online game publisher, and Kesmai Studios—its internal development arm.

Mpath Network Mpath Interactive 665 Clyde Avenue Mountain View, CA 94043 408-366-1735 [email protected] www.mpath.com Founded as a major new entrant to the multiplayer gaming scene, Mpath Network boasts a cuttingedge network and major partners. Mpath Interactive has a number of initiatives, including Mplayer Network, Mpath Foundation, and multiplayer match-up service.

Mplayer Network www.mplayer.com Mplayer covers the expenses of network start-up costs, porting assistance, customer service support, billing support, operations, and security. Mplayer provides access to 75,000 online gamers, marketing research, tournaments, and other promotions.

Multi-Player Games Network (MPG-Net) 801 Eisenhower Boulevard

Key West, FL 33040 Phone: 305-296-5996 Fax: 305-296-4692 www.mpgn.com This game network has been around for a while and has many internally developed titles.

T.E.N. (Total Entertainment Network) 500 Howard Street Suite 400 San Francisco, CA 94105 415-778-3520 [email protected] www.ten.com T.E.N is a major multiplayer gaming network formed by a merger of some lesser networks, new technology, and major venture capital. Lots of deals are in place here.

Wireplay BT C1009, Westside London Road Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire HP3 9YF United Kingdom 719-687-8566 [email protected] www.wireplay.com Wireplay customers can probably play any basic multiplayer game you have built using IP, IPX, or Direct Play without any modifications. Wireplay offers free advertising/advertorials on Wireplay New and Wireplay.com, Web links to your site, and patches and upgrades downloadable directly to your customers. Wireplay will also work with you to develop joint advertising and public relations support for your game.

Worldplay Entertainment 577 Airport Boulevard Suite 300 Burlingame, CA 94010 415-548-0277 [email protected] www.worldplay.com

This is a collection of all of AOL’s gaming initiatives, including what was formerly known as The Imagination Network. It has AOL’s entire membership base to draw upon.

Research Companies Dataquest 251 River Oaks Parkway San Jose, CA 95134-1913 Phone: 408-468-8000 Fax: 408-468-8045 www.dataquest.com Dataquest is a large research company covering a huge range of markets with strong overseas surveys. Dataquest’s focus is on installed base of hardware and future platforms.

DFC Intelligence P.O. Box 720673 San Diego, CA 92172 Phone: 619-484-5145 Fax: 619-484-0819 [email protected] www.dfcintelligence.com DFC Intelligence provides research reports on the future of the game industry. Some of their recent reports include “Issues in Online Entertainment,” “The Online Consumer,” and “Forecasts for the Growth of Consumer Online Entertainment.” Reports range in price from $495 to $1,295.

Find/SVP 202 The Commons Suite 608 Ithaca, NY 14850 Phone: 800-346-3787 or 800-965-4636 (Em. Tech.) Fax: 607-275-9591 www.findsvp.com Find/SVP produces a lot of broad consumer research, but also provides tracking information on top gaming titles.

Forrester Research

1033 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 Phone: 617-497-7090 Fax: 617-868-0577 www.forrester.com/ab_sect.htm Forrester is a major researcher that recently went public. Similar to IDC and Dataquest, it covers a broad range of technology topics including online numbers, hardware installed base, and more. It recently began branching into interactive consumer information.

Gartner Group Gartner Park 56 Top Gallant Road Box 10212 Stamford, CT 06904 Phone: 203-964-0096 Fax: 203-324-7901 [email protected] www.gartner.com The Gartner Group concentrates mostly on high-end IT functional research, but like many other major companies, it has core competency in projecting hardware trends, installed bases, and more.

International Data Corp 5 Speen Street Framingham, MA 01701 Phone: 508-872-8200 Fax: 508-935-4015 www.idcresearch.com The main research arm of IDG Communications, IDC does many reports on hardware trends, emerging software trends, and installed bases. It has produced specialized research on the game industry in the past.

Jon Peddie Associates 4 Saint Gabrielle Court Tiburon, CA 94920 Phone: 415-435-1775 Fax: 415-435-1599 [email protected] wwsw.jpa-pcgr.com

JPA is a leading publisher and market research firm for information and analysis on digital media technology. It has been monitoring the PC graphics industry for more than 11 years. JPA produces a weekly newsletter, The Peddie Report, geared toward technologists and executives in the digital media industries. The Peddie Report tracks media accelerators, semiconductors, add-in boards, APIs, software for entertainment and commercial application, software tools, and investments. The company also provides market reports and white papers on the digital media industry.

Jupiter Communications 627 Broadway Second Floor New York, NY 10012 Phone: 800-481-1212 Fax: 212-780-6075 www.jup.com Jupiter is a fast-rising research company that focuses heavily on interactive and online consumer markets. It markets many different strategy reports, including one on online games and consumers. Jupiter also offers conferences on online gaming and consumers.

The NPD Group 900 West Shore Road Port Washington, NY 11050 Phone: 516-625-0700 Fax: 516-625-2347 [email protected] www.npd.com The NPD Group is a major tracker of household buying habits, including games and interactive entertainment.

PC DATA 11260 Roger Bacon Drive Suite 204 Reston, VA 22090 Phone: 703-435-1025 Fax: 703-478-0484 [email protected] PC DATA is the company to turn to for tracking what’s sold at retail in PC software. It covers 50 percent of the market and produces a number of quality reports. Call for samples and a list of prices.

Simba Information Box 7430 Wilton, CT 06897 Phone: 203-834-0033 Fax: 203-834-1771 [email protected] www.simbanet.com Simba is a research company that is primarily focused on media-related research, be it publishing or Internet. It has produced research on the interactive industry but does not do things like hardware trends or installed bases.

The Yankee Group 200 Portland Street Boston, MA 02114 Phone: 617-367-1000 Fax: 617-367-5760 [email protected] www.yankeegroup.com Like IDC, Dataquest, and Gartner, The Yankee Group is a major researcher of IT and computer technology markets.

Sound Cards Adlib Multimedia 580 Grande-Allée Est Suite 40 Québec G1R 2K2 Canada Phone: 418 522-6100 Fax: 418 522-4919 [email protected] www.adlib-multimedia.com Adlib Multimedia was first to market with a sound board but lost its leading position when Creative’s Soundblaster took over the market.

Advanced Gravis

101-3750 North Fraser Way Burnaby, BC V5J 5E9 Canada Phone: 604-431-5020 Fax: 604-431-5155 [email protected] www.gravis.com Advanced Gravis is known for its GUS (Gravis UltraSound) and Advanced GUS sound cards, which are very popular—especially in Europe.

Creative Labs, Inc. 1523 Cimarron Plaza Stillwater, OK 74075 Phone: 408-428-2345 Fax: 405-742-6646 [email protected] www.creativelabs.com Creative Labs is the inventor of the Soundblaster card, which has become a de facto standard in the sound card market. It’s now marketing several new boards, including its AWE series of wavetable sound cards.

Diamond Multimedia 2880 Junction Avenue San Jose, CA 95134 Phone: 408-325-7000 Fax: 408-325-7070 [email protected] www.diamondmm.com Well-known for its video cards, Diamond has recently begun a harder swing into sound cards with its MonsterSound line of products.

ENSONIQ Corp. 155 Great Valley Parkway P.O. Box 3035 Malvern, PA 19355-0735 Phone: 610-647-3930 Fax: 610-647-8908 www.ensoniq.com

ENSONIQ is a synthesizer company with a large sound card operation, especially at the OEM level.

Roland 7200 Dominion Circle Los Angeles, CA 90040 Phone: 213-685-5141 Fax: 213-722-0911 Roland is big in the music hardware market and is well known for its Sound Canvas cards and sound font technology.

Shark Multimedia, Inc. 3040 Oakmead Village Drive Santa Clara, CA 95051 Phone: 408-987-5400 Fax: 408-987-5415 www.sharkmm.com Shark Multimedia is the creator of Mako sound cards and the Tsunami wave table daughter card.

Yamaha 6600 Orangethorpe Avenue Buena Park, CA 90620 Phone: 714-522-9410 Fax: 714-228-3913 [email protected] www.yamaha.com Yamaha is a major synthesizer and MIDI music hardware manfuacturer and a growing presence in high-end computer sound cards.

Testing Labs CGS Testing 1432 University Avenue Berkeley, CA 94702 510-486-1725 CGS Testing provides hardware compatibility testing for the PC and Macintosh; HTML and Java

performance and compatibility testing with Netscape and Internet Explorer for PC, Mac, and Unix; Unix host evaluations; online testing with multiple ISPs, ISDN, or AOL; software testing for the PC, Mac, and video game systems; software compatibility testing for the PC and Mac; videotaping of software testing; and IPX, TCP/IP, and NetBEUI software testing.

Hard Boiled Testing 502 Oakland Avenue Oakland, CA 94611 510-655-5855 [email protected] Hard Boiled provides functionality and compatibility testing for Windows 95, 3.1, and NT, for Macintosh, and for console systems.

ST Labs Sterling Plaza, 3rd Floor 3535 1128th Avenue SE Bellevue, WA 98006 Phone: 206 974 0174 Fax: 206 974 0150 [email protected] www.stlabs.com ST Labs provides outsourced software testing and quality assurance services to software developers. ST’s testers specialize in digital media, Windows and networked applications, and client/server.

VeriTest 3420 Ocean Park Boulevard Suite 2030 Santa Monica, CA 90405 Phone: 310-450-0062 Fax: 310-399-1760 [email protected] www.veritest.com VeriTest operates as a collection of specialist labs for computer games, hardware compatibility, business software quality assurance, mobile computing, networking and Internet, Unix, usability, and logo compliance. VeriTest boasts a rapid deployment force of hard-core gamers, veteran game developers, and experienced programmers. Gaming clients include Accolade, Activision, Anomaly, Bandai Digital Entertainment, Davidson & Associates, Digital Sound, Disney New Media, FisherPrice, Grolier Interactive, Mattel Media, MGM, Orion, Philips Media, Trimark Interactive, Viacom

New Media, and YES Entertainment Group. ST Labs offers consulting, training, The ST Labs Report, and The Testers’ Network.

Venture Capital Accel Partners One Embarcadero Center Suite 3820 San Francisco, CA 94111 415-989-5656 Typical investment is $300,000 to $6 million. Sample Investments: Mpath Interactive, Books that Work, Jostens Learning, Macromedia, UUNet, Spectrum Holobyte, Progressive Networks

Adobe Ventures, L.P. Mountain View, CA 94039-7900 415-962-4812 Typical investment is very large—$500,000 to $3 million. Adobe invests in companies with businesses, products, and technologies serving markets strategic to Adobe’s interests. Sample Investments: mFactory, Netscape

Advanced Technology Ventures 2884 Sand Hill Road Suite 100 Menlo Park, CA 94025 415-321-8601 Typical investment is $500,000 to $1 million. Sample Investments: Media Vision, Accel Graphics

Advent International Corporation 1875 S. Grant Street Suite 310E

San Mateo, CA 94402 415-358-0525 Typical investment is $500,000 to $1 million. Sample Investments: Versant Object Technology

Applied Technology One Cranberry Hill Lexington, MA 02173 617-862-8622 Typical investment is $500,000 to $3 million. Sample Investments: Digital F/X, Human Code, Inc.

Aspen Venture Partners, L.P. 10898 Mora Drive Los Altos, CA 94024 415-948-6833 Typical investment is between $500,000 and $3 million. Sample Investments: Media Vision, Broadband Technologies

AT&T Ventures Corp. 3000 Sand Hill Road Menlo Park, CA 94025 415-233-0617 Typical investment is medium to large. Sample Investments: Knowledge Adventure, Sierra On-Line, Imagination Network, 3DO

Austin Ventures 114 West Seventh Street 1300 Norwood Tower Austin, TX 78701 Phone: 512-479-0055

Fax: 512-476-3952 www.austinventures.com Typical investment is $1 million to $7 million, with a focus on companies in Texas and the Southwest. Sample Investments: Human Code, Inc.

AVI Management Partners One First Street Suite 12 Los Altos, CA 94022 415-949-9855 Typical investment is $100,000 to $1 million. Sample Investments: Accel Graphics, S3

Baccharis Capital, Inc. 2420 Sand Hill Road Suite 100 Menlo Park, CA 94025 415-324-6844 Typical investment is $500,000 to $1 million plus. Sample Investments: Stella Interactive

Bankamerica Capital/ Bankamerica Ventures 950 Tower Lane Suite 700 Foster City, CA 94404 415-358-6000 Typical investment is $1 million to $10 million.

Bass Associates 436 Tasso Street Suite 325

Palo Alto, CA 94301 415-323-3655 Sample Investments: Starlight Networks, Macromedia

Battery Ventures 200 Portland Street Boston, MA 02114 617-367-1011 Typical investment is $750,000 to $1.5 million. Sample Investments: PRO CD

Bay Partners 10600 North De Anza Blvd. Cupertino, CA 95014-2031 408-725-2444 Typical investment is $500,000 to $1 million. Sample Investments: Macromedia

Berenson Minella Ventures 667 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10021 212-935-7676 Typical investment is $2.5 million plus.

Brentwood Associates 2730 Sand Hill Road Suite 250 Menlo Park, CA 94025 415-854-7691 Typical investment is $500,000 to $3 million. Sample Investments: Media Vision

Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. One Embarcadero Center Suite 4050 San Francisco, CA 9411 415-362-4022 Typical investment is $500,000 to $10 million. Sample Investments: Berkeley Systems, Broderbund

Canaan Partners 2884 Sand Hill Road Suite 115 Menlo Park, CA 94025 415-854-8092 www.canaan.com Typical investment is $500,000 to $15 million. Sample Investments: Palladium Interactive

Charter Ventures 525 University Avenue Suite 1500 Palo Alto, CA 94301 415-325-6953 Typical investment is $100,000 to $1 million. Sample Investments: 3Dfx

Coral Group 60 South Sixth Streeet Suite 3510 Minneapolis, MN 55402 612-335-8666 Typical investment is $100,000 to $1.5 million.

Sample Investments: Macromedia

Corporate Venture Partners, L.P. 171 East State Street Suite 261 Ithaca, NY 14850 607-277-8024 Typical investment is $250,000 to $1 million. Sample Investments: Spectrum Holobyte

Draper Fisher Jurvetson 400 Seaport Court Suite 250 Redwood City, CA 94063 415-599-9000 Typical investment is $250,000 to $500,000. Sample Investments: Three-Sixty, Accolade, T/Maker

El Dorado 20300 Stevens Creek Boulevard Suite 395 Cupertino, CA 95014 408-725-2474 Typical investment is around $1 million. Sample Investments: Pulse Entertainment

Grace/Horn Venture Partners 20300 Stevens Creek Boulevard. Suite 330 Cupertino, CA 95014 408-725-0774 Typical investment is $500,000 to $1 million.

Sample Investments: Image Online

Greylock Management 755 Page Mill Road Suite B-140 Palo Alto, CA 94304 415-493-552 Typical investment is $1 million plus. Sample Investments: Avid, Media Magic, Raptor Systems

Hambrecht & Quist One Bush Street San Francisco, CA 94104 415-576-3300 Typical investment is $500,000 to $5 million. Sample Investments: Crystal Dynamics

InnoCal, L.P. 600 Anton Boulevard Suite 1270 Costa Mesa, CA 92626 Phone: 714-850-6784 Fax: 714-850-6798 www.innocal.com Typical investment is $500,000. Sample Investments: Cloud Nine

Institutional Venture Partners 3000 Sand Hill Road, Building 2 Suite 290 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Phone: 415-854-0132 Fax: 415-854-5762

[email protected] www.netsmart.com/ivp Typical investment ranges from seed money to $3 million. Sample Investments: Mpath, Storm Technology, Collabra

Interwest Partners 3000 Sand Hill Road, Building 3 Suite 255 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Phone: 415-854-8585 Fax: 415-854-4706 www.interwest.com Typical investment is $2 million to $10 million. Sample Investments: Crystal Dynamics, Starlight Networks, Stratacom, J3 Learning

JAFCO America Ventures, Inc. 555 California Street Suite 4380 San Francisco, CA 94104 415-788-0706 Typical investment ranges from $500,000 to over $1 million Sample Investments: Sega, Metacreations

Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers 2750 Sand Hill Road Menlo Park, CA 94025 415-233-2750 Typical investment is between $1and $2 million (sometimes larger). Sample Investments: T.E.N., 3DO, Spectrum Holobyte, Netscape, AOL

Mayfield Fund

2800 Sand Hill Road Suite 250 Menlo Park, CA 94025 415-854-5560 Typical investment ranges from $500,000 to $4 million. Sample Investments: SGI, University Games, Knowledge Adventure, Sharevision

Menlo Ventures 3000 Sand Hill Road, Building 4 Suite 1000 Menlo Park, CA 94025 415-854-8540 Typical investment is $500,000 to $5 million.

Merrill, Pickard, Anderson & Eyre 2480 Sand Hill Road Suite 200 Menlo Park, CA 94025 415-854-8600 Typical investment is $1 million to $4 million. Sample Investments: Rocket Science, Knowledge Adventure, Macromedia, S3, Starlight Networks

Mohr, Davidow Ventures 3000 Sand Hill Road, Building 1 Suite 240 Menlo Park, CA 94025 415-854-7236 www.mdv.com Typical investment is $500,000 to $1 million. Sample Investments: Rocket Science, Books that Work, Knowledge Adventure, S3

New Enterprise Associates

2490 Sand Hill Road Menlo Park, CA 94040 Phone: 415-854-9499 Fax: 415-854-9397 www.nea.com Typical investment is between $500,000 and $6 million. Sample Investments: SGI, StarPress Multimedia, The Learning Co.

NHL Partners, L.P. 888 Seventh Avenue, 20th Floor New York, NY 10106 212-649-4900 Typical investment is $500,000 to $1million. Sample Investments: Anonymous Entertainment, Vision III Imaging

Sequoia Capital 3000 Sand Hill Road, Building 4 Suite 280 Menlo Park, CA 94025 415-854-3927 Typical investment is over $500,000. Sample Investments: Macromedia, Avid, Yahoo, Storm Technologies

Technology Partners Fund 1550 Tiburon Boulevard Suite A Belvedere, CA 94920 415-435-1935 Typical investment is up to $2 million. Sample Investments: 3DO, Crystal Dynamics, Cloud Nine

Transatlantic Fund

Nazem & Co. 3000 Sand Hill Road, Building 1 Suite 205 Menlo Park, CA 94025 415-854-3010 Typical investment is over $1 million. Sample Investments: Media Vision, Starpress Multimedia

U.S. Venture Partners 2180 Sand Hill Road Suite 300 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Phone: 415-854-9080 Fax: 415-854-3018 www.usvp.com Typical investment is $1million to $3 million. Sample Investments: 3Dfx, Palladium

Venrock Associates 755 Page Mill Road Suite A230 Palo Alto, CA 94304 Phone: 415-493-5577 Fax: 415-493-6433 www.venrock.com Typical investment is between $500,000 and $4 million. Sample Investments: Intel, 3Dfx, Apple

Vertex Management 1000 Lousiana Street Suite 1110 Houston, TX 77002 713-659-7870

Typical investment is over $1 million. Sample Investments: Spectrum Holobyte

Vulcan Ventures, Inc. 110 110th Avenue NE Suite 550 Bellevue, WA 98004 206-453-1940 Typical investment is unknown. Sample Investments: Trilobyte, 3D/Eye DreamWorks SDK, Starwave, Jim Henson Interactive, Purple Moon

Walden Group of Venture Capital Funds 750 Battery Street, 7th Floor San Francisco, CA 94111 415-391-7225 Typical investment is $500,000 to $2 million. Sample Investments: S3, Creative Labs, Macromedia, Digital F/X, RasterOps

Weiss, Peck & Greer Venture Partners 555 Caliornia Street Suite 4760 San Francisco, CA 94104 415-622-6864 Typical investment is between $500,000 and $4 million. Sample Investments: CAPS, Theatrix Interactive Special note: This is the investment arm of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.

Video Cards 3Dfx Interactive, Inc.

4435 Fortran Drive San Jose, CA 45134 Phone: 888-FOR-3DFX Fax: 408-262-8874 www.3dfx.com Makers of the 3Dfx chipset and graphics cards, currently the hottest thing going in the 3D accelerator card market.

3Dlabs Inc. 181 Metro Drive Suite 520 San Jose, CA 95110 Phone: 408-436-3455 Fax: 408-436-3458 [email protected] www.3dlabs.com 3Dlabs is the maker of the Glint chip set, a powerful 3D acceleration chip used in various boards.

ATI Technologies Inc. 33 Commerce Valley Drive East Thornhill, ON L3T 7N6 Canada Phone: 905-882-2600 Fax: 905-882-2620 [email protected] www.atitech.ca ATI is a major manufacturer of graphics cards for OEM and retail markets. ATI Mach 64 and Rage cards are some of the top-selling VGA cards around.

Diamond Multimedia 2880 Junction Avenue San Jose, CA 95134 Phone: 408-325-7000 Fax: 408-325-7070 [email protected] www.diamondmm.com Diamond Multimedia is a major graphics card manufacturer that has branched into other multimedia

items, including sound cards.

Hercules Computer Technology, Inc. 3839 Spinnaker Court Fremont, CA 94538 Phone: 510-623-6030 Fax: 510-623-1112 [email protected] www.hercules.com This longtime graphics card manufacturer has a number of mostly higher-end offerings.

Leadtek Research Inc. 46721 Fremont Boulevard Fremont, CA 94538 Phone: 510-490-8076 Fax: 510-490-7759 [email protected] www.leadtek.com Leadtek makes a number of OEM and retail graphics cards.

Matrox Graphics Inc. 1055 St. Regis Boulevard Dorval, QU H9P 2T4 Canada Phone: 514-969-6320 Fax: 514-969-6363 [email protected] www.matrox.com Matrox Graphics is the maker of the Matrox Millenium series of graphics cards.

Number Nine Visual Technology 18 Hartwell Avenue Lexington, MA 02173-3103 Phone: 617-674-0009 or 1-800-GET-NINE Fax: 617-674-2919 [email protected] www.nine.com

Number Nine Visual Technology makes a number of OEM and retail graphics cards.

Real 3D 12506 Lake Underhill Road Suite MP-811 Orlando, FL 32825 Phone: 407-306-1995 Fax: 407-306-5641 [email protected] www.real3d.com Real 3D is a higher-end manufacturer of graphics technology cards that has worked on a number of projects with arcade companies.

Rendition, Inc. 1675 North Shoreline Boulevard Mountain View, CA 94043 Phone: 415-335-5900 Fax: 415-335-5999 [email protected] www.rendition.com Rendition currently is producing a 3D chip.

S3 Incorporated 2801 Mission College Boulevard Santa Clara, CA 95052 Phone: 408-558-8000 Fax: 408-980-5444 [email protected] www.s3.com S3 makes major video card chipsets and boards.

STB Systems 1651 North Glenville Drive Richardson, TX 75081 Phone: 972-234-8750

Fax: 972-234-1306 [email protected] www.stb.com STB is a longtime maker of graphics cards for OEM and retail markets.

VideoLogic Home Park Estate Kings Langley, Hertfordshire WD4 8LZ United Kingdom Phone: 01923-260511 Fax: 01923-268969 www.videologic.com VideoLogic makes a number of OEM and retail graphics cards. It’s currently involved with a deal for the PowerVR system.

Table of Contents


Table of Contents

Resource F Organizations Here we’ve listed a number of key organizations that might be of interest to game developers. Let’s take a moment to highlight a few key ones. The Computer Game Developers’ Association (CGDA) is the major organization for game developers and has been in existence for several years. For a small fee, you get quite a deal, and should you choose to join only one organization, this should be it. Other than the CGDA, joining ACM is a good choice, as is IDSA for a development company. The International Game Developers’ Network (IGDN) is a relatively new organization that is worth looking into, as it offers another pinpoint membership for game developers. Even though some organizations have large dues, consider investigating them anyway. In some cases, there may be ways to get a discounted full membership, such as for hardship cases or students, or there may be a sliding scale. For example, the IDSA and other large industry consortiums usually base membership fees on the size of a company’s revenues, the number of employees, and other criteria. We should also note that we chose not to list each and every chapter of these organizations. There are quite a few local chapters of the key organizations (CGDA and ACM have several local chapters), so while the corporate or main group may not be in your neck of the woods, there may be a local group. Some organizations even accept charters for local groups. If you can get 10 to 12 people to meet monthly in your state or local metro area, you may be able to submit for local chapter status.

AFTRA (American Federation Of Television And Radio Artists) 260 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016 212-532-0800 www.entertainet.com/orgs_uns/dfwactor/locals.htm One of the two major talent unions for performers. AFTRA has signed contracts for interactive production work and supports the use of its members in such endeavors.

Amusement And Music Operators Association

401 North Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL 60611 Phone: 312-245-1021 Fax: 312-245-1085 [email protected] www.amoa.com Annual Conference: AMOA National Convention Organization for owners and industry types in the arcade and amusement business.

ASCAP (Association Of Composers, Authors And Publishers) 7920 Sunset Boulevard Suite 300 Los Angeles, CA 90046 Phone: 213-883-1000 Fax: 212-595-3050 Benefits of Joining: Members have their original music protected from copyright enfringement. ASCAP is the protector and cataloger of original musical content. If you are using professional music in your game, ASCAP, as well as BMI, are useful contacts.

Association For Computing Machinery 1515 Broadway Suite 17th Floor New York, NY 10036 Phone: 212-869-7440 Fax: 212-944-1318 www.acm.org Cost: $26-72 Benefits of Joining: Discounts on conferences and ACM’s books and journals, a free newsletter, and career assistance Annual Conference: Several, but Siggraph would be the most relevant to game developers One of the oldest and most prestigous computer organizations, the ACM is the primary educational and scientific society for computer professionals.

Association Of Shareware Professionals 545 Grover Road Muskegon, MI 49442-9427

Phone: 616-788-5131 Fax: 616-788-2765 www.asp-shareware.org Cost: $100 Annual Conference: Shareware Industry Conference Association for shareware software vendors and authors.

BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) 8730 Sunset Boulevard Suite Third Floor Los Angeles, CA 90069 Phone: 310-659-9109 Fax: 212-586-2000 Another music publishing organization. If you are using professional music in your game, BMI, as well as ASCAP, are useful.

Computer Game Developers’ Association 960 North San Antonio Road Suite 125 Los Altos, CA 94022 J6one: 415-948-2432 Fax: 415-948-2744 www.cgda.org Cost: $75 Qualifications to Join: Pay membership fee. Benefits of Joining: Newsletters, discounted products, and career assistance Annual Conference: Computer Game Developers’ Conference The CGDA is the premiere organization for game developers, from those doing packaged products to shareware authors to online game developers.

Directors Guild Of America 7920 Sunset Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90046 Phone: 818-785-6321 or 310-289-5330 Fax: 818-758-7046 www.dga.org The DGA is the primary organization for directors of all types. Thus, this organization may be useful

for those companies planning extensive use of digital video in a game that may require DGA talent.

Entertainment Software Ratings Board 845 Third Avenue New York, NY 10022 212-759-0700 [email protected] www.esrb.org This is the ratings arm of the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA). It rates content through independent auditors (similar to how motion pictures are rated).

Game PC Consortium Phone: 408-434-9888 Fax: 408-434-0818 [email protected] Qualifications to Join: Open to all developers interested in helping define game standards on the PC. Benefits of Joining: Members are kept up to date on industry news, hold meetings to discuss hardware standards, network, and receive special offers like discounts on conferences and industry newsletters. The Game PC Consortium is a group of hardware and software developers who meet regularly to discuss how to promote the PC game platform.

Interactive Digital Software Association 1130 Connecticut Avenue NW Suite 710 Washington, DC 20036 Phone: 202-833-4372 Fax: 202-833-4431 [email protected] Cost: varies Qualifications to Join: Pay membership fee based on a sliding scale according to revenues of your company. Benefits of Joining: Access to lobbying information, research reports, and other IDSA activities and events Annual Conference: Electronic Entertainment Expo Formed in 1994, the IDSA is the main business and lobbying arm of the computer game industry. Located in Washington, D.C., and backed by some of the biggest names in the industry, the IDSA

sponsors E3 and the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB).

Interactive Services Association 8403 Colesville Road Suite 865 Silver Springs, MD 20910 Phone: 301-495-4955 Fax: 301-495-4959 [email protected] www.isa.net Benefits of Joining: Networking opportunities and industry news, delivered by fax or email, that provides a summary of major industry news developments and public policy efforts The ISA is a lobbying organization that provides online services and interactive information.

International Game Developers’ Network P.O. Box 8059 Mission Hills, CA 91346 Fax: 512-249-8592 [email protected] www.igdn.com Cost: $50-$1,000 Qualifications to Join: Pay membership fee. Benefits of Joining: Assistance, networking, and member product discounts The IGDN is a start-up organization hoping to rival the Computer Game Developers’ Association.

Multimedia Roundtable Phone: 617-497-7090 ext.3199 Fax: 617-868-0577 [email protected] Cost: $15 Benefits of Joining: Monthly meetings in the Boston area East Coast multimedia developers’ organization working to provide a network for East Coast developers.

Recreational Software Advisory Council (RSAC) 1050 Waltham Street Suite 420

Lexington, MA 02173 Phone: 617-860-9888 Fax: 617-860-9604 www.rsac.org The RSAC was formed to represent the interests of small developers in the interactive field as it relates to the growing concern over game content and ratings. Today, the RSAC is one of the premiere ratings organizations (along with the ESRB) in the interactive field.

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) 5757 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90036-3600 213-954-1600 www.entertainmet.com/orgs_uns/dfwactor/locals.htm One of two major talent unions for performers.

The Software Publishers Association 1730 M Street NW Suite 600 Washington, DC 20036-4510 Phone: 202-452-1600 Fax: 202-223-8756 [email protected] www.spa.org Cost: varies Qualifications to Join: Pay membership fee based on a sliding scale according to company revenues. Benefits of Joining: Access to market research, industry sales information, market support, and discounts on major publications Annual Conference: The Software Publishers Association Annual Conference A major lobbying arm for software developers worldwide. Members include some of the largest firms in the industry and some smaller ones, too.

Women’s Interactive Entertainment Association P.O. Box 1127 San Carlos, CA 94070 Phone: 415-568-1268 Fax: 415-802-3297 [email protected]

Cost: $150 Benefits of Joining: WIEA Wave newsletter The goal of the WIEA, which is open to both men and women, is to get more women playing and developing interactive entertainment.

Writers Guild Of America 7000 West Third Street Los Angeles, CA 90048 Phone: 213-782-4511 Fax: 408-323-1898 [email protected] www.wga.org Cost: $2,500 Qualifications to Join: Must be a professional writer with a significant amount of writing experience. See the WGA Web page for more details. Benefits of Joining: Health insurance, standard contract level, and a support network The Writers Guild of America is the premiere organization for writers of all types and has aggressively moved into recruiting members from and for interactive writing work.

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Resource G Periodicals This resource list is broken into three major types of periodicals: development-related (magazines that cover development issues, artwork, programming, design, and publishing), game-player-related (where everyone reads about the games), and Web sites. We’ve included a number of sites because, as the game-playing market expands, more and more people are getting their information from online magazines. We feel these will be important media outlets for developers to watch. Included for each magazine is the basic mailing address—in almost every case we’ve tried to print the editorial address instead of addresses for subscriptions and such. We didn’t list editors because this information can quickly become out-of-date as people change jobs. So, if you’re interested in sending a demo or an article submission, do a little homework and call for the appropriate editor’s name, email address, and phone number. We also didn’t list many foreign magazines. There are three reasons for this: they’re hard to find, many of the major magazines may actually be foreign versions of a U.S.-based publication, and many of the foreign magazines have a very short life span. In the future, as we broaden our investigation and determine more overseas magazines, we’ll certainly expand our foreign entries. On a special note, we tried to list some Japanese trades that can be difficult to read but still very interesting because of the screen shots and English product names, but they’re very hard to get in the U.S. However, we did find a U.S. importer of Japanese gaming magazines. Tronix Multimedia (listed in the Miscellaneous section earlier in the book) will import the major Japanese magazines for roughly $10 (U.S.) a copy. When last contacted, Tronix indicated that there were about four major magazines currently available.

Development/Content Oriented 3D Artist Columbine, Inc. P.O. Box 4787 Santa Fe, NM 87502-4787

Phone: 505-982-3532 Fax: 505-820-6929 [email protected] www.3dartist.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: 3D graphics Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: $33 Newsstand Price: $3.95 Average Page Length: 100 Home-spun and enthusiastic coverage of all the top 3D products and tools, with lots of tutorial coverage. 3D Artist has an extensive Web site that allows you to receive a bi-monthly newsletter callled The Tesselation Times. An outstanding 3D magazine.

3D Design Miller Freeman, Inc. 600 Harrison Street San Francisco, CA 94107 415-905-2200 Company’s URL: www.mfi.com Publication’s URL: www.3d-design.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: How-to feature articles, product news and evaluations, and analysis of designoriented issues for 3D designers Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: $29.95 Newsstand Price: $3.95 Average Page Length: 100 3D Design focuses on the issues professional 3D designers face daily. Miller-Freeman’s entry into the 3D content creation market features news, reviews, and tutorial coverage of all the major packages.

The CGDA Report Computer Game Developers’ Association 960 North San Antonio Road Suite 125 Los Altos, CA 94022 Phone: 415-948-2432 Fax: 415-948-2744 www.cgda.org Type of Publication: Newsletter

Topics: Game development Frequency of Publication: Quarterly Subscription Price: $75.00 Newsstand Price: $10 Average Page Length: 28 The CGDA Report, the official magazine of the Computer Game Developers’ Association, includes association information and articles about game development. It’s free with membership, but back issues cost $10.

Computer Artist Pennwell Publishing Co. 10 Tara Boulevard Fifth Floor Nashua, NH 03062 Phone: 603-891-0123 Fax: 603-891-0539 Company’s URL: www.pennwell.com Publication’s URL: www.computer-design.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Graphics Frequency of Publication: Bimonthly Subscription Price: $24.95 Newsstand Price: $3.95 Average Page Length: 100 Computer Artist covers a wide range of computer artwork creation, including illustration and 3D modeling. You’ll find plenty of articles about new products and developments.

Computer Graphics World Pennwell Publishing Co. 10 Tara Boulevard Fifth Floor Nashua, NH 03062 Phone: 603-891-0123 Fax: 603-891-0539 www.pennwell.com www.cgw.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Hard-core PC gaming Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: $50

Newsstand Price: $4.95 Average Page Length: 88 Computer Graphics World focuses on a wide range of graphical issues beyond traditional artwork, including digital video and high-end imaging. There are plenty of discussions on SGI-type products, animation packages, and more for the traditional artist.

Digital Video International Data Group Company’s URL: www.idg.com Publication’s URL: www.dv.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Digital video and 3D graphics Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: $24.97 Newsstand Price: $3.95 Average Page Length: 112 You’ll find plenty of information on digital video, 3D animation and modeling, multimedia authoring, and audio. The magazine includes tutorials and in-depth coverage on producing video and making models that you can integrate into multimedia and interactive products.

DV Miller Freeman, Inc. 600 Harrison Street San Francisco, CA 94107 415-905-2200 Company’s URL: www.mfi.com Publication’s URL: www.dv.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Digital video and 3D content production Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: $29.97 Newsstand Price: $4.95 Average Page Length: 100 While the name stands for digital video, this magazine covers a number of graphical-oriented items, including 3D modeling and animation.

Electronic Gaming News BRP Publications

1333 H Street Northwest Second Floor Washington, DC 20005 202-842-3022 Type of Publication: Newsletter Topics: Industry news Frequency of Publication: 25 per year Subscription Price: $499 Average Page Length: 12 Electronic Gaming News is a biweekly newsletter on the game industry.

Future Music Magazine Future Publishing 30 Monmouth Street Bath, BA1 2BW United Kingdom 44 (0)1225 822 510 Company’s URL: www.futurenet.com Publication’s URL: www.futurenet.com/muscianet/Mags/FM/ Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Music Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: £87 Newsstand Price: n/a Average Page Length: 100 From Future Publishing, which publishes a number of computer, game, and other special interest magazines, comes this magazine on high-tech music and computer music production. The exchange rate makes a subscription about $130 per year.

Game Developer Magazine Miller Freeman, Inc. 600 Harrison Street San Francisco, CA 94107 415-905-2200 Company’s URL: www.mfi.com Publication’s URL: www.gdmag.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Game development and content production Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: $34.95 Newsstand Price: $5.95

Average Page Length: 65 Launched as an offshoot of Software Development, Game Developer Magazine has become a monthly periodical serving up tons of technical- and design-oriented fare for game developers worldwide.

InterActivity Miller Freeman, Inc. 600 Harrison Street San Francisco, CA 94107 415-905-2200 Company’s URL: www.mfi.com Publication’s URL: www.eyemedia.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Multimedia development Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: $59.95 Newsstand Price: $4.95 Average Page Length: 80 InterActivity covers the entire realm of multimedia development from kiosks to PC games. It has good columns and case-study articles.

Music & Computers Miller Freeman, Inc. 600 Harrison Street San Francisco, CA 94107 415-905-2200 Company’s URL: www.mfi.com Publication’s URL: www.music-and-computers.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Music production Frequency of Publication: 6 per year Subscription Price: $18.00 Newsstand Price: $4.95 Average Page Length: 79 Music & Computers bills itself as the magazine for desktop music. It covers the crossroads between music and computers with good coverage of game-oriented subject matter.

NewMedia

HyperMedia Communications Inc. 901 Mariner’s Island Boulevard Suite 365 San Mateo, CA 94404 Phone: 415-573-5170 Fax: 415-573-5131 [email protected] www.hyperstand.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Multimedia development Frequency of Publication: 16 times per year Subscription Price: $52 Newsstand Price: $4.95 Average Page Length: 88 NewMedia covers all sorts of multimedia development topics.

Planet Studio Digital Video Magazine www.dv.com Type of Publication: Newsletter Topics: Digital video and content production Frequency of Publication: Bimonthly Subscription Price: $59.95, charter Newsstand Price: n/a Average Page Length: 16 This is an offshoot newsletter from the people at Digital Video Magazine. Planet Studio covers all the multimedia products produced by Autodesk and any affiliated plug-ins. You get dedicated, high-end converage of 3D Studio, Animator Pro/Studio, and more.

Game Playing Adrenaline Vault Adrenaline Vault 370 Smith Road Smithville, TN 37166 [email protected] www.avault.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: Game play, mostly PC Frequency of Publication: Constant

Subscription Price: Free One of the top gaming sites on the Internet, Adrenaline Vault is well-written and produced and quick to cover new products.

All About Games 6461 SW 27th Street Miramar, FL 33023 [email protected] www.allaboutgames.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: Game play Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free

Computer & Net Player AirAge Publishing Ridgefield, CT 815-734-1116 [email protected] Company’s URL: www.airage.com Publication’s URL: www.ogr.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: PC—strategy games and online gaming Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: $34.95 Newsstand Price: $4.95 Formerly known as Computer Player, Computer & Net Player covers PC gaming.

Computer Gaming World Ziff-Davis Publishing Company’s URL: www.ziffdavis.com Publication’s URL: cgw.gamespot.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Hard-core PC gaming Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: $27.94 Newsstand Price: $3.99 Average Page Length: 250

Computer Gaming World is one of the oldest, most read, and most widely-respected magazines on computer gaming with well-established editorials and reviewers. A long-time independent, it’s the centerpiece of Ziff-Davis’ game magazine line and includes lots of feature reviews, previews, and articles. Computer Gaming World recently began pushing a CD version and has been appearing a lot online, especially as an affiliate of Ziff-Davis’ GameSpot.com.

ePlay The PC Press Inc. PO Box 13739 Greensboro, NC 27415 Phone: 910-272-0083 Fax: 910-272-0086 www.eplay.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: PC online games and Internet-only games Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: $14.97 Newsstand Price: $3.99 ePlay is a new magazine trying to establish itself as the bible of multiplayer online gaming.

Exscape Exscape Productions 16776 Bernardo Center Suite 209 San Diego, CA 92128 [email protected] www.exscape.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: Games Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free

Game Briefs 1302 Stoney Run Trail Broadview Heights, OH 44147 [email protected] www.gamebriefs.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: Game news Frequency of Publication: Constant

Subscription Price: Free

Gamecenter c|net 150 Chestnut St. San Francisco, CA 94111 415-395-7800 Company’s URL: www.cnet.com Publication’s URL: www.gamecenter.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: Mostly PC Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free Gamecenter is a top-notch and high-traffic Web site magazine from c|net.

Game Depot Game Depot 20939 Parthenia Street Suite 212 Canoga Park, CA 91304 [email protected] www.gamedemo.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: PC games Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free

Game Informer Magazine Game Informer 10120 West 76th Street Eden Prairie, MN 55344 Phone: 612-946-7245 Fax: 612-946-8155 [email protected] www.gameinformer.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: PC and console games Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: $19.98 Newsstand Price: $3.95

Game Informer covers consoles, PC, and arcades. Game Informer is a trademark of game store giant Funco.

GamePen 140 Second Street San Francisco, CA 94105 [email protected] www.gamepen.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: PC and console games Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free GamePen is one of the top game-oriented Web site magazines.

GamePower CMP Media 600 Community Drive Manhasset, NY 11030 516-562-5000 Company’s URL: techweb.cmp.com Publication’s URL: www.gamepower.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: PC and console games Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free GamePower is a Web site magazine from media giant CMP, part of its Techweb.com empire.

GamePro International Data Group Company’s URL: www.idg.com Publication’s URL: www.gamepro.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Mostly console, some PC Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: 19.97 Newsstand Price: $5.00 IDG’s high-gloss, mostly console magazine, GamePro is aimed at a younger demo than most

magazines.

Game Realms 10321 Kingsbridge Road Elliott City, MD 21042 [email protected] www.gamerealms.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: PC gaming Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free

GameSpot Ziff-Davis Publishing Company’s URL: www.ziffdavis.com Publication’s URL: www.gamespot.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: PC Gaming Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free GameSpot is the sister site to VideoGameSpot and to the major PC-based game magazines in the ZiffDavis empire.

Games Mania 1491 Castlefield Avenue Toronto, ON M6M-1Y4 Canada [email protected] www.gamesmania.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: PC games Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free

Hyper@ctive Next Media Australia 612 9310 1433 [email protected]

Company’s URL: www.next.com.au Publication’s URL: www.hyperactive.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: PC games Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free Web site magazine from the Australian publisher of Rolling Stone.

Inside Games & Entertainment Update The Word Warriors 23115 Broadmoor Court Auburn, CA 95602 [email protected] www.gamesup.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: PC games Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free

Intelligent Gamer 1920 Highland Avenue Suite 222 Lombard, IL 60148 Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Video and PC games Frequency of Publication: Bi-weekly Newsstand Price: $4.99 Intelligent Gamer covers all sorts of games, from console to PC. It’s well known for its nowdeceased igonline.com Web site.

KickAss Games 470 Mount Defiance Circle Southwest Issaquah, WA 98027-3629 [email protected] www.kickass.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: PC games Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free

Next Generation Imagine Publishing, Inc. 150 North Hill Drive Brisbane, CA 94005 Phone: 415-468-4684 Fax: 415-468-4686 Company’s URL: www.imagine-inc.com Publication’s URL: www.next-generation.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Hard-core console and PC gaming Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: $34 Newsstand Price: $4.99 Average Page Length: 110 Next Generation covers top-end production-oriented games for consoles, arcades, and PCs. It also focuses on game production and business items.

Online Gaming Review AirAge Publishing Ridgefield, CT 815-734-1116 [email protected] Company’s URL: www.airage.com Publication’s URL: www.ogr.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: PC and online games Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free Online Gaming Review is the Web site sister to Computer & Net Player magazine.

PC Format Future Publishing 30 Monmouth Street Bath, BA1 2BW United Kingdom Phone: 44 (0)1225 822 510 www.futurenet.com Type of Publication: Magazine

Topics: PC games Frequency of Publication: Quarterly Newsstand Price: $10.50 (w/CD) Average Page Length: 98 British-based PC gaming magazine.

PC Game Review 217 Chalet Place Campbell, CA 95008 www.pcgr.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: PC gaming Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free British-based PC gaming magazine.

PC Gamer Imagine Publishing, Inc. 150 North Hill Drive Brisbane, CA 94005 Phone: 415-468-4684 Fax: 415-468-4686 Company’s URL: www.imagine-inc.com Publication’s URL: www.pcgamer.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: PC gaming Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: $29.95 Newsstand Price: $3.99 Average Page Length: 216 PC Gamer is Imagine Publishing’s answer (and a good one at that) to Ziff-Davis’ Computer Gaming World.

PC Games International Data Group Company’s URL: www.idg.com Publication’s URL: www.pcgames.com Type of Publication: Magazine

Topics: PC gaming Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: $19.97 Newsstand Price: $3.99 PC Games is IDG’s entry in the PC gaming magazine arena.

PCGaming.com 181 Shore Drive Palm Harbor, FL 34683 [email protected] www.pcgaming.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: PC gaming Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free

PSExtreme Dimension Publishing 1175 Chess Drive Suite E Foster City, CA 94404 www.psextreme.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Sony PlayStation Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: $19.95 Newsstand Price: $3.95 PSExtreme only covers information related to the Sony PlayStation.

PSX Power Imagine Publishing, Inc. 150 North Hill Drive Brisbane, CA 94005 Phone: 415-468-4684 Fax: 415-468-4686 Company’s URL: www.imagine-inc.com Publication’s URL: www.psxpower.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: Sony PlayStation

Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free Average Page Length: PSX Power is a Web site magazine from Imagine Publishing that only covers PlayStation products and news.

Saturn World Imagine Publishing, Inc. 150 North Hill Drive Brisbane, CA 94005 Phone: 415-468-4684 Fax: 415-468-4686 Company’s URL: www.imagine-inc.com Publication’s URL: www.saturnworld.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: Sega Saturn Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free Saturn World is a Web site magazine from Imagine Publishing that only covers Sega Saturn products and news.

Ultra Game Players Imagine Publishing, Inc. 150 North Hill Drive Brisbane, CA 94005 Phone: 415-468-4684 Fax: 415-468-4686 Company’s URL: www.imagine-inc.com Publication’s URL: www.ultragp.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: PC and console gaming Frequency of Publication: 13 per year Subscription Price: $35.95 Newsstand Price: $6.99 Average Page Length: 113 From Imagine Publishing, this magazine focuses on major console titles and platforms.

Unified Gamers Online (UGO)

Unified Games Online LLC 140 Second Street Suite 603 San Francisco, CA 94105 [email protected] www.ugo.net Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: Aggregates top video game sites Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free UGO is a professionally oriented “Web ring” of top independent gaming sites.

VideoGameSpot Ziff-Davis Publishing Company’s URL: www.ziffdavis.com Publication’s URL: www.videogamespot.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: Video games of all kinds Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free VideoGameSpot is the sister site to GameSpot. It covers console-based gaming.

News Game-Wire New World Graphics 503 South Warminster Road Suite W-6 Hatboro, PA 19040 Phone: 215-871-3100 Fax: 215-871-3101 Company’s URL: [email protected] Publication’s URL: www.game-wire.com Type of Publication: Web-based Topics: Game news Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: Free The Game-Wire Web site focuses on news releases.

Multimedia Wire Phone: 301-493-9291 Fax: 301-493-8996 [email protected] www.mmwire.com Type of Publication: Fax/email newsletter Topics: News Frequency of Publication: Daily Subscription Price: $445 Average Page Length: 2 Multimedia Wire sends out two pages a day (by fax or email) summarizing the key news in multimedia, games, and online technology. MMWire’s Web site is one of the best around, offering a weekly recap of news, want ads, information on key organizations, and more.

Programming Oriented Visual Developer The Coriolis Group 14455 North Hayden Road Suite 220 Scottsdale, AZ 85260 Phone: 602-483-0192 Fax: 602-483-0193 [email protected] www.coriolis.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Programming Frequency of Publication: Bimonthly Subscription Price: $18.75 Newsstand Price: $4.95 Average Page Length: 104 Coriolis’ own magazine focuses on programming, concentrating on visual development environments.

Retailing Computer & Entertainment Retailing Plesman Publications LTD. 2005 Sheppard Avenue East

Fourth Floor Willowdale, ON M2J 5B1 Canada Phone: 416-497-9562 Fax: 416-497-9427 Company’s URL: www.plesman.com/main.htm Publication’s URL: www.plesman.com/cer/index.html Type of Publication: Newspaper Topics: Game retailing Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: $115 This is a monthly newspaper published in Canada designed to give computer and consumer electronics retailers comprehensive coverage of their industry. Canadians can subscribe for free through the Web site, but U.S. subscribers must pay $115 to receive the pulp version. The Web site is informative, even for those not selling in Canada.

Computer Dealer News (CDN) Plesman Publications LTD. 2005 Sheppard Avenue East Fourth Floor Willowdale, ON M2J 5B1 Canada Phone: 416-497-9562 Fax: 416-497-9427 Company’s URL: www.plesman.com/main.htm Publication’s URL: www.plesman.com/cdn/index.html Type of Publication: Newspaper Topics: Retailing Frequency of Publication: Biweekly Subscription Price: $250 CDN is Canada’s only biweekly newspaper covering the computer retailing business in Canada. Qualified Canadian subscribers can sign up for free using the Web site while U.S. subscribers must pay $250 a year for the pulp version.

Computer Reseller News CMP Publications, Inc. 600 Community Drive Manhasset, NY 11030 516-562-5000 Company’s URL: techweb.cmp.com Publication’s URL: techweb.cmp.com/crn/current/

Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Retailing Frequency of Publication: Weekly Subscription Price: Free This is the top magazine on the reselling of computer hardware and software.

Computer Retail Week CMP Publications, Inc. 600 Community Drive Manhasset, NY 11030 516-562-5000 Company’s URL: techweb.cmp.com Publication’s URL: techweb.cmp.com/crw/current/ Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Retailing Frequency of Publication: Weekly Subscription Price: Free Computer Retail Week focuses on the consumer and retail business of computers.

Electronic Retailing GPG Publishing 9200 Sunset Boulevard Suite 612 Lost Angeles, CA 90069 [email protected] www.eretail.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Retailing Frequency of Publication: 6 per year Subscription Price: $39.95 Newsstand Price: $6.75 Average Page Length: 62 Electronic Retailing covers selling online and other electronic retailing-oriented items.

Multimedia Merchandising Multimedia Merchandising 1632 Fifth Street Suite 220

Santa Monica, CA 90401 Phone: 310-458-3102 Fax: 310-458-3192 Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Retailing Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: Free Average Page Length: 70 This magazine, aimed at retailers, distributors, and producers of across-the-board multimedia titles, gives ample coverage to games.

Software Publishing/Business Jupiter Communications Newsletters Jupiter Communications 627 Broadway Second Floor New York, NY 10012 Phone: 800-481-1212 Fax: 212-780-6075 Company’s URL: www.jup.com Publication’s URL: www.jup.com/newsletter Type of Publication: Newsletters Topics: Business Frequency of Publication: Constant Subscription Price: $445 Jupiter markets a complete line of newsletters. While none of them are specifically about the game industry, many have information concerning the consumer use of video games, the Internet, and computers.

The Red Herring Herring Communications Inc. 1550 Bryant Street Suite 450 San Francisco, CA 94103 Phone: 415-865-2277 Fax: 415-865-2280 [email protected] Company’s URL: www.herring.com Publication’s URL: www.redherring.com

Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Venture capital and technology business Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: $69 Newsstand Price: $4.95 Average Page Length: 136 The bible of Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley, The Red Herring is the technical investor and venture capitalist’s guide to the computer industry.

Software Publishing Webcom Communications Corp. 10555 East Dartmouth Street Suite 330 Aurora, CO 80014-2633 Phone: 303-745-5711 Fax: 303-745-5712 www.infowebcom.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Software publishing Frequency of Publication: Bimonthly Subscription Price: $36 Average Page Length: 90 This magazine details publishing do’s, don’ts, how-to’s, and news. The ads are packed with duplicators, packaging services, and more.

Upside Upside Publishing Company 2015 Pioneer Court San Mateo, CA 94403 Phone: 415-377-0950 Fax: 415-377-1962 [email protected] www.upside.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Venture capital and the technology business Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: $48 Newsstand Price: $4.95 Average Page Length: 100 Upside is a business magazine focusing on the software industry. It discusses the business

implications of the Web, online gaming, technology management, and techniques for raising capital.

Trade Magazines Videogame Advisor Cyberactive Publishing 64 Danbury Road Suite 500 Wilton, CT 06897 Phone: 800-295-2718 Fax: 203-761-6184 www.vgadvisor.com Type of Publication: Magazine Topics: Retailing Frequency of Publication: Monthly Subscription Price: $63.95 Newsstand Price: $7.95 Average Page Length: 79 Videogame Advisor is free for qualified professionals within the gaming industry. Otherwise, a oneyear subscription in the U.S. is $63.95.

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Table of Contents

Resource H Software Publishers You’d think there would be more than 70 publishers in this section, but remember that most developers, even big ones like Origin Systems, aren’t actually publishers of product—they’re developers. The companies we’ve included here are consistent publishers of software. While many may choose to do few outside products, almost all do work with outside development teams. This Resources section isn’t here to provide you with a mailing list for your next demo. Instead, you should use it to help fine tune which publishers you might approach with your projects and demos. As we said earlier in the book, do your homework and choose the few that are the most likely to be interested in your product. To help you, we’ve included information on what sort of genre, hardware, and other items each publisher favors. While some may be willing to take on products that they haven’t before, more often they are apt to favor ideas and demos that reinforce their previous publishing strategies. One other item to note is that we’ve tended to focus mostly on U.S.-based publishers with only a few overseas publishers listed, mostly larger ones like France-based Infogrames. Thus, the absence of a publisher should not be construed as meaning that the publisher is not a “top” publisher or a good one. Ideally, we’d love to build a comprehensive list of publishers from around the world. However, this isn’t easy. Ever try reading a Web page in Japanese when you don’t speak it? So any help people could email on publishers in their part of the world would be greatly appreciated (BenSawyer@att. worldnet.net). A significant number of these top game companies and publishers are publicly traded stocks, so we’ve included a quick list of the most notable publishers’ stock symbols: • • • • • •

AKLM—Acclaim Entertainment ATVI—Activision BROD—Broderbund CDRM—Byron Preiss Multimedia CU—CUC International ERTS—Electronic Arts

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

GAME—Gametek GTIS—GT Interactive Software LUST—Wanderlust Interactive NTDOY—Nintendo SBYT—Spectrum Holobyte SEGNY—Sega Enterprises SEVL—Seventh Level SKEY—Softkey & Learning Company SNE—Sony Corp THDO—3DO Company THQI—T*HQ Inc TTWO—Take Two Interactive WMS—Williams

3DO 600 Galveston Drive Redwood City, CA 94063 Phone: 415-261-3238 Fax: 415-261-3231 [email protected] www.3do.com Types of Software Produced: PC and Internet games Games They Produced: Meridian 59 (multiplayer), Heroes of Might and Magic, Army Men, Uprising 3DO was originally focused on console products, based on its heritage as the first 32-bit generation console hardware developer. Today, after a major relaunch, the company is solely a PC and Internet game publisher.

7th Level, Inc. 1110 East Collins Boulevard Suite 122 Richardson, TX 75081 Phone: 972-498-8100 Fax: 972-437-2717 [email protected] www.7thlevel.com Types of Software Produced: PC games Games They Produced: Monty Python’s Complete Waste of Time, Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail, Arcade America, G-Nome, Helicops Formed by Paul Grayson, who founded Windows software pioneer Micrographix, 7th Level is now a major PC games producer.

Access Software 4750 Wiley Post Way, Building 1 Suite 200 Salt Lake City, UT 84116 Phone: 800-800-4880 Fax: 801-359-2968 [email protected] www.accesssoftware.com Types of Software Produced: PC games Games They Produced: Links, Raid over Moscow, Under a Killing Moon Long-time publisher of computer games, Access had early big hits on the Apple II and Commodore 64 and later succeeded with Under A Killing Moon and Links on the PC.

Acclaim Entertainment One Acclaim Plaza Glen Cove, NY 11542 516-656-5000 [email protected] www.acclaimnation.com Types of Software Produced: PC and console—mostly arcade-oriented Games They Produced: Turok, Dinosaur Hunter; NBA Jam; Forsaken The company that grew to epic proportions on the back of the Nintendo Entertainment System, Acclaim has had problems of late, but recently scored big with Turok, Dinosaur Hunter for the Ultra 64.

Accolade, Inc. 5300 Stevens Creek Boulevard Suite 500 San Jose, CA 95129 Phone: 408-985-1700 Fax: 408-246-1053 [email protected] www.accolade.com Types of Software Produced: PC—sports, racing, and strategy games Games They Produced: Jack Nickalus Golf, Hardball, Deadlock, 4th and Inches, Test Drive Accolade is a long-time developer/publisher of PC games and is well known for excellent sports sims. It also has come up with some great names for its titles, like Killed Until Dead, Test Drive, and

4th and Inches, now partially owned by Electronic Arts.

Activision, Inc. 3100 Ocean Park Boulevard Santa Monica, CA 90405 Phone: 310-255-2000 Fax: 310-255-2100 [email protected] www.activision.com Types of Software Produced: Console, PC, and Internet products Games They Produced: Apocalypse, River Raid, NetStorm, Pitfall, Zork, Freeway, 2600 Packs, Dark Reign, Infocom Series The original bigtime third-party console developer, Activision has seen an incredible amount of ups and downs, including major acqusitions, huge paydays and near-annihilation. Rescued by a group of investors in the late 80s, the company is now back in full force, producing some major titles, and on the acqusition trail again.

ASCII Entertainment Software, Inc. 900 Veterans Boulevard Suite 600 Redwood City, CA 94063 Phone: 415-780-0800 Fax: 415-780-0855 [email protected] www.asciient.com Types of Software Produced: Console, PC Games They Produced: King’s Field, Clock Tower, Felony 11-79 The American division of a major Japanese software publisher.

Avalon Hill Game Company 4517 Harford Road Baltimore, MD 21214 Phone: 410-254-9200 Fax: 410-254-0991 [email protected] www.avalonhill.com Types of Software Produced: PC Games They Produced: Achtung Spitfire, Wooden Ships & Iron Men, Cavewars, Defiance

Old time “pen & paper” game publisher that has dabbled in the electronic software game market for a long time.

Bethesda Softworks 1370 Piccard Drive Rockville, MD 20850-4304 Phone: 301-926-8300 Fax: 301-990-7025 [email protected] www.bethsoft.com Types of Software Produced: PC—mostly 3D and RPG Games They Produced: Gridiron, Terminator, Xcar, Arena: Elder Scrolls Originally a company formed to publish Amiga games, it quickly grew with major PC graphical hits like Terminator and Arena: Elder Scrolls.

Blue Byte Software Inc. 870 East Higgins Road Suite 143 Schaumburg, IL 60173 Phone: 847-995-9951 Fax: 847-995-9956 [email protected] www.bluebyte.com Types of Software Produced: PC—mostly simulation, strategy, and RPG Games They Produced: Albion, Extreme Assualt, Settlers, Battle Isle 2220, Archimedean Destiny, Incubation A German-based company that is quickly making its presence known in the United States. Known for the exceptional quality of its titles.

Bungie Software 1935 South Halsted Suite 204 Chicago, IL 60608 Phone: 312-563-6200 Fax: 312-563-0545 [email protected] www.bungie.com Types of Software Produced: PC and Mac—3D and realtime strategy Games They Produced: Marathon, Myth

Bungie produced Marathon, the “Doom” of the Mac gaming scene, and is now capitalizing on that success.

Byron Preiss Multimedia 24 West 25th Street 11th Floor New York, NY 10010 212-989-6252 www.byronpreiss.com Types of Software Produced: PC—adventure and multimedia Games They Produced: Brooklyn Multimedia, Crayon Multimedia Byron Preiss Multimedia is the multimedia arm of a New York book publishing house.

CAPCOM Entertainment, Inc. 475 Oakmead Parkway Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Phone: 408-774-0500 Fax: 408-774-8995 www.capcom.com Types of Software Produced: Console and PC—arcade action-oriented Games They Produced: Street Fighter, Mega Man, Resident Evil Longtime, bigtime Japanese arcade and console company with many major hits.

Cloud 9 Interactive 4053 Redwood Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90066 Phone: 310-448-8118 Fax: 310-448-8141 [email protected] www.cloud9int.com Types of Software Produced: PC—mostly educational games Games They Produced: I Can Be An Animal Doctor, I Can Be A Dinosaur Finder Cloud 9 publishes educational titles such as I Can Be A Dinosaur Finder under its Learning Adventure Series. Also has Marvel license for print studio and creativity center product lines.

Creative Wonders

595 Penobscot Drive Redwood City, CA 94063 Phone: 415-482-2300 Fax: 415-482-2303 [email protected] www.cwonders.com Types of Software Produced: PC—educational Games They Produced: Madeline, Elmo, Schoolhouse Rock!, Slam Dunk Typing Joint venture between Electronic Arts and ABC Television made prior to the Disney acquisition of CapCities/ABC.

CUC Software 1550 Executive Drive Elgin, IL 60123 Phone: 847-888-8300 Fax: 847-888-8653 sales@cucsoftware www.cucsoftware.com Types of Software Produced: PC—many types CUC owns several major publishers, including Sierra On-Line, Davidson, Knowledge Adventure, and Berkeley Systems. Recently CUC went through a mega-billion dollar merger with HFS, a travel and hotel giant. Questions have been floated as to whether the new giant company will spin off its interactive division.

Cyberdreams, Inc. P.O. Box 9088 Calabasas, CA 91302 Phone: 818-223-9990 Fax: 818-222-9346 [email protected] www.cyberdreams.com Types of Software Produced: PC—interactive story titles Games They Produced: I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, Darkseed II, Antares Rising Known mostly for its interactive story products, including I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream and Dark Seed, Cyberdreams has tended to offer up more older and abstract-oriented storylines than conventional interactive fiction titles from larger publishers.

Discovery Multimedia

7700 Wisconsin Bethesda, MD 20814-3579 301-986-0444 multimedia.discovery.com Types of Software Produced: Multimedia, education-oriented Discovery Multimedia is the software arm of the Discovery Communications cable channel.

Disney Interactive 500 South Buena Vista Street Burbank, CA 91201 Phone: 818-553-5000 Fax: 818-553-6302 [email protected] www.disney.com Types of Software Produced: Educational, arcade Games They Produced: Hercules, Aladdin, Lion King Storybook, Toy Story This is the software arm of the mega-media giant, focused on exploiting key Disney properties in the interactive space. It had big problems that made the press when it published Lion King Storybook, but has since rebounded to be a top force in the gaming scene (especially in terms of sales).

DreamWorks Interactive 640 North Sepulveda Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90049 Phone: 310-234-7070 Fax: 310-234-7089 [email protected] www.dreamworksgames.com Types of Software Produced: PC—arcade and adventure-oriented Games They Produced: Neverhood, Jurassic Park, Skull Monkeys, Goosebumps DreamWorks Interactive is the interactive arm of DreamWorks SKG—Steven Speilberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen’s new media company. It’s involved in a joint venture for interactive publishing with Microsoft but is distributed by Electronic Arts.

Edmark 6727 185th Avenue Northeast P.O. Box 997021 Redmond, WA 98052 Phone: 206-556-8700

Fax: 206-556-8430 [email protected] www.edmark.com Types of Software Produced: PC—educational Games They Produced: Strategy Challenges, Early Learning House series, Imagination Express series Well-known, award-winning educational developer now owned by IBM.

Electronic Arts, Inc. 1450 Fashion Island Boulevard San Mateo, CA 94404 Phone: 415-513-7523 Fax: 415-513-7040 [email protected] www.ea.com Types of Software Produced: Consoles, PC, and Internet—almost every genre, heavy on sports and sims Games They Produced: EA Sports, Archon, M.U.L.E., Seven Cities of Gold, SkyFox, Jungle Strike, Origin Systems, BullFrog, Chuck Yeager, Jane’s Defense, Soviet Strike, Skate or Die, Starflight, and many, many more The biggest independent interactive entertainment publisher around (and one of the oldest), EA is the titan of the industry and includes several key development studios (Origin and Bullfrog), as well as a massive distribution arm (EA Distribution). Founded by Trip Hawkins in the 1980s, Electronic Arts pioneered many early marketing strategies, such as album-style packaging and major pre-game hype. Big in both console and PC publishing, this company has a large global presence.

Epic MegaGames 3204 Tower Oaks Boulevard Suite 410 Rockville, MD 20852 Phone: 800-972-7434 Fax: 301-299-3841 [email protected] www.epicgames.com Types of Software Produced: PC—action, 3D, arcade, pinball, and strategy Games They Produced: Epic Pinball, Unreal, ZZT, Jazz Jackrabbit Like Id and Apogee, Epic got a name for itself in the shareware emergence of the 90s. It’s now expecting major status with the release of Unreal, to put an exclamation on past hits Jazz Jackrabbit, One Must Fall, and Epic Pinball.

GT Interactive Software 16 East 40th Street New York, NY 10016 212-726-6528 www.gtgames.com Types of Software Produced: PC and console—3D, arcade-oriented products Games They Produced: Duke Nuke’m, Doom, SPQR, OddWorld, Total Annihilation, Prey, 3D Realms GT Interactive scored a big hit when it got to publish Doom for id Software, and capitalized quickly on that success with public stock offerings; the acquisitions of Humongous Software, FormGen, and Wizardworks; and the launching of internal development with Cavedog Interactive. Now a major force in publishing and distribution, it is focusing on satisfying investors who soured on the company late in 1996, while trying to maintain the aggressiveness that got it where it is in the first place.

Hasbro Interactive 50 Dunham Road Beverly, MA 01915 Phone: 508-921-3722 Fax: 508-931-3704 [email protected] www.hasbro.com Types of Software Produced: PC—board game-oriented Games They Produced: Scrabble, Monopoly, Battleship Long a non-publisher that licensed its works out, Hasbro is now moving quickly to establish its own software arm after major attempts to develop a hardware entry in the home interactive market.

Headbone Interactive 1520 Bellevue Avenue Seattle, WA 98122 206-323-0073 www.headbone.com/home.html Types of Software Produced: PC, Internet—educational titles Games They Produced: Pantsylvania, World Tour, Elroy Hits The Pavement, AlphaBonk Farm Headbone Interactive focuses on educational titles that span several media types. It has several CDROM titles, including the Gigglebone Gang series, which it licensed to the Learning Company. Its Web site, called the Headbone Zone, is offering up Shockwave and online gaming titles.

Infogrames Entertainment 333 West Santa Clara Street Suite 820 San Jose, CA 951113 408-289-1200 [email protected] www.infogrames.com Types of Software Produced: PC and console—action, arcade, adventure Games They Produced: Golden Eye, Alone in The Dark, Outcast, V-Rally The biggest publisher in Europe, and especially France where it’s based, Infogrames has produced many innovative titles and is capitalizing on its success with acqusitions like Philips’ multimedia arm and a recent merger with Ocean. It’s planning a big assualt on the U.S. market, where it hasn’t been as successful as it has in Europe.

Interactive Magic P.O. Box 1349 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 919-461-0722 www.imagicgames.com Types of Software Produced: PC—simulation and strategy Games They Produced: Hind, Apache, Seven Kingdoms, Air Warrior, Capitalism, War, Inc. The sequel company for Microprose founder Wild Bill Stealy, Interactive Magic is essentially a continuation of his successful product development strategy at Microprose, focusing on killer sims and high-end strategy.

Interplay Productions 16815 Von Karman Avenue Irvine, CA 92606 Phone: 714-553-6655 Fax: 714-252-2820 [email protected] www.interplay.com Types of Software Produced: PC and console—strategy, sports, adventure, and RPG Games They Produced: The Bard’s Tale, Descent, VR Sports, Descent to Undermountain, Wasteland Along with EA, Interplay is one of the oldest and largest PC companies still around. It is partially owned by MCA/Universal and has published titles in almost every genre. Interplay is now launching into online gaming with Engage.

ionos Software 7944 East Beck Lane Suite 240 Scottsdale, AZ 85260 Phone: 602-607-3785 Fax: 602-607-3784 [email protected] www.ionos.com Types of Software Produced: PC—strategy and arcade Games They Produced: LED Wars, Nebula Fighter, Zapitalism, Demonstar ionos is a new publisher formed by some of the people who used to work at FormGen. Its focus is on development copublishing with a 50/50 split of a title’s net profits with developers.

Knowledge Adventure 1311 Grand Central Avenue Glendale, CA 91201 Phone: 818-246-4400 Fax: 818-246-0960 [email protected] www.adventure.com Types of Software Produced: PC—educational Games They Produced: Undersea Adventure, Jump Start series, 3D Dinosaur Adventure Founded by Bill Gross, who has gone on to start up IdeaLab, this company was a major entrant into the educational market and was recently sold to CUC Software. Steven Speilberg was an early investor who also helped produce some titles for it.

KOEI Corporation 500 Airport Boulevard Suite 425 Burlingame, CA 94010 Phone: 415-348-0200 Fax: 415-348-8967 [email protected] www.koeigames.com Types of Software Produced: PC and console—strategy and war games Games They Produced: Dynasty Warriors, Ark of Time, Heir of Zendor “The Japanese SSI,” KOEI is known for exqusite war games, especially ones focused on East Asian history.

Konami America, Inc. 900 Deerfield Parkway Buffalo Grove, IL 60089-4510 708-215-5100 www.konami.com Types of Software Produced: PC and console—action, sports, and standup arcade Games They Produced: Contra, Castlevania, Broken Helix, Gradius, Lethal Enforcers, NBA in the Zone A big presence in the U.S. and Japan, where it’s headquarted, Konami is one of the oldest third-party console game publishers.

The Learning Company, Inc. One Athenaeum Street Cambridge, MA 02142 Phone: 617-494-1200 Fax: 617-494-1219 [email protected] www.learningco.com Types of Software Produced: PC—educational Games They Produced: Reader Rabbit, Math Rabbit The Learning Company was acquired by Softkey after a major bidding war between Softkey and Broderbund. Softkey assumed the name after the merger. The company has hemorraged heavily due to Softkey’s balance sheet being completely out-of-whack after several major acquisitions. Recently an investor group injected cash and made some changes to right this listing ship. Still a big force in software—especially educational titles (thanks to previous acquisition of educational giant MECC).

Lucas Arts Entertainment Co. P.O. Box 10307 San Rafael, CA 94912 415-472-3400 Types of Software Produced: PC and console—strategy, arcade, 3D, adventure, and simulation Games They Produced: Tie-Fighter, Xwing, Dark Forces, Outlaws, Ballblazer, Rescue on Fractalus, Sam & Max, Monkey Island, Indiana Jones, Battlehawks, Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, The Dig The interactive arm of LucasFilm is known to be one of the biggest and best-selling publishers around. It has the Star Wars and Indiana Jones properties to work with, but has demonstrated that it

never needed them to create some of the most memorable and top-selling titles of all time.

Macmillan Digital Publishing USA 201 West 103rd Street Indianapolis, IN 46290 Phone: 317-581-3500 Fax: 317-581-3520 [email protected] www.mdp.com Types of Software Produced: PC—interactive story and adventure Interactive publishing arm of MacMillan/Simon & Schuster book publishing.

Mattel Media 333 Continental Boulevard El Segundo, CA 90245 Phone: 310-252-2000 Fax: 310-252-3009 [email protected] www.mattel.com Types of Software Produced: PC—kid-oriented Games They Produced: Barbie Mattel Media, the interactive arm of Mattel Toys, scored big with the Barbie CD-ROM in 1996.

Maxis 2121 North California Boulevard Suite 600 Walnut Creek, CA 94596 Phone: 510-933-5630 Fax: 510-927-3736 [email protected] www.maxis.com Types of Software Produced: PC and console—mostly strategy Games They Produced: SimCity, SimTower, SimPark, SimEarth Recently acquired by Electronic Arts, Maxis is world famous for its Sim titles.

Microprose Entertainment Software 180 Lakefront Drive

Hunt Valley, MD 21030-2245 410-771-0440 Types of Software Produced: PC—strategy, simulation, and war games Games They Produced: X-Com, F-15 Strike Lightning, M1-A1, F-22, Masters of Orion, Civilization Grand Prix II Now merged with Spectrum Holybyte, Microprose was founded by Wild Bill Stealy (Interactive Magic) and Sid Meir (Firaxis) on a bet in the 80s. It has been one of the best-selling and larger PC game companies from the 1980s, but fell on harder times as other competitors closed in on its core simulations and strategy markets. Scored big recently with X-Com and Magic: The Gathering.

Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052 Phone: 206-882-8080 Fax: 206-936-7329 [email protected] www.microsoft.com Types of Software Produced: PC—strategy, 3D, sports, and simulation Games They Produced: Flight Simulator, Close Combat, Basketball, Fury3, Ages of Empires, Monster Truck Racing, and the most shipped PC game ever, Solitaire A late but incredibly powerful entrant to the game industry, Microsoft mostly focused on puzzles, card games, Golf, and Flight Simulator before starting a major push in 1993 as its DirectX initiative began to take hold and Windows 95 launched. Microsoft is now a legitimate game developer, with many good games and some genuine hits under its belt. Unlike its past CD-ROM tardiness, it has moved aggressively and early into Internet gaming with the purchase of Internet Gaming Zone in 1996.

Mindscape 88 Rowland Way Novato, CA 94945 Phone: 415-897-9900 Fax: 415-897-2747 [email protected] www.mindscape.com Types of Software Produced: PC—strategy, simulation, action, arcade Games They Produced: Lego Island, Mavis Beacon, Aaron Vs. Ruth, Chessmaster, Creatures, NCAA Final Four Mindscape is a longtime publisher that acquired several others along the way (most notably Les Crane’s Software Toolworks and SSI) and then was acquired by British publishing giant Pearson PLC. It has had major losses for some years and a bloodbath of product cuts—though its SSI division

is supposedly solid. Now much more narrowly focused, it could bounce back if costs come in line and Lego strategic alliance pans out.

MVP Software 1035 Dallas Street Southeast Grand Rapids, MI 49507 606-245-8376 www.mvp.com Types of Software Produced: PC—strategy, puzzle Games They Produced: MVP Bridge, Backgammon, Rings of The Magi MVP Software is a longtime shareware publisher that has had several top hits.

Nintendo of America, Inc. 4820 150th Avenue Northeast Redmond, WA 98052 Phone: 206-882-2040 Fax: 206-882-3585 [email protected] www.nintendo.com Types of Software Produced: Console—many types of products, heavy on arcade, sports and RPG Games They Produced: Donkey Kong, Super Mario, Mario 64, Zelda, Mario Kart Nintendo is the company that single-handedly proved consoles were never dead and that continues to prove its tight control and quality can pay off handsomely. Known for major arcade hits early on with Mario Brothers and Donkey Kong, it’s now mostly a home-based company. It owns a stake in Rare, which produced Donkey Kong Country, and developed Nintendo 64 technology with Silicon Graphics.

Novalogic 26010 Mureau Road Suite 200 Calabasas, CA 91302 Phone: 818-880-1997 Fax: 818-880-1998 [email protected] www.novalogic.com Types of Software Produced: PC, Mac—simulations Games They Produced: F-22, Comanche, Werewolf vs. Comanche

Novalogic is a rising simulation company riding the wave of its “voxelspace” graphics technology.

Piranha Interactive Publishing 1839 West Drake Suite B Tempe, AZ 85283 Phone: 602-491-0500 Fax: 602-491-8990 [email protected] www.piranhainteractive.com Types of Software Produced: PC—edutainment, games Games They Produced: Syn-Factor, Majestic, PreSchool Mother Goose Piranha is a newer publisher that is concentrating on games and edutainment titles for the PC. Its adventure games so far have focused mostly on a sci-fi bent while the edutainment titles include a Mother Goose title and an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.

Playmates Interactive Entertainment 611 Anton Boulevard Suite 600 Costa Mesa, CA 92626 Phone: 714-428-2000 Fax: 714-428-2269 [email protected] www.playmates.com Types of Software Produced: PC—action, arcade Games They Produced: Toshinden (PC), Meat Puppet, MDK Interactive arm of a toy giant, Playmates has scored several hits, especially with MDK.

Red Orb 500 Redwood Boulevard Novato, CA 94947 Phone: 415-382-4000 Fax: 415-382-4435 [email protected] www.redorb.com Types of Software Produced: PC—interactive story, adventure, arcade, strategy, 3D Games They Produced: Riven, The Journeyman Project III, Orient Express, Take No Prisoners

Red Orb formed in the wake of product reorganization at Broderbund Software. It has a major hit headed its way with the long-awaited sequel to Myst, Riven, though other titles in its line look good as well. Red Orb will probably attempt to add more agressiveness to its work to break out of Broderbund’s conservative shell. It will, however, draw upon Broderbund’s reputation for innovativeness and high-end quality.

Scholastic, Inc. 555 Broadway New York, NY 10012 Phone: 212-343-7100 Fax: 212-343-4949 [email protected] www.scholastic.com Types of Software Produced: PC—educational Games They Produced: Magic School Bus Scholastic is one of the largest educational marketers in the world. It publishes magazines and books, and produces and publishes all sorts of media, including TV shows and CD-ROM products. It has a publishing deal with Microsoft.

Segasoft 150 Shoreline Drive Redwood City, CA 94065 Phone: 415-802-4400 Fax: 415-802-4410 [email protected] www.segasoft.com Types of Software Produced: PC, Internet—many types, lots of sports and arcade Games They Produced: Obsidian, Golf, Heat Network, 3 Dirty Dwarves, Emperor of the Fading Sun, Scud, Blood Segasoft was formed to help Sega break into more innovative PC-based publishing of original software (i.e., non-Sega arcade translations). Also developing H.E.A.T. multiplayer gaming network.

Sierra On-Line 3380 146th Place Southeast Bellevue, WA 98007 Phone: 206-649-9800 Fax: 206-641-7617 www.sierra.com Types of Software Produced: PC—many types, strong in sports, adventure and strategy

Games They Produced: Quest Series, Phantasmagoria, Mixed-up Mother Goose, Hoyles, Red Baron, Front Page Sports This long-time computer games publisher won big when it was an early convert to the emerging IBM PC marketplace. Sierra On-Line was founded by Ken Williams (now a major board member of the CUC conglomerate) and his wife, Roberta, who was the creative force behind its stalwart King’s Quest series. Sierra purchased Dynamix prior to its sale to CUC.

Sirtech Software Inc. Ogdensburg Business Center Suite 2-E Ogdensburg, NY 13669 Phone: 315-393-6633 Fax: 315-393-1525 www.sir-tech.com Types of Software Produced: PC—mostly RPG games Games They Produced: Wizardry, Realms of Arkania, Fable, XFire, Star Trail Sirtech got its start with the venerable Wizardry Series, which, along with Ultima, The Bard’s Tale, and Might & Magic, is perhaps one of the top RPG branded series of all time. Capitalizing on that success, the company has branched into other strategy and RPG titles like Fire!, Star Trail, and Realms of Arkania.

Smart Games 27 Congress Street Salem, MA 01970 Phone: 508-745-9900 Fax: 508-745-5400 www.smartgames.com Types of Software Produced: PC—puzzle games Games They Produced: StrataJams, Challenge #1, Word Puzzles 1 Backed by Bill Gross (Knowledge Adventure, Idea Lab) and run by a bunch of former Knowledge Adventure folks, this company is focusing on Internet and shrink-wrapped puzzle and brain teaserstyle products.

Southpeak Interactive One Research Drive Cary, NC 27513 Phone: 919-677-4499 Fax: 919-577-3862

[email protected] www.southpeak.com Types of Software Produced: PC—interactive story Games They Produced: Temejin Southpeak is a new interactive company backed by statistical software giant SAS. There is major cash flow behind it as well as innovative new “video-VR” technology.

Strategic Simulations, Inc. 675 Almanor Avenue Suite 201 Sunnyvale, CA 94086-2901 408-737-6800 www.ssionline.com Types of Software Produced: PC—strategy, war games, and RPG Games They Produced: Dark Sun, AD&D, Panzer General, Pacific General, Su*27, Phantasie Series Strategic Simulations is a division of Mindscape, but it is fairly autonomous. Strategic originally made its mark with traditional war games but hit big with RPGs prior to (Phantasie, Wizards Crown) and after (AD&D Gold box series) winning the TSR license. Still a major war game and RPG publisher despite the expiration of its AD&D exclusive license.

T-HQ 5016 North Parkway Calabasas Street Suite 100 Calabasas, CA 91302 818-591-1310 Types of Software Produced: Console—action, arcade, and sports Games They Produced: Bravo Air Race, Bass Masters, The Dark Half, Brunswick Bowling, WCW T-HQ is known for its mix of original developed titles and ports of top product lines (EA Sports) to various consoles and handheld game devices.

Take 2 Interactive Software 575 Broadway New York, NY 10012 Phone: 212-941-2988 Fax: 212-941-2997 Types of Software Produced: PC—interactive story, adventure

Games They Produced: Jetfighter III, Battle Crusier 3000AD, Star Crusader, Hell Take 2 had a big debut with Spaceship Warlock, but since then it has had some ups and downs.

Titus Software Corp. 20432 Corisco Street Chatsworth, CA 91311 Phone: 818-709-3692 Fax: 818-709-6537 [email protected] www.titusgames.com Types of Software Produced: Console—action Games They Produced: Ardy Lightfoot, The Brainies, Realm, Lamborghini 64 Titus is a French-based publisher.

Ubi Soft 1000 Bridgeway Street Sausalito, CA 94965 415-464-4440 www.ubisoft.com Types of Software Produced: PC—adventure, arcade Games They Produced: Rayman, POD, F1 Pole Position, Sub Culture Ubi Soft is a French-based publisher that got its start with Amiga games but has since moved on successfully to PC games. Scored big recently with POD.

Virgin Interactive Entertainment 18061 Fitch Avenue Irvine, CA 92714 714-833-8710 www.vie.com Types of Software Produced: PC, console, Internet—strong in strategy, sdventure, and sports Games They Produced: Command & Conquer, Flight Unlimted, Z, Subpace, Hockey Virgin Interactive spun off from Richard Branson’s Virgin Group some time ago but retains the name. Owned by Spelling Entertainment, a division of Viacom, it recently has gone through some troubles. Viacom, which has had major losses with interactive publishing, brought in the head of Westwood (a major Virgin development house) to take over the company. The thought is that it will be publicly spun off from the Viacom empire at some point.

Wanderlust Interactive 462 Broadway New York, NY 10013 Phone: 212-965-6700 Fax: 212-431-8807 [email protected] www.wanderlust.com Types of Software Produced: PC Games They Produced: Pink Panther CD-ROM New York City-area developer that also includes the recently acquired Adrenalin Entertainment (whose founder became Wanderlust’s CEO). Combined company has produced many products for PCs and consoles. Wanderlust is known for its Pink Panther title, while its Adrenalin unit was known for work on several console titles, including X-Men and Ten Pin Alley for PlayStation.

The WizardWorks Group 2300 Berkshire Lane North Minneapois, MN 55441 Phone: 612-559-5301 Fax: 612-577-0631 [email protected] www.wizworks.com Types of Software Produced: PC—budgetline level packs, arcade Games They Produced: D!Zone, Star Gunner, F!Zone, W!Zone Based in Minneapolis, Wizardworks is a division of GT Interactive Software, which focuses on creating and publishing large level packs for games like Doom, Quake, Duke Nuke’m, and software compilations.

Table of Contents


Table of Contents

Resource I Web Resources The number of available Web resources alone could fill a book. So, as in other areas of this Resource section, we’ve tried to choose a collection of critically-focused, unique, or extremely useful sites. We’ve also tried to focus on sites that offer good leads to other excellent sites and on sites you might not already be familiar with (e.g., Microsoft’s DirectX site). Good indexes (despite the presence of Yahoo!) are still hard to find, so we’ve tried to pay special attention to such sites. We’ve also tended to favor sites that were polished and had the appearance of being well-maintained, frequently-updated, and that would be at their URL for some time. Many of you reading this may have sites or know of sites that you feel should be in the next published version of this book. Please don’t hesitate to send such sites on to BenSawyer@worldnet. att.net. However, keep in mind the criteria we just presented. If your suggestion fits that, go ahead and send it.

E-Zine Siedman’s Online Insider www.onlineinsider.com Great email newszine on online issues. Always top on numbers and strategies affecting the greater online marketplace.

Game Programming Advanced VB Programming with DirectX and OpenGL www.chez.com/scribe If you’re using VB to develop games, this is an excellent resource page.

AI Links ai.iit.nrc.ca/ai_point.html Strong set of links to resources on the Web for artificial intelligence..

Amit’s Game Programming Page www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~amitp/gameprog.html Decent fan site with links to sites that the author’s interested in: tile-based gaming, AI, and adventure games.

Articles and Book Chapters by Diana Gruber fastgraph.com/diana.html Diana Gruber is one of the principles behind Ted Gruber Software, makers of Fastgraph, a wellknown graphics programming library. This page contains a lot of information and articles that Diana has published on game programming.

Artificial Intelligence in Games www.cris.com/~swoodcoc/ai.html Excellent site for AI game discussion, links, and articles.

Biggins Game Programming Page www.jagunet.com/~kwalker/guido/program/index.htm Fun site that contains tutorials on graphic hacks that the page author has created.

Blaine Hodge’s Game Programming Page www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Vista/4886/ Fan site with some decent links.

BSP FAQ

ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/graphics/bsptree-faq Main FAQ distributed about BSP Tree programming.

Creating Hot Games Page www.cs.hmc.edu/~tsemple/games/ Fan site with some decent links.

Delphi Games Creator www.users.dircon.co.uk/~zeus/ If you’re using Delphi and want to make games, this is an excellent resource.

The Developers’ Corner ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JDeGoes/ Home page of game book author John DeGoes.

A DirectDraw Game in C++ www.zdnet.com/pcmag/issues/1514/pcmg0033.htm Article on Direct Draw from PC Magazine.

DirectX Developers Page www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Way/3390/ Unbelievably well-done site about DirectX programming; a must see.

DJGPP www.delorie.com/djgpp/ 32-bit C/C++ compiler that is freeware and modeled after GNU.

Floating Points Game Developer Site

www.redestb.es/personal/jesruiz/ Excellent site with a large number of good links.

Gamasutra.com www.gamasutra.com Killer site from Miller-Freeman and Game Developer magazine. The only major professional site devoted to game developers so far.

Game Design Page members.aol.com/anarchyxi/index.htm Fan site with some decent links.

Game Developer’s Page www.circle.net/tetryl/gdp/ Fan site with some decent links.

Game Developer’s Resourcium www.resourcium.com One of the top ten game programming enthusiast sites on the Web. Well-done index to many of the resources on game programming available on the Web.

Game Programming Mega Site members.aol.com/mreiferson/index.htm Fan site with lots of links.

Game Programming Page www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Vista/5270/index.html Good fan site with links.

Game Programming Web Sites krusty.eecs.umich.edu/classes/498-2/ This site is devoted to a game programming class at a local college, but it contains links to other good sites.

Game Programming with DirectX www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/2018/djdirectxtut.html Another fan site full of DirectX tutorials.

Game Resource Page www.cs.umu.se/~christer/GR/ Amazing set of relevant links.

Game X Page www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Heights/3098/ Fan site full of small game programming tips for DirectX, C++, and sound.

Gamelan.com www.gamelan.com This site has Java resources and pointers to Java applet examples, including games.

Gameprogrammer.com gameprogrammer.com Fan site with nice links and articles.

Games Programming Section www.strangecreations.com/library/index.htm Excellent site full of Web-based programming and game programming resources.

The Happy Puppy Game Developers Page www.happypuppy.com/treats/develope.html Game developer area of one of the top game-playing sites on the Internet.

Java Optimizations www.cs.cmu.edu/~jch/java/optimization.html Site with good information on Java optimization.

Jepsen’s Game Programming Site www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1507/ This site contains DirectX programming info with emphasis on Borland C++.

Jovo’s DirectX Page www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/7268/ Simple site with info on using DirectX with Borland 5.

Moonbase Game Programming Resources moonbase.wwc.edu/Game.programming.html This site contains an awesome list of sites and resources on the Net for those exploring game development.

Nerd World Programming Page www.nerdworld.com/nw1625.html One of the better indexes around.

The Nexus Game Programming Page gamesdomain.ru/gamedev/

Tons of links!

Official DirectX Site by Microsoft www.microsoft.com/directx/default.asp This is Microsoft’s DirectX support and development page.

OpenGL Fan Site www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Heights/1467/opengl.html Great index of OpenGL information.

OpenGL Org www.opengl.org Super support site for OpenGL information.

Programmer’s Heaven www.programmersheaven.com One of the best sites for links to programming resources of all kinds on the Web.

Programmer’s Oasis www.utu.fi/~sisasa/oasis/ Good site for links and information on programming found on the Web.

rec.games.programmer FAQ www.strangecreations.com/library/games/rgpfaq.htm This is the FAQ for the rec.games.programmer Usenet group. Maintained by Gavin Estey.

Stendahl’s Computer Game Programming Links www.imsa.edu/~stendahl/comp/links.html

Excellent enthusiast site with good set of links and solid explanations.

Videogame Design www.videogamedesign.com Absolutely one of the best-presented game development enthusiasts sites on the Net. A must-see-tobelieve.

Webgamedeveloper.com www.webgamedeveloper.com Site devoted to resources and information on developing games for the Web.

Windows 95 Games SDK Strategy Guide www.mcp.com/que/developer_expert/gamesSDK/index.htm Site with book text from Clayton Walnum’s DirectX programming book.

Woj@Moj page www.eating-out.co.nz/wojmoj/ Nice fan site with tutorials and links.

X2ftp ftp://x2ftp.oulu.fi One of the biggest repositories around for game stuff. Not always available.

Graphics 3D Computer Character Animation Mailing List www.cinenet.net/~rickmay/CGCHAR/index.html Link to home page for mailing list on 3D character animation.

3D Engines List cg.cs.tu-berlin.de/~ki/engines.html Top notch site tracks and describes every 3D engine known to mankind.

3D Game Programming Resources www.cstone.net/~kyoung/3dgpresrc.html Nice collection of links to 3D game programming resources.

3D Graphics File Formats www.cica.indiana.edu/graphics/3D.objects.html Links and information on 3D graphics file formats.

3D Review www.3dreview.com A great independent site for 3D graphics news and information.

3D Ring Index www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=3d;index This index to the 3D Web ring is one of the best (if not the best) indexes on 3D resources found on the Web.

3D Site www.3dsite.com One of the top independent 3D graphics sites on the Net.

Algorithm’s Computer Graphics Hot-list www.algorithm.com/graphics/graphhot.html Good list of graphics programming and technology links.

Animation Site www.cam.org/~pawn/ANIMRES.html Top site on animation.

Computer Games Artists Web Page www.vectorg.com/cga/ Home page for grassroots game artist organization.

Computer Graphics Sites www.realsoftint.com/links.htm Good list aimed mostly at academic sites that push the state of the art in computer graphics.

Digital Movie News spider.lloyd.com/~dmnews/ Filled with information on computer-based movie making—great for those exploring putting digital video into their products.

Dimension 3D www.dimension3d.com A top site for 3D animators and modelers.

Egeter Software www.egerter.com Home site for Chris Egeter and his company Egeter Software, which publishes several graphics tools. Has tutorials and sample code.

Facial Animation Home Page mambo.ucsc.edu/psl/fan.html

Interesting page devoted to people exploring 3D facial animation.

The Graphics File Formats Page www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/%7Emxr/gfx/ Connects you to lots of relevant links and FAQs.

International Animation Association www.swcp.com/~asifa/ Location of the International Animation Association. Has link to local chapters and schools.

Kenny Hoff’s 3D Site www.cs.unc.edu/~hoff/ Interesting 3D graphics site created by a UNC student.

Motion Effects Web Site www.tiac.net/users/motionfx/ A great site full of links to 3D graphic designers and animators.

Northwestern University Library www.library.nwu.edu/media/resources/ Another great site for digital video information.

Historical Blue Sky Rangers www.webcom.com/makingit/bluesky/home.shtml Site devoted to software programmers for the Intellivision videogame system. Also home to Intellivision emulator for Windows.

Classic Video Games Literature List fly.hiwaay.net/~lkseitz/cvg/cvglit.shtml Great list of literature devoted to the early years of videogaming.

Father of Shareware www.halcyon.com/knopf/jim2.htm Home page for Jim Knoph, the man who helped create the shareware concept—now one of the top game marketing methods.

Miscellaneous Game Programmers Guild Sign Up members.aol.com/mreiferson/gpg.htm Sign-up spot for Game Programmers Guild Web ring.

Game Wire www.game-wire.com Good site for up-to-date news straight from game company sources.

Hornet Archive www.hornet.org A top site for exploring the PC Demo scene.

Intel’s Connected www.connectedpc.com Intel is advocating the concept of connected PCs. This site is worth a look to monitor Intel’s movement in the consumer PC space.

List of Key Entertainment Industry Unions

www.entertainet.com/orgs_uns/dfwactor/unions.htm Looking for contact information on local and national entertainment unions? Check out this page.

PC Demos Explained www.cdrom.com/pub/demos/hornet/html/demos.html If you’ve ever wanted to see the PC Demo scene, this is a great first stop.

TechCalendar.com www.techcalander.com The place to find out about national and local conferences in the technology industry.

Yamaha Select Internet Links www.ysba.com/ysbalink.html Good set of links on MIDI information provided by Yamaha.

Motion Capture Motion Capture and CG Character Animation www.siggraph.org/cgi-bin/s97/WebX.cgi?13@^[email protected] This site has good information on papers and other items on the Web about motion capture and character animation.

Motion Capture Direction www.trickster.demon.co.uk/MotionCapture.html Contains links, articles, and talk transcripts on motion capture information.

Motion Capture Page reality.sgi.com/employees/jam_sb/mocap/index.html This site has motion capture information and links for the SGI site.

Motion Capture Research www.visgraf.impa.br/Projects/mcapture/mcapture.html Lots of links and papers published on motion capture.

OZ Interactive www.oz.is/motionc/ Great set of links and contact info for motion capture information and access to a motion capture mailing list.

Puppet Works www.puppetworks.com/intro.html Site created by the makers of Puppet, a motion capture hardware product.

Music And Sound Computer Music Journal WWW/FTP Archives ftp://mitpress.mit.edu:/pub/Computer-Music-Journal/CMJ.html Link to the Computer Music Journal, a major resource on computer music technologies.

Ethan Bordsky’s Sound Programming Page www.xraylith.wisc.edu/~ebrodsky/ Well-known page on programming sound.

Harmony Central www.harmony-central.com Awesome MIDI and music technology site.

MIDI Farm

www.midifarm.com Top notch MIDI tools, technology, and news site.

Mod4win www.mod4win.com The place to go to for the best MOD player for Windows. This site also has good links to all the trackers and other MOD Resources on the Internet.

Multimedia Music Links griffin.multimedia.edu/~library/aud.htm Another great site devoted to computer music.

The Ultimate Spacial Audio Page www.dform.com/inquiry/spataudio.html Great site packed with information about 3D audio technology.

The Zen of Tracking falcon.invincible.com/~jerm/newcomers.html Good site for learning about how to create MOD files.

Virtual Reality Atlantis Cyberspace www.vr-atlantis.com/lbe.html One of the best independent sites tracking the VR and LBE gaming scene.

Chris’s Virtual Reality Stuff www.cms.dmu.ac.uk/~cph/vrstuff.html Good site for links to VR information.

Ian’s VR Buying Guide www.cs.jhu.edu/~feldberg/vr/vrbg.html Another top notch information site on VR gaming-related information.

Virtual Reality Homebrewers Handbook Homepage www.shef.ac.uk/~vrmbg/vrhmhb/vrhmhb.html Home site for book about VR development.

Virtual Reality Resources ruby.ils.unc.edu/houseman/commercial.html Excellent site on virtual reality.

Table of Contents


Table of Contents

Index @Home, 472 16-bit market, 417 2D animation, 279–280 artwork, 279–280 editors, 14 players distaste for, 118 side scrollers, 114 top down, 114 32-bit market, 417 3D, 16, 577–578 accelerator cards, 53, 403 animation, 280–282, 300–302 appearance, 114 artwork, 280–282 audio acceleration, 394 audio developer tools, 564 Computer Character Animation Mailing List, 693 conversion products, 302 Design Conference, 545–546 Extreme, 578 Game Machine, 565 imagery file formats, 285 Labs Developer Support, 553 Paint, 587 physics modeling, 51 Point-Of-View “Step Engine,” 116 Props Commercial/Residential, 597 realtime polygons, 51 rendering packages, 14, 300–302 Review, 693 Ring Index, 693 Site, 693 3D Artist, 646–647

3D Computer Animation, 514 3D Computer Graphics, 514 3D Design, 647 3D engines developer tools, 565 List, 693 3D games, 405 engine tools, 571–572 programming resources, 693 3D graphics, 170 engines, 184–185 File Formats, 693 programs, 553–556 3D hardware acceleration technologies, 52 accelerator market, 394 3D models, 301–302 modeling books, 514 3D sound, 404 formats, 296 techniques, 283 3D Sound for Virtual Reality and Multimedia, 534 3D Studio, 321 MAX, 572–573 3D Studio Hollywood & Gaming Effects, 515 MAX F/X: Creating Hollywood-Style Special Effects, 515 MAX Plug-Ins Guide, 515 MAX2 Clay Sculpture, Digitizing & Motion, 515 3Dfx Interactive, Inc., 633 Total Immersion, 556 3Dlabs, Inc., 633 3DO Company, 264, 669 M2, 270–272 stock symbol, 669 3Name3D, 599 64-bit systems, 417 7th Level, 669–670

A ABCO, 432, 456 Abrash, Michael, 16, 525 Academic papers, 384 Accel Partners, 220, 624 Web site, 210

Access Software, 670 Acclaim Entertainment, 46, 447, 670 Mortal Kombat II, 8 stock symbol, 668 Accolade, Inc., 40, 670 Achievements major, 76 role of, 102 satisfying, 104 smaller, 76 Action, 188 Action Arcade Adventure Set, 534 ActiveMovie, 288 Activision, 32–33, 38, 670–671 3D rendering, 133 stock symbol, 668 Actors, 318–319, 329 Acuris AcuModels, 597–598 ClipModel Library, 598 David’s House, 599 Adaptive Motion Capture System, 585 Adlib Multimedia, 621 Adobe Effects, 318 Photoshop, 298, 582. See also Photoshop. Premiere, 312–313, 321, 569 Ventures, L.P., 624 Adrenaline Vault, 652 ADSL, 410 Adults, programs for, 140 Advance payments, 343 Advanced Animation and Rendering Techniques, 516 Advanced Gravis, 621 Technology Ventures, 624 VB Programming with DirectX and OpenGL, 688 Advent International Corporation, 624 Adventure games, 147–151 multiple levels, 146 Advertising, 263, 454, 475, 480–485 catalog ad space, 459–460 Code of Conduct, 368 costs, 481 online, 419

subsidized business models, 440 Affiliated labels, 452–453 AFTRA, 638 Age groups, considerations, 155 targeting, 137–140 Agents, 337 Agfa ePhoto 307, 567 AI Links, 688 AIFF, 296 AirAge Publishing Computer & Net Player, 652 Online Gaming Review, 657–658 Alchemy, 594 Aldham, Allen, 226 Algorithm’s Computer Graphics Hot-list, 693 Algorithmic intelligence. See Artificial intelligence. music, 282 Alias|Wavefront Conductors High-Voltage Plug-Ins, 553 All About Games, 652 All I Really Need to Know in Business I Learned at Microsoft: Insider Strategies to Help You Succeed, 529 Allen Sides Microphone Cabinet, 328 Allen, David, 98 AltaVista, 250 Amazon Paint, 587 America Online, 165, 409, 419, 431, 483 American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. See AFTRA. American Software and Hardware Distributors, 432, 456, 606 Amigas, 35, 38. See also Commodores. demise, 39 MOD files, 293–295 Amit’s Game Programming Page, 688 Amusement and Music Operators Association, 638 Ancillary uses, 346 Angel financiers, 212–215 AnimaTek, 204, 211 3D Game Engine Tools, 571–572 Animation books, 514–518 Master, 573 motion capture vs. traditional, 304–305 performance, 302 sequences, 63 tools, 587–588

Web sites, 694, 696 Animator, 243–244, 256, 280 Pro, 298 Pro/Studio, 587–588 Studio, 290 Animator’s Workbook, The, 520 APIs, 57 Apogee, 465 business models, 437 software upgrade schemes, 467 Apple Computer, Inc., 34–35 Apple II, 33 Macintosh, 38, 400–401 Power Mac, M2 Development, 272 QuickTime VR, 577 Apple Interchange File Format. See AIFF. Applied Technology, 624–625 Arbitration, 348, 497. See also Legal counsel. Arcade entertainment centers, 391 games, 31–32, 179, 267 market growth, 390–391 Arcade PC, 53–54 specifications, 402 Archives, private FTP sites, 325 Argonaut Technologies, Ltd., 589 Art, 278–282, 297–302 artists, 242–243, 256 background, 321 console vs. PC, 262 Artbeats Stock Art, 601 Artificial Intelligence in Games, 689 Artificial intelligence, 17 vs. scripting, 122 ASCAP, 639 Ascension Motion Capture System, 585–586 ASCII Entertainment Software, Inc., 671 Aspen Venture Partners, L.P., 625 Assembly, 10 Association for Computing Machinery, 639 Siggraph, 248, 544, 546 Association of Composers, Authors and Publishers. See ASCAP. Association of Shareware Professionals, 369, 639 Asymmetrix, DVP, 312 Asynchonous Digital Subscriber Line. See ADSL. AT&T

Ventures Corp., 625 Web Shop Downtown Digital, 439 Atari, 30–32 Atari 1040ST, 36 Atari 800, 33 demise of, 39 Games, 37 ATI Technologies, Inc., 633 Developers Program, 553 Atlantis Cyberspace, 697 Attorneys. See Legal counsel. AU, 295 Audio levels, calibrating, 318 Audio Video Interleave, 313 Aural content, 278, 283 producing, 327–329 Aural formats, 295–296 Austin Ventures, 625 Author control vs. player control, 111 Autodesk 3D Props Commercial/Residential, 597 Animator Pro/Studio, 587–588 Animator Studio, 290 Animator Studio Pro, 318, 321 Texture Universe, 602–603 Avalon Hill Game Company, 671 AVI Management, 625 Avid, 310 Awards, 471

B B&H Photo, 310 B Render, 589 Babbages/Software Etc., 611 Baccharis Capital, Inc., 625 Back-end, 346 Background art, 321 novellas, 363 Balance of Power: International Politics as the Ultimate Global Game, 121, 123, 184 Bandwidth issues, 410–411 Bankamerica Capital/Bankamerica Ventures, 626 Banks, 216 Barnes & Noble, Inc., 457, 473, 611 Basic PC, 402

Bass Associates, 626 Battery Ventures, 626 Battle games, 178–179 Battle.net, 394, 439 Bay Partners, 626 BeachWare, Photo Textures, 601–602 Benchmark games, 77, 181–183 adventure, 147–150 edutainment games, 152–153 fighting, 157 God games, 161–163 interactive fiction, 147–150 platform, 167–170 puzzles and cards, 171–172 retro games, 173–174 role-playing, 175–176 shooters, 179–180 sports, 186–188 virtual reality, 190 war games, 192–193 Berenson Minella Ventures, 626 Bernstein, Ed, 204, 208 Best Buy Co., Inc., 473, 611 Bethesda Softworks, 671–672 Big Board, 249 Biggins Game Programming Page, 689 BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc., 611 Black Art of Java Game Programming, 535 Macintosh Game Programming, 528–529 Visual Basic Game Programming, 535 Black Diamond Consulting, Surround Video SDK, 580 Blank, Steve, 204 Blizzard Entertainment, 50–51, 226 Diablo, 439 Blockbuster Entertainment, 212 Blocks and Materials 2, 598 Blue Byte Software Inc., 672 Blue Sky Rangers, 695 Bluescreen technology, 306–307, 311–312 options, 320 BMI, 639 BMP, 285 Boards of directors, 206 Boilerplate, 352 Books, 513–542

Bookstores, 457, 472–473 Bootstrapping, 201 Borders, 457 Bordsky’s, Ethan, Sound Programming Page, 697 Borland, C++ Builder, 583 Bottlenecks, task, 125–126 Brainstorming, 61–62 creative, 66–68 Branching, 83. See also Scripting. Brentwood Associates, 626 Broadcast Music, Inc. See BMI. Brochures, 335 Broderbund, 39, 133, 447 Everett, Jason, 338 Last Express, The, 393 stock symbol, 668 Brokers, 214 BRP Publications, 649 BSP FAQ, 689 Budgets, 339–341 sample, 87–89 Build Your Own Flight Sim in C++, 535 PC Game in Seven Easy Steps Using Visual Basic, 535–536 Building a 3D Game Engine in C++, 536 Bundling, 461–463 Bungie Software, 672 Burr, Egan, DeLeage & Co., 207, 627 Bushnell, Nolan, 30–31, 440 Business books, 529–533 cards, 229 entities, 488, 490–496 game industry models, 428–448 models, 19–22, 50–51, 166, 435–447 network television models, 471 plans, 202–205 valuations, 220–221 Wire, 383 Buy-sell arrangements, 497 Byron Preiss Multimedia, 672 stock symbol, 668

C C/C++, 9–10, 11, 63

and Sony Net Yaroze, 272 Builder, 583 C++ Games Programming, 536 C++, A DirectDraw Game in, 689 Cable modems, 410, 472 CAD 3D Models on CD, 598 Caldor, 458 Caligari Textures on CD, 602 Truespace2, 321 TrueSpace3, 580 Calls to publishers, 335–336 Canaan Partners, 208, 627 Canned movement, 281 Canon EOS DCS 1 and 3, 567 CAPCOM Entertainment, Inc., 672–673 CAPS, 212 Capture boards, 311 cards, purchasing, 320 Card games, 170 Carmack, John, 442 Carronade’s Interactive Media Directory, 533 Carson, Johnny, 500 Cartoon Animation, 520 Cartridge game products, retail sales, 457 Catalogs, 459–460, 474. See also Mail order. CD-ROMs, 45, 56, 404 manufacturing, 364–365 CGDA, 365, 370, 640 CGDA Report, The, 647 CGDC, 8, 51, 53, 160, 247–248, 337, 402, 544–545 musicians and composers, 324 CGS Testing, 623 CH Products, 609 Character Animation with 3D Studio MAX, 516 Characters bibles, 74, 82–83 creating, 117–119, 158–159, 170 Charter Ventures, 627 Chats, 483 in games, 166 Cheat guides, 477–478 Children online usage, 409 programs for, 138–140

Chris’s Virtual Reality Stuff, 697 Cinemaware, 38 Circuit City Stores, Inc., 457, 611 Citibank, 217–218 Classic Video Games Literature List, 695 Client server games, 7–8 versions, 166 ClipModel Library, 598 Closed captioning, 329 Cloud 9 Interactive, 673 CMP Publications, Inc. Computer Reseller News, 663 Computer Retail Week, 663 GamePower, 655 c|net Gamecenter, 253, 654 News.com, 384 television, 485 Code access, 347 Code Complete, 529–520 Code Warrior, 273 Codecs, 286, 315 Cole, David, 413–425 ColecoVision, 32 Color, time-based corrections, 316 Columbine, Inc., 646–647 Combat games, 178–179 Comdex Fall, 546–547 Comic books, 363 Commodore 64, 33. See also Amigas. Communication skills, 236 Companies. See also Venture Capital. financing, 200–205, 209 formation issues, 488–490, 490–496 Web sites, 249 Compensation, 504 investment bankers, 219 Complete Wargames Handbook, The, 519 Composers, 227, 322–325 Compressed files, 466 Compression ratios, 315 CompUSA, Inc., 433, 457, 473, 612 mail order, 459 CompuServe, 483 Game Development Forum, 22, 231

Sniper!, 50 Computational Geometry and Computer Graphics in C++, 536 Computer & Entertainment Retailing, 662 Computer & Net Player, 652 Computer Art, 648 Computer City, 473 Computer Dealer News, 663 Computer Entertainment News, 210 Computer Game Developers Association. See CGDA. Computer Game Developers’ Conference. See CGDC. Computer Game Ratings Working Group, 369–370 Computer games, 5–6 Artists Web Page, 694 history, 29–41 scripts, 83 vs. video games, 34 Computer Gamesmanship, 518 Computer Gaming World, 393, 470, 652–653 demographics, 481–482 Web site, 253 Computer Graphics Sites, 694 Computer Graphics World, 648 Computer Graphics: A Programming Approach, Second Edition, 520 Computer Graphics: An Introduction to the Mathematics and Geometry, 521 Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice, Second Edition, 521 Computer Music Journal WWW/FTP Archives, 697 Computer Reseller News, 412, 663 Computer Retail Week, 412, 663 Computer Software Manufacturing News, 374 Computers artists, 242–243 brainstorming and, 67 chain stores, 457, 473 Conferences, 336, 543–550 speaking, 229–231 venture capitalists at, 209 Congressional hearings, 367 Consoles development basics, 260–275 development tools, 273–274, 565–566 industry statistics, 387–388 platform outlook, 401–402 products, distribution, 474 software sold by mail order, 460 Consolidations. See Mergers. Constraints, 66–67

Consumer Electronics Show, 544 Consumers electronics stores, 457–458, 473 exposed interactive, 396–397 feedback, uses, 69, 141 role of, 433 Content creating, 14–15 games, 154 mature, 151 musical, 321–327 ratings, 140, 159, 263, 360, 365, 367–373 Contests, 483 Continuity experts, 123 Contracts. See Publishing agreements. Cool Edit, 594 Copublishing, 452 Copyrights, 499–500, 507 Coral Group, 627 Core engine, 151 Corel, business models, 436 Williams, Gail, 338 Coriolis Group, The, 662 Corporate Disk, 614 Corporate Venture Partners, L.P., 627 Corporations, 491, 494–495 Cost per thousand. See CPM. Costco Companies, Inc./Price Club, 612 Costs Arcade PCs, 402 console games, 262–263 motion capture, 307 production, 95 CPM, 481 Crack dot com, 437 Craig, Chris, 594–595 Crawford, Chris, 121, 123, 184, 192 Creating Hot Games Page, 689 Creative Labs, Inc., 621 Developer Program, 556 Creative Wonders, 673 Credit, 374, 508 Crestline Software Publishing, 600 Criterion Software, 592 Cross Development Products, 261, 268, 274, 565 Cross-compilers, 6

Cross-development systems, 6 Crystal Dynamics, 212 CUC International Software, 673 stock symbol, 668 Cut scenes, 281 Cutting-Edge 3D Game Programming in C++, 537 Cyber-ROM Technologies, 201 Cyberactive Publishing, 666 Cyberdreams, Inc., 673–674 Cyberprops, 599 Cyberscanner, 302 Cyberware Whole Body Scanner, 569–570

D Damaged goods, 366 Data structures, defining, 86 Databases, statistical, 121 Dataquest, 618 DataShop for DirectX, 599 David’s House, 599 Davidson, 458 Deal structures, 221–222 DeBabelizer, 299, 573–574 Debabelizer: The Authorized Edition, 521 Debt financing alternatives, 215–218 Debugging, 240 Debugging the Development Process, 530 Deja News, 253, 479 Del Rey Books, 211 Delphi, 11–12 Games Creator, 689 Deluxe Paint II, 298–299 Demographics, 40, 71, 96–97, 423–424, 481 Web users, 408–409 Demos, 455 archives, 228 CDs in magazines, 392–393 games in portfolios, 228 playable, 45 proof-of-concept, 63, 72 prototypes, 83 Demoware, 463. See also Shareware. Demystifying Multimedia, 212 Derivative works, 346

Design books, 518–519 consistency, 123 details, 113–124 documents, 64, 72–77 interface, 128–131 market appeal, 126–128 spec, 85 treatments, 70–72 Design issues 3D Point-Of-View, 144–146 adventure games, 150–151 edutainment games, 153 fighting games, 157–160 God games, 163 multiplayer games, 165–167 platform games, 170 puzzles and card games, 172 retro games, 174 role-playing games (RPG), 177–178 shooter games, 180 simulation games, 183–185 sports games, 188–189 virtual reality games, 190 war games, 194 Designers, 239–240 engineers and, 84–89 requirements for, 89 Designing 3D Games, 516 Developer status M2, 272 Nintendo Ultra 64, 270 official, 261 Sega Saturn, 268 Sony Net Yaroze, 273 Sony PlayStation, 266 Developer’s Corner, The, 689 Developers, 429–431 programs, 551–562 tools and products for, 563–604 Developing, for a publisher, 451–452 Development agreement, milestones, 340 business models, 441–446 content-oriented periodicals, 646–651 multimedia tools, 63

tools, 12–14 tools for consoles, 273–274 DevLink, 559 DFC Intelligence, 413, 618 Dialog Information Service, 499 Dialogue, scripted, 283 Diamond Multimedia Developer Relations, 556–557 sound cards, 621–622 video cards, 633 DiamondWare Sound ToolKit, 589–590 Digidesign Sound Designer, 327 Sound Designer II, 595 DigiPen Applied Computer Graphics School, 608 Digital cameras, 299, 567–569 Futures Corporation (DFC), 413 Movie News, 694 music, 404 Studio, 570 Versatile Disc. See DVD. Digital Camera Companion, 521 Digital Character Animation, 516 Digital Cinematography, 522 Digital Image Processing, Third Edition, 522 Digital Image Warping, 522 Digital video, 308–321 engines, 313–315 palettes, 317 products, 569–571 Digital Video, 648–649, 651 Digitizer hardware and software, 15 Digits ’n Art Software, Inc. Flesh, 574 LIFEsource, 586 Dimension Publishing, 659 Direct consumer outlets, 461 Direct sales, 436–437 Web-based, 463 DirectDraw Game in C++, A, 689 DirectDraw Programming, 537 Director, 46, 63, 84 books, 519–520 Director 6, 583 Director 6 and Lingo Interactive, 519

Directors Guild of America, 640 DirectX. See also Microsoft DirectX. Developers Page, 689 Game Programming with, 690 Jovo’s Page, 691 Disc-to-Disk, 594 Discounts, 432 Discovery games, 154 Discovery Multimedia, 674 Disney Daily Blast, 409 Interactive, 674 Dispublishers, 458–459 Distribution, 46–47, 332, 343, 355, 374, 392–393, 468–474 agreements, 488 changes in, 446 channels, 98, 211 dispublishers, 458–459 distributors, 432–433, 456–457, 473–474, 606–608 packaging requirements, 366 shareware vs. retail, 465 Sony, 265 Diversions Software, 319 DJGPP, 690 Documentation, 373 Donkey Kong. See Nintendo. Doom. See id Software. DOS, 400 Download times, 466 Draper Fisher Jurvetson, 206, 222, 628 DreamWorks SKG, 52, 90 Interactive, 674 Drill and practice games, 154 Drop shipping, 374 Duck Corporation, 288–289 True Motion, 571 Due diligence, 220 Dungeons & Dragons, 34, 175–176 Duplication, 614–615 Duration, game play time, 171 DV, 649 DVD, 387–388, 402 Assessment Study, 404 DWANGO, 615 Dynamics of Software Development, 255, 530

E E-Span, 249 EA. See Electronic Arts. EAN, 365, 367 Economic models, 166 Eddie, 579 Editing systems, 312–313 Edmark, 675 Edutainment games, 151–156 Egeter Software, 694 Egghead Software, 457, 612 Eidos ION Storm, 435 Tomb Raider, 51 El Dorado, 628 Electronic distribution, 432–433 music, 282 Electronic Arts (EA), Inc., 34–35, 37, 39–40, 46, 57, 133–134, 185–189, 413, 447, 473, 675 advertising, 484 cable networks, 472 direct sales, 461 dispublishing, 458 Mpath investment, 432 packaging innovations, 362–363 Road Rash, 325 Sports, 444 stock symbol, 668 Toys ‘R’ Us and, 392 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), 248, 337, 544, 547 Electronic Gaming News, 649 Electronic Moviemaking, Third Edition, 522 Electronic Retailing, 664 Electronics Boutique, Inc., 457, 473, 612 direct mail, 474 mail order, 459 Email, use in negotiations, 350–351 Employees, 503–505 Employment, 22–23, 226–257 agreements, 503 statistics, 389 Engage, 431, 615 Content Developer’s Program, 558 Engines core, 151

digital video, 313–315 models, 442–443 Engineers, designers and, 84–89 Enhanced service models, 440 ENSONIQ Corp., 622 Entertainment, industry myths, 413–425 interactivity, 101 location-based entertainment (LBE) centers, 391 software sales. See Game Industry Analysis. spending, international, 397 Entertainment in the CyberZone, 518 Entertainment Industry Unions, List of Key, 696 Entertainment PC. See Microsoft Entertainment PC. Entertainment Software Ratings Board. See ESRB. Entrepreneuring: The Ten Commandments for Building a Growth Company, Third Edition, 530 Environments, simulating, 121–122 Epic MegaGames, 675 business models, 437 ePlay, 653 Epyx, 38 Equilibrium DeBabelizer, 299 DeBabelizer Pro/Toolbox, 573–574 Escapism, 105. See also Role playing. ESPN, 484 ESRB, 263, 368, 640 Europe, Internet growth, 409 European Article Number. See EAN. European Computer Trade Show (ECTS), 544, 547–548 Excite, 250 Exclusive distribution, 469–470 Expert Advice digital video, 319–321 Fahlstein, Noah, 90 Firth, Ian, 319–321 Gloster, Dean, 200–223, 338–340, 342–348 Tannenbaum, Ken, 473–475 Exposed interactive consumers, 396–397 Exposure, 229 Exscape Productions, 653

F Facial Animation Home Page, 694

Fahlstein, Noah, 90 Failure, 104 role of, 102–103 FAQs, 231 rec.games.programmer, 692 Farella, Braun, & Martel, 200, 488 Web site, 209, 342 Fast Algorithms for 3D Graphics, 517 Fast Track, 573–574 FastGraph, 589–590 Father of Shareware, 695 Fees, 509. See also Royalties. agents, 337 flat, 469 investment bankers, 219 Fighting games, 156–160 File compression, 466 formats, key content, 284–296 Final Cut, 570 Financing, 200–223, 429, 488 manufacturing, 374 Find/SVP, 618 First person 3D point-ofvView polygonal, 116 Firth, Ian, 319–321 Flesh, 574 Flight Simulator, 35 Floating Points Game Developer Site, 690 Flowcharting, 81 Focus groups, 68, 381 Force-feedback input devices, 129, 394 Forrester Research, 618–619 Forums, 250, 336 Founders, 496–497 Fractal Design Painter, 298 Frame rates, 63, 314–315 Fred Meyer, 474 Free distribution, 468 Freeware, business models, 436–438 Frequently Asked Questions. See FAQs. Frog City Software, 339 Frost Capital Partners, 210, 219, 221 FTP sites, private, 335 Fuji DS-505/DS-515, 567 Full body motion, 306–307 Fun, balanced with accuracy, 124

Funco, Inc., 612 Funding agreements, prototype, 354 cycle, 219–220 process, 202–205 Fusion64, 565–566 Future Publishing Future Music Magazine, 649–650 PC Format, 658

G Gabelli Multimedia Partners, 205 Gamasutra.com, 690 Game Briefs, 653–654 Game Depot, 654 Game Design, 10–11 compared with television and film, 81 essentials, 60–90 evolution of, 131–134 Page, 690 refining, 94–106 tips, 136–195 vs. level design, 120 Game Developer, 26, 226, 247–248, 650 Game Developer’s Page, 690 Game Developer’s Resourcium, 690 Game development budgets, 24 careers, 232–246 costs, 394–395 current technology, 43–58 defined, 4 design, 10–11 Forum. See CompuServe. and interactive entertainment, 57–58 licensing, 445–446 LucasArts, 74 PC issues, 39 programming, 9–10, 11–16 sponsored business models, 21 statistics, 8 testing, 24 timelines, 24 tools, 45, 571–572 video-vs. PC-based, 7

vs. virtual reality development, 55 Game Graphics in C++, 523 Game Informer Magazine, 654 Game over, 102–103 Game PC Consortium, 641 Game Programmers Guild Sign Up, 695 Game Programming with DirectX, Mega Site, 690 Page, 690 resources, 688–693 Web sites, 690 Game Realms, 655 Game Resource Page, 691 Game Schools, 608 Game Sprockets, 400–401 Game Theory, 518 Game Wire, 695 Game X Page, 691 Game-movie tie-ins, 395 Game-Wire, 661 Gamecenter, 654 GameGen, 574–575 Gamelan.com, 691 GamePen, 654–655 GamePower, 655 GamePro, 655 demographics, 481 GamePro TV, 485 Gameprogrammer.com, 691 Games business, 428–448 buyers, 363–364, 433 comparing, 77 construction process, 296–302 creating content, 278–330 game playing magazines, 652–661 industry analysis, 380–426 interactive Web, 17–18 PC platforms, 52–54 platform standards, 52 platforms, 4–8, 97, 99 publishing progression, 434–435 purchase trends, 388 sales of, 19–22 spinoffs, 446 treatments, 73

types, 141–195 vs. stories, 108 Games Mania, 656 Games Programming Section, 691 GameSpot, 656 Web site, 253 Gametek, stock symbol, 668 Gaming peripherals, 609–610 Gartner Group, 619 Gates, Bill, 45 Geffen, David, 52. See also DreamWorks SKG. Gender considerations, 140 General partnerships, 490–493 Genie, Air Warrior, 50 Georgia Institute of Technology, GVU Center, 408–409 GIF, 285 Giveaways, 471 Gloster, Dean, 200, 338–340, 342–348, 473–375, 488 God games, 160–163 Gold master, 365 GoldWave, 594–595 Golf games, 481 Gorenberg, Mark, 201, 208, 221 GPG Publishing, 664 Grace/Horn Venture Partners, 628 Graphical design decisions, 117 Graphics books, 520–517 conferences, 545–546 development tools and products, 572–580 file formats, 284–285, 694 resources, 693 Graphics Gems I–IV, 532–534 Graphics, Visualization, and Usability Center, 408–409 Greylock Management, 628 Growth statistics, Internet, 408–409 Gruber, Diana, 689 GT Interactive Software, 676 sales to Wal-mart, 458, 473

H H.E.A.T., 615 Hackers, 528 Hambrecht & Quist, 628 Handleman, 456, 473

Happy Puppy Game Developers Page, 691 Hard Boiled Testing, 623 Hardware artwork accessories, 299 digital video, 310–312 history of, 56 specialized game play, 17 tools, 580–581 trends, 395–397 Windows/Pentium-based, 49 Harmony Central, 697 Hasbro, 264, 676 Hash, Inc., 573 Hastings Books, Music & Video, Inc., 612 Havas, 205 Hawkins, Trip, 34–35, 40 HDTV, 388 Headbone Interactive, 676 Headhunters, 251 Help, integrating into games, 130 Hercules Computer Technology, Inc., 634 Herring Communications, Inc., 665 Hidden bottlenecks, 125 High Definition Television. See HDTV. High Performance Windows Graphics Programming, 537 High-Resolution Computer Graphics Using C, 524 High-speed telephone lines, 472 History books, 528 computer games, 30–41 historical Web sites, 695 Hodge’s, Blaine, Game Programming Page, 689 Hoff’s, Kenny, 3D Site, 694 Hollywood Edge, The, 596–597 Home multimedia PC market growth, 398, 400 Horizons Technology, 288–289 Hornet Archive, 695 Hot Bot, 479 Hours of play, 97 Household statistics, 384–386 Housekeeping details, 129 Houser, Eric, 217–218 How Did They Do It? Computer Illusion in Film & TV, 524 How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, 531 How to Sell Your Software, 531 HTML, 405

Human Machines Interfaces, Inc. NetNOW, 591 Sound Operating System, 593 Humanoid, 600 Hummer, Winblad Venture Partners, 201, 205, 208, 221 Hyper@ctive, 656 HyperCard, 46 HyperMedia Communications, Inc., 651

I I-Force, 590 Ian’s VR Buying Guide, 698 id Software, 23 business models, 437, 441–442 Doom, 44–45, 50, 134 and GT Interactive, 447 licensing models, 443 Quake, 51, 134 shareware, 464 IDC/LINK, 389 Ideas. See also Brainstorming. development of, 64–68 generating, 61–62 IDSA, 8, 263, 368, 389, 391, 641 economic impact study, 392 Electronic Entertainment Expo, 547 Entertainment Software Industry Report, 389 game development costs, 395 IFF, 285 Illusion of Life, The: Disney Animation, 524 Image Synthesis Theory and Practice, 524–525 Imagination Network, The, 165 Imagine Publishing, Inc. Next Generation, 657 PC Gamer, 658–659 PSX Power, 659–660 Saturn World, 660 Ultra Game Players, 660 Imaging developer tools and products, 582 packages, 298–299 Immersion Corporation I-Force, 590 Microscribe-3D, 580–581 Imperial Bank, 216

In:Sync Razor, 312 Speed Razor, 570–571 Incentives, 504 Incorporating, 494 Indemnities, 506–507 Indeo, 286–287 Independent contractors, 490, 503–505 agreements, 503 Industrial Light and Magic: Into the Digital Realm, 525 Industry analysis. See Game industry analysis. consolidation, 421–422 failures, 394 leaders, 430 statistics, 389–393 Infini-D, 575 Infogrames Entertainment, 676–677 Informational text, 284 InfoTech, 404 Ingram Micro, Inc., 607 InnoCal, L.P., 628–629 Innovators, 447 Input devices force-feedback, 394 interaction, 129 M2, 271 multiplayer, 189 Nintendo Ultra 64, 270 Sega Saturn, 268 Sony PlayStation, 266 Inside DirectX, 537 Inside Electronic Game Design, 518–519 Inside Games & Entertainment Update, 656 Insight, 459 Installation tools, 582 Installed-base statistics, 385. See also Game Industry Analysis. InstallShield Corporation, 582 Institutional Venture Partners, 629 Intel, 5 -based PC platform, 397–398 Connected, 695 Developer’s Insight, 560 digital video palettes, 317 Indeo, 286–287 MMX technology, 53

Moore, Gordon, 396 PC Theater, 6 Smart Video Recorder Pro, 311 Intellectual property, 488, 497–503 licensing, 505–509 Intelligent Gamer, 657 Intellivision. See Mattel. Interaction, NPC, 177 players, 166 Interactive Conference and Expo, 549 Digital Software Association. See IDSA. Effects, Inc., 587 electronic entertainment industry myths, 413–425 entertainment growth, 397, 424–425 fiction, 147–151 Networking Engine, 590 Services Association, 641 stories, 109–113 storyboard metaphors, 83 Interactive Publisher’s Handbook, 534 Interactive Writer’s Handbook, Second Edition, 519 Interactivity, 247, 650 Interactivity, 99–100, 111, 112 input devices, 129 Interface design, 128–131 Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 494–495, 505 International Animation Association, 694 entertainment spending, 397 European Internet growth, 409 Game Developers’ Network, 641 MIDI Association, 291 PC market share, 407 Standard Book Number. See ISBN. International Data Corp., 619 International Data Group Digital Video, 648–649 GamePro, 481, 485, 655 PC Games, 659 Internet -based distribution, 392–393 clients, market share, 407 connections to schools, 406 Explorer. See Microsoft Internet Explorer.

games, 473. See also Online games. Gaming Zone, 392, 431–432, 616 gaming, killer app needed, 391 market analysis, 405–411 multiplayer games, 167. See also online games. promotions, 479 servers, market share, 406 user demographics, 408–409 World, 248, 548 Interplay Productions, 677 business models, 437 Interviews, 251–256, 454 Interwest Partners, 629 Introduction to Algorithms, 538 Introduction to Computer Graphics, 525 Investment bankers, 218–219 Investors, 201, 203–215 ionos Software, 360, 677–678 ISBN, 365, 367 ISDN, 410 ITV, 472

J JAFCO America Ventures, Inc., 202–203, 629 Japan, entertainment market, 397 JASC, Inc. Paint Shop Pro, 299, 588 Java Optimizations, 691 Java, 9, 11, 405 Jepsen’s Game Programming Site, 691 Jim Jenson Association of Venture Clubs, 214 Jobs, 226–257. See also Employment. fairs, 247–248 hunting tools, 247–251 listing sites, 249 search tools, 227–232 Joint personal liability, 492 ventures, 488 Jon Peddie Associates (JPA), 403, 619 Journals, 131 Jovo’s DirectX Page, 691 Joystick Nation, 528 JPG/JPEG, 285, 287–288 Jupiter Communications, 381, 383, 405, 409, 544, 619–620

newsletters, 664–665 Online Games, 550

K Kaidan VR Rigs, 603 Kali, Inc., 616 Kao Infosystems, 614 Kassar, 31–33 Kesmai Corporation, 616 KETIV Technologies, Blocks and Materials 2, 598 Key content, 508 file formats, 284–296 Keyframes, 315 KickAss Games, 657 Killer app, 391 Kinemodelz, 600 Kinetix 3D Studio MAX, 572–573 Animator Pro, 298 Developer Forum, 554 Kiosk systems, 472 Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, 472, 629 Kmart Corporation, 456, 458, 473, 613 Knowledge Adventure, 678 Kodak DCS 420, 568 KOEI Corporation, 678 Kohl, Herb, Senator, 367 Konami America, Inc., 678 Kurta, 581–582

L Labels, developers, 452–453 Labor, and creating content, 296–297 Lange, Judy, 212 Language(s) developer tools, 583–585 knowledge of multiple, 235 offensive. See Ratings. translations, 351 Lawyers. See Legal counsel. Leadtek Research Inc., 634 Learning Company, The, 446, 678–679. See also Softkey. Lechmere, 458, 474

Legal Care for Your Software, 531 Legal counsel, 333, 337–340, 342–343, 349–350. See also Arbitration. issues, 215, 220, 488–509 Legend Entertainment, 211 Letters of intent, 353 Level design, 120 vs. game design, 120 Level editing, 170 editors, 78, 120 Leverage tactics, 340–341 Lewis, Verin, 201 Libraries 3D art, 301 sound effects, 328–329 stock purchasing, 297 Licensed properties, 155 property development, 445–446 servers, 438–439 Licensing, 61, 234, 288, 346 fees, 6 intellectual property, 505–509 models, 442 music and digital audio, 325–327 Lieberman, Senator Joseph, 367 Lighting, 316–317, 320 Lightscape Technologies, Inc., Lightscape, 575–576 LightWave, 575–576 LightWave 3D 5 Character Animation, 517 LightWave Power Guide, 517 Limited Liability Company (LLC), 495–496 partnerships, 490, 493–494 Linear storytelling, 110 Lingo and Shockwave Sourcebook, 519 Lingo!: An Advanced Guide to Director’s Scripting Language, 520 List of Key Entertainment Industry Unions, 696 Location-based entertainment (LBE) centers, 391 Logitech, Inc., 609 Looking Glass Technologies, 434 Low-cost retail (LCR), 21, 436–437, 466 LucasArts, 90, 679 Lycos, 250

M M2 technology, 270–272, 401, 417 MacConnection, 459, 474 Macintosh, 36. See also Apple Computer, Inc. books, 528–529 M2 Development, 272 platform, 400–401 software sold by mail order, 460 Macintosh Game Programming Techniques, 529 Macintosh Way, The, 531–532 Macmillan Digital Publishing USA, 679 Macromedia, Inc. Director, 46, 63, 84 Director 6, 583 Final Cut, 570 Professional Developer Support Network, 560–561 SoundEdit 16, 327, 595 User Conference, 549–550 Xtras Developer Program, 557 Magazines, 229, 247, 412 demo CDs, 392–393 and disc distribution, 393 interviews, 454 promoting shareware, 470 reviews, 475–478 sites, 250 Magnetic capture technology, 302–304 Mail order, 432, 459–461, 610 Make Money Selling Your Shareware, 532 Management books, 529–533 Manufacturing, 360–367, 373–375, 614–615 fees, 6 Maps, 363, 373 Margins, shareware, 464–465 Market leaders, 390 makers, 447 research, 68–69, 380–384 share reports, 411–412 tracking, 396 Marketing, 90, 94–98, 132, 332, 343, 356, 358, 453–455. See also Demographics and Game industry analysis. books, 529–533 contributions to game design, 61 defining game buyers, 156

game design concerns and, 126–128 influence on design, 94–95 levels, 506 licensing, 505–509 positions, 245 product reviews, 475–480 synopsis, 355 target audiences, 137, 140–141 vs. packaging, 375 Materials, 85 Mathematical Elements for Computer Graphics, 525 Matrox Graphics Inc., 634 Registered Developer Program, 557 Matsushita/Panasonic. See Panasonic. Mattel, 264 Intellivision, 32 Media, 679 Maxis, 457, 680 Mayfield Fund, 206, 630 Maze games, 145–146 MCA, 46, 49 McCarthy, Jim, 255 McNealy, Scott, 405 MDG Bulletin, The, 210 MECC, 446 Mecklermedia Trade Shows, 248, 548 Media Technics, 360, 614 Megasoft, Inc., 614 Memory (RAM), 45 Menlo Capital, 216 Menlo Ventures, 630 Mentors, 349–350 Mergers, 430–431, 446 Merisel, Inc., 456, 607 Merrill, Pickard, Anderson & Eyre, 630 Mesh Mart, 301 MetaCreations, Fractal Design Painter, 298 Infini-D, 575 Painter 5, 588 Poser 2, 576 Ray Dream Studio 5, 577 Metrowerks Corporation, 273–274 Mezzanine financing, 216–217 Michael Abrash’s Graphics Programming Black Book, 525 Michigan, University of, Business School, 408

Micro Warehouse, Inc., 610 Microphones, 328 Microprose Entertainment Software, 680 MicroScribe, 302 Microscribe-3D, 580–581 Microsoft Corporation, 5, 680. See also Windows. business models, 436 cable networks, 472 CD-ROMs, 45 Developer Network, 561 Digital Anvil, 435 DirectX, 26, 52, 393, 398, 692 EntertainmentPC, 6, 54, 402 Internet Explorer, 407 Internet Explorer Web Agent, 249 Internet Gaming Zone, 50, 432, 616 MSNBC, 485 Official DirectX Site, 692 Project, 87 Public PC, 54 SideWinder, 609–610 Surround Video, 314–315 Talisman, 52 TrueMotion and, 288 Visual Basic, 583–584 Visual C++, 584 Visual J++ 1.1, 585 Microtransactional models, 440–441 MIDI, 293 MIDI Farm, 697 Miles Sound System, 591 Milestones, 344, 347 Military games. See War games and Simulation games. Miller Freeman, Inc. 3D Design, 647 3D Design Conference, 545–546 Computer Game Developers’ Conference, 8, 51, 53, 160, 247–248, 337, 402, 544–545 DV, 649 European Computer Trade Show, 544, 547–548 Game Developer, 26, 226, 247–248, 650 InterActivity, 247, 650 Music & Computers, 651 Software Development, 549 Mindscape, 46, 680–681 Minolta RD-175, 568 Minority ownership, 221–222

Mission statements, 490 Mistakes, learning from, 69–70 MMX technology, 394 MOD, 293–295 Mod4win, 697 Modeling software, 307 Modems games, multiplayer, 164 speeds, 410 Modus Media, 614–615 Mohr, Davidow Ventures, 630 Moonbase Game Programming Resources, 691 Moore’s Law, 396 Moral rights, 501 More Tricks of the Game-Programming Gurus, 538 Morgan Stanley Web site, 383 Mortal Kombat, 367 Motherboards, 403 Motion capture, 302–308, 586 and CG character animation, 696 Direction, 696 Research, 696 Web pages, 696 Motion Effects Web Site, 695, Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), 263, 368 Motion, full body, 306–307 Mpath, 392, 431–432 Foundation, 558 Network, 616 MPEG, 297–288 MPG-NET, 165, 617 Mplayer Network, 617 MSNBC, 485 MTM, 295 mTropolis, 46 storyboard creation, 84 Multigen, GameGen, 574–575 Multimedia, 46, 58 Music Links, 697 PC market growth, 398 Roundtable, 642 sound and characters, 119 Multimedia Merchandising, 664 Multimedia Monitor, The, 210 Multimedia Wire, 661–662 MULTiMiCRO, 607

Multiplayer games, 7–8, 50–51, 164–167 input devices, 129 online fighting games, 160 sports games, 189 MultiTracker, 295 Music & Computers, 651 Music books, 534 editor/sequencer, 15 file formats, 290–295 musicians, 244, 322–325 programs, 562 Web pages, 697 Musical content, 278, 282 constructing, 321–327 MVP Software, 681 business models, 437 Mythical Man-Month, The, 532

N N-World, 576 Nakayama, Hayao, 38 Namco, 36 Pac-Man, 31 Narrative text, 284 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), 248 Navarre Corporation, 432, 607 NBCC Miramichi, 608 Necessary bottlenecks, 125 Negotiations, 340–341, 342–348, 348–352 software publishers, 332 Neostar, 473 Nerd World Programming Page, 691 Net Yaroze. See Sony. NetImmerse, 572 NetNOW, 591 Netscape Navigator, 407–408 Network distribution, 472 Network Music, Inc., 596 Networking, personal, 336–340 New Enterprise Associates, 630 New Line Cinema, 205 New World Graphics Game-Wire, 661

Professional Designer 3D, 600–601 NewMedia, 651 News, gaming industry publications, 661–662 Newsgroups, 231, 250, 336 promotions, 455, 479 Newspapers job hunting, 247 promoting shareware, 470 sites, 250 NewTek, Inc., 575–576 Next Generation, 247, 393, 657 Next Media, 656 Nexus Game Programming Page, The, 692 NHL Partners, L.P., 205, 631 Nichimen Graphics Fast Track, 573–574 N-World, 576 Nintendo of America, Inc., 36–38, 40, 46, 264, 266–267, 401, 681 Donkey Kong, 31 stock symbol, 669 Ultra 64, 6, 47–48, 268–270, 390 413–416, 418 Nobody Beats the Wiz, 457 Non-linear storytelling, 110 Noncompete agreements, 504 Nondisclosure agreements, 352, 476, 504 Nonexclusive distribution deals, 469–470 rights, 508 North Bay Multimedia Association (NBMA), 251 Northwestern University Library, 695 NovaLogic, 441, 681–682 Novellas, background, 363 NPC interaction, 177 NPD Group, The, 620 Nudity. See Ratings. Number Nine Visual Technology, 634 Numerical Design, LTD, NetImmerse, 572 NuVision Software Development Program, 559–560 Technologies, Stereoscopic 3D, 610

O Office Depot, Inc., 458, 613 OfficeMax, Inc., 613 Official DirectX Site by Microsoft, 692

Olympus D-300 Series, 568 Online distributors, 432 forums, 479 opponents, 160 promotions, 483–484 resources, 687–698 space, market analysis, 391 Online games, 166–167 business models, 438–441 conference, 550 gaming networks, 431–432, 615–618 multiplayer games, 160 programs, 558–559 revenue, 392 sales, 461 services, 394 Online Gaming Review, 657–658 Online services, 58. See also America Online and CompuServe. multiplayer network games, 164–165 OpenGL, 591–592 Fan Site, 692 Org, 692 OpenGL Programming Guide, 538 OpenGL Reference Manual, 538 Optical capture technology, 302–304 Optical Media International, Disc-to-Disk, 594 Options, 509 Organization(s), 86, 637–643 game naming systems, 76 Origin, Ultima Online, 55 Orsak, Michael Colby, 202–203 Outcomes, 101 Outline strategies, 77–80 Outsourcing, 297, 305, 313 Ownership, 488–490 code and tools, 346–347 OZ Interactive, 696

P PAC Services, Inc., 615 Pac-Man. See Namco. Packaging, 360–367 sports games, 189 Paid distribution, 468

Paint and animation tools, 587–588 packages, 298–299 Paint Shop Pro, 299, 588 Painter 4 Wow! Book, 526 Painter 5, 588 Palladium Interactive, 204, 208 Panasonic/Matsushita, 270, 388, 415–416 Panoramic cameras, 314 Paradigm Simulations, 565–566 Partnering arrangements, 395 Partnerships, 297, 491–493 Passport Designs, Alchemy, 327, 594 Patents, 501–502, 507 PC Connection, Inc., 474, 610 PC Data, 382, 620 PC Demos Explained, 696 PC Format, 658 PC Game Programming Explorer, 538–539 PC Game Review, 658 PC Gamer, 393, 470, 658–659 Web site, 253 PC Games, 659 PC games, growth of, 386–387 PC gaming systems, cost of upgrades, 420 PC hardware capabilities, 387 costs as barriers to entry, 53 market analysis, 402–404 PC market growth, home multimedia, 398, 400 PC Press, Inc., The, ePlay, 653 PC Theater, 6, 53. See also Intel. PC vs. Console market, 260 PC Warehouse, 459, 474 PC-network games, 7 PCGaming.com, 659 PCX, 285 Peer-to-peer modem games, 7 Pennwell Publishing Co., 648 People For People 1, 600 Performance animation, 302 Performers, 318–319 Periodicals, 645–666 Peripherals. See also Input Devices. developers programs, 559–560 Persistent worlds, 55

Personal Web site, 227–228 Photo Textures, 601–602 Photoshop, 298, 582 Photoshop 4 Wow!, 526 Physics modeling, 51 PICT, 285 Piranha Animator, 587 Interactive Publishing, 682 Placement agents, 218 Planet Studio, 651 Platforms developing for, 396, 444–445 games, 167–170 international markets, 412 market analysis, 397–402 market share reports, 411–412 programs, 560–562 specificity model, 444–445 universal, 391 Play components, 109–110 Playability, 103, 136–140 Players, 129 Playmates Interactive Entertainment, 682 PlayStation. See Sony. Plesman Publications LTD., 663 Plot lines, 75 Plots, 71 PNG, 285 Point of View Polygonal, 116 Polaroid PDC 2000 Series, 568–569 Polehemus Motion Capture Systems, 586–587 Polls, 380–381 Poly bagging, 393 Polygons, 280–281 animation, 51. See also 3D. Portfolio, 228–229 Ports, 346 Poser 2, 576 Posters, 363, 373 Postproduction, 321 Power, 145 Power VR, 554 PR Newswire, 383 Practice and drill games, 154 Pratt’s Guide to Venture Capital Sources, 205

Premiere, 312–313, 321, 569 Prerendering, 117 Presley, Elvis, 501 Press review kits, 477–478, 480 Price points, 412, 422. See also Sales. Principles of Digital Image Synthesis, 526 Private investors, 201 Problem solving, 103 Producers, 233–234 Product updates, 358 Production costs, 95 Professional Designer 3D, 600–601 Programmer’s Heaven, 692 Programmer’s Oasis, 692 Programmers, 228, 234–239 Junior, 236–237 Lead/Senior, 238–239 Programming, 9–10, 11–16 books, 534–542 libraries, 12–14 publications, 662 Programming Computer Games in C, 539 Programming Games for Beginners, 539 Project financing, 200–205 management, 64 Promotional wire services, 383 Promotions, 263, 335, 358, 460, 475 games, 454–455, 470, 475–485 online, 463–464 shareware, 470–471 Prototype funding agreements, 354 Prototyping, 62–63, 72, 83–84 PSD, 285 PSExtreme, 659 PSX Power, 659–660. See also Sony PlayStation. PSY-Q, 274 Console Development Environment, 566 Psygnosis, 274 Public offerings, 218 Public PC, 402. See also Microsoft. Public relations, 476. See also Promotions. newsgroup searches, 479 Publicity, Right of, 500–501 Publishers, 429–431. See also Software Publishers. console games, 261

dispublishers, 458–459 online gaming networks, 432 Publishing agreements, 337–358, 488 enforcing, 469 exclusive, 470 Publishing Digital Video, 527 Publishing games, 450–455 consoles, 262–263 Puppet Works, 696 Puzzles, 104, 109, 170 Pyromania, 601

Q QSound Labs, Inc., 564 QMixer/QSound Developer Support, 562 Quake. See id Software. Quality control, Nintendo, 36–37 Quantum 3D, Obsidian 2440 card, 402 Quick-key cards, 373 QuickTime (MOV), 286, 313 QuickTime VR, 314–315, 577

R Rack jobbers, 456–458, 473 RAD Software, 289 Miles Sound System, 591 Smacker, 593 Radio, 454 Radius, 311 Telecast, 313 RAM, 45, 403 Random House, 211 Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules, 532 Ratings, 140, 159, 360, 365, 367–373 console games 262–263 logos, 365 Ray Dream Studio 5, 577 Ray-traced animation, 280 Raycasters, 116 Raycasting engine, 45 Real 3D, 634 Realism, 124 Reality Quest, 608

Realtime, 282 strategy games, 191–195 Rebates, 475 rec.games.programmer FAQ, 692 Recorded music, 282 Recreational Software Advisory Council. See RSAC. Red Herring, The, 210, 665 Red Orb, 682–683 Redbook Audio, 290–291 Registrations, 465–466, 468–469, 470. See also Shareware. Rejection, 339 Remote access server games, 164 Rendering, prerendering, 117 Renderware v2.1, 592 Rendition Ready, 554 Rendition, Inc., 635 Representations, 506–507 Research, 380–382 companies, 618–621 Resumes, 227 Retail, 472–473 business models, online versions, 439–440 distribution, 392–393 game buyers, 363–364 outlets, 457–459 packaging for, 363 pricing, 414 promotions, 582 retailers, 432–433, 611–614 sales data, 382–383 shelf space concerns, 392, 418 shrink-wrapped clients, 438 trade publications, 412, 662–664 vs. shareware, 466 Retro games, 172–173 Returns, 474 Reverse engineering, 64 Review(s), 336, 455, 460, 475–480 kits. See Press review kits. reviewer’s guides, 477–478 Rhapsody, 401 Riddler Project, The, 439 Right of Publicity, 500–501 Rights, 506 acquisition specialist, 326 moral, 501

Road Runner, 472 Rob Wallace Music, 244, 324 Roberts, Chris, 429, 430 Rocket Science Games, 204, 394 failure, 429 Roland, 622 Role playing games (RPG), 35, 105, 174–178 Romero, John, 134, 429 Rosen, David, 37–38 Roundtables, moderating, 230–231 Royalties, 109, 232, 343–345, 451, 452, 509 bonus pool, 504 bundling arrangements, 462–463 console games, 263 international, 356 low-cost retail, 466 QuickTime VR, 314 RSAC, 365, 369–373, 642 RTIME, Interactive Networking Engine, 590

S S corporations, 495 S3 Incorporated, 635 Game Developer Support, 558 S3M, 295 Salaries animators, 243 artists, 242 designers, 239 junior programmers, 236 lead/senior programmers, 238 marketing and sales, 245 producers, 233 programmers, 234 ranges, 232 software testers, 240 technology programmers, 237 writers, 241 Sales, 19–22, 90 -based research, 382–383 console games, 390 departments, 453–454 efforts, 456 expert advice, 473–475 forecasts, 473

outlets, 455–471 positions, 245 price points, 97 selling games, 454–485 Sony PlayStation, 414 San Francisco Chronicle, 250 Satellites, 411 Saturn. See also Sega Saturn. Solutions, Inc., 607 World, 660 SBA. See Small Business Administration. Scanners, 299 Schedules, coordinating, 86–87. See also Timelines. Scholastic, Inc., 683 Schools Internet connections, 406 market research in, 413 SciTech Software, 592–593 ScreamTracker, 295 Screen Actors Guild (SAG), The, 642 Screenshots disk, 478 package design, 364 Scripted dialogue, 283 Scripting, 64, 83, 241 vs. artificial intelligence, 122 SDKs, 589–593 Search engines, 250, 479 Sears, 456, 458, 473 catalogs, 459 Secret moves, 159 Sections, 78 descriptions, 79 outlines, 79–80 Securities Data Corp., 205 Securities laws, 215, 221–222 Security, online game services, 394 Sega, 401 advertising, 484 Genesis, 40 H.E.A.T., 615 network distribution, 472 Saturn, 47–48, 266–268, 274, 390, 413–416, 418, 422–423 Sega Master System, 37–38 Sega of America, 615 stock symbol, 669

Virtua Fighter, 51 Self-publishing, 451–453 Selling the Dream, 532–533 Sequels, 346 Sequoia Capital, 631 Series games, 177 Server version, 166 Service marks. See Trademarks. Sex. See Ratings. Sex, Lies, and Video Games: How to Write a Macintosh Arcade Game, 529 SF Gate, 250 SGI. See Silicon Graphics. Shareware, 44–45, 98, 463–471 business models, 436–438 distribution, 392–393 Father of, site, 695 game sales, 20–21 id Software, 165 Industry Conference, 550 MIDI sequencing products, 293 Paint Shop Pro, 299 Trade Association and Resources, 369 Shark Multimedia, Inc., 622 Shelf life, 465 Shipping dates, 70 drop, 374 Shooters, 179–180 Shrink-wrapped business models, 435–436 SideWinder, 609–610 Siedman’s Online Insider, 688 Sierra On-Line, 39, 446, 683 Siggraph, 248, 544, 546 SIGs, 251 Silicon Graphics, 264 collaboration with Nintendo, 54 Developer Program-Enterprise/Explorer, 561–562 Forum, 546 Nintendo Ultra 64, 270 OpenGL, 591–592 Wavefront, 305 Silicon Valley Bank, 216 Capital Network, 214 Simba Information, 620 Simplicity, 145

Simulations environments, 121–122 games, 163, 181–185 Simultaneous release models, 443–444 Sirtech Software Inc., 684 Skills, developing, 131–133 SKU, 365 Smacker, 289–290, 593 Small Business Administration (SBA), 217–218 Smart Games, 684 SMART: Computer & Software Retailing, 412 SN Systems PSY-Q, 274 Console Development Environment, 566 Softbank Expos, 549 Softimage 3D, 577–578 3D Extreme, 578 Digital Studio, 570 Eddie, 578–579 Partners Group, 555 Sumatra, 579 Toonz, 579 Softimage Design Guide, 517–518 SoftKey, 446 & Learning Company, stock symbol, 669 business models, 436 Software chain stores, 457, 473 development, 434–435 Development Conference, 549 digital video, 312 market analysis, 404–405 prices, 422 project management, 233 sales, 457 testers, 240–241 Software Etc., 98 Chapter 11, 433 Software People, 528 Software Project Survival Guide, 533 Software Publishers Association (SPA), 369, 384, 642 packaging guidelines, 365 SPA Annual Conference, 549 Software Publishing, 665 Software publishers, 332–358, 667–686 business publications, 664–666

publishing progression, 434–435 Sole proprietorships, 490–491 Sonic Foundry, Inc., 327, 595–596 Sony Corp., 274, 388, 390, 401 DKC-5000 CatsEye, 569 Net Yaroze, 272–273 PlayStation, 6, 47–48, 264–266, 267, 413–416, 418, 422–423 Sony Imagesoft, 46 stock symbol, 669 Sound & Music for Multimedia, 534 Sound books, 534 cards, 621–622 characters, 119 digitizer hardware and software, 15 editing tools, 327, 594–596 effects, 283 effects libraries, 328–329, 596–597 effects technicians, 227 programs, 562 Web pages, 697 Sound Designer II, 595 Sound Edit 16, 327, 595 libraries, Sound Forge, 595–596 Sound Ideas Sound Effects Libraries, 596–597 Sound Operating System, 593 Southpeak Interactive, 684 Space games. See Simulation games. Speaking at conferences, 229–231 Special Effects in Television, 527 Special Interest Groups. See SIGs. Special moves, 159 Specifications, 273 design, 85 M2, 271 Nintendo Ultra 64, 269–270 PSX, 265–266 Sega Saturn, 267 Spectrum HoloByte, 211 stock symbol, 669 Speech, 404 file formats, 296 Speed Razor, 570–571 Speed, 145 Spielberg, Steven, 33, 52. See also Dream Works SKG.

Sponsored games, 438 online games, 439 products, 471 Sports games, 185–189 ST Labs, 623 Staffing, 87 Standardization, 5 Staples, Inc., 458, 613 State of the Art in Computer Graphics: Visualization and Modeling, 527 Statistical databases, 121 Statistics. See Game Industry Analysis. Stats-based systems, 188 STB Systems, 635 Authorized Developer’s Program, 555 Stendahl’s Computer Game Programming Links, 692 StereoGraphics Developer Program, 555 Stereoscopic 3D, 610 Stern, Howard, 500 Stock 3D Models, 597–601 Stock Art, 601 Stock keeping unit. See SKU. Stock trading symbols, 668–669 Stock sound effects, 328 Storage capacity, 45 Stories vs. games, 109 Storyboards, 64, 81 interactive metaphors, 83–84 Storytelling, 108–113 Strategic investors, 201 Strategic Simulations, Inc., 684–685 Submission agreements, 352–353 package, 334–335 scheduling, 336 Subscription-based online game providers, 438 Success stories, statistics, 207 Succession planning, 496 Sumatra, 579 Sun Microsystems, 405 SuperMac CinePak, 286 Surround Video, 314–315 SDK, 580 Surveys, 68, 380–381 self-selected, 408 Web, 408 Suspension of disbelief, 105

SVG Distribution, 607–608 Symantec, Visual Cafe, 584 Syntrillium Software Corporation, Cool Edit, 594 Systems consoles, 263–273 modeling, 163 requirements, on packaging, 366

T *

T HQ Inc., 685,

*

Bold numbers indicate a Resources section entry.

T-Online, 409 T-shirts, 475, 477 T.E.N., 50, 431, 559, 617 T1/T3 lines, 410 Tablets, 299 Take Two Interactive, 669, 685 Tannenbaum, Ken, 473–475 Target audiences, 96, 137, 140–141 Target/Dayton Hudson Corporation, 613 Task bottlenecks, 125–126 Taxes, 491–495, 505. See also Internal Revenue Service. TCI, 472 Team FAT, 324 Tech Data Corporation, 608 TechCalendar.com, 696 Technical interviews, 255–256 specifications, 74 support, 470 Technologies for Information and Entertainment Fund, 205 Technology engine models, 442–443 first models, 441–442 implementing advances, 133 Partners Fund, 631 programmers, 237–238 Ted Gruber Software FastGraph, 589–590 Gruber, Diana, articles and book chapters, 689

Teens, programs for, 139–140 Telephones, high-speed lines, 472 Television advertising, 484–485 game displays, 262 multiplayer games via cable networks, 472 Termination, 347 Testing, 24, 124, 125, 136–137 labs, 623–624 software testers, 240–241 systems, 63 Text-to-speech, 329 Textual content, 278, 283–284 Texture and Modeling: A Practical Approach, 539 Texture(s), 300, 601–603 Creator, 602 on CD, 602 Universe, 602–603 Third-Person Point-Of-View Polygonal, 117 Three-Quarter View, 114 Thomson & Thomson, 499 Three D Graphics, Texture Creator, 602 ThunderSeat Technologies, 610 TIF, 285 Tilmann, Richard, 301 Time limits, publishing agreements, 348 Time-Warner, 49. See also Warner Communications. Road Runner, 472 Time magazine, 134 Timelines, 86–87 production, 374 Timetables, 339–340 Title development, funding, 209 Titus Software Corp., 685 Toonz, 579 Total Entertainment Network. See T.E.N. Total Immersion, 556 Toys ‘R’ Us, Inc., 392, 458, 473, 613 Tracks, 292 Trade publications, 384, 666 secrets, 502–503 shows, 209, 248–249, 336, 480 Trademarks rights, 498–499, 507

search firms, 499 TRADEMARKSCAN, 499 Transatlantic Fund, 631 Treatments, 70–72 Trends, game purchases, 388 Triad Distributors, Inc., 608 Tricks of the Game-Programming Gurus, 539–540 Tricks of the Mac Game-Programming Gurus, 540 TrueMotion, 288–289, 571 TrueSpace3, 580 Truevision Targa, 311

U U.S. Copyright laws, 298 Office, 500 U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 498–499, 501 U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), 217–218 U.S. Venture Partners, 208, 631 Ubi Soft, 685–686 Ultimate Spacial Audio Page, The, 697 Ultra 64. See Nintendo Ultra 64. Ultra Game Players, 660 Ultravision, 566 Underwriters, 218–219 Unified Gamers Online, 660–661 Uniform Product Code. See UPC. Unions, List of Key Entertainment Industry, 696 Universal elements, 78 Unix platform, 295 UPC, 365, 367 Upgrades PC gaming systems, 420 schemes, 467–468 Upside, 346 Upside Publishing Company, 665–666 Usenet Newsgroups, 231, 250, 401, 692 User groups, 251 User-defined levels of play, 468

V Valentino Sound Effects Library, 597 Valuations, business, 220–221

Vassaux, Mario, 360 VB Programmer’s Guide to the Win32 API, 540 Venrock Associates, 632 Venture Capital, 200–223, 429 clubs, 214 firms, 624–632 Network, 214 VeriTest, 623–624 Vertex Management, 632 Viacom Interactive, 46, 49, 212 Virgin Interactive Entertainment, 473 Video. See also Digital video. audio components, 318 cards, 633–635 file formats, 286 levels, 317 memory, 403 for Windows (AVI), 286, 313 Video cameras, 310–311 purchasing, 320 Video capture, 316–316 cards, purchasing, 320 final, 321 Video games, 6–7 32-bit consoles, 47–48 console companies, 6 consoles, 35–38 SDKs, 13 Videogame Advisor, 666 Videogame Design, 692 VideoGameSpot, 661 VideoLogic, 635 DevLink, 559 Power VR, 554 Videotape, quality, 339 Viewpoint DataLabs, 301 DataShop for DirectX, 599 Violence, 159 See also Ratings. Virgin Interactive Entertainment, 686 Virtual Reality, 16, 54–55 books, 542 games, 189–191 Resources, 698 Web pages, 697–698 Virtual Reality Homebrewer’s Handbook, 542 Homepage, 698

Virtually Unlimited, 3D Game Machine, 565 Visual Basic, 11–12, 46, 583–584 programming, 688 storyboard creation, 84 Visual Basic 5 Web & Multimedia Adventure Set, 540 Visual C++, 584 Visual Cafe, 584 Visual Concept Entertainment, Pyromania, 601 Visual content, 278–282 construction, 297–302 Visual Developer, 26, 662 Visual formats, 284–290 Visual J++ 1.1, 585 Voxel-based technology, 441 VR rigs, 603 Vulcan Ventures, Inc., 632

W Wacom Art Pad and ArtZ Tablets, 581 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc./Sam’s Club, 392, 433, 458–459, 473, 614 Walden Group of Venture Capital Funds, 632 Wall Street research, 383 Wanderlust Interactive, 686 stock symbol, 669 War games, 191–195. See also Simulations. Warner Communications, 31, 57 Warranties, 506–507 Wasatch Venture Corp., 206 WAV, 295 Wavefront, 305 Web index, 409 Web -based game developers, 439 direct sales, 463 interactive games, 17–18 market analysis, 405–411 -related trade shows, 549–550 retail software distribution and, 446 user demographics, 408 Web sites job searches, 249 personal, 227–228 sales, 461 Webcom Communications Corp., 665 Webgamedeveloper.com, 692

WebTV/console systems, 401 Weiss, Peck & Greer Venture Partners, 632 Williams, stock symbol, 669 Win32 Device Driver System (WDD), 398 Win32 Game Developers Guide with DirectX 3, 540–541 Windows interface, alternatives to, 131 platform, 295 Windows Game SDK Developer’s Guide, 541 Windows 95 Game Developer’s Guide to Using the Game SDK, 541 Windows 95 Game SDK Strategy Guide, 541, 693 Windows 95, 313, 393, 419 95/98/NT platforms, 398–401 Wireless bandwidths, 411 Wireplay, 431, 617 WizardWorks Group, The, 686 Woj@Moj Page, 693 Women’s Interactive Entertainment Association, 643 Word of mouth, 479 Word Warriors, The, Inside Games & Entertainment Update, 657 Work for Hire Agreements, 490, 503 World Wide Web. See Web. WorldPlay Entertainment, 617–618 Game Development Partners, 559 Wozniak, Steve, 34 Wright Financial Solutions, 204–205 Writers Guild of America, 643 Writers, 109, 229, 241–242 Writing Solid Code, 533 Writing, 284

X X2ftp, 693 xDSL, 410 XGT Series Pressure Sensitive Tablets, 581–582 Xtras Developer Program, 557

Y Yahoo!, 250 Yamaha, 622 Select Internet Links, 696 Strategic Business Alliance, 557 Yankee Group, The, 620–621

Z Zen of Code Optimization, 541–542 Zen of Graphics Programming, 527 Zen of Tracking, The, 697 Ziff-Davis, 393 Computer Gaming World, 253, 393, 470, 481–482, 652–653 GameSpot, 235, 656 VideoGameSpot, 661 Zombie Interactive, 447

Table of Contents

Game Developer's Marketplace

Mathematics for Game Developers

Physics for game developers

Mathematics for Game Developers

Mathematics for Game Developers

Physics for Game Developers

AI for Game Developers

Mathematics for Game Developers

Physics for Game Developers

AI for Game Developers

AI for Game Developers

Physics for Game Developers

Mathematics for Game Developers (Game Development)

Software Engineering for Game Developers

Data structures and algorithms for game developers

Beginning Math Concepts for Game Developers

The Marketplace

XNA Game Studio 4.0 for Xbox 360 Developers

Protecting Games: A Security Handbook for Game Developers and Publishers

XNA Game Studio 4.0 for Xbox 360 Developers

Software Engineering for Game Developers (Software Engineering Series)

The Marketplace of Christianity

The Marketplace of Christianity

Software Engineering for Game Developers (Software Engineering Series)

The new Nasdaq marketplace

Murder in the Marketplace

American Romanticism and the Marketplace

Cryptography for Developers

Cryptography for Developers

Cryptography for Developers

Facebook API Developers Guide

Game Developer's Marketplace

Mathematics for Game Developers

Physics for game developers

Mathematics for Game Developers

Mathematics for Game Developers

Physics for Game Developers

AI for Game Developers

Mathematics for Game Developers

Physics for Game Developers

AI for Game Developers

AI for Game Developers

Physics for Game Developers

Mathematics for Game Developers (Game Development)

Software Engineering for Game Developers

Data structures and algorithms for game developers

Beginning Math Concepts for Game Developers

The Marketplace

XNA Game Studio 4.0 for Xbox 360 Developers

Protecting Games: A Security Handbook for Game Developers and Publishers

XNA Game Studio 4.0 for Xbox 360 Developers

Software Engineering for Game Developers (Software Engineering Series)

The Marketplace of Christianity

The Marketplace of Christianity

Software Engineering for Game Developers (Software Engineering Series)

The new Nasdaq marketplace

Murder in the Marketplace

American Romanticism and the Marketplace

Cryptography for Developers

Cryptography for Developers

Cryptography for Developers

Facebook API Developers Guide

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