Introduction

Writing a book has a number of similarities to making a video game. There’s never enough time or opportunity to include all the content that you want; there’s always a way to make it more concise, fun, and interesting; there’s a ton of people giving their opinions in how to make it better; and there’s always a new deadline.

Who Should Read This Book?

This book is about how a video game producer needs to be a leader in the true sense—the person who helps game visionaries realize their vision. If you’re a game visionary wanting to find someone to help execute and realize your vision, then read ahead and learn about what an excellent video game producer can do for you.

This book only scrapes the surface of what a career in the game industry holds. If you want a job where the same day is never lived twice—and where the days of being bored at work are gone forever—then read on. Few other jobs in few other industries can offer such a reward, and this book can help you realize that reward.

If you’re a producer already in the game industry or other industry professional, you may find a few tips or tricks that you’ve not tried yet in this book. Or maybe you’ll find one bit of advice that makes your next game better and the process of making it more efficient. You may also achieve a fuller understanding of the role of the game producer—an understanding that makes your job easier, better, and more rewarding. Despite being in the industry for more than 10 years, there’s a lot that I still don’t know. Every day is an opportunity to learn something new—maybe the same is true for you. But after the few hard lessons from the past I decided to put the little I know about the industry, along with the helpful tips from many others, into this book.

What’s in This Book?

This book addresses the following topics:

• What a video game producer does and what types of producer roles exist.

• The common challenges faced by producers.

• How to facilitate the creation of excellent design documentation.

• The creation of proprietary game development tools, licensing of third-party software, and procedures for asset management and source control.

• Managing milestones and milestone creation.

• How a producer effectively conveys a winning video game vision.

• Financial aspects that govern a producer’s decisions.

• How a video game producer’s role relates to game design.

• How to produce an excellent soundtrack and why music is as important as the graphics.

• How to manage all of the materials needed to market your game.

How to Use the Appendices

Included at the back of this book are hypothetical examples of what some documents mentioned in the book might look like. Do realize that no one document is right for all projects and companies; each document should be personalized for the special circumstances of your project.

• Appendix A, “Sample Acceptance Letter”, is an example of a publisher’s acceptance letter that provides detailed feedback on a submitted milestone.

• Appendix B, “Engine Feature Checklist,” offers a way to double-check that the technical design includes the features that are required for most games’ engines.

• Appendix C, “Marketing Deliverables Checklist,” is the checklist that all producers should review with the marketing department so that they are clear on when certain materials are needed for marketing to do their job.

• Appendix D, “Producer Tools,” comprises several tools. Check the Course PTR Web site @ http://www.courseptr.com/downloads for periodic updates to these tools.

  • The Milestone Acceptance Test is a checklist that’s used to make it easier for developers to submit complete milestones to publishers. The developer provides this checklist to the publisher for use when reviewing the milestone.

  • The Milestone Deliverable Checklist is used to ensure that all of the elements of the milestone are assigned to the responsible party and completed before the milestone is due.

  • The Art Status Sheet is an example of a spreadsheet used to track the status of the art assets in a game.

  • The Sound Content Sheet mirrors the purpose of the Art Status Sheet and allows the tracking of the sound content for a game.

  • The Risk Management Plan provides a procedure to follow when assessing and managing risk.

• Appendix E, “What Goes into a Milestone Definition?” includes an example of a hypothetical milestone schedule showing the detail required to ensure clarity.

Where Are We Headed?

Today, the video game industry shares a uniquely similar background with rock and roll. The leading-edge, technology-driven, youthful force of rock and roll born in decades past have immortalized themselves in our new medium. The current youth generation embraces the video game medium—its art, content, and fun—while governments scrutinize and cast a wary eye on its artistic expression, interactive stories, dramatic combat, and stunning visuals.

For those of you who are—or who want to be—the Bob Dylan-style storytellers of the 21^st century, Elvis Presleys of interactive entertainment, or even the John Lennons of compelling gameplay content, remember that just as in the recording industry, it takes a good producer to help a vision materialize into excellence. And if it is your company that helps to bring these products to market, hopefully your producers are the ones fostering those who have the ideas of tomorrow.

The game industry is still young. Founded just three decades ago, the evolution of the video game industry continues today, while the race to maturity is still far from over. The breadth of the appeal is constantly growing with each new game. By exploring ways to expand as well as to take compelling experiences to new depths, we get one step closer to that maturity.

Few other jobs, industries, or media formats offer an opportunity to constantly try something new, reach out to new people in new ways, and inspire the development of new art forms. While it is likely that we’ll never fully explore the bounds of this opportunity, remember the timeless words of Goethe, “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.”

Now you can “begin it” by turning the page.