Highlights From a Discussion with a Game Developer

At the request of a few readers, here are some of the highlights from the conversations I had with my game dev friend.  So, here it goes.

AO – Astutely Obtuse

GD – Game Dev

AO

You’ve been involved in the gaming industry for what, like 30 years?

GD

Closer to 40, yeah.

AO

How many games have you worked on in your career?

GD

Ah jeez, I don’t even know.  A ton.  Like, I have worked on games that I didn’t even know that I had worked on them, you know?  Like, being asked to build out a custom RNG for something in progress with another team.  It’s like, dude, why didn’t you tell me that I was doing something for this other game, if I had known I would actually put in a bit of effort, you know?

AO

I hope you got credit for that work.

GD

I’ve never really cared about getting in the credits.  A lot of other devs live for it, you know.  After leaving EA I spent the next five years using a pseudonym when I was being credited for something.

AO

Why?

GD

I don’t know, EA left a really bad taste in my mouth, you know what I’m saying.  I actually considered quitting the gaming industry all together.  I was like, I don’t want people seeing that I had worked on this new game but associate me with the stuff I did at EA, you know. 

AO

That’s fair

GD

Is it really, tho?  Like, how many people actually look at the credits in games?  And, how many people are going to read the credits enough to remember names?  Like, hey, that’s the dude that worked on Space Quest, I didn’t know he also worked on… I don’t know, Fifa vs Capcom Ultimate Brawl.

AO

Fifa vs Capcom?  Tell me that’s a real thing.

GD

LOL, NO!  I would play it tho.

{...}

AO

Aside from Sierra, what studio stands out as your favorite?

GD

Jeez, that’s a tough one.  I think that everywhere I’ve worked has had something that I really liked.

AO

Even EA?

GD

While I was miserable at EA, I learned a lot about working with large teams, what works what doesn’t, being responsive in a high stress environment… you know, it’s actually kind of funny, I think that I learned more at EA from the things they did poorly, than I did from any other studio or publisher.

AO

I get that.

GD

I don’t regret working for EA, but I’d never work there again, you know.

AO

Ok, then favorite project.

GD

That’s easy, I have two for very different reasons.

AO

Lay it on me.

GD

The first one.  I was working with this young creative director who was a huge supporter of ensuring that everyone had an opportunity to put a bit of personalized stuff in the game somewhere.  I didn’t ever really do any user facing work, it was a lot of back end, game engine stuff, so I had never thought about having something personal in a game.  So, he gave me the opportunity to write some flavor text for some of the items, you know, like the item descriptions and what not.  It’s not like a huge thing, but it was really cool, dude was really cool.

AO

That is pretty cool.  What about the second example?

GD

So, the game never came out, which sucks, but the entire experience was stuff of legend.

AO

I’m hooked, tell me more.

GD

So, it was with a large studio that had fallen into pumping out the same type of game over and over.  They became known as the studio that only does one game with different assets and titles.  So, they created a spin off studio that was given free reign to make something different, sky is the limit stuff, you know.  After some meetings, we started working on this amazing idea, something that I would kill to play now. 

We were discussing working with Nintendo to get access to some of their IPs to fill out the story.  It would have been amazing.  But yeah, it was a level of creativity that I hadn’t experienced since my early days at Sierra, you know.  We were shut down after a couple of months of initial work, but that time was pretty gnarly.

AO

You going to tell us what this amazing game’s concept was?

GD

LMAO. 

During a brainstorming session, one of the artists was talking about this game that he was obsessed with when he was younger, but was never able to beat the end boss.  We agreed that it was a bs boss that cheesed the entire battle, LOL.

AO

What game?

GD

I think it’s a bit obscure, I haven’t met anyone else that knows of it, so it was super exciting when someone else knew about it.

AO

Bruv, what game?!

GD

Oh, sorry.  Trojan, for the NES.

AO

I fucking loved that game.  I was only able to beat it with a Game Genie.

GD

Isn’t that true of most NES games?

{...}

AO

How did Trojan lead to the concept for a new game?

GD

I had mentioned that it would be easier if you had the same ability to cheese the battle as the villain, to which he said, “I’d probably beat the hero as well if I was the villain.”  That lead to an entire day of just talking about having the ability to play as the big boss in these games. 

AO

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had that same thought.

GD

So the concept was, you are part of this massive multiverse, and your team has discovered that there are these rifts occurring in some universes.  The rifts are created because the hero won the final battle, and bad things come out of it.  So you step into this chamber that allows you to take control of the big bad in these other games, in the hope that you can defeat the hero, and prevent the bad thing from happening and destroying the entire universe… or multiverse.

AO

Ok, that sounds fucking amazing!

GD

Yeah, we were going to include like, a mystery, you know.  Like, why are all of these universes, where the hero wins starting to fall apart.  Eventually you would find that there was another evil entity in your universe that is deliberately sabotaging universes that the hero was successful.

AO

So, the evil organization has the same type of chamber your organization is using?

GD

Exactly.  We were both huge fans of Quantum Leap, so it would basically be Quantum Leap the game, but with video game characters.

AO

Worse game you’ve ever worked on?

GD

All of the professional sports games.  Fifa, Madden, NHL, NBA, etc. 

AO

Why’s that?

GD

Dude, it was so boring.  Like, it’s a solved genre, there isn’t a lot of interesting things happening, you know.  It wasn’t rewarding, you know.  Not bad, just… not rewarding.

AO

What game would you rather have been working on, other than the sports games?

GD

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing

LOL.

AO

I don’t know who Mavis Beacon is, but that bitch seems to know how to do everything.

GD

ROFL. 

I can’t really say what game I would have rather been working on, but I can tell you what game I wish I was part of.

AO

Go on.

GD

GTA: Vice City, or San Andres.  Really, anything by Rockstar, but those two games are perfection.  If I was part of either of those games, I’d be telling everyone I met that I was part of it

ROFL.

{...}

AO

Earlier, you mentioned learning more from the bad stuff that studios do.  Can you give an example of that?

GD

The standout thing that I can think of off the top of my head is that there is one thing that is always being pushed throughout the development process.  How can we monetize this?  How can we include things that can be monetized?  Everything is about making money first and creating a functioning game later. 

I get it, no one is going to invest the money in a game if you can’t get a return on it, but it’s become not only the most important thing, it’s become the only thing.

AO

I can see that.  Is this a universal problem, or more studio specific problems.

GD

I would say that it’s a universal problem.  Studios that aren’t, are the exception, not the norm, you know.

AO

That sucks.  That seems to be the way that all companies are going, though.  Not just the gaming industry.

GD

True, true, true. 

The gaming industry, and I guess the tech industry as a whole, seem to be more likely to chase the same things, you know.  Like, if one studio is doing something, it’s guaranteed that within a year every other studio will be doing the same thing.  Look at the fads of gaming past.  QTEs are a thing in one game, suddenly they are in every game.  Same thing with stealth mechanics, crafting mechanics, everything being souls-like, etc.  IDude, it’s infuriating.

AO

Some of those games that chased a fad were pretty good though.

GD

Oh, yeah, I’m not saying they aren’t, but it’s weird, you know.  Like, you’re playing a game and suddenly there is a random stealth section for some dumb reason? 

Like, dude, I was just playing a Candy Crush knock-off, why the heck is there a crafting and vehicle section shoehorned in?

AO

Candy Crush: Battle Royale

GD

Animal Crossing: Global Offensive

AO

Mavis Beacon Teaches Improvised Munitions. 

GD

ROFL

you win

ROFLFLFLFLF

{...} 

AO

Ok, biggest pet peeve in gaming? Go!

GD

Honestly, the fact that so many studios are only pursuing the “capital G-Gamers.” 

They’ve become so worried about pissing them off that they’ll make a game worse, just so they don’t get labeled as being “woke” or some other BS thing. 

Like, so many games are terrified of being labeled as being approachable, because being approachable is the same as saying casual, and casual gamers aren’t real gamers, and therefore it’s not a real game, you know what I mean? 

I blame Hideo Kojima for this mindset, but that’s a whole other thing, and I don’t think you have the time for me to go into it.

AO

I figured Hideo Kojima was automatically worshipped by everyone in the industry.

GD

He basically is, but the whole, a game being approachable is bad is… really, it’s all kind of related.  It’s hard to explain without a chart with red string haphazardly strung around.  It’s all “we’re not like you, we’re better than you, anything that can be seen as being not part of the in group is bad, therefore you’re bad.” 

It really bugs me, because it means frequently they’ll make changes for no other reason than just because they think there will be backlash. 

Like

Ok, I won’t say the name of the game because a very good friend worked on it, but there was a game that had a secondary character who was a lesbian.  Late in development they changed her to some generic looking white dude.  The thing is, that this character served a purpose.  There is this major emotional turning point in the story where they talk about how they’ve never really fit in anywhere, and something about family or something, I don’t remember.  It’s important when it’s the only woman in the main cast and she happens to be gay as well.  It’s further complicated because the character model of the guy made him look like a carbon copy of other characters.  It doesn’t hit the same when a guy who looks exactly like everyone else says “I’ve never really fit in.”  Like, dude, that’s a you problem then, you know?  Having a lesbian woman though, that’s woke and bad, even though she really was a smallish part of the story.

AO

No offense, but that is not what I expected you to say.

GD

LOL

None taken.  If you want something a little less politically charged, drop rates.  We need to fix drop rates, like, 20 years ago.

AO

Ooooo, I would agree with that.

GD

I love RPGs, JRPGs, strategy RPGs, Action Adventure, like all RPGs.  The one thing that I’ve always hated was collecting rare items.  When you tell me that an item only drops from this one enemy that you will randomly encounter, and it has a drop rate of 1%, I’m not going to bother getting it.  Like, people will say that if you play it long enough it’ll eventually drop, and to that I say, you clearly have no idea how RNGs work. 

Yeah, statistically it won’t always come up tails, eventually it has to come up heads, but when you are just drawing a number and seeing if it matches, when it’s a computer where nothing is truly random, then no, there is no guarantee that it will drop. 

AO

Solution?

GD

Easy, use the RNG like it is now.  If it comes up, great, if not keep track of the number of encounters where the item would be available, at a certain point, the drop is guaranteed. 

So, if the drop rate is 1%, at 100 battles it’s a guaranteed drop.  If you get it before then, great, if not, you’ll still get it eventually.

------ 

AO

Hey, sorry to bug you again.  I got a lot of positive feedback from the article, and had a few people ask to share some of the highlights from the conversation.  Would you be good with me copying the chat?  I’ll anonymize it.

GD

Hey, yeah, as long as you don’t use my name.  I’m working for a great publisher, I have an official title, and only 10 years left before I retire and start teaching Python at a JC.  Don’t blow this for me bro!

AO

Of course.  I’ll send you a copy and get your sign off first, sound good?

GD

Sounds good.  What was some of the feedback?

AO

A lot of people surprised and simultaneously not surprised that there are inefficiencies in the industry.  A couple of people disagreeing with your take.  Mostly, a lot of people fascinated to get a developer’s take on things.

GD

I saw the comment about voice actors.  That made me laugh. 

Yeah, I could imagine in a game like GTA V the number of voice actors you’re paying is going to get out of hand very quickly, same with music rights, but dude, that’s just a tiny drop in the bucket compared to the rest of the expenses. 

AO

Speaking of, what is your take on GTA VI being delayed again?

GD

You have an hour for me to share my thoughts, ROFL!

AO

Give me the cliffs notes.

GD

So, the announcement said something about delaying it to focus on polishing the game, and that they want it to live up to everyone’s expectations, which I don’t buy.  We’ve waited for, what, 15 years or something for GTA VI!  You’re not living up to anyone’s expectations.  Expectations are going to be impossibly high. I also don’t buy that they are just doing some polish.

AO

What makes you say that?

GD

So my boss estimates that they are spending one to two million dollars a month during the delay.

AO

Wow, that much?

GD

I don’t know how accurate that is, but my boss is a very knowledgeable guy, and he’s usually right about this stuff. 

So for a six month delay, you’re talking about an additional 6-12 million dollars being spent, in addition to the however much they’ve already spent.  You don’t do that for a little polish. 

You do that because you found something, and are freaking out.

AO

Wouldn’t releasing a broken game be worse?

GD

Oh, yeah, a million times worse.  The thing is, if it’s just a matter of polish, you release on time with a day one update.  It’s what we all do.  What makes it questionable to me is that it would have gone a long way for the fans if they just said “hey, we messed up, we missed something, we’re fixing it so that we don’t push out a buggy, broken game.” 

I think the fans would see that and be glad that the devs actually care about quality, you know.  So why lie?

AO

Good question, why lie?

GD

I really don’t know.  I think they are worried about similar backlash to other hyped games that fell flat.  Like Cities Skylines II.

AO

Now I have to ask, what is your take on the hate the Devs received for Cities Skylines II?

GD

Should the devs be blamed for pushing out a broken game, not totally.  A lot of that falls on Paradox, you know, but the devs also play a part in that. 

AO

I think that’s a rather unpopular opinion.

GD

Maybe, maybe not.  The fact is that the devs should have been more vocal about pushing back on things.  No, every cim doesn’t need fully rendered teeth.  Hey, criticism of the first game is that vanilla is barely playable, so we need mods available day one, so we should work with mod creators to ensure that happens.  Hey, this functionality is beloved by the fans, we should make sure that it’s included in the new game.  Stuff like that. 

I don’t know if they did express these things during development, but the fact that so many devs came out and defended the game when it was clearly broken tells me they probably didn’t.  For that, they 100% deserve the hate they receive.

AO

Damn, that’s brutal.

GD

I still blame Paradox, tho.  It’s another example of how can we milk every cent out of our fans being the primary driver, and making a good game is like 4th or 5th on the list.

AO

Pennies are being taken out of circulation, so they’re miking every last nickel.  Just for future reference.  What about the argument that you need to milk every last nickel in order to continue supporting a game, especially ones where they are adding new functionality?

GD

I mean, that is a thing.  But there are ways to pay for that, that doesn’t involve hiding core functionality behind a paywall, you know what I mean?  Here’s 60% of a game, and here’s this other content that costs $50.00 that will provide about 5% more functionality for every additional pack you buy.  These studios and publishers need to start remembering who keeps them in business, and start focusing on keeping them.

AO

Ok, one last question, since there are some that were asking, although, mostly interested in if you were still working in the biz.

GD

Yeah, so professionally, I’ve been leading the testing aspects, both within the publisher, and acting as a liaison between the publisher and studio to ensure that the testing is completed and properly documented.  My personal side project now is a game engine/emulator that will fix issues running old games on modern hardware.

AO

Issues?

GD

Ok, so when you are trying to update or port a game to run on newer hardware, there is a ton of work that needs to be done.  If not, it can cause weird issues.  I think it was Sim City 2000 or SC 4, that has an issue when it runs at 60 FPS, everything runs so fast that it’s unplayable. 

Other issues are some games were designed to accommodate the stretching out that running on a CRT did, so running in HD everything looks weirdly oblong.  Graphics in general tended to be customized to work with a CRT.  It’s why older games look bad now, it’s too high def. 

So I’m building out something that will make the corrections needed automatically when running these old games.  That way, you don’t have to pay some entry level dev to do the boring task of fixing a 20-year-old game.

AO

I’m surprised this doesn’t already exist somewhere.

GD

It does, but in my experience they aren’t user friendly, and require a lot of customization.  I want to make it automatic based on the game. 

So, if I want to play T&C Surf Designs from the NES, it will pick up what needs to be adjusted and perform that automatically, then if you were to switch to SW:KotOR you wouldn’t need to make any changes to the emulator, it’ll handle it.  If I really wanted to push myself, I’d also make it available for newer games that still struggle with running on top tier hardware, but that’s someone else’s project to undertake.