Unit 1 Task 1 - Computer Game Pre-Production Requirements

Unit 1

Requirements Needed for Pre-Production

 Production of a game requires:

Type of production - Types of production can be videogame, movie, music video or a TV show which all have different aspects of production in general.

 Finance - Finance is a big requirement as if you don't have the budget for a place to rent, a lot of people to do different types of jobs, the equipment to be able to start making parts of the game and all along with talent which is a really important thing as without the right talent to do recording sessions then you aren't going to get anywhere. You might need a lot more finance to create The Elder Scrolls Skyrim but not much finance at all to create Costume Quest

 Time constraints - There are certain time constraints that you have to go by when going through pre-production as you need to get the production started as soon as possible, before that, you need to get everything together and have everyone you need in the right places, you need to get all the equipment you need booked or bought for the right timeslots and you also need the clearances to access certain areas. It might take a long time to make a big AAA game such as Call of Duty however it doesn't take too long to make a small indie game such as Binding of Isaac as it is much smaller and requires not as much money therefore doesn't have a lot of developers and it doesn't take as much time to make.

 Personnel - Personnel are the main priority as if there are more people you can get more things done and done much quicker so it is always best to try and book people to come in for the right times else it will all backfire. You really need to be aware of what kind of people you need and where you need them to be, you also need to check all of their CV's along with their experience and specific skills they have. Every single AAA game has a really big team of personnel that they need to do lots of different things as there is so much to do, for example, Borderlands 2 was worked on by over 400 people over 3 years which shows how much work goes into games.

 Facilities - You might need to rent out certain facilities if you don't have much in your company as you might only have a small office, if that's the case you might need to rent facilities such as a recording studio or a room for recording all the motion capture however it is really important to make sure to book them on the right days. You might not have everything you need so outsourcing might be a good idea which is where you ask other people out of the project to help you such as doing some voice acting or getting a room they can use. Depending on how big your team is and what kind of game you are making then you might need a lot of different things like renting out places or using motion capture, but if you're just making an indie game like Super Meat Boy then you will just need an office with a few computers and drawing pads for artists.

 Materials - There are many different types of materials that you may need to use such as different pictures or sounds you might have to take/record or get off of the internet as long as they aren't copyrighted by any company. Most pictures and sounds you might need you can easily get off of different sites however it is always best to record/take pictures as long as you have good cameras and recording systems as they will be great for making everything as you own thing rather than just using other peoples work. Other things such as a script, animations, graphics and costumes are also things that you will most definitely need to get your project all done well and be completely your original work. A very realistic looking videogame such as Crysis will need lots of and very detailed materials, however a game like Game Dev Tycoon probably didn't require many materials at all apart from sound as everything in the game is just drawn.

Contributors - There can be many different types of contributors, these can vary from professionals to amateurs. They can be from camera men to one of your friends coming over to handle the boom mic or even Samuel L. Jackson coming down for a recording session. Contributors can come from everywhere but as long as you know exactly what you want for your project and contributors are willing to help you out then it should be all good. Obviously smaller projects don't require many contributors but if you're short on staff then you might have to get some friends to help out. Some early access games are able to be completed as people can buy their games and try them out which contributes to their finance and helping their game get a lot better. An example of this would be Rust as it is an early access game on steam that you can buy and it is being constantly updated and fixed which really shows the dedication of the developers.

 Locations - Locations are very important as you need to consider the price so you might want to look around a bit as there might be cheaper better places that you could find rather than expensive ones that are nearest to you, the area you're looking for is a big problem as you might need to go to a different part of the city or even have to travel very far to find certain places that you need, the distance from the rest of the people involved in the pre-production and how accessible it is depending on where you are, for example it could be a place that you need to drive through a thick forest to get to or that disabled members of the team might not be able to get there somehow. You might not need locations while making a game unless you are planning to take real life places and put them into your game, Fallout 3 is a good example of this as it is set in Washington DC, the developers must of had to go to Washington to take pictures or record videos so they can accurately build parts of the city as they are in real life but make it post-apocalyptic instead.

 Codes of practice - The main reason for pre-production work in companies is to make sure that their plans go along with the laws and regulations which are the main control of the industry as without going along with these laws/regulations then your game/movie/show etc, may not get made at all. Some of the legal issues that you have to consider during pre-production is getting permission to use copyrighted material, the health and safety regulations that you need to go along with, and getting permission from people who you might have in what you are making. There are many Regulatory Bodies such as Ofcom, Press Complaints Commission, Advertising Standards Authority, Pan European Game Information and Entertaintment Software Rating Board. These all are companies that rate videogames on who they are appropriate for and make sure that they meet the correct guidelines or else the games might be banned. There are also companies such as Trade Associations which help videogame developers and promote the gaming industry. Some examples of these companies are the Independent Games Developers' Association, Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers' Association (which in 2010 was re-branded to UKIE), British Interactive Media Association. All of these companies help the gaming industry and make sure that people are not going against the codes of practice.