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Production By Design

Games are not made by a single person (well, okay some are… good ones too, but for the most part, they’re made by teams of varying sizes).  The moment you begin to produce something with a team, especially something that is simultaneously art and commercial product, you must deal with problems that arise from a multitude of sources:  Team Dynamics, Product Development, Publisher/Developer Relations, and any number of other issues specific to a company, a team, and a game.  To this end, there are ways and means to help make the whole process better.  Just as we design our game, we can design our production process.

Wait, what’s this all about?

Simply put – Getting your game done.  Designers are in a unique position to help drive the production of a game, as they are the ones creating the overall vision and scope; two key elements in the production process.

Um, don’t we have Producers for this?

Yes. However we, as designers, need to take some responsibility and control in this process as well.  We shouldn’t be afraid to put on a producer hat now and then.  The reason is simple – It puts you in power.  Why wait for an internal/external/or publisher Producer to come in and tell you what you need to cut or change (sometimes with good ideas sometimes with bad ones) when you can take the reins yourself and have a solid plan in place from the beginning. 

When a Designer uses a Producer’s eye, they’re in a better position to see and alter the roadmap of development as problems arise. It gives Designers a chance to react and make better decisions.

So, this is another Design Blog.

Yes and no.  You’re not going to find a lot of pontificating on the advantages and disadvantages of a particular style of feedback loop.  There’s plenty of other blogs that engage in that discourse.  What you will get are thoughts, ideas, and strategies for what you, as a designer, can do to improve the production process.  The idea is to empower designers to think beyond raw mechanics, level flow, or scripting code and see a bigger picture – To help designers improve the overall process, make things run smoother, and as mentioned above, to make better decisions

Sure… And You Are?

My name is Shawn Ketcherside. I’ve been in the industry over ten years and served as a Programmer, a Writer, a Designer, and a Lead. I’ve worked at start ups, I’ve worked at lean independents, and I’ve worked a large corporate powerhouse studios.  Currently, I’m Design Producer at Bioware, where I manage and help drive production on more than 6 separate multidisciplinary teams all working away to deliver Star Wars: The Old Republic – One of the largest games ever developed.

In my time in the industry, I’ve learned that a solid eye for design coupled with a mind for production can mean the difference between success and cancellation and between a mediocre product and a stellar one.

I’m not a “suit.”  I’m a designer focused on production because I need to be, because it helps.  I’ve been in the trenches, and I’ve done “real work” in a variety of disciplines.  The experience has helped me cultivate a broad knowledge base about the industry as whole.

All Right, So What’s Next?

Read. Contribute. Comment. Try Things Out.  Keep in mind that not everything in this blog will be applicable or useful to every team or project.  That’s one of the key ideas of this entire blog – Every project, team, and company is a little different.  Still, hopefully you’ll find some interesting elements you can take and tweak to help your own processes.

As for me, I’m going to do my best to update this blog twice a month, some months may be a little lean as I’m also in the throes of production, so please excuse a light month or two as things ratchet up, for despite all the best efforts and methods, one thing we all know is that stuff still goes wrong.