What should be in a game development team?

Hello all,
I am a 15 years old student who learned C++ for 3 years and started to learn Unity and C# for about half a year. I am planning to make my own games in the future and publish it onto Steam. I have 4 other friends who is the same age as me and one grade 11 student who wish to work with me to make a game. Our game is probably going to be a simple low poly survival game. We plan to make the game singleplayer first with some basic melee fighting elements, but we probably will make it multiplayer in the future.

I'm the leader/founder of the team (sort of) and I am quite new to this. What roles do a indie game development team need? What are the knowledge that each of those individual roles needs to know?

This is our current team structure:
-Programmers: Myself, Oliver (the grade 11 student)
-Artist: Mark
-3D Modeler: Tyler
Daniel, the other Mark, didn't decide on taking a specific role yet.

Please gimme some tips about what roles is needed, what area of Unity Engine do they need to learn, and anything else that is needed but I didn't mention.

Thank you!
--Richard

 

Anyone? Please help

 

Why don't you figure out what constitutes a game, before worrying about roles? If nobody on your team knows what a game is made of, this ship is going nowhere.

 

Roles:

Manager

Marketing Team (or game will go no where)

Leader Coder
Lead Artist

Team leader

Senior Coder
Senior Artist

Texture Artists
3D Modelers
UV Teams (if they don't know how to Unwrap Models).

Level Designers
Game Designers

Sound Effects
Music

Voice Acting

Coder
Artist (3D, 2D, Textures, etc).

If MP
Then coders who understand Multiplayer
Money - to rent servers, buy, etc.




And that's just a small portion of teams.

 

You could have those extra guys work on level design, sound, and other tasks. Depending on your workflow, you may even decide to have them double up on existing tasks such as programming and modeling, and then later switch everybody over to working on level design.

Big picture wise, I would strongly encourage you to have your team build their first game as practice and release that first game for free online for feedback. This will give you a chance to see what the real challenges are during development. And by completely removing the financial aspect from the first project, your team will actually develop the skills needed to be financially successful later. Spend 3-6 months developing the first project. Maybe design the first project as a subset of the intended project, so you can use it as a foundation for your next project.

Another piece of advice is to not get mad at each other during the development. Some of your friends will fail along the way. Be supportive. Use the first project to develop skills. Realize there are going to be things that stop progress. At this point, you guys don't know what you don't know, and that is fine. Use the first project to figure out what those things are that you need to learn.

The reason I recommend developing a small game and releasing it for free for your first project is because that is a formula that works. Every successful game developer has made a bunch of small games for practice in order to develop the skills to build the game that made money.

 

While it's important to be able to all get along and work together, make sure everyone knows who has the final say. Making games is a collaborative process. It's important for team members to be able to change something and run it by the person in charge to explain the change. And it's very important for a person in charge to not be so resistant to change that they limit their work (games, music, whatever--I did it with music). But ultimately, somebody has to say "yes, this works" and "no, this doesn't work." Couch it in nice terms, of course, but someone has to take responsibility for deciding what goes and what doesn't (and making that decision requires skill).

 

Make a few games and see what everyone is good at and comfortable with. I'd suggest everyone take some time extra to learn about marketing. Without marketing the game no one will probably know about it so it's worth it to invest some time on that. Have a dedicated role for a designer because that is a whole field in itself and requires a lot of experience and good decision making skills.

 

I suggest reading articles on the net like http://www.gamasutra.com/

Some colleges for game development send people here for info as well, they have some good info.. I been in the field for over 20 years, before you think about making a game for Stream...You need to see how serious your team is.... before you take peoples money....Alot to making games I have made games with people with 10 years experience and it didn't work out, I released many games and been on AAA and indie teams, some just don't work out, ego's get in the way, people are lazy.. Many factors..

So I would suggest making a fun game first to see how serious your team and you are... making games is a big under taking and are costly.

Plus you can learn who is strong at one..3D,2d, Programming etc...

 

I would add team members in this order

• Programming
• Art
• Design
• Sound
• Business (marketing, management, production).

But let's face it, it's probably not going to be worth doing any of the business stuff in your first game. You've got plenty of years ahead of you, for now just have fun.

 

The above or simply.... a lot of money.

 

Yup, I think you guys are right, we should start on a few experimental project before getting into the real one.
Do you think the Roll-A-Ball project (yes, the one in Unity3d.com/learn/tutorials) is a good one to start off with? I'm really familiar with it but the rest of my teams are extremely new.

What I'm thinking is we could make an "advanced" roll a ball, to make some extensions on it after the basic project (different levels, more pickups, better UI, better texture, networking, etc).

There's another problem that confuses me:
As a programmer in the project, what area of Unity should I learn? Because all the other are) s are linked with scripting, e.g. navigation needs to be combined with scripting(nav agent,), animation needs to be combined with scripting, physics needs to be combined with scripting (addforce, torque), etc. Do I need to learn all the related areas or not?

 

@atwaterlol : Honestly man, the best thing you can do is to at least familiarize your self with everything that you can. Learning and retaining the information is the most valuable thing in the world, then you can pass on your knowledge to others.

I can not stress that enough, as this one guy I seen on youtube say "You can burn my house down and I won't be mad, we have blueprints, we can rebuild". Of course he'd be mad (who wouldn't)?. But understanding the context of it is more important than what he actually said.

'You can take/destroy anything you want, but my knowledge and thing's I've learned can't be taken".

So learn as much as you can, especially the areas you tend to avoid because you dislike it, it's generally them areas you will find you love the most once you give it a chance.

EDIT: Oh and the Roll A Ball stuff is always a good place to start with, all of Unity's projects/tutorials, etc. Are very important to try. It teaches you nearly every fundamental to understanding Unity and getting something amazing.

 

Are there any suggestions how to prepare the right budget in such occasion? I have no knowledge in games budgeting

 

For servers, etc? Only asking because that's the only part you quoted.
But if so, it all really comes down to expectations and chance... If you are making a game that you know has a following of 5,000 people before ever releasing, when I say a following I mean practically confirmed purchases, which in a perfect world that would be true, so now we get to expectations vs reality.

Reality is, it's a risk and chance game, even if you knew 10,000 people that said they would buy your game, I'd account for 2500 of them to be truthful (this way I don't bite off more than I can chew), servers aren't cheap, and neither is renting them.

Ultimately it comes down to what solution you choose to use (Make your own Server from scratch (Cheapest route - but time consuming) or doing Photon or UNET, etc). each have their pros and cons, but Photon is by far the cheapest route I've found when it comes to using their own Cloud servers..

But it's really just about what you expect, and by expecting do the math involved (Unity and Photon) both have calculators that can help you determine a cost/price ratio based on CCU's (Concurrent Users). I'm assuming they are only estimates, not entirely accurate, but sure they are there and I'm sure they are only a few percentage off if not, they may be purely accurate for all I know.

 

You can do this with the team you have. Yeah, there are lots of other titles for a professional studio team, but as a group of friends, making a game? Go for it. You will wear many hats, each one of you, but you can certainly make a simple survival game.

I think some folks like to scare off people by making it more complicated than it is.

I think this is a GREAT thing for you and your friends to do together. You will learn so much. While you may not make money, who knows. However, you will take a huge leap forward!

 

It's also worth noting you can mould your game to meet your team. Got lots of programmers? Build a heavy simulation. Got lots of artists? Build an FPS. Got lots of writers? Build an interactive novel.

Sometimes moulding the game to fit the team is more effective then changing the team to suit the game.

 

I think sometimes people here forget what it is like to be young. I guess since I have kids the age of the ones who are trying to form their team, I know what kids are capable of doing.

There are plenty of folks here, adults, with jobs, who are making games for fun and maybe to sell if it works out.

In the case of these kids, making games together could set them on a path for a career someday. They might do really well...or it may be fun for a while and then they move on to start a garage band.

But some of the comments here are from folks who either are just old curmudgeons or forgot what it was like to be a kid.

I sure hope they come back here and read to the end and don't give up on their game.

Texture artist? Come on....do all of you have a texture artist on your team? LOL

 

Above all you need to have a passion for it.

 

This all sounds AAA to me and not start-up indie. This is the first time I even see anyone mention UV teams. I would think most Indie studios have 3D modellers who do the model from mesh to texturing and another who do Rigging and Animation if not the same person.

 

I only mentioned UV Teams because of being beginners, not everyone understands the concept of UV Maps, it took my literally years to grasp it, even though I could 3D Model and Animate all day long.... Which is why I put (If they don't know how to Unwrap Models).... To at least have people who know how to do it..

I wasn't trying to say to make UV people separate, only if nobody knows how to do it.

 

Team? You guys are doing this in a team? Well... I never...

 

I was seriously considering about doing this in a 1man army but realized it would be much easier if I have others to work on other parts of the game. Gathered a few friends who had the same idea, and boom, a noob team is formed...

 

@atwaterlol : Certainly nothing wrong with having a team, I wished at times I had a team. But at the same time I'm glad I'm doing everything my self, it has taught me so many lessons I wouldn't have learned otherwise, at least for awhile.

Don't underestimate the value of learning as much as you can. It will help you in the long run with challenges... Your team should do what they love to do, but don't fear venturing to other areas to learn, it will open so many oppertunities for you guys.

Take it from someone who has worked alone for 20 years, I have gained so much knowledge, skills, etc. It takes a very special kind of person to dedicate their entire life to a craft, so long as you love to do it, respect it, you guys will go a long ways.

 

Hi Richard,
Your team is quite well organised for getting started with producing a game. If I where you I would plan out your game as best as you can (but remember to keep it simple). Work out each of the mechanics that you want to implement and then work out what order they are best made in, as well as what things in your game need to communicate with each other.

When you get going you will most likely need some kind of source control, so you can all work well together while working at different locations... as well as being able to jump back to previous versions if you mess up big time.

In your first game I wouldn't get to caught up in trying to make a game that will sell for millions, look at it more as a learning experience, not just on programming/how to make a game, but also on how your team works together and where your greatness lies as well as your limitation. Make sure your first game is fun for you and your team to play else they might get board and do something else.

Good luck and have fun designing/creating/playing

 

If they have a modeler, he will learn to UV map. It is just part of the process. No one can make models for a game without learning because no one can use decent textures without UVs.

These guys might use assets from the store rather than make their own and that is absolutely possible, especially as they lay out the beginnings of their game. Later then can replace with their own models or buy better ones if they have the money. Otherwise, low cost to free will do for a start.

Honestly, it is all about starting, not about UVs or titles for the teams, just about doing something.

 

@Teila : I get what ya mean.. I honestly hated the idea of UV Unwrapping and avoided it for years, but once I learned it, I loved every second of it.

 

The reality is, yes it is far far easier if you have a talented team to pick up the slack in areas that you aren't the best at. I have definitely suffered for going at projects alone in the past, and have had pretty good time when working with others (even just one other person) because it helps to keep the project on track if the team works well together, and obviously more manpower means more work gets done hopefully

 

You're on the right track starting really small. Add-ons to 'roll a ball' is a great call.

My suggestion is do very, VERY small test runs at first. Stuff that you think you could finish up over a weekend or maybe a week at the longest to start. See how that goes first.

Keep in mind a lot of people would rather talk about making games than actually sit down and work. If someone doesn't actually help. Don't get discouraged, don't try to force them, and don't fight. Just focus your attention on the guys who really want to do stuff, even if it ends up just you and one other dude.

I think you have the right attitude. Good luck!

 

People who work hard, and actually show up! LOL Sorry, but it's true.
Also, it's best to work with "generalists" if you are in a small team. This way everyone is always learning and no one ever gets bored. You can help each other with different aspects of the game, with your individual strengths growing the others.

 

hey guys,
We ran into a problem! Long story short, our team started to make the roll-a-ball game with collab enabled, and Oliver (a programmer) uploaded a version of the project that is quite old (he hadn't been working for a few days), and his version basically override all the new things me and Mark (another programmer) made during the time.

How can we prevent this? Is there a way to control the version and make sure everybody stays on the same page?

--Richard

 

Version control system is a must for team work. Have a look at this: https://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials/topics/cloud-build/creating-your-first-source-control-repository

 

""""What should be in a game development team?""""


People that get paid...

 

Thanks for the extremely constructive and detailed suggestion!

 

Try to get Investors so you have the money , make a plan document and prognoses.

 

Congratulations on entering the fray.

What you need, is what everybody creative needs, and that is "effortless discipline".

You show up to work without anyone telling you, you add to the projects without worrying about the time you're spending (but you work efficiently, and always seem to get things done faster than others) you learn new things as needed because you know you need to, and you can do all of this comfortable while still being creative and having fun.

The roles don't matter as much as the people in those roles.

 

I think this is your most constructive post ever Mr. Frog.

Must be getting soft in your old age ;D

 

Thank you!

 

May be initially start with such a team where anyone in the team is capable of doing anything. It is one of principals of SCRUM/Agile software development approach. Assign tasks to team members and help out the ones who are lagging behind.

Free Visual Studio Online is helpful for managing and tracking such efforts etc.

https://www.visualstudio.com/vso/

It will also give your team a chance to find out their strengths and weaknesses. Also keep the scope of first game small.

Later on you guys can take different distinct roles like Animator for example.

 

Hi guys,
Thank you for all your help so far! Our team managed to finish the roll-a-ball project with a bit of customization and extension. Here's what the game look like:

 

Way to Go! Wish you guys all the best.
Game/Software Development including Game Art is the most rewarding and fun career that one can have.

 

@atwaterlol that looks very nice!