small teams
by: akbar A.(syedali011@earthlink.net)
Well today, i am deciding to take a short break from reading more about
the stencil buffer (if you really must now, i am working on casting the
shadows of moveable objects but with a mirror projecting all what is happening)
and tell you what i think about small team game houses, and the relation
with todays' games.
Small teams are not a good idea for large scale commercial games. Sure
back in the early 90's and even up till the mid 90's it was possible to
do, but now days it is totally ludicrous.
Customers are getting more and more anxious about there games, and
they want to see them. The time it is taking to make games is just getting
longer and longer due to a few reasons.
-
customers want more
-
developers (including my self) want to implement all the cool stuff we
couldn't do before.
-
publishers always want more sales.
But here is the part which is kind of interesting. I guess when you start
your project for the first few months it is good to keep the team rather
small. {4-6 programmers}, at least until you architect the way the game
is going to be handled by the software code. I would say designing the
*engine* but that word is being overused way to much and i feel like it
is becoming into the y2k word.
Once you have the basic architecture laid out, it is time to increase
the size on the staff. Although it may seem to cost more in the long run,
with more programmers on the team you will get the game completed quicker
and polished (consumers like polish. just take a look at ut for a fps)
much more then you would with 4 to 5 programmers.
Another plus factor is, since you are going to be shipping sooner,
your initial technology bracket will be lower. You are not going to have
to architect with a certain 'X' feature involved cause it's time slot is
way ahead of your launch time.
Also by completing the game quicker, you will have lesser chances of
the team getting frustrated with everyone else at the company and deciding
to quit. ala` ionstorm. although that was not the only cause.
peace,
akbar A.