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Game Development
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Yeah you'll need a lot of people for that kind of project. At the simplest level there are a bunch of designers, then software architects, then programmers and artists, sound effects people, musicians. Then games like Starcraft require map design, which requires some people.
The game art and various code parts are split between smaller teams of artists and programmers respectively. One team might be working on the graphics engine (which one must try to reuse as much as possible for as many games as possible), another team might be working on the level editor (as in the case of Starcraft where the editor itself is a HUGE project), and so on.
I'm not sure how many artists are required for a game like SC or Diablo, but must be a lot. Sound effects also require a number of people. Sound effects include things like voice narration, which requires actors. Music is always original in Blizzard games, so musicians are needed.
The average development time for a non-Blizzard game is supposed to be 18 months. I say "non-Blizzard" because Blizzard likes to "make a high quality product" as they like to put it, so they might take longer. But your average Joe Shmoe game development company (Interplay, Westwood) will try to finish a game in 18 months even if it means making a buggy product.
I'll stop here, I'm sure there are more people I missed, but you get the point. Games like this do have budgets in the hundreds of thousands, and even millions, and unless you've got some very generous investors I wouldn't recommend trying it
Long live backroom development!
Edited by - Supernova on September 26, 2000 5:08:00 PM
The game art and various code parts are split between smaller teams of artists and programmers respectively. One team might be working on the graphics engine (which one must try to reuse as much as possible for as many games as possible), another team might be working on the level editor (as in the case of Starcraft where the editor itself is a HUGE project), and so on.
I'm not sure how many artists are required for a game like SC or Diablo, but must be a lot. Sound effects also require a number of people. Sound effects include things like voice narration, which requires actors. Music is always original in Blizzard games, so musicians are needed.
The average development time for a non-Blizzard game is supposed to be 18 months. I say "non-Blizzard" because Blizzard likes to "make a high quality product" as they like to put it, so they might take longer. But your average Joe Shmoe game development company (Interplay, Westwood) will try to finish a game in 18 months even if it means making a buggy product.
I'll stop here, I'm sure there are more people I missed, but you get the point. Games like this do have budgets in the hundreds of thousands, and even millions, and unless you've got some very generous investors I wouldn't recommend trying it
Long live backroom development!
Edited by - Supernova on September 26, 2000 5:08:00 PM
Amen Supernova Aren''t you a little far from home? I didn''t know your mom let you cross the street and come over to GameDev.net from Xgames3d.com If I end up making a small percent of what your typical games makes..hell even 1 percent of what it cost to develop Diablo I would be more then happy..but then again I am just one of the guys who isn''t in it for the money and I make a decent enough living at my normal job that I can do this for the rest of my life and be happy! Don''t get me wrong...getting that first game published be it valueware stuffed in a crate with a thousand other cds or that lucky day when me and my team get a stand alone(Hell if Firefighter can make it I hope one of my titles will eventually..that game was..well a good effort by the small guys ) Will be the happiest day in my life(or close to it)
Later
OME
Aren''t you a little far from home? I didn''t know your mom let you cross the street and come over to GameDev.net from Xgames3d.com If I end up making a small percent of what your typical games makes..hell even 1 percent of what it cost to develop Diablo I would be more then happy..but then again I am just one of the guys who isn''t in it for the money and I make a decent enough living at my normal job that I can do this for the rest of my life and be happy! Don''t get me wrong...getting that first game published be it valueware stuffed in a crate with a thousand other cds or that lucky day when me and my team get a stand alone(Hell if Firefighter can make it I hope one of my titles will eventually..that game was..well a good effort by the small guys ) Will be the happiest day in my life(or close to it) Later
OME
I just watched through the credits of StarCraft''s expansion pack Brood Wars and a rough estimate of the number of people who worked on the game (it doesn''t differentiate between SC and BW ppl), which include producers, arts, programmers, music, sound effects, voice acting, cinematics ppl, and map designers, was around 80 people. I stopped counting once it got to manual layout/art and quality assurance...
Also in the packaging of StarCraft it says "Coming in 1998: Diablo2".
Also in the packaging of StarCraft it says "Coming in 1998: Diablo2".
> Lot''s of Artist''s ? I don''t think so just quality and very good artist''s.
Well, diablo I''s credit list has 46 artists. Hmm..., maybe it is not that much.
> I read somewhere that Id Software only has a staff of 6
When they have done catacomb3d maybe, but count them on q3a''s credit list. You will be surprised.
bernie
www.bkgames.com
Well, diablo I''s credit list has 46 artists. Hmm..., maybe it is not that much.
> I read somewhere that Id Software only has a staff of 6
When they have done catacomb3d maybe, but count them on q3a''s credit list. You will be surprised.
bernie
www.bkgames.com
Okay one, we''re we talkign about Diablo or Diablo 2 ?
Originally I thought it was Diablo and there development team wasn''t big at all.
They we''re a third party developer''s who are now called Blizzard North. I must admit i''ve never played Star Craft. Diablo 2 how ever has lots of developer''s but that wasn''t what we we''re talkign about right ?
Diablo, biggest feature''s.. Random map''s that work ?
AI maybe ?
Spell''s, Graphic''s... Story line... I''m not sure.
Diablo 2 was just an enhanced version which took crap load''s of people to do. 3D engine, Multiplayer and Networking (block cheating)
But the final point is, you do not need 1 million dollar''s to make a game, although it would be nice to buy a couple of super computer''s and hire the best programmer''s in the world for a year or 2...
Originally I thought it was Diablo and there development team wasn''t big at all.
They we''re a third party developer''s who are now called Blizzard North. I must admit i''ve never played Star Craft. Diablo 2 how ever has lots of developer''s but that wasn''t what we we''re talkign about right ?
Diablo, biggest feature''s.. Random map''s that work ?
AI maybe ?
Spell''s, Graphic''s... Story line... I''m not sure.
Diablo 2 was just an enhanced version which took crap load''s of people to do. 3D engine, Multiplayer and Networking (block cheating)
But the final point is, you do not need 1 million dollar''s to make a game, although it would be nice to buy a couple of super computer''s and hire the best programmer''s in the world for a year or 2...
Hey, a thread on games costs that i haven''t ranted in yet.
It sure dosent take a million dollars, you can do good games with just 1 or 2 people taking a year or so, thats what rollercoaster tycoon took.
Dosen''t make it easy though. There is a lot to a finished game, I would not dismiss ANY game as ''easy to program''.
What amuses me is the swarm on anon posters that wade in an experts on these things. Unless you have real experience of a full game development cycle over a year or so, I''m not sure how qualified anyone is to start throwing figures about. Best best is to go look at the post mortems in Gamasutra, or PC Zone magazine in the UK lists each games team size.
In any event, if you want to know this so you can get a publisher to give you the millions neccesary, you may be wasting your time. If you don''t have enough industry experience to already know the likley team size/costs then no publisheris going to invest a bean in you.
Good luck though!
http://www.positech.co.uk
It sure dosent take a million dollars, you can do good games with just 1 or 2 people taking a year or so, thats what rollercoaster tycoon took.
Dosen''t make it easy though. There is a lot to a finished game, I would not dismiss ANY game as ''easy to program''.
What amuses me is the swarm on anon posters that wade in an experts on these things. Unless you have real experience of a full game development cycle over a year or so, I''m not sure how qualified anyone is to start throwing figures about. Best best is to go look at the post mortems in Gamasutra, or PC Zone magazine in the UK lists each games team size.
In any event, if you want to know this so you can get a publisher to give you the millions neccesary, you may be wasting your time. If you don''t have enough industry experience to already know the likley team size/costs then no publisheris going to invest a bean in you.
Good luck though!
http://www.positech.co.uk
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