Look at the rule another way: At least 80% of a game's development cycle should be testing, redoing, and polishing. at least.
Well, sort of... not really.
You don't polish a prototype.
The benefits of early prototyping are legion, but spending 80% of the development time iterating on a "completed game" isn't really one of them.
A prototype might even be discarded in its entirety. You could do a 2d prototype in Flash for a 3d game written in C++, for example.
But prototypes can be super valuable, even in situations like that.
They can also be a waste of time: You wouldn't prototype a sequel in which the gameplay isn't changing.
(No need to warn against prototyping too much, though - we seem pretty safe)
October 31, 2007 at 11:34 PM
Within Rules of Play, the authors advocate something so phenomenal, I am compelled to quote it:
"We have a straightforward rule of thumb regarding prototyping and playtesting games: a game prototype should be created and playtested, at the absolute latest, 20 percent of the way into a project schedule."
My heart grew three sizes when I read those words. Look at the rule another way: At least 80% of a game's development cycle should be testing, redoing, and polishing. at least.
Imagine what awesome games could be made if design teams were expected to take 80% or more of their development time refining and perfecting their prototypes.
There exists at least one such game - Puzzle Quest. Infinite Interactive had a playable prototype for Puzzle Quest up and running after only 2 months. Then they spent an additional 25 months tinkering with, adding content to, and polishing the game. Having a working prototype just 7.4% of the way into their project schedule allowed them to develop a fun, successful game.*
While I couldn't find precise numbers for World of Warcraft, we can infer that a large part of Blizzard's development cycle is spent on iterative design, given the high level of value they place on game polish.**
In my experience, games like these are the exception.
"A Rule of Thumb from Rules of Play"
1 Comment -
Look at the rule another way: At least 80% of a game's development cycle should be testing, redoing, and polishing. at least.
Well, sort of... not really.
You don't polish a prototype.
The benefits of early prototyping are legion, but spending 80% of the development time iterating on a "completed game" isn't really one of them.
A prototype might even be discarded in its entirety. You could do a 2d prototype in Flash for a 3d game written in C++, for example.
But prototypes can be super valuable, even in situations like that.
They can also be a waste of time: You wouldn't prototype a sequel in which the gameplay isn't changing.
(No need to warn against prototyping too much, though - we seem pretty safe)
October 31, 2007 at 11:34 PM