Serious Games Summit DC 2006
Tom Sloper knows game development. He’s been in the computer game industry since before 1980, and it’s a mark of his business sense that he’s still in it. His company, Sloperama Productions, now allows him to consult, giving him flexibility in the types of projects he works on. He spoke recently at the Serious Games Summit D.C., which took place October 30 and 31 in Arlington, Va., about what to expect and how to succeed when working with game developers. The majority of the audience at Sloper’s talk during a session titled “How To Find And Work With The Right Studio For Your Serious Game Project” comprised more serious games idea generators than experienced game developers. Many attendees already had a game idea, many already knew how they planned to distribute their project, and some already had funding. But few had worked with game developers in the past and wanted to know what to expect once their projects landed in the hands of a studio. The View From Within It’s been said that people inside the game industry aren’t able to appreciate just how quirky their work habits can be. How business gets done in the game industry is remarkably different from how it is done in the federal government for instance, where many serious game makers get their money. It’s also painfully different from other sectors that are involved in the serious games community—education, healthcare, research, emergency responders, and so forth. Those who rely on bureaucratic systems of approval, documented policies, and up-to-code office conditions may be in for a rude awakening the first few times they meet with professional video game developers. Having strong lines of communication, Sloper says, is the opening gambit. He recommends that anyone working with game developers, even those shopping for a studio to work with, visit them in their work environment. “Very small developers oftentimes work out of their homes rather than an office, and I again recommend asking them to see it anyway. You can really learn a lot about how you think they’ll work,” Sloper says. Yet, when gauging how a developer works, Sloper says the more experienced developers won’t necessarily look the most professional. Be prepared to find tangled wires, toys, figurines, and a general state of upbeat chaos, he says. “If it looks like a grown-up day school, then that’s a real game developer.” Sloper also suggests using the phone to communicate at least once a week, or once every two weeks, though email is acceptable for daily communications and IM for days when frequent dialogue is needed. Putting All Players to Work “Next, you have to do some work,” Sloper tells those looking to hire game developers to work on their serious games projects. “You have to have highly detailed documentation of what you want, and it has to be on paper.” The video game consultant stresses that these documents must “make your expectations crystal clear,” stating precisely what materials are needed specifically by what date and time and in what format. “Get everything in writing,” he says. “The way you write the milestones is very important. There are two ways you can go. The typical milestones are written down in the contract,” marked by delivery of content and payment, and “all are spelled out very clearly from the beginning,” Sloper says. The pros of using this method are that it is clear and predictable. The cons are that it’s inflexible, which developers might fear will stifle their creative ability. The second milestone method is to define only the first one or two milestones at outset, with subsequent milestones to be defined upon previous milestone delivery. According to Sloper, this method is much more flexible for both the developer and the game idea owner, which “may provide better fun factor of product.” However, using this method also reduces predictability. “The early stages you go through in a project are the most crucial,” says Sloper, telling serious games idea-generators that they must ask themselves what kind of progress report they want from the developer. “You want to hear from them about how often? You want to get builds how frequently? How frequently does the developer need to get paid? How frequently do you want to have meetings with the developers?”
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