[WIP] GameDev Architect

GameDev Architect is a web-site with Unity extensions.


During the process of game-development, there needs to be central repository to store the list of quests, list of NPCs, list of enemies, list of locations in-game, list of in-game items.


For MMO-RPGs, MMO-FPSs, this is very important as there is lot of data-entry and form-filling. Yeah, you can create 20,000 NPCs, trying to add 2,000 quests in-game is stretch.


Introducing the GameDev Architect, the one-stop portal for your game-design document needs.


First, you start with defining your Game Studio name and locations where you are located.


From the game-design, you can specify your game genre (racing, arcade, simulation, rig), theme (sci-fi/ medieval/ roman/), game-engine (obviously - Unity) and other details required.



For music, there are two kinds of music - 2D and 3D music. The site also tracks usage and music-refernces, so that makes it easier for the composer to know what kind of music you want in-game, and whether they are used in-game or not. For example, the musician would submit 10 samples of burning noise, only 1 is used.



For writer, this defines the GDD (Game Design Document) upfront before the 2D artist, 3D modeller and developers see your game.

This way, you can specify upfront what you game is:

• what kind of quests it should have,
• what kind of scene it should have,
• what kind of locations in-game, it should have,
• what kind of NPCs it should have.

NPCs, Enemies, items are made using template, so that you specify the base NPC (a certain model), base enemy (a certain model) only once.

Certain games have cut-scenes. This allows the writer to specify cut-scenes that may occur.




GameDev Architect also handles PR and marketing.

it has it's own built-in article management system, keeps track of released assets, canned responses to others,

keep track of fans and investors.

it allows you to fill-in a list of sites you can keep track of.



GameDev Architect also handles recruitment and direct data capture.

This way, you can ask them fill-in a form, which enters directly or indirectly* (part of the app is behind firewall) and get applicants instead of having dozens of resumes in email.

You can then follow-up as this system keeps track of interview questions, portfolios links, background checks, legal checklist (for HR regulations compliance).

 

Oh, this is interesting. When do you think this will become available?

 

i'm not sure of time when this is available. You'll have to subscribe to this thread for updates.

 

This looks really promising. +1 I am gunna follow this. A question: Will this be free or paid?

 

Wow! Awesome idea this can become really useful!

 

There is lack of web-based game design tools.


It is free for casual usage and as many game designs as you want, for your account. There may be some premium modules where you pay on-time payment (freemium style).


We handle things such as:

- escrow for developers, artists, musicians and modellers,

- time billing (the site will have option to disable manual time entry) and automatically record program usage.

- arbitration (where person pays up and developer does no work), we have senior artists, senior modellers, senior developers here who can tell what's wrong.

- Two Factor authentication, identity verification prior to payment, site sends a SMS message to their hand-phone to login,

- repository for team, for you to delegate tasks, for you to see works done, for writer to enter in all data...,

- public key encryption - all data is encrypted with your private key. So nobody else will know it. (Just don't lose it... cos we have no way of decrypting)

- Talent pool - feedback and people who you can join into site to help you.

 

How not to hire an artist (part 1)

Before you hire an artist, you need to get your GDD ready.

What is GDD?



A game-design document should have at least the following elements:

• ideas
• story
• location
• scene
• npc
• bosses
• enemies
• quests
• cut-scenes
• storyline
• quest items
• objects
• quest objects
• references

Ideas are straight forward. Suppose you want to make racing game. .. You envision making a racing game with 5 tracks, 5 cars.

What next?

5 tracks = 5 scenes.

So what's the story? You need to make story so that people don't get bored racing around not having anything else to see or do.

- Could the story be about deadly racing game, and you need to win 5 races to save your girl friend?

- Could the story be about futuristic racing game, where you drive around experimental cars?


In the scenes, you define the 5 kinds of race-tracks you want. There's problem! What kind of race-tracks do you want? What kind of environments do you want?

What should each location contain?

What cars or NPCs should each competing drivers have?

What bosses does the player race against?

Quests - Does the racer need to do something before getting to the boss?

Cut-scenes - Does the racer see anything else in-between races? Should there be a level manager? ...

Objects - does the player gain in-game objects during game-play?


References are things that looks similar to what the racing game should look like. it helps the artist, modeller and developer understand what kind of things they should model, draw and code.

You have some imaginary object in your head. The artist is not psychic, he cannot take that imagination from your head and draw it.**

** if you are looking for psychic artists, you should contact your psychic and ask if that person can draw (something?) from cold reading. Go off-line, find a psychic artist. You really should not be expecting artists to draw some imaginary thing and then you complain that it is wrong. it gets frustrating for both you and the artist who wastes his time dealing with you.


Since most of us communicate by talking, listening, reading and writing, if you specify your GDD and references upfront, it makes it very easy for the artist to get it right first time.

There are several deaf artists who request you turn on your web-cam so they can lip-read what you say.

As for artists who don't have a headset, cannot do conference calls, only does chatting over instant message, i think you should avoid them.


Q: Should you hire an artist, developer or upfront from start of project?
A: You should fill-in the GDD first. if you have some money, you can get a writer to do that for you.
it would be really bad advice to hire immediately as the 2D artist, 3D artist and developer will be doing nothing, waiting on each other.


Q: I am an artist, modeller or developer and that sounds very offensive about it.
A: There is nothing offensive about this. Many artists on this forum find that the people hiring them, waste their time, don't tell them exactly what to do, don't tell them exactly what they need to do.

For instance, draw a car. The artist would say - what kind of car? what colour? what size? what proportion? is there any references so that i know what i draw, and what the final product should look like?

Forcing the person who hires an artist, to write down everything upfront, would solve lot of ambiguities, bricking and time-wasting. it would also be good business practice to force the person to specify everything upfront, so that revisions, issues, are less.


Q: How long does an average GDD take to fill-in?
A: it takes around approximately 3 months for an average person to fill in, if they specify everything upfront. Most people do it in their spare time. Thus, they only have 2 or 3 hours a week to do that.


Q: Should i hire a 3D artist first?
A: You should get a 2D artist who does concept art first.

3D artists, they need to work in pair with 2D artist. The problem is this:
Suppose you want to make a race-track. What kind of race-track? What kind of size and proportion? What kind of shape?

if you get the 2d artist to draw concept art first, that would save lot of shape-resizing, proportion resizing, dimension-resizing and colour changing.


Q: Should i hire a developer first?
A: Wait for the GDD, 2D artist, 3D artist to finish their tasks first.


Q: i'm a 3D artist. Why should i be hired after 2d artist?
A: Most of the times, i've seen that it's best for the 2d artist to finish all the concept artwork -

- environment concept artwork,
- NPC concept artwork,
- enemy concept artwork,
- boss concept artwork,
- object concept artwork,
- item concept artwork,
- quest concept art (as in, 2D scenes depicting quest areas)
- story concept art (as in, 2D scenes depicting the story - good for 2D cut-scenes)
- menu concept art (as in, 2D wire-frame what the menus should look like).

Many 3D artists prefer to join existing teams as paid contractor to make models, animations, rig, texture,., than to make their own games.

if you specify the environment concept artwork, it becomes very easy for 3d artist to make low-poly, LOD environment objects (houses, trees, rocks, grass) than guess around.


Q: I'm a developer, why should i be hired after all the 2D, 3D and GDD is done?
A: One of the most common complaint on this forum, is that the developer has to use stock models for character, in lieu while waiting for the 3d artist to finish.

The scene would be so bland, the developer dunno what to do. For instance, without finished track (see above - the theme or idea is racing game), without finished car models, without finished environment, the developer would be putting code against stock model to simulate a racing game.

Also, without finished concept art for menus, the developer would be guessing along trying to do some 2D menus against imaginary background, imaginary racing models. i think you get idea...

What happens, is the developer, 3d modeller waits for the 2D arts guy to finish., or some semblance of finishing the game design.


Q: Should i use ready-made assets?
A: You should wait for the GDD to be done and 2D concept art to be drawn first.

It depends on Genre.
if you have a serious racing game, then, you should not be buying cartoony art assets.
if you have cartoony or sci-fi racing game, you should not be buying models that are serious looking.




Part 2 coming - what should the 2D artist do, after getting a GDD document.

 

This looks like an awesome resource to use. Looks very clean and well organized. Keep it up. Need to be watching this.

 

There are 3 types of models - NPCs, Enemies, Player

For player-controlled characters, there is ability to specify upfront what kind of customisations, what kind of models, race, class, factions and choices.




One of the biggest complaint from modellers is that customers don't specify upfront what animations they should or would want to have.



it becomes easier to write the story-line, when the classes, race, faction is pre-specified.

 

GameDev architect is able to add licenses and license types.

The data model for the License also accommodates other kinds of license types.

 

GameDev Architect allows you to specify Designer Types or Roles each game-designer does when making your game.



A 2D artist should have:





To ensure the data model for Designer skills is correct, the idea guy should have:





This allows the customer to specify what traits they are looking in recruitment ads and what skill-set they want to bring to their team.

In doing so, this allows you to quickly build a team of people with complementary skills.

 

Hey! Loving the updates When will this be available do you think?

 

I cannot give any time frames. Please subscribe to this thread instead.

We have been experimenting with dark-skin UI.


GameDev Architect handles lots of project kinds, even the ones you don't know about .





In game development, there is both good and bad type of projects.


GameDev Architect has a web-based dialog editor. in that way, you add dialog interactivity to your game, without having a mental block on what to tell the developer.




and mind-mapping tool to visualise your idea (see prior posts for racing game introduction)

 

The mind mapper, dialog editor and other diagraming facilities work on Android and iPad.


Coming next: time tracking tool.

 

The first set of Unity integration is TestFlight integration.

 

We have two time tracking systems. TimeBillingWindow, you can see my sig.


For people who are hiring others, there is TimeTrackWindow. This has simple interface. Black skinned too.

You can write comment:


Check status.


This records all the apps on the PC.





So you will get a list of activities done on that PC and time elapsed.

2/18/2014 1:14:41 PM - cacheserver


2/18/2014 1:14:55 PM - Unity - 01 Original Cutscene.unity - trunk - PC, Mac Linux Standalone


2/18/2014 1:15:09 PM - Works In Progress - Mozilla Firefox


2/18/2014 1:15:15 PM - inuit dating - Google Search - Mozilla Firefox


2/18/2014 1:15:27 PM - Mozilla Firefox


2/18/2014 1:15:27 PM - inuit dating - Google Search - Mozilla Firefox


2/18/2014 1:15:29 PM - Singles Free Dating Eskimo Man Woman, Eskimo Online Dating, Personal Ads - Find Singles FreeDating Site OneLoveNet.com, Online Dating Service, Personal Ads - Mozilla Firefox


2/18/2014 1:15:53 PM - dating - Google Search - Mozilla Firefox


2/18/2014 1:15:53 PM - Singles Free Dating Man Woman, Online Dating, Personal Ads - Find Singles Free Dating Site OneLoveNet.com, Online Dating Service, Personal Ads - Mozilla Firefox


2/18/2014 1:15:57 PM - dating - Google Search - Mozilla Firefox


2/18/2014 1:17:59 PM - Unity - a31town5start.unity - trunk - PC, Mac Linux Standalone


2/18/2014 1:17:59 PM - Unity - 01 Original Cutscene.unity - trunk - PC, Mac Linux Standalone


2/18/2014 1:18:07 PM - Unity - a41dungStart.unity - trunk - PC, Mac Linux Standalone


2/18/2014 1:18:07 PM - Unity - a31town5start.unity - trunk - PC, Mac Linux Standalone


2/18/2014 1:18:15 PM - Unity - Beach.unity - trunk - PC, Mac Linux Standalone*


2/18/2014 1:18:15 PM - Unity - a41dungStart.unity - trunk - PC, Mac Linux Standalone


2/18/2014 1:18:17 PM - Unity - Beach.unity - trunk - PC, Mac Linux Standalone


2/18/2014 1:18:17 PM - Unity - Beach.unity - trunk - PC, Mac Linux Standalone*



It don't allow the user to enter their own time-billing. As you can see, it picks up anything else on the record, so if they are doing some funny business, that will also be recorded down as well.


You pay them what you agree on their time sheet.
There is open to disable manual entry of time-sheets, so they don't inflate time worked.

 

How not to hire a 2D artist, part ii

What does a 2d artist do?
A 2d artist is the second stage of the game pipeline. That person reads the GDD, ideas, concepts initially written and references are provided.

That person then produces initial concept art. The artwork is black white.

He works with both the writer and 3D artist. He is the in-between person for the 3D artist.


I am a developer. Should I hire an artist?
You need to know if that person is a 2D or 3D artist. A 3D artist is one that makes 3D models. Since many developers are not artistic, it would be best if you can do your GDD first. That would save you much time to explain what the 2D artist should do. (See prior posts).

Since the artist's time is money, if you cannot explain what the 2D art should or would look like, you would spend lots of money on very little artwork. So take some advice. Get your GDD done first, then approach a 2D artist.

Similarly, if you hire a 3D artist and if you do not provide 2D concept art and references, be prepared to spend a lot of money on redesign and rework.

A good 3d artist would advise you to get everything specified upfront.



Why is the concept art black and white?
The 2d artist then re-draw the black and white artwork in different color sets to get a feel or mood for the environment.


This black and white artwork may be concept NPCs, scenes, website logos, product boxes, design GUI interface.

However, for GUI interfaces, the artist will design concept AFTER a wireframe is made.




Are there job opportunities for disabled 2D artists?
There are several deaf artists on this forum. They communicate by lip-reading, or aptly, asking you to write the whole thing first. They don't advertise much since they seem to get flooded by requests and always have lot of work.


How would you hire an artist?
Look at his show-reel and portfolio. Arts test may be necessary if the style is in doubt.


What is a portfolio?
A portfolio is the best images (usually JPG or PNG) of the prior artwork. This would showcase the artist's work. This would showcase various art styles, various kinds of environments, characters he has drawn previously.


The artist says that lots of his work is in NDA and almost nothing to show
Many artists have a huge collection of images on their FaceBook page. That's how they get fans. Why is that artists on this forum have so few images on their Facebook page, very few images on their Portfolio page,... and the artists outside this forum, 2D artists have lots of images?



How do you check for plagiarism?
Use the service TinEye, reverse image lookup. There is a anti-plagarism service you can subscribe to, to check work. This is if you are hiring lots of artists. Usually, when you sign an agreement, you should specify that all the artwork is the artist's own work and plagiarism is grounds for dismissal.


In very rare cases, you have an artist who then outsources his work to some buddy and then hands you over the finished images. Thus, you should take due diligence and make sure that he or she understands that is not ethical.




What should you look for?
- good color coordination.
- good photoshop skills
- rapid iterations of the same artwork.

- consider limitations. For instance, if you design 10 legged creature, it may be difficult to create 3D model out of it.

- read english or speak fluent english. Some use Google translate English -> Portuguese, English -> Spanish.



Do people look at education qualifications?
Most job ads are DOE (Depends on experience).



Is there difference between 2d and 3d artist?
it depends on education and skill-set. 3d artists command higher-pay, more training, since they have to model in 3 dimensions.

It would be best if you get a 2D artist so the 3d artist does not have to guess around the size and proprotions.



Rates vary, but are standard for fixed sets of work.
For instance,

if you paid $500 for a black white logo,
if you have paid upfront $3000 and get a lot of stick drawings, i think you've been scammed.


is there difference between 2D GUI artist and 2D concept artist?
There is no difference. A skilled 2D artist can handle all sorts of 2D art - such as - 2D environment concept, concept wireframe to 2D GUI, written texts and references to 2D character concept art.

If you hire a 2D artist and then he makes poor concept art, you may consider hiring another person to do it.


Is there a difference between 2D GUI artist and 2D website artist?
There is no difference. A 2D artist is usually skilled at making web buttons. That is one of the first lessons - how to draw curves, how to draw proportional shadows, in art college.

If you hire a 2D artist who claims he went to arts college and makes bad website art, you should consider finding a new 2d artist.


Should i buy a Wacom tablet for the artist?
Many artists have their own Wacom tablet.

However, there are several 2D artists on this forum who tack-on a $2,000 charge to buy a Wacom tablet. After some time, that person would have 20 Wacom tablets but always keep asking for a new Wacom tablet.


What is stick drawings?
Stick drawings is considered very simple drawing, without colour, without style, just black and white, like as if someone used MS-Paint to do their artwork.

When a 2D artist does artwork, he produces a ready-made concept art within hours. The artwork should look aesthetically pleasing.

The person should be able to deduce down the style and colour swatch (or colour combination) used to get different feels.

The artwork should not take long time. For instance, a 2D artist could make 20 concepts in 3 hours. A small arts test given in 30 minutes, the person should be able to produce good artwork.


i am a budding artist trying to break-in to the gaming community. is a 2d artist good career choice?
You should learn both 2D art and 3D art. Many artists who specialise in 2D art find themselves unable to break-into the 3D arts community.

I've seen several artists who graduate from arts school who major in 2D art regret their choice of art courses when they were in college. 3D art is more difficult to make. Some artists specialise totally on 2D artwork.

 

All the Add/Edit/Delete/List was done

There is built in editor.
Of course, we only use the best web-based editor, so you don't get a scruffy editor.

 

You can easily make a copy or Duplicate and Archive the entry.




Next up: Wiki-based story system.

 

here are some videos I found on crafting a GDD TDD. And I think one of these people have a webpage linking to a blank GDD TDD you can use as a starting point.

This person only has a video on doing a GDD.
How to make the best GDD

This person has both GDD TDD, just posting the GDD video, please look for the TDD on his page.
How to Make Write a GDD

 

Hi Vata,
Thanks for your feedback!


We use GameDevArch in our projects, not as a document, as an ever-changing App which tries to clarify the tasks which the modellers, coders and artists here use.


It's a sort of interactive GDD which someone here keeps changing the database and data structures.

 

Yes, BUT, it helps having an example project being used, so someone can how to understand what needs to be in a GDD TDD, and also help what needs to be in them, which is what the videos are doing.

Having the tool won't mean much if someone doesn't understand what to do with it.