Planning and Concepting

From beginning to end, producing even a single asset for a game is a process of refinement, revision and judgement as well as an exercise in time management and work ethic. In the industry getting a game completed on time can be the difference between huge success and the company closing it’s doors. Even seemingly organic processes such as doodles and scribbles for idea generation have their place and are optimised to produce the best useable results.

Whilst not exclusive to the game industry the Production pipeline is an essential tool in the creative industries for organising not only large numbers of employees when creating vast projects but also in organising yourself and the work you produce – it fosters good work ethics and provides a framework and direction to work, encouraging the creations of mid-project deadlines and a sense of progress as well as providing a formula for creating results every time.

A Typical Game Pipeline (http://www.skins.abtec.org/skins1.0/?cat=27)

Most games and their assets will follow a pipeline in order to produce their content. It may differ slightly depending on what is to be created (A character would not require a map or paths to be produced where a level would, but a treasure chest would have no need for a script to be written and so forth) but fundamentally it is the same.

The  beginning of this pipeline is the planning and concept stage. Beginning with a Mission and Game brief which will detail the aims of the project and may include the story and the required elements and mechanics as well as what the final product should look and feel like. This proposal will then be used to produce mood boards and style sheets. These collage-style documents show the inspiration and themes of the work, as well as set a baseline for what the finished product should really look like.

 

A Stylesheet and a moodboard, they may look similar or completely different

Essential to the project, these documents provide a vital springboard for the concepts that are the next stage of this process. Without this base it’s much more difficult to produce these concepts (Be they high quality final concepts or quick, sketched ideas) but with them the flow of work is augmented and the quantity and quality is greatly improved. Even when there are setbacks, like a concept being rejected, the pipeline helps by providing a structure which is easy to backtrack and restart work in a smooth and efficient way.

The Game Production Pipeline exists to assist the creator of the work; it’s structure leads to a timely production of work not only in the concept stage but carried through to later aspects of the pipeline – which I will talk about in later blogs. Coupled with the desire of the creator to work and produce to a high standard (In other words the creator’s  strong work ethic) This fosters an ability to produce a consistent and high quality body of work that not only shows direction and cohesiveness when it comes to producing an end result that answers the brief but also a clear thought process and a structured way of working that can do nothing but benefit a professional working alone or as part of a team.