This was an extraordinary week in my internship experience at Helios Interactive Inc.. We had a traveling band from the west coast. Our execs showed up after meetings, in Cali and Canada. They returned with some sick news and details on what would turn out to be an all-hands on deck type of week.

The week started with a full house of interns and day long meetings. I have been learning a lot every day that I come into work, but this week was much more eye opening than most. Aside from routine project and hours tracking, I've been allowed to participate in a couple of proposal planning meetings. The entirety of my time this week was taken up by researching games for a particular age range and investigating competitor practices. From this vagueness all I can tell you so far is that this is one of those things that small companies wish for; an opportunity to talk with the big boys in the video game publishing business.

Unfortunately I can't go into much detail, but I can relate some of what I've found to be important lessons. Planning a proposal and developing a tech demo in two weeks is a tough challenge. Luckily for us, we have a very skilled team of developers and designers. My boss is also quite an amazing person. I'm sure quite a bit of his skills come from experience, but the rest of it has to be smarts and a mind for seeing the big picture. Too bad I can't do a brain dump from his head to mine. He taught me to look at our proposal from an overview stance and fill in the gaps with calculated risks. Another of my assignments this week was to assemble an asset list for all 3d, 2d, scripting, and programming tasks that I could imagine going into our proposed video game pitch. Coming up with tasks and features was one thing, but estimating hours and durations to fall within an established roll-out schedule was not easy for me.

Overall I think I did pretty good, but I can always improve. My spreadsheet came out looking like a long laundry list of tasks. I did manage to go back and organize my data in a clearer and easer to read manner. I also had to calculate for customer savings; a total with our studio doing all the work vs. a total if the client provided all 3d assets. It was quite a difference.

Next week I'm back in class at Full Sail University, hello Susan!


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Labels: Helios Interactive

The game designers working on Games Workshop's Warhammer 40k action game have quite a bit of collaborating to do. It seems to be quite a challenge to work with an established IP and manage a fan base who expects the world. This interview discusses some of the relationship aspects that lead to better game design. The guys working on Space Marine had to tread on new ground. In doing so they came across many small questions that may have seemed trivial, but are more important when you deal with a branded IP.

One such example comes from audio design in a game. For some indie developers the audio may be one of the last things considered or dealt with. Creating the sound effects might fall to a team member or if you're lucky, a guy who likes to work with audio. Preferably a musician. A sound effect for a weapon may be something that gets a bit of attention, but only until you find a sound that you think works and isn't overly annoying. Something as simple as a "pew pew" or "blam blam blam" sound would work in most cases. Not so in the Warhammer 40k Universe.

In the interview they mention how there was a back and forth experience in dealing with creating and adjusting the Bolter gun fire sounds. This is where attention to detail and a solid working relationship come in very handy. The guys at Games Workshop had particular notions of how they imagined that a Bolter's gun fire would sound. I'm almost sure that this is the case for all weapons, dialogue, sound effects, and music that go into this game.

Space Marine appears to be turning into another wonderfully crafted transmedia extension of the Warhammer 40k universe. The attention and care being given to this title, and in general by game studios dealing with established IPs, is admirable. As a game designer and producer, I am thankful for developers who are willing to share their works in progress. This interview reminds me that details do matter, and as long as time allows, we should pay more attention to the little things. Audio design is one of my weak areas, but after playing games like Red Dead Redemption, my ears are opening up more.

Enjoy the video and lookout for Space Marine.

Reference Link


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Labels: game design

Thanks to Gamescom in Germany, we have a tidal wave of new game information for upcoming video game titles. Without a doubt I'm always on the lookout for any and all Warhammer 40k info. Here is a trailer which made it's debut at the interactive games and entertainment trade fair in Cologne Germany. Long live the imperium of man!



There have also been many other incredible tech demos and games shown. One of my favorites was From Dust by Ubisoft. I'm sure I'll be spending a lot of time on that game whenever it makes it out. That is, if I'm not still playing Civilization 5; which I'm sure I'll be hooked on for a while! I love sharing news, and Relic's Space Marine is one game I can't wait to get my hands on. Chainsaw-sword action on the PS3 for the win!


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Labels: game design, gaming

Two months into my internship experience at Helios Interactive Inc. have already gone by. Meanwhile some of my peers in school are at varying stages in their production cycles. At school, grad students take the role of Internal Producers for five months. During this time, they learn first hand to work with producers whom manage them as External Producers. The EPs aim appears to be that of steering the ship and handing down vague and often times inconsistent production requirements. After talking to many grad students in my program, I have come to realize that we share many of the same problems and issues during the early stages of pre-production and planning for a video game project.

I kicked off the week with project planning.

Our art director had a hellish week. Then again, it appeared that most of the staff was crunching all week long. So much for summer vacations, in this business you have to work!


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This week felt a bit longer than most, but that may be due to me working in a more productive manner. I've been self managing while my boss is away on his MUCH needed and well earned vacation. I get the feeling that these guys work even when their eyes are closed. I also hope that my boss actually unplugs for a few days.

Tasks on my plate have included the design and production of user guides for the GameCore game engine. I've been working on two series, one dedicated to scripting and coding classic games; the other focused on interactivity. If you want to create your own Pinball or Tetris-style games, check them out. You can also add interactivity to your characters and move then around in a game world. The guides look pretty sweet! I laid them out in InDesign so you could print them and sell them, but instead we'll give them away. Why? Because we are just that nice!

This week also brought on my official "daily meeting" regiment.

On the production and management side of things I have taken a more active role. Again with my boss out of town for a few weeks, it has become my responsibility to track projects, progress, and provide status updates. The guys at Helios Interactive Inc. are a talented and self managed bunch. They have been extremely open to the idea of sharing their daily tasks and projects with me. I have been learning a lot and I feel that I'm helping them to keep track of their work. We have so many projects to work on and a relatively small ninja team. They do well to manage their workloads, but with constantly shifting priorities you really do need an overview of project statuses. To that end I've been trying out a few variations on different project tracking methods. I had been researching various types of spreadsheet styles and have come up with a Scrum-like approach that may work for us.

Using what I've learned at Full Sail University, in regards to project management, is proving to be very useful. I only wish we had more hands on training in Scrum basics. This may be a great time to look into obtaining a Scrum certification. I need to read more on the subject for sure, and perhaps tap a few of my peers for advice. Erin I'm talking about you!

On related office news; we've had a seat pisser problem in the communal office bathroom. No one ever likes to deal with this type of issue, but we tried. We even made a sign that will hopefully educate one on how to LIFT the seat before undertaking their target practice exercise. The sign cracked me up, hopefully it will be effective.

Also we ran out of sugar for coffee, some of these guys can't operate without coffee. So I did the associate producer thing and ran out to buy a bag of sweet granules. Just another day...

The end of the week brought on some very cool news, unfortunately I can't share them. However, I can say that it has forced us to re-arrange our priorities and fit in a new project. This will be an awesome project if we can pull it off, perfect time to try a two week sprint schedule.

Have a great weekend everyone!


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Labels: Helios Interactive

If you collaborate with anyone online, then you probably have some sort of system worked out in which you can communicate and share work. Quite a few people out in the webs appear to be very saddened by Google's plan to abandon Google Wave. I love the Wave! Why must it go away? Some people use it really well and many small businesses have adopted it as well. The sad truth is that Google Wave will probably not be around for very much longer. Productivity in some organizations is going to take a hit as a re-organization strategy takes hold. Some of the clever kids out there will have already switched off the Wave and upgraded to pay services.

It's sad to me a swell; I will miss the functionality that Google had provided. Maybe I should find an alternative to using the Wave. Our IT "dept" pointed me in the direction of a few online applications that may be stepping up to the challenge. Shareflow is one of these systems which provides a Wave-like experience, but in a much cleaner and organized layout. My favorite so far has to be SocialWok. It seems extremely easy to set-up and use. I'll have to give it some time and report later on how it's working out.

When you are trying to run an indie game design project with a small team scattered around the county, you really need to have a repository for knowledge transfers. This is one of the reasons why I enjoyed Google Wave so much. It is a challenge, but as long as maintain constant communication you should be able to succeed. I should also look into online apps and see if there is anything that is totally free to use.



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Labels: game design

One of the challenges I am facing at my internship is an over abundance of work that needs to be done. Since I am not here in a strictly programmer or artist role, I am focusing my efforts more towards production related tasks. However, it's not all spreadsheets and meetings. This means that aside from creating spreadsheets I also have an opportunity to help in other areas. This week I did some quick video trans-coding, documentation design, editing, and press layouts.

Being that we are relatively small (like a multi-talented special-ops team), we are all constantly jumping from one project to another as their priorities shift. For the past two weeks however, I have been producing user guides for the GameCore engine. These guides will eventually be available as free downloads from our store. Known as the Game Coding Series, their aim will be to show and teach users how to re-create classic games in 3d with the GameCore game engine/editor.

Other cool happenings included the development of a proof of concept that was created in only a handful of days. Our team is really amazing and being able to turn an idea around and execute it so quickly is as much a testament to their skills as it is to the power and ease of use of GameCore. If you are planning to develop a game you should really consider using GameCore. It has not failed to impress me. The finished proof of concept looks like glowing liquid candy, but unfortunately that is about all I can say about it.

Next week I should start doing a bit more project tracking, which means I'll get to enjoy some spreadsheet lovin! Till next week, have a good day!


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Labels: Helios Interactive

This gaming experience starts on the colorful and well designed web site page, complete with game art and compressed sound track. All of which do a great job of creating anticipation and a desire to play the game.

The page design employs what I typically refer to as a “big-ass button”. This button is designed like an old school arcade button, Flash has these stock, and does a great job of standing out and enticing the visitor to click it. The button can not be missed, especially with its “Play Now” text.

After you commit to clicking you are notified that this game will not work on Chrome, sucks! Oh well here I go launching IEeeeee. Before installing activeX my build of Windows 7 wants me to allow access to the installer app. Three pop-up windows impede my progress. One for the browser to allow activeX, one from Windows to allow the app to make changes, and another from my anti-virus app. Ok so, cleared the security gauntlet and the download is in effect; the long download. After the game launches in its own window I create a user. Next I chose a side and class of soldier to play as. Afterwards I created a character by customizing my avatar’s skin tone, hair style, and facial hair. Finally, I’m off to play the tutorial; also known as basic training.

When you are ready to play, the system executes match making. To play with your friends you must add them on the web site and they will be available in the game. However, both you and your friend must be in a game. Once in there you can join your friend from your friends list.

The game-play itself is rather straightforward, but of note is the leveling system and how the creators have monetized items.

Items of note;
Valor Points = Earned through game play, items last a limited amount of time.
Battle Funds = Real money used to permanently keep your items.

This game is quite a bit of fun, I mean real live internet fun! Install it yourself and give it a shot. Ha, give it a shot! Or not, you could play as a Commando and go stealth with your blade.

Just be sure to use IE or Firefox. EA doesn't seem to care much for Chrome. Argh!
Play Now



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Labels: game design