Presentation about the development of the MMO Battlestar Galactica Online as a globally distributed development.

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2. Nick Porsche
Creative Director & MD
Rocksolid Games Malta
• 12 years in the games business
• Has worked as Executive
Producer, Creative Director and
Head of Finalization
• Companies include Atari, Jowood,
10tacle, The Games Company
and Bigpoint
• Battlestar Galactica Online
critically acclaimed for creating a
new standard for browser based
Massively Multiplayer Games
• Extensive experience with
international IP holders like
Universal Studio and Warner Bros
• Built up operations and teams in
several companies
• Certified IT Business Manager
living with his family in Malta
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3. Business Figures
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4. Online Games Market 2010
Tencent
Shanda
Zynga Sony
NCSoft
Blizzard
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5. Games Revenue Forecast
Micro-Transactions
Subscriptions
2010 2014 Data from Screen Digest and PWC
24 billion $ in digital games revenues 2011 according to British Researcher Ovum
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6. Free 2 Play Market Share
11/10/2011 Newzoo Trend Report | MMO Games, Massively Popular | November 2011
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7. Battlestar Facts
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8. Game Awards
• Unite Community Award 2011
• European Games Award 2011 Best Browser
Game
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9. Distributed Game Development
Oslo (Art and Tasking)
Tvar (Programming)
Hamburg (Web Integrations)
Frankfurt (Quality Assurance)
San Francisco (Live Team)
New York (Media Partner)
Hollywood (Licensor)
Malta (Control & Design)
Burbank (SFX Engineering)
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10. BSGO in Numbers
13 months development
Budget approx. 1 million Euro
Originally released in EFIGS + RU/TR/PL
Now available in over 20 languages
Monthly ARPPU of a full-price PC game
To date over 6.5 million registered users
Thousands of Concurrent Users Online
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11. GAME DESIGN
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12. Game Complexity Paradox
Larry Tesler (Apple, Amazon, Yahoo): One can’t reduce the complexity of a
task – one can only shift the burden.
• Simple games are easy because not a lot to do
• Complexity tends to fall back onto user
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13. Complexity Chart
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14. Midcore MMO Design
• “Shark in a Fishpond” game approach
• Browser = just another platform
• Visually Pleasing Games
• The Content Trap
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15. Line
Rock, Paper, Minigun
Strike Escort
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16. Level Design
• Editor Tool is key (even in Unity)
• Plan in several iterations
• Design a clear purpose and meaning
• Intersperse POI’s
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17. Sound
• Music is emotion
• Effects make world come alive
• Tracks vs. budget: 45 minutes cost 50-100k€
• Downsizing by looping ogg’s
• Voice and narration in web-games
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18. Developing in Unity
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19. Facts
• First free version released in 2009
• 700.000 registered developers
• Future integration into Flash Player (or not?)
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20. What works
• Prototyping and Tech Demoing
• Product Support
• Many Updates
• Cheap to start
• Truly Cross Platform
• Excels in Mobile and Browser (Chrome)
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21. What to watch out for
• GUI can become a nightmare
• Backend Server for MMO
• Still needs a web player install
• Can cost 3% rev-share
• Updates can endanger development
• Full Browser Caching needs license
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22. Learnings
• Create tools to optimize workflow
• Basic character animations need love
• Plan in time to update project
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23. Production
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24. Scrum/Agile Process
(Schwaber, Sutherland, Beedle 1995/2001)
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25. Stages of Development
Closed
Concept Preprod Production Alpha
Beta
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26. Stage Gate Process
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27. Minimum Viable Product
Tim Schafer “The only way to mitigate risk is to
concentrate on making something great.”
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28. Production Best Case & Risk
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29. Team Size Burndown
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30. Questions? Contact me:
n.porsche@rocksolid-games.com
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