http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/introversion-lays-bare-microsoft-approval-process
Part 1
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/the-genesis-of-darwinia
The Genesis of Darwinia+
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/culture-shock
Part 2
Introversion lays bare Microsoft approval process
Independent developer Introversion is laying bare Microsoft's approval process for a Introversion lays bare Microsoft approval process
Independent developer Introversion is laying bare Microsoft's approval process for a game to be released via Xbox Live Arcade.
The team hopes to provide clarity to the procedures involved in the development and eventual release of forthcoming XBLA title Darwinia+.
The developer website details multiple processes including usability reports, internal design documents, company emails and AI code, with more details to be posted soon.
Introversion has also teamed with GamesIndustry.biz to provide exclusive editorial content critiquing the on-going development process, with the first two parts of an ongoing series available
Part 1
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/the-genesis-of-darwinia
The Genesis of Darwinia+
Self-styled 'last of the bedroom coders' Introversion may have preached an independent mantra in the past, but its latest title sees them getting in to bed with one of the biggest corporations in videogames - Microsoft. Set for release on Xbox Live Arcade this summer, Darwinia+ is the developer's first attempt at a console game, as well as its first project in association with an official publishing partner.
In a regular series for GamesIndustry.biz, Introversion intends to lift the lid on the secretive development process behind Xbox Live Arcade, as well as revealing it's own business practices and honest observations on the industry.
In this introductory piece, producer Byron Atkinson-Jones discusses Introversion's first meetings with Microsoft, the developers initial work on Darwinia+ and how the commercial failure of Multiwinia forced the company to rethink its approach to console development.
The Early Days
I originally joined Introversion as a coder to help out on the network code for their upcoming XBLA title, Darwinia+. I was content with this role but Mark Morris (the managing director) had other ideas and decided to promote me to lead producer after a few months. At first this seemed like a hell of an opportunity, and one that I would grasp with both hands, but up to this point nobody had told me about the legendary curse of Darwinia and what effect it might have on Darwinia+. Would I have taken the role had I found out beforehand? Probably, but then it helps to be a little mad to work in games development.
The curse started when three Imperial college graduates who just wanted to make and sell original, engaging games, founded Introversion. Like all would-be game developers the three had lofty aims of standing out from the crowd and making unique games in a world of greedy publishers and cookie-cutter sequels. As far as Introversion was concerned the games industry had stagnated; there was a fear of creating anything original, and publishers were risk-adverse, only releasing titles they knew could turn in a profit.
Introversion launched with Uplink, a spine-tingling, deeply intense game all about hacking, designed and coded by Chris Delay while he was at uni. Chris initially intended to release the game for free, but Mark Morris who would go on to become Introversions MD, and Thomas Arundel, the financial brains behind the enterprise, persuaded him to found a games company to sell it through. So they did, and Introversion was born.
Given their view of the current publisher crisis and the state of the games industry, the fledgling Introversion decided to try to direct sell Uplink via their own Internet Store, supported via a hugely successful guerrilla marketing campaign. Uplink did so well in the download market that it enabled Introversion to embark on their next game, Darwinia.
The Theory of Evolution
Darwinia was an entirely different kettle of fish to Uplink. For one, Darwinia was in 3D, while Uplink had been a totally 2D game. Uplink was fairly easy to describe but Darwinia was more abstract, bigger in scope and much more organic in its development. These differences created enormous cash-flow issues as the project spiralled out of control and deadlines were missed. A game that was meant to take 18 months to complete ended up taking three years - the curse of Darwinia was in full swing.
Towards the end of Darwinia's development Introversion ran out of money and the directors struggled to keep things afloat, selling their belongings on eBay and moving back in with parents. When Darwinia was finally released in 2005 it was well received by the press, who were intrigued and impressed by this strange and unique game, but despite the promising start, Darwinia did not sell well. Mistakes were made in the demo and with price points, and it took a new distribution system called Steam to save the company. Suddenly, introduced to a whole new market of gamers, Darwinia was selling.
If Uplink was a hard sell to the publishers, then Darwinia was a nightmare. No publisher would touch it - Darwinia was just too unique and original for their profit and loss sheets. Young, ambitious and persistent, this did not however stop Introversion from trying to find a publisher to team up with. They knew they needed to broaden the potential audience for the game and at that time it meant getting onto consoles - but how?
It was around this time that Microsoft had launched Xbox Live Arcade. It just so happened that Introversion had hired a PR agency who introduced them to an agent, who in turn had a contact in Microsoft called Ross Erickson. Ross at the time was heading up the acquisition group for XBLA, and he agreed to meet with Introversion in London to discuss Darwinia. This was Introversion's big chance and they eagerly awaited the meeting, not knowing entirely what to expect from such a large company. The pitch for Darwinia went reasonably well but at the end of it all Ross was pretty non-committal - at least it wasn't a complete "no".
While all this was going on Darwinia had been nominated for awards at the 2006 Independent Games Festival, held in San Francisco. Since they were going to be in the general vicinity of Microsoft (North America, at least) it seemed like a prime opportunity for a follow up the meeting with Ross. This time they were going to be better prepared and they put together a video of Darwinia+, describing exactly how it would differ from the PC version.
As they drove from the airport to the Redmond studios, nerves started to kick in. It suddenly occurred that Mark using a Mac to deliver a pitch to Microsoft might not have been the most diplomatic of choices. As it turned out the meeting went okay and Microsoft didn't seem to mind the Mac transgression, but once again Ross was very non-committal, although, again, at least they hadn't been given a straight "no". There wasn't much time to worry about it though, as Introversion headed straight back to catch their flight to San Francisco to attend an awards ceremony that would unknowingly change their fate for good.
The Spotlight Beckons
One thing you quickly learn when you start working at Introversion is that they never do things by halves. Going to an awards ceremony? Then you wear dinner jackets. This alone seemed to create something of a stir at an event where jeans and t-shirts were the dress code of choice. So, there they were, sat at the awards all dressed up, settling the nerves with triple Jacks, when to their complete surprise and delight they hear Darwinia being called out for what ended up being the first of three awards during the night. Chris would later recall that it was the proudest night of his life, and for Introversion it more than confirmed in their heads and hearts that the sweat, tears and endless project plans had all been worthwhile - the curse of Darwinia had been exorcised, for the time-being a least.
They were riding on an adrenaline-alcohol fuelled high when they were called up to receive their third and final award, the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. It was at this point that Mark decided to make a speech, which has become infamous within the games industry. None of the others had any inkling about what he was planning to say (they probably would have tried to stop him if they'd known). Mark took hold of the mic, thanking the award organisers and went on to explain why Introversion "didn't take any money from a publisher because we didn't want them f*cking up our game". For a second they wondered if they had blown their chances for any future deals, but the auditorium erupted into wild applause and a standing ovation. Later, amongst the ensuing confusion Mark felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Ross; he leant in and whispered, "We've decided to f*ck up your game". Darwinia+ was born.
A Change in Gears
The birth of a game is an exciting time and this chance to finally break into the console market was more than Introversion could hope for, but at the same time it was not something they were fully prepared for. None of them had worked on a console before so they approached the project in the same way they had approached their previous PC based projects and this would prove costly.
The biggest headache was the XBLA requirement for multiplayer. Darwinia itself was not designed as a multiplayer game, even though the original vision of what Chris had wanted Darwinia to be did. The initial idea was to create a game where massive armies of sprites fought against each other, with each player taking control of a separate army. The decision was made to resurrect this old vision and make it the multiplayer component of Darwinia+, but the task was to be a lot larger and more complex than anticipated.
As development of the multiplayer component of Darwinia+ continued, the cash reserves started to dwindle, and it appeared that the Darwinia curse might rear its ugly head once again. Introversion decided to halt the XBLA work briefly and worked on releasing the multiplayer part of the game as a stand-alone PC title, called Multiwinia to help support the finances. Unfortunately, despite some great reviews, Multiwinia did not sell well, at least not well enough to re-coup the costs of developing it, let alone replenish the money expended so far on Darwinia+. Faced with these issues for the second time in its history, Introversion went once again into emergency mode and tightened up its money belt.
The effect of Multiwinia's failure has had a massive impact on Introversion's morale. Up until now all of Introversion's games had sold large enough amounts to enable the company to flourish, but all of a sudden the prospect of failure has been a very real one. Surprisingly perhaps, out of this has come a new level of determination to make Introversion a success, and a renewed effort has been poured into completing Darwinia+.
Over the next few months, we hope you'll join us as we look back over the rollercoaster ride of sweat, tears and project plans behind Darwinia+'s development, and hopefully reveal what the curse of Darwinia+ has taught us about making games, so that it may finally be laid to rest.
Byron Atkins-Jones is producer of Darwinina+ for Introversion.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/culture-shock
Part 2
Culture Shock
In the second of our exclusive editorials on the ongoing development of Darwinia+, producer Byron Atkinson-Jones discusses the learning process of a small team as it works closer with Microsoft, and his own experiences scaling down from a larger company to a small independent outfit.
For a company that started out with just three students, a stash of saved up beer money and some interesting game ideas, Introversion did remarkably well in the PC download market. Successful and moderately famous within the PC indie-gaming realm, Introversion experienced something of a crisis in confidence once if got the deal to port Darwinia to the Xbox 360. Working with a gargantuan company like Microsoft required a radical change in the working practices that Introversion had become accustomed to.
Joining Introversion after having worked for a number of other games companies large and small presented a bit of a personal shift in my thinking too. I had certain expectations based on normal practices at other companies that Introversion as it turned out didnt do. When I was asked to be the producer for Darwinia+ I knew thered have to be some compromise on both sides in order for us to provide a framework upon which to successfully deliver the game.
Culture change in Introversion hasnt been easy. When I joined Introversion, the port for Darwinia+ had already been in development for three years, almost as long at it had taken to create the original game. Nevertheless, Introversion has grown and matured significantly over the past year or so how did we do it? What follows is a look into how we learnt to deal with culture shock, and how Introversion moved well and truly out of the bedroom and into the office.
Communication breakdown
I am a great advocate of as much communication as possible, and when I joined Introversion I began supplying weekly reports on the project. This went down well with the management and soon became a job requirement. One of the biggest challenges with team management in Introversion is the fact that for most of the time we all work remotely; there are a couple of us who go into the office on a regular basis, but others may only come in once a month. The team would keep in touch on daily basis via Skype but for the most part once tasks are given out each team member worked autonomously.
Communication had to be improved and we're still working on this. Take what happened recently when we employed someone to do some QA work for us: for some reason Chris Delay, our creative director, was missed out of the communication line - he only found out wed employed someone new when he read the news post on our website.
The trouble is its all too easy to assume that everybody knows what is going on sometimes important information falls through the cracks and before you know it stuff stops working. At worst miss-communication can lead to blow-ups within the team itself and then you're in fire-fighting mode in order to resolve conflicts.
Dealing with Microsoft
A part of my job role as producer is juggling the needs of the team with the needs of the publisher, and finding some middle ground. So when Microsoft suddenly announced one day that they wanted a total re-design of the front-end menu system - and here was the design they had come up with - there was a certain amount of negotiation to be done with the Introversion dev team to ensure that the proposal wasnt just thrown out without consideration. I wasnt as attached to Darwinia so was able to remain fairly objective when the proposed redesigns turned up but there was a certain amount of internal resistance from the team. As it turned out the mock-ups supplied by Microsoft looked good and one of the development team went into super-productive mode and managed to get a few of the proposed designs up and running. This helped enormously and the decision was made to go with them.
It may seem like quite a small thing to worry about but it marks the very first time in Introversions history where creative control was passed over to somebody who didnt work for Introversion, and more importantly somebody who wasnt Chris Delay.
Dev kits
Darwinia+ is Introversions first console project so the dev team had no experience with developing on console hardware. In the first article in this series (Genesis of Darwinia+) I mentioned how Introversions financial status went up and down on a regular basis; one of the repercussions of this is that Introversion had to be creative in development, and this meant developing Darwinia+ entirely on Xbox 360 test kits. They didnt know what the differences were between test kits and full dev kits, but the price difference made the choice an obvious one for them.
The major difference between the kits is that you cannot debug your game on a test kit, which makes developing on them very difficult. It was a credit to Introversions determination that they had managed to work for three years this way, getting the game to quite a high level of quality, but as the dev team would attest, it was a thoroughly unpleasant experience.
Part of moving forward with Darwinia+ therefore was correcting this early dev kit mistake. It took some negotiation but Microsoft made an offer - if we purchased three dev kits they would back it up with another three at no cost, and the cost of the three kits would come out of future royalties, rather than us having to pay them up front.
Bug hunt
Introversion has a great resource at our disposal the fans, who are also loyal and enthusiastic enough to make a great beta testing army. This came in very useful for Multiwinia but unfortunately couldnt be used for Darwinia+, mainly because we cant give every potential beta tester an Xbox 360 test kit. We already had VMC on the books to do the major compliance and milestone testing, but I knew wed need to hire a day-to-day tester. This was a hard sell to the rest of Introversion theyd never had a QA department before, mainly because they couldnt see what a full time in-house tester could provide that our developers and VMC couldnt already do. As we began to realise, there were areas which neither party had been testing and within one week of hiring our in-house tester hed already proved himself invaluable by hunting down bugs wed never even known were there.
The Monster
When we were gearing up for the Code Complete submission it became clear that I needed to introduce regression testing into the build process for Milestones. This realisation came about during one such Milestone QA report.
Up until this moment we would make a build, send it over to our in-house tester, get the reports back and fix whatever was necessary. Throughout the build day we would also be talking to each other over Skype. At the end of the day once all the issues had been resolved and I believed we were ready to submit a build to Microsoft, reading through the final QA report, one line leapt out at me: Prologue was not loading. Prologue happens to be one of the levels in Darwinia. This came as a big shock how could we submit a Milestone if one of the levels didnt load? As it turns out one of the developers had mentioned this in the Skype conversation during the day but somehow I had missed it and the lack of any response to this had led them to assume it was okay.
Id love to say that this was an isolated case, but there had been a few cases where we would lose a level or some other feature of the game through normal development work. Our problem was that we didnt have any form of regression testing: we would go in and fix a bug but not make sure that our fix didnt break some other part of the game.
Microsoft has a list of test cases that your project has to pass in order to qualify for a particular Milestone called the Milestone Acceptance Test or MAT for short. This was a useful test to keep running the game through to make sure that we hadnt broken something along the way but it only covered elements relevant to the requirements of the milestone. This method of testing led me to create what I call The Monster but the rest of Introversion call somewhat more diplomatically the Introversion Milestone Acceptance Test or IVMAT for short.
Essentially its a massive list of test cases that gives us a snapshot of the status of the game and highlights anything thats missing, or more importantly been broken since the last build. About one week before submitting a build to Microsoft, well lock down the build and go through the entire list it takes time, and some headaches, but the results are more than worth the effort.
At first we were worried that working with a publisher would chip away at the very core of Introversions quest for independence and creative integrity. Learning to accept creative guidance from Microsoft, whilst following our own artistic instincts has presented a juggling act, even the most diplomatic managers would be wary of. Despite these initial concerns, evolving Introversion from its PC indie-development roots into a console developer able to work with one of the worlds largest games publishers has proved to be of vital importance. With a stormy economic climate forecast, and an increasingly fickle industry already saturated with content, I believe the need for Introversion to diversify and develop for more platforms is a crucial one.
Byron Atkinson-Jones is producer of Darwinia+ for Introversion.
