Postmortems From Game Developers

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Table of ContentsSECTION IV BUILDING ON A LICENSE . . . . 219viiLucasArts’ STAR WARS STARFIGHTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223by chris corryWhat Went Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225What Went Wrong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231Back to Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235Raven Software’s STAR TREK: VOYAGER—ELITE FORCE . . . . .237by brian pelletier, michael gummelt, and james monroeWhat Went Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239What Went Wrong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245Final Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249Red Storm Entertainment’s RAINBOW SIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251by brian uptonThe Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251The Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252What Went Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255What Went Wrong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257In the End… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258Raven Software’s SOLDIER OF FORTUNE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259by eric biessman & rick johnsonWhat Went Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261What Went Wrong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265A Direct Hit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270SECTION V THE ONLINE FRONTIER . . . . . 273Mythic Entertainment’s DARK AGE OF CAMELOT . . . . . . . . . . .277by matt firorWhat Went Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281What Went Wrong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283For the Ages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
viiiTable of ContentsMultitude’s FIRETEAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287by art minBrief History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .288FIRETEAM’s Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .289Who Worked on FIRETEAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .289What Went Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .290What Went Wrong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .293Evolving Right Along . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .297Turbine’s ASHERON’S CALL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299by toby ragainiWhat Went Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .301What Went Wrong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .306A Unique Company Résumé . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .309Afterword Independent Game Development . . . . . . . . . . .310Appendix A Game Development Team Roles . . . . . . . . . .313Artist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .313Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .314Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .314Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .315Programmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .315Quality Assurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .315Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .317Index of Game Titles & Developers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .319Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .323
Page 2 and 3: POSTMORTEMSFROMAustin Grossman,edit
Page 4 and 5: TABLE OF CONTENTSiiiIntroduction: T
Page 6 and 7: Table of ContentsvWestwood Studios
Page 10 and 11: ixINTRODUCTIONTales from the Front
Page 12 and 13: INTRODUCTIONxipart of the industry,
Page 14 and 15: Section I: STARTUPS 2Startups typic
Page 16 and 17: Section I: STARTUPS 4influences in
Page 18 and 19: Irrational Games’ SYSTEM SHOCK 2
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Pseudo Interactive’s CEL DAMAGE 4
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Nihilistic Software’s VAMPIRE: TH
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Section II: SEQUELS AND SOPHOMORE O
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Blizzard Entertainment’s DIABLO I
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Westwood Studios’ TIBERIAN SUN 10
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109SECTION II: SEQUELS AND SOPHOMOR
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115Ensemble Studios’AGE OF EMPIRE
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127Presto Studios’MYST III: EXILE
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137Poptop Software’sTROPICOby bre
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147SECTION IIIManaging InnovationTh
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149Section III: MANAGING INNOVATION
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151Lionhead Studios’BLACK & WHITE
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153SECTION III: MANAGING INNOVATION
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161Bungie Software’sMYTH: THE FAL
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171Looking Glass’sTHIEF: THE DARK
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183DreamWorks Interactive’sTRESPA
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195Ion Storm’sDEUS EXby warren sp
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209Naughty Dog’sJAK & DAXTER: THE
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219SECTION IVBuilding on a LicenseA
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221Section IV: BUILDING ON A LICENS
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223LucasArts’STAR WARSSTARFIGHTER
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225SECTION IV: BUILDING ON A LICENS
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237Raven Software’sSTAR TREK:VOYA
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251Red Storm Entertainment’sRAINB
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259Raven Software’sSOLDIER OF FOR
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273SECTION VThe Online FrontierOnli
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275Section V: THE ONLINE FRONTIER27
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277Mythic Entertainment’sDARK AGE
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279SECTION V: THE ONLINE FRONTIER27
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287Multitude’sFIRETEAMby art minO
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299Turbine’sASHERON’S CALLby to
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311Afterword: Independent Game Deve
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313APPENDIX AGAME DEVELOPMENT TEAMR
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315Appendix A: GAME DEVELOPMENT TEA
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317Glossarycut-scene a non-interact
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319Index of Game Titles & Developer
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321Index of Game Titles & Developer
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323 Index 323IndexBe sure to also u
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325Index 325IIntelVTune 30Internetp
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327Index 327renderer 179, 318softwa
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