On-disc DLC is an unfortunate reality says CliffyB
- Thread starter James
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OmegaFenix
The Legendary Troll Hunter
WEAK!
I couldn't make heads or tails of what the author was trying to bring across.
I've heard that Day One DLC is due to the game being off for Certification and the team is sitting idly, but surely On-Disc DLC will need to be certified also since it, well on the disc and will ship with all copies of the game where as Day One DLC is subject to activation codes or whatnot and download so the devs could get around the certification issue this way in theory.
We all know the real reason for on Disc DLC, its the carrot that is designed to encourage the purchase of the title new rather than pre-owned. Personally I have no issue with it, many, MANY, other probably don't feel the same.
OmegaFenix
The Legendary Troll Hunter
Not really though, the game is done, its off for certification, you can't let the team go just in case a huge game breaking bug shows its ugly face (PS3 Lag in Skyrim for example) and for the same reason the team can't move onto the next project or take that leave they've accumulated over the titles development cycle. Game takes a few months to be certified, like when we often hear the title went gold a month or two before release. Bad team management would be having your highly skilled/paid dev team sitting around costing the company money when they can be working on DLC.
Extra Credits did a good episode on Day One DLC - http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/mass-effect-3-dlc
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Why not? If a next project is lined up, as it should be, early development work could easily be done in that time. Conceptual design and engine frameworks could reach a first milestone by that time.. All other industries get you started on the next project the second you deliver, even though you will need to revise at some point.
In fact, this is essentially what they are doing with day 0 DLC, they're fitting in a smaller project of a sort in that idle time.
The only difference is that now day 0 DLC is being justified by this, which bugs me.
OmegaFenix
The Legendary Troll Hunter
Yes when you deliver, game off for certification isn't delivery. Once it hits the shelves then its delivered, then the team moves on. Low Level devs gets laid off, higher level guys go on leave/ move onto the next project.
Most of that is done by the lead Designer, Producer, lead Developer, Lead Artist. Which makes up less that 10% of a triple A dev team. What about all the rest? Also remember quite often only the core team will move from project to project and since most games have a 2 year plus dev cycle there is hardly ever an immediate start with the next project, again the core team as named above would probably start throwing ideas around, the grunts on the other hand probably wont have any real work to do for some time. So keeping them busy with DLC, be it Day One of other DLC makes perfect sense to me.
Think about it, when a Film Wraps the actors, extras, writers, etc don't all pretty much bugger off. The Producer & Director still do the final cut and the team is called back should any reshoot be required. Just before it starts showing then everybody goes their own direction.
I also wouldn't call the Day 1 DLC a smaller project since more often than not Day 1 DLC is just stuff they couldn't get done in time for launch/certification or ended up on the cutting room floor. Its never brand new stuff.
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Off to certification might not be delivery, but the team then sits idle, as was my point. Would you like to go for semantics again, or rather address the point I was making?
Just.. don't ever do project management. The whole point of it is making sure that people keep working and projects finish on time. Getting everyone to work all the time is paramount here, and excuses like "it's busy being certified" is not one that should fly. In my industry, my products have to be certified as well.. While the certification is in progress, I work on other projects.
And don't ever try and work in film. That's not at all how it works. In fact, when film wraps, pretty much everyone but the director, editor and the COP moves on to new projects. A stuntman does not get paid to wait.. The producer does minimal work in this time, except for the final ok, and rather does prelim work on the next project. When a team is called back, they move back from whatever new project they're working on to film the "pickups" (not reshoot) and are replaced if they can't make it, with the obvious exception of the actors, who are contractually obliged to appear. Typically, however, a shoot is planned so that less important shots are kept for after the principal photography has finished (akin to the game being shipped for certification) so that the milestone can be met as soon as possible while the rest of the project team can still work. ie. The project management is done properly.