1. Harmonix: Behind the Music (Games) IMGD, Feb 7th 2008

2. Harmonix Music Game developer based in Cambridge Spun out of MIT Media Lab in 1995 Focused on Interactive Music Innovation Our Mission: “Create new ways for non- musicians to experience the unique joy that comes from making music” Led to video game development

3. Our latest & greatest… Rock Band

4. Who are we? Rob Kay Director of Designer Lead Designer on Rock Band Ike Adams Software Developer Gameplay and Interface Engineer on Rock Band

5. Rob’s route in Art college & Amiga demo scene Pysgnosis advice – learn 3D! Bournemouth University NCCA Cut teeth as artist on Looney Tunes games Level design experience Harmonix game designer

6. Ike’s route in Started making games at 8 Syracuse University for Computer Geekology and Math Started game development career with Kent Quirk at Cognitoy Spent 3.43 years as a game engineer at Blue Fang Games Harmonix – Interface and Gameplay on Rock Band Currently - Tools and development process optimization.

7. What’s this talk about? Behind the scenes at Harmonix –Rob: Designing for everyone –Ike: Tools & process Tips for getting into industry Q&A

8. Designing for Everyone

9. Understand your players Why? –Players have different needs In reality though…

12. Top 5 Design Practices When making games for everyone…

13. 1. Find a universally appealing concept

14. Universally Appealing Concept Easier said than done If you don’t nail this, forget about it! Goal: –Describe the game in one sentence and people get excited.

15. Some Examples “run a Hollywood Studio” “take care of a pet” “take charge of an NFL team” “play in a band”

16. Where do you look for inspiration? Not in video games –They both want new experiences In the real world –Popular cultural trends –Experiences that different kinds of people aspire to do

17. 2. Value the context and presentation

18. Why value context and presentation? Draws them into a game Improves the play experience Succeed at this and you’ll lure them in Fail at this and you’ll turn them away

19. FreQuency 2001 Abstract visuals – “you’re in the music” Context and Presentation

20. Rock Band 2007 Live Show visuals – “you’re on stage”

21. 3. Embrace alternative controllers

22. We haven’t made a joypad game since 2003 Camera Guitar Microphone

23. We’ve noticed some big user benefits… Guitar + Drums + Microphone!

24. They look like what they do

25. It’s obvious how to use them

26. Joypads Generic by design –So can’t “look like what it does” –No mental model for how to use it

27. Today’s joypads are intimidating

28. These controllers are inviting

29. They level the playing field

30. 4. Ensure intuitive controls

31. Intuitive Controls It just works This is our responsibility Employ usability principles

32. Natural Mapping Spatial relationship between control and result is consistent

35. 5. Encourage the whole dev team to play the game and give feedback

36. Teams make games The more the team plays, the better the game A diverse team’s range of insights will help you make a game for “everyone”

37. Set up the work environment Daily builds Open door policy Feedback expected from everyone

38. Feedback Loops

42. Recap 1.Find a universally appealing concept 2.Value the context and presentation 3.Embrace alternative controllers 4.Ensure intuitive controls (natural interface) 5.Encourage the whole team to play and give feedback

43. Designing Games for EVERYONE… …is fun and rewarding!

44. Development Process and Tools

45. Before I talk about tools… Building Blocks Games can be so complicated that it’s very hard for one person to wrap their head around the whole thing In order to understand and work on problems, we need to break it down into pieces that we can understand. We keep breaking down complexity until we have building blocks or (components).

46. My favorite example … LEGOs Think of a Lego City It’s cool but it’s very complicated

47. In order to simplify we break it down into components Buildings Vehicles People

48. We continue to break it down until we have something “simple” to work with.

49. How do we make a tool that’s good for development? Be able to isolate “simple” building blocks in the game

50. How do we make a tool that’s good for development? Put building blocks together in context to see them in their environment

51. How do we make a tool that’s good for development? Usually the best way to view building blocks in context is to see them in game… but that’s not always convenient.

52. How do we make a tool that’s good for development? It’s important that the tool and the assets can load quickly. Every second that can be shaved off of an iteration cycle is very valuable. It’s extra cool to reload a building block without reloading the whole context. Loading…

53. How do we make a tool that’s good for development? Be able to change as many parameters as necessary without making the tool too complicated If an a building block can “do stuff” it’s good to be able to demonstrate its abilities. Add a way to manually trigger game events

54. How do we make a tool that’s good for development? Play well with other tools Use other tools (3D Studio Max, Motion Builder, Cubase) for what they’re good at. It’s not necessary to build redundant functionality Customize your tools for your needs.

55. Introducing… Milo

56. Tips for getting into industry Choose a focus Major disciplines: code, art, audio, design, production, QA. Get good at your chosen discipline. Study, learn, get qualifications, portfolio. Show you have smarts / skills. Make stuff… anything! Games, levels, comics, music, flower arrangements... anything! Take something from concept to completion. Experience = good judgment. Be personable, enthusiastic and willing to learn. Nobody likes a know it all. Mistakes are fine. Bad attitude is not.

57. Thanks for coming! Contact us: Ike.adams@harmonixmusic.com rob@harmonixmusic.com