My name is Ilya Anufriev. I am now the Development Director at the Grimwood team. Being a humanist, I very closely connected my life with technological progress. I started my way in the IT industry with information security. Over time, I decided to switch to GameDev from information security, because games are fun, it's cool, and this is a live market that is designed for ordinary people.
We organized the first Central Asia GameShow exhibition of games and gaming devices in Central Asia. Where did you see which studios are there in the market? Held a WOT tournament and generally helped eSports.
About relevance
Gamification is a cool thing. I will give an example. There is such a company Subway. They make sandwiches. And if you take a job at Subway, then you will find it quite difficult to learn all the combinations of sandwich toppings: in some there can be 6 slices of salami, and in some 3, etc. But the training method that is now in the company, just sit and memorize the instructions, which are printed on paper, heavy and in some places already battered. It is difficult, it is not interesting and it does not motivate. And if you make, for example, a mobile game where all the stages of work will be shown, then this will greatly facilitate the process of implementation and adaptation of the employee. The development of such games is especially relevant for those companies where there is a large turnover of personnel. Employees need to be quickly trained. Now we use browser applications, tests and more. But I think that very soon a system will be popularized where companies order mobile games for internal use. For the new generation that has grown up on mobile games, this will be the language of communication in which it will be easier to train them. This tool is now interesting only to a narrow circle of companies, but tomorrow it will be what many startups will earn. And this is the prospect of the next 2-3 years. In addition, games can be used as a customer loyalty system. This is a new type of advertising communication.
About development
Before developing an application, you need to answer 3 questions.
- For whom?
- For what?
- What are the development budgets?
If we know the answers to these three questions, we already know in which direction to move. Further, the technical task is developed, because the game, like any technical project, is more than a ton of documentation (if you print it on paper). And for each stage of the game, for each action, for each movement, an incredible amount of documentation is compiled. All this is done in order to understand how the program will generally work. Therefore, you can’t buy turnkey turnkey solutions. It is necessary to take analysts, marketers. Sit for a long time, think and draw up the terms of reference, on the basis of which already announce a tender or look for the right contractor.
About finance
Developing an application for a company is an expensive pleasure. Well, let's count. A team of 10 to 100 people. Take 10. The development time is 8-10 months. The minimum payment for such specialists is $ 1,000. Plus payment for office rent, taxes, technical support and of course the margin of the development studio. As a result, we get a decent amount.
This amount will definitely scare away small and medium-sized businesses, but it will be quite acceptable for large businesses. And big business will now use it, due to which small and medium-sized businesses will suffer because of the availability of smaller tools to perform such tasks that could really help. For example: loyalty systems - to motivate customers to buy your products or quickly train their employees in various business processes.
About the deadlines
On a mobile application - a minimum of 8 months dash and a half years. For the production of a computer game - a minimum of one year up to a maximum of 5 years. First of all, it will depend on the number of developers, on their experience and the tasks that are assigned to them.
About the technical task
TK should answer the following questions:
- Who is this game for?
- What are the goals of this game?
- And how much money do we have?
On the example of Subway. We want to teach people how to make sandwiches in our game. And we want it to be fun, interesting and cool.
This is enough for the game designer, relying on these data, to come up with a thousand documents on how this will look. After that, draft prototypes and concepts will be developed, where the customer will see a game layout at the level of cubes and rounds. So the customer can make adjustments already, at a relatively early stage of the assembly of the game. And only then artists begin work and the most important process begins.
That is, the initial TOR of the project can be placed on two pages of a regular literary text, where the customer simply writes what he wants, for which audience and what goals he pursues with this project. And then the studio begins to develop this technical task. In principle, any marketing or analytics employee can develop such a TOR. Also in the terms of reference, you can specify which games do you like and which do not, to greatly facilitate the work of the development studio.
About the team
From the customer’s side, the team should include creative specialists, in particular, this is the marketing and analytics department, which initially (prior to ordering) analyzes such an application and develops the terms of reference. And then the creative process begins, which is managed by marketing and PR, well, the studio itself from the side of the performers.
About inspiration
Creative inspiration in such projects is mainly based on what has already been created. Other projects are being reviewed, the “chips” that have been highlighted are highlighted. Then this information is processed and a completely new, unlike anything project is obtained. Yes, in general, game development is quite a creative process, but it is also quite routine, because you need to create a huge amount of documentation and calculations.
About the genre of the game
No need to reinvent the wheel. You need to rely on existing genres and types of games. Returning to our sandwiches. There are really tons of apps where people collect food. These games are already quite fun and interesting. It is necessary to use what is already popular and familiar to ordinary people. Otherwise, you will also spend your resources, time and money on training to use the game.