13

Every game is a miracle

Every game is a miracle. It’s with this sentence that I usually introduce myself to the development teams.

I must say that I have seen so many canceled projects, sometimes only one month before delivery,

that releasing a game is some kind of miracle. Financial difficulties of the studio or publisher, loss

of confidence from the team, insoluble technical problems, changing editorial direction, political

maneuvering, legal issues and bad previews are just a few trials that can annihilate a several months

or even years long collective adventure. As an editor at Wanadoo, I also cancelled developments. So

yes, every game released is a miracle. But it’s also a melody, music. Imagine a conductor in charge of a

symphony that has not been written yet, facing an audience of musicians with different personalities

and talents. Add to this mixture that most of them have to invent their instruments, or that some have

never been part of an orchestra. Not easy, right? Still, that picture would not be truthful. Because you

forget the eyes of “patrons”, who stare at you from the balcony, examine the progress of the composition,

regularly issue artistic opinions, sometimes contradictory. With an inherent risk: if the eye does not

believe in the result, it looks away. And the music stops. So tell me, what is the probability for such a

symphony to emerge? This is the reality of game development. As for the time and effort needed, try to

imagine this time a marathon of several years, to be suffered as a team on a trail dotted with unknown

events, sometimes lethal, causing you to alternate sprinting and distance running. We are far from the

glamor some imagine while playing their console! Yet developing a game is the same as practicing all

these activities. Symphony and marathon. As such, the proper preparation for the mission, that some

would call suicide, is the responsibility of the conductor, sometimes called project manager or executive

producer. That was my role on Spec Ops: The Line. Here then is the story of a miracle, an extraordinary

symphony, one of my greatest memories.

By François Coulon, Executive Producer and co-Creative Director of Spec Ops: The Line

Assisted by Aurélien for the writing.

Here 40% of the original article.

14

First notes

2008. A pivotal year. The publisher 2K Games is looking to develop a shooter with a unique style to expand its catalog and affix to it the

Spec Ops license it owns. The prototype submitted by the Berlin studio Yager totally fits this vision. The contract is signed. 2K has respected its growth strategy consisting of betting on financially affordable and promising studios to support their development and add the editors’ own expertise. For those who have a good memory, it is by respecting this method that they signed with Irrational Games. The rest is history, the success of Bioshock. The editorial team at 2K, led by Greg Gobbi from San Francisco, is structured to answer to this logical accompaniment. It will take care of Spec Ops. For the narrative part, whose ambition is clearly displayed (it needs a mature and provocative story), the preferred writer is Walt Williams. Within Yager, after some casting errors (especially at the crucial position of lead game designer) Cory Davis, former lead level designer at Monolith Studios, is hired in Berlin. However, 2K still lacks someone to manage the on-site production of such an ambitious title. Now it happens that I had been a consultant on European developments for 2K since the summer of 2008 (Mafia II). So naturally the publisher approached me to lead the project. I have vast experience in development, including 6 years at Ubisoft in which I developed the first Splinter Cell (2002). The challenge interests me, I begin on November 1st that same year. My mission is clear: to produce and direct a realistic military third-person shooter in the sand-covered city of Dubai with unprecedented narrative ambition. Technically, the foundations are already laid. The studio is working with the Unreal Engine, an engine that delivers performance and ideal tools for a production of this caliber. So here I am in Berlin to lead a team that, it’s important to mention, has not released a game in 5 years. Sent by 2K, my position is inevitably unique. It could quickly turn sour. Fortunately, I have a good relationship with everyone, particularly with the studio management: Timo Ullmann, General Director, Mathias Wiese, Artistic Director, and all leads already in position.

Head Orchestra

Before I left for Berlin, the studio led me to understand that pre-production was almost finished. For those wondering, pre-

production is the phase during which the team defines everything that it will produce in detail (scenario, missions, features, graphical bible, game design documents, etc.). This is to manufacture the missing production tools, then define the processes to produce a near-final game level that will validate the whole project and measure the actual production rhythm. This phase usually lasts between 25% and 35% of the whole development time.In theory, my task should have been to produce, from this foundation, the remaining levels. But, as it sadly so often happens, the reality is quite different. There are certainly foundations but still a lot of elements to be finalized, including the script, the production chain, recruitment, not to mention the technical problems associated with the heavy use of sand, a crucial element. There are then 55 people

in the team and schedules indicate a release date near the end of 2009. At this point, we are all aware that it is humanly impossible to produce a game of this magnitude in ten months. It would take a hundred people to get there and much more time! Discussions about the schedule and the budget begin. Unfortunately, they drag on and involve aspects (contractual, logistical, financial) that will strain the relationship between Yager and 2K for several years. They especially delay development. Of course, the will to continue is there but money matters and financial commitments quickly make people cautious. Especially in the context of an AAA game. For the record, I can still see myself in the apartment that was given to me in early development. I’m on the phone with a representative from 2K Games. He is starting to get annoyed, threatening to stop production the following week. My wife, having come to find an apartment for our family, is in the next room. What an atmosphere! The symphony that we are trying to create is on the brink of destruction. Yet we continue. I set most of the team on production, despite the absence of many elements, often linked to the story. To put part of the team on production while the other remains in pre-production, the only solution is to develop a maximum of levels, regardless of the scenario and the rest. This allows us to confront the reality of the game and change the mindset of the team, too used to making prototypes. It also allows writers to be inspired, to be fed by concrete elements. The virtuous circle of creation passes by.

Recruitment

TTo give substance to the ambition of our project, we need to recruit different profiles. In particular, we need an in-house

writer working with us here. Cory Davis recommends Richard Pearsey with whom he has already worked. He joins us quickly. In the end, many of us will work on the story: Richard Pearsay of course (who will leave the adventure along the way), Walt Williams, Cory Davis, myself, Greg Gobbi, plus Jörg Friedrich, the lead level designer and several members of his team. I also need a director for the cinematics. Several internal people (animators, screenwriters,etc.) believe they are able to do it but I need everyone to be at their task, on their core job. So I recruited Emmanuel Gorin who led an animated series (Skyland), short films and commercials. He even has solid experience in video games after having been an artistic director at Ubisoft and consultant on the cinematics of several games (including Assassin’s Creed II). He brings an outstanding technical and artistic expertise. We then hire in all the departments. Some profiles are very complicated to recruit, representing gambles who will pay for some, less for others. Some jobs are very complicated to fill, since it’s a gamble whether or not they will actually succeed. But I would not want to insult the team as each member has done his or her part, has played his or her role. The console programmers, animators, technical artists, level designers, scripters, associate producers, testers, etc, all deserve mention here. Moreover, all of them are in our introduction credits. Players may have noted that, contrary to custom in the industry, the order of the credits is random. At my suggestion, it shows any member of the team first. A game will always be a collective work.

15

Pianissimo

December 2009. A year has passed. The game advances. Several lights are green. We built an entire team that took over the

project. We even organized a press event in Berlin, inviting the press to the “reboot” of Spec Ops. The reporters were dazzled by our demo, the one that would become the fourth chapter (nothing is thrown out ...). They loved what they could do in it. At the time, 80% of the levels were playable and advanced. Game systems are refined, the art direction also. Only the narrative ambition has not been proven, at least not enough. But nothing ensures that the integration of gameplay, cutscenes and dialogues will support an ambitious story. This remains the big question. Meanwhile, the technical team designs additional modules to accommodate AI and improve the management of the lighting system. All this takes us significantly forward. Overall, this part of the game is no problem. We are satisfied with the engine and how we use it. However, we continue to fumble with the ordering system, the importance of support (Lugo and Adams), and the extent of their control. At the start, the system is based on three characters, one playable (Walker) and two in support (Adams and Lugo, the young wolf ). Then we try to do something quite complex, especially with orders like “go to”. We prototype a lot before going backwards. This breaks the AI in different portions, leading to dozens of conflicts affecting the level design. We have departed from the simplicity of the gameplay we had at the start of the project. We decide to cut everything that is similar to a hardcore micromanagement system. We simplify. If we want to play without the teammates, no worry, they will work on their side and everything will be fine. If we want to use them we can too, and simply. In the end, the choices we make allow us to have operational support in the combat phases (more firepower) and an extra gameplay layer (the orders). Teammates are an extremely powerful narrative tool, able to comment on the action, evolve with the player and react separately to the events. It is a strong tool for writers. At this point, level management also raises concerns. We need to rethink things more simply because of common technical problems: to be able to load the visible and playable map in memory, select it by special passages to stream the following section, remove the previous one. And I won’t mention the troubles in displaying far distances, etc. In this regard, it must be remembered that the verticality of Dubai offers distant views. Technically, we had quite a few problems to fit everything in (especially on PS3). Nothing but classic problems for “console” developers.On the relational side, operations with the publisher are mixed. There are no producers for 4 months, answers about deliverable assets sometimes take 2. Yet despite its slowness, editorial support is excellent. Each of our ideas and our achievements is discussed, challenged in an intelligent way. Our biggest remaining concern is with unresolved contractual issues. The discussions always revolve around the budget and schedule (including the production of a DLC). They prevent us from recruiting good people on time. Ultimately, these disputes have made us lose 5 to 6 months. Of course, there are still objective reasons for these problems. The communication between two entities separated by 8000 km and 9 time zones is not easy. Not to mention

that the 2K editorial team is also responsible for several other projects: the Mafia licenses, Bioshock, Borderlands...

Troubles

2010 is rock’n’roll. Discussions on the schedule and the budget still do not succeed. I look at my calendar one day in June. It’s

been almost two years since these discussions have been initiated. The project suffers, any hiring is frozen. The relationship between Yager and 2K is at its lowest, on the edge of conflict. For me, in the middle, it means I have to adopt the only tenable course of conduct: to preserve and prioritize project continuity. Surprisingly, despite the difficulties, 2K stays confident in Yager. We have to praise them. 95% of publishers would have already canceled the development or would have given up and released a mediocre title. Instead, the editorial staff of 2K has always supported the concept, maintained the requirement of getting the highest quality game. Releasing a lousy game on time and within budget doesn’t interest us, they said. Without them, not only Spec Ops would not have happened but it wouldn’t have been as good. Their support has been absolutely crucial. Unfortunately, this part of 2K (editorship) is one of the few with this attitude. It is not followed by the other departments (legal, finance, marketing ...) that are dragging their feet, sometimes nonexistent, and make the production schizophrenic. One day someone tells us we must make these changes, which implies a significant rework. The next day, another answers us you will neither get an extra dollar nor an extra day. Fortunately, these complications do not prevent us from moving forward. We remain as productive on the levels as on the cutscenes, the gameplay, and all that will be the identity of Spec Ops. The narrative becomes strong, mature, ambiguous. We rely on solid values: the film Apocalypse Now, the short story Heart of Darkness. The choice possibilities that we implement allow us to establish our thought on the treatment of violence and war. These decisions help the player answer the only moral question worth asking: what part of humanity is left when faced with exceptional situations? All this is part of the same dynamic of questioning, involving and identifying. It works and we are happy.On the other side, with the integration of many complex systems, the technical department faces big performance problems. All the storms in the game have to be adjusted by hand to ensure the best viewing experience. The same goes for the sand avalanches, which are all unique. Regrettably, we are unable to develop generic avalanches that can be both triggered at any time and visually satisfactory. This will prevent us from giving the sand a more important role in the gameplay. It’s a real regret. It could have been far greater, enforcing the identity of Spec Ops. Unfortunately, the visual quality was not good (especially the connections between the before and after) and this introduced other problems in terms of level design. Developing a game is always a balance between gameplay desires and technical limitations. Hence the importance of having a strong team and a technical department that understands the vision overall, becoming a force of proposal, to move forward together.