Cohen D.S., Bustamante II S.A. Producing Games. From Business and Budgets to Creativity and Design

Focal Press, 2010. — 304 p. — ISBN: 978-0-240-81070-6.Master the secrets behind video game production — from concept to completion — with these comprehensive tips and tricks from two accomplished, working game producers. Discover how to lead a team, communicate effectively, budget, schedule, staff, and design quality next-generation games. Producing Games walks you through every stage of the production process with a focus on the part the producer plays at each phase.Intro: So You Want to be a Video Game Producer.
Section One. What is a Video Game Producer?
Producer Primer.
Producing at a Developer.
Producing at a Publisher.
Producer Roles.
Size and Scope: Large vs. Small, Licensed vs. Original.
Producing Skills.
Tools of the Trade.
Section Two. The Process in a Nutshell.
The History of Game Development.
Game Project Lifecycle Overview.
The Development Team.
The Publishing Team.
Publishers Selecting Developers.
Section Three. Scheduling and Structure.
Scheduling and Structure.
Development Plan Management (Scheduling to Production).
Budget Management.
The Milestone Schedule.
Pipelines.
Section Four. Managing Your Project, Your Team, Your Time, and Yourself.
Being an Organized Producer.
Reviews and approvals.
Meetings.
Managing and Supporting Multiple Projects.
Staffing.
Technology: What Every Producer Should Know.
External Management (Publisher).
Section Five. Concept Phase.
What You Hope to achieve at Concept.
The Producer’s Role at the Concept Stage.
The Creative at the Concept Stage: The Evolution.
Concept Risk Management.
Section Six. Pre-Production.
Looking ahead.
What You Hope to achieve at Pre-Production.
The Producer’s Role at Pre-Production.
The Game Design Doc.
Tech, art, and Sound Design Docs.
The Tech Side at Pre-Production.
Proof of Concepts, Target Renders, and Prototypes.
Risk Management: What Can Go Wrong at Pre-Production.
Section Seven. The Production Phase.
What are Your Goals for the Production Phase.
Builds and the Build Process.
The Quality assurance (Qa) Process.
Localization.
Risk Management During Production.
Section Eight. Crunch Mode.
What Is the Goal at the End of Production?
Game Ratings: The Esrb and You.
First-Party Submissions.
Section Nine. Post-Production.
Producer Role During Post-Production Phase.
Archiving.
Postmortem.