Jobs in Game Development [Team Management]

I'm asked about this topic often, so today I'll be introducing some of the various roles on a game development team.

Please keep in mind that team makeup and the names used for these roles may vary between teams and also regions.

[SYNDICT]

"Computers can be highly uncooperative, so this job requires patience and flexibility." He hit the nail on the head with this statement.

[ktvx.]

Solo devs be like:
"Hey that's my job!"
"Oh hey that's me!"
"I work there!"
"So cool! He mentioned my job!"
"That's me too!"

[JomaXZ]

Honestly feels like a miracle that games get made at all when there are so many wheels turning simultaneously…

[marioshi]

I had the biggest smile on my face when I heard Sakurai mentioned riggers. Some may call it a crutch, but back when I was a beginner animator, rigs were a godsend.

[mistertimber]

I like how all of the art of people doing their jobs are shown being in cool poses and with super powers and stuff and then the manager is just dead, it’s accurate

[charon]

Man, what is it about this series that just has me smiling with every episode, even when it's talking about work?

[Constantap_]

It's crazy how Mr. Sakurai releases those bite sized, 5 minutes videos, and yet they are some of the highest quality content, most informative and usefull stuff you can find on Youtube. I can't even express how happy I am that he started this channel this year, so many apiring Game devs are getting incredible insight from a veteran of the industry, and the general public can also learn so much about the behind the scene of Game making. Thank you as always Mr. Sakurai !

[OrigamiAhsoka]

Watching the credits for a large game always astounds me at just how many people have to work together to create even a single game. There’s just so much that goes into every game even if you wouldn’t notice it on the surface

[LocrianDorian]

In the western industry, "Planners" are usually called "Game Designers". They do what we call "paper design", essentially a high level design of the game that programmers (aka "Engineers") or more hands-on designers (for example "Level Designers" and "System Designers") have to implement. Then, "Managers" are a mix of "Producers" who mainly help with time management, and possibly "Leads" as well who supervise specific disciplines (i.e. programming, design etc). The roles really depend on the project and company though.

[lionheart]

I love how he also adds server maintenance and the role of the manager since those are also very important. Love the characters of each role.

[samueltaylor]

This is one of the coolest videos yet. I know so many people who love art, and who were discouraged at every step of the way because "you won't be able to find a job." And at the same time, I know many people who wonder what skills might help them break into the gaming industry. This video is so clear and simple, but it answers burning questions for tons of passionate young devs out there.

[Neutra]

Now I feel even worse for Sakurai. Man went through years of this, constantly overseeing ALL of that, without a break.
Mad respect.

[sonicartist]

I started a game team back in August.
While I have a background in animation and character rigging, my official industry jobs have been in bug tester and quality assurance. Which I’m feeling more pidgin held by the day.
Thus why I started the game team with other people in similar roles.
We have a team of 16, and me leading the project/being a director.
I don’t know what I am doing. So I have been learning as I go.
Same with the rest of my team.
But watching this breakdown video from Mr. Sakurai has reassured me that this project my team is making will work. Because I didn’t know of the nuanced roles on a team. Yet have already assigned certain qualified members to these designations.

Thank you for explaining this Mr. Sakurai, I can’t wait for others to see the vertical slice of Project: Mosaic from Team No Exp. Need.

[GameTesterBootCamp]

In the US "Play testers", "Focus Testers" and "QA Testers" are three different things. Thank you much for not lumping us all together as if our roles don't matter as much as other developers. ☺

This was an awesome video for showing off and explaining the different disciplines! Thank you! I'll be passing this along to our students.

[ermacn.cheese]

An incredible insight, as usual! The planner and director sharing a difference was an interesting learn; basically Sakurai the director helms the designs, while the planner puts it into documents for the rest of the team to read.

[patrickbaillargeon]

Remember in Kirby Super Star when Sakurai put little pictures of Kirby next to each job title in the ending credits? This video just reminded me of that.

[heyoyogaming]

I'm no games developer (Though it is the career path I'm pursuing), but I can safely say that the artistic interpretation of the manager was spot-on

[blankets]

I love how Masahiro Sakurai created this channel not from obligation under a company, but from pure passion and interest.
We don't deserve him.

[renakunisaki]

UI is more than just menus; it's also HUD, dialogue, controls, settings, things like the icon that tells when you're in range to talk to an NPC, making players know their input was accepted (see previous video)...

But it even goes beyond that, becoming a sort of meta-game-design field. There are some things you might not think of as UI, but they're important parts of how the player interacts with the game and knows what they can and can't do. For example:

- in the Paper Mario series, the maps have clear edges, but loading zones have a small piece sticking out past the edge, making it clear where they are.
- In Pokemon for Game Boy, loading zones are similarly marked - due to the perspective, you can't see the doors on the non-North walls, but they're marked by rugs and such.
- FPS games let you choose whether tilting the stick up makes the camera look up or down. Halo does this in a very clever way by just asking the player to "look up" and setting that based on which direction you push.
- NPCs or scripted events can act as subtle tutorials by just showing you how something works, or pointing out secrets. Eg an enemy falls into a pit, but you can see the top of their head still moving around, so there must be a place to stand. Luigi goes into a pipe, which tells you that going into pipes is something you can do.
- Sound design is a huge part of UI, and goes far beyond just "play sound effect when thing happens". When your sword goes CLANG against a wall, you know that's a solid wall, but if it goes THUNK like wood, you know maybe that wall isn't permanent. You also know you didn't hit the enemy, because then it would go SQUISH and GROAN. If the sound design is good enough (and they're familiar enough with the game), people can play through the game blindfolded!
- Sometimes games are frustrating because they don't clearly communicate which areas are part of the game and which are off limits. You find yourself trying to go somewhere only to hit an invisible wall, or getting stuck because you didn't see a path or didn't think you could actually go that way.
- Camera control is very important! It should feel natural enough that you do it without thinking. I enjoyed the camera control so much in Ocarina of Time, that I find myself pressing the same button to move the camera behind me in other games even where that doesn't work. Contrast with games where you're frequently having to slowly rotate the camera using digital buttons, and it's always distracting you from the actual game.
- How do you save? It depends on the game whether you let players save anywhere, only at certain places, or only when quitting the game; and whether they'll start back exactly where they were, a little ways back, or always at some special spot. But it's important that players know how saving works, that it doesn't take too long, and that (if you don't have auto saves) they're frequently reminded to save. The reminder need not be intrusive; just opening your menu and noticing there's a "save" option is usually enough. If you do have auto saves, it's important that they don't take too long, and don't leave you in an unwinnable state (or let you back out to previous saves just in case). Bad example: Donkey Kong Country, not letting you save in a new world until you reach the save point/revisit-previous-worlds point, which in some cases was at the end.
- Make sure you're not giving wrong advice! Ocarina of Time 3D added a feature where it would remind you to take breaks every few hours - but it didn't account for time the system was in sleep mode, so if you never actually quit the game between sessions, it might be telling you it's break time after just five minutes! In the original, a red dot tells whether your hookshot can reach a target - but it's not always correct! In Star Fox Adventures, NPCs might tell you to visit the WarpStone Shop, but there is no shop there - it was moved, and they forgot to update the dialogue.

[Lonestarz]

Congrats on your 50th video Mr. Sakurai! I've learned so much about gaming so far through your lessons! I hope to be a director for a game one day too. Even if I don't achieve that role, any role in making a game would be an honor.