Habitat Indie Game Development Pre-Post Mortem

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A Pre-Post-Mortem about our Road to Early Access

Charles Cox, Founder/CEO

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A Strategic Space Survival Gamehttp://www.jointhe509th.com

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Ground Rules‣ Nothing is Final.

• We’re not done yet. Everything can change. Everything can fall apart. Everything can succeed madly.

‣ Everything is Personal.

• It worked for us. It may not work for you. It may never work again. And, see Rule #1 (Nothing is final).

‣ Here Be Dragons.

• Perception is tricky. Bias is everywhere. Take with salt.

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So Far…What we’ve done

Team4

team members

30yrs.

experience

250sq. feet

Technology1

major unity rev

18,000lines of

code

50plugins

Schedule6

mo. of planning

9mo. of dev

2mo. in market

Audience200

press mentions

13,000miles of shows

10,000players

Finances $100k self-funded

$65k kickstarted

$50kin loans

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The ENVISIONED Road to HabitatEasy Peasy, Right?

Q4 2013 Q1 2014 Q2 2014 Q3 2014 Q4 2014

Build Prototype! Leave my job, get my team, build this thing.

Kickstarter!Show the world, get excitement, raise a bunch of money.

Early Access!Get feedback, make money to keep studio alive, court the press.

Release!We are famous, people love us, money, cars, GDC talks, woot woot.

Pre-Orders!Gold master, pre-orders, press previews, hit for holiday.

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The REAL Road-To-HabitatI Dare You To Make Sense of This

Sep

Q3 2013

Oct Nov Dec

Q4 2013

Jan Feb Mar

Q1 2014

Apr May Jun

Q2 2014

Unity 4.3

Working in the Dark…

9 (P/T)Xbox One

N/A

Savings

Home Office

N/A

PC, Mac

Mouse/KB Only: ) : (

Jul Aug

Engineering

Events

Technology

Team Size

Partners

Sales/Availability

Funding

Office Space

Press

Platforms

Input Devices

Mood

125 sqft Seattle

401(k) Kickstarter

250 sf

Humble Bundle Pre

Prototype 1

FailedPrototype 2 GDC/KS

ProtoEA VersionRe-design

Quit Job!

2x Space!

N/A Steam

Publisher

1 2 3.75 5

POP GDCPAX EAST E3 RTX

Early Access

71 59 6112

Launch Kickstarter

+ Gamepad

Mouse/KB Only

+ Linux

:\ :| : ) (O.o) (o.O) (0.o)

ANNOUNCED

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The Road, Decoded

Sep

Q3 2013

Oct Nov Dec

Q4 2013

Jan Feb Mar

Q1 2014

Apr May Jun

Q2 2014

Unity 4.3


9 (P/T)Xbox One

N/A

Savings

Home Office

N/A

PC, Mac


Jul Aug

Engineering

Events

Technology

Team Size

Partners

Sales/Availability

Funding

Office Space

Press

Platforms

Input Devices

Mood

125 sqft Seattle

401(k) Kickstarter

250 sf

Humble Bundle Pre

Prototype 1



Quit Job!

2x Space!

N/A Steam

Publisher

1 2 3.75 5


Early Access

71 59 6112

Launch Kickstarter

+ Gamepad

Mouse/KB Only

+ Linux

:\ :| : ) (O.o) (o.O) (0.o)

“Maybe This Game will Work.”NOT WITH THIS TEAM/DESIGN/FINANCES

END OF MILESTONE DECISIONS:• Leave my job, go full time.• Detox from big-company think.• Find a strategy that works.• Develop on my own. Somehow.

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The Road, Decoded

Sep

Q3 2013

Oct Nov Dec

Q4 2013

Jan Feb Mar

Q1 2014

Apr May Jun

Q2 2014

Unity 4.3


9 (P/T)Xbox One

N/A

Savings

Home Office

N/A

PC, Mac


Jul Aug

Engineering

Events

Technology

Team Size

Partners

Sales/Availability

Funding

Office Space

Press

Platforms

Input Devices

Mood

125 sqft Seattle

401(k) Kickstarter

250 sf

Humble Bundle Pre

Prototype 1



Quit Job!

2x Space!

N/A Steam

Publisher

1 2 3.75 5


Early Access

71 59 6112

Launch Kickstarter

+ Gamepad

Mouse/KB Only

+ Linux

:\ :| : ) (O.o) (o.O) (0.o)

“I KNOW this Game Will Work! Somehow.”JUST NEED TO START ALL OVER. ALSO YOU HAVE NO JOB.

END OF MILESTONE DECISIONS:• Get people! Even temporary!• Think through the numbers.• Scope it, sell idea to people.• GET BACK TO BASICS.

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The Road, Decoded

Sep

Q3 2013

Oct Nov Dec

Q4 2013

Jan Feb Mar

Q1 2014

Apr May Jun

Q2 2014

Unity 4.3


9 (P/T)Xbox One

N/A

Savings

Home Office

N/A

PC, Mac


Jul Aug

Engineering

Events

Technology

Team Size

Partners

Sales/Availability

Funding

Office Space

Press

Platforms

Input Devices

Mood

125 sqft Seattle

401(k) Kickstarter

250 sf

Humble Bundle Pre

Prototype 1



Quit Job!

2x Space!

N/A Steam

Publisher

1 2 3.75 5


Early Access

71 59 6112

Launch Kickstarter

+ Gamepad

Mouse/KB Only

+ Linux

:\ :| : ) (O.o) (o.O) (0.o)

“Look! It’s Fun! Kinda.”KEEP ITERATING. GO FAST! BREAK THINGS!

END OF MILESTONE DECISIONS:• Be sloppy in coding.• Be ruthless in feedback.• Have a buddy. Show results.• Force yourself with dates.

• Announce, KS, GDC

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The Road, Decoded

Sep

Q3 2013

Oct Nov Dec

Q4 2013

Jan Feb Mar

Q1 2014

Apr May Jun

Q2 2014

Unity 4.3


9 (P/T)Xbox One

N/A

Savings

Home Office

N/A

PC, Mac


Jul Aug

Engineering

Events

Technology

Team Size

Partners

Sales/Availability

Funding

Office Space

Press

Platforms

Input Devices

Mood

125 sqft Seattle

401(k) Kickstarter

250 sf

Humble Bundle Pre

Prototype 1



Quit Job!

2x Space!

N/A Steam

Publisher

1 2 3.75 5


Early Access

71 59 6112

Launch Kickstarter

+ Gamepad

Mouse/KB Only

+ Linux

:\ :| : ) (O.o) (o.O) (0.o)

“Holy crap we have to show this at GDC”MAKE IT BEAUTIFUL! HAVE A PITCH! SELL!

END OF MILESTONE DECISIONS:• This prototype is expendable.• It shows possibility.• Need legitimacy! (Xbox One!)• Get a publisher, this selling is exhausting.

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The Road, Decoded

Sep

Q3 2013

Oct Nov Dec

Q4 2013

Jan Feb Mar

Q1 2014

Apr May Jun

Q2 2014

Unity 4.3


9 (P/T)Xbox One

N/A

Savings

Home Office

N/A

PC, Mac


Jul Aug

Engineering

Events

Technology

Team Size

Partners

Sales/Availability

Funding

Office Space

Press

Platforms

Input Devices

Mood

125 sqft Seattle

401(k) Kickstarter

250 sf

Humble Bundle Pre

Prototype 1



Quit Job!

2x Space!

N/A Steam

Publisher

1 2 3.75 5


Early Access

71 59 6112

Launch Kickstarter

+ Gamepad

Mouse/KB Only

+ Linux

:\ :| : ) (O.o) (o.O) (0.o)

“Rebuild the entire game.”NO MORE CHARLES CODE.

END OF MILESTONE DECISIONS:• Charles on selling full-time. KS, Pub…• Code for the Early Access audience.• Scope down, down, down!

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What I Started With…

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June 2013 (Slideware)

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July 2013 (Concept Art)

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Aug 2013 (CANCELED PROTOTYPE)

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Sep 2013 (JUST LEFT MY JOB)

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Oct 2013 (Slideware Again)

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Nov 2013 (Screw it, I’m coding it)

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Dec 2013 (Maybe I got something..)

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Jan 2014 (Real coder in the house)

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Feb 2014 (Prior to announce)

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Mar 2014 (20 gfx plugins later)

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Apr 2014 (Kickstarter! Publisher!)

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May 2014 (Start Over for Steam!)

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June 2014 (In Progress…)

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July 2014 (Early Access Launch)

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…and where we are now!

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Where Did We Know It Was OK?

Sep

Q3 2013

Oct Nov Dec

Q4 2013

Jan Feb Mar

Q1 2014

Apr May Jun

Q2 2014

Unity 4.3


9 (P/T)Xbox One

N/A

Savings

Home Office

N/A

PC, Mac


Jul Aug

Engineering

Events

Technology

Team Size

Partners

Sales/Availability

Funding

Office Space

Press

Platforms

Input Devices

Mood

125 sqft Seattle

401(k) Kickstarter

250 sf

Humble Bundle Pre

Prototype 1



Quit Job!

2x Space!

N/A Steam

Publisher

1 2 3.75 5


Early Access

71 59 6112

Launch Kickstarter

+ Gamepad

Mouse/KB Only

+ Linux

:\ :| : ) (O.o) (o.O) (0.o)

ANNOUNCED

NOWHERE

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How We Did It: Kickstarting

Pro VideoShot at Museum of Flight. Ended up replacing in last week.NEXT TIME: More research on successful game KS videos.

ShowableGame playable. Showable. Animated GIFs, screenshots.NEXT TIME: Need a lot more GIF-able moments.

Sane Target

$50K, based on research of avg backed projects. Got $64KNEXT TIME: If we need KS, we better ask for a ton.

Prime Pump

Announced + showed at GDC before KS. Got friends ready.NEXT TIME: Ensure KS isn’t 1st time folks hear about us.

UpdatesHad 12 over the course of the campaign.NEXT TIME: More. Challenge people. Have arguments!

Development

None during this time. 100% of time on KS raising.NEXT TIME: Nope, still correct.

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How We Did It: Developing

Agile Weekly sprints. Bug lists. Everyone in same room.NEXT TIME: Get rid of JIRA earlier. Ugh.

Fail FastStuff that sucks = gone. Doesn’t need to be done, just fun.NEXT TIME: Less time building “systems” until fun proven.

No GDD I made a doc once. Nobody read it.NEXT TIME: Prettier slideware. MAYBE.

Limited QA

Hurting us more now, but no dedicated QA (yet).NEXT TIME: Start QA earlier.

One TechPicked Unity. Mold game to constraints of engine.NEXT TIME: More napkin math on engine constraints.

Limit Optimization

Work on middle-of-road hardware, only fix noticeable blips.NEXT TIME: Nope, firm believer in this.

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The Tech Details (Unity 4.5)How The Software Works…

Graphics Physics Plugins

Source Control Dev Environment Hardware

DX9-level (no DX11). Forward rendering. Static +

Dynamic Batching. Diff+Spec+Illum maps

In-box PhysX. Numerous problems, solved by fiddling

w/ values until it “looks right”. 3x solver iter count.

50 total, 25 still used. Key ones: DaikonForge, GoogleFu, Exploder,

SpaceGraphicsToolkit. Worth it!

Self-hosted VisualSVN on Azure-powered Windows Server 2008 R2 box. No

Bitbucket!

Windows 8, UnityVS, Bugtracker.NET on SVN box. Coded on Mac too but CR/LF

was a bitch.

1-2 year old gaming laptops, one MacBook Pro, one 3-year

old Linux box for testing. Middle of the road!

SVN

WHY U NO STANDARD

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The Unity Tech GraphIf I Could Pick Only One Of Each…

Strength

Positive Factors

Weakness

Opportunity Threat

Negative Factors

Inte

rnal Facto

rsExte

rnal Facto

rs

JUST #!@$@ WORKS.EVERYWHERE.

DON’T GO OUTSIDEOF THE ROPES.

DOUBLE DOWN ONEMOTION, NOT TECH.

IF PLUGINS BREAK,WE’RE HOSED.

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How We Did It: Publishing/Releasing

Vertical Slice

Only built what we needed. Focused on polish.NEXT TIME: More playable, less talk.

Had a Pitch

What it is, why it’s different, how it plays, what we will add.NEXT TIME: Was lucky someone was bringing pubs around.

Lawyered Up

Publisher agreement negotiations ~ 1 mo. and cost $2000.NEXT TIME: It will cost more because we won’t be small. :P

Went on Road

Got a booth at GDC. Even before we had a playable.NEXT TIME: Enter more contests!

Kept Passion

Four days, having to stay positive, excited. WORTH IT.NEXT TIME: Make sure 3 people at all confs if possible.

Courted > 1

6 interested. 4 NDAs. 2 sent term sheets. Picked 1.NEXT TIME: Get 10 interested. That was too damn close.

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Controversial Calls!Charles calls audibles. Like, all the time.

Cancel 1st Prototype

“Everyone knows space games need to be true 3D.”

Leave Job “Everyone knows you don’t leave your job ‘til you get a hit.”

Set a “Low” KS Target

“Everyone knows you need to ask for EVERY cent you need.”

Get a Publisher “Everyone knows a true indie never signs with a publisher.”

Go to Early Access

“Everyone knows Early Access games cannibalize sales.”

Rewrite After GDC

“Everyone knows you should never throw away code.”

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Are We Off Target?Yes and no.

Schedule Slipped four months. Still alive!

Team Had to shut down Team A, spin up Team B. Understaffed.

Finances Made Kickstarter, just barely. All savings gone. Loans ho!

Partners Signed a publisher, with Xbox, with Sony, with Steam.

Technology

Unity 4, baby! All the way.

Mood We made it to revenue. We’ll make it the rest of the way.

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So…What Now?Follow the Rogers Curve.

Kickstarter Early Access Launch + ConsoleSteam Sale!!!iPad Version (AMIRITE)?

Th

e C

hasm

(WE A

RE H

ER

E)

Early Market50% of our KS backers haven’t even played the game.

Press is bored of Kickstarters. Stay local, stay with your networks.

IndieGoGo NoNo. Only 10% will get funded vs 47% on KS.

Keeping the Lights OnStay relevant, drive sales with:• Features that get

attention• Reach-out to streamers• Discounts (careful!!!)• Press (well, kinda)

Launch and SalesThis is the big question mark. Sure, we’ll load up on ads. We’ll sim ship on all platforms. We’ll blah blah blah…

We have our minimum forecasted sales based on what we know. We budget to that.

Late MarketDLC, sure but expect only a 30% attach rate on DLC1, maybe 10% on DLC2.

Tablet+Mobile is a crapshoot – but there’s some potential for paid games to come back on the AppStores. We’ll try it.

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If I Could Change One Thing…

I’d want more courage.

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Things That Matter More Than Opinions

Burn Rate. Making Actual Progress.

Market Research. Getting Visibility.

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[email protected]

Habitat Indie Game Development Pre-Post Mortem

Small Business & Entrepreneurship

Transcript of Habitat Indie Game Development Pre-Post Mortem