[casual_games] Game development duration, any numbers?

[Ben Lewis]

>> Maybe, it would by useful to build a chart of estimations by genre and
features of games (or real data for well-known titles)... any volunteer? :)

Looking at my notes from Casuality Seattle, these are some dev cycles for a
few well-recognized casual games:

-Mah Jong Quest took 10 months to develop, with a team of three + contracted
artist
-Fish Tycoon took 9-10 months with a five-person team
-Luxor took only 3 months (against their will) with a 3-man team

I think it's safe to say that a game based on an "original" concept will
take significantly longer to develop than one based on an existing mechanic.
Something tells me that Luxor would've taken longer if Zuma didn't already
exist.

Also, something insanely art-intensive will just take longer if you only
have 1-2 artists on the team. I remember reading that Big Fish Studios was
able to crank out Hidden Expedition: Titanic so quickly because they piled
5+ artists on the project. Hope this helps.
Ben Lewis
Yatec Games
Marketing and Sales
(225)274-1550
www.yatecgames.com <http://www.yatecgames.com>  

From: Branislav Siles [mailto:siles at atomontage.com] 
Sent: Sunday, August 27, 2006 10:23 AM
To: casual_games at igda.org
Subject: [casual_games] Game development duration, any numbers?

Hello,
 
I have two questions about game development duration depending on genre,
previous experience, middleware used, etc. 
 
First, has anybody of you created a 3D car-racing game using Torque Game or
Shader Engine? Please provide me with any numbers (or links) on how many
coder-weeks and/or scripter-weeks it took your team to finish it. It would
be nice if you name the game or provide some other information about it
(features, number of levels, previous experience of developers or what ever
you find interesting).
 
Second, I am looking for ANY information about how long it takes
(coder/man-weeks) to create a typical game of a specific genre and size
(gameplay length, number of levels..). I know that this varies extremely
between particular games and programmers/developers, but this is the case in
any area of creativity and sure there are at least some numbers for many of
them.
 
I will be thankful for any numbers or pure estimations, so if you have some
experience in creating a small game of some genre and you know it took your
coder 16 weeks to write the code, then this information is very ok for me. 
 
Maybe, it would by useful to build a chart of estimations by genre and
features of games (or real data for well-known titles)... any volunteer? :)
 
Thank you a lot,
 
Brano/Atomontage
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