How does a huge game like halo 3 or call of duty cost 15 million
by Drew Snyder · in General Discussion · 06/27/2008 (6:00 pm) · 23 replies
Well i was wondering why a huge game like halo or call of duty costs 15 million (sometimes higher) to make. i was wondering just how it gets that high. i know that a good game engine costs almost a million to license but how does it cost even more.
#22
I thought that Havok Complete included the Destruction, Cloth, and Behavior too, or are those not out yet?
07/01/2008 (9:07 am)
@MichI thought that Havok Complete included the Destruction, Cloth, and Behavior too, or are those not out yet?
#23
Complete has Physics and Animation. Spectrum is Complete + Behavior. I was not informed of any additional packages, so one can assume that you pick one of those two and start adding on.
You absolutely have to have Physics for everything. You have to have Physics and Animation to use Behavior. So, following that trend you just keep adding on packages until you have the solution you need.
Now, the free binary Havok released is Havok Complete. What you do not get is the full source code or official Havok support. However, you can join receive the same kind of support you might get here: community driven help.
The documentation for Complete is beyond amazing. Sure, it's 900 pages and I'm only up to 300, but I'm blown away. I've yet to even get to the community forums because I want to absorb the documentation first.
So, back on the topic...development labor is going to be a big chunk: programmers, artists, producer, project management, writers, etc. Then there is marketing, but that can sometimes be counted against the company and not the project itself.
Hardware not only includes the computers you need, but also the platform development kits for console...and man, you talk about a pretty chunk of change!
Finally, software: Development software (Photoshop, Visual Studio, CAD), SDKs and libs (Havok, Kynapse), etc. Some software can not even be licensed outright for a base cost. Some higher up packages require an annual fee of hundreds of thousands of dollars, with a locked in time frame of multiple years.
What that means is if you pick a library you want to use, you might have to agree to pay for it annually for 5 years.
Setbacks are also costly...can anyone say Too Human?
07/01/2008 (9:30 am)
@Nathan - Check this out: Havok Products Page.Complete has Physics and Animation. Spectrum is Complete + Behavior. I was not informed of any additional packages, so one can assume that you pick one of those two and start adding on.
You absolutely have to have Physics for everything. You have to have Physics and Animation to use Behavior. So, following that trend you just keep adding on packages until you have the solution you need.
Now, the free binary Havok released is Havok Complete. What you do not get is the full source code or official Havok support. However, you can join receive the same kind of support you might get here: community driven help.
The documentation for Complete is beyond amazing. Sure, it's 900 pages and I'm only up to 300, but I'm blown away. I've yet to even get to the community forums because I want to absorb the documentation first.
So, back on the topic...development labor is going to be a big chunk: programmers, artists, producer, project management, writers, etc. Then there is marketing, but that can sometimes be counted against the company and not the project itself.
Hardware not only includes the computers you need, but also the platform development kits for console...and man, you talk about a pretty chunk of change!
Finally, software: Development software (Photoshop, Visual Studio, CAD), SDKs and libs (Havok, Kynapse), etc. Some software can not even be licensed outright for a base cost. Some higher up packages require an annual fee of hundreds of thousands of dollars, with a locked in time frame of multiple years.
What that means is if you pick a library you want to use, you might have to agree to pay for it annually for 5 years.
Setbacks are also costly...can anyone say Too Human?
Employee Scott Burns
GarageGames
I'll be expecting a lobster and stripper Friday then this week. GTA IV used Euphoria.
Edit:
And I'm pretty sure Assassin's Creed was a custom solution. =p
Edit:
Shenanigans! Fortunately I'm only exempt from the "of the" bet and not this lobster and stripper Friday bet. ;)