#67 Steve Ellmore, On Game Development
Summary
Steve Ellmore, co-founder and president of Disbelief, tells me that games are a collaborative effort and how game dev differs from other dev.
Details
Who he is. What he does. His first game was in BASIC. What Disbelief does. “A game is a piece of art that can move”. Game dev is iterative and never the vision of one person; why it is thought to be that way; the visionary is more of a guide, deciding what to include and exclude; Hundreds of people involved. Using game engines. Prototyping; “made four games and shipped one”. Avoiding “group think”. Sequels are common, holding back features. Sharing ideas between devs and companies. What happens after prototyping - playing end to end, the doldrums, getting it back together, closing stages, technical debt, making a product. How long a game takes to make. Specialized work of Disbelief, frame rates, VR. Disbelief is hiring in Boston and Chicago.