Collision of two worlds
Console versus Web
Agenda
Console and Web convergence
Web & console legacy
Content creation pipelines
Improvement ideas
Who am I?
Wait! Who's this guy?
Ubisoft (Paris)
Engine developer
Casual on console!
Spare time
Demoparties
Game jams
You said collision?
Consoles are connected
Not only multiplayer gameplay
Leaderboards, achievements (e.g XBLA)
Analytics
Social!
XB1 attempt at always connected
Gaming on the Web
Flash games
Facebook games
HTML5 ports of big engines (e.g Unreal, Unigine)
PS4 in browser!
Model by Volumic @ Sketchfab
So, Web and console are now the same industry?
No.
But why?
Web legacy
Everything Open Source
In line with Internet base principles
Not free, not used
Service-oriented
Easy deployment
Hosting is cheap
F5 updates your software
Continuous integration/deployment
=> Lots of tests
Release early, profit later (maybe)
Hard to be profitable from the start
Usually start small, then grow
Increased need for visible, immediate value
Side effect: encouraged accessibility and ergonomy
Developer-centric
Most of web tools are code-based (html, css, js, etc.)
Realm of designer-coders
Few artists, in proportion
Console legacy
Traditionally closed
Nothing open source
Open source is forbidden
Expensive (e.g some devkits cost $20,000)
Certification process
One-shot releases
Burn and forget (> 50% console market)
But you can update! Yeah, well...
Not all platforms (Wii)
Still heavy and expensive process
Side effect: bad code at end of production
One-shot marketing
You only got one try!
Production-centric
Developers only support production
Few of them compared to artists (~10%)
Most tools usable by artists (no code required)
Data-driven engines
Legacy changes the way we make games
How are games made?
Console pipeline
HTML5 pipelines
Cross-compile
Natural path for existing techs
Suited for cross-platform
Some shortcomings though (e.g threading)
Write JS
Web ecosystem (tools)
Javascript faster to write than C++
Editor availability
Reuse cool idioms
Maybe we could share some tips
Improvement ideas
Process example:
engine delivery
Currently: automated build, but manual testing
Max release frequency: twice a day (closer to deadlines)
Could benefit from automated testing
Better reliability, possible faster releases
JS engines
Need tools to allow artist-driven production (Flash anyone?)
Some techs have them
Interesting problem: communication with DCC tools
Adobe Generator (Photoshop CC) is a start
Takeaway
We're all making games, but in different ways
Sharing knowledge between technologies is valuable
Put the artists in charge!
Thanks
Questions?
And some more particles!
Bonus slides
Cross-compile C++ to js
(code! finally!)
#if defined(ANDROID) || defined(EMSCRIPTEN)
GL_CHECK(glClearDepthf(depth));
#else
GL_CHECK(glClearDepth(depth));
#endif
#ifdef EMSCRIPTEN
emscripten_set_main_loop(em_main_loop, 0, 0);
#else
while (glfwGetWindowParam(GLFW_OPENED))
{
application->update();
glfwSwapBuffers();
}
#endif
Other improvement ideas
Tool usability not uniform
Improve iteration times
Simple things: use URIs for everything