5 replies to this topic

[lse]

Hi, I''m currently looking into Gameboy Advance development and to consider the business options (how much funding would be needed etc etc) I''d like to ask how long a typical GBA development takes, assuming you already have a detailed game design document in place? I realize that the length probably depends on the type of game so if it makes answering easier, you could consider: a) a Monopoly-like board game conversion b) a racing title like F-Zero Also, what do you think is a good programmer team size for a GBA project? (I''m thinking two?) Any answers you can give would really help me a lot! Lasse

[mlambert]

Hi Lasse,

Well I''m currently getting involved with an AGB project that has a dev period of 6mnths with 3 programmers and 3 artists.

However, this is a huge game, you certainly won''t need as much time/programmers and artists for smaller projects.


2 programmers and I would say 2-4 months would be a good time for most projects.


Take this as a rough guidline, I''ve not started direct working with the system yet, but as a programmer by trade, I''ve started using the official libs and it seems very quick to work with.....so far anyway ;-)




Marc Lambert

marc@darkhex.com

[lse]

Thanks Marc, this helps a bunch.

Another thing I''ve been thinking: I''ve heard comments that checking the free source & docs on the web (for instance, www.gbadev.org) is a very tedious and slow way of getting started.

Compared to this, what are the official Nintendo libraries like - how long does it take to learn your way around and begin real game programming assuming you are already a proficient programmer in the "regular" software industry?

(I''m sure you''re under an NDA with Nintendo so I''d be happy with an opinion without details.)

[mlambert]

quote:

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Original post by lse
Another thing I''ve been thinking: I''ve heard comments that checking the free source & docs on the web (for instance, www.gbadev.org) is a very tedious and slow way of getting started.

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I''ve only briefly scanned some of these docs so I couldn''t really comment. I would imagine that they aren''t anywhere near as good as the official docs....yet anyway ;-)

quote:

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Compared to this, what are the official Nintendo libraries like - how long does it take to learn your way around and begin real game programming assuming you are already a proficient programmer in the "regular" software industry?

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Not long at all, the official libs are well documented and have plenty of code for show (it''s not brilliantly written code btw). It all depends on how much game coding you''ve done before. I found that game programming is a different ''mindset'' to general coding, it''s much less orientated on writting the best code, more focused on speed.....

Hope this helps!



Marc Lambert

marc@darkhex.com

[Arjan]

Yeah, the free documents aren''t always really good. There are some good ones but when I started I had to test a lot of things because the specs weren''t complete or incorrect.

[lse]

quote:

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Original post by mlambert
However, this is a huge game, you certainly won't need as much time/programmers and artists for smaller projects.

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Btw, what do you consider to be "a huge game" for GBA? Do any of the so far launched titles fit that description? Just trying to get some perspective here...


Edited by - lse on August 16, 2001 3:36:26 AM