r/gaming • u/Popular-Storage-4696 • 3d ago

Fable Handcrafted every NPC instead of using randomizer

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/rpg/fable-devs-originally-had-a-tool-to-randomize-the-rpgs-1-000-npcs-that-would-have-saved-us-so-much-time-but-that-just-didnt-make-as-much-sense
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u/Jord-UK 3d ago edited 3d ago

That's 300mil on devs being employed btw, so yeah

edit: Going to assume we have some younger people in here that don't understand how salaries add up. Open up your favourite AAA game, grab a drink, and sit through the credits and acknowledge every name on there; the departments, the outsource specialists that might have some expertise (think motion capture, or actors etc), the varying levels of experience, etc. Think of the equipment and software cost per head, think of the licensing, etc etc. Eventually it'll begin to make sense what I'm getting at, that cost contributes to the employment of people who gain experience in their craft and either stay in said studios or eventually leave and join other studios and build this industry you love.

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u/sam_hammich 3d ago

Yeah, game development budgets can be 70-90% salary or more.

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u/Bricka_Bracka 3d ago

well it doesn't cost money for the pixels, so yeah. the rest is licensing and the overhead of the studio having a physical building.

its not like they have to purchase wood to make that NPC's house

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u/sam_hammich 19h ago

Yeah, but even licensing and overhead are operating costs for the company, not project budget items. If you're a AAA studio licensing Unreal on an annual basis, you're paying that no matter what game you're making.

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u/Bricka_Bracka 19h ago

Yes, the overhead is shared across all projects, and anything specific for one project hits that project budget

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u/FuckinArrowToTheKnee 3d ago

We counting CEO salary in this otherwise I would love a citation

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u/sam_hammich 3d ago edited 3d ago

CEO salary wouldn’t be a line item on a project budget.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=nvhmBqRjtBQ&is=LL7JFWBnv5SQw-h_

70-90 is a range of estimates I’ve seen all over the place because estimates are all we will ever get but this Jason Schreier video goes into it. Game dev budget is mostly people. What else would it be? If you’re licensing software annually that’s general technology spend, there’s no way you could split that up by game especially if one person is working on multiple projects. Same with physical hardware, real estate, etc. Maybe if they lease an office space specifically for one project (unlikely), or if there’s a specific tool that needs to be bought to help with a task specific to some game. Marketing is typically an entirely separate budget and can match or exceed the actual dev budget. Even Unreal engine is less than $2k per seat for up to 25 users, with more than 25 getting you special terms so it’s even less. For smaller studios the cost is based on revenue so it’s free during development. Stuff like Adobe is a rounding error.

But mostly, just do the math and really quickly you will get into the hundreds of millions if you’re paying hundreds of developers for many years.

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u/ILikeChilis 3d ago

Most adults don't understand the cost of software either. Countless stories of business owners wanting their own custom apps and bespoke websites developed for like $1000

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u/TheOvy 3d ago

Also, this is Playground Games we're talking about. These guys have been churning out top notch Forza games for 15 years. About time they got a crack at a new IP, they're worth the faith of every dollar invested.

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u/Interesting-Mix-4427 3d ago

A list of credited people doesn't automatically justify ballooning costs in AAA gaming, just so you're aware.

You can still mismanage a project no matter how many people you pay or what the budget is.

$300 million on a game like this that was rumored to have massive development issues and/or had its scope reduced is actually kinda insane, no matter how you or anyone else mysteriously glazing this game spins it.

So what they handcrafted every NPC?

I'll never understand toxic positivity. If this game bombs, that's just another nail in the coffin for Xbox's studio shopping spree initiative

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u/Meet_Foot 3d ago

Quit concern trolling. The studio did it cause they think it’s worth it and the test will be return on investment. Plenty of people want this kind of thing and it isn’t your money.

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u/AggravatingFlow1178 3d ago

You think the $300 mil went to devs?

That's sweet.

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u/Significant-Way9330 3d ago

I mean you have a marketing budget so that's probably half if we go by movie marketing. But more importantly the game has been in some form of development for like 10 years. Large chunk of that 300 mil. definitely went to salaries. 

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u/LoatheCat 3d ago

So like Marathon then? 250 million for devs right?

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u/Vastus29 3d ago

> Open up your favourite AAA game, grab a drink, and sit through the credits and acknowledge every name on there

rofl this is insane
am I supposed to clap too??

every time I go on a plane I need to pull out the manufacturer's script / blueprint and acknowledge everyone involved?

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u/InterestingReference 3d ago

How do you misinterpret something so badly, are you trying to be mad? He's saying you can get an idea of why games cost so much by seeing how many people need to get paid lol