Princess Rescuer
Smash Apprentice
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2018
- Messages
- 119
If the title is to be believed, Super Smash Brothers Ultimate will become the final installment of Smash (Spoiler: it won't. When has "the last" ever meant it in video games? Sayonara isn't the last Umihara Kawase game). There will obviously be a desire for gigantic crossover games in the future of any kind (but mostly fighting). Who will take up the mantle and inspire a future generations of fans, imagination, and multiplayer? And how will they do it?
Making a Smash game is very difficult. That must be why there's only one per generation, there's DLC being released in shorter installments, and there is an increasingly large number of stages from past games (with the past stages taking up the vast majority of the stages in Ultimate). It's like having to be every person and company all at once. So there needs to be the proper people.
What does a Smash development team consist of anyway? Just one director and teams of specialized artists and programmers (and later, testers)? Not entirely, there's others too. They might not sound as important, but they are. There is also a boss who, at various times, can halt or cut dead-end elements of production. He doesn't make any creative decisions, but can stop them. This may sound detrimental, but you need a boss to keep the company afloat and make sure something can be completed and released in order to meet sales goals. (and you need sales- only a fraction of your players will be tournament pros or even big spenders). Not only that, but advisers who have the pulse on the feelings of people who aren't big fans and don't understand things to bridge the gap. These would help the game appeal to families, new fans, and busy people. Lastly, we've reached playtesters. Forget about hiring fans who love Smash and want your crossover brouhaha to be as much like it as possible- you need to hire people who don't know what they're getting into. And make it a point not to take advice- your only goal with finaltesting (that's what I'm calling it) is to leave testers alone, maybe watch them play, and mainly check for how long it takes them to lose interest. Disinterest, not "bad programming" or "bad gameplay" is what should drive tester feedback. Tournament pros can be alpha and beta testers, but not final.
Lastly, it's not good to be part of a team full of people who want to become The Next Sakurai. There will be no cooperation and many fights among those and no good work will get done. On a big project, especially one evocative of Smash, your goal should be maintenance and making sure things that belong are in, as well as paying attention to any declining numbers of future installments and people playing the game less. And you might get criticism. From dissatisfied Smash fans. Learn how to calmly deal with people who aren't but want the best for you. It's better to develop with people who share a connection outside the fanbase than to hear stories about you completely tanking from everyone later.
Making a Smash game is very difficult. That must be why there's only one per generation, there's DLC being released in shorter installments, and there is an increasingly large number of stages from past games (with the past stages taking up the vast majority of the stages in Ultimate). It's like having to be every person and company all at once. So there needs to be the proper people.
What does a Smash development team consist of anyway? Just one director and teams of specialized artists and programmers (and later, testers)? Not entirely, there's others too. They might not sound as important, but they are. There is also a boss who, at various times, can halt or cut dead-end elements of production. He doesn't make any creative decisions, but can stop them. This may sound detrimental, but you need a boss to keep the company afloat and make sure something can be completed and released in order to meet sales goals. (and you need sales- only a fraction of your players will be tournament pros or even big spenders). Not only that, but advisers who have the pulse on the feelings of people who aren't big fans and don't understand things to bridge the gap. These would help the game appeal to families, new fans, and busy people. Lastly, we've reached playtesters. Forget about hiring fans who love Smash and want your crossover brouhaha to be as much like it as possible- you need to hire people who don't know what they're getting into. And make it a point not to take advice- your only goal with finaltesting (that's what I'm calling it) is to leave testers alone, maybe watch them play, and mainly check for how long it takes them to lose interest. Disinterest, not "bad programming" or "bad gameplay" is what should drive tester feedback. Tournament pros can be alpha and beta testers, but not final.
Lastly, it's not good to be part of a team full of people who want to become The Next Sakurai. There will be no cooperation and many fights among those and no good work will get done. On a big project, especially one evocative of Smash, your goal should be maintenance and making sure things that belong are in, as well as paying attention to any declining numbers of future installments and people playing the game less. And you might get criticism. From dissatisfied Smash fans. Learn how to calmly deal with people who aren't but want the best for you. It's better to develop with people who share a connection outside the fanbase than to hear stories about you completely tanking from everyone later.
