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After working for years on licenses like Star Wars, Star Trek, and Marvel, the team at Raven Software decided it was time to return to our roots: to create an original IP as we had with games like Hexen, Heretic, and Soldier of Fortune. A new license is not an easy proposition due to the much larger budget. Today's games often require teams of more than 70 people; compare that to the less than 15 people we had when Raven first began. We knew we would have to create a great prototype to convince Activision to give us our shot, and that this would take some "under the radar" work. We put together a small team and had them work for three months behind the scenes, creating a demo that encapsulated the core concepts of Singularity. When it was done, it looked better than we had hoped. We were so confident in the prototype that we set up a meeting with upper management and sat them to down to demo our vision. We turned off the lights and showed them the game. There was nothing but silence. We thought it was all over; our hopes for creating a new IP were dead, and Activision management was going to lynch us for wasting their time. But when the lights came back up, we were surprised to find that they loved it--they wanted to see this game get made. We left Activision confident the toughest part was over. Naturally, that wasn't the case. As we began our journey creating Singularity, we discovered a new IP brings out challenges from all directions.
[What Went Right]
1) Focus on gameplay with reuse of assets.
The initial Singularity prototype team comprised a small number of experienced developers along with a group of enthusiastic new hires working together under a tight deadline to prove out a new game concept. This smaller team structure inspired better communication and allowed for quicker feedback and iteration time. Almost daily reviews allowed us to track our progress, and gave everyone on the team a chance to contribute ideas and provide constructive critiques. The smaller, more agile team allowed us to try things that we wouldn't have been able to do with a larger team, like...