Are there any good computer games docs that explore how the games are created?

[Brundle-Fly]

We've all seen enough docs/ DVD extras on how movies are made but I'm interested to see something similar that follows a game(s) from conception into production into promotion? I'm not really into any detailed technical computer science aspect (although I'm sure that is fascinating but goes way over my head) but more the creative angle. I'm generally referring to games with narratives, the open-world stuff rather than platform/ puzzle games. Do they employ actors to perform the cut scenes as a reference point? How much is the process like film making? I'm fairly ignorant about the whole industry and would like to learn a bit more.

[Zetetic]

Largely ignoring your post, I'm afraid, I thought that this was pretty interesting on Arkane's repeated failure to reach release:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4kdqwdbZZ8
and recycling of mechanics and aesthetics and plot which was probably quite an important part of "game creation" at a certain tier of studio for a while.

[NoSleep]

There's this film that came as an extra with Final Fantasy X...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8GYTk1IrI4

...which interviews the leading English speaking actors, which is probably the wrong way round to do it. But they do point out that the actors were required to voice 9000 lines each compared to a film where there might be 300 lines. Most stuff about these games focuses on the look and the game design. My guess is that the game creators lock themselves away and just write and write, drawing from fiction and films they have seen, with no time to ad lib through scenarios Mike Leigh style. They do seem to have a clunky, stilted aspect to them even at best (not helped in translation either). They'd probably be more like 10 years in the making otherwise.

[Magnum Valentino]

Yes! Loads! Check out the Sony ones on YouTube for The Last Of Us (Grounded) and there's a good one for God Of War too. If you can, watch the making of God Of War 2 from about 2007 first, then the making of the newer self titled game, as they tell a story about the director as well as the making of the game itself.

The document of MGS2 was great too, but it was on a PS2 game DVD not a normal one so I don't know if anyone has ripped it.

But aye chief Grounded is the industry standard for what you're talking about.

[Brundle-Fly]

Thanks everybody so far. I shall have a butcher's at these.

[NoSleep]

Sticking "the making of" in front of the name of any game seems to occasionally yield results on youtube (lots more Final Fantasy versions, at least).

[Bazooka]

The document of MGS2 was great too, but it was on a PS2 game DVD not a normal one so I don't know if anyone has ripped it.

There was one for Silent Hill 2 at the time also, pretty sure it was on the utoob a few years back.

[brat-sampson]

I believe the lovely folks over at NoClip will have tons of exactly what you're looking for. Loads of really good investigative documentary making about the history of various studios and the making of a number of games.

EDIT: And I see Zetetic linked one of theirs in the first post. Oh well, the whole catalogue is worth a browse.

[Sebastian Cobb]

BBC Four's documentary on Tetris is good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9f5TzyRdR0

[Sonny_Jim]

Tilt: The battle to save pinball is the pinball documentary.  It's about the Pinball 2000 platform, which was the last ditch attempt to keep the business going.    Not sure how well it would play to non-pinheads, but I found it fascinating.

Commerical Breaks (1984) is pretty fascinating if you grew up playing Chuckie Egg on  Spectrums and all that.  Doesn't really cover how games are made, but it's great to see how bedroom coders were transformed into millionaires driving Ferarris.

It's not a documentary, but Micro Men is pretty good, with yer man Alexander Armstrong doing a good job as Sir Clive Sinclair.

[Obel]

The NoClip channel on Youtube make excellent documentaries about the production process of video games without tiring you with the technical nitty gritty. Professional quality like you'd see on Netflix or whatever. Definitely check it out if you're not already familiar.

[Magnum Valentino]

Also just want to stealthily recommend War Stories to anyone in here who wants documentaries about games that DO cover the technical aspects, as the ones I've watched have been very entertaining and they're brilliantly made.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKBPwuu3eCYkScmqpD9xE7UZsszweVO0n

[Brundle-Fly]

Thanks for the extra recommendations. I'm only a casual gamer and finally want to peek behind the curtain.

[Timothy]

High Score on Netflix was quite a fun documentary series about videogames.

[Brundle-Fly]

Watched some of these this week. Thanks again.  Yowza!  It has made me realise that gaming is an amazing storytelling art form that should be more recognised and developed beyond its limitations.

[surreal]

I found Indie Game The Movie very watchable but I know a lot of people have issues with Phil Fish.  There's a whole follow-up set of extras to track down too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dINgx0y4GqM

I also watched the Mojang doc, from back when Notch wasn't a complete cunt (just mostly a twat)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33K2sotipFY&list=PLCPu7M45UfPaWjATHdt0HYea34_gF6ocW

[peanutbutter]

Not a film but the book Racing the Beam about developing games for the 2600 was pretty great imo. Everything is sufficiently primitive tech wise that it's not that hard to follow the specifics of the issues.


Similarly this hour long talk breaking down exactly how the original gameboy works was pretty neat https://youtu.be/HyzD8pNlpwI

[Sonny_Jim]

Not a film but the book Racing the Beam about developing games for the 2600 was pretty great imo.

If we are talking books, 'It's Behind You' is pretty  good.  It's a free book from the guy tasked with porting R-Type to the Spectrum.  Fascinating mix of technical details of writing games for the Speccy and what it was like to be a bedroom coder back then.

EDIT:  Just realised I seem to be fantasizing a lot about 80's coders.  I blame Bandersnatch.

[Jerzy Bondov]

The Double Fine Adventure documentary is the best thing to come out of their Kickstarter. Really warm, well made, in-depth and surprisingly honest. Pretty much covers everything, from writing, programming and voice recording to tricky meetings about finances. Hours and hours long as well.

[Pink Gregory]

Has anyone mentioned 'From Bedrooms to Billions'?

Haven't seen it myself.

[thecuriousorange]

I remember the Metal Gear Solid 2 one had some stuff showing that the maps were designed with Lego, before being digitally created.