Want the next Mozart for a pittance? Crowdsoucing may be here to help...
Though you may have never heard of crowdsourcing, since you’re someone with an active interest in gaming, you may have already participated in it.
Crowdsourcing describes a task which is delegated to a group of individuals. The group is typically quite large, with each member usually unknown to each other and only linked through their one common goal.
If you’ve been folding@home, you’ve been crowdsourced.
It clearly works in science projects, but how does this relate to game development?
Startup iPhone developer Inovaz has very recently used crowdsourcing for its upcoming title Aztec Odyssey. The indie developer has teamed up with music marketplace group Minimum Noise, and in doing so gained access to professional and aspiring musicians from around the world.
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“You describe what you are looking for and set a budget,” explains Kristian Dupont, owner of Minimum Noise. “Producers who are interested will participate, and when you decide on a composition, you select that as the winner, transfer the money to the producer and receive the audio including the rights to usage.”
Looking at Inovaz’ Minimum Noise page, the developer offered $250 for the background music to just the first level of Aztec Odyssey, and described on the profile page how it was looking for a soundtrack that is “heavily influenced by tribal and indigenous American styles.”
Inovaz received over 25 submissions for the soundtrack and, depressingly, most of them sound good. It’s a sad state of affairs when $250’s worth of background music doesn’t sound too distant from ‘professional’ in-house productions at game studios. Killzone 2’s soundtrack was recorded live at Abbey Road Studios, and yet rarely is the game praised for its sophisticated sound.
But unlike Abbey Road Studios, with crowdsourcing you’re not paying serious amounts of money per hour. “We expect a usual fee for music to be around $100-$500,” says Dupont, “which should be realistic for most productions.”
However, the nature of the service and indeed the youth of the business has provided a few obstacles for Minimum Noise. “First of all, there is the entire licensing model to consider,” says Dupont. “Right now, we insist that producers transfer all rights to the project owner, but we will expand to other options as this is not feasible for all.”
“Furthermore, there is the risk of producers contributing something that they did not make themselves,” he says, before adding that this is still a risk when purchasing any kind of media in the first place.
“We hope that the community will watch out for scammers and report to us. Other than that, we are watching everything closely and listening to our users all the time.”
As for the future of crowdsourcing, Dupont is - of course - a big believer. But then again, he’s not alone:
“We think that the crowdsourcing model will be wide spread to all areas of game development. Currently, it is very popular in the design world [1,2,3], and the model is definitively proven. When it will take off in other areas is hard to say, but we think it will do so in a near future.”
Intriguing stuff. Totally unapplicable to the production of, say, something like Killzone 2, but imagine if there was an indie game completely built from assets given under the Creative Commons licence?
When you think about it, aren't all MMOs or virtual worlds - anything that can only be sustained by a group or community to play it - effectively 'crowdsourced'?
What would have been **really** fascinating was if Little Big Planet was released as JUST the toolset, with the community prebuilt (oh, and if the tools were easier to use for idiots, but there you go ;). If LBP had been shipped like that, it would have been genuinely interesting to see if it failed or flew based on whether or not the community bothered to make any games, or cared less to the extent that they would effectively 'crowdsource' the gameplay experiences.
But, hey, I guess they felt compelled to include a singleplayer mode to either satisfy Sony, the casual players, or Media Molecule's desire to both innovate and take on Nintendo. (DOn't get me wrong - they succeeded...)
Yeah... right, most of the 25 music submissions sounded 'good'. :) It all depends on your idea of good. Are you talking 'good' as compared to something like a Star Wars soundtrack? Because your chances of being that good for $250, either in production or composition terms, are about a billion to one. Or were you talking about good as compared to most elevator muzak? That I can believe (just).
You suggest that the fact an Abbey Rd. produced score like that of Killzone 2's isn't commented on much somehow diminishes its value, but I don't think you can easily compare the goals of a AAA title with a cheapo mobile game. When you last saw a blockbuster film, did you care about where/how the music was recorded or evaluate it on the basis of a single cue? If not, it was probably because it was a given that it'd be a good, polished and cohesive production. That doesn't mean they could get away with a $250 score, or would even want to. Even you could tell the difference, I'm sure. Films and games aren't marketed on the basis of having a score recorded at Abbey Rd, yet they still find good reason to do it. The goal is for every aspect of the production to feed into a rich, high quality entertainment experience and be part of a whole. Games ought to be about vision, aesthetics, creative collaboration and not just about getting a track on the cheap from a bedroom composer somewhere.
I shudder to think how the art of filmmaking would have turned out had the likes of Hitch****, Spielberg et al crowdsourced their music....
That's hilarious... the filter took the **** out of Hitch****!!! Naughty Mr. Hitch****!
Our ridiculous word filter never ceases to amuse me. I'll never turn it off when it comes out with crackers like that :D
We're a UK based social games publisher called www.simplelifeforms.com. We're already using crowdsourcing to great affect to develop our social games .
Our CCO goes into some detail in the following article.
If find this VERY hard to believe
"It’s a sad state of affairs when $250’s worth of background music doesn’t sound too distant from ‘professional’ in-house productions at game studios"
It's a sad state of affairs when music is constantly being devalued by this kind of activity. I would imagine the the '$250 worth of background music' doesn't sound anything like the excellent Killzone 2 score (amongst many others), or other in house produced content.
What's next? Let's give everyone a Stylophone and a kazoo?
Come on, Why does everyone want to aim so low?
So - the soundtrack to Killzone 2 wasn't a contributory factor in making a great game? I'm afraid great quality product can only be made by those who know how to spot it - hence Stephen Fry LBP appearance etc etc. Those who wish to make quality product, we'll carry on. Minimum noise - you're a disgrace to ents.....
Fek it - let's remake Star Wars and put "minimum noise" on it..... got news for you fellahs - quality costs and the public ain't stupid.
whole thing sounds a LOT like profiteering fro the core business without putting anything "out"..... corporate whoring gone mad...... Oh and try doing this model in Frnace or Germany..... legalities will stop ya right there.
