DICE at devcom Developer Conference exploring the Tetralemmas of Game Making

We are gearing up for devcom in Köln on August 18-20th where some of our Battlefield 2042 developers—Emelie Fuller (Software Engineer), Jessica Sollander (Project Development Director), and Raunaq Singh Sokhi (Game Designer and Product Owner for Game Modes)—will delve into the intricate decision-making processes that shape the games we build through their talk "The Tetralemmas of Game Making". But what is a tetralemma? And how can this talk share new ways to tackle decision making and problem solving to improve our game experience for our players and community?

In our daily work, we often face decisions that influence various aspects of game development. "This talk is about the many different layers that go into game development, and how these directly and indirectly affect each other," Emelie Fuller (Software Engineer) explains. 

Game development is a multifaceted approach where we need to not only have a great understanding and plan for the games we want to build, but through Live we also work directly with our community to understand what is fun and exciting for them. This adds a secondary layer of complexity, and something that makes collaboration and open communication across all teams even more important. 

In our talk we focus on highlighting how different disciplines within game development interact and affect each other—emphasizing the complexity and interconnectedness of our work—and how understanding these layers is crucial, especially when making decisions that impact both the game and its players. 

Raunaq Singh Sokhi (Game Designer and Product Owner for Game Modes) explains, "The talk is about us presenting our experiences in development at DICE through three case studies that saw us each confronting a conundrum that made us change the way we think about the dilemmas we face."

Jessica Sollander (Project Development Director) emphasizes the importance of considering multiple perspectives when making decisions. "We have a tendency to be very simple and egocentric in how we look at problems," she says. "Most of the conversations we have are about how something serves our own needs. Instead, we should be asking how we can contribute to someone else's success and step aside from our ego to benefit the team."

Raunaq, who introduced the concept of Tetralemmas to his colleagues, has found it to be a valuable framework for questioning and understanding dilemmas in game development. "I find us often getting stuck in discussions that center around adversarial dilemmas," he explains. "I've been trying to train myself in constantly questioning questions, not the people asking them. Sometimes it just takes a little bit of understanding."

The key takeaway from our talk is to inspire attendees to view decision-making in any creative field as multi-faceted; How understanding different crafts' definitions of success will help teams build better games. Encouraging conversations that consider multiple perspectives, helping teams navigate the complexities of game development more effectively. And understanding and unlocking problems underlying potential.

Will we see you at devcom this year?