Since late 2000, Rise of Nations has ruled Danan Davis' life. In his position as Program Manager at Microsoft, Danan manages the business end of creating a game. Though the design and development occurred at Big Huge Games, much of the overall direction comes from Microsoft. Danan took valuable time out of his schedule (at a time when Rise of Nations is in its final stages of development!) to give us a peek into his world.

What does a Program Manager do?

Danan: A Program Manager (PM) is, basically, what is known in the rest of the games industry as a Producer. A PM takes ultimate responsibility for making sure the game is great. What does that mean in reality? It means a PM does anything and everything. My core responsibilities include relationship management with the 3rd-party developer (in this case, Big Huge Games), leading the Microsoft team working on the game (Test, Writers/Editors, Business, and Marketing folks), and scheduling. That means I spend a lot time on the phone and in meetings. It's great fun. I always have plenty of activity and plenty of decisions to make. Every day, I have a new challenge to solve.

What's the hardest part of being a Program Manager?

Danan: PMs joke that our job is really ".all the responsibility and none of the authority." This is 100% true. You lead a team of people who don't work for you in the traditional sense. I don't control anyone's salary or have any influence on how much anyone gets paid. Yet, I still need to get results from these people. Most of the time, that's easy to do. People who make games are motivated to produce great products, but sometimes I need to nudge them in the right direction. It's all about knowing how to do that without having to club them over the head with the "because I'm your boss and I said so" bat.

How many people do you have on your team, and what do they do?

Danan: On the Microsoft team, we have a core of about 15 people, and then another 20 more in other countries who work on the foreign language versions. Most of the team members are in Test. They ensure that the game's quality is top-notch. Most small development houses we work with don't have the resources necessary to professionally test their games. Microsoft usually provides that for them.

We also have several writers and editors from the User Experience (UX) team. They write and edit the manual and the text in the game. The Localization Team is responsible for creating the international language versions. The User Testing team handles testing the game with real customers and incorporates the resulting feedback into the game to make it even better. We did a lot of customer-focused testing on the user-interface design and on game-play to make Rise of Nations easy to get into, understandable and a ton of fun! Finally, of course, there is the Marketing team. They get the message out about what a great product we have and why you want to buy it!

What's it like working with the folks at Big Huge?

Danan: BHG is a fantastic developer to work with. They are very prototype-oriented which means we really got to play with the game early and get a feel for what it was all about. As time progressed it was awesome to be able to engage in conversations about actual gameplay and how it played out. One of their greatest strengths is a lack of ego surrounding their designs. If they see players struggling with something that they thought was cooler than sliced bread, they had no problem going back to the drawing board. They really concentrate on making games fun, and [they] put that first.

What do you like to do when you're not working?

Danan: Well, I have two boys and a wife who vaguely remember me. When I get a chance I love playing with my boys (ages two and four). I tell ya, I know more about Thomas the Tank Engine than I should. [He grins.]

Otherwise, I like to read comics, shoot some hoops, and mow the lawn. Pretty basic stuff really. Back before the kids arrived, my wife and I liked to perform in local theatre shows. In fact, we met in the Microsoft Theatre Troupe. Someday, when the kids get a bit older, and we stop adding new kids to the bunch, we'll get back into it I'm sure.

Danan Davis. Just a normal guy who helps make games for a living. What a life!