There’s always room for off the shelf solutions though – a flexible build system like JamPlus, or in fact any scripting system. That, coupled with a good collection of clean, well built small tools is I think the best all-round solution. Each tool has a clearly defined role, and if the inputs and outputs are kept simple, then in turn that leads to a clean build pipeline as well, while still leaving ample opportunity for customisation to fit the game’s needs.

Also, to toot our own horn, the ‘custom tool development’ is one of our (Black Company Studios) specialities. We do consulting with larger developers (Microsoft Games Studios and Evolution) on their development partner’s tools/pipelines/process, but we like working with small developers like ourselves who haven’t had a chance to invest heavily in their tools yet. After all, it’s much easier to write good tools from a relatively clean slate, than to try and refactor an existing poor pipeline. We are small and flexible, so we can provide targetted, affordable custom solutions, consulting on pipelines, ready access to all of our own tools and pipeline, and all the expertise we have from working with larger pipelines.

I don’t want to try to put a link in and appear like a spam-bot, but Google for Black Company Studios and you’ll find us; and I’m always happy to hear from other developers who’d like to work with us on tools.