Don’t we all have that one friend who is always on their gaming console?
Or are you that friend who is always on their gaming console? Nevertheless, we have
the most unique and interesting article for all gaming enthusiasts! Ever wondered
how games are created? How many people work for how many hours while
developing a cool game? What does it take to become a game developer yourself? Is
this an occupation only for the geeky programmers or can you have a shot at it
too?We go behind the scenes of game development and explore…
Pull quote- Behind each and every game works a team of programmers, concept
creators, graphic designers, sound designers, and producers. In big companies, these
roles are carried off by people spread across the globe!
Begin Game
Let us begin this game by understanding what game development means to
professionals. As the name explicitly explains, game development is the process of
developing new games. But contrary to popular belief, it is not only computer
programming that constitutes this vast field. Behind each and every game works a
team of programmers, concept creators, graphic designers, sound designers, and
producers. In big companies, these roles are carried off by people spread across the
globe!
Players: Who are the people?
Behind every game, there are these key roles that have to be performed. In a
small-budget scenario, it is only one person who carries off everything (Jack of all
trades and master too). In the big companies, there are people working from all
corners of the globe. Producer handles the financial side of development, hires ( or
fires) people, gets investors and advertisers. It can be a person or a company like Sony,
EA etc. Project Manager manages the entire team and stays on top of people
throughout the process. Programmer writes the code for the game and brings it to
life. This can be either one person or a team of programmers. Concept artists create
the story, characters, and theme of the game. In the most initial stages, they will
come up with some sketches and designs to show the ‘feel’ of the game. Sound
designer- produces sound effects and background music for the game. Graphic
designer- creates the game environment, the character looks, props and even the
smallest detail in the big game world. Game tester plays the game to check if
everything is working fine. A job that many youngsters are after, these days.
Level 1: Pre-production
On this first level, the concept of the game begins to materialize. The story, plot lines,
characters, location, theme, etc are developed by the writers and concept developers.
These days companies like EA and Microsoft have started preparing a detailed
document called Game Development Document( GDD). These bigshots attribute
their success in the gaming world to GDD which makes the complex process of game
development more organized and neat. The GDD includes answers to the following
questions
● What is the target audience?
● What is the genre?
● How much time would it take to be completely developed?
● What is the budget?
● What is the mode of the game? ( VR, console, mobile game, PC)
● How many people are needed to work on it?
● How can it be marketed?
The GDD is not treated like a sacred book that is worshipped. Rather, the GDD
undergoes a lot of additions and subtractions. GDD has as much life and
momentum as the game itself! TIP FROM YOOF: Do not skip documenting your
concepts beforehand. GDD helps you plan the future roadmap, gives you an idea of
the complexity of the game and makes your journey much more organized.
While you are still on level 1, there is one more important thing to do- Prototyping.
Oftentimes the idea we have in our minds seems exciting and interesting to us. Only
when we get it tested by others, we find the many loopholes and totally impractical
situations. That is where prototyping comes into the picture. Instead of developing
the whole game and spending a huge amount of money, it makes much more sense to
develop a prototype of the game, get it tested, and then start working on it. For the
prototype, a less expensive version of the game is developed to check if it is as fun as
the idea.
You have now completed Level 1. Move on to level 2.
Level 2: Production
This is where the game starts to come alive. The production process involves all the
players of game development. The programmers in collaboration with the concept
artists, graphic and sound designers start coding and developing the game. It can
take anywhere between a year to five years. Each segment of the game is tested again
and again and refined to perfection. Within the production level, there are some
milestones that the game has to reach. These are : first playable, vertical slice,
pre-alpha, alpha, beta and gold master.
Till the alpha level, the game undergoes a lot of refinement and the overall quality is
sharpened. Investors and studios are also approached and a slice of the game is
pitched to them at this stage.
From the beta stage, no new additions are made. However, deletions might happen
for improvement. At the gold master stage, the game is completely ready to be
released. Move to the final level 3.
Level 3: Post Production
The game is ready and needs to be published. The producers retain some developers
for the maintenance of the game like debugging and get started with releasing the
game. This includes market research, analyzing the competition, promoting and
advertising the game, and finally launching it. This level mainly involves marketing
the game and earning back all the money invested and aiming for profits.
After all this, the game is launched, and do we have to tell how people play it with
crazy excitement? Congratulations! You have successfully finished all three levels! Is
the game over?
Begin Game: Your chance to become the game-changer
The game has just begun. If you have dreamt of developing a game, you just need to
have the drive for it. Now that you are well versed with all the diverse aspects of game
development, you have a plethora of options to choose from and become a part of
the gaming world. Fasten your seat belts and hold your breath, take off to your
dream game world and earn a lot of wealth!
