Introduction to Game Development and Production Cycle
This blog is a part of a series, where we explore Game Development and the various technologies used.
Games are a universal part of human experience and present in all cultures. Since the early days, humans have been playing a different variety of physical games, which nowadays have translated into some major sports around the world. Games are a great form of enjoyment and recreation at the same time, and may even act as an educational tool.
Since the dawn of the digital age, games too have shifted onto the digital playground. Video games (games that require user input into a digital system to generate visual feedback) have been around for a major part of the digital era. They have been around for nearly as long as computers themselves. From Bertie the Brain (1950) to Halo Infinite (2021), the video game industry has progressed a lot in all the directions, may it be the graphics, sounds or the effects.
Game Development is the process of developing a video game. It is the process where a developer/team of developers design and build a game up. It is a very tedious task, especially in today’s world where realism and detailing are a major part of a game’s success.
The Video Game Production Cycle
Planning
Planning a video game is the first thing involved before anything else. It is a very crucial part, because here we decide on the major points of the game, both in the technical and financial aspect. The major points to be discussed in this phase are listed below —
- The type of the game (2D or 3D, SinglePlayer or MultiPlayer, Online or Offline, etc.)
- The Genre of the game
- The platform for the game (Xbox, PlayStation, Windows, etc.)
- The Target Audience of the game
- Finances required for production
Pre-Production
During this phase, the team brainstorms on what they need to build the game. It is very crucial for Game Development. Plans are laid out for the build of the game. Artists, Engineers, Designers, Developers all collaborate in this phase to build up the plans. The story, it’s characters, game physics, all the aspects are configured during this phase.
Production
The major technical part of development starts here. It requires the maximum amount of time and effort, and a large amount of technical skills.
Character Models and Object Models are built during this phase of the game. They are designed and rendered as per the plans laid down in pre production phase. For added realism, big production houses use motion detectors and simulators, where they employ humans to perform actions which are then exactly embedded into the game’s physics.
Maps and Worlds are also built. They are made with different elements and take a large amount of time to be developed. Attention to detail is very high, every single element is made to blend in and become a part of the map.
Audio Design is also a major part of the game. From regular ambient noise to the character’s voice, all the sound is to be developed such that it sounds authentic and real. Character voices are usually recorded by voice actors in a studio.
The most important part of the game, the code is also written in this phase. It is made to connect all the different objects of the game and to display them all in a way that brings the game to life.
Various Software are used to facilitate this process, each of which might have a different use case for different parts of the game. There is a large ecosystem of software available, and we’ll be discussing more about them in upcoming blogs.
Testing
Every feature and mechanism developed for the video game requires to be thoroughly tested to ensure that the end user has a great experience. For this purpose, a testing ground is set-up for the game.
In this phase, an alpha version of the game is given to a specific set of people which test out the game for all the bugs and exploitations they can find. Other major concerns are if the game is too hard or too easy, or if it doesn’t seem fun and would not appeal to the end user.
Pre Launch
This phase involves the last set of alpha and beta releases for testing and smoothing out the gameplay. It also involves advertisement for the game and large scale marketing. A common strategy used for marketing is creating a Hype, where publishers make extravagant videos showcasing the game in pretty high quality. This generally isn’t the level of graphical detail that most PCs would be able to render, hence it just represents what a top tier flagship system can process and display.
Launch
Finally, the game is polished up and any remaining bugs are removed, and the game is ready for distribution. Distribution channels are set up with various companies/stores selling the games and the game becomes available for majority public. Some major websites for this are Steam (by Valve), Epic Games, Origin store, etc.
Post-Production
The work isn’t over after the launch. Many a times, users from the public find issues within the game world, which may require some fix to work properly. Patches for games are frequently released to keep the game updated and fixed. Game balancing is also a major goal, so that the competition remains fair to all the fellow participants and the game doesn’t shift favors to one side. New content can also be added, which can help keep the game relevant for a long amount of time, and make it interesting for the users.
Thank You for reading this article!! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did while writing it for you, and got a complete insight of video game production. The next blog will be encompassing major technologies used for Video Game Development. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!
