How video games are made: the game development process

The video game industry has been constantly booming for 10 years. The internet has made video games easily accessible to all and because of which the player can enjoy the game from anywhere in the world and one upcoming developer can look for tutorials for future endeavors in designing games as well. The Game development process seems like an umbrella term that shelters both the designing and development parts. It takes a lot of time and effort to develop games for PC or console games and an abundant amount of funding is required. Whereas, one needs little funds and time to invest in developing indie games. At present, there are many independent game engines like Unity or Unreal. Facilitated by the growth of such software, there is a rise in Unity Game Development Companies and Unreal Game Development companies as well. The initial video games were not approachable and required mainframe computers but with passing time the expectations got heightened and gave birth to PC or console games. Not only developed countries took interest in the hyping trend of video games but game development companies in developing countries like India too started blooming.

Game Development vs. Design

These two are integral parts when you ponder over the idea of game making. Designers add flavor to the game and developers act as the backbone of the same game. It is very essential to keep these two in sync or else the result can never be quite satisfactory. Aesthetics, characters, ambiance, etc are the doings of a designer but developers’ job is to change the conceptual phase of gaming to reality. A developer’s works include coding, rendering, engineering of the game.

Steps of the game development process

The preparation stage involves certain steps and it may take years to execute something which highly depends on the project type, resources, and financial abilities. The initial team of game development normally has a smaller number of members but one producer and one concept artist should always be there. The producer’s job is to handle the financials and marketing strategies, whereas the concept artist decides on the visuals of the game. It is always beneficial for the game to keep a design document handy to handle things like story, characters, art and sketch, core game mechanics, etc. the design of the game should be constantly updated to keep in sync with the demands. A game without a plan can hardly survive in the long run and will fail to gather the attention of the investors. 

Let’s have a detailed look at the stages:

Planning the game: 

An overall planning is required to decide the budget, target audience, and platform. The thought process involves whether the game type will be 2D or 3D. In planning, the next focus should be on the content, technical abilities, team size, estimated time frame, the requirement of the gaming engine, etc. The budget and development might be a problem for the independent studios but there are many crowdfunding websites that solve these problems.

 The pre-production phase: 

The next phase involves developing, rendering, and adding audio visual elements to enhance the game quality. To execute this phase, one needs to collaborate among writers, engineers, artists, and developers. Writers coming up with the storyline of the game, artists deciding on the color palette, engineers discussing the technical constraints if any, etc form the backbone of the pre-production phase.

Production: 

This seems to be the most challenging phase of game development. Immense efforts are invested to make the game authentic. Thousands of lines of source code are written to give life to in-game content, large amounts of scripts are read to get the right tone and emotion, and audio designs are worked upon to make it authentic.

Testing: 

The game design must be thoroughly checked to look for buggy areas or technical glitches. A game without testing is not considered valid.

Pre Launch: 

For the pre-launching of the game, it is needed to understand the marketing hype and gaming conventions. For the said purpose, one Beta copy is released to let people learn about the release, or else for the preview of the game any gaming convention can also be considered.

Post Launch: 

Even after the successful launch of the game and achieving high sales, the work doesn’t stop. Regular software updates and fixing bug-related issues occupy most of the time during post-launch. It is also necessary to release fresh content according to demand; this can be done by adding more levels, multiplayer modes, fresh storylines, downloadable content, or the creation of bonuses.

Releasing a video game is kind of a whirlwind process both for the beginners and the experienced. One from learning from the mistakes and trying to make the game better than the previous. It would be foolish to compare two games because each game owns individual elements which can’t make them equal. It is expected to understand the job role in the development process and also the impact of the action on others. The process will be rendered smoothly once one department cooperates with the other departments, creating an environment of an effective team effort. The nebulous process of game development can be easily handled through flexibility and adaptability.