Introduction to Game Development

• Kristian S. Alarde presents an introduction to game development.
• The outline includes reasons to develop games, the game development process, and current trends in game development.

Why Develop Games?

• In 2019, digital platforms accounted for 62% of the console gaming market globally.
• In 2019, console gaming market sales amounted to $35.1 billion.
• Digital sales generated $21 billion and packaged sales generated $13.4 billion.
• The video game market worldwide is expected to be worth over $200 billion by 2023.
• Creating a game requires knowledge in creating assets, using an engine or framework, and writing code.
• Game development increases your skill set in C++, DirectX, and HTML5.
• Unreal Engine 4 and Unity 5 allow coders to insert their code in a plug-and-play fashion, handling factors like lighting and graphics rendering.
• Game development is fun, entertaining, and offers a unique feeling when sharing your game with others.

Game Development Process

• The game development process includes pre-production, production, and post-production.
• The team hierarchy includes positions like Product Manager/Director, Art Director, Lead Programmer, Game Designer, and Sound Engineer.
• Sub-roles include: Technical Artist, 2D/3D User Interface, Concept Artist, Animator, UI/UX Artist, VFX Artist, Graphic Designer, Lighting Artist, and Rigger.
• There also roles in programming (UI, gameplay, network, AI, graphics, engine/tool), Design (level, editor), and Quality (QA lead, game tester).
• Sound roles include Sound Designer and Sound Programmers

Pre-Production Stage

• The pre-production stage involves these steps: idea and story, conceptual design, and technical analysis.

Idea, Story, and Concept

• The initial step is defining the game's core concept, storyline, visual appeal, character interactivity, protagonists, and missions.
• It also includes whether it is a multiplayer , considering levels, playing hours, build size, business or revenue strategy, publishing platform, and the producer's budget.

Game Design

• Designing a game is a highly creative and complex process.
• The game design document is written for any game development process and requires collaboration between the lead programmer, art director, and project manager.
• Key elements to include in a checklist: game concept/genre/audience, user interface, characters, game data, level design, music, 2D/3D environment, graphics, camera projection and game progression.

Technical Analysis

• Before starting development, the team must check what tools to use.
• Software tools include Image Editing (Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Gimp, Inkscape), 3D Modeling (Autodesk Maya, 3D Studio Max, Blender, Sketchup), 3D Texturing (Mudbox, Zbrush, Substance Painter), Writing (CeITX, Scrivener, MS Office), and Project Management Software (Axosoft, VersionOne, TargetProcess, Yodiz, Planbox).

Production Stage

• The production process begins after careful consideration of the game's flow, feel, and look.
• Character design, storyboards, level design and other art components are being sent to the art team to create 2D visuals for the 3D artists.
• Programmers focus on the game mechanics, AI, level progression, and network connectivity.
• Concept to assembly stage includes, Zbrush, Maya and 3DS Max.
• Stages include: 3D modelling, retopology, UV layout and texturing.
• This is also the stage for rigging and animation.
• Game engines such as Unity, Unreal and CryEngine are used to assemble components.
• The final stage of production is programming

Post Production Stage

• The post-production stage focuses on iterative testing, debugging, bug fixes, future updates, and launching the game.
• The alpha version is sent to the Quality Assurance (QA) team to test for bugs and errors.
• Post-production stage tasks include Module Testing Bug Report/Closure, Compliance and Compatibility.
• Installation Testing, Performance, Load/Stress/Memory Testing, Module Integration Testing, and Module Functional Testing.
• Once the game passes QA, a trailer and screenshots are prepared for the public.
• Deployment is usually done via Steam, Google Play/iTunes App Store, or the Windows Store.
• High budget games can also be published on DVD for PC/console.
• To ensure the game turns out as envisioned, GDLC (Game Development Life Cycle) is essential.

Current Trends

• In 2020, the video gaming industry was worth $159.3 billion, a 9.3% increase from 2019, player expectations are evolving and now value frictionless and convenient UX.
• The cloud gaming market is growing fast and is expected to reach $450 million by 2023.
• Technologies such as PlayStation Now and Google Stadia are enabling resource-intensive applications to run without additional hardware.
• Mobile games continue to grow as there were approximately 2.4 billion mobile gamers, or 30.7% of the world's population, in 2020.
• Cross-platform gaming is also growing, and allows players to connect across multiple consoles and devices with the help of cloud gaming.
• There is a growing need for inclusivity in gaming.