Video games are a popular pastime for many people. While most of us have played them, have you ever wondered what goes into creating a video game? Game development involves three main stages: pre-production, production, and post-production. During pre-production, the game idea is formed, the storyline is developed, game mechanics are created, and the overall mood for the game is established. This stage can range from a few weeks to even a few years. This stage also involves making the Game Design Document (GDD), which serves as the blueprint for the game. Additionally, prototyping is essential to pre-production, providing an outline for the game that can be presented to potential investors.
The next game development stage is production, where the game is mostly created. This stage typically takes years to finish. This is when the story is refined, assets are created, music is added, and much more. Some of the roles during this stage are:
- Game Programmer – Game programmers write code for the game. They code anything from player movement to enemy AI. They also are the ones who fix bugs.
- Level Designers – Level designers create how the level will look. They choose where interactions between characters will happen, where obstacles will be, and much more.
- Game Artists – Game artists create the visuals for the game, from trees to characters they make it all. Some game artists also animate models.
- Animators – Animators take and animate the models made by the game artists. They also animate the cut scenes that are part of the game.
- Audio Engineers – Audio Engineers create the music for the game. They also create sound effects and voice lines for the game.
- Video game testers play video games repeatedly. They try to find bugs in the games so that they can be fixed.
This stage ends when the game gets released for anyone to play.
The third and final stage of game development is post-production. In this stage, new bugs are fixed, glitches are erased, and add-ons are created.
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https://www.cgspectrum.com/blog/game-development-process
https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/how-games-typically-get-built
https://lumenandforge.com/how-video-games-are-made/
https://medium.com/@microclub_usthb/how-video-games-are-made-608cacced8f
https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/how-are-video-games-made
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