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Introduction
Playing Mario almost every day during summer vacations - this can give most of us nostalgia. Back in those days, it was the favorite game of every kid. It is similar to the craze that is there for CS:Go or COD today.
Ever wondered what is it in behind the making of these games or you yourself can develop these games.
So, in this article, we will explore Game Development, its different aspects and taking it up as a career.
The video games that we see and play are a result of a very long and complex process. It is a full-fledged industry that deals with this.
The video game industry appeals to a wide skill set and is continuously growing. It requires a huge team of creative and technical peeps having a role of their own.
The whole team is involved in drafting the storyline, its characters, props, rules, levels, and rewards to be awarded. This phase takes time according to its features- ranging from some months to even four years.
Let’s see the involved subtasks in detail.
Drafting the prototype: It is the first stage of the game where developers create the storyline functions, see how user-friendly the gameplay is, and also check for any major errors in the mechanics or art of the game. But, still, in this stage, a lot of parts of the game are left unfinished. There are often many parts of the game left unfinished at this point.
Creating the first playable version: In this stage, developers play the game after the first round of changes to the prototype to determine if the changes function properly.
Developing the vertical slice: When developers pitch their game to investors or studios, they show a sample of the game, which is known as the Vertical Slice. It is kind of a preview of the game, even if the game is not finished at that time.
Removing unnecessary stuff: At this stage, developers cut off any content that seems unfit for the storyline decided earlier or is unnecessary.
Working on any changes: In this stage, developers finish the game and play it from very beginning to end. They may add some artwork or make other adjustments, ensuring the controls are fully functional.
Completing the game: This is the final stage where developers make changes if required to the game and test every aspect again for any issue, making sure there are no errors in any element of the game. After the whole quality check, it is sent to the publishers for public distribution.
Different Roles and the Responsibilities involved in Game Development
Making a game from scratch can be a huge task for a single individual. Therefore, the team has people with dedicated duties. Let’s look at the different roles that one can take up in the sector of Game Development:
Game Designer
Game designers are involved in handling the creative components of a game. They design the storylines, characters, narration, basic game rules, goals and challenges and user interface of the game. The initial design of the game may involve different designers as well as writers who work out the game’s narrative, dialogue, and text. Game designers often get included in working out gameplay and pitching the game idea to publishers and management.
Game Artist
A game’s art is all about its graphics and visuals. So, game artists are the individuals are the ones who deal with the look and feel of the game, it each of its stages and levels.
Game artists work to turn 2D sketches into 3D graphics, adjusting the lighting to make the virtual world seem like real-life, applying color palettes and special effects like storms, water, fire, flashes, etc.
They collaborate closely with the 3D Rendered, Art Director, 3D Renderer, and Lead Designer.
Sound Engineer/Designer
After Game Artists have physically visualized the game, then the sound is added according to the game. Sound engineers/Designers have the responsibility to control different aspects of Game Development. It is a very important component of the game, as it makes the game more realistic for the players by influencing their emotions, felling creating tension and excitement for them.
A sound engineer's responsibilities include creating background ambiance, mixing musical soundtracks, and editing audio to match motion, such as syncing a recorded voice to a game character's voice and movements. They often employ sound libraries and import sounds to be used in the game, and their skills are usually sensitive to noises and sounds around them.
Game Programmer
Game Programmers write the actual code that makes games come to reality and playable on phones, computers, and consoles. Their responsibilities involve developing gaming softwares, incorporating artwork into the games, and configuring how players interact and access the game.
Basically, they take care of every coding aspect by building the entire codebase of the game for the code engine. Debugging and performing beta-testing is also done by Programmers only. They commonly work with programming languages such as C# or C++ or higher languages like Python to write the program code of the game.
Level Designer
Level Designers mainly focus on drafting entertaining and complex levels within the game so that the layers remain engaged with every stage of the game.
It is the Level Designer who determines the difficulty of each level while ensuring that variations in gameplay are easy enough to adhere and follow to the directions of the initial game design.
Game Tester
Tester’s role comes into play after the game has been developed. They tell about the errors in the gameplay, quality and bugs of the game that will be seen by the player.
A Tester is also kind of a Quality Assurance individual, who checks the quality of the game in respect of its plot visualization, graphics, plot, sounds, texts, animation sequences visual design, text content, character portrayal, and the levels of challenges posed in the game.
They do this by playing that game multiple times, ensuring it is user-friendly and offers a smooth feel to the player making it more enjoyable.
Game Producer
A producer is usually the person who oversees the funding and development of the game project, which includes negotiating contracts, maintaining schedules and budgets, pushing the team to meet milestones, arranging groups for testing, and also keeping the team motivated.
Skills required in the Game Development Career
As Game Developers, individuals design, program, and test games. Their duty involves creating the visual content of a game as well as writing the code necessary to implement all its features. As already mentioned, for this they need to create the characters, storyline, activities, scoring system, and environment of the game, dividing each component into smaller parts assigned to different team members.
Game Developers formulate specifications for a game and use those specifications to communicate the plan.
These professionals employ programming languages to write the code that provides the logic and enables the player to interact with the game. But the job of a Game Developer does not end there—throughout the development process, they should also test the game and debug code so that players have a seamless interaction with the game.
Game Developers continue to make changes to the game even after its release. Such enhancements involve add-ons to the game that introduce new levels and functionality.
The technical skills needed to become a Game Developer include programming languages and development concepts.
Game Engine
Game Developers should master at least one game engine. Unity being the most popular development platform for creating cross-platform and interactive games. Other tools include the Unreal Engine, GameMaker, etc
Programming Languages
Game Developers should know at least one programming language. The most popular one for gaming platforms is C#, C++ which is somehow like Java. Game Developers may also require to work with Python and Lua.
2D/3D Modelling
It is very important to be able to model 2D/3D assets using tools like Unity, Maya, RealFlow, and Blender. Developers are also expected to manage assets for a game, and iterate on already existing asset models.
Programming Speciality
These professionals should master at least one programming specialty. For example, if you’re working on game mechanics, you need to know about animation and physics; those working on multiplayer support need to know about web services and networking.
Prototyping and Testing
Producing prototypes of gameplay features and ideas, including both low-fidelity and high-fidelity versions. Aspirants should attain expertise in writing test cases and test plans and executing a game test effectively.
Courses related to Game Development
A few standard and popular courses that an individual can take up to become a Game Developer are mentioned below:
Diploma courses
Degree Courses
Certificate Courses
Specialization Courses
Seeing the popularity and growth of this industry, it is always a good idea to pursue masters and advanced diploma courses. A few of them are:
Future scope in Game Development
The gaming industry offers tons of career choices. It consists of a large segment on the employment front as well. According to statistics published by the American Gaming Association, game industry jobs provide employment to around 1.7 million people, with the employment rate increasing by 62,000 jobs on an average every year.
The most common myth about game industry jobs is the lack of options. But, in this article only, a lot of them have been mentioned and discussed.
Also, many companies have started the gamification of their site. Some of them are Amazon, Flipkart, Ajio, Zomato, etc. They are doing some as it increases the usability and makes using their services more interactive, completing users to use the platform automatically because of the fun they offer.
This already opens up so many career options in this field.
What are some of the advantages of being in the field of Game Development?
Below are some perks of being in the industry: 1. The individual is constantly increasing his/her skillset as the field is very competitive and with the boost in gamification the number o jobs are also increasing. 2. Game Developers are paid a decent salary and get to work on some really interesting projects. It also offers a really rewarding career.
Mention some disadvantages of being a Game Developer.
A few drawbacks are as follows: 1. Since, it is the growing phase of the Gaming sector, companies and therefore jobs related to them are unstable. 2. The working hours can even be longer and can be exhausting sometimes. It has some unpredictable working hours as well.
What are some of the well-known institutes in India offering specialization in Game Development?
Name of the institutes include the National Institute of Design, IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay,etc.
What is the “Gold Master Stage” in Game Development?
The phase of Game DEvelopment where its making is over and it is sent to publishers for public distribution is called the “Gold Master Stage”.
This article extensively discusses how to go about building a career in Game Development.
We hope that this blog has helped you enhance your knowledge regarding Game Development as a Career, and if you would like to learn more, check out our articles on Coding Ninjas Blogs.
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