Game Development has always been something that I have found very intriguing since I first played the game "Mario Kart". I always wondered how the car moves on the screen, how are the traps being laid etc. So I tried learning about it and in this blog, I would like to share a brief overview of the same.

1. INTRODUCTION

   So first let us understand what comes under game development.

   Is it just building the logic for the game or is it just creating characters for the game?

   So game development includes the whole process of creating a video game, starting from its ideation till its post-release activities. This includes character designs, scene creations, animations, logic building, data storage, distribution and maintenance.

2. IDEATION

   Game Development starts by setting up one basic theme and an idea around which your game will be revolving. It's very important to define a scope or else one can never complete the game. For example, whether we want to make a simple platform game or a racing game.

   We also need to decide on the tech stack or what platform are we going to use to create the game. Lots of free game development platforms are available to kickstart your game development journey. The most popular ones are Unity and Unreal Engine.

   There are various ways to divide the games into categories but mainly we can divide them into 2 categories i.e. 2D or 3D. Deciding this before starting the development is quite important as lots of factor change based on your selection.

3. PRE-PRODUCTION

   Here we do a check on the technological capabilities. We make sure that our idea is implementable given the platform, resources and tools we have.

   We also do the storyboarding i.e. arranging your scenes in a logical order to depict the characters and plot points.

4. PRODUCTION

   Now comes the actual phase wherein we start dealing with actual game mechanics. Lots of phases are involved in this like modelling, designing, coding, rendering etc. Various tools are there for designing and modelling like Blender, Maya etc. Also, the game physics are taken care of while developing the game.

5. TESTING

   After finishing and gameplay and making sure you don't miss the main part of creating a game i.e. FUN.... comes the next important stage i.e. Testing. We make sure that all in all the game is working, the graphics are clean and the game behaves as per our requirements.

6. PRE-LAUNCH

   Once we are done with that, Alpha/Beta releases are done to get to know how the game is behaving for the users and what are their reactions and feedbacks. We even get to know the actual hype in the market. Also if some issues went unnoticed while testing is also being considered through the user reviews.

7. LAUNCH

   Based on the reviews and the market study done during the pre-launch a final round of bug squashing is done and then the final game is launched (MASTER RELEASE) after some polishing if required.

   But don't forget a programmer's job never ends... ⚒️

8. POST-PRODUCTION

   Regular maintenance and bug squashing are done. Also, new levels or story sections are added if needed.

Please like and share with others if you found it informative. Also do write in the comments if you have any feedback. Hope you found something new from this.