The Stages of Game Development

It's difficult to play a video game without appreciating all that goes into the game development of the world, characters, and concept. Many gamers look to the video game world to provide a form of escape from the daily grind. However, in order for a game to provide this level of enjoyment, it must have a well thought-out game concept, good story/plot, and intricate character development. Game design is a bit of a complicated process, but is much easier to follow when broken up into stages.

Developing the Idea

The first stage of game development is formulating the idea. The concept of a game is usually created by a team of designers that work together to come up with the basic idea. The genre of the game is the first thing that must be decided. Will it be a shooter, action, adventure, action-adventure, role playing, simulation, or strategy game? Once the genre is determined, developers go to work putting together the concept. This leads to the next stage of design which includes the development of the story and characters.

Story and Character Development

During this stage of development, the player's character must be carefully considered. In order to create a successful game, the player must be able to identify with the character and want to play out his or her story. The environment around the player is also designed at this point. In order to properly create the environment, it must be determined how the player will be interacting with the game. After these details are established, the concept is submitted to the decision-makers for approval. If approved, the money is provided for game development

Creating Scenes

During scene creation, a scenario or set of scenarios must be developed. The main scenes vital to the story of the game are described in detail, with focus on the communication between the player and the game. This communication is vital for passing necessary information to the player in a way that does not detract from the engaging story. The main scenes are sketched during this phase and background music and special effects are created as well. Everything is developed with the idea of capturing the player's attention and keeping it.

Production and Testing

When the concept is fully created and the sketches and ideas are completed, it's time take the game out of the imagination of the design team and turn it into a real experience. This is the stage where programmers work on the code to create all the scenes previously described. The graphics are then fine-tuned to bring the world and the characters to life. At this point, everyone on the team must be able to work together on the game design in order for it to succeed. When the programming is completed, game testers begin to search for bugs to help ensure smooth game play before it is released.

Gina Kraft wrote the article for Game Shastra. Gina is a supporter of Game Shastra especially, their Game Development, Game Design, and Game Testers.