What Is Game Programming?
Game programming is the code, which brings the computer game or video game to life. As the technology has advanced and evolved, the programming as also changed. In the initial days of video game history, the programmers were responsible for various aspects of game development such as game design. However, as the software and hardware improved, the games also became more complex increasingly and the game developers have also grown significantly. The expectations of the players have grown as well as the players are spending more times in playing games and other things such as artificial intelligence and high-end graphics for enhancing the experience of the users. Game programming is the subset of the game development and this is the software development of the video games. This also needs the substantial skills in the computer programming and software engineering in the provided language. Game programming is also the specialization in some areas such as computer graphics, physics, artificial intelligence, input, audio programming and simulation. For the MMOGs (Massively Multiplyer Online Games), knowledge on various additional domains like database programming and networking programming will be needed.
What Are the Basics for Game Development?
Followings are the basics of game development:
Lean computer programming: The interesting view of the video games is created using the computer programming. Therefore, this stands to some reason, which the users will need for knowing about the programming in case, they want to enter to the new world. The programmers will need knowledge on some programming languages such as Python, C#, C++ and Java.
Choosing known game engine: For the beginner of the game developers, this will be the best strategy to start with the known game engine. The game engine will be very useful as they provide multiple important functionalities for the video games such as audio support, collision detection, 2D graphics rendering, 3D graphics rendering, networking and artificial intelligence.
Understand the patterns of game design: The patterns of the game design work well, where the things get complicated as the game developers has already understood all the basics of developing a video game.
Learning the associated maths and 3D graphics: This is not possible to make the video game without any graphic and therefore, the game developers will need to learn about the graphics to developing a game. 2D games were very popular in initial days however, nowadays, there is a trend of 3D graphics that can also be rendered in the Fixed 3D, Third person perspective, First person perspective and so on that provides the realistic view and feeling to the video game.
What Are the 5 Stages of Game Development?
Followings are the five stages of the game development such as:
- Discovery: This is the first stage, where the idea will turn into the video game. This stage will identify the scope and the requirements of game so that it can bring the release date of the game. The stage can be of one or two months based on the available budget, required resources and the project scope. In this stage, the team of the game development will consist few members including game designer, art director and solution architect.
- Production: This is the labour-intensive stage of game development process. This is the stage, where the actual game development starts. In this stage, the team members define the game mechanics, polish the game story, define the gameplay, pacing and its balance. In this stage, the team members create the assets such as environment, props, creatures and characters, build the scenes and levels, write code and set the play rules. All the elements of the game will be designed in interesting and fun ways.
- Testing:All the mechanic and feature in the game need testing for the quality control. The game without the thorough testing can be the game, which will not be ready for the Alpha launch. Followings are some questions, which should be considered in this stage such as:
Is there any error level or error area?
Can the character of the game walk through any particular wall?
Are all the things rendering on the gaming screen?
Is the game character dialogue boring?
Various types of playtesters are there. Some of the playtester conduct stress tests just by running into the walls to crash the game. There is also fun factor, which can be complicated, easy or comfortable.
- Release: In this stage, the game developers make the game ready to release in the market. In this stage, for bug squashing, the game developers also hone in the game before launching the game. In this stage, the outfit of the character can be more texture and the final touch of the characters are done. The changes are made in this stage so that making video game can be more immersive.
- Post-release: This is the last stage of the game development. After releasing the game, the development process of the game goes on with the team members, who were working on the game fix the bugs, create the bonuses, patches, in-game events and also create the brand new downloadable content for the game. Then the developers can move onto the next part or sequel of the game.
Which Language Is Best for Game Development?
Some of the best game development programming languages are as follows:
- Java
- C++
- CSS3
- HTML5
- SQL
- JavaScript
What Is GDD in Game Development?
GDD (Game Design Document) is the vital aspect in video game development. The GDD is the software design documents, which provides the blueprint for development and design of the video game. As the development process to create the video games has become very complex, they also help with the communication between the game developers. GDD will also help in identifying the common problem or issues with the use of the programming software and will also provide solution for overcoming the issues.
Which Software Is Used for Game Design?
Followings are some of the software, which are used for the game design:
- Unity
- GameMaker Studio 2
- Unreal Engine 4
