Game developers are a creative bunch. They come up with the idea for a game, create characters and backgrounds, write dialogue and music, and then finally program the game itself. It’s an immersive process that requires collaboration between many different people to get it just right!
How does Game Development work?
To answer this question, let’s first look at the different parts of game development. There are three main stages in the process: pre-production, production, and post-production. Each of these stages is crucial to the development process, so let’s look at what each one involves. You also want to look at the Docker registry by JFrog for gaming development.Docker registry is a great tool for game development because it allows developers to store and share their Docker images in a centralized location. This makes it easy for anyone who needs to build a container from a Docker image to get access to it. Additionally, the Docker registry can be installed on cloud platforms or any machine with Docker installed and configured properly, which makes it a versatile tool for game developers.
Pre-Production
This is where the initial planning takes place. The game designer comes up with an idea for a game, and then the concept artists create visual representations of this idea. These are done in several stages:
- Pre-visualization – The designer will provide some basic concepts for what they want, but not much detail is given here as it takes a lot of time to draw out an entire game world.
- Thumbnail sketches – This is where the artists start to get more specific, creating rough drawings of characters and locations.
- Detailed concept art – Here, the artists will create a cohesive world, including all the little details like what the characters are wearing and what the buildings look like.
Production
This is where all of the action happens! The programmers create a basic skeleton for the game and then fill in the details. They work closely with the designers to make sure everything works as planned. Artists also continue working on their assets during this time, making sure everything looks as good as possible. QA (quality assurance) testers play through early versions of the game to find any glitches or problems that need to be fixed. And finally, once all of these pieces are in place, we have our final product!
Post-Production
This is where things start to wrap up. The game is finalized and sent off to be manufactured. Marketing teams start working on trailers, ads, and other promotional materials. And finally, the game is released into the world!
Pre-Production
The first stage of game development is pre-production, where the initial planning occurs. This is where the designer comes up with an idea for a game and then sketches out some basic concepts. They might develop an exciting mechanic or story idea that they want to explore further. From there, the concept artists will create visual representations of this idea called Pre-visualization.
Pre-visualization is done in two stages: rough and finished. In the rough stage, the designer will provide some basic concepts for what they want, but not much detail is given here as it takes a lot of time to draw out an entire game world.
After the pre-visualization is approved by everyone involved, the next step is to create props and background elements like trees, rocks, etc. This is usually done in the Storyboarding stage.
Storyboarding
Storyboarding is where you take all of those ideas from pre-production and create detailed drawings that show how characters and essential items within the game’s environment interact with each other during gameplay. Storyboards can also be used when making movies or TV shows!
Pre-visualization is just one of several stages in the concept art process, but it’s a crucial step because this is where all of those initial ideas are brought to life. It starts as a sketch on some paper and ends up being fully rendered work by an artist sitting at their desk for days, creating these images you see here!
Character Art
This is usually the last stage of pre-production, and it’s where the artists create character designs that will be used in the game. They need to make sure that these characters are visually appealing and fit their overall style. The character artist will also design any costumes or clothes that the characters might wear during gameplay.
After the character art is approved, it moves on to rigging, which involves attaching those character models into a game engine to be animated and controlled by code. After that, the next step is animation, where all of the characters’ movements are finalized and implemented in-game.
