The Art Of Game Development

by Michael Fontanini

        As an evil presence becomes known, it seems the land is in grave danger. The skies darken, or perhaps strange events unfold. Monsters may appear where before there weren't any. As the evil presence grows, it becomes known to all who inhabit the land. Just as all seems in peril, the hero begins his quest to save the land and stop the evil powers that lie ahead. This may be similar, in some respects, to how some of your favorite games begin their storylines. Did you ever wonder how a game is made? The game development process is not as tedious or difficult as you might think.
        "One of the hardest things about writing video games is designing them." (LaMothe 13). This quote is very true. The actual programming and math for 3D games is not the easiest thing in the world, but it's coming up with an idea for a game that is the hardest part of the development process. Designing the game is the job of the game designer. The game has to be fun to play or it is pointless. You don't want to make it too easy, or players will play it once and not play it again. If you make the game too hard, players will get frustrated and stop playing it. These are just a few of the issues you must contend with when making games.
        Today's games are far more complex than those of just years ago. With the new technology, there is far more work that goes into producing a game. To cope with this, game development teams are divided into small groups. Each group specializes in a certain area, such as programming, level design, graphics art, sound and music. This allows the development process to flow more smoothly and reduces chaos. Without this organization, it would be hard to know who is supposed to do what, when, and how.
        Typically the game development team will be divided into a series of departments. Each department is responsible for the different areas of development as stated above. This means there are multiple jobs you could get in the game industry. According to Lucich, the development team is divided into the following departments: conceptual or 3D artist/animator, programmer, audio technician, designer, and producer.
        The first stages of the development process after the design is completed involve lots of programming. The game must be programmed what to do. What actually gets done in this stage depends on the type of game being made. If you are going to be a game programmer, you could be a core programmer, a sound and music programmer, or a graphics programmer.
        The core programmer is responsible for programming the game engine itself. Basically, the game engine is the core of the game. That is where the term core programmer comes from. The game engine must be created before much else can happen. The term game engine refers to a large loop in the game's program code. As long as you are in the game, this loop continues to run. Inside this loop is all the code of the game. The reason it is a loop is because the work, such as rendering and physics calculations, must be repeated indefinitely for as long as you play the game. The loop will continue to run until you exit the game.
        The graphics programmer would deal with the rendering of the game graphics. The term rendering refers to the act of drawing the game graphics on the screen repeatedly so that the animations and movement of objects appears smooth rather than jerky. This is where the term frame rate comes in. The term frame rate refers to the number of frames of animation that are being drawn per second. If you are getting sixty frames per second, then you are doing quite well.
        Graphics alone won't make the game good. That's where sound effects and music come in. The sound and music programmer takes care of implementing sound and music into the game. It is his responsibility to program the game engine for when to play sound effects, and music. Sound effects and music, like the graphics, have a significant effect on the game's atmosphere. The graphics and sound combined create the mood of the environments in the game, whether it be sunny and happy, or gloomy and spooky.
        Once the game engine begins to take shape, level design can begin. This is where the term mapping comes in to play. The term mapping is basically a synonym for the term level design. Mapping refers to the act of constructing the 3D levels of the game, whereas the term level editing is more general and can apply to level design for any type of game. These two terms can be used interchangeably in many cases, especially in the development of 3D games.
        Constructing the 3D levels of today's games requires a level editor of some sort. A level editor is a software application that is used to aid the level designer in the level editing process. For 3D games like first person shooters, the level editor will usually include 4 views: a 3d rendered view, a wire frame top view, a wire frame side view, and a wire frame front view. The wire frame views show a wire frame representation of the level, and are used for editing. The 3D rendered view is used for seeing the level and what it looks like. The 3D rendered view can be moved around in the level to see different areas of the level from any desired location and angle.
        In many cases, the programmers may have to create the editor from scratch since every game is different. This is not always necessary. For example, sometimes development teams will create a sequel to a successful game using the same game engine that the original game used. This saves time because you don't have to build the game engine since it's already there, and because you don't have to make a level editor program because you can use the same one you used to make the original game.
        When the level designer builds the 3D levels, what he does varies from game to game since every game is different. For many 3D games, like adventure games and first person shooter type games, the levels are constructed out of brushes. The term brush refers to a basic geometric shape such as a cube. According to the help system in the Serious Sam 2 level editor, brushes are sometimes also called primitives. This is because of the fact that they are, as I said, just basic or primitive geometric shapes. Brushes can be any of a number of different shapes: cube, cylinder, prism, etc. They can be moved and resized in the level editor. The level designer applies textures to these shapes so they look like objects. You've probably noticed that most objects in today's games don't look like simple geometric shapes. That's because they are made out of multiple brushes. Brushes are used primarily for creating the architecture of the 3D world. The architecture of the level is sometimes referred to as the level geometry. This is basically the terrain of the world and things on it such as buildings.
        The characters in the game are not composed of brushes. They are models. The term model refers to the 3D representation of a character in the game. The work of modeling the game characters is the responsibility of the modelers. They use a modeling program to aid them. The programmers may have to create a modeling program from scratch since every game is different. A model consists of the 3D representation of the character, and the motions it can make. The modeler creates these animations by using the modeling software to tell the model how to move. For example, the model may have animations for actions such as walking, falling, using switches, and many other things.
        In games where the player actually gets to see the character they are playing, they are actually seeing a model. All characters in the game are models, including the player. Other objects in the world can also be models. Trees can either be models, or be constructed out of brushes. It is common for trees to be models because they are higher detail than other types of objects like walls. Walls are easier to make out of basic geometric shapes than trees are.
        In conclusion, now you have a basic understanding of some of the main areas of video game development. There are numerous jobs you can obtain in the game development field. I have discussed only a few of the main areas here, but I could probably write a lot more about the topic of game development. Games can be very fun to play, but they can also be quite fun, and interesting to make.

Works Cited
LaMothe, André. Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus: Fundamentals of 2D and 3D Game Programming. Indianapolis: Sam's, 1999

Lucich, Chris. Getting into Games Part 3: Career Tracks. 2002. 12 Nov. 2002

Serious Sam 2. Disc. Croatia, 2000

Go Back to Writing Hompage

Home	Links	Games	Writing	Reviews	Authors
	The Art Of Game Development by Michael Fontanini
	As an evil presence becomes known, it seems the land is in grave danger. The skies darken, or perhaps strange events unfold. Monsters may appear where before there weren't any. As the evil presence grows, it becomes known to all who inhabit the land. Just as all seems in peril, the hero begins his quest to save the land and stop the evil powers that lie ahead. This may be similar, in some respects, to how some of your favorite games begin their storylines. Did you ever wonder how a game is made? The game development process is not as tedious or difficult as you might think. "One of the hardest things about writing video games is designing them." (LaMothe 13). This quote is very true. The actual programming and math for 3D games is not the easiest thing in the world, but it's coming up with an idea for a game that is the hardest part of the development process. Designing the game is the job of the game designer. The game has to be fun to play or it is pointless. You don't want to make it too easy, or players will play it once and not play it again. If you make the game too hard, players will get frustrated and stop playing it. These are just a few of the issues you must contend with when making games. Today's games are far more complex than those of just years ago. With the new technology, there is far more work that goes into producing a game. To cope with this, game development teams are divided into small groups. Each group specializes in a certain area, such as programming, level design, graphics art, sound and music. This allows the development process to flow more smoothly and reduces chaos. Without this organization, it would be hard to know who is supposed to do what, when, and how. Typically the game development team will be divided into a series of departments. Each department is responsible for the different areas of development as stated above. This means there are multiple jobs you could get in the game industry. According to Lucich, the development team is divided into the following departments: conceptual or 3D artist/animator, programmer, audio technician, designer, and producer. The first stages of the development process after the design is completed involve lots of programming. The game must be programmed what to do. What actually gets done in this stage depends on the type of game being made. If you are going to be a game programmer, you could be a core programmer, a sound and music programmer, or a graphics programmer. The core programmer is responsible for programming the game engine itself. Basically, the game engine is the core of the game. That is where the term core programmer comes from. The game engine must be created before much else can happen. The term game engine refers to a large loop in the game's program code. As long as you are in the game, this loop continues to run. Inside this loop is all the code of the game. The reason it is a loop is because the work, such as rendering and physics calculations, must be repeated indefinitely for as long as you play the game. The loop will continue to run until you exit the game. The graphics programmer would deal with the rendering of the game graphics. The term rendering refers to the act of drawing the game graphics on the screen repeatedly so that the animations and movement of objects appears smooth rather than jerky. This is where the term frame rate comes in. The term frame rate refers to the number of frames of animation that are being drawn per second. If you are getting sixty frames per second, then you are doing quite well. Graphics alone won't make the game good. That's where sound effects and music come in. The sound and music programmer takes care of implementing sound and music into the game. It is his responsibility to program the game engine for when to play sound effects, and music. Sound effects and music, like the graphics, have a significant effect on the game's atmosphere. The graphics and sound combined create the mood of the environments in the game, whether it be sunny and happy, or gloomy and spooky. Once the game engine begins to take shape, level design can begin. This is where the term mapping comes in to play. The term mapping is basically a synonym for the term level design. Mapping refers to the act of constructing the 3D levels of the game, whereas the term level editing is more general and can apply to level design for any type of game. These two terms can be used interchangeably in many cases, especially in the development of 3D games. Constructing the 3D levels of today's games requires a level editor of some sort. A level editor is a software application that is used to aid the level designer in the level editing process. For 3D games like first person shooters, the level editor will usually include 4 views: a 3d rendered view, a wire frame top view, a wire frame side view, and a wire frame front view. The wire frame views show a wire frame representation of the level, and are used for editing. The 3D rendered view is used for seeing the level and what it looks like. The 3D rendered view can be moved around in the level to see different areas of the level from any desired location and angle. In many cases, the programmers may have to create the editor from scratch since every game is different. This is not always necessary. For example, sometimes development teams will create a sequel to a successful game using the same game engine that the original game used. This saves time because you don't have to build the game engine since it's already there, and because you don't have to make a level editor program because you can use the same one you used to make the original game. When the level designer builds the 3D levels, what he does varies from game to game since every game is different. For many 3D games, like adventure games and first person shooter type games, the levels are constructed out of brushes. The term brush refers to a basic geometric shape such as a cube. According to the help system in the Serious Sam 2 level editor, brushes are sometimes also called primitives. This is because of the fact that they are, as I said, just basic or primitive geometric shapes. Brushes can be any of a number of different shapes: cube, cylinder, prism, etc. They can be moved and resized in the level editor. The level designer applies textures to these shapes so they look like objects. You've probably noticed that most objects in today's games don't look like simple geometric shapes. That's because they are made out of multiple brushes. Brushes are used primarily for creating the architecture of the 3D world. The architecture of the level is sometimes referred to as the level geometry. This is basically the terrain of the world and things on it such as buildings. The characters in the game are not composed of brushes. They are models. The term model refers to the 3D representation of a character in the game. The work of modeling the game characters is the responsibility of the modelers. They use a modeling program to aid them. The programmers may have to create a modeling program from scratch since every game is different. A model consists of the 3D representation of the character, and the motions it can make. The modeler creates these animations by using the modeling software to tell the model how to move. For example, the model may have animations for actions such as walking, falling, using switches, and many other things. In games where the player actually gets to see the character they are playing, they are actually seeing a model. All characters in the game are models, including the player. Other objects in the world can also be models. Trees can either be models, or be constructed out of brushes. It is common for trees to be models because they are higher detail than other types of objects like walls. Walls are easier to make out of basic geometric shapes than trees are. In conclusion, now you have a basic understanding of some of the main areas of video game development. There are numerous jobs you can obtain in the game development field. I have discussed only a few of the main areas here, but I could probably write a lot more about the topic of game development. Games can be very fun to play, but they can also be quite fun, and interesting to make. Works Cited LaMothe, André. Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus: Fundamentals of 2D and 3D Game Programming. Indianapolis: Sam's, 1999 Lucich, Chris. Getting into Games Part 3: Career Tracks. 2002. 12 Nov. 2002 Serious Sam 2. Disc. Croatia, 2000 Go Back to Writing Hompage