As we have looked through the preliminary design stages for our game and its supporting documents, this chapter will give you an insight into job roles within the industry and possible career pathways that can be explored. You will also get the chance to learn about game genres and where the best place to start is when coming up with ideas and what can be done to generate them.
Introduction
From FIFA to Final Fantasy, Mario Kart to Minecraft, video games have played a huge role in many of our lives. Many of us have spent Christmas mornings unwrapping, loading up, and getting to know the next best game that year. Advancing rapidly in the past few decades, video games have gone from a niche hobby to a multibillion-pound industry of simulation, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and so much more. Far more than a pastime, video games have become a social way of life for people of all ages.
These are many roles within the industry that you could find yourself in if you wish to pursue your career within games. Most will require you to create portfolios to exhibit the skills and work you have been creating. But they will also require or look for a degree within your specialist field. This is something that is usually strongly desired, but there are plenty of university courses out there that can assist you with finding the right direction for your career path and to help you with developing your skills further. Having a degree under your belt will help support your chosen specialty, but also make you more desirable when applying for that job you have been wanting for so long! Aside from going indie and making your own games, a lot of developers are more than willing to hire a designer if they simply show that they are capable of making games. But like I said, a degree is always desired and is sometimes required depending on the role you wish to pursue. That being said, there’s no better way to learn the ins and outs of being a game designer than by going through a good program. Most schools have great courses that teach you how to use the software, give you hands-on learning, and even help you make your first game before you graduate. Also, having a game design degree (or something similar) will usually increase your chances of getting your application looked at when you shoot your CV at a game company.
It’s hard to believe that after the North American video game crash of 1983, thousands of developers lost their jobs, and almost every store refused to sell anything related to games. Along came a Japanese company named Nintendo to rekindle the fire with their Nintendo Entertainment System bundled with Super Mario Bros . Now fast forward to today and you’re looking at a powerful industry that rivals even that of Hollywood and television. This means that you don’t have to worry about switching fields or learning something else any time soon. With more people playing games than ever before thanks to Facebook, social media, and smartphones, the number of gamers is only going to keep going up. All those gamers are going to need passionate designers to create awesome experiences for them.
If you enjoy the idea of creating characters , worlds, and gameplay for people to enjoy, then being lucky enough to land the role of game designers somewhere means you’ll be doing what you love for a living. The good news is that the pay and benefits for designers at most studios are pretty good and even great depending on where you work, your experience, etc. Of course, most would advise against jumping into the gaming industry simply for the money. Instead, most development studios are filled with people who simply had a desire to use their own creativity toward making games for others.
Job Roles
Now as we have covered the genres that you typically find when playing or creating a game, we now need to consider the different roles that you can find within the game industry. Ever seen yourself as a game programmer or the next concept artist for your favorite company? Do you know what their role includes?
Game companies are typically made up of many members that all have their own role within it. You’ll typically find indie companies have a smaller number of team members which will be in control of a different aspect within the development of a game. However, trying to create a full game on your own will prove a challenge, as this will include art, animation, UI design, programming, testing, audio, and much more. But who are the people that make the games we play? We can now start to explore some of their roles and responsibilities within their companies.
Programmer
Within this role, using a range of languages such as C#, C++, HTML, and Python in game engines such as Unity or Unreal, a programmer will write the code that allows the player to interact with the game, creates a camera system, makes weapons work in the way they have been designed, programs physics and any artificial intelligence (AI) , and so on. They have a lot to do within their role! However, rather than all programmers within a team working on the same aspect within the game, it might be that a programmer will work exclusively on creating tools that will support the team to make the game more efficient. Another programmer may write code that simulates physics within the world they are making, such as water or weather systems. Or another might be working on solely audio and sound effects within the game. Ever wondered in school if you really needed to understand algebra or wondered why maths is not important for later in life? Well, when it comes to being a programmer, you need to have an excellent understanding of maths, 2D and 3D graphics, physics, particle systems, UI, input devices (keyboards, controllers), and computer networking. Finding experts within this field is always in high demand, and some programmers can make a good living as contractors and being hired to support teams with projects. This can be from writing code and providing solutions to teams.
Artists
Once upon a time, in the early days of video game design, programmers were the ones that created the art for video games. In some ways, they still create art for games but in the forms of simple shapes. This is called the Coder’s Art . These are normally placeholders until the artists and modellers provide the assets that will go into the game. Fast forward to today, you now have artists that have this responsibility.
Taking a look back through time, one of the first artists that was creating art for video games was Shigeru Miyamoto, who created Super Mario and Donkey Kong. Since then, his simple character designs are known across the world. These memorable characters were created with an 8-bit CPU using only 2-bit pixels; this means that the background elements only have four colors and that assets only have two. As technology developed, new and better hardware with more memory, color depth, and the ability to display larger graphics meant that artists could create more detailed and in-depth images, backgrounds, assets, characters, etc. This then paved the way for more photorealistic games such as Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and The Last of Us Part 2.
A concept artist will use both traditional mediums and computers to create art for a game. This can be from characters, worlds, enemies, and assets within a game. However, the art is used as a reference for other artists and will never appear in the final product.
Storyboard artists will illustrate the game’s cinematics and sometimes the elements of the gameplay design which will be passed along to other artists and animators.
We then have 3D modellers and environment artists, who use software such as Maya, Blender, MagicaVoxel, etc., who will build the environment and characters. But with creating models, we then need texture artists who paint surfaces onto objects and locations. This creates a realistic effect. VFX artists (visual effects) create stunning visual effects using a combination of 2D and 3D art.
There are also UI (user interface) designers, animators, and many more roles. You can start to get the picture now!
Designers
Level designers populate levels with items such as enemies and treasures. But it is their job to make the game intuitive for the player and use mechanics and skills they’ve picked up through the game. While a world might seem dull, level designers will make that journey from A to B fun and creative.
System designers develop on how elements of the game will work with another. This will range from currency to skill trees. Much like a car engine, all parts need to work together to make it work; this is where system designers come into play.
Scripters will write code for the game that will allow things to happen; this could be from an enemy attacking the player to cutscenes being triggered.
Combat designers will work on the player’s experience when the player meets enemies. This can be from working with items, weapons, abilities, and how the player can have a fair and balanced experience .
The creative director maintains the vision of the game through the development stages. They will support all designers to ensure that the same goal and vision are met. They will also provide feedback on how they can make the game stronger.
While all designers have their part to play, they all have a key responsibility to make the game fun. If a game isn’t fun, then what is the point?
Producer
This role requires you to oversee the entire game development process and team. This can also include the hiring of team members, building the teams, writing contracts, contributing to the game’s design, working with the budget of the game, and organizing testing and localization of the game. You may also find that it’s the producers that will be involved with any press or marketing of the game.
With producers doing so much and having so many responsibilities, you will also find associate producers that will support them. They may not do as much as the producers, some of their tasks can include supporting the team and ordering food for them if they are working late.
Tester
Quite simply, testers will play the game, but they will play the game multiple times throughout the development process to ensure that features are working, and it works as it was intended. Testers will work long hours playing certain parts of a game and push it to its limits to ensure that everything is working, but this role requires more skill than just playing games. A good tester requires patience and good communication and written skills. They will report any bugs or issues with the game to the team. Everyone has an important part to play in game design, and testers play a huge part to help us play smooth and quality-controlled games, which brings us to the next role.
Quality Assurance
Quality assurance , or QA for short, is crucial to the successful completion of a game. To ensure that we buy games that are not full of glitches and run smoothly, games are handed to the quality assurance team to spend their time working on this. This could take weeks or sometimes months to ensure that this process has been carried out fully. It’s not often that a game will be released without a day 1 patch to squash any bugs on release, but updates will be published beyond the release date to squash any bugs that appear afterward. QA won’t find everything, but this is where players will be able to spot some things that the QA team didn’t.
Working within testing can be a gateway job into the industry if anyone would like to start from the bottom. This can open doors to working within design, artists, producers, and high-level management. Testers are just as important as artists and programmers, so don’t knock them!
Composer
Something that is overlooked during game design is audio. During the early days of video games, audio used to be MIDI sounds and simple beeps and boops which would be used for action shooting. While this may have seemed simple, what was the original Super Mario theme made from and is that not memorable?
A composer will create the music that will help set the mood and atmosphere for a game. Music can be created on a keyboard, and they can be used to simulate other instruments. With larger budgets, some companies and composers would write music for live orchestras to make more dramatic music.
While writing music for games can adopt similar techniques as movies, it can come with some difference. For example, most game themes can be very short or will be repeated and altered to set the atmosphere.
Sound Designer
Unlike the role of a composer, a sound designer will create the sounds that will appear in the game, as well as tutorials and hints that may appear for the player on screen, but as a player, we heavily rely on sounds to immerse ourselves in the world. You could make a detailed game with lots of action, puzzles, and a heartwarming story, but without the sound, it just doesn’t feel the same.
When designing a game, you can use placeholder effects until you have created the ones you are going to make. This is also a great technique to know what you want to have for your game. Some other techniques that sound designers use are blending and mixing of sounds to create something no one has heard of before and make it unique to the game. They also need to have a good understanding of the game they are involved in. This is so they know what sort of sounds they need to make but to also help the player through the game. Sounds will need to sound positive and encourage the player through the world/levels. This is a great way to show the player that they have done the right thing or that they have used a tool or item correctly.
Writer
Help write the game’s story to make it engaging for the player.
Write dialogue for the characters and cutscenes. This can be a tricky task to ensure that the story makes sense in conjunction with the gameplay while still keeping the story engaging.
Design any prompts to help the player with levels/puzzles.
While some games don’t come with them, writers will also support the writing of the game manual and any fictional support material.
They also write the blurb on the back of the game’s box to grip the players when viewing them on the shelf in a shop.
With so many new games being created, there are usually lots of work for writers . They may come and go through companies and write lots of genres, but they also need to be able to write and write in a screenplay format. Remember, writing for video games is different to writing a book, and that takes skill and lots of practice.
Product Manager
Similar to a game producer, a product manager will work with the development team and ensure that they are working within the agreed production schedule . They also assist with ensuring that the development stage goes smoothly. My role as a teacher within games can feel like this with the support of my students’ games as they prepare for release. While I may set the schedule, I will keep an eye on the production of games to assist the students with their development stages.
Technical Director
Someone in this role needs to come from a programming background to help review and recommend tools and software for the team to use that can help them. There are also times where they will assess whether someone is able to make the game or not and suited to making the game they have been hired to make.
These are just a handful of roles you can find within the industry and you may find yourself in one day .
Genres
With technology growing all the time, there is a chance to reach new heights with creating new and exciting games. The bonus with this is that games are now becoming more and more accessible to everyone.
With the rise of social media and the advancement of mobile platforms, the chance to bring in new and casual players is at an all-time high. But considering all the platforms, marketplaces, and the ways we can now play games, we need to think about the different genres that are available for us to play and follow.
The term genre is used to describe a category of something; this is often used to describe books, films, TV, or music. Books can be crime, films can be action, TV can be love, and music can be rock. You can start to get the idea. Video games can also be categorized into different genres; they only have two main types of genres: story genre and game genre. Just as we described different genres with other media products, the story genre describes the type of story , such as fantasy, historical, sports, etc. Game genre is described by the type of gameplay, like how a movie can be a documentary or art a film. The game genre describes the play, not the art or the story.
Here are some that you might be familiar with or some that might be new to you:
Action – These games rely on hand/eye coordination and skill to play. There are lots of variations of games that have been made following this genre, which also makes this one of the most diverse. It is also worth noting that some of the earliest arcade games were considered as action games.
Adventure – These games normally focus on its characters, like role-playing games. They also include a range of different mechanics such as inventory management , story, etc. Depending on the style of the game, they can also include some puzzle solving to help keep the player engaged within its story.
Educational – An educational game has the primary intention to educate the player within a chosen subject. While educating the player, it is also entertaining. These games are typically aimed at a younger audience. However, there are plenty of games that have an underlying educational theme through them which help inform the player about real-world or historical events, such as Battlefield 1 which was set during the First World War. More notably, the first level was from the perspective of a frontline soldier in the trenches and how they were rushed to certain death.
Party – A party game is specifically designed for many players, typically within the same room, to compete in a variety of different styles of gameplay. These can be from quizzes, board games, or physical movement games (Wii Party, 1-2-Switch).
Puzzle – Puzzle games are based on logic, observation, and, at times, pattern completion. Sometimes, they require the player to be slow and methodical, while others can test the player’s hand/eye coordination and reflexes.
Rhythm – Rhythm games allow the player to match a rhythm or beat to score points. Games such as Beat Saber, Guitar Hero, Osu!, and Project Diva fit within this genre.
Serious – Games that come under this genre tend to educate players while considering social issues. But games that fit within this can be incredibly diverse, as some can provide training and be used for advertising.
Shooter – Quite simply, games that focus the player on shooting projectiles at targets or at other players. This is one of the most popular genres and includes a vast number of games, such as Battlefield, Call of Duty, Halo, Grand Theft Auto, and many more.
Simulation – These can be simple games that allow the player to take their time and create their own world or manage another. These can range from managing a theme park, farm, town, or a creature. Games such as The Sims, RollerCoaster Tycoon, and The Simpsons: Tapped Out all focus on managing an environment. However, some simulations cross over into the world of toy games. The best example of this would be Tamagotchi. Simulation games provide tools for creativity but don’t always provide a win or lose state. Unless you manage to kill your Tamagotchi pet!
Vehicle simulation also comes under this genre which involves the player driving or piloting a vehicle. This can be from a Formula 1 car to a spaceship. This also has the chance to use a variety of control options such as a controller or a joystick to create a realistic or simple playstyle.
Sports – These games are based on athletic competitions , such as football, wrestling, golf, Formula 1, boxing, or ice hockey. Like action games, there are many stylistic forms with this genre ranging from simulations to fantasy versions. Pokémon Unite is an example where the player is using Pokémon to work in teams and get balls of energy into the opponent’s hoops.
Strategy – Being able to think and use forward planning are the main traits of strategy games. This is also one of the oldest genres as this was born from the likes of Chess, Go, and Mahjong Tiles.
Traditional – While still thinking about board games, traditional games can often be based on previous physical formats. Typical card games or games that can allow the player to add bets can fall into this genre.
Special consideration – Augmented reality (AR), one of my favorite modes of games, is a blend of digital gameplay and real-world mechanics. Games such as Pokémon Go incorporate this mechanic to allow the player to see Pokémon within the real world. Games like these incorporate peripherals like cameras and global positioning (GPS) into its gameplay.
But this method doesn’t just cater to video games, AR and VR are now being used in many different industries such as architecture, medicine, and motor vehicles. The HoloLens is Microsoft’s device to bring holograms to the real world by the user wearing a headset to view models, take part in meetings, and carry out simulations of real-world scenarios such as the construction of buildings.
This is just a small list of the genres that we see in everyday life when it comes to video games. But now as we have covered these, you can now start to identify where some games combine genres or subgenres. Games such as the Grand Theft Auto series have a combination of action, adventure, vehicle simulation, and shooting. There are often times where minigames or activities will include traditional and sports subgenres.
But who knows, there could be many more genres created as games and technology develop over time. You never know, it might be you that does this!
Idea Generation
"You’re told to generate the next big hit, the game that will take off and capture the imaginations of players all around the world. You look at your sketchbook, ready to create and… you draw a blank. Countless ideas flood to you every day but now, when it matters most, gone."
We've all suffered from this experience in the past, and if you haven't already, you probably will soon. So where can we generate ideas? What can we use to spark our imagination and begin to generate the start of our next design? Inspiration can come from absolutely anywhere and anything. There is always a game to be found within every walk of life. What that game is and how well it is executed, however, is up to you.
First of all, remember that no idea will appear fully formed and perfected in your head. Any great work has been thoroughly researched, tested, developed, improved, reviewed, and the process repeated until complete.
One of the most creative points you have during the day is just before you’re about to fall asleep. That’s why it’s always handy to keep a notebook near your bedside. You never know if you’re about to come up with the next big hit just before you sleep!
Birds are thrown from catapults at pigs.
A bandicoot spins to break boxes and stop an evil doctor.
A blue hedgehog with speed problems collects rings.
All of those ideas you can read, and you know exactly what they are. All of which have become hugely successful and made lots of money. With this in mind, never be too quick to bat off a game idea, even if it might sound silly.
But there are different places you can gain inspiration from to help you with coming up with ideas.
Research
Playing a variety of games, you can begin to develop a vocabulary of mechanics, dynamics, and themes that are the necessary building blocks of successful game design. It’s important to stay varied in this approach and not stick to games that you are familiar with or class as your favorite. Explore yourself with many new kinds of games to develop your range of knowledge and skills. Research into how some of these games were made in order to see where their influences came from.
Networking
Discussing your ideas with people around you is an easy way to begin the process. Taking a simple premise and simply communicating your thoughts can not only help you vocalize and think through the concept , but it also allows more ideas to be added to the mix from those around you. You'll never know what someone can add to the mix if you never ask!
Experiences
Looking for game ideas in everything you do is a great way of developing your design skills . Consider your everyday life, the people you meet, activities you do, and places you go. There is a wealth of inspiration in the world around you; it's your job to make these into interesting and engaging experiences.
Reading Material
Try to read things that you might not always go to. Sometimes, coming out of your comfort zone can be the best way to find inspiration for an idea. It’s not always a bad thing to have similar interests as others, such as games, comics, films, books, TV shows, etc. However, when other people get their inspiration from the same places, games will start to feel the same. Trends are also set when it comes to new ideas; some movies will follow themes from other successful movies. When some games are released, their mechanics might be used in other games. You then start to feel that games are becoming repetitive, and you may find that your game is seen as too similar to something else, and then you’ll start to see comparisons drawn to yours that you may have wanted to avoid. Be sure to take time to try reading different material to broaden your horizons.
Play Games!
Similar to reading different material, be sure to play a range of games that you might not have already played. Go outside your comfort zone and try new genres. It can also be handy to play bad games, then you can identify the things that were done poorly and how you would do them differently. Chatting with friends to learn from their experiences and recommendations for bad games will also be helpful.
Follow Your Passion
While looking for new ideas, be sure to never forget your passion and why you are doing what you’re doing. You never know when you’ll get a chance to use something you love in game design. When you are enjoying game design, it’ll never feel like a job.
While it is one thing to have a good idea for a game, will people download it? I have been involved in many student projects where they came up with the next triple A title idea with only a few months to make. Sometimes, taking a moment to think about whether it is achievable with the time, money, and resources you have is just as important. You could pour your heart into making a game that you love, but if no one buys/downloads it, will that have been a waste of your time? If a game sells, then you can make more games.
What Does the Audience Want?
You could design the next big hit and imagine it being the “Game of the Year” and win lots of awards and have many sequels, but how will you know if the audience will like it? In some cases, the players don’t know what they want until it’s been presented to them. For example, I have had many students come to me saying they have seen something amazing advertised at E3 and that they have already preordered it. While it may be a new game, they never knew they wanted it until they saw it.
All designers need to be born with passion toward anything they want to achieve. If they have a strong vision of what theirs will be, then they will strive for that. Gamers can feel when developers have put their heart and soul into a game. Don’t be afraid to hold onto your vision, but be aware that it may not turn out exactly how you envisioned it.
While you may have this idea in your head that you are excited to make, there is no guarantee that it’ll be good. While designers set out to make good games, bad games can still be made. But bad games can be the result of many reasons.
When players are playing as a character that they know or love, this gives them the chance to be something that they aren’t in the real world. Games should be able to do this and provide an experience where the player might feel smart, successful, a warrior, rich, good, or evil.
As you begin developing your idea, you need to consider what audience your game is targeting. Due to the boom in mobile gaming, markets shifted to more casual games, and gamers no longer need to grind for hours to max out their players and achieve all armor or equipment. You need to decide if you are aiming your game toward the hardcore players or casual. Knowing who your audience is from the beginning will help you rule out any design decisions before your ideas develop.
Age is also one of the most important factors to consider. While games are rated by PEGI or ESRB, kids may still end up playing games that are intended for older audiences. Kids aren’t always interested in playing games that are intended for their age group, they will always want to play games that are for older kids. For example, a 13-year-old may be interested in a game that is meant for 18-year-olds.
The Problem with Fun
Creating “fun” is something that can always prove tricky and daunting . There is always the worry whether you are creating something that is fun for the audience. There are always problems when it comes to designing something that is fun; it might be that a game idea, such as a boss fight, level, mechanic, etc., could sound like fun on paper, but it may not when it comes to playing it. It might work, but it may only be fun to you. Fun is also subjective; a game might be fun the first time you play it, but will it be fun after the thousandth play? This is a typical thing that happens during the production of a game. You will play it over and over and you start to lose objectivity. This is why one of the most important rules to remember when designing a game is: You have no guarantee that your game idea is going to be fun. There are times where games will follow another gameplay’s style, but this could lead to it being a copy of another game. Lots of FPS games follow similar FPS games, and it’s not long before markets become saturated, and developers lose their objectivity during the course of production.
Brainstorming
Somewhere to write the ideas
Somewhere to work (preferably somewhere quiet)
People to work with (it’s always great to work with other people to bounce ideas off of. It’s also fun working with other people!)
The best part about game design and coming up with ideas is that there are no bad or stupid ideas. Being open-minded is a positive attitude to have during this process and toward others. To really explore ideas, make sure that you are speaking to people from different areas such as programming, art, writers, and audio. Bring people along that have had some experience or understand this field as this can be beneficial to the process . The more diverse the group, the more creative the ideas can be. Think about all the things that you want your game to be, then write them down.
Whenever I like to plan or come up with ideas, I like to write them down on paper or on a large whiteboard. I find it easier to branch ideas off of each other until my paper or whiteboard becomes covered in the potential ideas I could do or make. Even if they don’t happen, they’re always good to note down in case I want to use them another time.
Got No Idea?
What happens if no ideas come to you? What happens if you can’t come up with a plan straightaway? While it can happen, it’s nothing to be ashamed of, and there are some methods to help you with breaking that creative block .
Taking a Walk
I find that taking a walk always helps clear my mind. I found that when I was a student; I was walking a rather fair amount during my days off, which helped me come up with a range of concepts I could create. I started to develop some of them and some were never finished, but walking is a great way to get blood pumping and stay active. Exercising is excellent for mental health and well-being, and it’s even better for coming up with ideas.
Keep Your Mind Focused
I find that I struggle to stay focused on something if I know that something important needs to be finished first. Keep your mind and schedule clear so you can give all of your time to coming up with ideas. Take a break and deal with whatever is on your mind. Whenever it is complete, your worries will no longer be there!
Work Somewhere New
I can get distracted very easily if I’m in an environment I am too familiar with. I find that working somewhere that is quiet can be really helpful, or I might put on some music to help me focus. Sometimes, working outside is always beneficial; being able to work in the sun and hear the world around you can be quite calming.
Move to the Best Bits
Sometimes, to keep the excitement of an idea going, I find that designing and developing the best bits that I get excited about helps the flow. Sometimes, you may come up with an idea, and there are some bits that may not excite you at first as much as other parts of the game. Take some time to design a mechanic rather than the UI or audio, but be very careful when doing this. Games are designed and built around a schedule, deadlines, and budgets, so time management becomes a key part of this. The game, team, and the company could suffer from a failure to maintain this; make sure you’re being responsible.
Once you have created a list of ideas, now is the time to be critical and harsh. You need to narrow down your ideas to the ones that can be achievable and possible. Remove any ideas that you don’t like, and you will be left with only the good ones. It’s better to have a game full of good ideas rather than ones you don’t like. The best thing you can do once you have your ideas is share them with someone else. It’s good to share your ideas with someone who shares a passion for game design as they can provide some of the harshest but creative criticisms if they work within this industry.
Bonus Stage: Common Game Industry Terms
Common Industry Terms
AAA (triple A) | Games that are created and released typically by mid-size or major publishers; usually anything that cannot be classified as “indie.” |
AR/VR/MR/XR | Augmented/virtual/mixed/extended reality. |
Asset | Shorthand for anything that goes into a video game – characters, objects, sound effects, maps, environments, etc. |
Baking | A method of preprocessing performed on game assets and data to ensure they load and perform well in real time and do not slow down gameplay due to requiring a lot of processor or GPU capacity. |
Beta | A game version that contains all major features and assets. This version of a game contains no major bugs and is on its way to code release. Beta releases are occasionally given a limited release to the public for bug reporting and critical feedback. |
Build | Game development lingo for the “version” of a game. Also known as a “release” or “release candidate.” |
Cert | Certification. The process whereby console manufacturers test a game for compatibility with their hardware and distribution platforms. This does not include playtesting or quality assurance. |
Code release | The version of a game that is ready to be sent to console manufacturers for certification. |
Collision (physics) | The action of two objects coming together and touching/striking one another in-game. The simple act of your playable character standing on a floor in a house requires collision parameters on both the character’s feet and the floor; otherwise, that character would simply fall through the floor. |
Collision detection (physics) | A process that determines when and where an object will “collide” with another object in-game. This is typically done using an object called a hitbox that will either prevent a collision or decide what area needs to be reached to create a collision. |
Event | A game action that is completed through user input. When a player presses a button on their controller and the on-screen character jumps, this is considered an event. |
Game Design Document (GDD) | A professional document created by game developers to fully define and justify the game they’ve created or plan to create, usually as part of their pitch to a publisher. |
Gold master | A game that has met all publisher and platform requirements, includes all assets and features, and is considered ready for launch. |
Hitbox | An invisible object created around another GameObject that determines the area where collisions with other objects will occur. |
Mechanics | The essential functions, rules, and outcomes that create gameplay. Mechanics are what make a game rewarding, entertaining, and interactive. |
Mesh | A collection of vertices, edges, and faces that act as the foundation of a model in a video game. |
Quality assurance (QA) | Testing a game for its overall quality, which normally includes finding and eliminating bugs. |
Lightmap | A prerendered lighting system that is stored for continual use in a game. |
Ray tracing | A light-rendering technique that simulates the interaction of light with objects in a game in such a way that it looks ultra-realistic. |
Shaders | Small programs within larger game development processes typically used to control lighting and shadow effects. |
UX | User experience. Ensuring that the design and implementation of a game is pleasing and user-friendly. |
Vertical slice | A proof-of-concept portion of a game, typically given to investors or publishers for a chance at receiving funding and partnerships. |
Conclusion
- 1.
What job roles can you find in the industry ?
- 2.
What genres can you create games for?
- 3.
Common game industry terminology
- 4.
Idea generation methods
With another chapter completed, we will now move toward the development of these ideas and how we can bring them to life. You will start to look at the fundamentals of game design and what you need to consider when designing a character. We will also get the chance to make a 3D character controller in Unity that can be used for a future game idea.