What are the Basic Game Development Stages?

Basic Game Development Stages

What are the basic game development stages? Do you want to make a game but have no idea what steps you will face? Don’t be afraid, this problem is not just yours. I tried to answer the question “What are the basic game development stages?”, which is one of the questions I frequently receive, as much as I could in this content. The main dream of many people who want to be a game developer is to develop their own game. In fact, video games emerge from the combination of many fields and even various branches of art. Below you can read these steps one by one and watch them as a video at the bottom.

Idea and Market Research

Before we start developing a game, the first thing we need is an idea. A unique and interesting idea forms the basis of the entire project. Game developers generally draw from many different sources. At this stage, you should conceptualize your idea step by step and create the very foundation of your game. Once the game concept is determined, it is essential to conduct comprehensive market research and analysis. In this step, everything from who you will sell your game to, trends, demands, player preferences, etc. By understanding all the important data, it will become clear how the game should be structured.

Design and Documentation

Designing a game is not actually drawing the game, but building the game. All kinds of large and small details underlying a game are realized exactly in this step. Designers, artists, software developers, that is, people working in all departments within your team, will do their work based on this design document. For this reason, the most important point of game development is exactly this point after the idea stage. Don’t worry, I will have a content that will cover this topic in more detail.

Game Engine Selection

It is the next step in the Basic Game Development Phases and a game engine serves as the basis for the creation of a game. For this reason, it is really important to choose the game engine that will meet the needs of the game and best suit your team. You can watch my video on how to choose a game engine right below.

Prototype

Prototyping is a crucial step for testing ideas before launching into full production. In this step, the first experiments are created to form the ideas of all the basics of the game. During the prototyping phase, many mechanical problems and design errors arise and are quickly resolved.

Creating Art

How a game looks will directly affect the fate of that game. The art design of a game is based on the foundations of the game’s story and structure, and its complete integrity is thus accurately conveyed to the player. Graphics, animations, 3D models, textures and visual effects are fully created at this stage. The most basic and important point of this stage is always the combination of creativity and technique, this should not be skipped.

Level Design

Level design determines the order, structure, difficulty level and how the game stages will progress. Level designers work in close collaboration with game designers and artists and play a very important role in the direct structuring of the game. Each level of the game is organized in its entirety at this step, taking into account factors such as speed, difficulty and storytelling.

User Interface and Experience Design

I think this is the topic that I cover and care about the most on my YouTube channel. User interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design is a very important step that will directly affect the success of not only a successful game but also all software projects and even all commercial ventures. I will prepare a video in which I will examine these issues in more detail in the game, but I can easily say that most of the things you interact with in a game are shaped in this step.

Development

The development phase is the one I focused on least in the video, but it is the cornerstone of this work. Coding is done in accordance with the coding language planned according to the game engine selection and the game comes to life. This stage is the step where coding and optimization, mechanics, UI interfaces and artificial intelligence come to life. Successful programming skills, problem solving abilities and performance optimization are skills that employees in this field should have.

Sound Design

One of the most important steps among the Basic Game Development Stages is undoubtedly sound design. Sound Design plays a direct role in the atmosphere of a game by increasing its impressiveness. Sound effects, music, voice-over and environmental sounds are created exactly in this step. In addition, the music to be used in the game is created in accordance with the levels and story in this step. In fact, sound designers are of great importance to further increase the impressiveness of our work and should work with the team as a whole.

Testing, Localization and Translation

Another step among the Basic Game Development Stages is the Testing and localization stage. In today’s global gaming market, localization and translation are of utmost importance to reach a wider audience. One of the key points of success in the global market and one of the most important weapons in the marketing department is localization. Testing is the last step in the Basic Game Development Stages. It is very important to conduct tests with the right people to ensure the quality and stability of the game. For your information, I talked about this subject in detail in my video What are the Basic Game Development Stages?

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