princessosaani posted: " Image from ITChronicles In order to create a truly great game, there needs to be a balance of structure and creativity in order to deliver a product that creates the best user experience. Regardless of the genre, all games go through the 7 stages"
In order to create a truly great game, there needs to be a balance of structure and creativity in order to deliver a product that creates the best user experience. Regardless of the genre, all games go through the 7 stages of game development before they appear on the shelves.
Planning
During the planning stage, the studio begins creating the skeleton of the game. The theme, graphics, storyline, and tools are all picked and the studio picks their target audience. Next comes a proof of concept, which allows studios to see how their idea will work with real-world application. The revenue expectations, team-size, and estimated costs are just some of the topics addressed during this stage. Studios working with publishers are required to begin the pre-production stage since they need approval for the projects' deadlines, budget, and marketing strategy.
Pre-production
The pre-production stage involves planning how to achieve the goals asserted during the planning stage. The plethora of departments from the studio begin working together to make sure their ideas are within the scope of the project and can be executed with the current resources available.
Production
Production involves creating the assets necessary to complete the game. Characters are rendered and voice actors supply the dialogue that the players hear during the game. Sound effects are added and the levels are fully designed with the correct dimensions and restrictions. The code to bring the game alive is also programmed during this period.
Testing
The studio tests each of the game's features to ensure there are no bugs or glitches. Levels are checked to make sure players can get through them with the desired difficulty and all non-interactive areas should be inaccessible or redirect the player to the correct path. The dialogue for the game is also looked at to make sure it flows well and progresses the story along. The game is also tested for enjoyability, which is the main goal of entertainment.
Pre-launch
The pre-launch stage is where the public first interacts with the finished project. A cinematic trailer is usually created for the game with footage gameplay in order to gather excitement for its release. Publishers may even reserve spots at gaming conventions like E3 or PAX to get even more exposure and build a following.
Launch
During launch, a game is near completion. Bugs that may have appeared during the testing stage are resolved and the game is polished to fix any areas that could use improvement, whether in quality or functionality. After every detail is perfect, the game is officially released for sale to the public and the studio can begin reaping the monetary benefits
Post-launch
After the game has launched and has begun being played by fans, studios fix any bugs that have revealed themselves during the first few months after the launch. They typically rely on user-submitted glitches to identify the issues that may have escaped the final testing review. Software updates are also added during this stage, offering extra content or patches.
Personal Thoughts
To improve on this process, I would focus on ensuring the cinematic trailer doesn't outshine the actual gameplay of the project. No Man's Sky was notorious for promising a unique co-op space exploration experience, and displayed a beautiful trailer that displayed all these features However, when the game was released, players were more than disappointed to discover that the game failed to live up to their expectations. I believe its important to ensure a studio only markets what they can deliver on, and the trailer should be edited to reflect the final project.
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