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"The making of a game"

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Thu 16/08/01 at 20:33
Regular
Posts: 787
All of us play them, the good ones are fun, the bad ones get sold or swapped. Games for most of us on here are a big part of life. Without them I for one would be lost, well bored at least. But do we realise the stress and hassle of making a game. Most games take a long time for the original idea to be turned into a game worth selling.
Here is how I think most games are made. Some may disagree.

Step 1 - The Idea

All games start as an idea, here what type of game its going to be is decided. Will it be sport, FPS, simulation, action adventure. Also who the game is intended for has to be worked out too. Will it be young children, teenagers, adults or all age groups. If the idea is good it will then be turned into a game. Original ideas are sometimes tricky to get started and alot of games are based upon older games. So whether its killer monkeys who ride motorbikes and you have to lead them to world domination or blasting zombies and rescuing team members the idea has to be well thought out and be long enough to make a decent game.


Step 2 - Idea into reality

Once the idea has been thought through thoroughly. Advice is then given by the programmers who will then create the game. If they can't get it to work then the game will be scrapped. Some people still decide to go through with the idea if the programmers say it won't work. These games usually turn out different to the original idea. For the ones the programmers like and can make the idea is then worked on to create a gameworth selling.


Step 3 - Creating the game

By far the hardest and longest part of making a game. Here everything is done. From graphics, gameplay, sounds, cheats built in. Everything you see and do and more is put onto the disk from here. The programmers are like chefs, the take all the ingredients for the game and make something worth all the hassle, a decent game. Sometimes things are left out as they are to hard to program into the game or they spoil the original idea. Also actors are sometimes used to provide the voices of characters. Some bands provide music to be used as the soundtrack.


Step 4 - Testing

Before mass production starts the game has to be tested so that bugs can be found and fixed and all the little problems can be ironed out for the final version. Testers have to work hard as any missed bug or faults could cause the game to fail when it is released. Many people sign up to get the chance to be beta-testers. Give some a chance to see what the game is like and how it could be improved. Some say testers have the ideal job, they get to play games and comment on them and they get to play the early versions before the public.


Step 5 - Mass Production

After all the bugs are fixed and everyone is happy with the final version the game is created and reproduced for selling. Here the master copy is copied and the game is created. This is what you get in your box. This is the final copy of the game.


Step 6 - Packaging
Packaging for the game is then decided. Some would say this isn't really important as its the game that matters but developers do think about this quite alot. Something that stands out and is a little different is usually best. Also the instruction manual and any extras are created and boxed with the game. If the games is well known and advertised well then packaging isn't a big issue as the game and name will sell itself.


Step 7 - Shipping

After everything is finalised the game is shipped. Some of the extremely popular games are so highly demanded that sometimes there aren't enough to meet demand. Japan usually get games first, then USA and then Europe. That just seems to be the way it has always been. The X-Box will be released first in America and its games should also be released there first (as microsoft are American) even Uk developers seem to follow this pattern and release their game in Japan or USA first.

Step 8 - Advertising

This is like the final piece of the puzzle, if people know the game is good they will buy it. Most developers offer some information during production to the most popular magazines. This lets people know when it will be out and how good it will be. Advertising can be done on tv. the internet, the radio and in magazines and newspapers. If the games good it will sell millions of copies which will surely please all involved with its creation. Sony seemed to show how important advertising is with its adverts for the PSX and its games, they stood out and caught your attention. If people don't know about the game the chances are they wont buy it, if you advertise more there is a bigger chance you will sell more.


Most average games cost around $3 Million to make with some of the more popular well known ones costing alot more. But with a market worth around $32 Million, a figure which is set to double in the next 5 years, the games industry is growing fast and you can see why all this effort and money is worthwhile. Hope some of you found this interesting.
So if you have an idea for a game and you think it would make a good game then work on it until you are completely happy, maybe get some input from others and then try sell it to developers or wait and start your own company and create it. All ideas have to start somewhere and we all have an imagination so maybe you have the ability to create a great game.
Thanks

AliBoy
Fri 17/08/01 at 13:36
Regular
"Picking a winner!"
Posts: 8,502
FantasyMeister wrote:
> AliBoy wrote:
> ...with a market worth around $32
> Million...

Wasn't that meant to be Billion?

Yeah sorry about that. An error, it should be Billion.
Fri 17/08/01 at 13:34
Regular
"Copyright: FM Inc."
Posts: 10,338
AliBoy wrote:
> ...with a market worth around $32 Million...

Wasn't that meant to be Billion?
Fri 17/08/01 at 13:10
Regular
"Picking a winner!"
Posts: 8,502
DeltaJava wrote:
> Yup, but if you're not making a game for profit, then you can skip a
> few of those points.

Don't all companies make a game for the profit. It would be very unwise for them to make a game that didn't produce some kind of profit.
Fri 17/08/01 at 07:07
Regular
"qwertyuiop!!"
Posts: 2,517
TBN:: Yes DeltaJava has MSN!!

But I don't understand why a British made game will be shipped to Japan and America for a first release. I have seen games that get first released over and a later date for America and then a TBA for Japan before!!

P.S It was a bit of a crappy game getting 7/10 though!!
Fri 17/08/01 at 03:37
Posts: 0
i'm making my own little RPG
Fri 17/08/01 at 00:12
Regular
"Eff, you see, kay?"
Posts: 14,156
DeltaJava wrote:
> Yup, but if you're not making a game for profit, then you can skip a
> few of those points.

*cough* EA *cough*

DJ, do you have MSN?
Thu 16/08/01 at 22:00
Posts: 15,443
Yup, but if you're not making a game for profit, then you can skip a few of those points.
Thu 16/08/01 at 21:43
Regular
Posts: 9,848
You missed a step between one and two.

Game design.

This is where the idea is explored on how to make the best possible game out of it.
Storyline, Characters, control system, level design, it's all done here.
It's where devellopers add new ideas to their idea.
Often the original concept is develloped into a completely new idea.


Apart from that I think you had it all spot on.
Thu 16/08/01 at 20:33
Regular
"Picking a winner!"
Posts: 8,502
All of us play them, the good ones are fun, the bad ones get sold or swapped. Games for most of us on here are a big part of life. Without them I for one would be lost, well bored at least. But do we realise the stress and hassle of making a game. Most games take a long time for the original idea to be turned into a game worth selling.
Here is how I think most games are made. Some may disagree.

Step 1 - The Idea

All games start as an idea, here what type of game its going to be is decided. Will it be sport, FPS, simulation, action adventure. Also who the game is intended for has to be worked out too. Will it be young children, teenagers, adults or all age groups. If the idea is good it will then be turned into a game. Original ideas are sometimes tricky to get started and alot of games are based upon older games. So whether its killer monkeys who ride motorbikes and you have to lead them to world domination or blasting zombies and rescuing team members the idea has to be well thought out and be long enough to make a decent game.


Step 2 - Idea into reality

Once the idea has been thought through thoroughly. Advice is then given by the programmers who will then create the game. If they can't get it to work then the game will be scrapped. Some people still decide to go through with the idea if the programmers say it won't work. These games usually turn out different to the original idea. For the ones the programmers like and can make the idea is then worked on to create a gameworth selling.


Step 3 - Creating the game

By far the hardest and longest part of making a game. Here everything is done. From graphics, gameplay, sounds, cheats built in. Everything you see and do and more is put onto the disk from here. The programmers are like chefs, the take all the ingredients for the game and make something worth all the hassle, a decent game. Sometimes things are left out as they are to hard to program into the game or they spoil the original idea. Also actors are sometimes used to provide the voices of characters. Some bands provide music to be used as the soundtrack.


Step 4 - Testing

Before mass production starts the game has to be tested so that bugs can be found and fixed and all the little problems can be ironed out for the final version. Testers have to work hard as any missed bug or faults could cause the game to fail when it is released. Many people sign up to get the chance to be beta-testers. Give some a chance to see what the game is like and how it could be improved. Some say testers have the ideal job, they get to play games and comment on them and they get to play the early versions before the public.


Step 5 - Mass Production

After all the bugs are fixed and everyone is happy with the final version the game is created and reproduced for selling. Here the master copy is copied and the game is created. This is what you get in your box. This is the final copy of the game.


Step 6 - Packaging
Packaging for the game is then decided. Some would say this isn't really important as its the game that matters but developers do think about this quite alot. Something that stands out and is a little different is usually best. Also the instruction manual and any extras are created and boxed with the game. If the games is well known and advertised well then packaging isn't a big issue as the game and name will sell itself.


Step 7 - Shipping

After everything is finalised the game is shipped. Some of the extremely popular games are so highly demanded that sometimes there aren't enough to meet demand. Japan usually get games first, then USA and then Europe. That just seems to be the way it has always been. The X-Box will be released first in America and its games should also be released there first (as microsoft are American) even Uk developers seem to follow this pattern and release their game in Japan or USA first.

Step 8 - Advertising

This is like the final piece of the puzzle, if people know the game is good they will buy it. Most developers offer some information during production to the most popular magazines. This lets people know when it will be out and how good it will be. Advertising can be done on tv. the internet, the radio and in magazines and newspapers. If the games good it will sell millions of copies which will surely please all involved with its creation. Sony seemed to show how important advertising is with its adverts for the PSX and its games, they stood out and caught your attention. If people don't know about the game the chances are they wont buy it, if you advertise more there is a bigger chance you will sell more.


Most average games cost around $3 Million to make with some of the more popular well known ones costing alot more. But with a market worth around $32 Million, a figure which is set to double in the next 5 years, the games industry is growing fast and you can see why all this effort and money is worthwhile. Hope some of you found this interesting.
So if you have an idea for a game and you think it would make a good game then work on it until you are completely happy, maybe get some input from others and then try sell it to developers or wait and start your own company and create it. All ideas have to start somewhere and we all have an imagination so maybe you have the ability to create a great game.
Thanks

AliBoy

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