Visualizing How Game Development Would Take Place
 

Visualizing How Game Development Would Take Place

I think a good game development team would require four different roles for the typical game. The Project Manager, Game Engine Desginer, Graphics Artist, and the Sound Artist.

Description of The Game engine designer:
Role : Designs complex code to make development easier for the Project manager. For instance, the game engine designer would design code that converts a bitmap to a sprite, or handles the collision of two sprites. The Game Engine Designer would design classes and libraries, and the Project Manager would simply use them. The code would be easy to use but hard to understand. If the game desires online functionality, this member with his technology expertise would be able to step in and help.
Degree : Computer Science

Description of the Project Manager:
Role : With a solid amount of business and collaborative capabilities, the project manager is like the conductor who controls the orchestra. The project manager must have a basic knowledge of programming. The project manager must be capable of using the user-friendly game engine that the game engine designer creates, and creating a game out of it with resources from the sound and graphics designers. The project manager must also have knowledge of the internal and external business environment and apply it to the game creation. In addition, the Project Manager must constantly engage in dialog with all members of the project.
Degree : Information Systems

Description of the Graphics Artist :
Role : The graphics artist must listen to the project manager and design computer graphics based on discussion. The graphics arist must have enough computer knowledge to differentiate between different graphical formats, and to design high quality graphics. The graphics artist must be generally a talented artist.
Degree : Art

Descriptions of the Sound Artist :
Role : The sound artist must listen to the project manager and design audio files based on discussion. The sound artist must have enough computer knowledge to differentiate between diffferent audio formats, and to produce high quality audio files. The sound artist must be generally a talented musician.
Degree : Music

Re: Visualizing How Game Development Would Take Place
 

Who would program the installation routines, testing, user interfaces, HUD, game logic, etc.? Handle marketing?

From what I've seen, it usually takes a rather large team for the software end, including a project manager who is more than just familiar with programming. It would also take a team of people for the media aspect, for testing, for marketing, etc. But, I've only had the pleasure of reading about it thus far, and living the experience vicariously through blogs and magazine articles.

By the way, I'm thinking of games like Halo, GTA, MVP, The Sims, and so on. Is that what you meant by "typical"?

Re: Visualizing How Game Development Would Take Place
 

Making a game is like any other software development process, dr. p did bring up a good point, how is going to test the system (this usually cannot be done by programmers - it is biased). By biased, I mean, how do they know they are going in the right direction without the publics input, I have been in situations were I build a program (with others of course) and we completely forget about what and who the system is for.

Re: Visualizing How Game Development Would Take Place
 

I disagree there are several flavours of software development each with different priorities that make the process subtley different.


1. Shrinkwrap
2. Internal
3. Embedded
4. Games
5. Throwaway

Games are more like movies.

Quoting Joel Spolskey:

Re: Visualizing How Game Development Would Take Place
 

That really depends on the type of game. StarCraft has been played online for years, and Blizzard has released dozens of updates to fix minor race balance problems.

Although it's true that Blizzard isn't trying to sell the updates. At least until StarCraft II arrives :icon_mrgreen: