This document provides an introduction to game development, covering areas like programming, game design, art, and other disciplines. It discusses challenges in the industry, differences between academia and professional game development. It also introduces the Unity game engine, covering platforms, programming, UI, plugins, and the asset store. The document concludes by offering suggestions for aspiring game developers, like maintaining a blog, focusing on one's portfolio, being part of the community, and practicing constantly.

1. I Develop Videogames
Team YinYang
{Jorge Palacios, Christian Chomiak}
presents
Hey, there
Want to make a
game?
Originally from 2013, updated in 2016

2. We gather together to...

3. Agenda
● Introduction to game development.
● Challenges in the industry.
● Differences between academy & the “real
world”.
● Brief introduction to Unity.
● Suggestions & conclusions

4. Introduction to game development
What is a video game?
(Intentionally left blank)

5. Introduction to game development
What is game development?
●Also known as gamedev.
●The practice of developing entertainment
software (videogames).
●Game developer != Gamer

6. Introduction to game development
(Main) Areas & Disciplines
●Programming
oAI
oGraphics
oGameplay
●Game Design
oMechanics design
oLevel design
●Art
oConcept Art
o3D Modelling
Game Designer != Game Programmer

7. Introduction to game development
(Other) Areas & Disciplines
●Narrative
●Sound
●Playtesting
●QA

8. ●Regulatory law regarding video games &
bellic toys.
oFILANTROPIA Foundation.
●Job market
●Associations
●Events
oGameJams
Introduction to game development
Case Study: Venezuela

9. Caracas GameJam 2013

10. Introduction to game development
What do you need to know?
Skills & Knowledge
BASIC DESIRABLE
Math
(Trigonometry, Algebra)
Physics
Communication Prototyping

11. Skills & knowledge... for Game Designers
●Understandment of:
o Physchology.
o Logic.
o Art.
●Programming (scripting).
●Writing & Proofreading
●Communication (advanced).
Introduction to game development
What do you need to know?

12. Skills & knowledge... for Game Programmers
●Algorithms (while(more){better;})
●Scripting (desirable).
●OOP (necessary).
●C/C++ (indispensable).
Introduction to game development
What do you need to know?

13. Insecurities
(and how to beat them)

14. ●Learn.
●Endless resources
available in the shape
of books and tutorials
on the Internet.
Insecurities (and how to beat them)
“I don’t know how to code"

15. Insecurities (and how to beat them)
“I’m a programmer, not an artist”
• Royalty-free resources
(Creative Commons)
• Freelance artists
• Asset Store (Unity)

16. Insecurities (and how to beat them)
“I’m a student (I don’t have money)”
• Free and Open Source tools
• Free versions of paid tools
• Student discounts (and free tools for
non-profitable use)
• Professional engines available for
free* (e.g. Unity, Unreal)
* Free under some conditions

17. Insecurities (and how to beat them)
“I’ve never made a game but I want to make the next
(insert hit game name here)”
●Take down a notch
●Begin with something
simple.
oExperience++

18. Insecurities (and how to beat them)
<Insert your excuse here>

19. Insecurities (and how to beat them)
<More excuses here>

20. The “real world”

21. ● Big projects with little to no
room for mistakes and
innovation.
● Restricted by the market and
the publishers.
The real world
The reality of AAA game developers

22. ● Medium to small teams.
● Low budget.
o Kickstarter.
● Most of the times with not
steady incomes.
The real world
The reality of indie game developers

23. The indie boom

24. Indie Game: The Movie

25. Things you will not likely
learn while studying
● Work under a deadline.
o Most of the times, simple
and hardcoded solutions
work better and are
cheaper than fully fledged,
correct solutions.
● Collaboration.
o Communities
 Forums.
 Stack Overflow
o You shouldn’t reinvent the
wheel.
The real world
VS the academy
Things you will not likely
learn in the real world
● Deep study of algorithms.
● State of the art solutions.
● "Only the best is good
enough." -LEGO

26. Development
Tools

27. Development
Tools categorised by complexity
●Low level – Blood, sweat and tears
oC++
oOpenGL / DirectX / Vulcan
●Intermediate level – Sweat and tears
oFrameworks like XNA, PyGame, Enchant.js, Flixel.
●High level - Sweat
oEngines like Unity, Unreal & Source.
●Nyancat level – Pretty flowers, icecream & ponycorns
oTools like GameMaker & RPGMaker.
List of popular gamedev tools available here: http://makegames.pixelprospector.com/

28. Development
Unity3D

29. Development - Unity3D
Platforms

30. Development - Unity3D
Programming
●Scripting
oScripting engine based on Mono (open source
implementation of .NET).
oLanguages
 UnityScript (Javascript on steroids)
 C#
 Boo (Python-like syntaxis)
●IDE
oMonoDevelop (default and bundled with Unity)
oVisual Studio support

31. Development - Unity3D
User Interface
(Intentionally left blank)
(Live demonstration)

32. Development - Unity3D
Plug-ins
● Usually written in C, C++, Objective-C, etc.
● Integration between Unity apps and third-party
software.
● For example:
oARToolKit for Unity: augmented reality.
oFingerGestures: detection of touch gestures.
oOpenCV: image processing.

33. Development - Unity3D
Asset Store

34. Development - Unity3D
Unity+Git
Why use Version Control
Systems?
What is Git?
How to use Unity+Git?

35. Development - Unity3D
Version Control Systems
Tools that manage and keep track of the
changes made in a project.
●git
●mercurial
●subversion
●perforce
●visual sourcesafe (DON'T YOU DARE!)

36. Development - Unity3D
Version Control Systems
●github
●bitbucket
●google code
●source forge
●assembla
And there’s more!...

37. Development - Unity3D
What is Git?
A version control system (duh).
Designed by Linus Torvalds.
Why is it better than Mercurial or SVN?

38. Development - Unity3D
How to Git?

39. ●Define a .gitignore file
●Configure the Unity project:
oEdit > Project Settings > Editor
 Select “Meta files” under
Version Control Mode
Development - Unity3D
Unity+Git
More information available at:
http://bonusdisc.com/version-control-and-unity3d/

40. Suggestions & conclusions
Hey, listen!

41. Conclusions &
Suggestions
●Blog
oShare your experiences.
oKeep a record of you’ve learnt.
●Work on your portfolio
oA blog can be useful to showcase it.
oTangible proof of your capabilities.
●Be part of the community.
oLearn from other people’s mistakes.
oA safe haven for friendly competition and
collaboration.

42. Conclusions &
More suggestions
●Keep yourself…
oOrganised.
 Use project management tools.
oUpdated.
 Computer science is a ever-growing field of
study.
oCurious.
 Challenge your capabilities.

43. Conclusions &
Even more suggestions
●Brainstorm.
oMany solutions > one solution.
●Code
oPractice makes the master.
●Rest.
o"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."
oHave a life.

44. And there’s more!
Remember that...
…there’s people who is or has been in your
same situation.
…software development is an iterative
process.
…don’t expect to finish tomorrow what you
didn’t start today.

45. An announcement by yours truly
www.pctroll.me
@pctroll
Bonusdisc.com
@cchomiakm

46. Any questions?

47. Thanks!
This is a chocobo