The document outlines the stages of video game development, emphasizing the importance of a structured pipeline from planning to post-launch. Key stages include planning, pre-production, production, testing, pre-launch, launch, and post-production, with each stage involving specific tasks and teamwork among various roles. It highlights the challenges faced during development and the necessity of constant monitoring and updates post-launch to maintain game quality.

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Information Technology
Stages of Game Development

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Describe the stages of Game Development.
Objective:
1. Video Game Industry and Development
2. Stages of Video Game Development
2.1. Planning
a. Generating ideas
b. Video game Publishing
2.2. Pre-production
2.3. Production
a. Prototyping
b. Visual content
c. Game level design
d. Audio design and Voice acting
e. Coding
2.4. Testing
2.5. Pre-launch
2.6. Launch
2.7. Post-production
3. Conclusions

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1. Video Game Industry and Development
The video game industry is booming; some
of the reasons that have led to this
remarkable growth in recent years are the
impressive advancement of technology and
the internet, which is now accessible to all
people in the world
Anyone involved in the production of video
games knows that development is a complex
but vital process to get a stunning product.
That is why it is imperative to know and
follow a video game development pipeline —
a clear description of the stages of work on a
project, which lets you organize and optimize
your workflow.

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Post-production
Planning
Production
Testing
Pre-launch
Launch
2. Stages of Video Game Development
Pre-production

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2.1. Planning
Before the writers begin writing, an idea for a video game has to surface. This is the
very first part of the planning stage and the roots that every video game will grow
from. In the planning stage, the following basic questions will need to be answered:
•What type of video game are we
producing?
•Will it be 2D or 3D?
•What are some of the key features
it must have?
•Who are its characters?
•When and where does it take
place?
•Who is our target audience?
•Which platform are we building this
on?

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• The idea a gaming studio comes up
with will serve as the backbone of
the entire game. It’s what sets the
standard for every employee
involved with building the game, but
also gives publishers a high-level
overview of what to expect
• This brings us to the next part of
development – proofing a concept. A
proof of concept takes all the ideas
that have been generated and sees
how viable they are for the gaming
studio to produce.
A. Generating ideas

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B. Video game Publishing
For studios that are
building a game under
the umbrella of a
publisher, proofing a
concept is required
before moving forward
with pre-production and
may even require a
vertical slice.
For independent
studios without
publisher oversight,
there is a bit more
flexibility during this
phase. The downside
to independent
publishing is
establishing a
development and
marketing budget.
As a matter of fact,
successful games
like Pillars of
Eternity and Shovel
Knight were completely
crowdfunded.
Whichever route you
take, a proof of concept
is vital to the success of
a game because it puts
ideas in the perspective
of what is capable. Now
it’s time to begin pre-
production.

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2.2. Pre-production
The next stage of game development, called pre-production, brainstorms how to
give life to the many ideas laid out in the planning phase. This is where writers,
artists, designers, developers, engineers, project leads, and other crucial
departments collaborate on the scope of the video game and where each piece of
the puzzle fits.

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A. Teamwork for production
• Developers
• Writers
• Project leads
• Artists
• Engineers
meet with
writers, we
can’t
fill that envir
onment with
100
characters
art styles are
consistent
and aligned
with what
was laid out
in the
planning
phase.
the in-game
mechanics,
physics, and
how objects
will render
on a player’s
screen.
multiple
departments
to figure out
the “fun
factor

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B. Goals and Concept of the Project
Market and competitor
analysis: Determine what is now
at peak popularity in the gaming
industry and bring the most
significant profit.
Choosing a platform. The
choice of a platform is usually
based on the popularity of use,
as well as the company’s coding
capabilities.
Allocation of resources:
Establish the number of required
specialists, equipment, as well as
the video game development
process timeline
The target audience: Determine
who will be interested in your
product to advance the game’s
development according to their
preferences
Concept art. Concept artists
design characters, environments,
props, and other game assets.

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2.3. Production
Most of the time, effort, and resources spent on developing video games are during the
production stage. This also happens to be one of the most challenging stages of video
game development. During this process
Prototyping
Visual
content
Game level
Design
Audio
design and
Voice acting
Coding

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A. Prototyping
The first production stage is the creation of a
prototype — a playtest of the main mechanics
that will be used in the game. The importance of
this prototyping can be illustrated by the example
of the Swedish warship Vasa, built in the 17th
century.
Building it required hundreds of artisans and a
vast amount of money, with the end product
being colossal. However, at the first sail, the ship
quickly capsized and sank due to poor design.
This just goes to show that even the best ideas
and expert work need to be put to the test with
this game design stage.

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B. Visual content
The concept of visual content includes everything that
a game is filled with — characters, props,
environment, game assets. Games in 2D format go
through the same pipeline of development as 3D
games, but it requires less complex technology and
less time spent, since the design of the flat visual
content takes sketching, coloring, and animation. 3D
games are more challenging to create and usually
require going through many stages: polygonal
modeling, sculpting, texturing, rigging, and usually
animation. Artists use more specialized software and
tools. In addition, 3D modeling requires more skills
and knowledge for professional development.

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At the level design stage,
specialists develop the logic of
the game levels, which is
different for each genre. For
example, this can increase
difficulty levels after completing a
linear quest or exploring an open
game world.
In addition, the level designer
develops game mechanics,
plot, game economy design, as
well as useful details such as
hints describing new mechanics
and leading a player through a
game, as well as creating
transitions between levels.
C. Game level Design

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Audio is an integral part of immersive game
design. Sound specialists create game
soundtracks and sound effects for different
situations
Natural sounds are also often included —
character steps, the sound of a shot or
explosion, water or wind, etc.
In addition to the music and sounds, the
characters need to be voiced. Each dialogue,
monologue, and individual line of characters are
recorded with the help of voice actors and
imported into the software
D. Audio design and Voice acting

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E. Coding
When all the game
elements are ready,
developers write
thousands of lines of
code to bring all the
content together, and
often use game engines
to do it.
The difficulty of this task
lies in the fact that a
game should develop like
a puzzle, not include
mutually exclusive
mechanics, and also
function without errors
and failures.
Game developers try to
take into account all
possible technical factors
and create a positive
user experience.

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2.4. Testing
Every feature and mechanic in the game needs to be tested for quality control. A game that
hasn’t been thoroughly tested is a game that’s not even ready for an Alpha release. Here are
some things a playtester may point out during this stage:
•Are there buggy areas or levels?
•Is everything rendering on the
screen?
•Can I walk through this wall or a
locked environment?
•Are there features I can use to exploit
the game?
•Does my character get permanently
stuck in this spot?
•Is the character dialogue stale and
boring?

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2.5. Pre-launch
The pre-launch stage is
a stressful time for
gaming studios.
Questions of self-doubt
may seep in as you
wonder how the public
will react to your first
functional product.
But before a formal
Beta copy is released,
the game will require
some marketing. After
all, how else will people
learn about it?
Publishers almost
always expect a hype
video with a mix of
cinematics and sample
gameplay to drive
attention
Independent studios
don’t always have the
luxury of hefty
marketing budgets to
drive attention to their
games. Fortunately,
crowdfunding and
advertising could be
just as fruitful. Sending
early-access Beta
copies to top online
gaming personalities so
they can live stream to
their audiences is a
common method for
independent studios

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2.6. Launch
The product launch is the final game development
phase, which everyone eagerly awaits. But launch is
not the end of the story.
Usually, there are enough errors and flaws even
when a game is ready, so in parallel with the
launch, the game development team continues
bringing more details and improvements to the
game.
At the same time, testers collect the first feedback
from real users for developers to make important
changes.

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After a game is launched to the market,
fixes and improvements require constant
monitoring to double-check the level of
stability and performance. Ideally, studios
will regularly release updates to meet the
technical requirements of platforms, which
are also updated.
Also, many companies update in-game
content and sometimes add exciting new
mechanics to keep users engaged in a
game. All this requires maintaining quality
through constant maintenance and regular
testing of new versions of a game.
2.7. Post- production

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3. Conclusions
 Video game development is a whirlwind of a process,
even for the most seasoned gaming studios with
hundreds of employees.
 Impending deadlines, bottlenecks in production,
pressure from video game publishers and endless
work-weeks are just a few of the many challenges that
arise during the development cycle.
 It’s also important to realize that no two games are
created equal, even from the same studio
 In game development, roadblocks are inevitable,
deadlines will be missed, and tools will have their
limitations