01. A Brief Overview

Video Game Development: A Brief OverviewA. Babadi 1 of 34
In The Name Of God
Video Game Development
Amin Babadi
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Isfahan University of Technology
Spring 2015
A Brief Overview

Outline
 Some guidelines
 A road map to the course
 Evolution of the game industry
 Market information
 What is ESRB?
 Who is playing?
 Video game development
 What’s next?

Some Guidelines…
 Textbooks:
o Novak, J. (2011). Game Development Essentials: an Introduction (3rd
Edition). Cengage Learning.
o Lengyel, E. (2011). Mathematics for 3D Game Programming and
Computer Graphics (3rd Edition). Cengage Learning PTR.
o Sanchez-Crespo, D. (2003). Core Techniques and Algorithms in Game
Programming. New Riders Publishing.
 All announcements will be made via IVUT course page, titled
“Video Game Development”.
 Feel free to contact me via amin.babadi@yahoo.com.

A Road Map to the Course
 Historical elements, platforms & player modes, goals & genres
o Chapters 1-3 of Novak’s textbook
 The rendering pipeline, vectors
o Chapters 1-2 of Lengyel’s textbook
 Architecture, data structures, design patterns, user input, AI
o Chapters 2-8 of Sanchez-Crespo’s textbook
 We will also try to cover all of course materials using weekly
practical sessions.
o Mostly on Unity game engine
 Extra topics
o TBA

Grading Policy
 Grading structure (21 + 2 pts.):
o Homeworks: 2 pts.
o Presentation: 1.5 + 0.5 pts.
o Final project: 4 + 1.5 pts.
o Midterm exam: 4.5 pts.
o Final exam: 9 pts.
 Attending class is not mandatory; although it may become a
plus point.
 TA class will be held on demand too.

Grading Policy
 Homeworks:
o You will be asked to do several practical homeworks every 2 weeks
during the semester.
 Final project:
o Students should develop a small game project based on a subject that
will be announced soon. Game development requires a great amount
of teamwork skill; so it is recommended that students get into groups.
Each group may have up to 2 members.
 Presentation:
o Students should also make some short presentations about several
extra topics that will be announced soon. Again, each group may have
up to 2 members.
 Midterm and final exams:
o Lecture notes are satisfactory for passing all the exams.

So It Begins…

Introduction
 Game industry revenues have surpassed film box office and
music concert revenues in the U.S., making the games the
fastest growing segment of the entertainment market.
 In 2012 there were more than 100,000 employees all over the
world in the game industry.
 Hundreds of colleges and universities have started to work on
game development programs in the last few years.

When Did It Start?
 It started in 1940s (Cathode ray tube amusement device)
 Limited access of hardware
 Games ran on mainframe computers at U.S.A universities.
 It went on until 1970s.

Early Arcade Games
 Foundation of Atari Inc.
 Pong: first official product of Atari

1st Generation Game Consoles
 1972-1977
 The first game console, called Magnavox Odyssey
 Game(s) hardwired into the console.
 2 million consoles sold in the U.S. market

2nd Generation Game Consoles
 1977-1983
 Game burned into ROM chips.
 ROM chips were mounted inside plastic cartridge casings.
 Those casings could be plugged into slots on the console.
 Several games consoles developed.
 Creation of Activision

3rd Generation Game Consoles
 1983-1995
 Appearing of home computers
 Development of the first 8 bit systems
 Genre innovation

4th Generation Game Consoles
 1988-1999
 Development of the first 16 bit systems
 CD-ROM drives were first seen in this generation.
 Basic 3D graphics entered the mainstream.

 1993-2006
 32 bit and 64 bits consoles released.
 Several successful consoles (Sega, PlayStation, etc.)

 1998-2013
 The Xbox, Microsoft’s entry into the game console industry.
 Many publishers turned to online gaming.
 Mobile games got available too.
 GTA III popularized open world games.

 2005-Present
 This generation opened early for handheld consoles (PSP, etc.)
 Microsoft stepped forward first in November 2005 with the
Xbox 360, and Sony followed in 2006 with the PlayStation 3.
 Rise of casual PC games.

 2011-Present
 Nintendo 3DS, with 3 cameras, a motion sensor, etc.
 PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

 And they are all video games now!
A Quick Overview

Cheer Up!

Sales Information
6.9 7 7.3 6.9 7.3
9.5
11.7
16.2
16.9 16.4
14.8
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
U.S. Video Game Dollar Sales Growth ($ Billions)

Sales Information
$1.93
$4.04
$14.80
Total Consumer Spend on Game Industry 2012 ($ Billions)
Accessories
Hardware
Content

Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)
 In 1993, U.S. created ESRB to provide parents and consumers
with detailed information on game content so they can make
appropriate purchasing decisions.

Who Is Playing?
 Percentage of Americans who are gamers
 Average age of gamers
 Percentage of female gamers
 Percentage of gamers who play multiplayer games
 Average number of years gamers have been playing
5830
45
13
62

Who Is Playing?
 Percentage of Americans who are gamers = 58
 Average age of gamers
5830
45
13
62

Who Is Playing?
 Average age of gamers = 30
5830
45
13
62

Who Is Playing?
 Percentage of female gamers = 45
5830
45
13
62

Who Is Playing?
 Percentage of gamers who play multiplayer games = 62
5830
45
13
62

Who Is Playing?
 Percentage of gamers who play multiplayer games = 62
 Average number of years gamers have been playing = 13
5830
45
13
62

Agile Methodology
 One method employed for game development is agile
development.

Video Game Development
 Development of a commercial game usually includes the
following stages:
1. Pre-production
2. Production
3. Milestones
4. Post-production

Your Coworkers
 Members of a game development team include:
o Programmers,
o Artists,
o Animators,
o Designers,
o Audio engineers,
o Composers,
o Testers,
o Project managers,
o Etc.

What’s Next?
 Where do you think the industry will be 10 years from now?
 Do you sense another industry segment beginning to bubble
under the surface?
 Stay tuned!

References
 Novak’s textbook,
 Wikipedia,
 Entertainment software association website, and
 Some other sources on the Internet.

01. A Brief Overview

More Related Content

What's hot

Viewers also liked

Similar to 01. A Brief Overview

Recently uploaded

01. A Brief Overview