Platform
A Platform is a combination of electronic components, software and computer hardware which will allow video games to work on them, there is four main platforms there is Mobile, Consoles, PC and online
Mobile
Flash- is a multimedia and software platform used for creating graphics
Speaker- is used to play sound out loud
Touch screen- a touch screen is an input device
Java-Java is a general-purpose computer programming language
Memory- is the ram
Hard drive- is where data is stored
Console
Power- is what powers the console
Monitor- is what the console outputs to
Audio- the audio goes through the monitor
Controller- is the thing that controls the console
Memory- is the ram
Hard drive- is where data is stored
PC
Power- is what powers the PC
Audio the audio goes through the speaker
Input like Keyboard Mouse
Components
Java- Java is a general-purpose computer programming language
Memory- is the ram
Hard drive- is where data is stored
Online
Flash Player-is freeware software for using content created on the Adobe Flash platform
Hard drive- is where data is stored
Java- Java is a general-purpose computer programming language
Memory- is the ram
Console
The components required for console are Power, an interface so a monitor or a TV, Audio will be through speakers or headphones. There are many input devices but the main one for the console is the controller.
PC
The different component parts required for console are again Power so a power supply will be built into the PC/Laptop, An Interface will be used with a Monitor or built in screen if it is a Laptop.
Mobile
The components required to run game is the adobe Flash Player, The sound comes through the mobiles speaker or a headset. The touchscreen allows the user to use the phone easier than like a number pad.
Online
All you need for gaming online is an internet connection, java and flash so it can run the game and a hard drive and memory so you can store the data for the game
TimeLine
1971- The first computer game was Computer Space
1972- Magnavox’s Odyssey was the first home video game system
1975- The Atari’s Pong was released
1977- Atari released the Atari 2600 with a retail price of $249.95
1980- Pac-Man is released by Namco
1981- Mario was debuted as “Jumpman” on the game Donkey Kong
1982-Atari released the 5200
1985- Tetris was developed by a Russian programmer Alex Pajitnov and it was played on a PC
1986- Nintendo’s NES was released in the US and Sega released the Sega Master System also Atari came out with the Atari 7800
1989- Nintendo releases the handheld Game Boy for $109 and Atari came out with its handheld Lynx
1991- Nintendo releases the Super NES for $249.95
1993- Atari releases the Jaguar, which was the first 64-bit console on the market as the product ran two 32-bit processors
1994- Sony come into the gaming market releasing the PlayStation
1995- Sony released it PlayStation in the US for $299 and Nintendo released the Nintendo 64 in japan
1996- The Nintendo 64 comes out in the US and the Tamagotchi virtual pet becomes an instant sensation in Japan and then it was released in the US selling out in 3 days
1997- Sony sold 20 million units of its PlayStation
1998- Sega brings out the Dreamcast in Japan
1999- The highest score you can get on Pac-man was done by Billy Mitchell with a score of 3,333,360
2000- Sony brings out its PlayStation 2 for $299.99 and it was sold out by early morning and the Sims was released
2001- The GameCube and the Xbox was released and Nintendo comes out with the Game Boy Advanced
2004- Nintendo comes out with the Nintendo DS
2005- Sony releases the PSP and Microsoft comes out with the Xbox 360
2006- Nintendo releases the Wii and Sony brings out the PlayStation 3
2007-Nintendo releases Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii
2008- GTA 4 breaks records on its first week after gamers bought 6 million copies
2009-Nintendo sold over 40 million of its Wii and Wii sports becomes the best-selling video games of all time
2010- Sony brings out the PlayStation Move and Microsoft comes out the Kinect
2011- Elder Scrolls V comes out
2013- Sony and Xbox bring out their next gen console the PS4 and the Xbox one
2014- Microsoft Buys Mojang and its immensely popular game Minecraft for $2.5 billion
From the 1970s to today the gaming console have changed in every single way possible, with the PS4 there is now much better graphics even the new Xbox can’t match, The gaming industry is so big today, much much bigger than it was back in 1970s every teenager in most countries in the world will have a gaming console or PC. The technology of the game industry has improved so much with better graphic more complex games and it’s not just given gaming companies or designers a job but as most games have different parts to it, it’s given people like storytellers and writers a chance to create their creations in a virtual world.
Production: Roles
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Description
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Activities
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Executive Producer:-
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Is a person from the publisher who works with the developers
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They contribute towards the game to make it better and will make the big calls
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Producer: - production
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A video game producer is the person in charge of overseeing development of a video game
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They will make sure that the development of the game is good and is on track for its release
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Design
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Creative Director:
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This person will oversee the development concept of the game
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He will create design solutions that have a visual impact and will make design decisions
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Design Director:
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A design director will oversee the design on the game
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He will make design decisions and will tell the design team what they want
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Lead Designer:
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Will control the design team
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He will lead the design team and assign them to certain tasks
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Interface Designer:
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This person is in charge of creating the interface for the game
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He will create the interface for the game
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Level Designer:
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Will create the levels for the game
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He will make levels for the game so the game will have more depth
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Art
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Concept Artist
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This person will create the concept art for the game
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They will create the first concept of what the game looks like
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Technical Artist
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This person makes sure the assets can be implemented into the game
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This person will make sure anything the other artist out into the game works
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Modeller Artists
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This person will create the models for the game
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He will make models for the game
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Texture Artists
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This person will create the texture for the art in the game
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This person will create the texture for the models the modeller makes
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Lead Artist
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This person will lead the art team
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He will make sure each member is doing what they should and will make decisions
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Programming
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Engine Programmer
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This person will make an engine for the game
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He will create or add to an engine so the game will run
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Tools Programmer
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Will write the tools that will handle the game
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They make tools like IDE,3D graphics
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Graphics Programmer
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They will create the algorithms for 2d and then render it in 3d
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They will make 3d models and 2d models
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Networking Programmer
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He will create the base of an online game like player vs player
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Write code that allows players to play online
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AI Programmer
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Will make AI for the game
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He will create AI like humans or creatures for the game something that has to think
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Audio Programmer
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Will create the code that makes audio play
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He will put the music the audio team make into the game
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Physics Programmer
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Creates the physics code for the game
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He will make it so if a character jumps it will have to come down and if it bounce off a wall this guy will make that happen
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Interface Programmer
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Will make the interface for the game
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The games interface will be made by this person and will have to fit in with the theme of the game
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Audio
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Composer
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Creates music
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Will create music for the game
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Sound Engineers
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Creates sound effects
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Will make sound effects for the game like footsteps
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Voiceover Artists
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Creates a voice for a character
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will create a voice for a character in the game
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Testing
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Compatibility tester
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Will test the compatibility of the game on different platforms
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Will make sure the game runs as they want it to on all platforms
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Playability tester
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Will test the game
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Will test the game for major and minor bugs and will report it
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Beta tester
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Will test in beta stage
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Will test the game and write reports on bugs
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Phase
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Explanation of phase
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Deliverables
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pre-production
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This is to create the base idea of the game
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A pre-production plan
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pitch
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Pitch is to make a speech to your team and even buyers
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Funding
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game design
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This is when you design the game and what everything is going to look like
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Design models – you know what it’s going to look like
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prototype
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Is you have an early product but that doesn’t mean it’s the finally product
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You will get an early version making it easier to get exactly what you want
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production
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In production you will start creating the product
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A working model of your product
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programming
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Programming will make the stuff work like a game
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A working program
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testing
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Is where you will test the product
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A fully working program without any bugs
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completion
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This is where you are now finished
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A final product
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maintenance
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Future updates to fix if anything is broken
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A updated working game or product
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Code Re-use
In computer games code is often re-used to make the game more efficient and to reduce the overall size and processing. There are two forms of code re-use: inheritance and instantiation. Re-using code also reduced the amount of time spent on the program and also allows less bugs in the program as you have used that code before and know it doesn’t have any bugs in it. It also make things much simpler as well as they don’t have to write new code from scratch as that takes a while and costs the companies more time and money which they might not have.
Re-using code is saves time and money as re-using code allows programmers to be quicker while making a program and while in video games like FIFA 15 the programmers for that game will use the code for every player, badge, stadium and kits and all they will do is change the design of the players, badges, stadiums and kits so it looks like what they want it to. They won’t get create new code for every player as there are 1000s of players of FIFA all they will do is create a base for every player that they can add to later that way it saves time on rewriting the code for over a million things on FIFA.
The Game Loop
The game loop will restart the game from the end to the beginning again so people can play the game more than once, it will also update the game leader boards so it doesn’t reset the game it just restarts the game.
A game loop is important for a game unless you just allowing the user one go of the game. The game loop will allow the user to play the game more than once so It, for example in FIFA 15 you can’t just play one game than you are struck forever at the end of the game and the only way to play again is to buy another copy or delete the game of your system and re-download it. So using a game loop is crucial to a game so the user can have fun playing your game over and over again.
This is an example of a game loop
bool game_is_running = true;
while( game_is_running ) {
update_game();
display_game();
}
Assets
These are artwork, sounds, video, backgrounds and other stuff, these are all stuff that is added in the game to make it better.
Video Reel
A video reel is where there is a series of pictures that all come together to make it look like a video but it is just a series of pictures and it’s like those notepad drawings in the bottom corner and your flick through the pages and it looks like it’s moving .
SFX
Is the audio type that will be in the game, there is a lot of SFX audio files for free online and SFX is the sound effects in a game, as in my game every time you click the ball it will make a sound effect that is what SFX is.
Images Background
A background image is just your background of your game and it’s what you will see while playing a game but different scenes like the menu and the game can have different background images but if it’s in a game you would what your menus to stick with the same theme as your background image.
Images Characters
The images characters are the characters the game is going to have so they are basically like in game salad they would be the actors, for example in my game you have to keep the ball up in the air the character would be the ball as it interacts with the user.
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