What is the production pipeline of game development?
Updated: Aug 2, 2018
What is a production pipeline? "The pipeline is the glue that holds together the work of each artist involved in a production. In this, a pipeline is much the same as an assembly line, in which each worker performs their task before handing off their completed work to the next."(Renee Dunlop, 2014, N. pag. Section 1.3 What is a Pipeline?, para.1)
"The goal of a production pipeline is to produce a product in an efficient and cost-effective way. To accomplish this goal, it must do two things. First, it must manage the flow of data from process to process. And second, it must direct the flow of work from task to task."(Renee Dunlop, 2014, N. pag. Section 5.2 What Pipelines, para.1)
The production and development of a game require a lot of effort, referencing, study and time. It is possible to divide the game development pipeline into three broad faces. the pre-production, production and post-production.
In games development, the first task is often to define the concept of the game. This takes place before pre-production begins formally and continues throughout this stage. The concept and genre of the game will play a factor in deciding what engine and pipeline choices are best for the task. (Renee Dunlop, 2014, N. pag. Section 2.8 Pre-Production in the Games Pipeline, para.1)
The pre-production face which is also called the design face is mostly managed by the members in the design department of a studio which mainly includes game matter expert, game producer, story writers and game designers. In this face, an idea is initially considered.
An idea can be something unique or sometimes inspired by another game concept. Next, the idea is made to go through the Idea refinement stage where the idea is elaborated into storyline, design and sketching concept arts and finally resulting in the production of the game design document.
As mentioned the next face of game development is called the production face which is the stage that could take the longest to finish and usually several readjustments and iteration of the development procedures. In this stage of production, design artists create 3D models, assets, levels, menus and artworks focusing on a game theme and concept.
Next, the programmers and developers write AI, logic, graphics shaders, codes and scripts to give meaning to the provided game assets created and to facilitate gameplay. And finally, it is in this stage where a game is built for several different platforms and the builds are made to be tested by the team called game testers. Whose job is to playtest the provided build trying out all the possibilities and scenarios that a player might experience during the gameplay and to come up with a feedback which usually leads to more tweaking, redesigning, bug removal and basically the whole production stage is made to iterate to achieve desired result and perfection of the product.
And in the final stage of the development, the post-production stage, which is also known as the marketing face.
The game is approved for the release and the beta-version is deployed to be playtested by the public. The feedback, suggestions and complaints reported by the public are considered for further improvements in game mechanics, gameplay experience, program optimization and troubleshooting compatibility issues. After further refinements, troubleshooting and makeups. the game is officially released for purchase an online game distribution platforms and stores. The matters ahead and beyond are managed by the marketing, public relations and customer service department of the game studio, where they promote and advertise, take feedback from the public, conducts market research and provide their customers with essential assistance.
"In theory, system programming and pipeline development should be completed during pre-production, content creation and assembly during production, and the remaining bugs fixed during finalling. In practice, this rarely happens."(Renee Dunlop, 2014, N. pag. Section 2.11 Production in the Games Pipeline, para.1)
Reflection
On doing research and study on the given topic the production pipeline of game development. I got the opportunity to know and come across many crucial and important but mostly unseen faces of game development and production process. As an aspiring game developer and someone who clearly know about the competition in the game industry, I should acknowledge the fact that doing this research provide me great insight, understanding and facts about the importance of planning your work ahead of time and setting your goals and targets so that one could finish the given job within the estimated time and to produce desired results. I also learned how important teamwork is, the key to achieve greater goals and targets, especially in this robust and constantly advancing industry.
References
Game Production Pipeline Overview. Digital image. ResearchGate. n.p., n.d.
Retrieved 4 July 2018 from <https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Game-
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Michael G. Rogers. n.d. Team Work. Digital image. Team Work Leadership. n.p.
Retrieved 4 July 2018 from http://www.teamworkandleadership.com/2016/
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Renee Dunlop. (2014). Production Pipeline Fundamentals for Film and Games. 70
Blanchard Road, Suite 402, Burlington, MA 01803: Focal Press.