Yesterday I wrote about the game designer role and what exactly a game designer does. As a response to the article one of our readers reached out to me on my Bearded Giant Games Discord (the discord for my little company) and asked about the differences between Game Design and Game Development.
In that article I mentioned that a ton of people confuse Game Design with Graphics Design or Game Art. I forgot that there’s a second thing people confuse Game Design with: Game Development. So let’s talk about it. What is the difference between Game Design and Game Development?
Your Answer Upfront
Game Design is a subset of game development, a creative process in which a game and its rules are defined. Game Development covers the entire process of making a game, from artistic concepts, to game design, game programming, audio production and game testing. If Game Design is akin to an architect’s blueprint of a building, game development covers everything from drawing that blueprint to raising the building from the ground up, decorating it and passing certifications to be able to open that building to the public.
In this article we’ll talk about the development of a game, what game development includes and how the entire development process differs from the design process. I’m going to share a few “war stories” on how I normally blend design and development and some “horror stories” when the two shouldn’t be confused. By the end of the article you should have a pretty good idea on the difference between two.
What is Game Development?
Game Development refers to the entire process throughout which a game is created. Game Development starts from an idea. That idea is shaped into a concept or a game proposal that gets analyzed, shaped and improved in a stage called pre-production. Once the goal of pre-production is accomplished, the game moves into production where the team works to bring the vision established in the pre-production stage to completion. At the end of the production stage the game is developed and released.
What happens in a Game’s Pre-Production
Pre-Production is the chaotic first phase in which the game’s design takes place. Gameplay and mechanics are prototyped in this sage and the game idea is defined and refined. The initial concept of the game is being shaped, design documents are written, concept art is created, many game mechanics are prototyped and technology and tools are developed for the game.
A game’s pre-production can last anywhere between a few days to months or years with the latter duration being especially true for new IPs being developed at really big companies. Indie devs or small mobile developers sometimes skip pre-production completely and just jump into making a game. Some use an asset package or an existing game-engine directly and, as such, reduce their pre-production time.
For my own games I spend most of my time in pre-production, especially for my indie titles. Take Space Mercs for example, a Steam game I’m somewhat porting to the iPad. I developed Space Mercs for Linux and Windows over the course of 3 months. Two months were spent in pre-production and once I felt like I nailed the mechanics and combat I took everything that I did and started making content for the game (levels, enemy ship types, battle scenarios, etc.).
Right now I’ve ported the main game over to the iPad and it works but I’m starting another pre-production for it in order to nail the controls and mechanics on a touch screen. With my full schedule nowadays, I estimate that pre-production is going to last for at least half a year. After I realize what exactly I need to change, tweak and modify (combat, controls and camera) I estimate that the production stage of the game’s port will be as low as a few weeks, with most time being taken by QA.
As far as game design is concerned, the ideation, creation and validation of the game’s mechanics and concept happen mostly in this phase of development.
What happens in a Game’s Production
Production is the second phase of a game’s development. This is where content is made for the game. Normally, at the end of pre-production you have a solid prototype that can stand on its own in terms of quality and fun. Using the technology and mechanics developed for that solid prototype you start creating the remaining content for the game.
Mark Cerny (Cerny Games) mentioned in his famous DICE Talk that a game’s prototype, at the start of production, should have a level of quality that it could actually be released to the public and it would feel like it’s a slice of a full release (he names this a “Publishable” First Playable).
Game Design is still a part of production but less focused on ideation, gameplay and mechanic testing. Normally this is where the levels are made, content is created and balanced. Unit types are defined and implemented and then balanced. Weapons are tweaked, important bad guys are named and dialogue is created.
Think of game design in pre-production as outlining a story – who the characters are, where do they live, where the action takes place and what’s the overarching plot. In production you take all the details and world building and use them to write a story and filling in the details.
What is Game Design?
Game Design is a continuous creative process during which an idea is developed, refined, tested and validated. The end goal of the game design process is to establish the rules, the aesthetics, the elements and mechanics of an end product that can be played and enjoyed by the target audience (gamers).
Game Design can be explained as a creative process where the game designer is both a writer, an architect, an artists and movie director. Said designer plans and explains all the details about the game that is going to be developed with his or her task being of making sure that whatever question someone from the art, programming or production team has his “blueprint” covers it.
Looking at a game designer’s work (documents, concepts, prototypes) a programmer can figure out how to implement the game. How the character should move, how many animations it needs, what happens when you tap the screen and so on and so forth. I’ve covered this process in a ton more detail in the article titled “What does a Game Designer actually do“.
What is the difference between Game Design and Game Development?
Game Design is a subset of game development, a creative process in which a game and its rules are defined. Game Development covers the entire process of making a game, from artistic concepts, to game design, game programming, audio production and game testing. If Game Design is akin to an architect’s blueprint of a building, game development covers everything from drawing that blueprint to raising the building from the ground up, decorating it and passing certifications to be able to open that building to the public.
Where To Next?
This is the second article in my series on what it’s like to work in the mobile gaming industry. You can check out the first article of the series, called “What does a game designer actually do?”
I write extensively about the mobile gaming industry, their tactics and how greed influences a game’s design. I believe that you might be interested in more articles about the mobile gaming industry. So if you want to stick around, you can check out “What’s the difference between Fremium, Free To Play and Pay 2 Play“, “Why Voodoo Games Are Popular” and “Why Do Mobile Games Take So Much Space“.
There’s also a monster post (about 4000 words) that answers the question: “How Hard Is It To Make A Mobile Game“. It goes in depth with actual examples on how Experience, Resources and Financials affect the difficulty of developing and releasing new mobile games!
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