In The Name Of God
Video Game Development
A Brief Overview
Amin Babadi
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Isfahan University of Technology
Spring 2015
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Outline
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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?
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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.
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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
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Grading Policy
 Grading structure (21 + 2 pts.):
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Homeworks: 2 pts.
Presentation: 1.5 + 0.5 pts.
Final project: 4 + 1.5 pts.
Midterm exam: 4.5 pts.
Final exam: 9 pts.
 Attending class is not mandatory; although it may become a
plus point.
 TA class will be held on demand too.
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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.
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So It Begins…
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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.
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When Did It Start?
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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.
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Early Arcade Games
 Foundation of Atari Inc.
 Pong: first official product of Atari
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1st Generation Game Consoles
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1972-1977
The first game console, called Magnavox Odyssey
Game(s) hardwired into the console.
2 million consoles sold in the U.S. market
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2nd Generation Game Consoles
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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
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3rd Generation Game Consoles
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1983-1995
Appearing of home computers
Development of the first 8 bit systems
Genre innovation
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4th Generation Game Consoles
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1988-1999
Development of the first 16 bit systems
CD-ROM drives were first seen in this generation.
Basic 3D graphics entered the mainstream.
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5th Generation Game Consoles
 1993-2006
 32 bit and 64 bits consoles released.
 Several successful consoles (Sega, PlayStation, etc.)
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6th Generation Game Consoles
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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.
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7th Generation Game Consoles
 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.
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8th Generation Game Consoles
 2011-Present
 Nintendo 3DS, with 3 cameras, a motion sensor, etc.
 PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
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A Quick Overview
 And they are all video games now!
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Cheer Up!
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Sales Information
U.S. Video Game Dollar Sales Growth ($ Billions)
16.2
16.9
16.4
14.8
11.7
9.5
6.9
7
7.3
6.9
7.3
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
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2007
2008
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2010
2011
2012
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Sales Information
Total Consumer Spend on Game Industry 2012 ($ Billions)
$1.93
$4.04
Accessories
Hardware
Content
$14.80
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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.
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Who Is Playing?
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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
58
30
45
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Who Is Playing?
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Percentage of Americans who are gamers = 58
Average age of gamers
Percentage of female gamers
Percentage of gamers who play multiplayer games
Average number of years gamers have been playing
58
30
45
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Who Is Playing?
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Percentage of Americans who are gamers = 58
Average age of gamers = 30
Percentage of female gamers
Percentage of gamers who play multiplayer games
Average number of years gamers have been playing
58
30
45
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Who Is Playing?
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Percentage of Americans who are gamers = 58
Average age of gamers = 30
Percentage of female gamers = 45
Percentage of gamers who play multiplayer games
Average number of years gamers have been playing
58
30
45
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Who Is Playing?
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Percentage of Americans who are gamers = 58
Average age of gamers = 30
Percentage of female gamers = 45
Percentage of gamers who play multiplayer games = 62
Average number of years gamers have been playing
58
30
45
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Who Is Playing?
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Percentage of Americans who are gamers = 58
Average age of gamers = 30
Percentage of female gamers = 45
Percentage of gamers who play multiplayer games = 62
Average number of years gamers have been playing = 13
58
30
45
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Agile Methodology
 One method employed for game development is agile
development.
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Video Game Development
 Development of a commercial game usually includes the
following stages:
1.
2.
3.
4.
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Pre-production
Production
Milestones
Post-production
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Your Coworkers
 Members of a game development team include:
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o
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o
o
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Programmers,
Artists,
Animators,
Designers,
Audio engineers,
Composers,
Testers,
Project managers,
Etc.
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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!
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References
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Novak’s textbook,
Wikipedia,
Entertainment software association website, and
Some other sources on the Internet.
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