Welcome To The How To Make A Video Game Guide!
So how do we make a game? Be sure to check out the resources page for tools that will help to make a game and now let’s look at the process for how to make a video game!
1. Create a Game Design Concept Document
The Game Design concept document is a short 1-2 page document about our game. Important to include is the gameplay, what platforms the game should be on, what features the game will have, etc. Most important though is the gameplay because a lot of times people focus on story and then you ask them what the gameplay is and they have no idea. Story enhances gameplay but if you don’t have fun gameplay then people might not stick around for the rest of the story. Creating fun gameplay is the most important factor when considering how to make a video game a success vs going through the entire game design process to make a game that is a complete dud. It is also the most important concept to understand and get correct in the entire How To Make A Video Game guide.
2. Prototype
After we’ve created our Game Design Concept Document it is a good idea to do a simple prototype of the game we want to make. We can do a physical prototype and/or a software prototype. An example of a physical prototype could be a board game version of our game. A software prototype can be just a test level to give us a feel of how our game will play. This is a really good time to test out different game engines and see what works best with our game idea. Different engines are better for different games and you want to make sure to pick the best engine for your game early or it will create major headaches down the road. Best is also a relative term, but mainly you want something that will give you the easiest time creating the game you want to make and have the results you want as well.
3. Game Design Document
After you’ve tested your game and have fleshed out the gameplay and hopefully picked your engine, now you can start the Game Design Document. The Game Design Document is a huge document that covers how everything will work in the game from the gameplay, to intended features, the sounds to be included, the models, etc. There are lots of free templates on the web for you to use for your own Game Design Document. Also check our article for some great Game Design Document Information. This is perhaps our biggest and most important step in our how to make a video game list as it defines the framework for how the entire video game will work from gameplay, to user interface to coding requirements, to asset requirements, etc. Doing a good job here will greatly improve the chances of being able to make a game that will be a success instead of flop. It also helps decrease the chances of major problems down the road that weren’t thought about until encountered in development instead of the planning phase.
4. Make The Game
You can check our the resources page for lots of free software to use to make your game. In this stage you generally divide up jobs among the team. Typical jobs include the Project Manager, Coders, 3D Artists, 2D Arts, Level Editors, sound technicians and music technicians.
5. QA
Your game is nearly finished but it needs to be tested to make sure that all the bugs are out. Generally you’ll never find all the bugs but it is important to test to make sure the major bugs are out. Your customers would be quite unhappy to purchase a non working game! And it has happened before, more often than it should. Congratulations, you’ve almost finished our steps on how to make a video game!
6. Release and Promotion
When you finally have your game to the level of polish you want it to be at then you are ready for release! You can self publish or you can use other services such as Steam. The value of publishing it on Steam is they are also a great advertising source. Try to find webpages and magazines that might be interested in your game and contact them and get word about your game out. It is generally a good idea to have a webpage and forums so people can find out more information about your game and ask questions and discuss the game with each other.
7. Maintenance
After your game is out you might want to do bug fix updates and perhaps even add more features. This can include releasing patches and automatic updates.
Finale:
I hope you’ve found this article on how to make a video game helpful! If you have any more questions please feel free to contact us at Make A Game! Also this page on how to make a video game will be updated from time to time so be sure to check back for updates 🙂
