Creating a 3D game ( an overview )

The first step for the development of any game is to come up with a plot for the game. Everything can be expanded from this point onwards, but it's important to always come back to that original point. A genre that summarises what the objective of the game is, whether it is hack and slash, a first person shooter, an RPG or a puzzle game. Then a platform is selected on which the Game will be made which can range from XNA game studio to any famous or indie game engine. The Unreal Development Kit is updated on an almost monthly basis, and there's the added advantage that you won't have to hand over any royalties until your game makes over $50,000. Another alternative Unity was created with making 3D games in mind, and a completely free version is available online. The main benefit of Unity is its cross-compatibility.

The next step is to a successful game is to create a level for the player to interact in, decide on the topography of the map and the placement of different structures and its textures. Smart level design, like that of BioShock, uses the environment to tell a story. Remove the characters and objects from Rapture and you'll still have a pretty good idea as to what's happened there. Buildings can be imported or individually designed using various free designing software available. Then a character is imported or created from scratch. The character is usually programmed with character animations like jumping, walking or running. Different software can be used for character creation and rigging for animation like Maya, Blender, etc.

While it's all well and good being able to create levels and maybe even skin a character, if they aren't acting how you want them to you're going to get quite frustrated. The next step is to start coding scripts for the interaction between different objects. A script is basically a code written is a specific language giving information for the performance of a particular task. It will decide which button or mouse click action triggers which event. It will also decide how objects interact with each other. Although most game engines have their unique scripting techniques, learning them is seldom hard with a huge community and a detailed database of scripts available.

The next step is to create enemies or obstacles for the player. Coding the behaviour for AI elements in a game can be both gruesome and rewarding. The last step is to create a GUI for the game which includes the main menu, health bar, etc. When all the elements of a game are ready, after testing and removal of bugs, you game is ready to be played by others.

Indie gaming is the plucky youngster of game design, and stand-out games like Braid and Minecraft are often developed by one-man coding powerhouses. It has become far more popular in recent years, especially with the rise of the iPhone and casual gaming on sites like Facebook. Thanks to this low-spec hardware, ideas can come before graphical prowess.

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