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How a Video Game Gets Made
A plain walkthrough of game development from first idea to release: concept, prototype, production, testing, launch and the long tail of updates that follows.
How Games Are Made
Making a Game
The stages and roles that turn an idea into a finished game.
Game Design Documents Explained
What a game design document is, what it usually contains, why teams keep it flexible, and how it differs from a pitch, a script or a technical spec.
How 3D Models Become Game Characters
How a character goes from concept art to a moving figure in a game: 3D modeling, texturing, rigging, skinning, animation and the limits games must work within.
Indie Studios and Large Studios Compared
How small independent developers and large studios differ in team size, funding, risk and creative freedom, and why the line between them is often blurry.
Level Design Basics
How level designers use space, landmarks, pacing and difficulty to guide players, teach mechanics and set challenges, from blockout to final polish.
Playtesting and Quality Assurance
How testers and playtesters find bugs and confusing design before release: the difference between QA and playtesting, bug reports, test types and their limits.
What Game Engines Do
A game engine is a toolkit for rendering, physics, input, audio and more. Learn what engines provide, what they leave to the team, and why developers use them.
Why Developers Build Prototypes
How rough early versions let developers test whether a game idea is fun before major money is spent, and what prototypes do and do not tell a team.
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