| According to an article by Mark Carney, there are six steps in producing a computer game: |
| Initial Concept Script |
| During this stage, an idea for a game is presented to a game producer who decides whether or not the game will be put into production. If he feels that the concept is original and will sell copies, the game will continue on to the next stage. |
| Conception and Visualization of Pre-Production Script |
| During this stage, the game's background is decided. Programmers decide on the game's interface and how the player will interact with his environment. In short, a script is drawn up with preliminary decisions on how the game will play and what it will include. Game designers use storyboarding to make sure that everyone is "visualizing the end product. " All must understand how the game will be viewed and played when it is finished. |
| Finalize Production Script & Establish Resource Management |
| At this point, jobs and deadlines are assigned to various people. You figure out what tools people will need to do their tasks and an estimate of how long each task should take to complete. After these decisions are made, there is a cost analysis done for the game. A game company wants to know how much money it is going to cost them to produce a game. If it is obvious that a game will cost more to produce than it is likely to profit, the game will probably not be done. |
| Production |
| This is the stage where everything starts coming together. Carney points out that it is important for a development team to stay on schedule and communicate with each other as a team. Here is where the graphics are designed and implemented and the actual game code is written. Characters are modeled and internal movies are made. The audio is recorded or produced, compressed, and implemented here also. When all of these are put together, a game is made and tested |
| Marketing the Game |
| This is where the advertising team comes in. Advertising a game is possibly the most important stage in the game development process. It goes on through the entire production. With a well-marketed game, even bad games sell copies. It is important to let the gaming public know what is good about your game and what makes it different. |
| Post-Production |
| Here is where you fix all the bugs in the game, your mistakes. This is technical support which helps end-users to get your game working correctly. Game patches are made if needed to fix hardware incompatibilities and internal game problems. This is the final stop on the road to making a game. |