Indie Video Game Design and Development

by Elmar Juzar Computer Engineering First Year

Topics

• Why Make Video Games?• How Do I Make a Video Game?• How to Not Ruin My Life Making a Video Game?

Why Make Video Games?

1. Have fun!2. Learn new things!3. Get lots of varied experience!4. …5. Profit!

Why Make Video Games?

• In 2014 Film and Music market values are estimated at 72 and 12 billion euro respectively.

7%

44%49%

Comparison of Entertainment Media Market Values

MusicFilmVideo Game

• The global video game market is currently valued at over 80 billion euro worldwide.

• (gartner.com, statista.com, IFPI)

How Do I Make a Video Game?

• You need:– a video game engine– an IDE(Integrated Development Environment)

• Also useful:– revolutionary video game ideas and concepts– a team of reliable people with time and energy– including people skilled in graphic design/3D

modeling, animation and sound editing– enthusiasm. lots of enthusiasm.

Video Game Engine

• The software framework at the core of any video game• Defines the technical potential and limitations of your

video game• Generally includes such features as 2D and 3D

rendering, some form of a physics engine, as well as scripting, animation and scene-building

• Tens of proprietary and freeware video game engine options available for most popular platforms (Unreal Engine, Unity, CryEngine, Havok Vision Engine, etc.)

• You can create your own video game engine

Integrated Development Environment

• User interface to manage your project• Most popular video game engines come with an IDE• You don’t strictly need a game-specific IDE• Important to choose the IDE according to creative and technical

scale of the project as well as personal abilities and preferences

• Available to anyone using current versions of Windows or OS X for free (unless your games start earning you over 100,000 USD a year)

• The very flexible IDE includes:– a 3D scene editor with extensive 2D support– a source code editor, supporting JavaScript, C# and

Boo– a lot of built-in advanced tools and graphical effects– a significant number of assets, plugins, code and

extensions available from the Unity Asset Store

Unity

Why Unity?

• The most popular indie game development platform available, due to its accessibility and convenience

• Extensive documentation and endless tutorials on the Internet

• Supports development for most popular platforms, including mobile and web-based development

Complications and Obstacles

• Things, lack of which will ruin your project:– Original and interesting (marketable) ideas– The ability to actually implement such ideas– Financial stability– Reliable team members– Social activity and marketing– Dedication, energy and free time

Summary

• Making video games is incredibly fun and can be a solid business activity

• There are lots of ways to make a video game, and Unity provides a very solid and low-cost platform to do that

• You should probably not get invested in a serious video game project if you are currently an active student of Tartu University

Links

• http://kodu.ut.ee/~elmarjuz/• unity3d.com/ - Unity Game Engine and IDE• indiedb.com/games/inwo/ - INWO @ indieDB