DESKTOP GAME DEVELOPMENT

You can receive many benefits you can receive by outsourcing your PC game development to a top game development company.  

These immense benefits are why outsourcing in the gaming industry has become so common. Even top game publishers, indie companies, and solo developers hire outsourcing game services to complete their game’s production. 

There are several reasons for this. Below, we list a few of them: 

Cutting Costs 

Hiring game developers in-house is expensive. Because it involves and demands you to take care of numerous expenses. You can avoid these expenses if you hire a PC game development outsourcing company. 

These expenses include but are not limited to overhead costs, employee benefits and amenities, hardware rents, and software licenses. Each of these costs can go way up higher depending on the circumstance. 

As a result, many companies are reluctant to opt for in-house game development to develop their games. 

In contrast, outsourcing game development means you don’t have to take care of these costs. The outsourcing company will take care of all these aspects themselves. You have to render their services and assign them your project. The rest will be safe in their hands. 

Access to Expertise 

Top game development companies select resources after a rigorous process. Because first, they have to undergo multiple rounds of interviews ranging from completing tests to face-to-face interviews. Most of the time, only the best make their way into these companies. 

So, the best way to get expertise is to hire from game outsourcing companies. Because of their screening process, you will work with the best people in the industry. 

It is also the easiest way to get access to specialists. You can find people who have worked on multiple industry-leading game projects in the past.  

Furthermore, you can even get people who are hyper-specialized, that is, people who specialize within a sub-domain of game development. For example, it can be a particular art style of a specific aspect of a game engine. The best method to receive the expertise is through outsourcing.  

Multiple Opinions 

When you outsource game development, you can receive the opinions of another company with experience. The company can help you provide a valuable perspective backed by experience. 

Also, multiple perspectives are good. Because you cannot always think of all the ideas, you can implement them in your game. On the other hand, a game outsourcing company can provide you with the right ideas to help improve your ideas. 

Domain Focus 

Another benefit you receive from outsourcing is that the game development company will take care of your entire game development project. You just have to assign the project to them, complete all your requirements, and specify the deadline, and then the team will deliver the output you want. 

The main benefit of this is that it enables you to focus on the domains that are most of your focus. If your core focus, for example, is management or marketing, you can focus on those aspects of your game. A competent game outsourcing partner would need significantly less overseeing from your side. You are free to focus on what is your core strength. 

Flexibility 

Not all the time would you have the exact requirements. Even top game publishers have seasonal or urgent needs and lack the bandwidth to meet these additional requirements. 

In such cases, it is better to hire a game outsourcing company. The company can immediately scale up your production needs and collaborate with your team to meet the additional requirements. Once the requirements are over, you can return to it as before and stop their services.  

Desktop game development is designing, creating, and releasing a game for the PC platform.  

This is a multidisciplinary endeavor. Several domains, such as programming, game design, artists, and testing, are all involved in this particular domain. For example, the developers write the different modules’ code in the chosen programming language and game engine. The artists create the artwork and assets for the game. Likewise, the testers conduct quality analysis, and so on. 

Although desktop game development can be done by a single person, it is not advised. Most of the time, the game is developed by a group of people. Often each group would have multiple members, and each group would take care of specific domains. 

Then once the production is complete, the developers release the game in digital and physical forms. The physical forms are tangible copies of the game with artwork and everything. On the other hand, digital copies are supplied through different virtual stores. 

Throughout this entire detailed process, there are numerous roles involved in the process of game development. Below we detail some of them: 

Producer 

The producer is the person that oversees the entire game development process. They prepare the schedule for production, assemble the team, track the progress, etc. 

Programmers 

Programmers are the engineers behind the games. These members have strong knowledge of programming languages and understand the features of the game engines. Different programmers may handle various aspects of the game, such as network, input, UI, animation, and sound. 

Game Designer 

Designers are the initial creators of the game and its virtual world. The game designers devise the game’s core mechanics, the storyline, the characters, dialogues, the world, etc. In addition, these team members also do balancing of different gameplay elements, create the metrics, and design the levels. 

Artists 

Artists take care of the game’s visual aspect – the characters, environment, and props are all part of these. There are subspecialties within game art creation: 

• Concept Artists 

Concept artists are the first visual artists of the game. This set of artists creates ideas based on sketching to draw the initial concepts for characters, props, and environments. These ideas and sketches do not have to be aesthetic to finalize the game’s look. 

• 2D Artists 

These artists create 2D sprites for the game for all the different 2D elements. Then, based on the chosen art style, whether pixel, monochrome, or vector, the 2D artists create the game’s environments and levels, the objects and props, and the characters. 

• UI Artist 

This set of artists creates the basic interface of the game. The team considers aspects such as the information hierarchy, platform conventions, and design principles to do this. 

• 3D Artists 

There are numerous types of 3D artists, from modelers to lighting artists. First are the modelers, who are responsible for sculpting 3D models for the game. Second are the texture artists, who add elements such as skins and fur to the model. Third, are the lighting artists who devise the light for the game scene based on the mood. Finally, there are the rigging artists who build a controllable skeleton for the game, so the model can be used to create animations. 

• Animators 

Animators can come from both 2D and 3D teams. The animators create motion for the characters and environments. Their primary responsibility is to make the character models ‘act’ in a scene, portraying emotions that immerse the player into the game environment. 

Tester 

The testers are the people who assess the game for quality. The testers do this on different metrics such as performance, compatibility, design errors, etc. The team also ensures all the elements are up to the expected standard and based on the documentation. 

Picking the right desktop game development partner is a crucial decision. It would be best if you did not do it haphazardly. But instead, You must complete it with care after assessing the prospective partner under different metrics. 

Below are some of these metrics that you must assess a team by before you hire them:  

The Experience 

Game development is an industry that is rife with competition. As a result, companies rise one day and fall the next because they cannot withstand constant competition. In such an industry, the critical hallmark of quality in a game development outsourcing company is the years they have been in the industry. 

Because it means the team is accomplished and has adapted to the shifting technological requirements that always happen in game development. It means the team has withstood competition and has delivered games that are above the quality that the competition has delivered. 

Portfolio 

A desktop game development company’s portfolio is the most significant proof of its capability. It acts as a track record for anyone and everyone to verify. As a result, anytime you assess a group of PC game creation studios, you must look into their portfolio. 

There are various metrics you have to look at in the portfolio. One is quality – you must check if the output the company has delivered in the past is up to the quality standards you expect. The second is similarity – has the team delivered projects that are similar to the one you have? 

If both the questions return a positive answer, then it means you can at least prospect that particular desktop game company. 

Team Strength 

Generally, the larger the PC game development studio, the greater its capabilities. Because it is hard to scale up a game development company unless one has a steady list of clients and has provided impeccable services to them in the past. 

Another benefit to opting for a team with many members is the need not to hire a second team. Because if you choose to outsource certain aspects of your game to multiple small teams, it can become a management disaster. You have to ensure proper communication between all the vendors you have hired. 

On the other hand, when you hire a top PC game development company, that team would take care of the entire production pipeline – be it programming, art, testing, or game design. So you only have minimal oversight because the team will take care of everything. 

Clientele 

Similar to the portfolio, the clientele is an indicator of past work. In addition, the clientele provides information about what type of companies the prospective desktop game development partner has previously worked with. 

You can check if they have worked with clients from similar industries and similar team sizes. If yes, then you can approach the team confidently. 

Their Process 

It would help if you understood how the entire process would go, from onboarding you as a client to the final delivery of the approved output.  

This is crucial. Because a lot of teams might be able to deliver the output you require, but only a few teams would do it on the timeline you specified and provide a satisfactory client experience at the same time. 

So, before you hire the team, understand how the process works. Understand how you would be treated as the client and how they would address your concerns. Because these things are just as important as the quality, they can deliver for you. 

Several programming languages are commonly used in the realm of game development. Although, it is impossible to specify one language as better than the others. Because, in the end, it just boils down to preferences. 

 So, below we list some of the most commonly used and powerful desktop game development languages: 

C# 

C# is one of the most common game programming languages used in desktop game development because of one simple reason: it is the game programming language that is used in the Unity3D game engine. 

C# is a high-level language. It is a simple language that is relatively easy to understand. It is a recommended language for beginner game developers who haven’t even worked on a single project. 

However, this does not mean C# is not a powerful language. C# is an object-oriented language that has automatic memory management. Other features of the programming language include the abstraction of complex tasks to avoid confusion and the support for only single inheritance. 

C++ 

C++ is an object-oriented programming language. In contrast to C#It is a complex language that is difficult for beginners to understand. 

In addition, it is built on top of the C language. It is also a low-level language and powerful enough for experienced desktop game developers to write code that allows them granular control over performance. 

For instance, it has dynamic memory allocation, which lets developers have in-depth control over the distribution of memory and system resources. It is also a language that is directly compiled and offers higher performance. 

The two top game engines that use this language are Unreal and CryEngine. Unreal is a game engine from Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite. CryEngine is from Crytek, the company behind games such as Crysis. Both these game engines are renowned in the gaming industry for their support of high-fidelity graphics. 

Python 

Python is a top game programming language and one of the world’s most widely used languages. It is a beginner-friendly language that has an easy-to-use syntax.  

In many game development companies, the programming language is used for prototyping because it supports quick and fast development. In addition, it is also easy to debug. 

The famed game engine Godot uses a language called GD Script, based on Python. Godot is a game engine that has seen increased adoption in recent years. 

Java 

Java is one of the most versatile programming languages on the planet, as it has support for different platforms. It is one of the languages that is behind a lot of games available on the market. 

One reason Java is used in game development companies is its ability to handle the server side of the code. However, Java is known for being comparatively slower than other top languages. 

Rust 

Rust is a systems language. One reason the programming language is suited for game development is that it comes close to C++ in terms of performance. In addition, Rust is a data-oriented programming language and not object-oriented. Therefore, it is also suited for 2D game development. 

Several game engines are based on Rust. Bevy and Amethyst are two of the popular ones. 

The time it requires you to develop your desktop game is determined by many interdependent factors. So, before you map out the deadline for your game, you must consider all these factors. 

Below are some of them: 

The Resources at Disposal 

The more resources you have at your disposal, the less time it will take to create your desktop game because game development is a multi-disciplinary effort. It involves programming, game design, art, animation, testing, etc. 

So, the more resources you have, the faster the game development can progress, as you can share the overall work among different people. If, for example, you are a solo developer, you must take care of all the domains in the game development pipeline. It is time-consuming and hectic if a looming deadline is present. 

On the other hand, with a team, you can split the work. One particular set of people can work on one domain based on their skills, and another can work on another. In this collaborative method, game production can be completed more quickly.  

The Game’s Complexity 

Not all desktop games are equal. Some are simple games with limited features; others are complex and have a lot of features. 

And how complex your game is one of the biggest determiners of how long it will take to develop it. 

Because more features mean more effort, the team should invest more time in creating and testing all the different game features. Each feature would require time of its own, and as the number of features scales up, so does time. In addition, the more the features, the more the developers should ensure these features do not conflict with each other and create bugs. 

However, the complexity is not just limited to features but is also relevant to assets. For example, complex games with storylines and massive game worlds require game developers to create many assets. At the same time, a simple game with limited levels would require little time in asset creation. 

The game’s complexity extends to the art style and depends on whether your game is created in 2D or 3D. Because 3D game creation requires much time compared to 2D games, as each asset needs to go through modeling, texturing, rigging, and lighting. In 2D, most of the time, it just involves the creation of sprites. Therefore, although this rule is not always valid, your 2D game might take less time than your 3D game. 

The Tools You Use 

The tools used in this case relate to the game engine.  

You can use a game engine in two ways: a commercially available game engine or create a custom game engine. 

Commercial game engines created by third parties include Unity, Unreal, CryEngine, etc. These game engines already have all the features developers require to develop a complete game. Hence, you do not have to spend time tinkering with these to get the desired output. 

On the other hand, custom game engines are created from scratch. This is often done because other available game engines are inadequate for specific features in your game. However, creating a game engine is time-consuming and can reduce the development time required to complete your desktop game. 

PC game development is a comprehensive process that goes through multiple stages. Below, we list a few of them: 

1. Pre-Production 

Pre-production is the beginning stage of development. Most things that happen during the latter stages are planned out. It involves the following: 

Game Concept Analysis 

In this preliminary stage, the team analyzes the target audience, the genre of the game, the budget required, etc., to ensure the core game idea is solid. 

Game Design Document 

The game designers create the GDD, which would have information about the game and its features. For example, it would contain information about the core mechanics, the game’s storyline, the different characters, the game’s level, world design, the in-game economy, etc. 

Art Pipeline Set-up 

The art team of your game sets up the workflow of their art and asset production. The team analyzes the requirement and creates a tailored plan. 

Technical Design Document 

The programmers analyze the game requirements and come up with a plan on how to execute them. The document contains information such as tools and technologies, networking, and other technical details and specifications. 

Test Plan 

The testers create a plan on how they will execute the game’s testing process. The resources required and the different phases are determined at this stage. 

Concept Art 

The concept artists create the initial sketches of the game’s characters, environment, objects, etc., to map out the visual ideas that the rest of the art team can follow. 

2. Production 

Production is the most time-consuming stage in the overall process. Most of the game’s work is done at this stage, and the game is built feature by feature. 

Development of Gaming Modules 

The entire development is separated into different modules. The game programmers work on different modules. 

Art Asset Creation 

The artists focus on creating art assets such as the environment, characters, and props. The animation and VFX of the game are also done at this stage. 

Game Balancing and Level Design 

Game balancing is tweaking the game metrics to eliminate the rise of any dominant gameplay strategy. Level design, meanwhile, is the development of different game levels, with an analysis of their in-game progression system. 

Module Testing 

The testers conduct quality analysis on the different modules once the developers have finished work on them. Finally, the team reports all the errors to the team and gets them fixed. 

UI Creation 

UI designers create the interface for the game so the users can have an excellent navigational experience within the game, with all information easier to find and features easier to access. 

3. Post-Production 

The final stage of desktop game development. The finishing touches for the game are put on, and the game is prepared for release. 

QA and Testing 

The quality analysis team conducts extensive testing and tests all the game’s features. Bugs and compatibility errors are found and eradicated at this stage. 

Monetization 

A proper monetization strategy is devised for the game. The game’s target audience is considered while coming up with the plan. 

Support and Maintenance 

Even after the game is released, the game is maintained for long after. Any bugs found during this stage are removed. If required, the game also receives periodic updates.