Difference between Game Design and Development

You love playing video games, so much so that you don’t even feel hungry or thirsty playing them for hours. You’re not alone! There are many others who are hooked to some video game as I am writing this to reach that next stage and then the stages that come afterwards. The irresistible urge to pick one game title after another is only becoming more and more common among people as they are now finding video games more endearing than other means of entertainment such as movies and music. The continuing advancements in smartphone technology, AR/VR and AI & ML are other big contributors to the rising popularity of video games world over. But not to forget, for video games to have that magical effect that takes us in a world we just don’t want to come out of, there are two major forces working behind the scenes: Game Designer and Game Developer. Both game design and development services go hand in hand to achieve the same objective of creating the next mania for gamers, but they are not the same as they may sound. Well, the easiest way to show the distinction between them is Concept vs Execution.

Let’s get insight into how game design and game development are two different fields, but pivotal to bringing a game idea to life.  

Game Design vs Game Development

Who is a Game Designer?

A game designer is often referred to as the captain of the ship as they use their creative flair and imagination to decide what the final product would look like and how it would behave. So, it’s the designer who first acts on a game idea by creating the initial framework for game artists and game developers to convert it into an actual game. There are various roles that a game designer undertakes to help game developers understand the vision and turn into a reality. Let’s take them one by one.

Role of a Game Designer

Planning and Detailing Every Element of the Game

The game designer considers every aspect of the game including the interface, gameplay, rules, fun elements, features, difficulty level, characters, props, goals, dialogue, and brings in the overall creative direction. Game designers love playing video games and they know what works in a game and what not, which is important for a video game to be successful. 

The Concept Document

“There ain’t no rules around here! We’re trying to accomplish something!” – Thomas Edison

The game designer is like a theorist who collects several ideas in the mind to define the concept of the game. After selecting and rejecting hundreds of ideas, the game designer puts the ones close to perfection in the concept document. But there is nothing perfect and the game designer can only understand that after seeing the game in action, which is why the game designer gets involved in the development from start to finish. The concept document should ideally be used to build a prototype with a rough code, so that the designer can interact with the prototype and do playtesting to identify the gaps to fill. 

Incorporates knowledge of  Gaming Trends

A game designer uses their knowledge of industry trends, competition, audience interests, different game design technologies and popular genres to conceive engaging game ideas. A game designer doesn’t need to know everything a game developer knows, but a game designer must know everything the game developer is capable of. Besides, it’s also important to understand both the power and limit of game technologies to enable innovative gameplay. A game designer is like an anthropologist who understands the desires of their game audience and designs games that satisfy that desire.

Storyboarding

Game designers create storyboards by sketching out ideas for characters and scenes and then placing them in order. The game narrative helps users see the back story, certain challenges to take from time to time and master the skills to progress. 

Gameplay Test Plans

Video game designers also create test plans to balance the gameplay. This exercise is done to make sure the gameplay is neither too difficult nor too easy for users that they soon lose interest in playing the game. The game designer also conducts game design reviews throughout the development process to make adjustments to the game design specifications as the project moves forward and therefore ensures that the visuals are no less than breathtaking.

Game Design for various Devices and Platforms

The game designer also ensures that the game design is built so that  the video game feels home on different devices, screen sizes and platforms.

Above I discussed the major responsibilities of a game designer, now let's see what roles game developers play in game development process. 

Who is a Game Developer?

A game developer is a person who uses tech to transform the game designer’s ideas and sketches into a digital product that users can interact with. Game developer is an umbrella term that includes everyone involved in creating game art and assets. Some of the important roles of a game developer are as follows:

Plan Game Project

After the game designer puts the game’s specifications and features on paper, the game developer starts building the storyline, characters, environment, 2D/3D objects, 2D/3D models, sounds, activities, scoring, progression and many more by writing the code. The development team divides the task in small sprints to build the high priority game modules first. Once the prototype is ready, they enhance the overall look and feel of the video game based on the changes in the game design and the feedback of others involved in the game development process.

Game Engine

The game developer either constructs a base or uses a game engine (usually a third party game engine like Unity or Unreal) to run the game. Game engines are used to render graphics in video games, play animations, make sounds, move 2D/3D objects while conforming to the laws of physics and many others.

Build Mobile Apps or PC games or for Consoles

Based on the decided gaming platform, the game developers start building video games for mobile or PC or consoles. For mobile games, iOS and Android are the most popular platforms, so game developers either develop for one or both or even others like Blackberry and Windows depending on the preferences of the target audience. 

Fix Bugs

A bug free software is a myth. So, QAs take on the role of identifying and reporting bugs, the game developers take on the ones high in priority. Using their logical and problem solving skills, they fix the bugs to enhance user experience. They also do code review, debug programs and refactor code to remove technical problems in the game.

Support

A mobile video game is never complete. So, one or two developers keep providing the support even after the game is deployed. Familiarity with cloud technologies is a preferred development skill as cloud development and deployment has become a popular practice in modern times. Mobile game app development is different from consoles games as everything has to be completed before the game is shipped out. With mobile game app development, the developers get the flexibility of creating a gaming app with the most important features and releasing them, and then keep adding new ones based on feedback and changing requirements through usually monthly updates.  

What I discussed above draws a line between the roles of a game designer and game app developer. Both are important cogs in the wheel of the game development cycle but function differently from start to finish. I hope the article has helped you understand concept vs execution when it comes to game design and development.

Why Choose Logic Simplified for Game Design and Development?

Logic Simplified is in game design and development for over six years now. From our hands-on experience of designing and building different genre video games (including cross-platform mobile games, PC games and Console games), we have learnt over the years what all it takes to build highly engaging and immersive video games of modern times. You can hire game designers from us to imagine your game and come up with a highly creative game design. Our game developers, on the other hand, are equipped with the technical know-how of how to pick ideas from the paper and convert them into a living product. We always like to help our clients brace their games by using new revolutionary technologies, so you can also partner with us to build games that leverage AR/VR, IoT and AI. For initiating a discussion on your game idea and offshore resource hiring, please write to us at enquiry@logicsimplified.com, and we will get back to you shortly to help you with gaming solutions that we are proud of.