Ultimate Game Pre-Production Guide: So, You Don’t Fail Before You Start

The game development process is generally divided into 3 stages, namely: pre-production, production, and finally, post-production. And it’s the pre-production phase, which we’re going to discuss here in detail including challenges that might come its way.

This game development stage is where imagination meets with reality but despite collective efforts and care, some things may not work out as planned. That’s we need to place our focus on the task of performing pre-production operations.

But, what does it all include? Well, here you’ll see an ultimate checklist and a proper, simple guide to the same. So, let’s dig in pronto!

Before everything else, let’s touch on the basics.

What, Really Is the Game Pre-Production Stage?

The term itself is self-explanatory. It refers to the stage where we carry out all the initial planning for the project. The professionals especially deal with the creation of core game concepts and scribing initial documents laying out the format of the game (as it would be like in the future).

Developers, designers, and managers do not simply take to coding and designing; there’s a long way to cover before entering the production phase. Most of the time and effort during game development is consumed by the pre-production stage. The success of this phase heavily influences the overall game’s success.

The time and hard work infused into the pre-production processes pays off later in the other stages. All the planning and organizing streamline further game development operations. Despite so many pros of adding the pre-production stage, it’s neglected, which definitely shouldn’t be done.

The phase can last between a week and may go up to a year depending upon the resources, finances, and project type. You won’t be handling a huge crew at this point, rather it would be a programmer, a concept artist, and a producer. The information collected in the pre-production stage is required to make a comprehensive GDD (Game Design Document).

Key Stages of Game Pre-Production

Core Concept

Games are made for audiences, so, it definitely starts by taking into account their expectations and preferences. For instance, to collect game demography data, you might want to know your target consumers, key pillars of the game, gameplay mechanics, and so on. Once you’ve got this info and deets in your hand, your game design team can start drafting gameplay spaces and systems. Crafting a well-planned, smooth, and enjoyable central gameplay mechanic is way more critical to a game’s success than you’d imagine.

Run a Marketing Test

Well, you won’t want your game trashed into a fodder bin after you put so much of your day and night into it. To gauge the potential of the game, it’s always prudent to run a marketing test against it. By doing this, you’ll get to early-stage engagement metrics, advertising data, early monetization, and so on. Another thing you must do before approaching a publisher is to review the install costs against the target geography.

Usually, ads are run in the game using a specific application to reckon the response of the target audience towards those advertisements. Several other popular methods exist for market analysis, so make sure, you’re picking the right one, (the one that works for your game best).

Find Out How Your Game Will Progress

Before kicking off the game development process, game designers must plan the game economy, game mechanics, and methods of introducing new mechanics therein. While doing so, consider monetization, gameplay, and metagame.

Prototype Creation

A couple of weeks go into prototype making. Designers, artists, programmers, and project managers collaborate and craft a game model with the intended features.

Several test sessions are run to test the gaming experience it delivers. Before the creation of a prototype, the focus is laid on planning what it would be like. And once it’s ready, project members figure out answers related to many questions, especially related to the game experience it offers. For instance, is the game mechanic really entertaining, are characters appreciated by the audience, and so on?

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Plan the Game Pipeline & Who Will Do What

Now, the time has come to put all of that toil and hassle together. Before exiting the pre-production phase, plan the team responsibilities and interaction mediums, so everything goes smoothly.

And to ensure the members follow you closely, you must start by clearly defining the pre-production pipeline and objectives. While making the game, try remaining open and ready for necessary deconstructions and reconstructions in the game.

Setting Project Timelines

Set timelines (but not too rigid) that are slightly adjustable as per time and project requirements. Timelines help in structuring the game development processes and your team would find it a lot cleaner and easier to work with.

Prepare Game Documents

Get your high-class GDD (Game Design Document) ready before initiating game production. What does it include? Basically, it’s about the details and description of your game such as its mechanics, environment, meta, core game loop, challenges, fun factor, and so on.

You can consider it as your game pitch. Thus, it must be prepared in a way that investors leap to invest in it.

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Challenges In Game Pre-Production

Coming so far, we can grasp, developing a game is never a duck soup, right? Interestingly, the pre-production, this term is exclusively used in film production but the game-creation industry has adopted it. Thanks to its similarity to the processes of game development. Just like a movie, any game takes plots, sound, effects, characters, etc.

Nonetheless, the creative process of game development may find the following hindrances:

• Game Architecture Mistakes

Such blunders may result in delays owing to tech issues. Fortunately, this can be avoided by staying updated with the latest trends and best practices on advanced technologies.

• Doesn’t Align With The Target Audience

A game is destined to fail if it doesn’t satisfy the audience. You can ensure the game experience and see if it matches the target consumers’ expectations by conducting deep analysis and prototype testing.

• Poor Metagame

Often we might fail to retain the thrill of the game in our imagination in the real game. Focus on your meta and prototyping helps reveal the deficits and improvement areas of the game. While doing it all, make sure you never put your target audience out of your focus.

The bottlenecks in game development or app development process do not go away even once the game or app is live. To maintain its relevance and keep it engaging and fun, one has to consider consistent game Liveops.

A Quick Wrap-Up

So, you saw how the pre-production phase helps you lay out an elaborate that will guide you throughout the game development cycle. The checklist of processes involved in this phase must be strictly adhered to for other game creation stages to be smooth and organized.

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