"Game Development Roadmap"

Game development roadmap

Introduction:

Making a game without a development roadmap is like a man in a tunnel without a torch. Many of us don't know the importance of a Game development roadmap and start making games with no clear vision, leading to dissatisfactions.

The game development roadmap outlines the overall process of making a game from scratch. It includes all the stages, from creating to playtesting and marketing.

In this article, I will tell you what is a game development roadmap, what are the 8 steps of a game development roadmap, and why they are essential in detail.

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What Is A Game Development Roadmap?

A game development roadmap is a well-planned strategic plan for developing a game. It outlines the development process, including the different stages, objectives, and tasks involved, from creating to publishing the game.

It is a standard process consisting of different stages and is used in the industry. This method is efficient, so you should always make a game development roadmap for your game, even if you are an indie game developer.

Game development roadmap

What Are The 8 Steps of Game Development RoadMap?

The game development roadmap consists of 8 steps, from idea generation to publishing and marketing. All steps are essential, so pay attention to them. I have described each step in detail. The 8 steps are:

Idea And Brainstorming:

The first step of developing a roadmap for your game is idea generation and brainstorming ideas. At the start, your brain pops up too many ideas, but you have to select one idea that is unique and will be fun to play.

How Do You Come Up With Ideas for a Game?

Generating a unique idea is a creative process and a bit challenging. It requires effort, patience, and time. There are some tips you must follow to come up with a good idea.

Have A Dairy:

Our subconscious brain is always active and thinks a lot. Sometimes, it generates some good ideas by mistakes, especially when traveling or taking a cold shower. These ideas are so quick that we can't remember them all in our brain memory. So, keep a small diary in your pocket or use your mobile text app. Also writing is a good habit, write your thoughts, your to do list.

Get Inspiration:

Another perfect way is to get inspiration from other games, movies, dramas, websites, or even your hobbies. Alert! I am telling you to get inspiration and not to copy. Look at other video game mechanics, mix them with different mechanics, and create new mechanics. When I was making a horror game which I never complete, I took inspiration from English puzzle movies for my game puzzles and challenges.

Joined Game Jams:

If you are looking for video game ideas, game jams are the best. Play video games by other developers; they are small, easy to download, and have wonderful ideas. Get inspiration from them also. By the way, GMTK game jam 2024 will be held in few days, so go and participate. 

Writing A Story For A Game, Where To Start?

Once you have a solid idea of how to build a game, start writing an interesting story. Stories in video games hold importance, like movies. Create an engaging narrative and try to build a relationship between the player and the game through the story. Please read my article about what makes a game interesting; I have described in detail how stories can affect your game.


Game Design Document:

The second step is to create a game design document shortly, GDD.

What Is A Game Design Document?

It is a written document containing all the information about your game, from game name to mechanics, narrative, cost, and other elements. The main advantage of creating a GDD is that it is a centralized document that provides information to all the developers and keeps them up-to-date. In short, it gives a clear vision.

How To Make A Game Design Document?

It is a text document, so you can write it on paper or get a print. You can use Microsoft Word or other software to write and create a PDF file. Keep it online because GDD is changed several times during the development, so if you print it out, it will be costly.

What to include In A Game Design Document?

A lot of you wonder what to include? As I say, it contains all the information about your game. Write in detail about each and everything, such as your game name, description, target audience, platforms, monetization model, budget, team size, publishers, mechanics, story and characters, marketing, and the list goes on.

Should I Make A Game Design Document?

Yes, it would be best if you made a GDD. It doesn't matter if you are working solo or have a giant team. GDD always provides help and makes the development process easy.

How Long Does It Take To Make A Game Design Document?

I can't answer to this question as it is very subjective; it depends on your game size. The larger the game, the longer it will take to create a GDD. I have a question for you to answer in the comments, "which game requires more time to create a GDD, GTA 5 or FAR CRY 3".

What Is A One Page Game Design Document?

The game design document is a book itself, and who wants to read books? I don't. One-page documents are the simplest versions of a GDD, which contain fundamental and short information about your game, such as game name, platforms, audience, mechanics, story, and unique selling point. Here is a Google Docs link about one page GDD.

Finished Game Design Document Examples: 

To get an idea of how GDD looks, I am dropping a link to a GTA game design document pdf file below. Check that out for a better understanding of GDD.


Prototyping:

The third step is to make a prototype of your game. Of course, your ideas will never work everytime, and this is where prototypes help us to identify the potential of an idea.

What Is A Prototype In A Game?

A prototype is a simple, short version of your game built for experimenting and testing the game ideas, mechanics, and overall gameplay. We collect the feedback from here and use it to improve the game.

How Do You Build A Prototype Game?

To build a prototype, it's a simple task. Just grab a game engine like Unity or Unreal Engine and implement your game mechanics and story. Focus on gameplay and not on aesthetics or graphics.

How Much Does A Game Prototype Cost?

It depends on your game idea, size, and team size. The longer it takes to create a prototype, the larger the cost will be. First, calculate the monthly cost of your studio and then see how many months it will take you to create a prototype.

Testing:

Playtesting is the fourth step in the game development roadmap. In this stage, the game is inspected and examined by a thousand times.

How do you effectively playtest a game?

If you have a game but don't know how to test it, Here's a quick guide.
  • First, determine the specific part of your game; it may be a mechanic, story, or level.
  • Determine what constitutes a successful playtest for you.
  • Ask your friends and family members or hire professional playtesters to get feedback.
  • Build a stable version of your game and send it to new people to see how new players react to your game for the first time.
  • Observe playtesters how they react to your game and collect feedback from them.
  • Prepare a bunch of questions for our game to ask from the playtester about their experience.
  • Look through the expected feedback and improve your game.


How do you get people to playtest your game?

This is one of the fun parts of asking people to play your game and give feedback. I actually feel proud when I show my games to my friends and family. You can ask your family members, friends and people's on social media platforms and game jams.

Production:

This is where actual development begins after your idea succeeds in playtesting. In this phase, you work on mechanics, story and create levels, and unlike the prototypes, this time, you work on graphics and visuals.

This is one of the most challenging and most complex parts of the development process. All the programming, animation, art design, sound design and level designing take place.

Programmers write codes to bring life to mechanics, AI, physics, and do story implementation. Artists also show their skills in creating 3D characters, environmental props, textures, levels, and open-world creations.

Games without sound are humans without souls. Sound designers create sound effects, real-life actors do voice overs, and singers with music composers create engaging and melodic sound tracks, just listen to the theme music of GTA 4 .

Polishing:

After production you have a stable version of your game and almost completed. It is completed but requires again playtesting to find new errors and fix them before you release your game. And no matter how hard you try, after release, players will report so many bugs.

How Do You Polish A Game?

In polishing, you make your game feel like a game. You do optimizations to make sure it runs on maximum devices even low end computers or toasters. Here are some quick tips for optimizations.

  • Read your code to find inefficient code.
  • Have an eye on your game memory usage and keep it low.
  • Use lightweight textures to decrease the file size.
  • If possible use baked textures and lighting to increase the performance by 1000%.
  • Use all optimization tools provided by the game engines, such as culling culling in Unity.

I loved this part of development because we generally do post-processing of our game to make it feel authentic and nice to look at. Again, don't overdo post processing as it affects your game performance. Do experiments with your game graphics and try to find the balance between graphics and performance in your game.

If you are using Unity Game Engine or Unreal, I have atteched links to YouTube videos about games optimization, feel free to watch them.

Publishing:

This is the second last part of developing a game from scratch. In this part, you create a trailer, teasers, and attractive screenshots of your game and publish them to various platforms. Here is a general guide on how to publish a game.

How To Publish A Game?

Choose the Platform:

For PC:

If you are releasing for PC. There are several options, such as Steam, itch.io, and Epic games. Steam charges a 100$ fee for publishing games here as itch.io is free and flexible.

For Consoles:

If you want to release your game to consoles such as Play Station, XBOX, and Nintendo. You will need a developer license.

For Mobile:

For mobile devices, follow the guidelines of Apple and Google to release your game on Play Store and App Store.

Physical Copies:

If you want to go one step further or make games for consoles, then you also have to produce physical copies of your game for retailers, which includes manufacturing and distribution. Wondering what is physical copies and how to make it, don't worry I have attached the link, watch it.

Rating and License:

If you are releasing a game for mobiles or consoles you will require license and rating for specific platforms such as ESRB, PEGI.

Localization:

If your game is going to be available in multiple regions, consider localizing the content (translations, cultural adjustments).

Select a Distribution Model:
  • Free-to-Play: Common for mobile games, supported by ads or in-app purchases.
  • Premium: Players pay upfront to purchase the game.
  • Freemium: The base game is free,

Marketing:

Most of you think that publishing a game is the last step and do not focus on marketing, which is why most games fail due to improper marketing. Marketing means promoting your product so people know about it, if they are unaware of your game, how they're gonna purchase it.

What Is Marketing In Gaming?

In gaming, marketing is related to strategies and activities used for promoting games online and increasing the visibility among the gamers. The main motive behind marketing is to drive huge traffic from social media campaigns to your sites or steam page to increase sales.

How should I market my game?

Marketing is important and if done right leads huge sales. Here's a quick guide on marketing your game.

Create Marketing Material:

Before you start promoting your game, create material about your game such as trailers, teasers, screenshots of gameplay footage. 


Know Your Audience:

Make sure you know about your audience, especially their age, so that you can target them easily through social media ads. If your game is like candy crush and you show your ads to an audience of age above 18 who like to play games such as Elden Ring, then your campaign will definitely fail.

Make your Online Presence:

As time is passing, the internet is normalized. Nowadays even small childs have their Facebook and Instagram accounts. So make your social media presence on platforms such as Insgatam, twitter, Facebook or your own website. Post content about your game progress regularly and build hype to cash it later. 

A great example of this is an Indie game called "Choco  Choco Charles by Two Star" He build and post devlog more than a year.

Contact Influencers:

I think in 2024, YouTubers and streamers are one of the major source of game success. Write emails to YouTubers who play games similar to your game genre and have the same audience. Negotiate with them and promote your game online.

These are some gaming marketing strategies you can use to promote your game online and drive massive traffic to your game.


Why Is Game Marketing Important?

Marketing is a universal thing. Games are products, and for every product, marketing is necessary. Ask yourself a simple question: If I don't promote my game, how will people find it? I hope you get the answer to why it is so important. If you don't have enough money to spend on advertising, then start building your online presence from today.

Conclusion:

In a nutshell, it doesn't matter if you're making Tetris or Resident Evil 8; always follow these 8 steps of the game development roadmap. It will give you a clear vision of your journey, which is essential to keep you motivated; otherwise, without it, you will lose the path.

Secondly, a lot of us don't take marketing seriously. As a game designer, I am requesting you, please also focus on marketing and spend some time and money on it.

I hope you understand the concept game development roadmap and this article may have add value to your game design knowledge. If you like it please subscribe to my blog. I write amazing articles like this on game design, thank you for reading.

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Maaz Ayub is an experienced game designer with 10 years in the industry.
He has worked at NorthGamz Studio and Bluestick Studio, creating engaging
games. Maaz also runs a game design blog, where he shares tips, insights,
and advice for aspiring and experienced designers. He is passionate
about making games that people love and helping others succeed in game design.