What specialists does the 3D game development team consist of

Games with 3D graphics are the most popular on the market, and rightfully so, because they surprise with the level of their detail and make people believe that what is happening on the screen is real.

The production of such game projects is a complex process that can last from months to several years. In this article, we will talk about exactly which specialists are involved in it and what tasks each of them performs.

Screenwriter

Most games, with the exception of individual hyper-casual projects, tell a certain story. This is important, because even a small narrative can captivate a gamer and fills with meaning in his every action.

In addition to the main plot, the screenwriter carefully works out the description of each individual character – his background, character, views, behavior, and so on. In the future, this information will be used in the creation of concept art and suitable visualization of the characters. For example, if the character is a strong warrior, the model must have large muscles and literally radiate his physical strength, otherwise there may be serious dissonance.

Game designer

The game designer fulfills the role of the architect of the video game. He thinks over the general concept of the project, setting, game mechanics and rules by which the virtual universe will live. Its main task is to make the gameplay interesting and exciting. So that gamers want to spend tens or even hundreds of hours of personal time in the game. To do this, he interacts with the development team at all stages of production, from planning to the release itself.

There are several specializations of game designers:

• Level designers. They design levels and combine the result of the work of other specialists: sounds, graphics, animations, textures and mechanics into a coherent product.

• System game designers. They work with in-game metrics, perform calculations and determine the technologies that will be used in production and will be able to provide the maximum performance of the project in accordance with its technical characteristics.
• Interface designers. They create a convenient game interface, which is essentially a player’s guide to the virtual world of the video game. Interface elements include: a menu for leveling skills, equipment and tasks, health bars, loot design, visual effects, and much more.
• Narrative Designers. Develop a storytelling model for the game. The narrative can be visible – one that is transmitted, for example, through dialogues and cut scenes, or hidden – formed by the emotions of the gamer.
• Balance designers. They monitor the difficulty of passing the game and determine the amount of rewards for completing tasks in the form of experience points, coins or equipment with optimal characteristics.
• Content designers. They create content that will fill the in-game locations – the interior of the premises, landscapes, the content of the dialogues. In addition, their duties include the development of secrets and puzzles.

Game Artist 3D

Game Artist 3D, aka 3D Artist, transforms agreed upon concepts into 3D assets that the user will interact with during gameplay. His responsibilities include creating character models, environments, inventory, equipment and all other visual elements.

Motion designer

Motion designer “enlivens” 3D models drawn by a 3D artist and makes their movements in space as natural and realistic as possible.

Depending on the technical characteristics of the game, animation can be of two types:

• Full animation or full animation – has a high frame rate: 24-25 per second of timing. In this case, all the details of the environment are animated without exception. This format is the most time-consuming, and is used in most AAA-class games.
• Limited animation – Simplified animation has fewer frames per second, while some details may remain static.

Developer

In the production of a game, programmers are engaged in the technical implementation of the ideas of game designers. Their responsibilities include:

• game architecture design;
• implementation of game features;
• writing clean code;
• game optimization;
• development of artificial intelligence that determines the behavior of NPCs;
• creation of network infrastructure.

In addition, programmers can create working tools for their colleagues that simplify and speed up their routine tasks.

As for the technology stack, here the game developer has a huge arsenal of tools, and the choice of a particular one is justified by the technical characteristics of the game and the platform for which it is being developed. For example, for web games, Python, Java, or the Node.js platform are most often used for the backend, and JavaScript / Vue.js for the frontend.

When developing mobile games that are directly installed on a smartphone, the technology stack will be different. For IOS devices, the Swift programming language is used, and for Android, Java / Kotlin. To create cross-platform projects that work on both operating systems at once, the Flutter development kit is used.

Also in game development, game engines are often used, for example, such as Unity or Unreal Engine, which contain many patterns, ready-made animations and tools for optimizing production.

Tester

Once developed, and before being released into the hands of the end user, the game goes through several levels of testing, during which it is determined by its compliance with the original plans, technical stability, the complexity of the passage and the logic of the narrative.

All found bugs and inconsistencies are fixed in a timely manner, so that gamers can enjoy excellent gameplay and user experience.

For the production of 3D games, AVADA MEDIA provides a well-coordinated team of developers who have experience in joint implementation of successful projects and act as a single mechanism.

This significantly speeds up the production process, and also positively affects the quality of the final product.