XBOX 360 v/s PC- Which platform is better for game development

PC v/s XBOX 360 : Which platform to develop games for?:

This has been an old age debate regarding which platform is better or rather which platform should you develop games for?

Some game engines like Blade 3d, XNA framework, etc do have an option to make games for both which some game engines only support PC or XBOX 360 only.

Similarly in today’s business scenario, any game developer after creating the main game concept, decides the platform for which the game should be developed.

So what are the factors that decide the platform ?

1)GENRE

PC:
If a game developer or a game development company is making a MMORPG like WOW /MMOG/MMO or an FPS or a strategy game or an RPG their first preference will be PC.

XBOX 360:
If the game developer is making an FPS, Sports game, Racing game they might prefer to go for XBOX 360.

2)TARGET AUDIENCE

PC:
For PC, the game developer can target all users from all demographics.
For E.g. You can have a 5 year old kid or a 60 year old grand ma playing games on PC.

XBOX 360:
For XBOX 360, the target audience and the demographics are limited.

3)GAME PRICE

PC:
PC games generally tend to be a bit lower priced as compared to the XBOX one. A gamer can get a PC game for as less as $10 USD.

XBOX 360:
For XBOX 360 XBLA (XBOX LIVE Arcade), The price of a game usually is around $10 – $ 20 USD. For an XBOX LIVE game or an XBOX exclusive game ,the price is between the range of $ 39.95 to $ 69.95 USD.

4)MODS

PC:
Some very successful PC games such as Half life 2, came up with MODS which help set up an entire modding community.The end result was Counterstrike which till date is one of the most successful multiplayer games.

XBOX 360:
For XBOX 360, there are few very or no games that have mods. Some games like FarCry 2: do have level editors but that’s about it.

5)Multiplayer

PC:
PC games can support up to 32 or more multiplayer users. Games like Counterstrike, Team Fortress, Unreal 3 Tournament, etc do support such a high number of users at one time.

XBOX 360:
For XBOX, the maximum amount of players that can enjoy on a single screen is 4. However if the gamer does have XBOX LIVE, the gamer can play multiplayer up to 16 players.

So these are some of the main points the game developers or the game development studios or game publishers keep in mind when they decide the platform for which to launch the game.

Mmo game development basics

Some one recently asked me what is the best way to commence game development for MMO.

It is very difficult to describe the entire methodology in one single post but below are the basic steps you should be clear about before you start drawing a character or writing a single line of code.

1. Genre: Identify your basics of the game. If you are making and MMORPG what type of MMORPG is it? Is it casual or hardcore?

2. Platform: Is the game going to be browser based or a downloadable through which you can connect and play through the servers? Can it be played on Mac and Linux as well or is it only for PC?

3. Engine: Once the genre and platform are finalized, find the most suitable engine.

4. Budget: The budget is one of the main determining factors as how you proceed in game development. The budget not only includes your tools but your company expenses, employee expenses, server costs, hardware and software costs, etc

5. Monetization: How will your game make money? Is it through virtual goods or in-game ads or subscription?

6. Target Audience: Who will be the final user who will play or buy this game?

7. Game USP: What does this game have that will make it stand out from the crowd? Why will people buy this game?

For MMO’s to create something similar to WOW please read this 2 articles .

• 1 Billion dollar investment needed to take on world of warcraft – do you have that type of cash ?
• MMO by indie = bad idea

It is not meant to discourage your but only to give you an idea of how difficult the entire process is.

It is true that if you want to make money making videogames, you have to treat it like a busines.

Virtual worlds game engine

I was always interested in Virtual Worlds but could never find any major  game engine for it. My quest for finding Virtual Worlds game engine started with Adobe Director.

My curiosity led me to ask a question on LinkedIn Group – Virtual Worlds and if anyone knew of more game engines than Director. I was really amazed by the reponse I received and it prompted me to write this post on my blog.

The choice of Virtual Worlds game engine depends upon your project, resources, budget, genre and platform.

Unity 3D

It is currently one of the more popular Virtual Worlds Game engine.

Unity is a multiplatform game development tool, designed from the start to ease creation. A fully integrated professional application that just happens to contain the most powerful engine this side of a million dollars.It was available for MAC only but is soon going to come on PC and I hope releasing on PC will only add to its popularity.

Unity 3D contains everything available for an actual 3D game engine and much more. It has an Integrated Editor,  Asset importing, Shaders, Terrains , Scripting, Physics, lighting and also has features for Iphone and Wii publishing.

For a full list of features please visit: http://unity3d.com/unity/features/.

An online fashion game created with Unity 3D – Frenzoo

Tropical Paradise from Unity 3d

Project Darkstar

Project Darkstar is software infrastructure that aims to simplify the development and operation of massively scalable online games, virtual worlds, and social networking applications.  Originally created by Sun Microsystems, it is today advanced as an open source project through the Project Darkstar Community.

Project Darkstar is designed to help developers and operators avoid a range of serious, yet typical, problems associated with massive scale online games today, including zone overloading, data corruption, and server under-utilization.  In addition, Project Darkstar will enable developers to support new dimensions of play such as evolvable virtual worlds and very large scale battlefields.

Project Darkstar is designed to be used directly by developers and operators of massively scalable online games, virtual worlds, and social networking applications.  Indirectly, Project Darkstar may also serve publishers of these applications, to whom development and operational time and cost savings are often transferred.

Project Darkstar

Realxtend

It’s an opensource engine made from OpenSim and Ogre 3D. RealXtend offers a free open source virtual world platform with which you can create your own applications using it as a base.The realXtend viewer is an open source browser (GPL license) that you can use to experience rich multiuser virtual worlds.

The realXtend server is an open source server (BSD license) with which you can make your own virtual worlds available to a larger audience. The server has a sample virtual world that you can utilize as it is or you can modify it to suit your needs. realXtend also offers free, high-quality content for your own worlds.

OpenSpace

OpenSpace is a powerful Flash based isometric engine and framework for rapid development of multi-user virtual worlds and MMO communities.The engine leverages the power of ActionScript 3 and SmartFoxServer, offering an unprecedented level of features and customizations.

Openspace

Qubesoft

Q is a new middleware for games and other real-time 3D applications .Q’s framework allows developers to rapidly specialize the middleware to address their specific needs by adding custom plug-ins at any level. Standard plug-ins can be mixed and matched with a developer’s own plug-ins, making it easy, for instance, to add a custom scene management plug-in which both takes advantage of game specific knowledge, and also builds on standard components to stream its assets.

As well as a host of standard engine features, Q sports cutting-edge capabilities rarely found in bespoke high end game engines; and these are supported on all platforms, console and PC:

* A powerful renderer supporting arbitrary scene rendering algorithms and programmable shaders
* Background data streaming
* A texture manager capable of handling scenes with many gigabytes of texture visible on screen
* A cross-platform data format
* Simultaneous n-dimensional animation blending
* A background work queue
* A 3D editor which allows both core and custom plug-ins to run live inside the editing environment

Drupal

Drupal is a free software package that allows an individual or a community of users to easily publish, manage and organize a wide variety of content on a website. Tens of thousands of people and organizations are using Drupal to power scores of different web sites, including

* Community web portals
* Discussion sites
* Corporate web sites
* Intranet applications
* Personal web sites or blogs
* Aficionado sites
* E-commerce applications
* Resource directories
* Social Networking sites

TheOWorlds

They are an interactive web agency with a focus on Flash games, e-cards and online virtual worlds.They specialize in creating highly engaging and entertaining online experiences that can help our clients deliver their message in a new and original way! If you are looking into viral marketing tools for your business.

MetaMole: It is like a search engine for Virtual worlds. If you can’t it anywhere, you will surely find it here.

3d animation Bukhatir uae client

Hi,

I would like to share with you a 3D Animation presentation we have done for the Bukhatir Group in the UAE. Bukhatir Group is one of the largest groups based in the UAE and has over 25 companies under it’s organization.

The 3D Animation presentation is titled: ” Al Dhaid Cricket Village” and it showcases the AlDhaid cricket village.

Brief: The client wanted to showcase the Al-Dhaid cricket village. When We took up the project, only one green pitch was ready and the other 6 pitches were still made up of concrete. The area was still very barren. Zatun had to represent what “Al Dhaid Cricket village” will look when it is completed in 2010 . The cricket village would have not only 7 stadiums but also a children’s park, a cafeteria, a resting place. In short it would have a complete amenities for the entire family and would be a great weekend destination. It had to be attractive enough to appeal not only the local crowds but investors, sponsors and foreign tourists as well.

Below are the storyboards, concepts  and final renders of the actual 3D Animation presentation.

The images at the bottom row are of the actual cricket ground when we first started the project:

Process:

• Rough Concept:  We first decided to submit a rough concept  and then exchanged ideas with the client.  Then we finalized the actual concept with the clients input and feedback.
• Script: Once the final concept was approved we moved to the script. There were again lots of ideas from both the client as well as us and we finally picked the best script suited for the project.
• Dialogues: After script we moved to the dialogues.The client wanted a voice with an American or British accent. We finally selected a voice over studio in  San Francisco and they did an amazing job.
• Storyboards: We then moved on to the storyboards and  submitted quite a few ideas for the storyboards and then finalized the final storyboard.
• Look and Feel: We moved to the character concepts and the concepts for the entire environment and look.The character look and the style was very important as  it had to look as being a part of the Emirates and have the right feel.
• 3D Modeling: After the look of the characters and the environments was approved we moved to the 3D Modeling part.
• 3D Animation: After both the characters, the ground and all the ground elements were ready , we moved to the 3D Animation for the characters and ground elements
• Music and Sound: After all shots with the animation were approved, we moved to the music and sound part. This was very important part of the project.
• Post Production: Once all elements were ready, we proceeded with the post production at the post production studio.
  

The final movie complete with sound, music, voice over and 3D Animation really looked awesome  and client appreciated it a lot.

We would like to thank the Director: Shiekh Waleed Abdulrahman Bukhatir for giving us an opportunity to work on the project. He had a lot of great insights and ideas which really helped take the project the extra mile

Game Art

I thought it would be appropriate to showcase some our video game art work. I have selected some media images from the casual games space and hardcore games.

Well here it is:

stegosaurus

bernard

game level

MG-249

chrysler 300

unreal roman art

war elephant

blackjack table

roulette table

Do let me know your thoughts on our art.

Zatun Games Outsourcing

Almost all business in today’s economy including software and Information Technology companies outsource. So What exactly is outsourcing?

There has been a lot of debate on outsourcing and I can understand. I have tried to explain my views and thoughts on it:

Wikipedia describes it as ” subcontracting a process, such as product design or manufacturing, to a third-party company.[1] The decision to outsource is often made in the interest of lowering firm or making better use of time and energy costs, redirecting or conserving energy directed at the competencies of a particular business, or to make more efficient use of land, labor, capital, (information) technology and resources[citation needed]. Outsourcing became part of the business lexicon during the 1980s. It is essentially a division of labor.”

Outsourcing is essentially contracting but in a fancier term. So why do game development companies , video game publishers or game developers outsource?

Because it’s cheaper compared to what they would usually pay locally. Is that the only reason?

Not really. Of course cost savings is one of the primary reasons but there are others as well.

Saves cost on Infrastructure and resources: Say a game developer needs 20 more people to get the work done. They already have 35 people in the company. If they do go ahead with expansion, they will need additional space, hardware and software to accommodate the staff. There will be a strain on management as new staff is added and some additional training might be provided for the new staff. If the game development studio simply outsources, it saves money, resources and time.

Saves Time: Outsourcing saves time if done correctly. It helps game developers and video game publishers to meet milestones and sometimes doubles the speed of the work.

Saves Management time: Game Leads or Producers do not have to manage an extra X number of people. They can outsource the work and have the work submitted. There is no people management and thus it saves resources.

Similar Quality: If you get a similar quality work and for cheap, wouldn’t you go for it.

If you wish to know more, you can access the Wikipedia page here.

So Why India:

At Present, India is experiencing a boom in the Videogame industry and more and more people are starting to playing games either online, in Cybercafés or on consoles. There is a young generation which speaks English as its main language and is willing to experiment in new careers.

There are world class Art and Design Universities that teach 3d/Animation/Game Design like NID (National Institute of Design), MSU, etc. Apart from Universities there are several institutes that teach 3d Animation and Game design.

The average salary tends to be a lower compared to what it would be for a 3d Artist in an American or a European Game Development Company and hence production costs tend to be lower too.

With an added advantage of our time zone (GMT +5:30) and lower production costs along with superior quality artwork, we believe outsourcing to this part of the world has a lot of future.

Who are we:
Zatun is a videogame development and a videogame outsourcing company based in India.

It was founded in 2006 to cater to the growing needs of the video game industry and help them reduce production costs yet meet the quality the gamers demand. Zatun has since then worked with some of the top publishers and game developers in the videogame industry.

At Zatun, we provide services ranging from Concepts, Low Poly and High Poly Modeling of Characters, Environments, Vehicles, Weapons and Props to UV Mapping, Texturing, Rigging and Animation. We also develop causal games and provide complete art packages for Casual Games.

Zatun has a brand new look

We have finally updated our website Zatun for with a brand new look for 2009.

It took us over a month to work on the website including design, layout, finalizing  the content and checking the website for errors. And then there were those last minute changes before we went live . But I am glad it’s finally done.

After all the hard work, we are getting rave reviews regarding the site design and were asked by a lot of websites to add a link to their site.

I have also posted a blog regarding the update on worldgamingexecutives. You can check our my page here and the blog posting is located here.