developing a biohazard
Developing a Biohazard is no easy task, since the early 1990s, the creative minds at Capcom have struggled to create a Biohazard game better than the previous entry.
As time passes, so does the development process.
Here we break down the timeless elements which continue to be a part of Biohazard development.
THE MISCONCEPTION OF “CODE”
Throughout the years, the word “code” get continuously thrown around. Yes, video games do feature many lines of code. However, “code” is not the only element which makes up a video game project.
BEGINNING A BIOHAZARD
As with any project, once a new Biohazard has been green lit internally for development, one of the first questions asked is “what is the target platform”? For the early days of Biohazard this meant: will the game be developed for the Sega Saturn? The Sony PlayStation? The Panasonic 3DO or the Nintendo 64?
Once the target platform has been decided, the next steps are developing the story and attractive game elements which could benefit both the story and the target platform.
For example, once the original Sony PlayStation was selected this meant that fully-voiced characters and cutscenes were possible (as it was with CD-ROM media). It also meant that the PlayStation had certain limitations, thus, leading the original game to take place indoors for the majority of the story. Also, those limitations led to the development of pre-rendered backgrounds. Again, due to the polygonal limitations of the hardware.
WRITING A BIOHAZARD
As mentioned above, many stories come from what’s available for the developers to work with.
There is usually a general outline written, this could be anything from bullet points to a few pages. Or in some cases, a full game-design-document. The script will usually go through three stages, initial draft, corrections, then final polish.
The final document is then shared amongst department leads which then break up the project into tasks for their respective teams, thus creating a development timeline with milestones and deliverables.
PLANNING A BIOHAZARD
In most of the end credits for any BIohazard title you may notice a few developers listed as “system planners”. In Western terms, this could very well be a “game designer”.
A game designer is the person or group which work on the gameplay features for each title. For example, what set pieces could fit the current story and environment.
This is a step which is crucial to any sized development, these are the decisions which make or break a title.
VISUALLY DESIGNING (GRAY BOXING) A BIOHAZARD
One of the first pieces of artwork that gets created and fully implemented are the main characters.
What you want to achieve as a developer is to make sure that your character is functioning as intended. Concept art will also compliment the story, however, before fully building environments you want to gray box the intended area to make sure the gameplay is actually working as intended (Is it scary enough? Is a certain area breaking up the flow of the game?).
ASSET CREATION
This is the area which many players confuse with “code”. Asset creation means the authoring of assets that will be a part of your project. Characters, Environments, Animations, etc.
The are not necessarily “coded” into the game. They are exported from their respective authoring software (Autodesk Maya, PhotoShop, Substance, etc), then imported into the game engine where everything will be put together into a master project.
“Code” is the logic which makes the game function, what happens when you load up the game? Which screen appears first? When you move your character in a certain direction does the animation actually trigger, etc.
Asset creation is usually broken up into the following categories:
- Character Artists – These artists focus on character modeling, sometimes these artists are broken up into more granular roles such as Character Artist, Enemy Artist, etc.
- Character Riggers – These Artist are responsible for rigging a character. Rigs allow animators to control the characters, depending on the studio a Character Artist could also be responsible for the rigging.
- Environment Artists – Environment Artists focus on the world building for the game. As an Environment Artist, it is recommended that they be well versed in Hard Surface Modelling as well as Organic Modelling.
- Prop Artists – This is usually an entry position for future Environment Artists, they are also desired to be well versed in Hard Surface and Organic Modelling.
- Technical Artists – TA’s are responsible for in-house tools. These tools usually plug into the studio’s 3D software of choice. For example, fighting game studios usually have tools that automate the rig for their characters due to a large number of fighters on their roster.
- Animators – Animators are responsible for the movements of characters and enemies. They have to create a robust catalog of movements, all of which sync up with the idle animation for each character.
- VFX Artists – Visual Effects Artists are responsible for all effects such as explosions, blood, fire, etc.
GAME ENGINE TECH
The backbone of any game project is the Game Engine where the project is created.
As a developer, you have two options for game engine tech. You can license a game engine or, you can pull your resources together and develop an in-house engine which is specifically tailored to your needs and project.
There are many studios which have their engines listed as custom, however, many of these in-house engines are heavily modified licensed engines.
Such as Shinji Mikami’s Tango Gameworks who use the STEM Engine, which itself is a heavily modified version of id Tech 5.
ATTACHMENTS
RESOURCES
- Polycount – Digital Art creation Forum
- Blender – Open Source 3D Authoring software
- GIMP – Open Source Photoshop alternative
GAME ENGINES
