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Agame programmer is asoftware engineer,programmer, orcomputer scientist who primarily developscodebases forvideo games or relatedsoftware, such asgame development tools.Game programming has many specialized disciplines, all of which fall under the umbrella term of "game programmer".[1][2] A game programmer should not be confused with agame designer, who works ongame design.[3]
In the early days of video games (from the early 1970s to mid-1980s), a game programmer also took on the job of a designer andartist. This was generally because the abilities of earlycomputers were so limited that having specialized personnel for each function was unnecessary. Game concepts were generally light and games were only meant to be played for a few minutes at a time, but more importantly, art content and variations in gameplay were constrained by computers' limited power.
Later, as specializedarcade hardware andhome systems became more powerful, game developers could develop deeper storylines and could include such features as high-resolution and full color graphics,physics, advancedartificial intelligence anddigital sound. Technology has advanced to such a great degree that contemporary games usually boast3D graphics andfull motion video using assets developed by professionalgraphic artists. Nowadays, the derogatory term "programmer art" has come to imply the kind of bright colors and blocky design that were typical of early video games.
The desire for adding more depth and assets to games necessitated adivision of labor. Initially, art production was relegated tofull-time artists. Nextgame programming became a separate discipline fromgame design. Now, only some games, such as thepuzzle gameBejeweled, are simple enough to require just one full-time programmer. Despite this division, however, most game developers (artists, programmers and evenproducers) have some say in the final design of contemporary games.
A contemporary video game may include advanced physics, artificial intelligence, 3D graphics, digitised sound, an original musical score, complex strategy and may use several input devices (such asmice,keyboards,gamepads andjoysticks) and may be playable against other people via theInternet or over aLAN. Each aspect of the game can consume all of one programmer's time and, in many cases, several programmers. Some programmers may specialize in one area ofgame programming, but many are familiar with several aspects. The number of programmers needed for each feature depends somewhat on programmers' skills, but mostly are dictated by the type of game being developed.
Game engine programmers create the base engine of the game, including the simulated physics and graphics disciplines.[4] Increasingly, video games use existinggame engines, eithercommercial, open source or free. They are often customized for a particular game, and these programmers handle these modifications.
A game's physics programmer is dedicated to developing thephysics a game will employ.[5] Typically, a game will only simulate a few aspects of real-world physics. For example, a space game may need simulatedgravity, but would not have any need for simulating waterviscosity.
Since processing cycles are always at a premium, physics programmers may employ "shortcuts" that are computationally inexpensive, but look and act "good enough" for the game in question. In other cases, unrealistic physics are employed to allow easier gameplay or for dramatic effect. Sometimes, a specific subset of situations is specified and the physical outcome of such situations are stored in a record of some sort and are never computed at runtime at all.
Some physics programmers may even delve into the difficult tasks ofinverse kinematics and other motions attributed to game characters, but increasingly these motions are assigned viamotion capture libraries so as not to overload theCPU with complex calculations.
Historically, this title usually belonged to a programmer who developed specializedblitter algorithms and clever optimizations for2D graphics. Today, however, it is almost exclusively applied to programmers who specialize in developing and modifying complex 3Dgraphic renderers. Some 2D graphics skills have just recently become useful again, though, for developing games for the new generation ofcell phones andhandheld game consoles.
A 3D graphics programmer must have a firm grasp of advanced mathematical concepts such asvector andmatrix math,quaternions andlinear algebra.
Skilled programmers specializing in this area ofgame development can demand high wages and are usually a scarce commodity.[citation needed] Their skills can be used for video games on anyplatform.
An AI programmer develops the logic of time to simulate intelligence in enemies and opponents.[6] It has recently evolved into a specialized discipline, as these tasks used to be implemented by programmers who specialized in other areas. An AI programmer may programpathfinding, strategy and enemy tactic systems. This is one of the most challenging aspects of game programming and its sophistication is developing rapidly. Contemporary games dedicate approximately 10 to 20 percent of their programming staff to AI.[7]
Some games, such asstrategy games likeCivilization III orrole-playing video games such asThe Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, use AI heavily, while others, such aspuzzle games, use it sparingly or not at all. Many game developers have created entirelanguages that can be used to program their own AI for games viascripts. These languages are typically less technical than the language used to implement the game, and will often be used by the game or level designers to implement the world of the game. Many studios also make their games' scripting available to players, and it is often used extensively by third partymod developers.
TheAI technology used in games programming should not be confused withacademic AI programming and research. Although both areas do borrow from each other, they are usually considered distinct disciplines, though there are exceptions. For example, the 2001 game byLionhead StudiosBlack & White features a unique AI approach to a user controlledcreature who uses learning to model behaviors during game-play.[8] In recent years, more effort has been directed towards intervening promising fields of AI research and game AI programming.[9][10][11][12]
Not always a separate discipline, sound programming has been a mainstay of game programming since the days ofPong. Most games make use of audio, and many have a full musical score. Computeraudio games eschew graphics altogether and use sound as their primary feedback mechanism.[13]
Many games use advanced techniques such as3D positional sound, making audio programming a non-trivial matter. With these games, one or two programmers may dedicate all their time to building and refining the game's sound engine, and sound programmers may be trained or have a formal background indigital signal processing.
Scripting tools are often created or maintained by sound programmers for use bysound designers. These tools allow designers to associate sounds with characters, actions, objects and events while also assigning music or atmospheric sounds for game environments (levels or areas) and setting environmental variables such as reverberation.
Though all programmers add to the content and experience that a game provides, a gameplay programmer focuses more on a game's strategy, implementation of the game's mechanics and logic, and the "feel" of a game. This is usually not a separate discipline, as what this programmer does usually differs from game to game, and they will inevitably be involved with more specialized areas of the game's development such as graphics or sound.
This programmer may implement strategy tables, tweak input code, or adjust other factors that alter the game. Many of these aspects may be altered by programmers who specialize in these areas, however (for example, strategy tables may be implemented by AI programmers).
In early video games, gameplay programmers would write code to create all the content in the game—if the player was supposed to shoot a particular enemy, and a red key was supposed to appear along with some text on the screen, then this functionality was all written as part of the core program inC orassembly language by a gameplay programmer.
More often today the coregame engine is usually separated from gameplay programming. This has several development advantages. The game engine deals with graphics rendering, sound, physics and so on while ascripting language deals with things like cinematic events, enemy behavior and game objectives. Large game projects can have a team of scripters to implement these sorts of game content.
Scripters usually are also game designers. It is often easier to find a qualified game designer who can be taught ascript language as opposed to finding a qualified game designer who has masteredC++.
This programmer specializes in programminguser interfaces (UIs) for games.[14] Though some games have custom user interfaces, this programmer is more likely to develop alibrary that can be used across multiple projects. Most UIs look 2D, though contemporary UIs usually use the same 3D technology as the rest of the game so some knowledge of 3D math and systems is helpful for this role. Advanced UI systems may allow scripting and special effects, such as transparency, animation or particle effects for the controls.
Input programming, while usually not a job title, or even a full-time position on a particular game project, is still an important task. This programmer writes the code specifying how input devices such as akeyboard, mouse or joystick affect the game. These routines are typically developed early in production and are continually tweaked during development. Normally, one programmer does not need to dedicate his entire time to developing these systems. A real-time motion-controlled game utilizing devices such as theWii Remote orKinect may need a very complex and low latency input system, while theHID requirements of a mouse-driven turn-based strategy game such asHeroes of Might and Magic are significantly simpler to implement.
This programmer writes code that allows players to compete or cooperate, connected via aLAN or theInternet (or in rarer cases, directly connected viamodem).[15] Programmers implementing these game features can spend all their time in this one role, which is often considered one of the most technically challenging.Network latency, packet compression, and dropped or interrupted connections are just a few of the concerns one must consider. Although multi-player features can consume the entire production timeline and require the other engine systems to be designed with networking in mind, network systems are often put off until the last few months of development, adding additional difficulties to this role. Some titles have had their online features (often considered lower priority than the core gameplay) cut months away from release due to concerns such as lack of management, design forethought, or scalability.Virtua Fighter 5 for thePS3 is a notable example of this trend.[16]
The tools programmer[17] can assist the development of a game by writing custom tools for it.Game development Tools often contain features such as script compilation, importing or converting art assets, and level editing. While some tools used may beCOTS products such as anIDE or a graphics editor, tools programmers create tools with specific functions tailored to a specific game which are not available in commercial products. For example, an adventure game developer might need an editor forbranching story dialogs, and a sport game developer could use a proprietary editor to manage players and team stats. These tools are usually not available to the consumers who buy the game.
Porting a game from oneplatform to another has always been an important activity for game developers. Some programmers specialize in this activity, convertingcode from one operating system to work on another. Sometimes, the programmer is responsible for making the application work not for just one operating system, but on a variety of devices, such asmobile phones. Often, however, "porting" can involve re-writing the entire game from scratch as proprietarylanguages, tools or hardware make converting source code a fruitless endeavour.
This programmer must be familiar with both the original and target operating systems and languages (for example, converting a game originally written inC++ toJava), convert assets, such as artwork and sounds or rewrite code for low memory phones. This programmer may also have to side-step buggy language implementations, some with little documentation,refactor code, oversee multiple branches of code, rewrite code to scale for wide variety of screen sizes and implement special operator guidelines. They may also have to fix bugs that were not discovered in the original release of a game.
The technology programmer is more likely to be found in larger development studios with specific departments dedicated solely toR&D. Unlike other members of the programming team, the technology programmer usually isn't tied to a specific project or type of development for an extended length of time, and they will typically report directly to a CTO or department head rather than a game producer. As the job title implies, this position is extremely demanding from a technical perspective and requires intimate knowledge of the target platform hardware. Tasks cover a broad range of subjects including the practical implementation of algorithms described in research papers, very low-level assembly optimization and the ability to solve challenging issues pertaining to memory requirements and caching issues during the latter stages of a project. There is considerable amount of cross-over between this position and some of the others, particularly the graphics programmer.
In smaller teams, one or more programmers will often be described as 'Generalists' who will take on the various other roles as needed. Generalists are often engaged in the task of tracking down bugs and determining which subsystem expertise is required to fix them.
The lead programmer is ultimately in charge of all programming for the game. It is their job to make sure the various submodules of the game are being implemented properly and to keep track of development from a programming standpoint. A person in this role usually transitions from other aspects of game programming to this role after several years of experience. Despite the title, this person usually has less time for writing code than other programmers on the project as they are required to attend meetings and interface with the client or other leads on the game. However, the lead programmer is still expected to program at least some of the time and is also expected to be knowledgeable in most technical areas of the game. There is often considerable common ground in the role of technical director and lead programmer, such that the jobs are often covered by one person.
Game programmers can specialize on one platform or another, such as theWii U orWindows. So, in addition to specializing in one game programming discipline, a programmer may also specialize in development on a certain platform. Therefore, one game programmer's title might be "PlayStation 3 3D Graphics Programmer." Some disciplines, such as AI, are transferable to various platforms and needn't be tailored to one system or another. Also, general game development principles such as 3D graphics programming concepts, sound engineering and user interface design are transferable between platforms.
Notably, there are many game programmers with no formal education in the subject, having started out as hobbyists and doing a great deal of programming on their own, for fun, and eventually succeeding because of their aptitude and homegrown experience. However, most job solicitations for game programmers specify a bachelor's degree (in mathematics, physics, computer science, "or equivalent experience").
Increasingly,universities are starting to offer courses and degrees in game programming. Any such degrees have considerable overlap withcomputer science andsoftware engineering degrees.[citation needed]
Salaries for game programmers vary from company to company and country to country. In general, however, pay for game programming is generally about the same for comparable jobs in the business sector. This is despite the fact that game programming is some of the most difficult of any type and usually requires longer hours than mainstream programming.
Results of a 2010 survey in the United States indicate that the average salary for a game programmer isUSD$95,300 annually. The least experienced programmers, with less than 3 years of experience, make an average annual salary of over $72,000. The most experienced programmers, with more than 6 years of experience, make an average annual salary of over $124,000.[18]
Generally, lead programmers are the most well compensated, though some 3D graphics programmers may challenge or surpass their salaries. According to the same survey above, lead programmers on average earn $127,900 annually.[19]
Though sales of video games rival other forms of entertainment such asmovies, thevideo game industry is extremely volatile. Game programmers are not insulated from this instability as their employers experience financial difficulty.
Third-party developers, the most common type ofvideo game developers, depend upon a steady influx of funds from thevideo game publisher. If a milestone or deadline is not met (or for a host of other reasons, like the game is cancelled), funds may become short and the developer may be forced to retrench employees or declarebankruptcy and go out of business. Game programmers who work for large publishers are somewhat insulated from these circumstances, but even the large game publishers can go out of business (as whenHasbro Interactive was sold toInfogrames and several projects were cancelled; or whenThe 3DO Company went bankrupt in 2003 and ceased all operations). Some game programmers' resumes consist of short stints lasting no more than a year as they are forced to leap from one doomed studio to another.[20] This is why some prefer to consult and are therefore somewhat shielded from the effects of the fates of individual studios.
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Most commercial computer and video games are written primarily inC++,C, and someassembly language. Many games, especially those with complex interactive gameplay mechanics, tax hardware to its limit. As such, highly optimized code is required for these games to run at an acceptable frame rate. Because of this,compiled code is typically used for performance-critical components, such as visual rendering and physics calculations. Almost allPC games also use either theDirectX,OpenGLAPIs or some wrapper library to interface with hardware devices.
Variousscript languages, likeRuby,Lua andPython, are also used for the generation of content such as gameplay and especially AI. Scripts are generallyparsed at load time (when the game or level is loaded into main memory) and then executed at runtime (via logic branches or other such mechanisms). They are generally not executed by aninterpreter, which would result in much slower execution. Scripts tend to be used selectively, often for AI and high-level game logic. Some games are designed with high dependency on scripts and some scripts are compiled to binary format before game execution. In the optimization phase of development, some script functions will often be rewritten in a compiled language.
Java is used for manyweb browser based games because it iscross-platform, does not usually require installation by the user, and poses fewersecurity risks, compared to a downloaded executable program. Java is also a popular language formobile phone based games.Adobe Flash, which uses theActionScript language, andJavaScript are popular development tools for browser-based games.
As games have grown in size and complexity,middleware is becoming increasingly popular within the industry. Middleware provides greater and higher level functionality and larger feature sets than the standard lower levelAPIs such asDirectX andOpenGL, such asskeletal animation. In addition to providing more complex technologies, some middleware also makes reasonable attempts to beplatform independent, making common conversions from, for example, Microsoft Windows toPS4 much easier. Essentially, middleware is aimed at cutting out as much of the redundancy in the development cycle as possible (for example, writing new animation systems for each game a studio produces), allowing programmers to focus on new content.
Other tools are also essential to game developers: 2D and 3D packages (for exampleBlender,GIMP,Photoshop,Maya or3D Studio Max) enable programmers to view and modify assets generated by artists or other production personnel.Source control systems keepsource code safe, secure and optimize merging.IDEs withdebuggers (such asVisual Studio) make writing code and tracking down bugs a less painful experience.