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Agame development tool is a specializedsoftware application that assists or facilitates the making of avideo game. Some tasks handled by tools include the conversion of assets (such as3D models,textures, etc.) into formats required by the game,level editing andscriptcompilation.[1]
Almost all game development tools are developed by thedeveloper custom for one game, or by a console manufacturer (such asNintendo orSony) as part of agame development kit. Though tools may be re-used for later games, they almost always start out as a resource for a single game. While manyCOTS packages are used in the production of games—such as 3D packages likeMaya and3D Studio Max, graphic editors likePhotoshop andIDEs likeMicrosoft Visual Studio—they are not considered solely game development tools since they have uses beyondgame development.
The game tools may or may not be released along with the final game, depending on what the tool is used for. For contemporary games, it is common to include at least level editors with games that require them.
Early in the history of thevideo game industry, game programming tools were non-existent. This wasn't a hindrance for the types of games that could be created at the time, however. While today a game likePac-Man would most likely havelevels generated with alevel editor, in the industry's infancy, such levels werehard coded into the game'ssource code.
Images of the player's character were also hard-coded, being drawn, frame by frame, by source code commands. As soon as the more technologically advanced use ofsprites became common, game development tools began to emerge, custom programmed by theprogrammer. Today, game development tools are still often programmed by members of the game development team by programmers, often whose sole job is to develop and maintain tools.
Numerous tools can be used to assist in game development. Often developers use tools to convert 3D model formats and graphic image formats into custom formats (though, increasingly,importers andexporters handle these tasks). Level editors are used to create environments and other tools may be used to view assets before they are incorporated in the game. For a contemporary commercial game, a half dozen tools or more may be used to assist in the game creation process.
Game tools change very often during the development process. The look and facility of a tool from the beginning of a project to the end may change dramatically. Often features are added with very little testing to assist other developers as fast as possible. The use of a tool also changes so much that users may have difficulty operating it from one day to the next as late-added features change how it is to be used. Since facility is often the primary goal for tools, they may be very user-unfriendly, with little or no built-in help. For tools that are to be shipped with the game, often debugging and user-friendly features are done near the end of the development process.
Outside of the game development team during the game's creation, many tools would have little facility. Level editors, however, once entirely proprietary, have increasingly been included with the shipping game to allow users to create their own game scenarios. Some games, such asFiraxis'Civilization IV, are built with usermodification in mind and include numerous tools for game customizing.