Video game creation

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skyhawk

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How does EA sports and the like create video games like FiFa series , NBA live series , battlefield series. i mean what programming languages are involved and how many people work on each game. hOw long does it take to create a game. Thanks in advance.
 
C++
People? Varies. I'd guess ~100 is about normal. Pretty dynamic though & tends to start slowly...doesn't make sense to have all 100 there from the start & do nothing.
Time? Varies. For big games 1-3 years, but often much more.
 
skyhawk said:
How does EA sports and the like create video games like FiFa series , NBA live series , battlefield series. i mean what programming languages are involved and how many people work on each game. hOw long does it take to create a game. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

They have custom dev engines they've built up over the years. Bunches of reusable classes and code that you have little hope of recreating from scratch in a reasonable timeframe IMO. The only way to make it on your own in the gaming sector is to reuse an existing engine somehow licensed, or to come up with a new concept that relies more on the concept for playability than a slick engine - my 5c.

If you want to start somewhere, MS do a gaming dev for xbox certification afaik. Though successful games are cross platform and likely developed on a platform independent system.
 
HavocXphere said:
C++
People? Varies. I'd guess ~100 is about normal. Pretty dynamic though & tends to start slowly...doesn't make sense to have all 100 there from the start & do nothing.
Time? Varies. For big games 1-3 years, but often much more.
Click to expand...

Programming language varies, some are coded in Python...

However, C++ and C are the best because you have total control over all the parameters, meaning streamlined gaming! Especially graphics, that can be a monster in resources, so you need something that can control those resources...

Also, depends on the game how many people are working in it, but ~100 sounds fair... also, remember, it's not just coding... It needs animation guys, graphics guys, marketing, AI, game play, testers, and also games these days actually have story lines developed for them, just like the movies, so you need voice actors, script writers, scene play guys... All in all, it's a flipping involved process.

Time, well, seems like 12 years for Duke Nukem ;).

As SaladCharger said... Almost all main game production houses develop their game engines over time. Battlefield 3 will use a lot of API's from Battlefield 2, 1942, Vietnam, etc... All because it's cheaper to reuse, than it is to make new stuff... So say the body movements might have been done well in Battlefield 2, they will reuse that particular code, and just modify it a little to add new features on top ( like take a pee movement...)
 
Watch the credits for the amount of people.

Duke Nukem was made in a year, it was just held up for 12 years.
 
scotty777 said:
Programming language varies, some are coded in Python...
Click to expand...
The core game is almost always C++, C or if they're feeling particularly hardcore then some ASM too. Everything else is just too slow for the main loop. Python & similar just get used for scripting events in game...speed doesn't matter there.

scotty777 said:
Battlefield 3 will use a lot of API's from Battlefield 2, 1942, Vietnam, etc...
Click to expand...
I don't think API means what you think it does. ;)
 
scotty777 said:
So say the body movements might have been done well in Battlefield 2, they will reuse that particular code, and just modify it a little to add new features on top ( like take a pee movement...)
Click to expand...
You can take a P in Battlefield 3? :erm:
 
I'm just a newbie modder, but having C++ as your core programming language helps you with other languages too. I'm only a coder, so I'm stuck with using the assets of that particular game. So far I've made a map for UT3, and a few mutators. Also just recently made a map for Heroes of Newerth, which required a bit of coding/scripting. Which was vastly different to what I was use to with the Unreal Engine. But basic programming principles still applied.

Runestorm as mentioned is making their own chess game, and they only exist of 3 brothers. But each one of those brothers have a wide skillset and experience of at least three other professionals...
It's basically what you make of tools your given and the skillset of the individuals, it's become rare to find indie devs who only specialise in one discipline. You only get that with the big companies.
 
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