Why Game Development is Better in a Hybrid Environment
Game development is a complex process. The life cycle of a game can extend for years and some may go on for decades. Some of the game development processes can be easily moved to the cloud whereas others seem to hit a roadblock. This is the main reason why development in a hybrid environment is growing at a rapid pace instead of comprehensive migration to the cloud.
Understanding the game development process
To understand the game development process, we have to divide it into several blocks.
Pre-Production
Storyboarding
This is the conceptual stage, in which writers and artists are primarily involved. Modern storyboarding can often involve people from various parts of the world, and such collaborative work requires robust tools which speed up decision making and enhance productivity. A cloud-based offering is best suited for this stage. We require an enterprise collaborative environment to enrich the process.
Creating a 2D Prototype
This stage is critical especially when game developers are seeking funding for their project. One must realize that 3D animation is both labor and infrastructure intensive, calling for an infusion of large investment. At the same time, 2D prototyping does not consume as much processing power or memory. For a startup prototyping in a cloud environment is ideal, and typically game developers work on several prototypes simultaneously and then pitch to investors. The cost of developing prototypes can be dramatically reduced in the cloud.
Production
Full Scale Game Development
One must remember that not all prototypes pass the test to reach the 3D development stage. At this juncture the need for extensive infrastructure becomes important. Game development by itself can be divided into several smaller processes: modeling, texture mapping, lighting effects, animation and finally rendering. Executing these processes requires extensive resources which can be accessed in a cloud environment. Rendering farms in the cloud can be very cost effective especially when the demand for the resources is elastic and fluctuating.
The main limitation in adopting cloud technology for rendering is the transfer of data. Since the amount of data transferred is usually in the terabytes, and the time required for this can sometimes negate some of the benefits derived from cloud infrastructure.
Post Production
Compositing and special effects are part of the post-production process, and here there is sufficient scope for using cloud-based infrastructure. The problem of data transfer through internet pipelines can be negated to some extent, since the rendering process is already completed.
Testing
Testing may seem like a tertiary process but in game development, this step is crucial. Game developers utilize the expertise of seasoned gamers, often scattered all over the globe. A cloud-based environment is perfectly suited for testing, mainly because of its multi-location features. You can read more about this on GMO Cloud’s Locations page.
Conclusion
As you can see, it’s pretty clear that some 3D game development processes are a great fit for the cloud environment while others are better suited for in-house infrastructure. Rendering farms in the cloud can only be effectively utilized if the data pipeline is robust. For this reason, game development may be perfectly suited for a hybrid environment, rather than completely migrated all processes to the cloud.
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About the Guest Author:
Sankarambadi Srinivasan, ‘Srini’, is a maverick writer, technopreneur, geek and online marketing enthusiast rolled into one. He began his career as a Naval weapon specialist. Later, he sold his maiden venture and became head of an offshore Database administration company in Mumbai. He moved on as Chief Technology Officer of one of the largest online entities, where he led consolidation of 300 online servers and introduced several Web 2.0 initiatives. He holds a Master’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunication.
