Game development software engineering process life cycle: a systematic review

Abstract

Software game is a kind of application that is used not only for entertainment, but also for serious purposes that can be applicable to different domains such as education, business, and health care. Multidisciplinary nature of the game development processes that combine sound, art, control systems, artificial intelligence (AI), and human factors, makes the software game development practice different from traditional software development. However, the underline software engineering techniques help game development to achieve maintainability, flexibility, lower effort and cost, and better design. The purpose of this study is to assesses the state of the art research on the game development software engineering process and highlight areas that need further consideration by researchers. In the study, we used a systematic literature review methodology based on well-known digital libraries. The largest number of studies have been reported in the production phase of the game development software engineering process life cycle, followed by the pre-production phase. By contrast, the post-production phase has received much less research activity than the pre-production and production phases. The results of this study suggest that the game development software engineering process has many aspects that need further attention from researchers; that especially includes the postproduction phase.

Systematic Design and Rapid Development of Motion-Based Touchless Games for Enhancing Students’ Thinking Skills

“…Although game development life cycle guidelines (GDLC) have different characteristics and several pros and cons, there are three generic phases accepted in the game development process. These are: "(1) Design and prototype: the process of creating initial game design, game concept, and put it into a form of playable prototype, (2) Production: the process of making the source code, creating the assets, and integrating them as one, (3) Testing: the process of playtesting, whether it is conducted by internal team members or third-party testers" [12]. Afterwards, students should recognise the necessary content of these 3 core phases.…”

Testing methods for mobile game development a case study on user feedback in different development phases

“…Mobile game development is sometimes thought to be mainly software development, but it is in fact much more. According to Aleem et al [3], the multidisciplinary nature of the processes that combine sound, art, control systems, artificial intelligence (AI), and human factors, makes the game development practice different from traditional software development. Because of the multidisciplinary activities and competences required, game development is a very complex task.…”

“…If including more general processes, the game development process is indeed discussed in scientific literature. Aleem et al [3] have made a systematic review about game development software engineering process (GDSE) life cycle. They state that the process is usually split in the following main phases: The pre-production phase includes testing the feasibility of target game scenarios, including requirements engineering marketing strategies.…”

“…The list below illustrates all actions, which can be seen to appear in those phases. Aleem et al [3] bring up that due to relatively young history and empirical nature of the field, there has not been any development strategies or set of best practices to carry out game development fully explored. Their study helps to identify the research gaps in game development life cycle.…”

“…Developing a new mobile game that finds its niche in the market is not easy, and there are no straightforward guidelines for creating a successful game. This is partly because developing the mobile game is not just software development but requires plenty of different skills and knowledge from the development teams: sound and art, artificial intelligence, control systems, and especially the understanding of the human factors [3]. This makes the game development process a complex task.…”