The Evolution of Game Design
If you’ve been playing games for several decades, then you probably haven’t noticed the gradual increase in the quality of game design. After all, you’d have to be pretty perceptive to notice incremental improvements. However, if you go back and look at the old games now, and compare them to the current offerings, then you’ll see a huge difference. Indeed, the quality has improved so much that playing a game today is essentially a different experience compared to how it used to be. And the exciting part is that things are still improving.
From Basic to Sublime
The earliest gamers were pioneering, but they were also basic, not just in storylines and content, but in design too. Today, technological advancements allow for a much more realistic and immersive experience, and that’s true for all game types. The rich, colorful design of online casino games, especially themed slot games, is lightyears ahead of the clunky and rough leading titles of the 1990s. The same can be said of mobile games, which have developed significantly in the past ten years.
Blending the Technical with the Creative
So how did we get here? It comes down to two core developments: technological advances that made it possible to create better-looking games and a creative drive that opened up the possibilities of what games could be. It’s not just that game creators now can create lush landscapes in their games — it’s that they’re not thinking to do so. The development of technology and the creative push forward have moved in tandem, allowing each to feed into one another.
New Technologies
The popularity of video games has created a hugely valuable industry that’s projected to be worth some $520 billion by 2027. What’s notable about the gaming industry is that it rarely just sits on its profits; it invests the money back into the industry, providing the foundation upon which design technology can develop. Advanced graphics cards, motion sensors, and much-improved audio have all helped to create a deeply immersive experience for gamers.
In the coming years, we’ll see greater utilization of new gaming technologies such as 3D, virtual reality, and augmented reality. 3D gaming headsets have developed significantly in recent years and will become a greater part of the gaming experience moving forward; indeed, by 2032, it’s anticipated that this segment of the gaming industry will be worth $44 billion, up from its current value of $11 billion.
Larger in Scope
Play a newly-released title today, and you’ll likely find a large, playable open world. This is especially true in RPG games, but you’ll find expanded worlds in all types of games these days. And this element of game design is down to two things: first, games have simply become more ambitious in scope. Second, games can be bigger. There are games that are more than 100 GB in size, which would have been unthinkable not too long ago since there was no disc that could contain that amount of data. Today, with everything online, game developers can push the boundaries and let their full artistic side flourish to create large landscapes, because of how affordable cloud storage is.
A Developing Field
The game design world is pretty advanced right now, and that’s something that’ll develop in the future, too. With the game industry growing year on year, more and more creative people are looking for positions in the game design field. Some top universities are even offering game design programs. With this component of the gaming industry being pushed for, it’s likely that we’ll see ever-more complex and advanced designs becoming a mainstay of new gaming titles.