Console Development in 15 minutes

Sperasoft talks about several important aspects of game development on various consoles as opposed to PCs.

gamedev, consoles, pc, gaming, controllers, trc, interface, debug, porting

Transcript

1. CONSOLE DEVELOPMENT IN 15 MINUTES All you need you to know to be a Pro
2. Who we are follow us on twitter @Sperasoft visit our site: http://sperasoft.com/career/ Sperasoft is a great team of professionals specializing in SKU development, game engineering, art, online and platform development and production support.
3. • Different hardware platforms o PC, XBox, PS3 o Each have its own unique properties • Consoles are weaker that PC o But they have controllers! • Dev Kits used for development: o Debug hardware specific problems Overview
4. • Different hardware platforms o PC, XBox, PS3 o Each have its own unique properties • Consoles are weaker that PC o But they have controllers! • Dev Kits used for development: o Debug hardware specific problems Overview
5. • Whatever you do, think of memory • Avoid leaks ( everyone fails that ) • Know your memory management system • Avoid memory fragmentation • Never use global scope new • Sometimes useful to un-inline functions • Careful with templates • Always use same allocator to delete stuff • Stack size is limited too • Use memory analysis tools available Memory
6. Have a question? Like this deck? Just follow us on twitter @Sperasoft
7. • Always think of the performance • Understand usage of the code that you write • Avoid extra nested loops • Avoid extra pointer dereferencing • Avoid cache misses • Sometimes useful to handcraft/unroll loops • Sometimes useful to inline functions • Use performance analysis tools available Performance
8. • You must know and follow your processes • Simple code > smart code • Keep relevant people in loop • Code reviews are mandatory • No build breaks • No major functionality breaks Teamwork
9. • TRC stands for Technical Requirements Checklist: o Failing to meet TRC cost a lot of money; o It is better to pass first party TRC check at once; • Be aware of TRC violations: o due to unresponsiveness; o due to controller unplugs; o to screen space allocation; o due to network connectivity loss; • Can use game restart as last resort TRC Specifics
10. • Pay attention to your interface • Design clean interfaces, use PIMPL • Maintain ABI • Try to use PODs in your interfaces Package Development Specifics
11. • Know and use STL: o It is quite good comments and documentation • No magic numbers • Defensive programming, assert a lot • Use includes, namespaces correctly General Coding Specifics
12. Follow us on Twitter @Sperasoft Visit our site: sperasoft.com