The gaming industry has been shaped from making arcade games to games with immersive experiences that are captivating millions of gamers!
There is no secret to the fact that the video game industry is booming and game development is a promising career choice.
Reports by NewZoo [market research firm] indicate that the global revenue for games is expected to reach $211.2 billion by 2025!
Another report by Glassdoor showed that a professional game developer makes around $71,295 in a year.
These figures are a reflection of the rising importance of game developers. When a lot goes into game development, developers' creativity, expertise and technical skill play a crucial role.
Though, transforming game ideas into reality demands actual role-play. And this role play comes with laying architecture and programming of video games.
To deploy games on the game engines, several programming languages play a crucial role.
In this blog, we will have a look at some of the most popular programming languages that are used in game development!
Languages used in Game Design
For game design or development, you need a programming language. Though the right language you want to pick depends mainly on the projects, features you need and the experience you have as a programmer.
Explore the best languages that are used in game development and their best suited engines:
C++
For most Microsoft Windows games, C++ is touted as the base language.
The basic aim of this object-oriented programming language is to organise the code into some self-contained units. To code complex games, the objects are being designed as moveable or reusable. This language is well worth the trouble for developers looking to enhance their creativity.
C++ in Game Engines
This language is recognised as among the most popular languages in developing game engines. Game engines offer best-in-class technology for each game aspect, including graphics, sound, physics and AI game bots.
Developing your engine is the best way to boost creativity and control in your game. Hence, if you want to go this route, there is a need to know C++ for versatility and capability.
Designers often use C++ for programming in pre-existing engines. As gamers always want high performance with minimum delays. But video games have the chance of high server loads. Though, code in C++ runs easily and quickly even when multiple tasks are running.
Moreover, C++ operates closely with the hardware and helps you release projects with multiple operating systems. Moreover, it also has the capability to incorporate other programming languages.
Hence, this language is useful in some of the most popular engines like Unreal Engine, Godot, Source and Cryengine.
C#
Did you know?
C# is considered the powerhouse behind some popular games like Temple Run and Pokemon Go.
This language is considered more simple and more accessible than C++. This high-level language is easy to understand. The syntaxes help in code reusability that reduces the errors of compiler runtime.
It is also referred to as the scripting language for video games. The language helps lay out the mechanics for game development by telling the computer what to do when a game progresses.
C# in Game Engines
For Unity 3D, C# is considered the default language. In 2021, Unity was touted as the top engine choice for about 61% of developers. It is a highly used game engine for VR games as well. Apart from facilitating easy cross-platform development, Unity is also free for use, making it highly popular for beginners. That is why C# is a must in your toolkit.
This back-end language is useful for communicating with the server rather than the user. The language aims at telling the server how to interpret an action. It is also a highly-recommended scripting language for many PlayStation games.
Javascript
Javascript is a highly popular front-end web development language for developing versatile games.
This dynamically-typed language determines the data type at run time to write the codes efficiently. Developers can intuitively write codes for responsive games while handling requests for a fast user experience.
Today, some of the best online games run on the core technology of HTML5. The javascript-powered HTML games can run efficiently on web browsers and mobile platforms.
Javascript in Game Engines
Javascript-compatible game engines include; Three.Js, Geo Engine, Allegro and Impact.Js. With its diverse tools and framework, which also include the cross-platform graphics for the HTML5 games framework.
Java
Some leading Android and IOS games, like Mission Impossible III and Minecraft, are powered by java.
Small game development companies quite commonly use this versatile language. This cross-platform language runs on Microsoft, Linux and any system.
If you are a noviceat coding or game concepts, you can start working on Java to run or debug the codes faster. Java games mainly run on virtual machines, which makes the software quick and games as less costly to create.
Java in Game Engines
Java runs mainly on game engines like Jake 2, LibGDX and jMonkeyEngine. JavaFX library offers a wide set of tools to work with animations and graphics that helps developers to build multiplayer games.
Visual Scripting in Game Development - Need of Hour
Sometimes it may not be desirable to create games using programming languages. That is when visual scripting comes into play.
In game development, visual scripting empowers the developers to develop the gameplay mechanics using visual or graph-based systems despite using the traditional codes.
You need not to type codes in C# or C++, as visual scripting lets you use the drag-and-drop interface. Novel designers, artists, audio engineers and those who don’t know programming can quickly create prototype ideas without a programmer’s help.
From Unity to the Unreal engines, visual scripting has become an indispensable tool for game design and development. The visual way of scripting behaviour orchestrates the game’s logic by transforming data and assets.
Final Words
The game development universe is ever-evolving as new technologies and concepts in game design intrigue or excite game developers every day.
You can learn about these concepts in detail and build best-in-class games by taking part in game development courses!
