Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
The technical director is often referred to as the TD. Their duties can include
the following:
Create in-game effects.
Act as a technical liaison between the software engineers and the
artists.
Work closely with the art director and lead technical director to
research, create, and implement art processes and solutions within
the game for final production.
Automate as many processes as possible into tools that can be used
by the entire art team.
This job can also be split among different technical directors, depending on
their specialties. For example:
Lighting TDs
Light and render 3D scenes
Character TDs
Rig a character with a skeleton, and create clothing, hair, and
deformation controls
shader TDs
Write and adjust shaders to create the appearance of models
Because of the rapid changes in technology, how games are delivered to the
players (platforms), and how engines are constantly being revised and updated,
this person needs to remain as current as possible with these updates.
A
shader
is a set of
instructions applied
to a 3d model that
tells the computer
how the model
should be displayed.
programmer
Programming is the art of building the language for the game. The lan-
guage is the way the game talks to the game engine and the playback system.
Programmers can work with existing engines or, more likely, create a unique
engine for the game they're working on.
Third-party game engines, such as the Unreal engine, can be licensed for use
in games. Any programmer working on the game project will need to under-
stand how to work with a system like this. Many small, independent production
companies can't afford the large price tag of an engine like Unreal, but game
engines come in all sizes and price ranges. Small companies might choose a
smaller, more compact engine that can be licensed or purchased for use, such as
Torque, or even a freeware engine.
Games may have programming directors, technical directors, and program-
ming leads in charge of whole crews that are working on a game. Technology
is ever-changing, which is one reason this topic has not focused too much
