Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
untangle the mysteries of DNA sequences [Xoreax Advanced Grid Solutions 01,Sun
Microsystems 11,Pande lab Stanford University 11]. These frameworks can also
benefit from what is explained in the following sections.
1.2.2 Features and Design Decisions
In this section, we list the requirements for a hypothetically ideal system. We
also group the requirements according to degrees of desirability. Most of them are
purposely open and, in some cases, vague. You as a designer need to find what each
of them means depending on your particular environment and the characteristics
of your project.
As a common-sense rule, you should clearly determine the constraints, complex-
ity, and targets of your system. A careful study will help in answering the single
most important question you need to ask yourself:
Do I really need to implement my
own solution, or can I use an off-the-shelf product like XNA Build, SCons, Make-
files, Jam, ...?
Even if the vast majority of projects require some sort of build
pipeline, adapting an existing package can be a wise decision that may eventually
save your company a significant amount of development and support time.
Your project will also impose alternative requirements and priorities. The fol-
lowing list tries to cover a wide set of situations. Even if some of them are just
guidelines, they have to be seriously considered, as they are the source of project
failures and frequent design pitfalls. As general as they are, use them as a starting
point after which you will probably want to consider more specialized features that
are not included here.
Required features of a build.
Given a set of input and target files, the build must be able to automatically
determine what files need to be processed and in which order.
It must be able to handle the amount and complexity of transformations
required to process each file.
It must be able to detect processing errors and report them accordingly.
It must be able to handle a variety of sources of data. A generic system needs
to be agnostic of the contents of the processed files.
It must be able to produce assets for a number of target platforms.
It must finish within a reasonable time frame and always within the con-
straints defined by the project.
Finally, a key factor for its success: It must provide a smooth user experience.
Even if internally complex, an effort needs to be made to make it look simple,
clear, fast, or at least to keep users informed.
