game-development

Game Development Orchestrator skill that provides core principles and routes to specialized sub-skills. When to Use This Skill You are working on a game development project. This skill teaches the PRINCIPLES of game development and directs you to the right sub-skill based on context. Sub-Skill Routing Platform Selection If the game targets... Use Sub-Skill Web browsers (HTML5, WebGL) game-development/web-games Mobile (iOS, Android) game-development/mobile-games PC (Steam, Desktop) game-development/pc-games VR/AR headsets game-development/vr-ar Dimension Selection If the game is... Use Sub-Skill 2D (sprites, tilemaps) game-development/2d-games 3D (meshes, shaders) game-development/3d-games Specialty Areas If you need... Use Sub-Skill GDD, balancing, player psychology game-development/game-design Multiplayer, networking game-development/multiplayer Visual style, asset pipeline, animation game-development/game-art Sound design, music, adaptive audio game-development/game-audio Core Principles (All Platforms) 1. The Game Loop Every game, regardless of platform, follows this pattern: INPUT → Read player actions UPDATE → Process game logic (fixed timestep) RENDER → Draw the frame (interpolated) Fixed Timestep Rule: Physics/logic: Fixed rate (e.g., 50Hz) Rendering: As fast as possible Interpolate between states for smooth visuals 2. Pattern Selection Matrix Pattern Use When Example State Machine 3-5 discrete states Player: Idle→Walk→Jump Object Pooling Frequent spawn/destroy Bullets, particles Observer/Events Cross-system communication Health→UI updates ECS Thousands of similar entities RTS units, particles Command Undo, replay, networking Input recording Behavior Tree Complex AI decisions Enemy AI Decision Rule: Start with State Machine. Add ECS only when performance demands. 3. Input Abstraction Abstract input into ACTIONS, not raw keys: "jump" → Space, Gamepad A, Touch tap "move" → WASD, Left stick, Virtual joystick Why: Enables multi-platform, rebindable controls. 4. Performance Budget (60 FPS = 16.67ms) System Budget Input 1ms Physics 3ms AI 2ms Game Logic 4ms Rendering 5ms Buffer 1.67ms Optimization Priority: Algorithm (O(n²) → O(n log n)) Batching (reduce draw calls) Pooling (avoid GC spikes) LOD (detail by distance) Culling (skip invisible) 5. AI Selection by Complexity AI Type Complexity Use When FSM Simple 3-5 states, predictable behavior Behavior Tree Medium Modular, designer-friendly GOAP High Emergent, planning-based Utility AI High Scoring-based decisions 6. Collision Strategy Type Best For AABB Rectangles, fast checks Circle Round objects, cheap Spatial Hash Many similar-sized objects Quadtree Large worlds, varying sizes Anti-Patterns (Universal) Don't Do Update everything every frame Use events, dirty flags Create objects in hot loops Object pooling Cache nothing Cache references Optimize without profiling Profile first Mix input with logic Abstract input layer Routing Examples Example 1: "I want to make a browser-based 2D platformer" → Start with game-development/web-games for framework selection → Then game-development/2d-games for sprite/tilemap patterns → Reference game-development/game-design for level design Example 2: "Mobile puzzle game for iOS and Android" → Start with game-development/mobile-games for touch input and stores → Use game-development/game-design for puzzle balancing Example 3: "Multiplayer VR shooter" → game-development/vr-ar for comfort and immersion → game-development/3d-games for rendering → game-development/multiplayer for networking Remember: Great games come from iteration, not perfection. Prototype fast, then polish.