The gaming industry has been growing consistently over the last few years, with gamers reaching 2.5 billion worldwide. Besides gamers, there are also game designers and developers who develop the exciting video games you play.
The design and development process involves developers, designers, and other professionals such as sound engineers and publishers based in different locations. They need a reliable file transfer service to work collaboratively and share project files. However, getting one can be tricky since most game files are huge, making them hard to transfer using regular file-sharing services. Fortunately, there is a dependable method for transferring game design documents and large files. Stick around to learn more.
What Is Video Game Designing?
Video game design involves choosing the genre and target audience for your video game. It is also where you develop the game’s rules and general concepts. After completing the general design, a designer proceeds to more complex stuff such as plots, maps, storyline, methods of losing and winning, levels, the user interface, and characters.
Video game designers create a draft and then experiment with different genres and themes to find the best.
What Is Video Game Development?
Video game development brings the designed game to life. This process includes testing, coding, sound effects, software programming, engineering, and other vital operations to ensure the game is functional. Therefore, a video game developer collaborates with the game designer to transform the design into a top-notch playable game.
A video game developer needs remarkable programming and coding skills to incorporate a designer’s concepts, storylines, drawings, sketches, and layouts into lines of code to develop the game. Also, video game development can be a small or large project done by an individual or a large studio.
What Is a Game Design Document?
This refers to the software design document that acts as a blueprint for building your video game. It provides a clear direction of the process, allowing the team to be on the same page.
Here is what this document includes:
- Executive summary (project scope, genre, game concept, target audience, etc.).
- Mechanics (physics, rules, combat, etc.)
- Gameplay (in-game GUI, objectives, game progressions, etc.)
- Assets (sound effects, music, 2D/3D models, etc.)
- Game elements (locations, story, level design, characters, worldbuilding etc.)
Game design documents can be as large as 100+ pages. However, video game studios try to develop smaller, manageable documents to help speed up the process.
The Challenges Game Designers and Developers Face When Sending Large Files
Game designers and developers work on different drafts before publishing the complete version. So, they must keep sharing the game files during the entire process. However, doing so becomes tricky since the team lives miles or even continents apart. Also, a video game involves many advanced graphics and other things that make the files pretty huge to send.
Since the files could even be over 50 GB in size, it might take a couple of days to transfer. It might take longer when working with a huge team.
File Transfer Services a Game Developer Can Use to Send Large Files
1. FileWhopper
FileWhopper is a unique tool that allows you to send 10TB files. Most game files are usually smaller than this, thus making FileWhopper an excellent fit for developers and designers. It even sends large files without compressing them, meaning the quality won’t be affected.
This file transfer service uses zero-knowledge encryption to guarantee a secure file transfer. Therefore, nobody can snoop on your files because even the recipient must provide a unique password to access them. Additionally, FileWhopper does not use the file’s name during the transfer. It instead uses unique transfer IDs to keep the files completely anonymous.
FileWhopper doesn’t charge monthly or yearly subscriptions. Instead, it uses a pay-as-you-go method. So, you only pay for FileWhopper when you need it. Then, depending on your file’s size and any other additional service you might need, you will only be charged.
Your files are usually stored on the server for two weeks and then deleted. However, you can pay for more cloud storage if need be. FileWhopper lets you send the download link to the recipient before the upload completes. That way, the recipient can immediately start downloading the file as it uploads.
FileWhopper uses multi-threaded technology to ensure fast transfers. However, the actual transfer speeds may be hugely determined by your internet speeds. It also has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to upload and download files.
2. Google Drive
Google Drive is a popular cloud storage service that allows you to store and share files easily. You can access it using your computer, tablet, or smartphone. It offers 15GB of free storage, which you can use for your large files. However, this will still not suffice for game developers and designers, hence making it an unsuitable option. Also, Google Drive doesn’t let you set a password for the shared files.
3. Dropbox
Dropbox is another user-friendly cloud storage service that lets you store and organize different files. Unfortunately, it has 2 GB of free storage, insufficient for game developers and designers. So, you would be forced to cut your files into small parts to send them using Dropbox.
4. WeTransfer
WeTransfer is a unique tool that enables you to quickly upload files by dragging and dropping them on the interface. You can then share them with the recipient via their email address. Like Dropbox, this service’s free plan also has a 2GB limit.
5. Use File Compression Services
A file compression service enables you to compress your large folder into a smaller size to make it easily sendable. However, there is a high chance that the file’s quality will be tampered with, mainly if the folder includes videos.
The above methods are great, especially when sending small files. However, they may not be suitable for game developers and designers because they have a small size limit. Also, unlike FileWhopper, they don’t have high-end encryption systems and technology to ensure secure and fast transfers.
Conclusion
Game development and design involve complex operations that demand reliable file transfer methods. There are different file transfer services that you can use. Hopefully, this article has helped you understand the best method to quickly and securely send large files.
