It seems like not all that long ago that in-browser games were basic, clunky, and limited in capabilities. However, due to advances in technology and internet speed, we’re now seeing some seriously impressive animation effects in games – including in online slots.
Slot games and the history of the internet
Gambling has always been a lucrative industry and the internet has allowed the industry to flourish in a way that it’s never been capable of before. With the internet comes the capability for anyone, anywhere, to take part in gaming and gambling activities – a pastime that has been huge in cultures around the world in various capacities for millennia.
In the earlier days of the internet, we didn’t have the speed necessary to be able to provide users with complex animations. The amount of data that needed to be transmitted over the network to provide complex animations was too large – and the speed too slow.
As the internet grew up, speed and bandwidth increased, allowing us to transport more data at a faster speed – which means that we’re now able to provide the browser with a complex animation.
How do online slot machine animations look so good?
You’ll notice that the animations that you see in online slot games don’t require any input from the user. This makes them much easier to produce than interactive animations. If you have ever played a recent Xbox or PlayStation game, you’ll notice that the cutscenes (i.e. the “story” parts in between game play) are a lot more advanced that the art in the game play itself. This is because cutscenes are pre-rendered and stored as a video file rather than rendering in real time – like the gameplay. The same goes for online slot machine animations, they are also pre-rendered and then displayed to the user as video.
3D slot machine game animation
3D slot machine game animators are the same animators that you would use on any other project – such as a movie or console game. The requirements for jobs as a 3D artist/animator at a casino game production house remain the same. This includes knowing tools such as After Effects, Photoshop, Premier and plugins, maybe Cinema 4D as well. The process is the same, whichever end product that you’re working on as a designer. The games that come out are quite astonishing and its hard to believe they are available through a browser interface.
Animations as part of creating a great online slot game
Creating an online slot game starts with developing the maths behind the game. This is what makes machines legal and fair – the maths and type of game needs to be compliant. Once you have this style and maths in place, you can produce as many different skins for the game as you like.
This is why you’ll see literally hundreds of games that have a similar gameplay but look completely different. After the style and maths is done, a theme (such as Egyptian, or Gems) is developed, features are developed that are compliant, and art is started
This means that game houses can save the funds they’d use to create new maths and styles over and over again and spend it on themes and art. In fact, creation of new maths and styles isn’t something that’s done very often – although when they are created and become successful then can be wildly lucrative for the house that came up with it in the first place.
Why is it that casino games and slots are driving development in browser-based gaming technology?
As mentioned before, the capacity for profit making by online gambling houses is enormous. With the online gambling market this year pushing $50 billion, there’s plenty of money to be made. Because of the amount of money poured into these games from punters, it means that gambling houses have the funds to hire more designers of a better quality, and with the means to create stunning animations. And with online slot machine games, the more enthralling the game, the longer a player stays playing it – giving the gambling house more incentive to produce a better game.
This cyclical effect – punters staying longer on better games and spending more money funding better games – is what is really driving the market.
This is also the reason why traditional games are trying to keep up. Whereas traditional games you paid a one off fee, now there are microtransactions being incorporated into many games to try and boost quality, development, and profits.
It’s interesting that in a field long dominated by traditional gaming development that animation has come to forefront in slot machine games. As always, development efforts go where the cash goes, so it’s a natural progression that this would be put into gambling ventures.
Animators or 3D artists looking for a change of pace or working environment would do well to look into job opportunities available at online casino houses. Even if you’re just starting out, junior positions become available from time to time as well.