Not at all! What makes the world of videogaming so dynamic is the creative ability to do whatever you want. Obviously, you need to be one hell of a programmer to design software to create video games and render maps, and stuff like that. But the steps can be broken down easily. However, I dont know those exact steps. If I knew them, I wouldnt be here talking about it. I would be putting it to the test!
Anyway, probablly the best user freindly engine I know is the source engine. Valve (The developers of the source engine) give players of their games to discover what makes their levels tick. By opening up the Source Developer Kit (The SDK) you can develop your own maps for popular video games such as Left 4 Dead, Half Life 2, Team Fortress 2, Portal and even Counter Strike Source! Ive been mapping with the source engine for a few months now, and let me tell you... GOD DAM! This stuff is hard as hell! You have to worry about colliding lighting, similar atmosphearic lighting, defining prop entities, npc battle lines, ect. To make a HL2 map takes at least a full month working 12 hours a day to make a full quality map with the detail that valve puts into games like Half Life 2. Incredible really... I just got the full hang on the SDK and now Im making full maps with everything needed to make a map work (And work well). It takes alot of time and dedication (Early on, I scrapped at least 12 projects) to get into the gist of it all.
Once you work with such software though, you have a much better appreciation for video games and their developers (Metal Gear Solid 4 for example. A true work of art!) and when you learn the general techniques developers use to make games, you notice that they are not even perfect! In the first level of Halo 3, as soon as you spawn, turn all the way around and look behind the first tree on the left. Cant get behind there right? It blocks you. This is called a player clip and is one of many things developers use to make sure the player doesnt get "Stuck" and have to restart the level.
With the increase in multiplayer gaming, singleplayer has become less of a common aspect you see in alot of games. Stories dont link together as they should and the abilities of the created universe arent expanded upon. So much could have been done for the Halo serise, but the result is a typical first person shooter. Dont get me wrong, its a great game. Alot of effort went into it to make it what it is, but there are things that it was lacking because they wanted to fix the multiplayer
Being able to play online with your freinds is a really cool aspcet of any video game, but however it comes at a cost for people who truly appreciate games and see what they are truly worth. Your always to rushed in multiplayer to pwn those noobs (And they deserve it) but you dont get that oppurtunity to look around and smell the digital air. The atmosphear that is created in a game like Silent Hill is truly spectacular! It messes with you. You cant see more than five feet ahead of you (Because of the fog)
Though the combat system in Silent Hill V sucked horribly, the level design and atmosphear is incredible. Truly a masterpeice of level design! I never liked the game to much because of its slow proggression and its horrific combat system (Very choppy and unsatisfying) but still is a great example of a well designed videogame.
I hope this has given you a little insight onto how game developers see things and such.
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