What is happening behind the scenes when you take a code base and "burn" it to a CD be read by a game console?
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\$\begingroup\$ What do you mean with "behind the scenes"? Do you want to know how a CD burner works? \$\endgroup\$– PhilippCommented Sep 9, 2018 at 1:25
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\$\begingroup\$ yea i guess thats what i am asking \$\endgroup\$– Cody RutscherCommented Sep 9, 2018 at 1:32
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\$\begingroup\$ Burning a game to a CD isn't fundamentally different from burning any other kind of data. Is it really the burning itself you're wondering about, or the problem of making a game run on console? Can you tell us about what you're trying to do with your current game or mod project, that you're hoping answers to this question will help you with? \$\endgroup\$– DMGregory ♦Commented Sep 9, 2018 at 1:36
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\$\begingroup\$ If what you have is a code base (as in: source code) it needs to be compiled and built for the particular target hardware. I would expect that the result, for the case of a gaming console that takes disks, would be an image (as in: a file with everything that needs to be put in the disk) that you would then burn (perhaps the same software does the whole process). For how burning works, this is not the site. And for the specifics of the compilation and build process... it would change from console to console. The details will be very technical and very specific, and probably kept under wraps. \$\endgroup\$– TheraotCommented Sep 9, 2018 at 1:37
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Generally, nothing special is happening "behind the scenes" when burning a disc containing a game than when burning any other collection of bits to a disc. If you're interested in that basic process, this isn't the place to ask (as it's not game development specific), but you could start by searching for the terms "optical disc manufacturing" or "how CD burners work."
There are, however, two points that are somewhat related to game development:
As implied above, the mass-market production of optical discs for eventual sale in stores (et cetera) is typically done via a different technique ("duplication") than the one you'd see at home using your own CD "burner." Game publishers would typically create some kind of master image for the final game and send that to a duplication manufacturer.
Some consoles that used optical discs used nonstandard or unique formats, or variations on those formats (for example, PlayStation discs had intentional bad blocks to identify them to the correct hardware). This was generally done for copy-protection or region-locking purposes, and may have resulted in needing specialized software or workflows to produce a working disc (for example, software that would not balk at the intentional bad sectors).