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Interactive Multimedia Games Development COM631

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Understand steps from initial idea/proposal to working prototype to full game development ... Blinx, The time sweeper. Level Design & Game play ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Interactive Multimedia Games Development COM631


1
Interactive Multimedia Games Development COM631
  • Week 5 Level Design Process

2
Presentation Schedule
  • Gavin McLaughlin 9.30
  • Jim Murray 10.00
  • Aaron Ward 10.30
  • Andrew Hetherington 11.00

3
Learning Outcomes
  • Understand the game development process
  • Understand steps from initial idea/proposal to
    working prototype to full game development
  • Extension to week 4 lecture, early game
    development
  • Understand what makes a good game level
  • Understand how game elements interact to create
    immersive environments

4
Level Design Process
  • Level design process combines number of elements
  • in the creation of game worlds
  • Environment/architectural design
  • Modeling, lighting, artwork and animation
  • Music/sound effects
  • Enemy and problems/obstacles
  • Essential to combine elements together
    effectively to
  • create compelling environment for game play

5
Level Types
  • Number of different level types
  • Each type suitable for different scenarios
  • Context dependant based on role within the game

6
Level type Standard Level
  • 90 of game levels are standard levels
  • Contains typical game play elements and storyline

7
Level type Hubs
  • Usually appear in RPG/adventure/action games
  • Hubs are used to connect other levels together
  • Typically do not have same gameplay model as
    standard levels
  • Tend to have multiple entry and exit points
    (Temporal/dynamic)
  • Used frequently
  • Hubs serve multiple purposes e.g. provide access
    to game play elements for player maintenance i.e.
    training, health, equipment, safe zones, quests

8
Level type Boss Levels
  • Climax point in games
  • Contain bosses/sub bosses
  • Level designed around boss features
  • Provide a change from standard levels in a game
  • Typically smaller in size with different game
    play mechanics
  • Level must be completed to progress

9
Level type Tutorials
  • Tutorials level typically appear early in the
    game
  • Main purpose is to train players and provide
    basic skills to allow progression
  • Usually short with simple obstacles/challenges
  • Difficult to design properly
  • Used to teach new skills in short amount of time
    without overly delaying access to the rest of the
    game
  • Essential to get balance right (information
    overload)
  • Must be appropriate in the context of the rest of
    the game

10
Level type Bonus Levels
  • Typically optional and shorter than standard
  • Not required for game completion
  • Used as rewards e.g. new weapon
  • Provide a break from standard game play
  • Optional nature means can be dropped if required

11
Level Design Process
  • Each level must be designed in the context of the
  • game and game objectives
  • Why is it here
  • What type of level is it
  • Where does it appear
  • What functions does it fulfil
  • How does it relate to other levels
  • What does it introduce e.g. new character,
    weapon, monster or skill
  • Does it advance the storyline
  • Is it single player or multiplayer game

12
Level Design Process
  • Each level usually has a single focus
  • Activity to be completed
  • Game play element to introduce
  • Visual attraction
  • Novel concept
  • Each level should not have multiple objectives

13
Level Design Process
  • Essential to ensure variety in each level
  • Achieved by changing level elements e.g.
    objectives, obstacles, setting, enemies
  • Ensures game maintains user interest

14
Level Design Process
  • Plan level in advance
  • Use high level of detail
  • Use storyboards to allow multiple iterations and
    refinements
  • Include sketches, maps, models and photographs
  • Last step in process should be implementation on
    computer

15
Design Considerations
  • Level design involves 3 main considerations
  • Physical/spatial characteristics
  • Temporal characteristics
  • Relationship between level design and game play

16
Design Considerations
  • Physical/spatial characteristics focus on
    physical elements of the game environment
  • Ensure these are planned and implemented
    effectively

17
Design Considerations
  • Frostbite engine
  • Mercenary 2
  • Fracture
  • 95 destructible environments
  • Impacts on gameplay

18
Perspective
  • Need to consider user perspective/view in design
    of level
  • Impacts on level construction e.g. attention to
    detail
  • First person perspective, view from perspective
    of the player character

19
Perspective
  • Third person perspective
  • Player character is visible on screen
  • Game world viewed through camera observing the
    scene
  • Fixed or over the shoulder view

20
Perspective
  • Types of third person perspectives include
  • Omnipresent gives view of all game world with
    flexible camera
  • Isometric view 30 to 45 degree angle on game
    action

21
Third person perspective
Star Craft isometric view
Black White omnipresent
22
Perspective
  • Types of third person perspectives include
  • Top-down where the game is viewed usually with
    scrolling
  • Side-view where the game is viewed from the side
    usually with some form of scrolling

23
Third person perspective
1942 Top down
Super Mario side view
24
Mixing perspective
25
Physical Layout Considerations
  • Physical layout determined by game play type
  • Single player levels lead a player from goal to
    goal either in a linear/non-linear fashion
  • Multi-player levels are typically less complex
    and more open

26
Internal and External Design
  • Different approach in design of internal spaces
    and external spaces
  • Typically internal spaces are smaller, more
    detailed and constrained by walls and ceilings
  • External spaces are more open with ability to see
    far into the distance and require less detail

27
Terrain and Materials
  • Levels typically contain 2 types of elements
  • Man made e.g. buildings made of wood, concrete
    etc..
  • Organic e.g. trees, grass, terrain, sky, clouds

28
Level Scale
  • Level scale includes the size of physical space
  • and the relative size of objects in the game
  • To ensure high level of realism try to ensure
    object scale accurately reflect their size
  • Some exaggeration necessary to ensure elements
    are easy to spot or manipulate
  • Scale distortion maybe necessary to allow player
    to cross world easily

29
Level Boundaries
  • Practicalities limit game world size
  • Levels require boundaries
  • Boundaries must be appropriate to ensure player
    immersion e.g. blown up vehicles, thick
    vegetation

30
Level Style
  • Level style influences its structure and
  • appearance
  • Architecture of man-made structures
  • Terrain element layout
  • Placement and types of objects
  • Coloring/texturing/shading

31
Level Style Landmarks
  • Distinctive landmarks help orient player
  • Aid in level navigation
  • Provide focal point

32
Level Consistency
  • Level look should be consistent
  • Each element must sit in the context of overall
    theme and game objectives
  • Aids player immersion

33
Temporal Considerations
  • Time considerations
  • Real world versus wall clock time
  • Real time, faster/slower than real world
  • Can be player action dependant
  • Different game play elements for night time and
    day time
  • Darkness, shops open, monsters

34
Authentic Time
  • Use passage of time as a gameplay mechanic
  • Can be synchronized with real world time

35
Variable Time
  • Typically if time is used as a mechanic in a game
    it usually runs faster than reality
  • Time jumps removing boring periods where nothing
    is happening
  • Usual approach is to speed up time to accelerate
    through boring or non relevant time periods

36
Player Controlled Time
  • Players can usually modify game time inside
  • levels E.g.
  • Sports games, adjust the length of full/half time
  • Fighting games, round length
  • Flight simulators, journey time
  • Some occasions where this is not feasible

37
Time as a Game Mechanic
  • Games can incorporate variable time as a
    mechanic
  • Time can be slowed, frozen, reversed or repeated
  • Can facilitate interesting interactions with game
    elements

Blinx, The time sweeper
38
Level Design Game play
  • Possible to underestimate impact of level design
    on game play
  • Needs to be carefully planned to maximise player
    enjoyment
  • Reinforces game objectives when correctly done

39
Level Design Player Goals
  • Ensure player knows objectives and goals of each
    level
  • Use mission screens, cut scenes or scripted
    action
  • Ensure players can measure level progress
  • Level design should complement objectives

40
Level Design Obstacles
  • Obstacles prevent the player from completing
  • their goals E.g. simple roadblocks
  • Opposite of objectives in most software
  • Basic obstacles to slow player down progress
  • Increase interaction
  • Complements other obstacles
  • Doors, walls pits etc..

41
Level Design Enemies
  • Games involving combat typically have enemies
    that need to be defeated to achieve player goal
  • Enemies can have different attack styles or be
    bigger or smaller
  • Enemies must be appropriate in the context of the
    game/level
  • Enemies should be gradually introduced with
    graduated levels of difficulty.

42
Level Design Enemies
Cyberdemons
Barons of hell
Cacodemons
Imps
Spider masterminds
43
Level Design Traps
  • Traps are obstacles to ensnare or inflict damage
    on players inside the game world
  • These include closing walls, falling objects and
    pits
  • Used appropriately they can heighten
    tension/apprehension or fear in a level

44
Level Design Puzzles
  • Puzzles are obstacles to player progress that
    require some thought to solve
  • Can change game play
  • Needs to be appropriate to game
  • Puzzle Quest, Nintendo DS genre bending game

45
Puzzle Design
  • Good puzzles contribute to character, plot and
    story development and increase immersion
  • Poor puzzles are intrusive and obstructionist and
    can break immersion

46
Puzzle Types
  • Challenge is to design puzzles that are unique
    but appropriate to the game world
  • Numerous classifications of puzzles types
  • Best games mix and match puzzle types

47
Ordinary Puzzle
  • Ordinary use of an object is a simple puzzle
  • The player uses object intuitively e.g. key
  • Challenge is finding the object
  • Usually the item is protected by another puzzle
    or boss

48
Unusual use of an object
  • Unusual use takes advantage of secondary
    characteristics of a game object
  • Relies on player determining alternative use
  • Puzzle is the appropriate combined use of an
    object
  • E.g. Discworld Frog in sleeping characters mouth

49
Building Puzzle
  • Player creates new object from raw materials in
    the game
  • Involves combining or converting object
  • Usually requires player guidance

50
Information Puzzle
  • Player supply a missing piece of information e.g.
    password or key code
  • Discovery process involves talking to other
    players, reading documents/emails

51
People, Timing Sequence Puzzles
  • People puzzles involve interacting with game
    characters to remove them as obstacles
  • Usually talk/trade with character
  • Timing puzzles require the player to do something
    which effects something in the future
  • Sequence puzzle rely on a series of actions
    performed in the right order
  • Usually starts with a simple action with
    additional obstacles e.g. open door with key
    where the key is inside a monster

52
Logic and Classical Puzzles
  • Logic puzzles are where player must examine
    information and infer answer
  • Classic puzzles e.g. magic square

53
Riddles Dialogue puzzle
  • Riddles involve clues and hints
  • Must balance difficulty, makes player assumptions
  • Dialogue puzzle require a player to follow a
    conversation along the correct path of a dialogue
    tree until the player says or does the right thing

54
Machinery and Maze Puzzle
  • Player must use a piece of machinery in correct
    fashion
  • Follows trial and error/ logic approach
  • Maze requires player to find way out

55
Good Puzzle Design
  • Good puzzle design is based on the effective use
    of game elements
  • Bad puzzles will break immersion
  • Player should have all the tools required needed
    to solve a puzzle
  • Effects should be linked to cause
  • Requires testing to ensure its intuitive
  • Avoid binary puzzle approaches leads to
    frustration

56
Good Puzzle Design
  • In the interests of fairness all answers should
    be contained within the game
  • Puzzle should be theoretically solvable at first
    attempt
  • Puzzle should be appropriate to game and setting
  • Puzzle should reinforce the game\level theme

57
Puzzle Difficulty
  • Fine tune puzzle difficulty
  • Vary amount/presentation of information provided
    to the player
  • Design alternate solutions to puzzle
  • Distract player with erroneous information

58
Puzzle Design
  • Puzzles should be based around villains
    objectives/skills
  • Villains objective is to stop player
  • How can this be achieved in the context of the
    game?
  • Remember game fairness, puzzle must not be based
    on information a villain or boss should have not
  • Player empathy is essential

59
Level Design Obstacles
  • Levels must be designed to accommodate
  • obstacles
  • Obstacles must match level setting/style
  • Should be clearly identified from background
  • Should include visual clues

60
Level Structure Progression
  • Ease player into each level and gradually
    increase level difficulty
  • Increase conflict gradually in line with skills
  • Vary level pace
  • Allow time for exploring, intense game play and
    down time

61
Curved Difficulty Progression
Curved difficulty progression
62
Game Flow Control
  • Key to good level design is to control the flow
    of action in the game
  • Carefully manage/guide player
  • Difficult to achieve good control in non-linear
    model
  • Different solutions e.g. physical barrier or boss
    that is only removed when goals are achieved

63
Game Flow Control
  • Close off area/s where necessary to allow
  • for better resource management E.g.
  • Create one way barriers to prevent users going
    back once crossed
  • Test extensively to ensure no unexpected game
    play e.g. Doom health and rocket launchers

64
Level Duration Availability
  • Game levels should be suitability timed
  • Rule of thumb is to complete a level in a single
    game play session
  • Could range from a few minutes to hours depending
    on genre
  • Long levels need to include plenty of
    milestones/save points

65
Level Difficulty
  • Balance game level difficulty
  • Some frustration but avoid multiple deaths for no
    good reason
  • Cater for different skill levels
  • Use multiple challenges at different levels of
    difficulty in each level
  • Allow different ways to complete level depending
    on skill levels e.g. experts high risk/reward
  • Include secret passages or rewards

66
Level Balance
  • Level inventory balance requires
  • careful planning
  • Includes supply of weapons/health
  • Number and positioning of enemies
  • Balance of risk and reward e.g. difficult task
    bonus

67
Testing Evaluation
  • Design of level is an iterative process
  • Involves high level of fine tuning
  • Requires constant testing and evaluation
  • Pay attention to feedback

68
Game Design Trade-Offs
  • Typically game design involves conflicts between
    different design goals
  • Sometimes only possible to achieved one goal by
    sacrificing another
  • Conflicts often obvious but can be subtle
  • Careful consideration needed to balance which
    goals/objectives are included or sacrificed

69
Balance versus Enjoyment
  • Hard to balance game for all player types or
    capabilities e.g. novices versus experts
  • Ensure you know your market
  • Understand skills and preferences of target
    audience
  • Balance the game to provide challenges for all
    players

70
Game Simplification
  • In some instances it is hard to achieve a balance
  • between level of accuracy/abstraction
  • Over realistic game play may cause
    clutter/boredom
  • Under realistic may disappoint expectations
  • Appropriate level of realism needed but not at
    the cost of player experience
  • Make sure level of controls is manageable

71
Serious Games
  • Serious games require attention to detail and
    realistic game play
  • Fun element must not interfere or lessen game
    objective
  • May have real world consequences

72
Structure versus Freedom
  • Linear versus non-linear games
  • Player freedom/creativity versus frustration
  • Genre dependant e.g. God games versus rail
    shooters

73
Mood Setting
  • Dark, poorly lit games invoke fear but hide
    essential game detail
  • Design for ambience is important but should not
    be at the cost of playability

74
Innovation versus Game Norms
  • Unique selling point essential for a game
  • Highlight game innovation
  • Need to keep an element of familiarity
  • Particularly important across genres

75
Maintaining Game Focus
  • Increasingly games have elaborate sprawling
    worlds
  • Full of different activities
  • Excessive scope leads to lack of focus and risks
    losing player
  • Needs to keep goals in sight
  • Again careful balance needed

76
AI Interaction
  • Game AI still poor
  • Interaction with NPC typically limited
  • Actions usually scripted and pre-determined
  • End result is usually combat

77
Balancing Game Elements
  • Game qualities include breadth, depth pace
  • Breadth involves different actions that a player
    can perform
  • Depth involves level of activity detail
  • Pace describes rate at which action unfolds
  • Hard to get a correct balance between all three
  • Typically can achieve 2 at any time without
    overwhelming
  • player. E.g. Call of Duty 3.

78
Level Design Summary
  • Harder the challenges bigger the rewards
  • Design for functionality/limitations of AI
  • Remember level place in the context of the entire
    game
  • If you remove a player skill or weapon make the
    rationale clear and understandable
  • Design for different playing styles
  • Make good use of audio and visuals
  • Gradual experience

79
Assignment 3 Overview
  • Assignment 3 Creation of an abbreviated game
  • design document (Preproduction)
  • Total available marks 25
  • Individual assignment
  • Assignment 3
  • Due 04/11/08 (Week 7)
  • Example document here

80
Assignment 3 (Preproduction)
  • Create an abbreviated game design document for
    the game level you will create in Gamebryo for
    Assignment 4
  • Structure is based on template/examples supplied
  • Report generated should follow the format given
    as closely as possible, example document here
  • Be realistic on time constraints
  • You must pitch your game to the class in a formal
    presentation

81
Assignment 3 Guidelines
  • The document should follow the game design
    document
  • structure provided and also include accompanying
  • support material
  • Description of level theme
  • Level design concept development material
    (including rough sketches/photographs)
  • Level layout design diagram (Level blueprint) and
    game board
  • Back of the box description

82
Assignment 3 Output
  • Report, supporting material and class
    presentation
  • Submission Guidelines for report
  • As required following format/template given
  • Submission Guidelines for presentation
  • Powerpoint presentation of appropriate length
  • Submission Details
  • Assignments should be submitted on day of
    presentation

83
Assignment 3 Deliverables
  • Hard copy of game design document
  • Print out of back of box design
  • CDROM containing digital copy of all
    report/presentation and supporting material
  • Presentation/pitch to class in week 7

84
Level blueprint game board
Level blueprint and game board from Level Design
for Games, Phil Co
85
Back of the box description
Cover Dark Messiah, Ubisoft
86
Assignment 3 Mark Allocation
87
Interactive Multimedia Games Development COM631
  • Week 5 Level Design Process
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