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Title: FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT


1
FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
  • SOUNDARARAJAN EZEKIEL
  • INDIANA UNIVERSITY OF PA
  • INDIANA, PA 15705

2
Goals of this course
  • We have 3 main aims
  • To provide an insight into one of the biggest
    entertainment industries in the world. Globally,
    the computer game market worth billions of
    dollars
  • To describe the stages involved in developing a
    game concept, using industry examples, also to
    introduce gaming terminology. This will provide
    the necessary basic knowledge to further an
    understanding of games and their development.
  • To provide practical exercises that require some
    of the skills and techniques necessary to
    becoming a computer game designer.

3
What this course do for you
  • It will start you off on the long but exciting
    journey to becoming a professional in the game
    industry
  • Keeping up with change
  • Game industry is a rapidly developing phenomenon,
    technological innovation sees continued changes
    in the devices people use to play games.
  • As the market develops, players become more
    sophisticated and the types of game they play are
    ever-changing.
  • There is a plenty of activity on the game
    development such as browser game and
    user-developed modifications and additions of the
    games.
  • This is an exciting time to be involved in the
    industry.
  • Developing Experience

4
What is a game
  • Game is a structured or semi structured
    activity used for enjoyment or education purpose
  • Key component of a games are
  • Goals --- Rules--- Challenge --- Interactivity
  • Games involve mental, physical or both
  • Need practical skills
  • Games are a universal part of human experience
    and present in all cultures
  • The word Game Ludwig Wittgenstein address the
    definition. Austrian (1889- 1951) went to
    school with Hitler

5
History
  • Mankind has been playing games since historical
    records began
  • Oldest Ancient Egyptian game called Senet 3500
    BC
  • Royal Game of Ur also played in Egypt 2600 BC
  • Go ( 4000 years old) and Chess( 1000 years old)
    simple games black and white pieces on squared
    board
  • 1938 Johan Huizinga defined game as follows
  • Play is a voluntary activity or occupation
    executed within certain fixed limits of time and
    place, according to rules freely accepted but
    absolutely binding, having its aim in itself and
    accompanied by a feeling of tension, joy, and the
    consciousness that it is different from ordinary
    life
  • French Sociologist Roger Caillois defined a
    game as
  • Fun
  • Separate
  • Uncertain random outcome like dice or coin toss
  • Non-productive
  • Governed by rules
  • Fictitious

6
Game --- continue
  • Chris Crawford ( founder of journal of computer
    game design and computer game developer
    conference ) defined game as follows-
  • Creative expression is art if made for its own
    beauty, and entertainment if made for money
  • A piece of entertainment is a plaything if it is
    interactive. ( movies and books non-interactive
    entertainment)
  • If no goals are associated with a plaything, it
    is a toy if it has goals, a plaything is a
    challenge.
  • If a challenge has no active agent against whom
    you compete, it is a puzzle if there is one,
    it a conflict
  • Finally, if the player can only outperform the
    opponent, but not attack them to interfere with
    their performance, the conflict is a competition.
    However, if attacks are allowed, then the
    conflict qualifies as game.
  • Kevin Maroney- A form of play with goals and
    structure
  • Eric Zimmermann- An activity with some rules
    engaged in for an outcome
  • Greg Costikyan- A game is a form of art in which
    participants, termed players, make decision in
    order to manage resources through game tokens in
    the pursuit of a goal.

7
Game Continue..
Art
Creative Expression
beauty
money
Entertainment
Interaction
NO
Movie
Plaything
Goal
Toy
No
Challenge
Competitor
No
Puzzle
Conflict
NO
Competition
Attack Allow
Game
8
Game Theory
  • Game theory is a branch of applied mathematics
  • It studies strategic interactions between agents.
  • 1944 John von Neumann Theory of game and
    economic behavior RAND cooperation also helped.
  • Famous Game theorist John Nash Beautiful Mind
  • Game theory was also theme for movies ( war
    games) and other game show ( Friend or Foe,
    Alias, NUMB3RS)
  • Representation of Games
  • Extensive Form- formalize games with some
    important order
  • Normal Form- represented by matrix
  • Characteristic Form
  • Partition function form
  • Types of Games
  • Cooperative and non-cooperative players are
    able to form binding commitments
  • Symmetric and asymmetric
  • Zero sum and non-zero sum game-players neither
    increase nor decrease the available resources
  • Simultaneous and sequential
  • Perfect information and imperfect information
  • Infinitely long games
  • Discrete and continues games
  • Meta games rules for another game

9
Artificial Intelligence
  • 1950s Alan Turing- Can Machine Think
  • 1956- John McCarthy coined the name AI
  • 1959- IBM Scientist Arthur Samuels devised a
    program that played checkers
  • AI used in many fields including gaming
  • Strategy determine the optimal action from a
    possible actions
  • Path finding- find best path through a simulated
    landscape filled with lots of obstacles.
  • Natural language Parsing computer try to
    understand language
  • Natural language generation generate language
  • Pattern recognition voice recognition, space
    recognition, detecting patterns in player
    behavior.
  • Simulated people and creatures
  • Planning
  • Learning
  • Deduction, reasoning, problem solving
  • Knowledge representation
  • Motion manipulation,
  • Search and Many More applications

10
Game Mechanics
  • Rules are what game designers call game
    mechanics.
  • Crucial aspects of games are goals, rewards,
    entertainment, and challenges.
  • Here are some common examples of game mechanics
  • Skill physical skill (wrestling, tug of war)
    mental skill( chess..)
  • Luck this is random choice, an outcome that the
    player has no control over( role of die,
    gambling, snake and ladder,..)
  • Strategy this is almost exact opposite of luck
    ability to plan turns and moves within a game
    determines the outcome( checkers, chess, go,
    tic-tac-toe, )
  • Resource Management player has certain assts
    must be used carefully if he is to succeed
  • Territory control--- control the game space is
    often important
  • Diplomacy How players interact
  • Many games help to develop practical skills,
    exercise, educational, psychological role

11
Non-digital game classification
  • You dont need computer to play these games as a
    game designer you should be familiar with these
    games. Many of the characteristics found on these
    games are used in computer games.
  • Board Games-Games played on a specially designed
    board can cover a whole range of themes chess,
    Go, Risk and Monopoly
  • Card Games- use as a central tool such as a deck
    of cards standard deck customized decks. Some
    collectible card games such as Magic The
    Gathering are played with a small selection of
    card
  • Role playing- Dungeons and Dragons was created
    by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson
  • Tabletop war games usually played on a large
    playing surface with miniature figures

12
Some Milestone Game
  • Monopoly- 1930 during depression, it concerns
    real estate transactions
  • Board War games
  • Napoleon at Waterloo Star Force
    Alpha Centauri
  • War in the East Battle for Germany
    Russian Civil war
  • Breitenfeld Battle of General Mac Arthur
    Diplomacy
  • Other Non computer Games
  • Cosmic Encounter Dungeons Dragons
    Illuminati
  • Magic the Gathering Whack a Mole
  • Video Games
  • Space Invaders Pac-Man Space
    Panic Donkey Kong
  • Dragons Lair
  • Computer Games
  • Star Raiders Eastern Front
    Wizardry Dandy Civilization
  • Deadline M.U.L.E Balance of
    power Doom
  • Kings Quest Trust Betrayal The
    7th Guest Myst
  • Warcraft Secret Weapons of Luftwaffe
    Populous
  • SimCity- Create City like real world city,
    traffic delays, crimes, police stations, tax
    revenues to build city

13
Online Games
  • Games that are played over some form of computer
    network
  • With the current technology ( internet, flash,
    java) Some of the online games like Quest for
    Chaos, World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI, Star
    Wars Galaxies, and Lineage II charge monthly
    fees.
  • First person shooter games- many contain some
    form online component
  • Real-time strategy games multiplayer play over a
    modem or local network
  • Cross-platform online play Playstation 3, Xbox
    360, Wii, Dreamcast, GameCube have online
    functionality like the PC
  • Browser Games- using a game browser.
  • Massively Multiplayer online games using
    internet to allow hundred of thousands of players
    to play the same game together
  • Role Playing Games- RPG is a game in which
    the participants assume the roles of fictional
    characters and collaboratively create or follow
    stories. They rarely have winners or losers. it
    is different from board games, card games, sports
    and most other types of games.
  • The above two groups are most often combined.

14
Video Game
  • Games involve interaction with a user interface
    to generate visual feedback on a video device
    (raster display device)
  • Now Video game systems for any display device
    Large to small
  • Input device used in Video games is called Game
    Controller Consists of buttons, joystick, ---
    Olden days it uses keyboard keys
  • Other devices speakers, headphone, vibrations
    and force feedback peripherals.
  • History-
  • 1947 Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr., Estle Ray Mann
    got Patent 1948Simulated missile firing at
    targets on the CRT monitor
  • 1952 Alexander S. Douglass OXO for EDSAC
  • 1958 William Higinbothams interactive game
    called Tennis for Two
  • 1961 MIT student Martin Graetz, Steve Russell
    Space War - DEC PDP11
  • 1971- Computer space was released and first
    commercially sold, coin operated video game
    Nolan Bushnell, and Ted Dabney
  • 1972 Magnavox Odyssey the first home console.
  • 1975 Ataris Pong
  • Video Game Industry exploded afterwards.

15
Video Game-- Continue
  • Platforms- combination of electronic hardware
    low level software the terms system or console
    are also used
  • Types-- Many types ( Educational, )
  • Genres-- method of game play, types of goals,
    -- Now more complex,
  • Development-- Game development and authorship
    programmer, desinger, sound designer, musicians,
    technician, ..
  • Team ranges from 5- 50 even 100 members
  • Modification- designed with end-user
    modification
  • Cheats- Cheating codes, modify the game colors,
    graphical appearances.
  • Glitches- problem with software fix by patches.
  • Demographics
  • Age group 20-40 played significantly
  • 40 female game players
  • Multiplayer games
  • Benefit- Artistic and Entertainment Some
    people argue it is good for educational such as
    literary and science
  • Controversy- graphic violence, sexual themes,
    advergaming( form of advertising), consumptions
    of drugs/ alcohol/tobacco, propaganda,
    profanity.. Political, social, religious, special
    interest group
  • ESRB- Entertainment Software Rating Board rates
    software for age groups

16
Gaming Industry
  • Three largest gaming markets North America,
    Japan, and UK
  • Other European and Asian Markets are rising
    significantly
  • Sales varies among the countries
  • Japan is ranked first in console video game
    sales.
  • North Korea computer games over 20,000
    internet cafés to play online games
  • NPD Group track US sales 2007
  • Retail price 17.94 billion
  • Last December, Americans spent 4.82 billion on
    video game
  • 44 up from 2006 sale of 12.53 billion
  • Japan Sales is about 6.3 Billion in 2007
  • Hardware sale 7.04 Billion up 54 from 2006
  • Nintendo ranked first 8.3 million Nintendo DS
    6.3 million Wii
  • Best selling game Microsoft's first person
    shooter Halo 3
  • Xbox sold 4.6 million
  • PS3 2.6 million
  • Total--
  • Xbox 18 M,
  • Game Boy Advance 70M with 290 M units of
    software
  • Game Cube 20 M with 166 M units of software

17
Game Development
  • Game developments- the process by which a game
    is produced.
  • Commercial games are created by a team and costs
    from 1M - 20M normally funded by a publisher
    normally takes 1-3 years
  • Development team consists of
  • One or more producer to oversee the production
  • At least one game designer
  • Artists
  • Programmers
  • Level designers
  • Sound engineers( composers, sound effects, voice
    acting)
  • Testers
  • Some members handle more than one role.
  • Often the development team is overseen by
    managers such as art directors.
  • Development Process-
  • Pre-production- the idea must be approved by
    upper management or publisher
  • Production- programmers write code, artists
    develop game assets that 3D model of game
    elements, sound engineers develop sound effects
    and composer develop music for the game.
  • Milestones- Need to meet deadlines.
  • Nearing Completion- Weeks before completing the
    game are very intense. Group work overtime
    without pay Extra effort has taken to make sure
    every thing works well
  • Testing- Make sure the games every feature
    works well
  • Completion-after the game goes gold and ship
    most of the time team gets compensation for
    their overtime.

18
Game Development-- continue
  • There are well over 1000 video development
    companies today most of them are tiny with 1 or
    2 members
  • Culture- game development culture has always
    been and continues to be very casual by normal
    business standards.
  • Durations- it depends on a number of factors
    it will take 1-3 years.
  • Locales- Most of the time they are very close to
    major universities.
  • Stability- Game industry is very volatile, only
    5 of products make profits.
  • Indie game development( Independent game
    development) self funded small team, sometime
    operating over the internet. They have full
    control over the game they publish over internet
    or sell to publishers.

19
What is game programming
  • Playing games is one thing. Lets talk about how
    these games are produced. Can you make your own
    game? How do the companies make games? How is
    art, music and story brought together?
  • Programming is like art. It means a collection (
    millions ) of instructions tell the computer/
    video console what to draw, how to make the
    character act, what to show on screen and so
    on.
  • Programming contains collision detection,
    vectors, mathematics ...
  • It is possible to get a job in this industry.
    Imagine working with other creative, like-minded
    individuals to develop games that millions of
    people potentially play Many companies offer
    internships for students.
  • If you know C/ C perfectly that doesnt mean
    you will get a job in game development You need
    more than that such as 3D Knowledge, mathematics,
    AI, Physics etc.
  • Some Recommendations-- Do not develop bad
    sleeping habits, take regular breaks, divert your
    eyes every 10 min for about a min by looking
    outside the windows

20
Get Started
  • Programming environment choose programming
    language
  • How easy is it to learn
  • Is it suitable for gaming
  • Does the language work with suitable game
    development libraries or APIs ( Application
    Programming Interface)
  • What platform will the language run on
  • Will I able to find support if I have a problem
  • Is there documentation available
  • Choose Game development Library or API
  • Is this library compatible with my language
  • Is this library suitable for my skill level
  • Is this library suitable with the kind of game I
    plan on working
  • Is there enough information available for this
    API
  • Understand and agree with the library licenses
  • You now have a language and library game
    libraries will provide gaming components such as
    graphics, sound-- then you should learn and read
    everything you can if you did not understand,
    get helpdo not give up- when you are ready to
    write a program, understand the necessary IDE(
    integrated Development Environment)

21
Get Started.. Conti..
  • Gather your tools-- collect all the tools(
    software and hardware)
  • Designing your game
  • Start Small it is a huge and complex task, so
    start small
  • Plan otherwise you will run into problems
  • Wait Analyze your ideas
  • Get Feedback from fellow gamers and developers
  • Creating Game Media- create your game media if
    you are not an artist get some help find
    partners.
  • Coding your Came
  • Flexibility
  • Prototype
  • Dont optimize early
  • Keep all tested code
  • Deploying your game
  • Market your game
  • Find a publisher
  • Find independent publisher
  • Sell by yourself

22
Gaming -Glossary
  • A-- AI algorithm to find a path
  • AAA- rating Game with big budget
  • Adaptive learning AI system that can reprogram
    based on the environment
  • Aimbot method of cheating in multiplayer game
    use script to perform perfect target.
  • Algorithm- step by step procedure
  • Aliasing- high resolution image in low resolution
    screen
  • Alpha-first stage program
  • Alpha blending- include various details in
    texture.
  • Alpha channel In 32 bit color, 24 used for real
    color and 8 bit for alpha values
  • Ambient Lighting- light that is refracting off
    objects around the us
  • API- Application Programming Interface
  • Backspace Culling Hidden surface removal
  • Blending Mixing color from different sources
  • Buffer
  • Camera- an object which describe the viewpoint
    of the player
  • Clipping process of removing some parts
  • DLL Dynamic Link Library
  • Dynamic Lighting- lighting adjusted in real time
    for changing light sources
  • Engine- group of one or more classes that
    perform special tasks

23
Gaming -Glossary
  • First person shooter- is a genre of games in
    which you view the world from the perspective of
    the character.
  • Frame- a single time step
  • Game Genre- is simply a specific type of game
  • GLSLOpenGL Shading Language
  • GDI- Graphical Device Interface
  • Key frame- part of animation technique which uses
    data to set up snapshots
  • Lossless , Lossy, Linked List, LIFO, FIFO,
    Linear Interpolation
  • Matrix
  • Memory Leak- memory allocated to data but no
    pointer to pointing out
  • MMORPG- Massive Multiplayer online role playing
    game
  • OLE( oh-ley) Object Linking and Embedding create
    an object within one program and embed it into
    another
  • OOP- Object Oriented Programming
  • Pixel- Picture Element
  • Shader- used in rendering process
  • Sky Box- trick used in 3-d graphics to display a
    horizon( far away stuff)
  • Stack
  • Texel- Texture element
  • Vector-
  • Vector graphics- graphics made of line, math
    formula.

24
Game Play
  • What is game play?
  • It is a series of interesting choices
  • We are going to defines in terms of challenge and
    actions
  • Challenge- any task set for the player that is
    nontrivial to accomplish
  • Action- The rules specify what actions the
    players may take to overcome the challenge and
    achieve the goal of the game
  • Game Play
  • The challenge that a player must face to arrive
    at the object of the game
  • The actions that the player is permitted to take
    to address those challenges
  • This definition lies at the heart of the game.
  • Fantasy and imagination play an important role in
    game
  • Fairness- players expect that the rules will
    guarantee that the game is fair
  • Symmetry and asymmetry- In a symmetric game, all
    the players play by the same rules and try to
    achieve the same victory condition
  • Competition and Cooperation
  • Two player
  • Multiplayer
  • Team player
  • Single player

25
How games entertain
  • At the most elementary level, game design
    consists of inventing and documenting the game
  • Most of the games are designed to be
    entertainment you cannot be a successful game
    designer if you create a game in abstract you
    must be an entertainer.
  • Different people enjoy different things, you
    should create a game that entertains in a
    variety of ways
  • Game play is the primary source of the
    entertainment in all video games
  • Lets list some of types of challenges that we
    will come across.
  • Physical Coordination Challenges
  • Speed and reaction time Tetris
  • Accuracy or precision Need for Speed
  • Timing and rhythm Dance Dance Revolution
  • Learning combination moves Street Fighter
  • Formal Logic Challenges
  • Deduction and decoding Mastermind
  • Pattern Recognition Challenges
  • Static pattern Heaven and Earth
  • Patterns of movement and change Sonic the
    Hedgehog
  • Time pressure
  • Beating the clock Frogger
  • Achieving something before some one else Indy car
    racing

26
Challenges continues
  • Memory and Knowledge Challenges
  • Trivia You dont know jack
  • Recollection of objects or patterns Concentration
  • Exploration Challenges
  • Identifying spatial relationship Descent
  • Finding keys Ultima
  • Finding hidden passages Doom
  • Mazes and illogical spaces Zork
  • Conflict
  • Strategy, tactics, and logistics Warcraft
  • Survivals Pac-Man
  • Reduction of enemy forces Half-life
  • Defending vulnerable items or units ICO
  • Stealth Thief
  • Economic challenges
  • Accumulating resources or points Civilization
  • Establishing efficient production systems The
    settlers
  • Achieving balance of stability in a system Sim
    Earth
  • Caring for living things Creatures

27
Design Component and Processes
  • Before we can discuss the process of game design
    itself, we will talk about how to approach it.
    Over the years, people tried many approaches and
    some of them is better than others.
  • Is game design an Art or Engineering or Craft?
  • Some people think it is art, it is engineering
    because it involves math and technology, some
    people thing it is a craft
  • Answer- It is Elegance.
  • The player-centric Approach
  • Player centric game design is a philosophy of
    design in which the designer envisions a
    representative player of a game the designer want
    to create, then accepts two key obligation to
    that player
  • The duty of entertain a games primary function
    is to entertain the player, and it is the
    designers obligation to create a game that does
    so. Other motivations are secondary
  • The duty to empathize to design a game that
    entertains the player, the designer must imagine
    that he is the player and must build the game to
    meet the players desires and preferences for
    entertainment
  • Misconception 1 I am my own typical player
    designer build video games in effect, for
    themselves. But some customers may not enjoy it.
  • Misconception 2 the player is my opponent NO,
    game design is about entertaining the player, not
    opposing the player.
  • Other Motivations that Influences design-
  • Design-driven game
  • License
  • Technology driven
  • Art-driven

28
Design Component and Processes- Conti..
  • Integrating for Entertainment
  • The game must present an imaginative, coherent
    experience, so the designer must have a vision
  • A game must sell well, so the designer must
    consider the audiences preferences.
  • A game with a license must pay back the licenses
    cost., so the designer must understand what
    benefits it brings and exploit them to the games
    best advantage.
  • A game must offer an intelligent challenge and a
    smooth, seamless experience, so the designer must
    understand the technology
  • A game must be attractive, so the designer must
    think about its aesthetic style.
  • The key Components of Video Games-
  • Core mechanics- turn general rules of the game
    into a symbolic and mathematical model that can
    be implemented algorithmically. The quality of
    the core mechanics is their degree of realism.
    All games fall along between abstract and the
    representational
  • User Interface-

Player
Input
Output
User Interface
Actions
Challenges
Core mechanics
29
Interaction Model
PLAYER
Input
Output
User Interface
Perspective
Interaction model
Game Play
Challenges Actions
Core mechanics
  • Two essential features of the user interface of a
    game are its perspective and its interaction
    model
  • Interaction model- the relationship between the
    player s button-presses and the resulting
    actions is dictated by the games interaction
    model
  • Perspectives If a game includes a simulated
    physical space or game world, then it will almost
    certainly use graphics to display it to the
    player. The user interface must display the space
    from a visual perspective a particular camera
    angle or point of view
  • FYI Many of the early games were text-based,
    designed to be played on a printing terminal
    attached to a mainframe computer.

30
Structure of Video Game
PLAYER
Input
Output
User Interface
Perspective
Interaction model
Game Play
Challenges Actions
Game Play Mode
Core mechanics
  • The structure is made up of game play modes, a
    virtually important concept in our approach to
    game design, and shell menus.
  • Game Play Mode- consists of the particular
    subset of games total game play that is
    available at any one time in the game, plus the
    user interface that presents that subset of the
    gameplay to the player.
  • Shell menus and Screens- whenever the player is
    taking actions that influences the game world,
    that is, actually playing the game, then the game
    is in a gameplay mode. However, most games also
    have several other modes in which the player
    cannot affect the game world, but can make other
    changes. These modes are collectively called
    shell menus because they are usually experienced
    before and after playing the game itself.

31
Stages of Design Process
  • In the 1980s games were simpler they could
    easily complete the entire design and then code
    the game.
  • Now games are more complex it must be designed
    and constructed in an iterative process, with
    repeated play testing and tuning, and occasional
    modifications to the design, throughout
    development.
  • Not all parts of the design process can be
    revisited.
  • We divide the process into 3 major parts
  • 1. The concept Stage- in which you perform first
    and whose results do not change
  • 2. The elaboration stage- in which you add most
    of the design details and refine your decisions
    through prototyping and play-testing
  • 3. The tuning Stage- at which point no new
    features may be added, but you can make small
    adjustments to polish the game.

Tuning Stage
Elaboration Stage
Concept Stage
32
The 3 Stage
  • Before the concept stage, there is a stage called
    preproduction stage it is the planning stage of
    game development during which a developer is
    deciding what sort of game to make, testing
    ideas, and figuring out the budget, schedule, and
    staff requirements mainly, producers give green
    lights for game development
  • The concept stage
  • Getting concept
  • Defining an audience
  • Determining the players role
  • Fulfilling the dream
  • The elaboration Stage
  • Defining the primary gameplay Mode
  • Designing the protagonist( Hero)- if the game is
    to have a single main character who is the
    protagonist (whether or not the interaction model
    is avatar-based)
  • Defining the game world
  • Designing the core
  • Creating additional modes
  • Level Design
  • Writing the story
  • Build, Test, and iterate
  • The Tuning Stage

33
Game Design Teams
  • A large video game is almost always designed by a
    team unlike Hollywood there is no union
  • Game industries job titles and responsibilities
    are not standardized from one company to another
    company.
  • Over the years, a few roles have evolved
  • Lead designer- the person oversees the overall
    design of the game and is responsible for making
    sure that it is complete and coherent.
  • Game designer- defines and documents how the
    game actually works.
  • Level designer- take the essential components of
    the game provided by the game designer- the user
    interface, core mechanics and game play and uses
    those components to design and construct the
    levels that the player will play through the
    course of the game
  • User Interface designer- layout of the screen in
    the various gameplay modes
  • Writer- responsible for creating the
    instructional or fictional content of the game
    introductory material, back-story, dialog,
    cut-scenes and so on
  • Art director-- oversees all the visual assets
    in the game
  • Audio director oversees all the audible assets
    in the game
  • FYI- Dont design by Committee- do not treat
    the design work as a democratic process in which
    each persons opinion has equal value. One
    person must have the authority to make final
    decisions, and the others must acknowledge this
    persons authority.

34
Documenting the Design
  • Why do we need documents?
  • Dragons should protect their eggs- whenever they
    have eggs in their nests, female dragons will not
    move beyond visual range from the nest. If an
    enemy approaches within 50 meters of the nest,
    the dragon will abandon any other activity and
    return to the nest to defend the eggs. She will
    not leave the nest until no enemy is within a 50
    meter radius for at least 30 seconds. She will
    defend the eggs to her death.
  • This is what creating design documents is all
    about.
  • Types of design documents
  • High concept document- not more than 2- 4 pages
    main concept to present to producers.
  • Game Treatment documents- Broad outline to
    someone who's already interested in it and wants
    to hear more about it.
  • Character design document- record the design of
    the characters
  • World design document- basis for building all of
    the art and audio that portray your game world.
  • Flow board cross between flow chart and story
    board story board is linear
  • Story and level progression document record the
    large scale story
  • The game script document- specify the rules of
    play

35
Game designers talent and skills
  • Effective game designer requires a wide base of
    skills such as
  • Imagination-
  • Visual and auditory imaginations
  • Dramatic imagination
  • Conceptual imagination
  • Lateral thinking
  • Deduction
  • Technical awareness
  • Analytical competence
  • Mathematical competence
  • Aesthetic Competence
  • General knowledge and ability to research
  • Writing skills
  • Technical writing
  • Fiction writing
  • Dialog writing
  • Drawing skills
  • The ability to compromise able to work with
    others

36
Game Concepts
  • Designing a video game begins with an idea. Lets
    discuss how to turn your idea into a game
    concept, a fleshed-out version of the idea that
    can be used as the basis for further discussion
    and development.
  • Creating game concept is what you do in the
    concept stage of game design.
  • To do this, you dont have to have all the detail
    worked out yet, but you do need a clear
    understanding of what your game is about, and you
    must be able to answer certain essential
    questions, about the game itself, the players
    role in it, and the target audience.
  • Here we discuss how to make those decisions
  • Getting an Idea- you can find game idea anywhere
    but only if youre looking for them. One idea
    isnt enough. Its a common misconception that a
    brilliant game idea will make you a fortune. More
    ideas are always better
  • Dreaming the Dream- A lot of computer games are
    light entertainment, designed to whittle away a
    few minutes with a puzzle or a simple challenge.
    But larger, richer games begin with a dream.
    Computers can create almost any sort of visual
    experience you can imagine. The design of a
    computer game begins with the question What
    dream am I going to fulfill?
  • Game Ideas from other Media- Books, movies,
    television and other entertainment media can be
    great sources of inspiration for game ideas.
  • Cops show inspired the game Interstate 76
  • The Sims was partly inspired by a nonfiction
    book called A Pattern Language

37
Game Concept Continue.
  • Game Idea from other Games- A great many people
    who play computer games want to design them as
    well. When you play a lot of games, you develop a
    sense of how they work and what their good and
    bad points are. Playing games is a valuable
    experience for a game designer. It gives insight
    and lets you compare and contrast the features of
    different games.
  • Communicating your dream to others A game dream
    is fantasy that you have by yourself a computer
    game is something that you make for someone else.
    You and your development team are entertainers.
    If your game is in a well-known genre and
    setting, you can be pretty certain that a number
    of people already share your dream.
  • From Idea to Game Concept- A game concept is a
    description of a game detailed enough to begin
    discussing it as a potential commercial product-
    a piece of software that the public might want to
    buy. It should include a minimum of the following
    points
  • The High concept statement- A two or three
    sentence description of what the game is about
  • The players role(s) in the game
  • Proposed primary gameplay mode
  • The genre of the game or an explanation of why
    its gameplay does not fit into any existing
    genre.
  • The description of target audience for the game.
  • The platform on which the game will run, and
    details of any special equipment the game will
    require
  • The licenses that the game will exploit, if any
  • The competition modes that the game will support
    single, dual, multiplayer
  • A general summary of how the game will progress
    from beginning to end
  • A short description of the game world
  • Note- In a commercial environment, a
    publisher will want to see several additional
    details the games potential competition, the
    unique selling points (UPS) that will make your
    game stand out in the market place

38
The Players Role
  • To understand your own game and to explain it to
    others, you must know what the player will do,
    and in a sense, what the player will be in the
    game world- what his/her role is. These are the
    first questions you face in creating your game
    concept.
  • What is the player is going to do?
  • Its sometime tempting to start thinking about a
    game in terms of its setting or its characters .
    For example, wouldn't it be fun to play a game
    set in ancient Rome? It is an already taken idea.
    You cannot make a game from a setting or
    character alone. The first step toward turning
    the idea into a game concept is to answer the
    question, What is the player is going to do? Be
    original.
  • Defining the Role -
  • Answer the question. How realistic do you want
    your game to be you should have a general idea
    of whether you want your game to be abstract or
    representational.
  • Choosing a Genre-
  • In describing movie or books, the term genre
    refers to the content of the work.
  • Historical fiction, romance fiction, spy fiction
    and so on are genres of popular fiction.
  • With video games, however, genre refers, to the
    type of challenges that a game offers.
  • In games, the genres are independent of the
    content.
  • Def- A genre is a category of games
    characterized by a particular set of challenges,
    regardless of setting or game-world content.

39
Classic Game Genres
  • As you flesh out your concept, you should
    consider whether or not it falls into one of the
    classic video game genres described below
  • Action Games include physical challenges
  • Strategy Games including strategic, tactical, and
    sometimes logistic challenges.
  • Most role-playing games involve tactical,
    logistical, and exploration challenges
  • Real world simulations include sports games, and
    vehicle simulations, including military vehicles.
  • Construction and management games such as Roller
    Coaster Tycoon primarily offer economic and
    conceptual challenges
  • Adventure Games chiefly provide exploration and
    puzzle-solving
  • Puzzle games offer logic challenges and
    conceptual challenges almost exclusively,
    although occasionally there time pressure or an
    action element.
  • Hybrid Games- Some games cross genres, combining
    features not typically found together this
    occasionally happens when two people on the
    design team want the game to belong to different
    genres, and they compromise by including
    challenges from both.

40
Defining your target audience
  • A common conception among game designers is that
    all players enjoy the same things that the
    designer enjoys, so the designer has only to
    examine his own experience to know how to make a
    game entertaining.
  • You cannot make game for every one so choose a
    target audience ask the questions like who
    will like this game? What kind of challenge do
    they like? One group will like it while another
    group may not like it this is called binary
    thinking
  • Reasoning statistics about player groups- do
    survey
  • Strive for inclusiveness not universality you
    cannot make a game that appeals to everyone by
    throwing in a hodgepodge of features because
    group A likes some of them and group B likes
    others. --- if you do, you will produce a game
    that has too many features and no harmony.
  • It is between core gamers and casual gamers
  • Men vs. Women
  • Children vs. Adults
  • Boys and Girls
  • Players with disabilities
  • Players of other cultures
  • Types of game machines
  • Home console
  • PC
  • Hand held device
  • Mobile phone and wireless device
  • Other devices

41
Game World
  • What is a game world?
  • A game world is an artificial universe, an
    imaginary place in which the events of the game
    occur. When the player enters the magic circle
    and pretends to be somewhere else, the game is
    the place they pretend to be
  • Not all games have a game world. A football game
    takes place in a real location, not an imaginary
    one.
  • Purpose of the game world.
  • Games entertain by several means gameplay,
    novelty, social interaction and so on.
  • The other purpose of a games world is to sell
    the fame in the first place.
  • The dimensions of a game world
  • A games world is defined by many different
    properties. Some, such as size of the world, are
    quantitative and can be given numerical values.
    Others, such as the worlds mood, are qualitative
    and can only be described with words.
  • Certain properties are related to one another,
    and we have characterized these related sets of
    properties as dimensions of the game world.
  • Physical dimension
  • Video game worlds are almost always implemented
    as some sort of simulated physical space. The
    player moves his avatar in and around this space
    or manipulates other pieces or characters in it.
    The physical properties of this space determine a
    great deal about the gameplay

42
Game World Continue
  • Spatial Dimension- First question you need to
    ask is how many spatial dimensions your physical
    space will have
  • The following are the typical dimensionalities
    found in video games.
  • 2D A few years back most of the games had only
    two dimensions. For example Super Mario Bros.
    Mario could run left and right and jump up and
    down, but he could not move toward the player or
    away from him.

43
Game World Continue
  • 2.5D typically pronounced two-and- a-half D.
    This is found in game worlds that appear to be a
    3-D space but in reality consists of a series of
    2D layers, one above the other. StarCraft, a war
    game, shows plateaus and lowlands, as well as
    aircraft that pass over obstacles and ground
    units.

44
Game World Continue
  • 3D- Three true dimensions. Thanks to 3D
    hardware accelerators and modeling tools, 3D
    spaces are now easier to implement. They give the
    player a much greater sense of being inside a
    space( building, cave, spacecraft, or whatever)
    than 2D spaces ever could. With a 2D world, the
    players feels as if he is looking at it, with a
    3D world, he feels as if he is in it.

45
Game World Continue
  • 4D- if you want to include a 4th dimension for
    some reason( not the time dimension) you can
    implement it as alternate version of the 3D game
    world rather than an actual four-dimensional
    space. In other words, create 2 or more 3-D
    spaces that look similar but offer different
    experiences as the avatar moves among them.

46
Game World Continue
  • Scale- By scale, we mean both the absolute size
    of the physical space represented, as measured in
    units meaningful in the game world ( meters,
    miles or light years, for example) and the
    relative sizes of objects in the game.

47
Game World Continue
  • Boundaries- In board games, the edge of the
    board constitutes the edge of the game world.
    Because computers dont have infinite memory, the
    physical dimension of a computer game world must
    have an edge as well.
  • In some cases, the boundaries of a game world
    arise naturally, and we dont have to disguise or
    explain them. For example, sports games, or
    racing games take place in a stadium or track or
    road.

48
Temporal Dimension
  • The temporal dimension of a game world defines
    the way that time is treated in that world and
    the ways in which it differs from time in the
    real world.
  • Variable time
  • In games that do implement times as a significant
    element of the gameplay, time in the game world
    usually runs much faster than in reality
  • Time in games also jumps, skipping periods when
    nothing interesting is happening.
  • Most war games for example, dont bother to
    implement night time or require soldiers get any
    rest.
  • Another Example The Sims, a game about managing
    a household, handles this problem differently.
  • Anomalous Time
  • In the Settlers III, a complex economic
    simulation, a tree can grow from sapling to full
    size in about the same length of time that it
    takes for an iron foundry to smelt 4 or 5 bars of
    iron
  • Letting the player adjust time
  • In sports game or vehicle simulations, game time
    usually runs at the same speed as real time. In
    some case you can speed the time by 2, 4, 8 times

49
How game entertain
  • Anomalous Time
  • In the Settlers III, a complex economic
    simulation, a tree can grow from sapling to full
    size in about the same length of time that it
    takes for an iron foundry to smelt 4 or 5 bars of
    iron

50
Environmental Dimension
  • The environmental dimension describes the
    worlds appearance and its atmosphere. We have
    seen that physical dimension defines the
    properties of the games space, the environmental
    dimension is about whats in that space.
  • Cultural Context- we are talking about culture
    in the anthropological sense Cleopatra Queen of
    the Nile

51
Environmental Dimension
  • Physical Surroundings defines what the game
    actually looks like. This is a part of the game
    design it which its most helpful to be an artist
    or to work closely with one. In the early stage
    you dont need to make drawings of every single
    thing that can appear in the game world. The
    following is from Grim Fandango

52
Environmental Dimension
  • Detail- Every designer must decide how much
    detail the game world needs- that is to say, how
    richly textured the world will be and how
    accurately modeled its characteristics will be.
    See a scene from Thief II

53
Environmental Dimension
  • Defining a Style- in describing how your world
    is going to look, you are defining a visual style
    for your game that will influence a great many
    other things as well. All of the locations in
    XIII were rendered in a flat-shaded style

54
Environmental Dimension
  • Over Used Style- All too often, games borrow
    settings from one another or from common settings
    found in movies, books or television. A huge
    number of games are set in science fiction and
    fantasy worlds. Look at the scene from Armies of
    Exigo.
  • The source of Inspiration- Art and architecture,
    history and anthropology, literature and
    religion, clothing fashions, and product design
    are all great sources of cultural materials.

55
Emotional Dimension
  • The emotional dimension of a game world defines
    not only the emotions of the people in the world
    but, more important, the emotions that you, as a
    designer feel. See the scene from Final Fantasy
    VII.

56
Creative and Expressive Play
  • We will talk about several types of creative
    plays that you can build into a game.
  • Self defining play- which players modify the
    avatar that represents them in the game
  • Constrained creative play- in which players may
    exercise their creativity but only within certain
    limits
  • Freedom, or unconstrained, creative play-
  • Story telling play- in which players present
    other players with a drama of their own
    invention.
  • Self Defining Play-
  • Many games allow the player to choose an avatar
    from a number of different ones available and to
    customize the avatar in various ways.
  • Because the avatar represents the player in the
    game world, we call these activities
    self-defining play.
  • Players greatly enjoy defining themselves,
    choosing an avatar that either resembles
    themselves physically or that is fantasy figure
    with whom they identify.
  • Female players in particular like to choose or
    design avatars that resemble them selves and
    dislike having to play with avatars that they
    find unappealing.

57
Self- defining play Continue
  • Boys and men are more willing to play with
    default avatar supplied by the game
  • Self-defining play give the player an opportunity
    to projects his personality into the game world
    by means other than gameplay choices.
  • It takes several forms
  • Avatar Selection-
  • allow the player to choose from a number of
    predefined avatars, usually at the beginning of
    the game.
  • These avatars are most often humanoid characters
    but in driving and flying games they are
    vehicles.
  • Avatar Customization-
  • Allow the player to modify the appearance or
    abilities of her avatar by selecting
    interchangeable features
  • In role playing games, this often takes the form
    giving the avatar new skills, clothing, weapons
    and armor.
  • In driving games, the customizable features may
    include the paint color of the car and its
    engine, transmissions, tires and breaks
  • Avatar construction
  • Give the player the greatest freedom of all he
    can construct his avatar from the ground up,
    choosing every details from a set of available
    options.

58
Attributes
  • The attributes that a player may modify can be
    divided into those that affect the gameplay,
    which we call functional attributes and those
    that dont affect the gameplay, which we call
    cosmetic attributes.
  • Functional Attributes
  • Functional attributes can further divided into
  • Characterization attributes- which define
    fundamental aspects of a character and change
    slowly or not at all
  • Status attributes- which give the current status
    of the character and may change frequently.
  • Example- In Dungeons Dragons 6
    characterization attributes used
  • Strength
  • Dexterity
  • Intelligence
  • Wisdom
  • Charisma
  • Constitution
  • Each of these attributes affects a characters
    ability to perfom certain actions in the game
  • Fight
  • Cast magic spells
  • Charm others
  • Withstand poisons and many other tasks.

59
Cosmetic Attributes
  • Cosmetic attributes dont have any effect on the
    players ability to perform actions or overcome
    challenges that is theyre not part of the core
    mechanics of the game.
  • Cosmetic attributes exist to let the player
    define himself in the game world, to bring his
    own personal style to the avatar.
  • The paint color of a racing car has no effect on
    the cars performance characteristics, but the
    player will enjoy the game more if he can choose
    a color that he likes.
  • In multiplayer video games, cosmetic attributes
    can play a more important role because other
    players rely on visual appearances to make
    decisions.
  • Cosmetic attributes make a game more fun at a low
    implementation cost because they dont effect the
    gameplay, they dont have to be tested and
    balanced as thoroughly a as functional attributes
  • Just be sure that your cosmetic attributes really
    are cosmetic
  • Typical cosmetic attributes for human characters
  • Headgear
  • Clothing
  • Shoes
  • Jewelry
  • Hair color
  • Eye color
  • Skin color
  • And body type and size

60
Creative Play
  • Many games offer the player the chance to design
    or build something
  • In SimCity, it is a city
  • In Barbie Fashion Design , it s clothing
  • People enjoy designing and building things, and
    this kind of play is the main point of
    construction and management simulations
  • If you offer creative play, you should allow
    players to save their creations at any time and
    reload them to continue working on them
  • You should also let players print their creations
    out, take screenshots, copy them to other
    players machine, and upload them to websites.
  • Computerized creative play falls into 2
    categories
  • Constrained creative play- if the player may
    only create within artificial constraints imposed
    by the rules.
  • Play limited by an economy In Simcity you can
    build entire city
  • Creating to physical standard- player gets
    standard parts to build robot and fight
  • Test against a fixed set of rules that you
    established
  • Create a system of trends that the player can
    research
  • Allow public to vote online
  • Freedom creative play- If the game lets the
    player use all the facilities that it offers
    without any restrictions on the amount of time or
    resources available

61
More Information
  • Storytelling Play
  • Some players enjoy creating stories of their own,
    using features provided by a game, which they can
    then distribute online for others to read
  • Game Modifications
  • To give your players the utmost creative freedom
    with your game, you can permit them to modify the
    game itself--- to redesign it them selves
  • Game modifications or mods extremely popular
    with gamer community and almost an obligatory
    feature of any large multiplayer networked game
  • Providing the player with mod building tools also
    make good business sense.
  • Your games original content can keep people
    interested for only a certain amount of time, but
    if people can build mods that make use of your
    game engine, people will continue buy your game
    just to be able to play the mods.
  • Bots- a bot is an artificially intelligent
    opponent the the player can program for himself.
  • Danger of allowing Mods- Mods bring with some
    risks. When you allow players to modify your
    game, you risk the possibility that they will
    create a mod that includes material you would
    never use yourself.
  • Level Editors- allow player to construct their
    own levels for a game. We will talk about level
    editors more

62
LEVEL DESIGN ELEMENTS AND THEORIES
  • MICHAEL DUDA
  • INDIANA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
  • INDIANA, PA 15705

63
Goals of this lesson
  • We have 2 main aims
  • To understand the different technical elements
    that various games and game engines use to create
    two and three dimensional environments.
  • To analyze a few of the different styles of level
    design and when, where, and how they are best
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