Game types

  1. 3D point of view
    1. Design issues

                                                               i.      Speed, power, and simplicity

                                                             ii.      Graphics power

                                                            iii.      Lost in a maze à interesting maze

                                                           iv.      Multiple levels of adventure

                                                             v.      Multiplayer killing of friends

  1. Adventure games and interactive fiction
    1. Design issues

                                                               i.      Engine to manage details

                                                             ii.      Designer concentrates on story

                                                            iii.      Mature content

                                                           iv.      Interactive story telling

  1. Entertainment -- Strategic thinking
    1. Design issues

                                                               i.      Style

1.      Drill and practice

2.      Half and half games

3.      Content games

4.      Discovery games

                                                             ii.      Age considerations

                                                            iii.      Use of licensed properties

                                                           iv.      Who is buying the game

  1. Fighting games
    1. Design issues

                                                               i.      Character creation issues

                                                             ii.      Special or secret moves

                                                            iii.      Violence

                                                           iv.      Continued inventiveness (future growth)

  1. God game – player in charge, some role playing
    1. Design issue

                                                               i.      Systems modeling (simulation has to be believable)

  1. Multiplayer game
    1. Design issues

                                                               i.      Economic model

                                                             ii.      Player interaction

                                                            iii.      Artificial players

  1. Platform games – console games super Mario etc
    1. Design issues

                                                               i.      Level editing

                                                             ii.      Character creation

  1. Puzzle and card games
    1. Design issues

                                                               i.      Take an old idea and give it a twist

  1. Retro game market—bringing back Pac-man and games like that
    1. Design issues

                                                               i.      Write a emulator for the old code

                                                             ii.      Implement a new clone in environment

                                                            iii.      Update a classic game – build a new wave version

 

  1. Role playing games
    1. Design issues

                                                               i.      Sequels make money

                                                             ii.      Create a world like no other – fictitious and realistic

                                                            iii.      Network pc’s and real time conversation

                                                           iv.      Battles and conflicts

  1. Shooters
    1. Design issues

                                                               i.      3D graphics

                                                             ii.      Complex interaction devices

 

  1. Simulation games
    1. Military or non-military
    2. Space simulations

                                                               i.      Design issues

1.      Verisimilitude—how close to reality is it

2.      Mission impossible

3.      3D engine use

4.      Re-invent the wheel

  1. Sports games
    1. Design issues

                                                               i.      Action and stats

                                                             ii.      Packaging the game

                                                            iii.      Licensing

                                                           iv.      Celebrity endorsement

                                                             v.      User control

                                                           vi.      Role

  1. Virtual reality games (VR hardware)
    1. Design issues

                                                               i.      Tough to do on a single flat screen – need a helmet

  1. War and war time strategy games
    1. Design issues

                                                               i.      Historical or fictitious

                                                             ii.      Allow history to change?

 

Starting Points

  1. Game play
  2. Technology
  3. Story

 

You have to start with one of these and get everyone to use it as the focus to avoid scattered team efforts.

 

Video game design

  1. Come up with a good idea
  2. Create storyboard (rough sketches, game world, char, and action)
  3. List details of game + take everything in game universe into account
  4. Design document

 

Ideas

  1. Go to extremes
  2. Sensing
  3. Supernatural powers
  4. Decision making
  5. Actions

 

Brainstorming Process

  1. Everyone attends and participates
  2. Free interchange of ideas
  3. Make goals and constraints clear
  4. Stay focused
  5. Make sure everyone is heard
  6. Take notes, video tapes, …

 

Design choices

  1. Arcade vs. strategy
  2. Graphics vs. game play
  3. Single player vs. network
  4. Core game market vs. wider audience
  5. New technology vs. wider base
  6. Custom built vs. off the shelf tools
  7. Standard distribution vs. shareware
  8. Legal issues

 

Game Play

  1. Unique solution should work
  2. Anticipate user actions (don’t dictate them)
  3. Allow for emergent player-solutions
  4. Allow for non-linearity
    1. Story telling
    2. Multiple puzzle solutions
    3. User determined task ordering
    4. User goal selection
  5. Modeling reality
    1. Too much can be tedious
    2. Not enough can be disappointing
  6. Teaching the player
    1. Training
    2. Manuel
  7. Rewards
  8. Input
    1. Should be reasonably intuitive for the input devices used
    2. Let players configure their controls
  9. Output
    1. Need reasonable response to display effects of user inputs
    2. Allow multiple game view perspectives
    3. Display user progress or status somehow

 

Design principles (Shigeru Miyamoto)

  1. Start with simple concept
  2. Design around computer limitations
  3. Minimize player confusion
  4. Importance of play testing
  5. Incorporate a smooth learning curve
  6. Accommodate all skill levels

 

10 basic rules for game design

  1. Start with a good story and a good idea
  2. Write down your design on paper or equivalent
  3. Don’t bite off more than you can chew
  4. Know your target audience
  5. Come up with a new idea
  6. Be flexible follow a rapid prototyping mindset
  7. Design for the future
  8. Think series or sequels
  9. Content is everything
    1. Must see graphics and technology
    2. Game is fun to play
  10. Give the players goals

 

10 biggest mistakes game programmers make

  1. Make a bad publishing deal
  2. Forget to back up work
  3. Missing Christmas
  4. Fail to test properly
  5. Using old technology
  6. Writing for Dos
  7. Lying to the public
  8. Neglect to advertise
  9. To many cooks not enough helpers
  10. Omitting comments from source code