Art 311 Game Design I

Dr. J. ParkerFall 2010

Game Design:

Not programming.• What is a good game • Game play and rules • Storytelling • Balance • Game setting • Interaction, motion control • Genres

Books

Tracy Fullerton, Game Design Workshop, Morgan-Kaufmann, 2008, ISBN-978-0-240-80974-8.

• Raph Coster, A Theory of Fun for Game Design, 2004, ISBN 1-9321-1197-2.

• Andrew Rollings, Ernest Adams, On Game Design, New Riders Publishing, 2003, ISBN 1-5927-3001-9.

• Jesper Juul, Half-Real, 2005, ISBN0-262-10110-6

• Janet Murray, Hamlet on the Holodeck, MIT Press, 1997, ISBN-13:978-0-262-63187-7

Software – Tools For Us

1. GameMaker – Download from http://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker/try Basic version is free, the ‘pro’ version is $20.

2. Audio software: Goldwave - http://www.goldwave.com/release.php#download Audacity - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows

3. Video editing – t@b zs4 free for download. http://www.zs4.net/free-software-downloads

4. Paint software - http://www.getpaint.net/download.html

What is a GameWe are only interested in computer games (video games)

A computer game is a simulation that has an audio and video display and interaction with the user. The situation being simulated has rules and a goal for the user to achieve.

The computer enables the game to be played, but is not the game itself.

I always require that a computer be needed for play before accepting something as a computer game. Thus, solitaire and chess are not computer games.

What is a GameVideo games can be thought of as a form of theatre.

It has a story or narrative (mostly), a script, a set, props, and actors.

The player interaction is new, and is related to newer ideas in theatre – improvisation, audience participation, etc.

Game design is related to theatre design and mise-en-scene..

Mise-en-sceneMeans literally putting on stage.

For some, it refers to all elements of visual style – that is, both elements on the set and aspects of the camera/audience.

How does the visual and auditory presentation convey the tone/mood/concepts important in the play?

EG. In A Space Odyssey (above) reduced color scheme stress the sterility and impersonality of the space station environment. Later, the digital nature of the HAL computer is represented by the repeating patterns and strong geometrical design of the set.

Mise-en-scene - lighting3-point.The standard lighting scheme for classical narrative cinema. In

order to model an actor's face (or another object) with a sense of depth, light from three directions is used, as in the diagram below. A backlight picks out the subject from its background, a bright key light highlights the object and a fill light from the opposite side ensures that the key light casts only faint shadows.

Mise-en-scene - lightingHigh-Key.

A lighting scheme in which the fill light is raised to almost the same level as the key light. This produces images that are usually very bright and that feature few shadows on the principal subjects. This bright image is characteristic of entertainment genres such as musicals and comedies.

Mise-en-scene - lightingLow-Key.

A lighting scheme that employs very little fill light, creating strong contrasts between the brightest and darkest parts of an image and often creating strong shadows that obscure parts of the principal subjects. This lighting scheme is often associated with "hard-boiled" or suspense genres such as film noir.

Mise-en-scene - lightingHigh-Key Low-Key

Mise-en-scene – game lightingHigh-Key Low-Key – Dead Space

Space

The representation of space affects the reading of a play or film.

Depth, proximity, size and proportions of the places and objects in a film can be manipulated through camera placement and lenses, lighting, set dressing, effectively determining mood or relationships between elements in the diegetic world.

(diegesis includes objects, events, spaces and the characters that inhabit them, including things, actions, and attitudes not explicitly presented in the film )

Space

Deep space: A film utilizes deep space when significant elements are positioned both near to and distant from the camera.

The Color of Paradise Halo(Rang-e Khoda,1999)

Space

Matte Shot - A process shot in which two photographic images (usually background and foreground) are combined into a single image using an optical printer. Matte shots can be used to add elements to a realistic scene or to create fantasy spaces. VERY common in games.

Offscreen Space

Space that exists in the diegesis but that is not visible in the frame. Offscreen space becomes significant when the viewer's attention is called to an event or presence in the diegesis that is not visible in the frame. Offscreen space is commonly exploited for suspense in horror and thriller films.

Video game offscreen space always exists, and so is key – especially sound.

Space

Shallow space - The opposite of deep space, in shallow space the image is staged with very little depth.

The figures in the image occupy the same or closely positioned planes. While the resulting image loses realistic appeal, its flatness enhances its pictorial qualities. Striking graphic patters can be achieved through shallow space.

Mise-en-scene – costumeCostume in narrative cinema is used to signify character or to

make clear distinctions between characters.

Mise-en-scene – sceneWhere are we? A familiar place? If not, the set has to speak

about what goes on there. It sets a tone as well.

Mise-en-scene – propsIn-game objects are built using a computer. They are 2D or 3D

models of objects, and are built from polygons.

Mise-en-scene – propsIn-game objects are built using a computer. They are 2D or 3D

models of objects, and are built from polygons.

Actors

Characters in the script are portrayed by actors. In computer games, actors are either other players (multi-player

games) or are objects controlled by the computer to fill a role. These are called non-player characters (NPCs) and their movements, plans, and activities are controlled second-by-second by a piece of software.

This is a part of the artificial intelligence (AI) of the game. Design includes details on how there characters behave, even when not in view.

The AI is also involved with physics (things fall when dropped) and collisions (virtual game objects should not pass through each other)

Actors

Characters/actors can be non-human. In racing games games, actors are other vehicles.Can be ghosts, aliens, robots, aircraft, etc etc.Their behaviour needs to be relevant to the game being played,

not to some outer reality. Thus, certain cars are mostly faster than you and could win easily, by the game designers never let them get too far ahead, giving the player a chance to catch up.

Game AI could always win the game. They know where the player is, where all objects are, and where they will be in the next frame. They do not because that would not be fun.

Basic Game Execution

Here’s what most video games actually do: Display opening graphics, sounds. Get player parameters and scenario selection Repeat determine motions of all objects (sometimes based on a

plan). Includes physics (falling) and camera positions.

determine collisions and the reactions to them. any new sounds to start? Update sound positions. render the scene (graphics) get user (player) input. Until scenario is complete (goal achieved, player fails/dies)

Game design againWe need to do a complete design so that we can determine what

we need:

- Costumes- Objects/models- Sounds- Sets/scenery- Characters and their plans. May be many types of plans.

We thus need a script and a document that describes the way the game is played and where it is played, what goals there are (and how the player can achieve them), what are the obstacles put in the way (conflict).

All of the needed items are derived from the game description (design)

I Have An Idea ....The player is watching a parade. But he hates parades, so he

has a plan – disrupt. He hides in a parkade and shoots paintballs, rocks, etc at marching bands and floats.

When he hits a musician in a band, they make a few bad notes. After N hits the band member drops out and their instrument stops playing. Same with people on floats – when a float has no more people or the driver is removed, the float drives aimlessly until it runs off the road or up against a post or building.

The police take a dim view of this activity and try to find and arrest the player.

Points are gained by hits from the player, lost when band members pass the window. Game is to M points or when arrested.

I Have An Idea ....This is not a design. Designs begin with ideas.

- Costumes – Band, police, player, audience. (details)- Objects/models – floats, instruments, hats, weapons,

ammunition, cars, balloons, flags- Sounds – music from each instrument, engines, announcer,

gunfire, cheers, noises made when an NPC is struck, animals (?), police voices.

- Sets/scenery – city street from above (oblique), inside of parkade, rooftops, routes between sites.

- Characters and their plans. Band members (hide, leave), police (search, patrol), audience (cheer, move about), float denizens (wave, meander.

Also need splash screens (begin and end)

I Have An Idea ....Game is called I Hate A Parade.

What have I missed?

Discussion