Slide 1

Game Development Dr. Mathias Lux ITEC - Universitt Klagenfurt mlux@itec.uni-klu.ac.at This work is licensed under a Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Austria License. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/at/

Slide 2

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 2 Agenda Why teaching computer games? What is a good game? Game projects in teaching Game development

Slide 3

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 3 Why teaching computer games? Commercial relevance o Games are a big business Research and technology o Games lead to innovation Application of knowledge in game dev. o Maths, physics, algorithms, data structures o Project management & planning o Self reflection and team work Image (cc) by http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliebee

Slide 4

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 4 Why teaching computer games? Many people o play games themselves! o assume they are experts! o think they can do better! Image (cc) by http://www.flickr.com/photos/neilschelly

Slide 5

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 5 Industry Facts: ESA (US) Gaming industry economics & sales: o 2003-2006 the annual rate (gain) exceeded 17% (cp.

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 16 MMOG Economics WoW has >11 Mio. subscribers (Oct. 2008) o Monthly fees o Add-ons & DLC o World of WarCraft: Wrath of the Lich King was Xmas best seller at amazon.de Source: http://www.mmogchart.com/Chart1.html

Slide 17

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 17 Example: Super Mario Jump & Run, Nintendo Video game for NES o World -> SNES & GameBoy o Mario64 -> Nintendo64 o Super Paper Mario -> Wii o Most successful video game ever o 295 Mio. units sold

Slide 18

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 18 Example: LBP Little Big Planet o A collaborative platformer o 2.5 D Jump & Run Awards o Academy Of Interactive Arts & Sciences 2009 8 Awards including best overall game o E3 Awards Best console game, best casual and social game o etc.

Slide 19

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 19 Example: LBP Videos: o Danger Showing the gameplay o Sackzilla Showing the editor

Slide 20

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 20 Example: Guitar Hero & Rockband Guitar Hero (Activision) & Rockband (EA) o Revenue of 2.3 billion dollars o Within three years Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock o First game exceeding 1 billion $ revenue

Slide 21

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 21 Example: Popcap Games Popcap Games creates casual games Most popular game: Bejeweld o 150 million downloads, o 25 million sold units Distributes on o XBox Marketplace o PSN o PC (Steam, own shop, boxed)

Slide 22

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 22 Computer & Innovation Consumer Hardware o 3D graphic cards, Open GL for consumers o Video decoding (HD video) Cp. Nvidia & ATI/AMD graphic cards o Input and output methods High performance mouse Sensors (cp. Wiimote) 3D screens, shutter o PC Setup PSUs, cooling, etc.

Slide 23

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 23 Computer & Innovation Consumer Entertainment Hardware o PS3: 1 (control) +1 (PPC) +7 (SPE) =9 Cores o XBox: 3 Cores w. Hyperthreading ~= 6 Cores o Compare to Wii, DVD recorder, routers, Consumer Software o 3D interfaces Google Earth Brockhaus Multimedial Aero, Beryl, KDE4, etc.

Slide 24

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 24 Computer Games & Computer Science Computations o Using shaders for parallel processing o High performance clusters, CUDA Serious Games o Human Computing (v. Ahn) o Article Games with a purpose Educational Games o Military training o E-Learning, pedagogical (e.g. common sense)

Slide 25

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 25 Example: Hazmat Hotzone 3D training for fire fighters Handling hazardeous materials o E.g. terrorism, Employs Unreal engine Developed at CMU Quelle: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20051102/carless_01b.shtml

Slide 26

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 26 US Army leadership development (CSU) Stories of soldiers are converted to knowledge Knowledge is applied in training scenarios for soldiers o Decisions in combat and surveillance scenarios o Interaction with locals (customs, etc.) (cc) by Army.mil, http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/2941583135/

Slide 27

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 27 Games as part of our culture Common sense & knowledge o Lara Croft & Pac-man o Mario Bros. & Sonic Merchandising o E.g. Game & Film Many people have/had contact with games o PC, Nintendo, Playstation, etc.

Slide 28

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 28 Games as part of our culture

Slide 29

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 29 Games as part of our culture Human TETRIS Performance o GAME OVER Project o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0LtUX_6IXY Real Life Donkey Kong o Bam Margera o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KyIpMtvJvE Real Mario o Gordon College o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0fCnf8uWxw

Slide 30

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 30 Acceptance and controversial issues The disturbing material in Grand Theft Auto and other games like it is stealing the innocence of our children and it's making the difficult job of being a parent even harder... I believe that the ability of our children to access pornographic and outrageously violent material on video games rated for adults is spiraling out of control. - (Hillary Clinton, 2005)

Slide 31

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 31 Acceptance(RocknRoll) "The effect of rock and roll on young people, is to turn them into devil worshippers; to stimulate self-expression through sex; to provoke lawlessness; impair nervous stability and destroy the sanctity of marriage. It is an evil influence on the youth of our country." - Minister Albert Carter, 1956

Slide 32

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 32 Acceptance Similar statements to Comics (1954) Phone(1926) Film (1909) Waltz (1816) Novels (1790) Source: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.04/war.html

Slide 33

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 33 Agenda Why teaching computer games? What is a good game? Game projects in teaching Game development o XNA o Tutorials

Slide 34

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 34 A good game World of Goo

Slide 35

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 35 Aspects of a Game Review game in several aspects: Challenge Choice Clear and Compelling Goals Representation Conflict Feedback Source: http://www.cs.wisc.edu/graphics/Courses/679-s2007/Main/GameDesign

Slide 36

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 36 Challenging Goals Premise of the game o Story o Character o Motivation Why do I play the game? Why do I build towns, jump & run, ?

Slide 37

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 37 Clear Goals Different aspects o What is the goal? o When is the goal achieved? Strongly connected with feedback o I need to know when Im making progress Short term vs. long term goals o Get over fire pit vs. Rescue princess

Slide 38

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 38 Clear Rules Figuring out rules o In play: learning curve? o Common sense (gravity, rebound, etc.) Unclear rules are frustrating o I couldnt.. because I didnt know Do not allow workarounds o Circumventing != cheating Happens within allowed rule set

Slide 39

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 39 Choices Player should have meaningful choices Consider example choice qualities: o Hollow -> No consequence o Obvious -> Choice without alternative o Informed -> based on provided information cp. guessing o Dramatic -> Connects to emotions o Weighted -> Both neg. and pos. outcomes o Immediate -> Need fast decision o Orthogonal -> Choices are independent

Slide 40

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 40 Challenge Tuning / Balance o Make things hard, but not too hard Dynamic games o Change with game progress & gamers skills Challenge from design vs. technical issues o Cant figure out puzzle vs. cant find button combo (cc) by law keven, www.flickr.com/photos/66164549@N00/2506022298/

Slide 41

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 41 Feedback Action & Reaction o Choose a new car and feel the effect o Buy new clothes & see them on avatar Gamers need rewards o Cp. concept of highscore Experience o Buy weapon or skill upgrades o Reach new levels & challenges

Slide 42

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 42 Assumed audience ?!? Who will play your game? Who will pay for your game? What are appropriate distribution channels? o App Store, Steam, Download, Boxed,

Slide 43

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 43 Agenda Why teaching computer games? What is a good game? Game projects in teaching Game development o XNA o Tutorials

Slide 44

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 44 Possible Topics Arcade games o Typically 2D, lots of historical examples Puzzle games o Simple graphics, focus on logic Mobile games o Realistic scope & deployment scenario Educational games for kids o Topic based, more weight on story

Slide 45

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 45 Possible Aspects Programming skills o Learning by doing Hands-on with tools o GFX, SFX Soft skills o Teamwork, discussion, coordination Specific topics different areas o Physics, geometry, linear algebra, AI,

Slide 46

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 46 Project Milestones 1.Planning & Design 2.Implementation 3.Testing & Evaluation 4.Deployment 5.Post mortem

Slide 47

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 47 Design Documents (not technical) High Level Document o Abstract of the game in 2-4 pages Game Treatment Document o Present game in a broader outline o Its also more sales than dev document Game Bible o Character design o World design o Flowboard: flow of gameplay modes o Story & level progression: storyline o Game script: rules and mechanics of the game (cc) by dunechaser, www.flickr.com/photos/dunechaser/103294050/

Slide 48

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 48 Game Script Should enable one to play the game Create a paper prototype o Use it for testing (cc) by kekremsi, www.flickr.com/photos/emraya/2929959881

Slide 49

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 49 Sample Design Document: Abstract Catch the Clown Catch the Clown is a little action game. In this game a clown moves around in a playing field. The goal of the player is to catch the clown by clicking with the mouse on him. If the player progresses through the game the clown starts moving faster and it becomes more difficult to catch him. For each catch the score is raised and the goal is to get the highest possible score. Expected playing time is just a few minutes. source: http://www.yoyogames.com/make/tutorials

Slide 50

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 50 Sample Design Document: Game Objects Game objects There will be just two game objects: the clown and the wall. The wall object has a square like image. The wall surrounding the playing area is made out of these objects. The wall object does nothing. It just sits there to stop the clown from moving out of the area. The clown object has the image of a clown face. It moves with a fixed speed. Whenever it hits a wall object it bounces. When the player clicks on the clown with the mouse the score is raised with 10 points. The clown jumps to a random place and the speed is increased with a small amount. source: http://www.yoyogames.com/make/tutorials

Slide 51

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 51 Sample Design Document: The Rest Sounds We will use two sounds in this game. A bounce sound that is used when the clown hits a wall, and a click sound that is used when the player manages to click with the mouse on the clown. Controls The only control the player has is the mouse. Clicking with the left mouse button on the clown will catch it. Game flow At the start of the game the score is set to 0. The room with the moving clown is shown. The game immediately begins. When the player presses the key the game ends. Levels There is just one level. The difficulty of the game increases because the speed of the clown increases after each successful catch.

Slide 52

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 52 Game Postmortems Written after finishing the project o Done by senior developer or manager Summarizes dev process to o Avoid pitfalls in later projects o Apply practices that worked well in later projects Check for instance gamasutra.com (cc) by devicer, www.flickr.com/photos/devicer/42503985/

Slide 53

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 53 Game postmortems: Structure Project Overview o Describe the game (idea, setting, story, features) o Describe team and circumstances What went right o Describe best practices o Describe and argue good decisions o Motivation for this part: Think of benefits for future projects

Slide 54

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 54 Game postmortems: Structure What went wrong o Describe pitfalls and difficulties o Describe mistakes experienced, technical as well as from management perspective Conclusion & Closing o Final note from the authors, personal experience o Project brief: Dev tools, resources,

Slide 55

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 55 Agenda Why teaching computer games? What is a good game? Game projects in teaching Implementation

Slide 56

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 56 Typical Basic Elements (I) Game Loop o Painting current state to screen Sprites o Moving objects, animated Level o The playground Score o The achievement & reward system

Slide 57

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 57 Typical Basic Elements (II) Collision Detection o Check if objects interfere Sound o Background & SFX Game AI o Some intelligence, dynamics or adaptation

Slide 58

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 58 Game Frameworks Framework manages Input & Output o poll & queue input controllers o render game in time (hardware acceleration) o network & storage Physics o object-world and object-object interaction Resources o loading, animation

Slide 59

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 59 Microsoft XNA Game Studio Set of game development tools Based on.NET Compact Framework Available in version 3.0 o Version 3.1 already announced Programming in C# o Help in MSDN / Knowledgebase

Slide 60

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 60 Out-of-the-Box Game

Slide 61

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 61 Basic game structure

Slide 62

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 62 Experience with XNA Students find their way fast o Workshop (1 day) for first tutorial based game Students are occupied for hours o Hours of adaptations Graphics and sounds Gameplay and levels Testing and tuning XNA is very powerful o With necessary limitations

Slide 63

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 63 Experience with XNA Team members have different roles o Sound & 2D Design o Implementation & Testing o Planning & Coordination Learning programming along the way o How can we rotate/scale/translate a sprite? o How can we add a loop for ?

Slide 64

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 64 Summer Camp 2008-2009 Arcade game development in teams of 2 o Students of age 16-18 o Basic knowledge of programming (Java) Duration: 5 Days with ~ 3 hours each Results o Steep learning curve o 2 (out of 5) very innovative projects Design & Gameplay o Students programmed in their spare time

Slide 65

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 65 VK Games @ Uni Klu Goal: Arcade (Casual) Game o In 6 weeks of development time o With planning and self reflection o In teams of 3 with max. 40 h of work each Results o All but one projects finished o Everyone put a lot more effort in than 40 h

Slide 66

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 66 Proposed Format 1.One day workshop as introduction o Basics on games o Basics on game development o Self directed learning through tutorials 2.Multiple units of self directed (but tutored) game development. o Based on the outcome of the tutorial 3.Final presentation of the outcome

Slide 67

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 67 Resources XNA Creators Club o Lots of tutorials and game samples o http://creators.xna.com/en-US/education/catalog/ Visual C# Express Edition o Free 2 use version of visual studio o http://www.microsoft.com/express/vcsharp/ Alternative: Gamemaker o Strange tool, but immediate results o http://www.yoyogames.com/make

Slide 68

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 68 Final words Nearly every single student was very much involved with the gaming projects. o Some even failed other courses Typically people spent a lot more time on the project than they should have. o Despite prior warning Overall feedback was very encouraging o Although many reconsidered their career plans

Slide 69

http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 69 Questions? Mathias Lux mlux@itec.uni-klu.ac.at http://www.itec.uni-klu.ac.at/~mlux