Game Development

Sommersemester 2015

Introduction Game
Development

Wahlpflichtveranstaltung
4. Fachsemester

Ernst Kruijff
 Game
Game
Development
Development

l Sources (slides)
£  Prof.Dr. Masuch: Game Architecture and Design
£  Rabin, Introduction to Game Development

l To read
l  Rabin, Introduction to Game Development

l  Slides are ONLY for learning, not distribution!

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 Game
Game
Development
Development

“Much learning does not teach insight.”

Heraclit (*540 BC, Ephesus, †480 BC)

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 Game
General Lecture Behavior Game
Development
Development

•  You don’t need to transcribe the lecture –

all course materials are available on the
website.
•  Participate!
•  Think!
•  Discuss!

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Organisation Game
Game
Development
Development

l Slides:
•  http://cg.inf.h-bonn-rhein-sieg.de
•  login: GaMeDeV
l Deliverables:
£  sent to ernst.kruijff@h-brs.de as PDF
(PDF ONLY!)
£  I will put the deliverables online (course internal)

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Your task Game
Game
Development
Development

l Design and develop your own innovative game

l ...in 7 Weeks
l ...presenting the intermediate stages
l ...and have fun along the way!

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Topics of this Course Game
Game
Development
Development

l  Introduction, goals, ideas, team

l  Ludology
l  Game design
l  Funativity
l  Character and level design
l  Modeling and animation
l  Storytelling
l  Interface design
l  Production-management
l  Society, history and genres

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weekly plan Game
Game
Development
Development

l  18.5 Intro, goals, ideas, initial team built

l  18.5 Ludology, GDD intro
l  27.5 Game design
l  27.5 team brainstorm, game idea preparation
l  27.5 team game idea preparation
l  27.5 presentation game ideas/teams (GDD)
l  30.5 Funativity
l  30.5 practice
l  1.6 Character and level design
l  1.6 practice
l  6.6 practice
l  6.6 Presentation stage 1

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 Game
Game
Development
Development

l  8.6 Modelling and animation

l  8.6 practice
l  13.6 Storytelling
l  13.6 practice
l  15.6 Interface design
l  15.6 practice
l  20.6 presentation stage 2
l  20.6 practice
l  22.6 Production and management
l  22.6 practice
l  27.6 Society, history, games
l  27.6 practice
l  29.6 Final presentation
l  29.6 Open Games slot

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last block? Game
Game
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Development

l Monday May 23, 13:30 Open Games Session

in C016

SS 2015 Einführung 10
 Game
Development

Game Architecture and Design

01 - Introduction to Game Design

Overview Game
Game
Development
Development

1.  What is Game Design?

2.  Milestone Games
3.  The Classification of Games
4.  Game Genres
4.1 Genres
4.2 Mobile Games
4.3 Online Games
5. Multidimensional Categorizations
6. Conclusion

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 Game
Development

1
What is Game Design?
Motivation Game
Game
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•  Who plays computer games?

•  Who owns a console?
•  Why should we deal with games at the university?

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Games and Society Game
Game
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l  Games are conquering our everyday life

•  no longer a secret hobby of some weird nerds
–  rising acceptance (recruiting, mobile phones)
–  „non-gamers“ become extinct (demographic factor)
–  means of mass marketing

•  new platforms and media channels

–  home entertainment (console as DVD player)
–  mobile games
–  online (MMORPG, virtual communities)

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Games and Innovation Game
Game
Development
Development

l Computer games
•  drive innovation (graphics, user interfaces,
…)
•  are among the first to use new techniques
from computer science research – other
fields of application profit from this
•  rise highly interesting research questions in
various fields

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Games have become Big Money Game
Game
Development
Development

in the eighties:
•  a single programmer – given motivation,
programming skills and some time – could
develop a great game

today:
•  games are highly complex multimedia software
projects
•  they are a publisher investment of several million €
•  they are developed by some 30 specialists working
for 2-3 years on a single title
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 Game
Game
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So we end up with a pretty hard question:

How do you make a good game?

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Criteria for a good game Game
Game
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l A good computer game requires:
•  good gameplay
•  intuitive UI
•  an intriguing story
•  a constant level of adequate difficulty
•  long term challenge
•  novel features
•  …
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Great Games Game
Game
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•  A great game results from great game design

•  It also requires a solid technical
implementation
•  Main goal of a game is to provide
entertainment
•  The interaction, the gameplay has to be fun
•  Technology alone cannot provide fun in the
long term
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Game Design Game
Game
Development
Development

l Game design may be described as

•  imagining a game
•  defining the way it works
•  describing the core elements
(conceptual, artistic, functional etc.)
•  transmitting that information to the player

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What is game design? Game
Game
Development
Development

l Is game design...

•  art?
•  science?
•  craft?

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Key Components of Games Game
Game
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Development

core
mechanics

story interac7on

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Anatomy of a game designer Game
Game
Development
Development

•  Imagination
•  Technical awareness
•  Analytical competence
•  Mathematical competence
•  Aesthetic competence
•  General knowledge
•  Writing (and drawing) skills
•  Ability to compromise
•  Passion
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Practical Tips for Game Designer Game
Game
Development
Development

•  Develop games you like

•  Play lots of games, know your competitors
•  Use the right tools
•  Avoid boredom in your game at any cost
•  Do not compromise in quality at the beginning
•  Test your ideas, discuss them, test them, discuss, …
•  Enjoy what you are doing

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Game Design vs. Game Programming Game
Game
Development
Development

•  Game design is a creative process of developing a game

concept, its core elements and structure.

•  This includes
–  art work
–  story
–  playability, game balance
–  …

•  The game realization can be restricted to paper.

•  Computer game design does not require any programming per

se.

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Game Design vs. Game Programming Game
Game
Development
Development

•  The term Game Programming refers to the process

of actually coding a game.
•  It consists of
–  making a project plan for the realization of a game idea
–  actually programming the game elements

•  This might include

–  programming of a game engine
–  implementing the game assets and interaction in an existing
game engine.

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Game Design vs. Game Programming Game
Game
Development
Development

The term Game Development covers Game

Design, Game Programming and all other
production related topics.

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 Game
Development

Milestone Games
(more to come at the end of this
course)
Game
Development
Pong/Breakout Game
Game
Development
Development

•  Simple “ball”
games
•  Easy to program
•  Good seller

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Zork Game
Game
Development
Development

•  One of the smash

hits of the text-
adventure era
•  Great story

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Space Invaders Game
Game
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•  First of its kind

•  Simple
gameplay
•  Exploits
technology to
the fullest
•  Huge video
game hit
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Pac-Man Game
Game
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•  Smash hit maze

game
•  Fine-tuning makes
gameplay
•  First game
character that
became a pop
culture icon

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Sim City Game
Game
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•  New gameplay
•  Addictive
•  No clear goal
•  More a toy than a
game

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King’s Quest Game
Game
Development
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•  Sierra Interface
•  Easy right-click-
access to
functions
•  A huge story
•  Pretty pictures

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Monkey Island Game
Game
Development
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•  Scumm interface
–  became very popular
•  Up to today one of
the funniest stories
•  Innovative sword
fighting system
(with words)

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Myst Game
Game
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•  For a decade
the best selling
game
•  Incredible
dense
atmosphere
•  Puzzles and a
great story

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Doom/Quake Game
Game
Development
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•  Ego-Shooter Hit
•  Violence reached
a new level in
games
•  Excellent
graphics 39
Warcraft/Starcraft Game
Game
Development
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•  Classic real-time
strategy
•  Fantasy story
•  Added role
playing elements
later
•  Closed multi-
player (battle.net)
•  WoW
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Tomb Raider Game
Game
Development
Development
•  Established a pop
culture icon
•  A woman as a main
character
•  Genre formative

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Half-Life Game
Game
Development
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•  Graphics and story

•  Added riddles to
regular ego-
shooters
•  A new gameplay
dimension
•  Immersion

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The Sims Game
Game
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•  Life-Simulation
•  Great appeal to
female gamers

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 Game
Development

The Classification of Games

Games Game
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•  Children’s play
•  Board games
•  Sports games
•  Gambling
•  Computer games
•  …

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What defines a computer game? Game
Game
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•  Intuitive answer:
“a game that is played on a computer”

•  What is a game?
•  What about video games?

•  We deal with these later..

•  First, we need to classify games

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Classification Game
Game
Development
Development

•  Principles governing the organization of

objects into groups according to their
similarities and differences or their relation
to a set of criteria.
•  In biology, the establishment of a
hierarchical system of categories on the
basis of presumed natural relationships
among organisms.
Encyclopedia Britannica
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Classification Game
Game
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l Classification should be
•  descriptive
•  unambiguous
•  complete
•  non overlapping
in their choice of criteria

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Classification Schemes for Computer Games
Game
Game
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l Numerous possibilities:
•  dimension
•  perspective
•  platform
•  year of release
•  …

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Dimension – 1D Game
Game
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Text based games: Zork 1: The Great Underground Empire ;

inspired by the grandfather of all
adventures
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Dimension – 2D Game
Game
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Arcade classics in 2D: Pacman, Donkey Kong

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Dimension – 2½D Game
Game
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l  Cartoon techniques: Broken Sword

Cartoon techniques: Broken Sword

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Dimension – 3D Game
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Revolu7onary 3D graphics: Quake

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Dimension – 4D Game
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•  4th dimension
•  Most popular: time
•  Wait –
Did the previous games not incorporate
time?

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Dimension – 4D Game
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l Classification criteria dimension

•  descriptive ü
•  unambiguous ~
•  complete ~
•  non overlapping --

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Perspective Game
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Central projec7on Three point projec7on

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Perspective Game
Game
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Parallel projec7on (isometric projec7on)

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Perspective Game
Game
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l Classification criteria perspective

•  descriptive ü
•  unambiguous ü
•  complete ü
•  non overlapping --

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Platforms Game
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PC Consoles Handhelds Other

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Platform Game
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l Classification criteria platform

•  descriptive ü
•  unambiguous ü
•  complete ü
•  non overlapping --

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Release Date Game
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l Classify games according to their date of
release
l  1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005
Release Date Game
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l Classification criteria release date

•  descriptive ~
•  unambiguous ~
•  complete ü
•  non overlapping ü

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Game Genres Game
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Most popular categorization:

Classification by genre

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 Game
Development

Game Genres
(we’ll come back about this again)
Classification #1 (Fritz ~1985) Game
Game
Development
Development
•  Abstract puzzle, thinking and dexterity games
–  Pong- and wall breaker games, pile-up games
–  Control games
–  Disposal games, position games, card games
•  Action games
–  Shooter
–  Combat games
•  Funny-Games
–  Maze-like games
–  Comic-adventures
•  Simulation
–  Sports games + vehicle games
–  Combat simulations, battle simulations
–  Economical, political simulations
–  Board games
•  Story games
–  History, SF, fantasy story games
–  Adventure games
–  Role-playing games, action adventures, strategy
adventures
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 Game
Development

4.2

Mobile Games
Mobile Games Game
Game
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•  Games with limited resources

–  computing
–  interaction
–  display

•  Casual gamer
•  Small games “easy entry, easy exit”
•  Immersion not primarily perceptual

Prof. Dr. Masuch: Game Architecture and Design - Introduction 67

Mobile Games Game
Game
Development
Development

•  Game development like in the old days

(project size, budget, developing time etc.)
•  Strong growing market
•  Adaptation of classic games for mobile
phones
•  Undiscovered so far: speech interaction

Prof. Dr. Masuch: Game Architecture and Design - Introduction 68

 Game
Development

4.3

Online Games
Online Games Game
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Game
Game
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Online Games Game
Game
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l World of Warcraft by
Blizzard Entertainment
•  Most successful MMORPG
•  11,5 million active
subscribers
•  1 month - $ 14,99

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Online Games Game
Game
Development
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•  MMORPG are role-playing games with a

strong social component
•  Other player add liveliness to the online
world no AI can provide
•  MMORPG require an intense time
engagement
•  Player live an alternate reality
•  MMPORPG struggle attention economics
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 Game
Development

Multidimensional Categorizations
Multidimensional Categorizations Game
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•  Aarseth, Smedstad, Sunnanà suggest a

multidimensional Categorization
•  Classification attributes
–  Space
–  Time
–  Player structure
–  Control
–  Rules

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Multidimensional Categorizations Game
Game
Development
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l Space
•  Perspective
–  Omni-present (god-like-view)
–  Vagrant (player view)
•  Topography
–  Geometrical (unlimited degree of freedom)
–  Topological (limited degree of freedom)
•  Environment
–  Dynamic (changeable environment)
–  Static (unchangeable environment)

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Spatial Classification Example Game
Game
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 Game
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Conclusion
Conclusion Game
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•  Game design, game programming and game

development are not equivalent
•  Milestone games
•  There is no ideal categorization
•  Sorting games by genre is most popular
•  Multi-dimensional categorization is
promising, but academic
•  Mobile and online games have certain
peculiarities 79
Game Elements Game
Game
Development
Development

l Important for successful design:

•  Know the rules of a genre
•  Learn to identify the core elements of a game
•  Mobile and online games are a bit different
•  Satisfy and contradict genre patterns,
play with the expectations of the gamer

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