9-game design (game development - umt spring 2017)

GameDesign

FROM:HAFIZAMMARSIDDIQUI– COURSE:GAMEDEVELOPMENT– INSTITUTE:UNIVERSITYOFMANAGEMENTANDTECHNOLOGY

GameDesign• The process of planningand creating the content of a game

• Art of applying design to create a game

• Defines that how the game will work from start to end

• Describes that what a game consists of and how it plays

• All basic game design components are related to each other which are gameplay,

mechanics, storyline and aesthetics


GameplayandExperience


GameplayandExperience• A specific way in which a player interactswith a game

• Defines the way a game is played

• Explains howa player is involvedwith a game

• Gameplay is usually definedwith the help of two major characteristics

• Game Type: Define the viewpoints, styles, temporal aspect and ending type of a game

• Playability: Set of factors thatmeasure the ease and fun in playinga game


Playability• Learning: How quickly a player can learn and dominate a game. The learning curve and

distribution of tutorials in a game for a player

• Immersion: How seamlessly a player is integrated in the virtual world of a game. The

perceptionwhich is created around a player

• Efficiency: How time and resources are managed in a game. The structuring of

challenges for a player

• Satisfaction: Howmuch a player is satisfied after playingor completing a game


Playability• Emotion: How much a game induces feelings in a player. The provocation of different

feelings in a short space of time in a player

•Motivation: How much a player is keen to play and complete a game. The degree of

motivationwhich pushes a player continuously to advance in a game

• Socialization: Howmuch a game allows a player to socialize with other players


GameMechanics


GameMechanics• Defines how a gameworks

• Combination ofmethods that provide interactionwith the game state

• Relation between objects inside a game space with the help of rules which are

triggered by actions using skills and chance in order to achieve goals

• It consists of space, objects, actions, goals, rules, skills, and chance


Space• A set of elements or a universewith structure is a space

• Defines a place or a combination of places inside a game

• Properties of space:

• It is either discrete or continuous on a scale

• It has a number of dimensions

• It has bounded areaswhich can be connected with each other


Objects• Anything that can be seen or manipulated in a game is an object, space acts as a

container of objects in a game

• Properties of object:

• It has a set of attributes that contain informationaboutan object

• It has a state which is a set of current values of its attributes

• It has a set of behaviors that it can performdependingon its own state or game state

• Game state is a set of current states of all the objects in its space


Actions• Interaction of a player with a game by doing some activity on objects is an action, what

a player does in a game

•What operations a player can do in a game

• Verbs of a player in a game

• Choices a player can make in a game

• Actions can change the state of a game and the state of objects


Goals• Objective in a game that a playerwill try to achieve by performingactions is a goal

•Winning conditions in a game

• Guidelines of goal:

• Should be well defined,measureable and incremental (if its too large)

• Provide feedback and reward

• Must be attainable and not boring


Rules• Regulation that a player follows in a game while performing actions in order to achieve

goals is a rule

• How a player can do operations in a game

• Laws and principles in a game

• Consequences of the actions

• Constraints on the actions and the goals


Skills• Player’s ability acquired through some effort to do somethingwell in a game is a skill

• Player’s capacity to performwell in a game after experienceand training

• Types of skill:

• Physical: Skills involving strength, dexterity, coordination,and physical endurance

• Mental: Skills involvingmemory, observation,problem solvingand decision making

• Social: Skills involvingcommunication,coordination and guessingopponentmoves


Chance• Randomness or element of surprise for a player in a game is a chance

• Uncertainty of events happening in a game

• Unpredictable changes in state of a game

• Properties of chance:

• Its outcome is either discrete or continuous

• It can be either completely randomor controlled by some probability or biasness


StorylineandNarrative


StorylineandNarrative• Plot of a gamewhich tells how it progresses

• Game has an interactive plot where a player is continuously active and become a part

of the story, and often involved in the decisionmaking throughout the storyline

• Explainswhat is happeningandwhy things happen the way they do in a game

• Series of connected or related events insidea game

• Script of a gamewhich can contain the dialogues and actions


TypesofStory• Linear: Story where a player start at one point and go straight to the end in a sequence

with single (finite) ending

• Endless: Story where a player start at one point and keep on going infinitely in a

sequencewith no (infinite) ending

• Non Linear: Story where a player start at one or multiple points and it changes due to

the decisions made by a player in a sequence with either a single (finite) ending or

multiple (branching) endings


TypesofStory• Open Ended: Story where a player start at one or multiple points and it allows a player

to progress in different directions without a sequence with either a single (finite) ending

or multiple (branching) endings


AestheticsandLevelDesign


Aesthetics• Visual, aural and haptic experience that a player encounters in a game

•Way a game presents itself to a player

• Overall look and feel of a game

• How the content of a game is displayed

• Every game follows a particular artistic style which uses specific drawing techniques for

creating visuals inside a game


LevelDesign• Process of planning and creating space (level) inside a game that is available to a player

during a specific object or through out the complete game

• Activity of creating playable content for a player in a game

• Guidelines of level design:

• Each level must haveat least one entry point

• Each level must haveat least one exit point (if ending type is not infinite)

• Design of all levels should be consistent


Reference• TheArtofGameDesign- JesseSchell

• GameDesignEssentials- BriarLeeMitchell

• ChallengesforGameDesigners- BrendaBrathwaite,IanSchreiber


9-game design (game development - umt spring 2017)

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