Master of Computer Science/Master of Science in Computer Science

MCS 3206 Advanced Computer Graphics and Gaming

Handout 4: Game Design

Prasad Wimalaratne, PhD, SMIEEE

spw@ucsc.cmb.ac.lk

UNIVERSITY OF COLOMBO SCHOOL OF COMPUTING

1
Reading

• Fundamentals of Game Design, 2nd Edition, by Ernest Adams, New

Riders

• Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals, by Katie Salen and Eric

Zimmerman, MIT Press.

• http://www.programmersheaven.com/2/DIRECT-X-FAQ
• http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_EF_2013.pdf
• https://www.coursera.org/course/gametheory

2
Overview
• Introduction
• Game Studies vs. Game Theory
• Psychology, Dynamics, Mechanics
• "Funativity"
• Abstract Rules
• Concrete Rules
• Narrative
• Genres

3
Game Industry
• How Much Do You Know About Video Games?
• http://www.esrb.org/about/video-game-industry-statistics.jsp
• Global Gaming Industry: Growth, Trends and Forecast 2020-
2025
• https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-gaming-industry-growth-
trends-and-forecast-2020-2025-301042773.html

4
Game Studies != Game Theory
• Game studies: The discipline of studying games; in
particular their design, their players and the role they
play in society.
• Game Theory: A mathematical method of decision-
making in which a competitive situation (could be a
game) is analyzed to determine the optimal course of
action for an interested party (agent). Game theory is
often used in politics, economics and military planning.
• Note: We also use Game Theory when contemplating
"agents" within a game.
5
Games versus Stories
• The difference between the two is that a story presents the
facts in an immutable sequence, while a game presents a
branching tree of sequences and allows the player to create his
own story by making choices at each branch point.
• The audience of a story must infer causal relationships from a
single sequence of facts; the player of a game is encouraged to
explore alternatives, contrapositives, and inversions.
• The game player is free to explore the causal relationship from
many different angles.

6
Games versus Stories

7
Game Classifications?

8
https://thebiggamehunter.com/classification-of-games/

9
Game Classifications?
• A casual game is a video game targeted at or used by a mass audience
of casual gamers. Casual games can have any type of gameplay, and fit in
any genre. They are typically distinguished by their simple rules and lack of
commitment required in contrast to more complex hardcore games.
• Casual gaming is often defined by the Puzzle, Adventure and Family genres for
causal players. They are games that anyone of any age can pick up and play
regardless of skill level. So the learning curve is actually much smaller.
• Hardcore games require long-term time commitment or special skills to
play, and there are comparatively low production and distribution costs for
the producer
• Serious Games: Skill development, edutainment

10
Game Development Process

11
Game Types
• RPG (Role playing games)
• AVG (Adventure games)
• RTS (Real-time strategy games)
• FPS (First-person shooting games)
• Simulation
• Sports
• Action
• Puzzle games
• Table games
• MMORPG
• Massive Multiple Player Online Role Playing Games
• ….
12
Game Development Process

13
Game Planning Processes
1. Story telling 9. Game tuning
2. Scripting 10.Numerical setup
3. Game play design 11.Game AI design
4. Character design 12.Sound FX (effects)setup
5. Animation design 13.Scene setup
6. Level design 14.Game document writing
7. Effect design 15.Game quality Assurance
8. User Interface design • …

14
Game Art
• Visual setup for game design Graphics design and production
• 2D setup • Terrain
• 3D setup • Character
• Models
• Textures
• Motion / Animation
• FX (Digital Effects)
• User Interface
• NPC (Non-playable characters) any
character that is not controlled by a
player

15
Game Programming
• Game Tools
• Level editor
• Scene editor
• FX editor
• Script editor
• Game editor
• Data exporters from 3D animation Software
• 3dsMax / Maya / Softimage
• Game engine development
• Game technique research
• Online game server development
16
Game Art
• Visual setup for game design Graphics design and production
• 2D setup • Terrain
• 3D setup • Character
• Models
• Textures
• Motion / Animation
• FX (Digital Effects)
• User Interface
• NPC (Non-playable characters) any
character that is not controlled by a
player

17
Game Programming
• Game Tools
• Level editor
• Scene editor
• FX editor
• Script editor
• Game editor
• Data exporters from 3D animation Software
• 3dsMax / Maya / Softimage
• Game engine development
• Game technique research
• Online game server development
18
Game Software System
Game
NPC System Virtual Agent Trading System Story Game Play
Layer
Fighting System FX System Game AI Script System

Terrain Collision Character Dynamics Sound FX UI Engine

Layer
3D Scene Mngmt 2D Sprite Gamepad Audio Network

3D Graphics API 2D API Input Device OS API System

Layer
Hardware

19
System Layer – APIs
• 3D Graphics API
• DirectX 11.0 SDK – Direct3D
• http://getintopc.com/softwares/development/directx-11-free-download/
• OpenGL
• 2D API
• DirectX SDK - DirectMedia
• Win32 GDI
• Input device
• DirectX SDK – DirectInput
• Audio
• DirectX SDK – DirectSound / Direct3DSound / DirectMedia
• OpenAL -OpenAL (Open Audio Library) is a cross-platform audio application programming
interface (API). It is designed for efficient rendering of multichannel three-dimensional
positional audio.
• Refer: https://www.openal.org/

20
 System Layer
• OS API
• Network
• DirectX SDK – DirectPlay
• Socket library

21
Engine Layer
• 3D scene management system
• Scene graph – previous lectures, VRML, OSG etc
• Shaders
• 2D sprite system
• Audio system
• Gamepad
• Hotkeys
• Mouses
• Timers
• Network

22
Engine Layer
• Terrain
• Advanced scene management system
• Space partition technique
• BSP Tree
• Octree
• Character system
• Bone-skin
• Motion Blending
• Dynamics
• Particle system
• Rigid-body dynamics
• Collision detection
• Sound FX
• User interface
23
Game Play Layer
• NPC (Non-playable characters) management
• any character that is not controlled by a player. In video games, this usually
means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence.
In traditional tabletop role-playing games the term applies to characters
controlled by the game+master or referee, rather than another player.
• Game AI
• Path finding
• Finite state machine (FSM)
• Steering behavior
• Avatar
• Combat system
• FX system
• Script system
• Trading system
• … 24
Game Development Tools for Programming
• System Tools
• Visual C/C++
• .Net
• NuMega BoundsChecker
• Finding memory leaking
• Intel vTune (https://software.intel.com/en-us/intel-vtune-amplifier-xe)
• performance profiling of Windows* and Linux* applications
• Finding computation performance bottlenecks for CPU
• PIX
• Finding graphics performance bottlenecks
• For GPU
• PIX for Windows is a comprehensive graphics debugging/optimization tool
that records detailed information about an application's use of Direct3D. PIX
collects data for a single rendered frame or a continuous stream of rendered
frames. It can include logs of Direct3D calls made by the application,
performance counter data, screenshots, and much more.
25
Game Development Tools for Programming

• SDKs
• System API
• Win32 SDK or MFC
• DirectX SDK or OpenGL
• Socket library
• Middleware (Game engine)
• Middleware for games is a piece of software designed specifically and is integrated into a
game engine to handle some specialized aspect it, such as physics, graphics or networking.
• Renderware
• Unreal –
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_game_middleware
• … 26
Game Development Tools for Artists
• 3D animation tools
• Discrete 3dsMax
• Maya
• Softimage XSI
• 2D Animation Software : http://my.smithmicro.com/anime-studio-2D-animation-
software.html
• 2D tools
• Photoshop
• Illustrator
• Motion tools
• Motion capture devices
• Motion Builder
• FiLMBOX 27
Game Development Process

28
Eg: Game Development Process

Game Design Document (GDD)

29
Game Studies

https://www.blog.radiator.debacle.us/2013/10/the-game-studies-of-game-development.html

30
Game Studies
• Game studies is a multidisciplinary field.
• Psychology, Sociology view
• The effects of games on people (and vice versa)
• "What makes games fun?"
• Structure, Dynamics view
• games as artifacts, "affordances", critical analysis
• "How do you define a game and it's rules?"
• Industry/Engineering view
• design and development of games, how to make better
games, games as drivers of technological innovations
• "Can we come up with a method to make great games?"
31
Entertainment
• What is fun?
• Survival, danger: Criminal, police, soldier
• Sports
• Gathering
• Story and social
• Essentials of a good game:
• Player always aware of short-term and long-term goals
• Meaningful and interesting
• Clear and compelling goals
• Fun to play games: Because you’re in an imaginary world.

32
Fun and Meaningful Outcomes
• If whatever you do leads to the same
conclusion, that is not fun. (e.g. whether
you decide to hit upper or lower, you kill
the monster anyway)
• Some games have apparent choices, but
eventually lead to same conclusion.
Players catch on to this and lose fun.
• How to limit choices: Some choices lead
to game over
• Limited budget: We want user to explore
everything and use everything we have.
• Usual strategy, have some convergence
along the way.

33
"Funativity" (psychology/sociology)
• How, why is something fun?
• Do these kittens look like they are having fun?

http://www.sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~meyer/CISC1600/Materials/Unit3/Lectures/Lec_2_GameDesign.pdf
34
"Theory of Natural Funativity"
• All fun derives from practicing skills that (previously)
insured species survival.
• Skills may relate to earlier context, but appear
disguised in a more modern form.
• Games are safe way to "practice" skills.
• Applied to Cats: Adult cats need to be able to catch
small prey for food and fight for territory/mates.
• Thus kittens practice:
• Hunting -> Chasing feather, ball of string, tail
• Fighting -> Attacking each other, ball of string, your leg.

35
Funativity & Humans
• For most of our species’ history humans
have been tribal hunter/gatherers.
• Many current popular games reflect
modern incarnations of these ancient skills:
• Hunting:
• Shooters, sports games, hand-eye-coordination
• Gathering:
• Pattern games, powerups, resources
• Tribal Interaction:
• High scores, head-to-head, Sims,
36
Funativity & Humans (cont)
• In humans we can identify three overlapping
categories into which we can divide aspects of
game play.
• People like (or find fun) games that have
components that fall into these categories
(realms):
1. Spatial Reasoning (Physical)
2. Pattern Recognition (Mental)
3. Social

37
1. Spatial Reasoning (Physical)
• Abstract Definition: Reasoning about objects in
3D space and how they might interact (includes
your own body, hand-eye coordination).

http://www.sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~meyer/CISC1600/Materials/Unit3/Lectures/Lec_2_GameDesign.pdf
38
2. Pattern Recognition (Mental)

• Abstract Definition: Recognizing patterns in

organized sets of data, remembering chains of
linked events that are significant.

http://www.sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~meyer/CISC1600/Materials/Unit3/Lectures/Lec_2_GameDesign.pdf
39
3. Social
• Abstract Definition: Practicing interpersonal
communication skills, competing/cooperating
with others or modeling dynamics of social
situations.

http://www.sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~meyer/CISC1600/Materials/Unit3/Lectures/Lec_2_GameDesign.pdf
40
Other "psychological" aspects.
• Suspension of disbelief (immersion).
• A game isn't "real", and yet we can have "real" physical/psychological
responses (anger, fear, pride).
• "Immersive" and "flowing" gameplay.
• Emotions and feelings.
• We are more likely to play a game, if it can make us "feel" an emotion
(change our internal state).
• Anxiety and frustration are bad, but...
• Indifference(lack of interest) is the ultimate enemy.

41
Gamification phenomenon

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319326410_Gamification_as_an_instrument_for_organizational
_behaviour_change_during_the_meeting_case_study_ROBATIEMPOS
42
The concept of "Flow"
• “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience”
by Csikszentmihalyi
• Flow is a state of exhilaration(a feeling of
excitement, happiness, or elation.), deep sense of
enjoyment.
• Keeps player immersed in the gameplay.
• Start with relatively low level of challenge to
match starting skill levels. Then gradually
increase challenge.
• Fast enough to prevent boredom
• Not so fast as to induce frustration
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44
Difficulty Level
Difficulty
Too difficult/too frustrating

Ideal difficulty

Too easy/too boring

Time player has spent playing

45
What is a game? (structure/dynamics)
• Not a simple question.
• Things we find in (some) games:
1. Objectives, goals
2. Outcomes, (specifically variable results)
3. Uncertainty
4. Rules and Structure
5. Stories
• A game as a "magic circle".
46
Ludology (structure/dynamics)
• From the Latin ludus (game) + -logy.
The study of games and other forms of
play.
• Ludologists analyses games in terms of
the abstract and formal systems that
the games describe.
• In other words, the focus of ludologists
are on "the rules of a game".

47
Narratology (structure/dynamics)
• Ludology has a competing view that is called "narratology".
• The narratological view is that games should be understood as
novel forms of storytelling and can thus be studied using
theories of narrative.
• "Choose your own adventure?"
• (Question: What is the compelling story behind "tetris"?)

48
Concrete Components (structure/dynamics)

• Research has identified many concrete things that

can improve a players perception of a game:
1. Multiple clear achievable goals.
2. The illusion of choice.
3. Clear punishments and rewards.

49
1. Goals (multiple, clear, achievable)
• We are a goal-drive species and find psychological
reward in completing objectives.
• If it takes too long to achieve a goal, player may
get bored, so, create many simultaneous goals.
• Player should always have at least one clear
objective.
• One "unbeatable" boss or board, one
"impossible" jump or goal can ruin a game.

50
2. Choice (or at least the illusion)
• Players want to think that their decisions
matter.
• If you don't have choice, game is just a
complicated slide presentation.
• Different choices or actions sequences that
results in identical results will frustrate
players.
• Complaints about "linear" gameplay.
• Character customization, alternate endings,
good vs. evil dynamics.
• "Game is a series of interesting choices"
51
A convexity of choices
• Starts with a single choice, widens to many
choices, returns to a single choice

B B B
B A A A A
A

52
3. Rewards and Punishments
• Value of an item (to an individual) closely
correlates with what it cost to acquire
(money, time, effort).
• A player who has spent time and effort on
completing a task, expects to be rewarded.
• Likewise a player who has failed in an
objective, expects to be punished.
• If actions don't have consequences, then
the game-play is meaningless.

53
3. Beyond Rewards and Punishments
"The Skinner Box"
• Some researchers suggest that modern game design is
moving beyond "funativity" and moving towards direct
conditioning of players aimed at getting them to play all
the time (game addiction).
• (15 minute reward loop)
• Random rewards
• Punishment for not playing.

Behavioral Game Design

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3085/behavioral_game_design.php 54
Narrative
(structure/dynamics)
• Questions:
• What about the story?
• Shouldn't a game have a good story?
• The narratological view of game studies says that games should be
understood as a form of storytelling.
• Treating a game as a narrative (or including narrative as part of a game)
can help us make a more compelling game, and may even be thought of
as adding a "social" component.

55
Narrative in Literature
• Rules for narrative in literature have been around since the
time of the Greeks (Aristotle's Poetics).
• Questions to ask:
1. Whose telling the story?
2. What is the conflict?
3. Who is the player meant to identify with?
4. What do you want the player to feel?

56
Narrative in Film
• Modern games have far more in common with film
(cinematography) then with regular literature. Cinema
also has a lexicon of well established rules regarding
the creation of compelling narrative.
1. Don't break the narrative plane.
2. Don't break the narrative chain.
3. Use the camera to frame action.
4. Use the camera to immerse the viewer.
• (Note: What's unique about games is that you always have
perfect camera, light, etc.)

57
Narrative in Games
• Ultimate goal (as with literature, and cinema)
is to get the player or viewer to "suspend
disbelief" and have a "real" emotional
response to events that are entirely fictitious.

• Including a compelling narrative in a game can

"make it incredible" (ChronoTrigger, BioShock)
or simply create a series of annoying cut
scenes that a player has to wade through.

58
Narrative in Games (cont)
• It’s All About Interactivity!
• “Do, don’t show” – let players experience story through
interaction
• Make it personal by having players make key choices,
events affect them
• Blend storytelling with design early
• Use experienced interactive writers
• Keep cut scenes (a scene that develops the storyline and
is often shown on completion of a certain level, or when
the player's character dies.) very short.
• Break up non-interactive sequences by adding
interactivity, even if very simple
59
Interface Design
(Industry & Engineering)
• Affordances: quality of an object, or an
environment, that allows an individual to
perform an action.
• Keep interface simple (add shortcuts for
advanced gameplay).
• Provide feedback for EVERY action.
• Design for error and special needs.
•Refer: 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design
•http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html
60
Microsoft announces Windows Holographic with HoloLens headset
http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/21/7867593/microsoft-announces-windows-holographic 61
So what makes a game fun?
• Applying "natural theory of funativity":
• Spatial Reasoning
• Pattern Recognition
• Social Interaction
• Applying Concrete Rules:
• Multiple clear achievable goals.
• The illusion of choice.
• Clear punishments and rewards.
• Many great games have all of these components. Are there
other rules... yes.

62
A methodology for creating successful games?
• Q: Knowing what we know now, can we create a formula or a
pattern for creating great game.?
• A: No. Many useful game design methodologies have been
suggested , and they do help insure that a game gets
developed consistently and within time and budget
limitations.
• But every great game starts with a great idea, and nobody can
predict where those come from.

63
MDA
Mechanics, Dynamics & Aesthetics
• MDA is a game development paradigm designed to help
developers make the most out of a game idea, and proceed
efficiently through the complex process of bringing a game to
market.

• MDA is one of many development paradigms that are used by

large game development companies.

64
 MDA

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319326410_Gamification_as_an_instrument_for_organizational_behavi
our_change_during_the_meeting_case_study_ROBATIEMPOS
65
Definitions
• Mechanics: The rules and concepts that
formally specify the game-as-system.

• Dynamics: The run-time behavior of the

game-as-system.

• Aesthetics: The desirable emotional

responses evoked by the game dynamics.

66
Three “Views” of Games

Mechanics Dynamics Aesthetics

But they are causally linked

67
The Designer’s Perspective


Designer
Mechanics Dynamics Aesthetics

68
The User’s Perspective

Mechanics Dynamics Aesthetics


User

69
The Building Blocks: Formal Models:
MDA is a “Taxonomy” for Models

• No Grand Unified Theory

• Instead, lots of little models
• We can think of models as “lenses”
• Models can be formulas or abstractions
• Discovering new models is an ongoing process

70
MDA is a “Taxonomy” for Models

• Knowledge of Aesthetics
• Knowledge of Dynamics
• Knowledge of Mechanics
• Knowledge of the interactions between them

71
Properties of Good Models
We want our models to be:
• Formal (well-defined)
• Abstract (widely applicable)
• Proven (known to work)

On any given game, we expect to use several

different abstractions, not one big one.

72
Mechanics
• Before a single line of code is written the mechanics
that will be used by the game should be well thought
out and documented.
• This includes:
• The programming language
• The programming libraries, engines, tools
• The hardware required/available
• The logical programming components
• The storage/retrieval/initialization methods
• The interfaces (software and hardware) supported

73
Mechanics vs. Dynamics

• There’s a grey area

• Some behaviors are direct consequences of
rules.
• Others are indirect.
• “Dynamics” usually means the latter.
• Dynamics and Mechanics are different
views of games.
• Dynamics emerge from Mechanics.

74
Interaction Models

• How do specific dynamics emerge from specific mechanics?

• How do specific dynamics evoke specific aesthetics?

75
Example: Time Pressure
• “Time pressure” is a dynamic.
• It can create dramatic tension.
• Various mechanics create time pressure:
• Simple time limit
• “Pace” monster
• Depleting resource

76
Dynamics
• Before a single line of code is written the dynamics that
will be used by the game should be well thought out and
documented. This is the "ludological" and part of MDA.
All objects and axioms need to be detailed!
• This includes:
• The domain of the game.
• The players in the game.
• The rules of the game.
• The objects in the game.

77
Understanding Dynamics
• What about the game’s behavior can we predict before we go
to playtest?
• How can we explain the behavior that we observe?

78
Formalizing Game Dynamics

Input Output
Rules
(Player) (Graphics/
State Sound)

The “State Machine” Model

Examples: Chess, Quake

79
Models of Game Dynamics

• Again, no Grand Unified Theory

• Instead, a collection of many Dynamic Models.
• Dynamics models are analytical in nature.

80
Example: Random Variable
This is a model of :

Chance

2 3 4 5 6Die7roll8 9 10 11 12

81
Example: Feedback System
A feedback system monitors and regulates its own state.
Room
Thermometer

Heater

Too Cold

Too Hot
Controller
Cooler An Ideal Thermostat
82
Example: Operant Conditioning

• The player is part of the system, too!

• Psychology gives us models to explain and

predict the player’s behavior.

83
Where Models Come From
• Analysis of existing games
• Other Fields:
• Math, Psychology, Engineering…
• Our own experience

84
Aesthetics
• Before a single line of code is written the aesthetics
that will be used by the game should be well thought
out and documented. This is the "narratological" part
of MDA.
• The "art bible" which should contain every detail of the
"look" of the game will come out of this development
area.
• This includes:
• Color Palette
• Physical looks for all players
• Lighting plots, schemes, etc.

85
Understanding Aesthetics

We need to get past words like “fun” and

“gameplay.”
• What kinds of “fun” are there?
• How will we know a particular kind of
“fun” when we see it?

86
MDA
• The Aesthetics can be broken up into more distinct
components; ‘Eight Forms of Fun ’:
1. Sensation, game as sensory pleasure
2. Fantasy, game as make-believe
3. Narrative, game as drama
4. Challenge, game as obstacle course
5. Fellowship, game as social framework
6. Discovery, game as uncharted territory
7. Expression, game as self-discovery
8. Submission, game as pastime.
• MDA’s goal is to provide a framework to span
between game design, development, game criticism
and research
87
Clarifying Our Aesthetics
• Charades is
▪ Fellowship, Expression, Challenge
• Quake is
▪ Challenge, Sensation, Competition, Fantasy
• Final Fantasy is
▪ Fantasy, Narrative, Expression, Discovery,
Challenge, Masochism

Each game pursues multiple aesthetics.

Again, there is no Game Unified Theory.
88
Clarifying Our Goals
• As designers, we can choose certain
aesthetics as goals for our game design.
• We need more than a one-word definition
of our goals.

89
What is an “Aesthetic Model?”

• A rigorous definition of an aesthetic goal

• States criteria for success and failure
• Serves as an “aesthetic compass”

90
Goal: Competition
Model: A game is competitive if players are
emotionally invested in defeating each other.
Success:
• Players are adversaries(one's opponent in a
contest).
• Players want to win.
Failure:
• A player feels that he can’t win.
• A player can’t measure his progress.

91
Goal: Realistic Flight Simulation

Model: Flight dynamics match user

expectations.
Success:
• Match a mathematical formula
• Pass our “realism checklist”
Failure:
• Counter-intuitive system behavior.

92
Goal: Drama
Model: A game is dramatic if:
 Its central conflict creates dramatic tension.
 The dramatic tension builds towards a climax.

Clima x
Dramatic Tension

Conflict Resolution

Narrative Time

93
Goal: Drama
Success:
• A sense of uncertainty
• A sense of inevitability
• Tension increases towards a climax
Failure:
• The conflict’s outcome is obvious (no
uncertainty)
• No sense of forward progress (no inevitability)
• Player doesn’t care how the conflict resolves

94
Genres
• MDA also gives us a way to classify (and group)
games into Genres:s

• Mechanical Genres:
• Mobile game, Quake Engine
• Dynamic Genres
• Shooter, Strategy, RPG, MMORPG
• Aesthetic Genres:
• Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror Survival

95
Genres
• Adventure
• Sub-genres include text-based adventure and
graphical adventure
• Zork by Infocom
• King’s Quest by Sierra
• Action
• Superset of all other action-oriented genres
• Typified by fast-paced combat and movement
• Spacewar, Pong, and Space Invaders helped define the
genre

96
Genres
• Action-Adventure
• Adventure games with action elements
• The break-out hit
• Jak 3, Metroid Prime Legend of Zelda was first 2
Echoes, and Resident Evil 4 are modern examples of
the genre
• Platformer
• Typified by a character running and jumping in a side-
scrolling playing field
• Modern definition has expanded to include 3D
• Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog, Pitfall! and
Super Mario 64 are examples
97
Genres
• Fighting
• Players typically fight other players or the computer
using swordplay or martial arts
• Double Dragon is an example of a side-scrolling fighter
• Virtua Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Street Fighter.
• First-Person Shooter
• Action game where player is “behind the eyes” of the
game character in a first-person perspective
• id Software’s Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM are the
earliest popular examples
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Genres

• Real-Time Strategy (RTS)

• Typically, a game in which the goal is to collect
resources, build army, and fight other player/AI.
• Popularized by Westwood’s Dune 2 and Command
and Conquer and Blizzard’s Warcraft
• Turn-Based Strategy
• Like real-time strategy games, but turn-based
• Civilization, X-COM, Master of Orion, and Jagged
Alliance are standouts of the genre

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Genres
• Role-Playing Game (RPG)
• The video game counterpart to pen and pencil games
like Dungeons and Dragons
• Final Fantasy, Baldur’s Gate and Wasteland are some
popular examples of the genre
• Massively Multiplayer Role-Playing Game
(MMORPG)
• An RPG set in a persistent virtual world populated by
thousands of other players
• Ultima Online in 1997 was the first popular one
• World of Warcraft is currently the most popular one
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Genres
• Stealth
• Characterized by a focus on trick and planned-out,
deliberate play
• Metal Gear in 1987 was one the first
• Popular modern series include Metal Gear, Splinter
Cell, and Thief
• Survival Horror
• An action-adventure or first-person shooter where
survival elements and fighting undead are stressed
• Resident Evil is easily the most popular series in this
genre
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Genres
• Simulation
• Based on the simulation of a system
• SimCity and The Sims are example of “God”
simulations where you control the lives many.
• Wing Commander and X-Wing are popular space
combat simulation games
• Racing
• Games that involve competing in a race in a vehicle
• Typically try to re-create a real-world activity
• Pole Position was first popular racing game
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Genres
• Sports
• Games that simulate the sporting experience
• Breakouts include John Madden Football and Tiger
Woods’ Golf
• Rhythm
• Gauge player’s success based on the ability to trigger
the controls in time to the beat of music
• Sometimes require specialized controllers such as
dance pads or bongo drums
• Rock Band, Guitar Hero

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Genres
• Puzzle
• Games that combine pattern matching, logic, strategy
and luck with a timed element
• Tetris is the breakout hit of this genre
• Mini-Games
• Short, simple games that exist within the context of a
larger game
• Mario Party and Wario Ware are popular examples of
this genre
• FABLE II, Pub games

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Genres
• Traditional
• Computerized versions of board, word, and card
games
• Battle Chess and Hoyle series are standouts
• Educational
• Games designed to teach grade-school concepts to
children and young adults
• Oregon Trail was the first popular game in this genre
• The Carmen Sandiego series and Mavis Beacon
Teaches Typing are more modern popular examples

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Genres
• Serious
• A game designed to teach real-world events or
processes to adults
• Most are privately funded
• Popular with the US Government and the medical field
• "Sapphire" simulation trainer

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The Development Track

• Function is to build the game

• Divided into specialties based on skills
• Programming – the software
• Graphics, artificial intelligence, physics, etc.
• Art and animation – the pictures
• 2D art & animation, 3D modelling and animation
• Audio engineering & music – the sound
• Recording, editing, music composition

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Interactive Program Structure

• Event driven programming

• Everything happens in
response to an event
Initialize • Events come from two
sources:
• The user
User Does Something
And/or • The system
System does Something • Events are also called
messages
System Updates • An event causes a message
to be sent…
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User Events
• The OS manages user input
• Interrupts at the hardware level …
• Get converted into events in queues at the windowing level …
• It is generally up to the application to make use of the event
stream
• User interface toolkits have a variety of methods for managing
events
• There are two ways to get events: You can ask, or you can be
told.
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Polling for Events
while ( not done )
if ( e = checkEvent() )
process event
…
draw frame

• Most windowing systems provide a non-blocking

event query
• Does not wait for an event, returns immediately if no
events are ready

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Waiting for Events
while ( not done )
e = nextEvent();
process event
…
draw frame

• Most windowing systems provide a blocking

event function
• Waits (blocks) until an event is available

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The Callback Abstraction
• A common event abstraction is the callback mechanism
• Applications register functions they wish to have called in response to
particular events
• Translation table says which callbacks go with which events
• Generally found in GUI (graphical user interface) toolkits
• “When the button is pressed, invoke the callback”
• Many systems mix methods, or have a catch-all callback for unclaimed events

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Upon Receiving an Event …
• Event responses fall into two classes:
• Task events: The event sparks a specific task or results in some change of state within the
current mode
• eg Load, Save, Pick up a weapon, turn on the lights, …
• Call a function to do the job
• Mode switches: The event causes the game to shift to some other mode of operation
• eg Start game, quit, go to menu, …
• Switch event loops, or change callbacks, because events now have different
meanings
• Software structure reflects this - menu system is separate from run-time
game system, for example

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Real-Time Loop
• At the core of games with animation is a real-time loop:
while ( true )
process events
update animation
render

• What else might you need to do?

• The number of times this loop executes per second is
the frame rate
• # frames per second (fps)

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 Lag
• Lag is the time between when a user does something and when
they see the result - also called latency
• Too much lag and causality is distorted
• With tight visual/motion coupling, too much lag makes people motion
sick
• Too much lag makes it hard to target objects (and track them, and do
all sorts of other perceptual tasks)
• High variance in lag also makes interaction difficult
• Users can adjust to constant lag, but not variable lag
• From a psychological perspective, lag is the important variable

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Summary
• Remember, there is no proven method for creating a great game.
• Every great game started out as someone's great idea.
• We have no proven way of generating great ideas.
• IF you have a great idea, there are things you can do and methods
you can apply to make it into the best game possible:
• Apply "theory of funativity" (Spatial, Mental, Social)
• Apply concrete rules (goals, choices, punishments & rewards)
• Include a compelling narrative (what should player feel?)
• Use a methodology such as MDA (Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics)

• Free Game Design and Development Courses and Resources Online

• http://study.com/articles/8_Free_Game_Design_and_Development_Cour
ses_and_Resources_Online.html

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