Video Game Design Game Maker

1. Video Game DesignGame Maker Ms. Scales

2. What is game design? • Is it art? • It is all about artistic expression. • Is it technical? • Just follow some deign rules and you’re done. • Can anyone do it? • Write a simple story, write a document or two on the design and give it to the programmers. • No: it is a craftsmanship • It is part art, part technical… but very very difficult.

3. What is a game? A game is an activity among two or more independent decision-makers seeking to achieve their objectives in some limiting context By Clark C. Abt Introduced the term ‘Serious game’ in 1970

4. What is a game? A game is a form of art in which participants, called players, make decisions in order to manage resources through game tokens in the pursuit of a goal. By Greg Costikyan

5. What is a game? A game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that result in a quantifiable outcome. By Salen and Zimmerman

6. What is a game? Important ingredients: • Players • Making decisions • A goal or outcome • Rules (resources, game tokens) • Artificial, limitng context

7. Arcade/pinball First person shooter Third person shooters Role playing games Flight simulators Racing Sport simulators Strategy games GOD games Puzzle games Adventure Fitness games Rhythm Edutainment Types of Games

8. Elements of Games • Important game elements: • Reaction speed • Experience • Insight • Cleverness • Surprise • Emotion • What else?

9. What is a Genre? • Genres are based on: • “underlying similarites rather thatn their superficial visuaol or narrative differences” • But genres are not an exact science • Many disagree on what genres there are

10. Genres • Action • Frantic button pushing, reaction speed, experience • Adventure • Story, surprise, emotion • Strategy • Non-trivial choices, insight and cleverness, experience • Puzzle • Hard thinking, cleverness • Simulation • From 1 perspective, insight, experience • Competition • Beat the other players • Toys • Software to have fun with, surprise • Education • Learn from doing

11. Types of Players • Hard Core gamers vs. Mass market • Mass market vs. casual • Young vs. Old • Average age is 33 • Male vs. Female • 48% of gamers are Female • 60% of games are played with friends

12. What do you think makes a good game? • Take 5 minutes to discuss with the people around you to talk about what makes a good game to you. • Does not have to be a computer/video game • In your group list the things that makes a game good and list the things that makes a game bad/terrible

13. Graphics Sound effects Music Story Game play Interaction Documentation Internet gaming person/computer opponents Addicting Atmosphere Long-lasting Non repetitive Original Thought provoking What is a good game?

14. What is Game Maker? • Integrated development environment for 2d games • Global ideas • Simple to use, using drag and drop • Still considerable power through built in language • Integrated environment • Not focused on a particular type of game

16. DATA Sprites Sounds Background Fonts Structure of Game Maker • CONROL • Objects • Timelines • Scripts • Paths • LEVELS • Rooms • Views • Tiles

17. A sprite is a collection of images that stores an animation of some game object There can be multiple animations of the object depending on its status Direction of motion Mental state Problems Animation speed difficult to control Requires basically fixed frames rates Advantages High quality, also on low resolution Much detail Relatively easy to use and control Still common in many games Mobile devices Internet games Casual games Older RTS and Sim games Sprites

18. Sprites in Game Maker • Built in drawing program • Collision detection based on sprites • Different options • Using masks • Objects can switch sprites • Control over animation speed • Additional actions, variables and functions to control blending, transformations, etc • Sprites can be used as textures on surfaces

19. Backgrounds • Background images play an important role • Setting • Scrolling Background • continuously moving or when the player moves • In game maker • Each room can have 8 different depths • They can scroll

20. Tiles and Sound Tiles • A background can be used as a tile set • In a room editor tiles can be placed at different depths • Sound and music • Wave, midi, mp3 • Sound effects • 3D sound

21. Objects • Objects have behavior • sprites are only images • Multiple instances can exist in a room • (Instance of ) object get events, e.g • Creation • Collision • User input • They react to (some of) these actions • Objects can have a visual representation but this is not necessary • sprite or draw event • create objects that represent a game status

22. Objects in Game Maker • Sprite • Solid • Don’t use • Visible • Depth • Persistence • Parent • Mask

23. Events • Many different types • Creation and destruction • Alarm • Collision mouse and joystick • Various keyboard events • Other and user-defined

24. Actions • Many different types of actions • Motion • Creating, destroying, and changing objects • Control • Drawing • Score, life and health • Variables and code