An Introduction to Creating Computer Games

1. An Introduction to Creating Computer Games Make your own Super Mario! With a massive thank you to the incredibly generous support of YoYoGames

2. Such Welcome Wow ILW2014 Amaze Much game design

3. House-Keeping Couse will run from 9am – 4pm, 19th & 20th February 2014, TLF, School of Engineering, KB If you can’t make both days or you want to “dip in and out” to attend other ILW events then that’s ok Course organiser: Ross (s0929174@sms.ed.ac.uk) I’m a 5th year Chemical Engineering undergraduate student BUT I’ve also been designing and creating games for the best part of 8 years Course helpers: Kathy (School of Engineering), Scott (GameDevSoc), Paul (GameDevSoc)

4. What are we going to do? Briefly look at the current computer games scene and at the rise of “indie” games Try and understand what makes a successful game Work together in small groups to create a platform game

5. What was popular in 2013? In terms of consoles (PS3/PS4/Xbox360/XboxOne/3DS/DS/PSVita), Source: www.vgchartz.com

6. What was popular in 2013? What about PC Games? Harder to get a clear picture because there is no industry body that publishes sales data and lots of games use different business models to make money in other ways (micro-transactions, monthly fees, advertising revenue) so no “hard copy” of the game is actually sold. Some of the most popular titles on the PC include: DOTA2, League of Legends, Minecraft, Team Fortress 2, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Left 4 Dead 2, Sid Meier’s Civilization V, World of Warcraft, Terraria, Starbound, Football Manager 2014, Counter-Strike, Borderlands 2, Far Cry 3, Bioshock Infinite, Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag, Simcity, The Sims 3, Portal 2, Dishonored, Garry’s Mod, Spore, Don’t Starve, Diablo III, Torchlight II, Hearthstone, Papers Please, Fez, Spelunky, Saints Row IV, Gone Home, Tomb Raider, The Walking Dead.

7. What was popular in 2013? The total video game market in 2013 was worth $93 billion (£57 billion). In the UK, sales from video games in 2013 totalled £2.2 billion, which is more than double the sales of music. The video games industry is now the largest entertainment industry in the world (dwarfing even the film industry) and it’s still growing fast. However, the market changes at a blazing pace and it’s almost impossible to predict where it’s heading given how fast technology is developing.

8. What was popular in 2013? Video games are often categorised into genres: Action Adventure Casual Indie MMO (massively multiplayer) – includes sub-genres: MMORPG, MOBA etc. Racing RPG (role-playing game) Simulation Sport Strategy

9. What was popular in 2013? Video game popularity by genre: Source: “2013 – Sales, Demographic and Usage Data”, Entertainment Software Association

10. What was popular in 2013? Some surprising statistics (USA, 2013): The average age of a gamer is 30. 58% of Americans play video games. 55% of gamers are male, 45% are female. The average age of the most frequent game purchaser is 35. Ways people play games (in order from most popular to least popular): Console, PC, Smartphone, Handheld/Wireless device. Source: “2013 – Sales, Demographic and Usage Data”, Entertainment Software Association

11. What was popular in 2013? Swedish games developer Markus “Notch” Persson used the idea of virtual lego to create Minecraft. Despite the “low quality” and “blocky” graphics, the game is one of the most popular titles in existence having sold over 33 million copies, making Notch incredibly rich. The game has even been used as a CAD design tool; in educational settings such as schools and to help children with autism express themselves. The games market has seen a huge surge in “indie” games An “indie” game is simply an independently-produced game Successful examples of indie games include: Minecraft, Fez, Hotline Miami, Terraria.

12. What was popular in 2013? ANYONE can become an indie games developer! You can create games and publish them directly for sale to Steam, the Android Market or Apple App Store directly from your bedroom.

13. What was popular in 2013? SO WHAT’S THE POINT IN ALL THESE LOVELY COLOURFUL GRAPHS AND INFORMATION? The video game market is huge and incredibly DIVERSE: there is room for just about any type of game in the market. Anyone can now become a video games developer: you no longer need to be part of a major game studio to create content and sell it.

14. What was popular in 2014? The game itself would probably take a game developer an afternoon to make. It ended up earning the indie developer who made it OVER $50,000 PER DAY IN AD REVENUE

15. What makes a successful game?

16. What makes a successful game? Theory #1 “A game is a series of interesting choices.” Sid Meier Fundamentally, all games can be stripped back to being a series of choices. A good game is one that presents interesting choices. This doesn’t mean that a good game needs to be non-linear or open-world, simply that the level of autonomy/freedom afforded to the player is interesting.

17. What makes a successful game? Theory #2 “RISK vs REWARD” and PLAYER INVESTMENT The player needs to receive some kind of reward for their effort. The player needs to be convinced to make a personal investment. Multiplayer games often achieve this through direct competition or by fostering community.

18. Exercise 1 - What makes a successful game? Split yourselves up into small groups (2-4 people) Pick one game from the following list to discuss: FlappyBird, DOTA2, Minecraft, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Left 4 Dead, Sid Meier’s Civilization V, World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike, Bioshock, The Sims, Portal, Hearthstone, Papers Please, Fez and The Walking Dead. Pick out at least 5 reasons you think that game has been so successful (try to think about elements of gameplay, the story, the graphics as well as the business/commercial model the game uses). TIME LIMIT: 20 minutes

19. What makes a successful game? There’s no singular answer as to what makes a successful game, but there are important areas worth considering during the design process!

20. The game design process

21. The game design process CONCEPT Start with an idea or concept Consider creating a mock-up of how the game might look: try showing the mock-up to friends, focus-groups or online communities to generate buzz and gather opinions. Carry out market research: What genre will your game be? Who is your target market/audience? Who might your competitors be? How do they do things?

22. The game design process DESIGN Start to design the different components of the game: graphics, music, the plot, the characters and most importantly the game-play itself. Identify what the scope of the project might be: Will you be able to achieve your vision within budget, a reasonable time-frame and given your resource limitations? What compromises could you make? Are there any skills required that you don’t have “in-house”: Will you need to contract out parts of work (for example the music)? How much might that cost? Are there cheaper alternatives (such as using open-source music)? What platform are you going to design the game for? iOS, Android, Windows, Linux, Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo? What are the implications? Can it be cross-platform?

23. The game design process DEVELOPMENT Start to code the game engine: Are there areas which have been designed that are impossible/impractical to code? Do compromises or changes need to be made? Does the development (and to an extent the design) process require funding/financial backing? Could you raise the capital with crowd-funding (Kickstarter, Indiegogoetc)? What kind of business model might your game use when it’s finished? Will it be a one-off fee, monthly subscription, micro-transaction based, a cross between free/and premium content? How might the choice of financial model impact on the development/design process?

24. The game design process TESTING Test the game for bugs and reprogram if necessary AND test the game with focus groups and redesign as appropriate.

25. The game design process RELEASE Where are you going to publish it? Steam, Android Market, App Store, etc? If the game is going to be cross-platform, will you release it on all platforms at once? How are you going to advertise/publicise/generate “buzz”? Should you consider having a “phased release” (a closed-public alpha/beta test) first? Will you allow people to pre-order the game and gain early-access rewards as a result?

26. The game design process MAINTENANCE Do you need to adapt the game to take on-board community feedback or requests? Are there new bugs you need to fix? Will you consider creating and releasing additional content for the game? Would that be financially advantageous? How might your choice of financial model for the game influence the level of “after-care” your game receives?

27. The game design process CONCEPT: Start with an idea or concept, carry out market research and create a mock-up DESIGN: Start to design the different components of the game; graphics, music and the game-play itself DEVELOPMENT: Start to code the game engine TESTING: Test the game for bugs and reprogram if necessary AND test the game with focus groups and redesign as appropriate RELEASE: Where are you going to publish it? Should you consider having a “phased release” (a closed-public alpha/beta test) first? MAINTENANCE: Do you need to adapt the game to take on-board community feedback or requests? Are there new bugs you need to fix? Will you consider creating and releasing additional content for the game?

28. Exercise 2 – The game design process Get back into your groups or make new ones Briefly discuss what elements you would need to consider if you were making a platform game (e.g. Super Mario, Sonic, etc) On a piece of paper, draw a sketch of what a typical “level” in a platformer game might look like. Highlight and name all the key elements (e.g. where the start/end are, what the enemies are etc) TIME LIMIT: 20 minutes

29. Let’s make some games! Split up into groups of roughly 5 people Design a PLATFORMER game as a group Split up by delegating tasks: e.g. 2 people do the programming, 2 people do the graphics, 1 person looks at the music (just a suggestion, you can divide up the tasks you desire) Create the game using Game Maker Studio (information on how to do it will be provided). DEADLINE: 2:30pm , Wednesday (tomorrow) The games will then be judged on the IDEA, the GRAPHICS/MUSIC (if applicable), the GAMEPLAY and the BUSINESS PLAN (who is your target audience? How will the game make money?) All games will be put on the university’s website for show The best game will win a SUPER EXCITING PRIZE! *** disclaimer, prize might not be super exciting ***

30. Let’s make some games! We’re going to use Game Maker: Studio, by Dundee-based games company, YoYoGames to create our projects. We have to say a MASSIVE THANKS to YoYoGames, who have very kindly donated 80 free licences of Game Maker Studio (valued well over £10,000) for us to use during the workshop! Game Maker was originally developed by Prof. Mark Overmars of the University of Utrecht in The Netherlands as a way of teaching game development.

31. Let’s make some games! Some hugely popular indie games have been made using Game Maker, such as Hotline Miami and Spelunky.

32. Let’s make some games! GOOD LUCK, MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOUR MAY THE BEST TEAM WIN! You can access all the online resources here: http://www.rossay.net/tutorials/ILW2014.html It has an introduction to the type of game we’re going to make as well as a guide on how to do it (all the coding included) in Game Maker If you have any questions or need any help just ask me or one of the other helpers (if it’s a technical Game Maker question, you are best asking me)