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Video Games. Steps in creating a game The game idea Design Document – precise description of the game Sounds Controls Game Flow Levels. What is a good game? - difficult to say. Most say what is “NOT” a good game A movie – no active participation A toy – there are no predefined goals
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Steps in creating a game • The game idea • Design Document – precise description of the game • Sounds • Controls • Game Flow • Levels • What is a good game? - difficult to say. Most say what is “NOT” a good game • A movie – no active participation • A toy – there are no predefined goals • A drawing program – no clear set of goals • A puzzle – a puzzle is static while a game is dynamic Definition - A computer game is a software program in which one or more players make decisions through the control of game objects and resources, in pursuit of a goal. Involves a software program, players, making decisions, control, objects and resources, goals
A princess is held in a fortress. On the screen you are shown two roads, one to a fortress and one to a cave. You have to decide. You choose the road to the fortress, rescue the princess and win. You pick the other road and you are eaten by a monster. Problems? It has all the elements of a game but it is boring and there is no challenge Need to reach goals and to do so there are many underlying sub-goals. Rewards give motivation to try to reach the goals. Goals can’t be too easy – there must be a challenge The learning curve is important. In the beginning the player need to understand the controls and the mechanisms in the game. Let them achieve simple goals. Decisions are critical – the more interesting the decision, the more interesting the game. They can be low level decisions or high level strategic decisions.
Balance – balance between players, between players and the game, between • Different features of the game • Good Game Design • Make sure best player wins – it should not be luck • The game is there to help the player – player loses because he makes a mistake • Balance the powers of the players and the computer controlled components • Reward the player when he achieves a goal • Have Good Flow – a game presents challenges to the player and the player develops the • Skills to conquer these challenges. • 6. Good Immersion – the player needs to feel to be a part of the game • 7. Story line – this can be important in some games
History • The first game created was in 1958 by Physicist Willy Higinbotham • The first game console created, called “The Brown Box”, was created in 1968. It only played one game with multiple game modes • In 1972 Atari released “Pong” and in1977 Atari released the Atari 2600 which was the most successful system of it’s time • Atari’s release marked the start of the “2nd Generation of Video Games,” the “1st” being given to all previous systems
Market Crash • From 1977 – 1983 market became inflated with many consoles that supported no games • The company's that made consoles had no control over who made games for their system so that had to increase the price of their console to make money. • Most games created aimed more for quantity rather than quality of the game itself. This discouraged anyone from buying into the market
Recovery • The market seemed to have dried up in America and it appeared the gaming movement had died. • However, to investors surprise, in 1985 Nintendo released the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and is was a hit. • The inclusion of a special chip in the game cartridge allowed only Nintendo to develop games for their system. • This marked the start of the “3rd Generation”
3rd generation • Lasted from 1983 - 1988 • Aka. 8 – bit era • Featured 8 – bit consoles • The consoles could display up to 32 colorsat once from a palette of 256. • Screens could smoothly scroll where as previous systems worked in a screen by screen manner. • Mono audio • They began use of a D-pad
3rd generation • Major consoles / their creators: • NES / Nintendo • Sega Master System / Sega • Atari 7800 / Atari * In order of list
4th generation • Lasted from 1988 – 1993 • Aka. 16 – bit era • Featured 16 – bit consoles • 64 to 4096 colors on screen from palettes of 65,536 colors • Cartridge based systems • Stereo audio • Multi-button controller
4th generation • Major consoles / their creators: • TurboGrafx-16 / Hudson Soft • Mega Drive/Genesis / Sega • Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) / Nintendo • Neo Geo AES / SNK * In order of list
5th generation • Lasted from 1993 – 1999 • Aka. 32-bit era, the 64-bit era or the 3D era • Some systems used CD – ROM format, which allowed for larger storage space and full motion video. Nintendo refused to switch this generation • Up to 16,777,216 colors Display images up to 480i and 576i • CD quality audio recordings (music and speech) • 3D polygon graphics • Thumbsticks began to be used on controllers
5th generation • Major consoles / their creators: • 3DO Interactive Multiplayer / 3DO • Atari Jaguar / Atari • Sega Saturn / Sega • PlayStation / Sony • Nintendo 64 / Nintendo * In order of list
6th generation • 1999-2005 • Aka. 128 – bit era • DVD player • Improvements to resolution • Online gaming
6th generation • Major consoles / their creators: • Dreamcast / Sega • PlayStation 2 / Sony • GameCube / Nintendo • Xbox / Microsoft * In order of list
7th generation • 2005 – 2012 • Blu-ray Player • High definition rendered resolutions • Motion sensors
7th generation • Major consoles / their creators: • Xbox 360 / Microsoft • PlayStation 3 / Sony • Wii / Nintendo * In order of list
8th generation • 2012 – Present • Touch pad • Social Media integration • Improved motion tracking • Impulse triggers (Buttons that will vibrate on command)
8th generation • Major consoles / their creators: • Wii U / Nintendo • PlayStation 4 / Sony • Xbox One / Microsoft * In order of list
Game Genres • Video game genres are classified independent of their setting or game-world content, unlike other works of fiction such as films or books. • For example, a shooter game is still a shooter game, regardless of whether it takes place in a fantasy world or in outer space.
Types of Game Genres • 1 Action. 1.1 Platform games. 1.2 Shooter games. ... • 2 Action-adventure. 2.1 Survival horror. 2.2 Metroidvania. • 3 Adventure. 3.1 Text adventures. ... • 4 Role-playing. 4.1 Action RPG. ... • 5 Simulation. 5.1 Construction and management simulation. ... • 6 Strategy. 6.1 4X game. ... • 7 Sports. 7.1 Racing. ... • 8 Other notable genres. 8.1 MMO.
Action • The action genre includes any game where the majority of challenges are physical tests of skill. • These games require high reaction speed and good hand–eye coordination.
Action • Beat 'em up and hack and slash: emphasis on one-on-many (computer enemy's) close quarters combat • Traditional Fighting game: emphasis on one-on-one close quarters combat • Platform game: emphasis on traveling by climbing or jumping around environment • Shooter: combat involving weapons, such as guns and missiles.
Adventure • Adventure games are not defined by the story or content but instead by a manner of gameplay with less reflex challenges or action such as puzzle games. • Text adventures: enter commands via keyboard to interact with game • Modern examples of this replace the text with graphics and usually involve a mouse for clicking instead of typing. Ex: Point-and-click, Visual Novel, or interactive movie.
Action - Adventure • A blend of the two genres. This blend occurs often enough to have been dubbed with its own classification. • These games require many of the same physical skills as action games, but also offer a storyline, numerous characters, an inventory system, dialogue, and other features of adventure games
Action - Adventure • Stealth games: emphasize on subterfuge and precision strikes rather than the mayhem of shooters • Survival Horror: focus's on fear and attempt to scare the player via traditional horror fiction elements such as atmospherics, death, the undead, blood and gore.
Role-playing • Role-playing video games (RPGs) use much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics as early pen-and-paper role-playing games. • A key feature of the genre is that characters grow in power and abilities, and characters are typically designed by the player • Role-playing video games also typically attempt to offer more complex and dynamic character interaction
Role-playing • Role-playing Choices: give the player several choices in how their story will develop • Sandbox RPGs: give players high about of freedom and usually allow for exploring a open world (large world with very little boundries) • MMORPGs: Massively Multiplayer Online RPGs
Simulation • A simulation video game describes a diverse super-category of video games, generally designed to closely simulate aspects of a real or fictional reality.
Simulation • Sports: simulates the playing of traditional sports • Life simulation: simulates management of a day to day life • Construction and management simulation: players build, expand or manage fictional communities • Vehicle: simulates the usage of vehicles • Medical: simulates medical procedures
Strategy • Focus on gameplay requiring careful and skillful thinking and planning in order to achieve victory • The action scales from world domination to squad-based tactics
Strategy • Turn-based: works on a turn by turn basis, only so many moves can be preformed per turn • Real-time: employs quick thinking along with reaction time • MMORTS: Massively Multiplayer Online Real-Time Strategy
Sports • Sports are games that play competitively one team, containing or controlled by you, and another team that opposes you. This opposing team(s) can be controlled by other real life people or artificial intelligence. • Racing: One competes against time or opponent using some means of transportation • Sports game: emulate the playing of traditional physical sports.
Other info • It is estimated the net worth of the video game market is $91.5 Billion in 2015 • The largest nations by estimated video game revenues in 2016 are China ($24.4B), the United States ($23.5B) and Japan ($12.4B). • https://www.statista.com/statistics/246892/value-of-the-video-game-market-in-the-us/ • Super Mario Bros. ( 40+ million) Grand Theft Auto V (65 million) Wii Sports (82.78 million) Minecraft (106.86 million) Tetris (495 million)