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SMARTBOMB

Chapter OneCliffyB and the Dawn of a New

Era

The Nature of FunWhat makes video games fun?

•Games Relieve StressEmotions rise and fall during a game, providing a release from day-to-day tensions. •Games Are EncouragingInteractive feedback with periodic rewards provides a level of self-satisfaction. •Games Provide EscapeImmersion in a high-sensory fantasy world in which the player has a strong sense of control and choice.

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SMARTBOMB

Chapter OneCliffyB and the Dawn of a New

Era

Maintaining the Flow of the GameSuccessful games must tread that fine path

between being too difficult and frustrating and being too simple and boring.

TOO HARDTOO HARD

TOO EASYTOO EASYTHE FUN FL

OW

THE FUN FL

OW

THE FUN FL

OW

THE FUN FL

OWG

ame

Diffi

culty

Player Skill Level

3

SMARTBOMB

Chapter TwoIn the

Beginning

Applying Usability to Video GamesRecognizing that game software must be

evaluated by a different set of criteria than other software (e.g., satisfaction is far more important than efficiency and effectiveness), researchers have attempted to define heuristics for gauging game usability.

Microsoft Game Studios Usability Testing Lab

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SMARTBOMB

Chapter TwoIn the

Beginning

Game Interface Heuristics• Controls should be customizable, defaulting

to industry standards• Controls should be intuitive and mapped in a natural way• Control options should be minimal

• The control interface should be non-intrusive• Score and/or status in the game should always be easily identified• Interfaces should be consistent in control, color, typography, & dialog design

• Sound should be used to provide meaningful feedback• Users shouldn’t be expected to have read a manual• Players should be able to save games in different states• Art used in the game should reflect the function of what it represents

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SMARTBOMB

Chapter TwoIn the

Beginning

Game Play Heuristics• The player should get involved with the

game quickly and easily• The game should have a clear overriding goal, which is presented early• The game should have a variable difficulty level• Each level of the game should have multiple goals• The game should be straightforward to learn, but difficult to master• The game should have an unexpected outcome• The game’s artificial intelligence should be reasonable but unpredictable• Game play should be balanced so there is no definite way to win

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SMARTBOMB

Chapter TwoIn the

Beginning

More Game Play Heuristics• The game should be fair and should provide

the player with rewards• The game should provide hints, but not too many hints• The pace should apply pressure to the player without causing frustration• No single optimal winning strategy should exist; multiple paths should exist• The game should have a solid storyline and plenty of interactive props• The game world should seem as if it would exist even without the player’s presence

• Skills that players will need later in the game should be taught early

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SMARTBOMB

Chapter ThreeThe Legend of the Last Toy

Maker

Game Design PrinciplesIs game design a science or an art?

Scientific Requirements •Technical Awareness

Programming ExperienceBasic Knowledge of Platform•Analytical Competence Unbiased Review of Peers and SelfAbility to Detect Unbeatable Strategies

•Mathematical Competence Discrete Problem-Solving TechniquesStatistical Balancing of Game Play

Artistic Requirements •Aesthetic Competence Sense of Style and Visual HarmonyImaginative but pragmatic outlook

•Creative Writing Skills Effective Story Narrative & DialogueUnambiguous Design Specifications

•Drawing Skills Ability to Conceptualize VisuallyCooperation with Concept ArtistsAdditional Requirements

•Imagination Visual,

Auditory, Dramatic Creativity

Lateral Thinking (“Outside The Box”)

•General Knowledge

History, Literature, Art, Languages, Current Events, Science, Pop Culture

•Ability to Compromise

Share Ownership of the Design with Other Developers, the Game Publisher, License Holders, Etc.

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SMARTBOMB

Chapter ThreeThe Legend of the Last Toy

Maker

Inspirational Design: Inspirational Design: Katamari DamacyKatamari DamacyKeita Takahashi’s 2004 game, roughly translated Keita Takahashi’s 2004 game, roughly translated

as “The Spirit of Clumping”.as “The Spirit of Clumping”.•A tiny prince is on a A tiny prince is on a mission to rebuild the mission to rebuild the moon and the stars, moon and the stars, which his father has which his father has accidentally accidentally destroyed.destroyed.

•He rolls a magical He rolls a magical sticky ball (the sticky ball (the katamarikatamari) around ) around various locations, various locations, collecting increasingly collecting increasingly larger objects, larger objects, ranging from ranging from thumbtacks to thumbtacks to schoolchildren to schoolchildren to mountains, until the mountains, until the ball has grown large ball has grown large enough to become a enough to become a star.star.

•The game requires The game requires puzzle-solving puzzle-solving strategy as well as strategy as well as action-game action-game dexterity.dexterity.

Current Diameter: 4.843 meters

Goal Diameter: 30 meters

Time Remaining: 9 minutes

Last Object Picked Up: Streetlight Post

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SMARTBOMB

Chapter ThreeThe Legend of the Last Toy

Maker

Game SettingsHow realistic or abstract should a game be?

• Photo-Realism attempts to maximize the physical resemblance to real objects.• Iconography leans more towards stylized “cartoon” representations of the objects.• “Pure” abstraction makes no reference to visual phenomena besides itself.

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SMARTBOMB

Chapter ThreeThe Legend of the Last Toy

Maker

Abstract Game SettingsDarwiniaFlat-shaded polygons create a bleak landscape representing a virtual theme park.

Hollow Moon

Black & white

graphics with no audio,

creating an

isolated sense of being on

the moon.

MonoAsteroids-like painting game in which colored globules are exploded

to paint the background.

RezModernized low-

polygon aesthetic with visuals and sound

effects synchronized to music.

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SMARTBOMB

Chapter FourDallas: First-

Person-Shooter Capital of the

World

StorytellingThe most common approach to relating a narrative is the three-act circular structure.

Ordinary WorldCall To

Adventure

Meeting With Mentor

Crossing First ThresholdTests,

Allies, & Enemies

Approach To Major Ordeal

Major Ordeal

Reward

Journey Home

Reflect On Lessons Learned

Return With Reward

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SMARTBOMB

Chapter FourDallas: First-

Person-Shooter Capital of the

World

Game StorytellingGames commonly use a variation of the three-act structure.Ordina

ry World

Call To AdventureMeeting

With Mentor

Crossing First Threshold

Tests, Allies, & Enemies

Approach To Major Ordeal

Major Ordeal

Reward

Journey Home

Thrilling Climax

Return With Reward

The first act is shortened in order to engage the user in the more interactive second act, in which multiple mini-crises transpire.

The third act is

usually expanded to include

a major climactic

event, essentially to reward the player

for surviving

to that point.

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SMARTBOMB

Chapter FourDallas: First-

Person-Shooter Capital of the

World

Game BalanceA balanced game is one in which the main determining factor for the success of a player is the player’s skill level.

Fist Chainsaw Pistol Shotgun

Chaingun Rocket Launcher Plasma Rifle BFG 9000

One way to maintain balance is to provide successively greater capabilities as the game’s level of difficulty increases (e.g., the increased firepower of weapons available in Doom).

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SMARTBOMB

Chapter FiveWill Wright and

the Model of Everything

Artificial Intelligence in GamesNon-Player Characters as Intelligent Agents

What do you want the character to be able to do?Sensing•Vision: The agent needs to be able to “see” objects within its field of view, as long as they have sufficient proximity and are not obstructed.

•Hearing: The agent needs to be able to “hear” any audible noise within a certain proximity.

•Recognition: The agent needs to be able to distinguish friends from enemies, and react accordingly.

Thinking•Expert Knowledge: The agent needs to be able to make common-sense decisions based upon current circumstances.

•Search: The agent needs to be able to look slightly into the future to determine a near-optimal course of action.

•Decisiveness: The agent needs to be able to avoid flip-flopping back and forth when the available options are virtually tied for optimality.

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SMARTBOMB

Chapter FiveWill Wright and

the Model of Everything

Command Hierarchy

Imposing a command structure upon non-player characters can facilitate the appearance of intelligent decision-making.

Current Status

Priority

Patrolling +8Searching +16Moving to Location

+24

Guarding +32Attacking +48In Combat +56

Rank of Sergeant

+2

Rank of Captain

+3

Health Low +1Ammo Low +1

For instance, to determine which soldiers should be used for a new activity, the table at right can be used to eliminate those soldiers currently engaged in more important activities, with rank and health considerations also taken into account.

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SMARTBOMB

Chapter FiveWill Wright and

the Model of Everything

Dead ReckoningWhen a non-player character targets another character (or other moving object), dead reckoning is often utilized to determine an anticipated position of the target.Linear interpolation with the assumption of constant target velocity is simple to implement, but less likely to result in successful (or even realistic) targeting, especially if the target is player-driven.

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SMARTBOMB

Chapter FiveWill Wright and

the Model of Everything

Flocking BehaviorWhole groups of non-player characters may be set up with an extreme form of emergent behavior based on simple rules that rely primarily on those characters in their immediate vicinity.

2D Homing 3D Homing Covering 2D Goal Searching

Deformable Object Goal Searching

Shepherding

Rule-Based Narrow Passage

Homing-Based Narrow Passage

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SMARTBOMB

Chapter FiveWill Wright and

the Model of Everything

FormationsA flocking behavior variation mimicking specific military troop configurations.Volley – ranged infantry,

like musketeers, take turns firing at enemies ahead of

them Charge – soldiers walk, then run into combat; cavalry wield sabers; and musketeers fix bayonets. This formation does tremendous damage but makes soldiers more prone to injury

Bombard – soldiers protect the cannons,

while the cannons shell enemy ranks

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SMARTBOMBChapter Six

Virtual Worlds and Alternate

Lives

Networked GamingOne-to-many communication, in which each player’s actions are relayed to all other players, is problematic in networks today.

Peer-to-PeerScalable

High PerformanceLow SecurityLow Control

High ResilienceLow Cost

Client-ServerNot Scalable

Low PerformanceHigh SecurityHigh Control

Medium ResilienceHigh Cost

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SMARTBOMBChapter Six

Virtual Worlds and Alternate

Lives

Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming

Gamers control the client applications, which deploy and run graphics, the user interface, and network communication. The gateway devices are important not only for forwarding messages but also for providing security functionalities for cell servers and cooperating with portals or billing systems.

Each cell server houses, maintains, and executes the virtual world. It also receives players' control commands and verifies, computes, updates, and then forwards new player states to all gamers who will be affected by these commands (for example, a successful move command will generate a player's new position on the virtual-world map).

The database stores periodically updated player states to ensure that players continue to exist in the virtual world.

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SMARTBOMBChapter Six

Virtual Worlds and Alternate

Lives

Network LatencyOne problem with networked games is the lag between one player’s actions and a remote player’s perception of that action, caused by the latency of the network connection.This can cause particular problems in a game when one player perceives a successful hit while another perceives a clean miss.If the server is told to update remote players after the original player fires, the update can appear as a shot that “came from nowhere”.By taking the position,

velocity, and latency all into account, the server can compute the shot as going faster than the original player perceived it, and can tell remote players to calculate it as even faster than that, choreographing the calculations to yield the same end result on each machine.

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SMARTBOMB

Chapter SevenSmartbomb

America’s ArmyReleased in 2002 as an Army recruiting tool, America’s Army has become a top-rated video game franchise.

Basic Training Airborne Training

Combat Medic Training

Ranger Training

Special Forces Training

In response to criticism that the game “trains kids to be killers”, the Army has started promoting the game’s emphasis on saving lives and developing teamwork.

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SMARTBOMB

Chapter SevenSmartbomb

The Three Laws of the Game Industry

IIChannel To Channel To Market Is Market Is

EverythingEverything

• Shelf Space Is Limited• First 60 Days Are

Critical• Advertise in print, MTV,

retailer flyers, etc.• Promise full refunds to

retailers for all copies that don’t sell through

IIIIWhoever Whoever Stands Stands

Between You Between You And The And The

Customer Customer Controls The Controls The

UniverseUniverse• Game Publishers Pay Developers A Percentage Of Gross Sales, Usually About $10 Per Unit (For PC Games, More For Console Games)

• Expected Unit Sales For Most Games: About 50K (For PC, More For Console)

• Expected Development Costs: At Least $2M (For PC, More For Console)

IIIIIIStyle Is At Style Is At Least As Least As

Important As Important As SubstanceSubstance

• Serious Gamers Want Impossibly Up-To-Date Graphics, Incredibly Fast Action, And An Infinite Supply Of Extras (Secret Levels, Bonus Characters, Hidden Moves)

• Anything Less Will Not Sell