BIM 33103 COMPUTER GAMES DEVELOPMENT

BIM 33103COMPUTER GAMES DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 2 : COMPUTER GAMES DESIGN MUHAMMAD FAKRI BIN OTHMAN fakri@uthm.edu.my Room 11, Level 4, FSKTM /HOD office Level 1 (2017)

AL-FATIHAH

Content of Chapter 2 • Creating game loglines and game lore • Developing the script, storyboard & flowchart • Writing dialogue • Testing gameplay • Compiling Game Design Document • Preparing pitches • Creating and designing characters • Character personality/abilities • Bosses and quest givers • Ref: Game Design Essentials, Briar Lee Mitchell, 2012, Chapter 3

1. Writing the game: Gameplay • Gameplay should always comes first • Start with short overview/synopsis • Who is the game designed for? (demographics) • What is the gameplay style? • What is the goal or purpose of the game? Write in 1 or 2 sentence called logline.

Writing the game: Logline • Logline is a sentence used by writers and designers to explain the entire project. • Example: Mario Bros: “Italian-American plumber, Mario and his brother Luigi battle evil creatures that come from the sewers in New York City”.

Writing the game: Logline • The logline sentence provides enough information to write the overview of what the game is all about. • Start with answering 4 questions: • Who is the main character? • What does the character want? • What is going to try to stop the main character? • What is about the game is unique or compelling? • Example: www.norman-hollyn.com/535/handouts/loglines.pdf

Writing the game: creating game lore • Lore is the detailed back story or narrative for any game. • Lore outlines a series of events that have taken place beforehand (before the events that are happening in your game) • It may explain history of the world, conflicts, characters and what is driving the current gameplay.

Writing the game: creating game lore • Lore develops a game fan base, helps players to understand characters, history of people and places, thus attach them to the character/game. • As a result loyal/fanatic fans create videos, blogs and website on how to play the game to share with other players. • Even now game lore is also been rewritten by fans, to help illustrate it more clearly (e.g. Final Fantasy, Mario Bros, Star Wars) • Example: http://ffxiv.gamepedia.com/Lore

Writing the game: developing the script • Game scripts need to include the dialogue and provide cues for when event happens. • Events may include an arrival of a character, a challenges player to overcome and the arrival at a fork in the road where a decision must be made. • Begin each scene of a script by describing environment (time & weather), adding secondary elements (music & background effects) and adding the events (action in the scene & dialogue).

Writing the game: dev. the script: storyboards • Use storyboard to organize the idea. • Storyboards should include: • Location • Dialogue • Actions • Animations • Additional effects (visual & audio) • Example of additional effects: ambient audio, secondary animation (background movement, weather, text/map overlay with instructions)

Writing the game: dev. the script: flowcharts • Flowcharts can map out where characters can go and how storylines may develop and be revealed. E.g.: Pinkyblee & the Magic Chalice (fig. 3.3, p. 52) .Refer to https://teachgames.wordpress.com/tag/flowchart/ for further guidance and examples of game flowcharts • It is created to enhance and explain gameplay to artist, animator, coder & other team members • It can be drawn in any manner, tailored to meet designers vision and to work best to communicate with the crew.

Game flowcharts

Writing the game: dev. the script: flowcharts • Flowcharts help designer sort out where characters go and what events happen. • It allow designer to identify which events are major or minor occurrences that may allow character/player opportunity to gather more resources, build skills, or learn the interface better. • The scripts takes section in flowcharts and expands on them by adding good written description of the locations and dialogue.

Writing the game: writing dialogue • Dialogue need to be carefully written, especially for RPG or action-adventure games, because the words been spoken not only provide instructions, but may offer up clues about how to solve quests. • Good dialogue should be short and straight to the point.

Writing the game: testing gameplay • Testing is the best way to know if you gameplay is too difficult/too easy. • Test your game, then test it again, and then test it some more. • Testing is a way to ensure that the game will be well received and free of error/bugs. • Test the game from a prototype to final release (Alpha, Beta and Gold version). • The more people testing the game, the more objective and honest feedback will be.

Writing the game: compiling game document • Game Design Document (GDD) is a blueprint created at early stage to build a new game. • GDD contains Title page, Gameplay style, Demographic, Game system, Game overview, Art, Longer description, Narrative/levels, Gameplay, Maps, Audio requirements and Schedules

Writing the game: importance of GDD • GDD spells out what each person on the project needs to be doing and helps to provide time frames for work to be done. • At the same time it remains fluid as the project gets deeper into production, the designer may still opt to change part of the game, and GDD is where all those changes are catalogued.

Writing the game: preparing pitches • A Game Pitch is a pre-GDD documents written by game designers to sell their concept to a company. • It also help potential game makers understand what they want to accomplish.

Writing the game: preparing pitches • Game pitch is simpler than GDD but contains core info such as title with logline, overview, gameplay style and intended audience, concept art and playable first version (prototype or vertical slice) • It shouldn’t be too detail but must address how long the game will take to make and potential marketing ideas.

Preparing pitches: prototype • The prototype or vertical slice may be a partial or complete playable level, providing enough for someone to play and get a good grasp of the gameplay.

Creating the characters • Characters are important in most games as well made characters will become beloved or deliciously hated by players who immerse themselves in the game. • The first thing to consider is how immersive the game will be. • Extremely immersive game has a tendency to allow players to form a deeper emotional attachments to their character.

Creating the characters • Successful screenwriters/novelist write characters that readers will care about and possibly identify or at least empathize with. • Successful game designers take that to a step further by having ‘living’ creations that can become an extension of the player. • http://www.creativeuncut.com/game-art-galleries.html

..examples..

Creating the characters • Therefore developing characters involves not only their appearance or look, but how they move and communicate and the types of skills they need to use during gameplay. • If the project is highly immersive then the characters are more complex than smaller project which the characters are simpler. • Concept artist starts with GDD to understand characters role, gameplay and the audience.

Creating the characters: design • The characters look is the most labor-intensive parts of creating a game as they need to look amazing and perform with cool moves because in gaming much of what a character does requires repetitive movements.

Creating the characters: design • The concept artist needs to understand not only the characters action in gameplay (swim, fly, jump, run etc.) but also what sort of personality the should exhibit.

Creating the characters: personality/ability • Understanding how human and animal bodies react to stress and emotional states will help you to design your characters. Gameplay should be the first and best goal to designing any game, as focusing too much on character’s look and ability won’t create successful game. • Designer need to create character with new ability never seen in games before. This need them to understand characters action and their physics.

Creating the characters: bosses • Bosses are larger characters (to be beaten/faced) than the player or avatar, to add to the fear factor and game difficulty. • Good gameplay has bosses tough enough to defeat and only can be defeated with good game strategy.

Creating the characters: quest givers • Quest givers are supporting object in the game that give scope and meaning to the task the players need to undertake. • It can be in any forms such as human, animals, human-like animal, animated objects, road signs or clues to player to help decide what task to perform in order to move forward in the game.

Conclusion WHAT I’VE LEARNT IN CHAPTER 2? • Creating game loglines and game lore • Developing the script, storyboard & flowchart • Writing dialogue • Testing gameplay • Compiling Game Design Document • Preparing pitches • Creating and designing characters • Character personality/abilities • Bosses and quest givers ACTION: Read the text book Chapter 1 to 3 Be prepared for the Quiz in Week 4

BIM 33103 COMPUTER GAMES DEVELOPMENT