Transcript Game Design Kuliah-3 Game Design • Game design is the process of: • Imagining a game • Defining the way it works • Describing the.

Game Design
Kuliah-3
1
Game Design
• Game design is the process of:
• Imagining a game
• Defining the way it works
• Describing the elements that make up the game.
(conceptual, functional, artistic, and others)
• Transmitting that information to the team that
will build the game.
Game: Art, Science, or Craft?
• Art
• The creativity that possessed only by a talented few.
• Game is an imaginations, is an aesthetic expressions.
• Science
• Concentrate on the methodology
• Game is a set of techniques, a process of thought.
• Craft
• The goal of game is to entertain through play, and
designing a game requires both creativity and careful
planning.
• Game contains both artistic and functional elements, so
can be enjoyable to play.
Ground Rules of Game
Design
• Core Mechanics
• Storytelling and Narrative
• Interactivity
Core
Mechanics
Storytelling
Narrative
Interactivity
Core Mechanics
• Rules are the foundations of game-play.
• The core mechanics are the translation of the designer’s
vision into a consistent set of rules that can be interpreted
by a computer.
• Is the “science” part of game design.
• Is the heart and soul of the game.
Storytelling and Narrative
• All games tell a story.
• Narrative means that part of the story that is told
by game designer or author to the players.
• Narrative is the non-interactive, presentational part
of the story.
• Narrative in games are often quite linear, unaffected
by the player’s action and unchanging from one
playing to the next.
Interactivity
• Interactivity is the way that the players sees, hears, and acts
within the game’s world.
• Presenting the gaming experience.
• Making the game playable.
• Interactivity starts at the user interface.
Anatomy of Game Designer
• Imagination
• Technical Awareness
• Analytical Competence
• Mathematical Competence
• Aesthetic Competence
• General Knowledge
• Writing Skills
• Drawing Skills
• The Ability to Compromise
Imagination
• Imagination is essential to creating artificial universe that a
game exists.
• Imagination comes in various forms:
• Visual and auditory
• New buildings, trees, animals, creatures, clothing,
people.
• Dramatic imagination
• Characters, plots, scenes, motivation, emotion,
climaxes, and outcomes.
Imagination
• Imagination comes in various forms:
• Conceptual imagination
• Relationship between ideas, their interactions and
dependencies.
• Lateral Thinking
• Process of looking for alternative answer, taking an
unexpected route to solve the problem.
Technical Awareness
• Is a general understanding of how computer programs
actually work.
• Knowing the limitations imposed by the selected platform
will result in an achievable design.
Analytical Competence
• Game design requires a keen logical and analytical mind, and the
ability to manipulate nebulous concepts with a high level of mental
agility and critical analysis.
Mathematical Competence
• Designer must have basic math skills.
• Ensure that there are no dominant strategies or fighting
units to unbalance the game is actually quite math-intensive.
Aesthetic Competence
• Designer should have general aesthetic competence and
some sense of style.
• Little fundamental of art:
• The Principles of Composition
• Colors Coordinate and Clash
General Knowledge
• A base level of general knowledge is valuable for a game
designer, as is the ability to research what is might not know.
• The more source material a game designer can assimilate,
the better the final game design will be.
• Movies, books, encyclopedia are some source of game
materials.
Writing Skills
• This means being clear, concise, accurate, unambiguous, and
readable writing skills.
• Comes in several forms:
• Technical writing
• Fiction writing (narrative)
• Dialogue writing (drama)
Drawing Skills
• Basic drawing and sketching is highly valuable for game
designer.
• “A picture is worth a thousand words”
• The image will remain in our memories long after we forget
the details.
The Ability to Compromise
• The most important skill for a professional game designer.
• The game designer is constrained by genre and license.
Discussion
• Ideal world of game design versus publisher’s demand.
Game Idea
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Game Idea
• Game ideas come from almost anywhere, but they don’t
walk up and introduce themselves.
• Creativity is an active process.
• One idea is not enough.
• Ideas are free, so thinks constantly.
Game Idea
• Many game ideas begins as dreams.
• Game ideas from other media:
• Books, movies, televisions, and other entertainment
media are a great source of inspirations for game ideas.
• Game ideas from other games:
• Playing games is a valuable experience for game designer.
• Game idea only the start. It is not enough to make a game.
Game, Toys, Puzzles
• Game
• Is a form of participatory, or interactive entertainment.
• Take place in an artificial universe that is governed by
rules.
• Toys
• Other kind of interactive entertainment that played
without rules
• Puzzles
• A puzzle does not have one definite rule, but it has
correct solution that is tried to be found.
The Elements of Game
• Rules
• Challenges, game-play, and victory conditions.
• Setting, interaction model, and perspective.
• The player’s role.
• Modes and Structure
• Realism
• A word about story
Core versus Casual Gamers
• Core Gamers
• Play a lot of games.
• Don’t like games that are easy.
• Like games that are challenging.
• Casual Gamers
• Play for the sheer enjoyment of playing a game.
• Playing a game must be entertaining, whether it is
competitive or not.
Type of Video Game Machine
• (Coin-Operated) Arcade Machines.
• (Home Game) Consoles.
• (Personal) Computers.
• Mobile or Handheld Devices
Motivations that influence Design
• Market-Driven Games
• Designer-Driven Games
• License Exploitation
• Technology-Driven Games
• Art-Driven Games
Goals of Game Design
• A game must sell well, so the designer must consider the
audience’s preference.
• A game must present an imaginative, coherent experience,
so the designer must have a vision.
• A game with a license must pay back the license's cost, so
the designer must understand what benefit it brings and
exploit them to his best advantage.
Goals of Game Design
• A game must offer an intelligent challenge and a smooth,
seamless experience, so the designer must understand the
technology.
• A game must be attractive, so the designer must think about
the aesthetic style.
Game Concept Worksheet
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What is the nature of the game-play? What challenges
will the player face? What action will the player take to
overcome them?
What is the victory condition of the game? What is the
player trying to achieve?
What is the player’s role? Is the player pretending to be
someone or something? How does the player’s role help
to define the game-play?
What is the game’s setting? Where does it take places?
What is the player’s interaction model? Omnipresent?
Through an avatar? Something else? Some combination?
Game Concept Worksheet
• What is the game primary perspective? How will the player
view the game’s world on the screen? Will there be more
than one perspective?
• What is the general structure of the game? What is going on
in each mode, and what function does each mode fulfill?
• Is the game competitive, cooperative, team-based, or singleplayer? If multiple players are allowed, are they using the
same machine with separate controls or different machines
over a network?
• Does the game have a narrative or story as its goes along?
• Does the game fall into an existing genre?
Game Concept Worksheet
• Why would anyone want to play this game? What sort of
people would be attracted to this game?