Game Design and Development

Date:	2009-04-26

So, Who is This Guy?

Jakob Schmid (Copenhagen, Denmark):

• Master's Degree in Computer Science from Aalborg University, Denmark, specialized in 3D graphics and rendering.
• Employed by Pollux Gamelabs; did music and sound programming on strategy game 'Lost Empire: Immortals'.
• Employed by Tonic Games as Lead programmer on Musica prototype, educational music game.
• Currently collaborates with and does employee training for Cairo-based developer MegaMedia.

Overview

• Introduction
• Idea
• Game Design
• Implementation
• Getting Started

Introduction

Introduction: Why Video Games?

• Video game development is one of the most creative IT branches.
• Video games draw on many interesting topics from different fields:
  • Object oriented analysis and design
  • Linear algebra
  • Calculus
  • Newtonian physics
  • Complexity theory

Introduction: What this Talk isn't

My talk is not about:

• How to deploy full-scale video game development.
• How to publish a video game.

Introduction: What this Talk is

My talk is about:

• How to design a video game.
• How to implement a video game.

Idea

Idea: Brainstorming

• Try to make something that hasn't been made before.
• Try to figure out what you really like in a game.
• Make a game for yourself, one that you would like to play.
• Think small!

Idea: Sketches

• Make lots of paper sketches of what your game could look like.
• Do not think about implementation details yet.

Idea: Dimensions

• 2D gameplay
  • Certain types of games like strategy games, puzzles, or platform games work best in 2D.
  • Most RTS's have 2D gameplay.
  • Complex and original gameplay ideas are often easiest to develop in 2D.
• 3D gameplay
  • First Person Shooters (FPS) and third person shooters have 3D gameplay.

Idea

• Don't start making the game until you have some good ideas.
• A couple of really good ideas can quickly lead to an interesting game design.

Game Design

Game Design: First Steps

Define core gameplay mechanics:

• Remove anything but the simplest possible representation of your ideas.
• Don't add any other features yet. (But note them for later addition)
• Don't start by making a MMO.

Game Design: Recording

Record design decisions using a concise, algorithmic syntax, e.g.:

• When player ship collides with enemy ship, remove rand(0,10)+10 from player hit points
• If player has key A in inventory, door opens.

Game Design: Mock-up

• When the design is reasonably mature, create a mock-up and test it.
• Be critical and don't be afraid to discard design elements or rethink the basic mechanics.
• If the game is fun with cardboard and dice, it will be fun as a video game.

Game Design: Iterations

Iterative development:

• Keep testing the game.
• Change or remove design elements that become annoying over time.
• Continue making changes to the design throughout the development.

Game Design

• Spend a lot of time in the game design stage.
• Discuss the design with others.
• The design stage and the implementation stage will run side-by-side until the game is finished.

Implementation

Implementation: Engines

Choose your game engine carefully, based on:

• Features
• Ease of use
• Scripting languages
• Cost

Implementation: Engines

Or, you can make your own engine:

• Possible to implement crazy features like raytracing.
• But, remember to make it extremely simple!
• Use SDL to get cross-platform graphics output.

Implementation: Language

Language choice is of course related to engine choice.

Most common game languages:

• C++ - powerful, high performance, industry standard, required by many proprietary engines.
• C# - powerful, reasonable performance, clean language design.
• C++ > C#

Implementation: Engineering

• It is impossible to make a good game without changing the design during the process.
• ISO development doesn't work.
• Rapid development and refactoring works.
• A reasonable degree of code re-use between projects is possible.
• Defensive programming is recommendable, as debugging can become quite hairy in games.

Implementation: OO

• Games are obvious candidates for object orientation, as they are simulations.
• Use classes to represent game object types.
• Use inheritance to share code between related game object types.
• Use virtual methods to implement different behaviours in different game object types.

Implementation: Performance

• Choose your data structures wisely. Check time complexity for element insertion and look-up.
• High-complexity algorithms may be fine if they are only run once.
• Algorithms that run each frame must be low complexity.
• Multi-threading or manual scheduling enable running more complex algorithms across multiple frames.
• Beware of the pitfalls of multi-threading.

Implementation: Graphics

You will need graphics for your prototype.

Get together with a graphic artist; failing that, make it yourself:

• Use primitives like cubes and spheres.
• Generate your own meshes using knowledge of 3D geometry.
• Don't use human characters - artist required.

Implementation: Graphics

Advanced graphics ideas:

• Generating meshes each frame enables interesting morphing objects.
• Do off-line complex light computations and 'bake' into textures.
• Make interesting full-screen effects like ripples.

Implementation

• Stay agile - refactor as game design changes.
• Design your classes carefully.
• High-complexity algorithms are OK, unless they should run each frame.
• Programmers can make graphics like noone else.

Getting Started

Getting Started: Research

• Research is very important.
• Stay informed with the latest games - read/watch video game reviews.

Getting Started: Research

• Video game research is playing video games.
• The cheap way:
  • Classic games are a good place to start.
  • SNES or MAME emulation.
  • Casual games like those on www.newgrounds.com may also serve as an inspiration.
• The not-so-cheap way:
  • Buy a console like Wii, Xbox 360, or PS3.

Getting Started: How to Work

Know all the basics of your field:

• If you're doing a game with 3D graphics, you should know and have an intuitive understanding of the basic topics:
  • 3D spaces (object, world, eye space)
  • The rendering pipeline
• If using an engine, read about the rendering algorithm.

Getting Started: Engine

Getting Started: Engine

Getting Started: Engine

Getting Started: Literature

Getting Started

• Making games is fun and challenging.
• Be creative.
• Start small - when you have finished making 5 small games, you can start making a bigger game.

Contact

I'll be happy to help you get started.

• E-mail me at jakob@schmid.dk
• See my webpage for further contact information: http://schmid.dk