Level Up.doc

Level up: the guide to great video game design.
Level 1: NOOBS
What is game?
- Activity in a game: Requires, rules, victory condition.
- Video game: Playing on a video screen.
The game ’ s objective.
A great rule of the thumb about a game’s object: able to sum a game ’ s objectives up
quickly and clearly.
Exp boxes:
 Battleship: sink all of your opponent ’ s ships.


Operation: successful operations earn “ Money. ” Failures set off alarms.



Mouse Trap: Intricate, Challenge, elaborate -> level up to hard but not
clear.

History’s game:
Arcade games were rendered in:

- Vector graphics: imgs constructed form lines
- Raster graphics: imgs constructed form a grid of dots (pixels)
3 styles of game machines dominated arcades:

- Uprights: Cabinets
- Coktail Tables: sit down
- Arcade cockpit: sit down to further enhance the gaming experience.
These elaborate arcade games required lots of floor space and were very expensive to
maintain.

LAN- gaming centers combine retail and social space to allow players to play
computer and console games on a per- hour basis: Atari 2600, NES, PSX.
Console game: Nintendo game boy, Sega Nomand, Playstaytion portable.


Handheld games have a visual display, a processor, and controller, but are small enough
to fit in the hands of the player.
Game genres:

- Action: action adventure, action arcade, platformer, stealth, fighting, Beat’emup
- Shooter: First person shooter, shoot ‘em up, third person shooter (TPS)
- Adventure: Graphical adventure, Role playing game (RPG), Massively
multiplayer online role - playing game (MMORPG), Survival/horror.

- Construction/management: build and expand a location with limited resources
- Life simulation: revolving around building and nurturing relationships with
artificial life forms

- Music/rhythm
- Party: Puzzle, sports
- Strategy: Real time strategy (RTS), Turn – based, Tower defense.
- Vehicle simulation: Driving, Flying.

Makes this stuff
Video game teams that produce games are known as developers or development teams

- Programmer:


Exclusively on tools to help team members build the game more e

fficiently,



Regardless of the position, a programmer needs to have an excellent
understanding of mathematics, 2 - D and 3 - D graphics, physics, particle
systems, user interface, artificial intelligence, input devices, and computer
networking.



Make a good living as contractors, moving from project to project as “
hired guns ” , writing code and providing temporary solutions to
beleaguered teams.

- Artist:


concept artist: uses both traditional medium and computers to draw game
characters, worlds, and enemies




Storyboard artists: illustrate the game ’ s cinematics and sometimes
elements of gameplay design to be passed along to other artists and
animators



3 - D Modelers and environmental artists: build characters and
environments using programs such as Maya and 3D Studio Max



Texture artists: s literally paint surfaces onto 3 - D models and locations



Visual effects artists: create spectacular visual effects using a combination
of 2 - D and 3 - D art



Art director supervises the work of all the artists while maintaining the
artistic vision for the entire project

- Designer: System designers, Scripters, Combat designers, creative director
- Producer: designers who also managed the work of their team members, all
- Tester: Bug & QA
- Composer: Writing music for games is somewhat different than writing music for
movies. Most game themes are either very short or have to repeat over and over
again

- Sound designer: creates the music for a game, understand the game he is working
on and how to create sounds that help the player with the game, positive

- Writer: rewrite the design, write dialogue for the game characters and cutscenes,
write the games manual and any fictional support material, add some “ star power
” to the back of the box.

Level 2: Ideas
- Where to Get Them and Where to Stick Them
1.Read something you normally wouldn ’ t read: One of the reasons why video games
sometimes feel the same is that many game developers love the same stuff. There ’ s
nothing wrong with liking video games, comics, and movies; however when developers
all get their inspiration from the same things, games start to feel the same.
2. Take a walk, drive or shower: connections often lead to great ideas, jot down your
thoughts.
3. Attend a lecture: End up with a notebook full of ideas.


4. Play a game, preferably a bad one: Look at the things in the game that were done
poorly, several iterations on an idea before it works successfully
5. Regardless of the above, follow your passion. Love in the game design

What do Gamers Want?
wish fulfillment, Games should make players feel something that they aren ’ t in the real
world: powerful, smart, sneaky, successful, rich, bad, or heroic.
What is the age of my audience?
Why I Hate “ Fun ”
Designer Marc LeBlanc breaks down fun into eight categories: Sensation, Fellowship,
Fantasy, Discovery, Narrative, Expression, Challenge, and Submission8 .
Theory of Un - Fun.: too hard, too easy. stop what you are doing and take a look at the
game.
Brainstorming: 1. A working brain
2. Something to write with
3. Something to write on
4. A place to work
5. Collaborators, preferably ones who also have working brains.

Take note, plan, brainstorming.
Breaking Writer ’ s Block
1. Narrow your focus. Time line
2. Take a walk or exercise.
3. Deal with something else that may be distracting you
4. Jump ahead to the good stuff.

LeveL 3: Writing the Story
Story engage the player
When developing a game story, you will find there are three different types of people in
your audience.
1. Players that are into your story as it happens.


2. Players that want to get into your story in depth.
3. Players who don ’ t care what the story is at all.
There are several ways to approach naming
your game. They include:
• The literal title
• The action/cool title
• The punny title
• The “ purple cow ” title.
A Few Pointers on Writing for Kids of All Ages, A Few Pointers on Writing for Kids of All Ages,
Writing for Licenses.

LeveI 4 You Can Design a Game, But Can You Do the
Paperwork?
Crunch time reminds me of boiling: a frantic burst of energy and effort to get everything in and running.
Game polishing and bug squashing reminds me of chili simmering. Chili isn ’ t ready the moment you
finish assembling it.

Bugs, code, art and design problems with the game, need to be found and fixed
There are actually four documents that will guide you through preproduction:
1. The one - sheet
2. The ten – pager
3. The beat chart
4. The game design document.
Writing the GDD , Step 1: The One -Sheet.
Game title
• Intended game systems
• Target age of players
• Intended Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating
• A summary of the game ’ s story, focusing on gameplay
• Distinct modes of gameplay
• Unique selling points


• Competitive products.
ESRB Ratings


eC (Early Childhood): contains no material parents would find inappropriate.



E (Everyone): may contain fantasy, cartoon or mild violence, and infrequent use of mild
language.



E10 (Everyone 10+): may contain more fantasy, cartoon or mild violence, and mild

language and suggestive themes.



T (Teen): may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, and
infrequent use of strong language.



M (Mature 17+): may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, and
strong language.



AO (Adults Only 18+): not suitable for people under 18 — may contain prolonged scenes
of intense violence, graphic sexual content, and nudity.
Competitive products (or “ comps ” ) are games that are similar to your game design
idea that have already been released
Unique selling points (or USPs) are the “ bullet points ” found on the back of the box
Writing the GDD , Step 2: the Ten – Pager
ten - pager is a “ broad stroke ” design document that lays out the spine of your game
The Rule of Threes
History has observed that all good things come in threes. Don ’ t believe me? Observe!
• The Holy Trinity of Christianity
• The Star Wars trilogy (the original good ones)
• Goldilocks and the Three Bears
• Three ’ s a crowd
• Asimov ’ s three rules of robotics
• Three Men and a Baby
• Getting to third base.

The logic behind the rule of threes is this:
• The first example gives the reader an idea of what you are talking about, but can still
mislead them.
• The second example gives the reader something to compare or contrast the first
example with.


• The third example gives another example that can complement or contrast the other
two, keeping your examples from feeling binary or contrived.
• Anything past three just gets too long and boring: never be too long or boring.

Ten - Pager Outline
PAGE 1: TITLE PAGE
• Game title
• Intended game systems
• Target age of players
• Intended ESRB rating
• Projected ship date.

LeveI 5 The Three Cs, Part 1 — Character
e “Three Cs” :
1. Character
2. Camera
3. Control.
Give the player options for personalization. Allow the player to customize
any of the following:
• Name: not just of character, but of weapons, vehicles
• Appearance: hair/skin/eye color, ethnicity, height, weight
• Clothing, armor and gear: style, color, texture
• Vehicles: paint job, weapon and tech load outs, decals, hubcaps, even the

thing that hangs from the rear view mirror
• Home base: furnishing, lighting, decorations
Use metrics to determine:
• Height: the height of the player character
• Width of passage: usually wider than the player character
• Walking speed: how far the player travels per second or unit of time
• Running speed: same as above, but faster


• Jump distance: usually farther than a walk, but not as far as a run; can
also be based on the player ’ s width (such as 5 player units across)
• Jump height: based on the player ’ s height — a jump is half the player ’ s
height, while a double jump can be twice as tall as the player
• Melee attack distance: usually not much farther than the length of the
player ’ s arm and weapon
• Projectile distance: this can be as short as the player’s reach or width to as
far as the player can see
• Weapons: appearance, decoration, ammo loads, special effects
there are five major ways to jump:
• Single jump: The player jumps once — either vertically or horizontally.
• Double jump: a second vertical or horizontal jump that is chained after the
initial jump.
• Triple jump: a third jump that can be done after the second jump, usually
requiring something for the player to bounce off of and most often
horizontal.
• Contextual jump: an “ automatic ” jump that happens when the player
approaches a pre - tagged area such as a ledge.
• Wall jump: a special case jump that is performed after the player jumps “
into ” or towards a wall.
Hoists and Teeters Hoists and teeters are two very useful tools for players

to help them get around and avoid dying
What Goes Up, Must Fall Down
Be Kind to Our Four - Legged Friends
Using All of the Parts
Movement, Appearance, Inventory, Weapons
We Are Not Alone: the character is playable or a companion.