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Genres Adventure Games: Story-based games that usually rely on puzzle-solving to move the action along Early versions were text-based and then point and click interfaces (King’s Quest) Can be told from 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person perspectives Adventure games are not usually in real-time, unless they are action-adventure hybrids Players can usually take as much time as they want to solve puzzles or move on to the next challenge Adventure games are expected to have large, complex worlds to explore, along with interesting characters and a good story

Genres Cont. Action Games: Real-time games in which the player must react quickly to what’s happening on the screen Category is dominated by first person shooters (FPS) Action-Adventure hybrids are often 3rd person games (Tomb Raider) where we can see the hero or heroine move through the environment and players have much more to do than just shoot and kill enemies In general, action games are less cerebral than adventure, strategy, or puzzle games. Players are looking for the adrenaline rush of fast-paced action that calls for snap judgments and quick reflexes Opponents can be AI or other human players Shooters also allow players to gain skills and reach high levels of expertise and are thus perfect for competition

Genres Cont. Role-Playing Games (RPG): Gamers direct one or more heroes on a series of quests Gameplay revolves around gradually increasing the abilities and strengths of the heroes Classic RPGs include Ultima, Might and Magic, and Final Fantasy Like an adventure game, and RPG features a huge world with a gradually unfolding story Players expect to be able to micromanage their characters (skills, physical attributes, inventory of equipment, appearance, etc.) Combat is an important element by which the heroes gain experience, strength, and money to buy new equipment Fantasy RPGs often feature complex magical systems, as well as diverse races of characters Genres Cont. Strategy Games: Strategy games require players to manage a limited set of resources to achieve a predetermined goal Resource management often involves deciding which kinds of units to create and when to put them into action In Command & Conquer for example, players must balance which types of units to build, how much tiberium to harvest, how many resources to allocate to offense and to defense Older strategy games were turn-based, but now real-time strategy (RTS) are the norm, so players must make decisions on the fly because opponents (AI or human) are always in motion Multiplayer RTS games are very popular online Genres Cont. Simulations: Sims are games that seek to emulate real-world operating conditions of complicated machinery, such as jet fighters, helicopters, race cars, etc. The more serious the sim, the higher the premium that’s placed on absolute accuracy, especially with equipment controls. Players expect to spend hours learning the intricacies of the machine, and they expect a thick manual to help them with the finer points Less serious sims just let players get in and go. These are referred to as arcade sims. Controls are simplified, the player has less to learn, and they’re punished less for making mistakes Genres Cont. Sports Games: Sports game let players vicariously participate in their favourite sport, either as a player or as a coach Prowess in the real world sport isn’t required – wish fulfillment These games must accurately reproduce the rules and strategies of the sport One gameplay session can cover an individual match, a short series, or an entire season Some focus on emulating an athlete’s actions, on actually playing the game Others approach the sport from the management side, allowing the user to be a coach or a general manager Genres Cont. Fighting Games: Fighting games are two person games in which each player controls a figure on the screen, using a combination of moves to attack his opponent and defend against attacks against them These games are generally viewed from a side perspective and each session lasts on a few minutes Players expect to find a basic set of attacks and counters they can learn right away, as well as more complicated combinations they can master over time These games are very competitive and allow players to reach extreme skill levels Online competition is now a huge component of fighting games Genres Cont. Casual Games: Adaptation of traditional games, such as chess, bridge, hearts, and solitaire. They also include easy to play, short session games on the web, such as slingo, poker, and concentration Television games are also included in this category, i.e. Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, etc. Players generally want to drop into and out of these games quickly. They’re already familiar with the rules of the real world game and expect to find those rules emulated here. These games should have extremely simple user interface with little or no learning curve Genres Cont. God Games: Sometimes called software toys are games that have not real goal, other than to encourage players to fool around with them just to see what happens Examples include The Sims and Roller-Coaster Tycoon Designers in the genre try to create games in which the player can do no wrong. The games are very open-ended, with no correct way to play and no preset winning conditions. Genres Cont. Educational Games: Games that teach while they entertain, sometimes called edutainment Examples include Oregon Trail and Reader Rabbit Generally, these games are aimed at a much younger audience then most commercial products. Designers work closely with experts on the subject matter to ensure that the content is appropriate and accurate

__Puzzle Games__: Puzzle games exist purely for the intellectual challenge of problem solving, such as The Castle of Dr. Brain and The Incredible Machine The puzzles are an end in themselves and aren’t integrated into a story, as is common in adventure games Genres Cont. Online Games: Online games can include any genre of game that is played exclusively over the internet, such as World of Warcraft MMO dominate this category Entire communities grow around the most successful of these games and designers have to constantly create new features, content, etc. to encourage players to join or stay interested in the game and the community Social games are also part of this genre, especially Facebook games like Farmville, etc.

Phases of Development Concept: Developer pitches a publisher Publisher seeks out a developer Game proposal or concept document The high level details of a game: core gameplay mechanics, description of the user interface, perhaps a story summary, and the visual tone/mood Completed by management or select team of directors or leads Phases of Development Initial Design: Design document Expansion of the high level design ideals into more detailed descriptions of gameplay, story, art, etc. The team has expanded, but a small team of designers, concept artists, writers, etc. is still optimal Phases of Development Expansion: Programming and Art creation Every design concept expanded upon Iteration on the design document with programmers and artists Sections of the design document taken over by the relevant departments

Phases of Development Contraction: Expansion is halted Design must be locked down for production Features are often eliminated Must determine what is essential – which gameplay ideas do not support the core design

Elasticity The amount of freedom a game design has to move in the expansion and contraction phases of development can be referred to as the //elasticity// of the design. A design in which all features support the core concept of the game can be described as //tight//. A design that contains an exhaustive collection of features can be called //extensive//.

Tight Design Many video game designers (Sandy Peterson, Warren Spector) came from board game design Board game designer Klaus Teuber (Settlers of Catan) says that when he redesigns his games, his goal is to simplify the game without losing any of its essence. This is the purpose of tight design – to use the minimum quantity of elements required to support the desired gameplay Settlers of Catan, with its simple set of mechanics, has sold millions of copies around the world The epitome of tight game design can be found with card games In card games, creative freedom is limited by the available materials – you only have 54 cards to use

Designing Card Games Design Components of a card game: The Players The Hand The Deck The Discards The Cards in Play The Turn Sequence The Rules The Meta-Rules Designing Card Games Players: A card game can have one, two, four, or many players. Three players is rare Most new card games are designed for solo play or two or more players The Hand: The cards the players keep to themselves Not all games use a hand – Memory begins by all the cards being dealt on the table Most card games have rules about the hand: Beggar-Your-Neighbor begins with a hand equal to half the cards in the deck Bridge begins with one quarter of the cards in the deck Variants of Poker demand different hand sizes

Designing Card Games The Deck and Discards: The deck and discards define the flow of cards in the game In most games, new cards come from the deck and go to the discards In general, discards are out-of-play Some games like Rummy allow players to take cards from their opponent’s discards

Cards in Play: Usually the cards in front of a player that apply only to that player, or cards on the table that affect every player

Designing Card Games Turn Sequence: Dictates both the order of play and the allowable actions The most common system is that each player takes a turn in a clockwise sequence, but many other options are available Some Poker variants vary the order of play according to the nature of the betting Bridge and Whist variants have a turn sequence dictated by victory in the previous turn The allowable actions state how the hand and cards in play can change during the course of a player’s turn Designing Card Games Rules: Rules dictate the meaning of individual cards, sets of cards, and the state of play, as well as how the game is won or lost The rules of Poker dictate that a straight flush is the strongest hand, followed by four of a kind, flush, straight, three of a kind, etc., and in most variants they dictate that the strongest hand wins If a card game has a scoring mechanism, the rules dictate this Meta Rules: Modifiers to the general rules When a Poker dealer decides, for example, that deuces are wild In general, a meta-rule is something that can change according to the desires of the players, while a rule defines the nature of the game House rules are essentially meta-rules

Designing Card Games These eight elements make up a card game The simplest games like Beggar-Your-Neighbor (War) are skill-less and suitable for entertaining only children (or adults when money is at stake) The most accessible games strike a balance between skill and luck (Rummy), and the most enduring games are simple to learn but support a wide variety of play styles (Poker) Tight Card Games To produce a tightly designed card game, you need to make a decision in at least three of the previous eight aspects You must have either a hand or cards in play There must be a turn sequence of some manner There must be rules to dictate the end of play You can make sure the game is tight by keeping each of the given elements as succinct as possible However, if your design components are described too tersely, the game design may be too ambiguous and players will ask for clarification When the number of additions to the design components exceeds the initial set of components, the game design has gotten out of control

Tight Card Games Cont. At this stage, the game might be fun to play, but it is difficult to learn and almost impossible to spread to a wider audience This is no longer a tight card game Tight game design is not only elegant, it is also easier for players to learn Accessibility is the main commercial advantage of tight design Also means that little development time is wasted on secondary components Anyone who wants to be involved in video game design can learn much about tight game design by experimenting with card games You can produce card games that are not tight but still fun to play, just as you can produce a video game that is fun to lay, but has a huge learning curve A fun, complex card game costs nothing to produce, a complex video game is very expensive to develop and must reach a large audience to justify the development expense Mini Assignment #3 Come up with one new idea for a card game Describe the following eight components of your game The Players The Hand The Deck The Discards The Cards in Play The Turn Sequence The Rules The Meta-Rules