FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME DESIGN
WHAT IS GAME DESIGN?
www.JustEtc.net
Sayed Ahmed
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BSc. Eng. in CSc. & Eng. (BUET)
MSc. in CSc. (U of Manitoba)
http://sayed.justEtc.net
http://www.justETC.net
Just E.T.C [email protected]
Just E.T.C for Business, Education, and Technology Solutions
COURSE TARGET
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You Will
Be Introduced to Unreal
 Learn major elements of Game Design
 Learn major elements of game play
 Learn fundamental game design techniques
 Develop a game design
 Critically evaluate games from different genres
 Develop an understanding of the basic elements of
game play
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Balancing
 Risk versus reward
 Engagement
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Document a game design using a game design
document
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TODAY’S CLASS
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Character Development
Storytelling and Narrative
User Interfaces
Game Play
Core Mechanics
Game Balancing
Level Design
Introduction to the Game Design Document
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Just E.T.C [email protected]
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Discuss What is a game
Introduction to Unreal (Game Development Engine)
Discuss the Elements of Game Play
Analyze a serious game in light of Game Design Document
Brainstorm Game Design Ideas
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DEFINE GAME DESIGN
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It’s a process that involves
Imagining a game
 Define how it will work (the story, the interaction,
the rules)
 Define the elements of the game
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Just E.T.C [email protected]
Conceptual
 Functional
 Artistic
 Others….
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Communicate the idea to the design team
What does a game designer do?
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Perform all the above tasks
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DESIGN ARTS OR SCIENCE
Neither purely arts nor purely science
 The imagining of ideas and concepts, and making
the game aesthetic belong to Arts
 However, to be a great game, the game also
needs to function well. Though it’s not purely
science but to implement the functionality,
concepts from science and math are highly used
 Games are crafts with highest possible level of
elegance
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ANATOMY OF GAME DESIGN
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Game design is
creative and imaginative
 where inherent talent also plays a very important role
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And hence, Game design cannot be represented as
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Just E.T.C [email protected]
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strict step by step procedure or rules or processes
However, game design is not a random process either
(knowingly or unknowingly).
We may be able to identify some similarities
(common/basic components/concepts/principles) in the
successful games (may be genre dependent)
 And device some common principles that hopefully will
lead to good game design
 Can work as guidelines for the novices (or checklist for the
more experienced)
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KEY ELEMENTS OF GAMES
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As there is no perfect rule
One way of seeing game design is
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Identifying common elements in a genre of games
And Create games in that genre with similar elements but
different story, or graphics goals
Or find out the genre of your game concept, identify the
common elements of that genre, compare, think, innovate.
Make the game more interesting
Your ideas, stories can be great but it also needs to have
some of those common and useful elements
Publishers usually do not go for the very innovative ideas
but want the idea similar to a recent hit with some more
twists
The successful games are successful – there is a reason
behind this
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KEY ELEMENTS OF GAME
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Common elements
 Rules of the game (your concept should have rules)
 The player’s role
 The challenges
 ….
 Two games can have many common elements but
different settings, rules, strategies, and balancing
Many games have the same/similar play mechanics
but with different graphics
 Identifying common elements
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does not to encourage you to imitate/create cookie-cutter
games
 but to ensure that all essential elements are covered
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GROUND RULES FOR GAME DESIGN
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Game design can be broken in three specific area
Core mechanics
 Storytelling
 Interactivity
Core mechanics
Storytelling
 All game has a story
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The game itself can be a story like princess of Persia
 The player can create the story (the way he plays and
reaches the goal)
 Talk about Narrative and non – narrative
 No story, the player creates the story
 Linear narrative, non linear narrative
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INTERACTIVITY
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Define how the interactivity will work
Graphics
 Sounds
 User Interface
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Poor interactivity can ruin a game
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Wire wind for example
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Use right click, icon based menus, select options to proceed
Interactivity includes the user interface as well
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Sonic the Hedgehog, and Mario 64 for Wii
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IMPORTANCE OF DESIGN DOCUMENT
All game companies now want a design document
to be written
 The design document may not include all ideas
but can write down the decisions
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Someone has to create it on the fly
 Different team member may work to different goals
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Many ideas come from lunch meetings
 If a feature is not written down
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TYPES OF DESIGN DOCUMENTS
High Concept (2-4) pages
 Game treatment (10-20 pages)
 Game script (50-200 pages)
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High Concept (2-4) pages
Got a great game idea? Write a high concept
document. Will be used to express the idea to the
publishers to fund the game
 Covers
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Premise of the game
 Intended audience
 Genre
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GAME DESIGN DOCUMENT
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Game Treatment
Analysis of the Competition
 How your game is different
 A document to sale your game
 Some business and development details
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Game Script
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Bible of the game
Game design decisions
Creative, conceptual, and functional
Does not include how the game will be implemented in
software
The design document may help you to play the games in
paper – brainstorm, get feedbacks
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A cheaper way to evaluate the game
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DESIGN DOCUMENT
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Design Document
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Game Concept Document
Game Design Document
Technical Design Document
Game Design Document:
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Game Foundations (Game Features, The Essence of the Game play,
Characters, Game play Elements, AI)
User Interface (Navigational Chart, Functional Requirements, Objects
of the User Interface)
Graphics and Video (Graphics and Animations, Animated Insertions)
Sounds and Music (General Description, Sound Effects, Music)
Plot
Level Description (The graph of the Positional Relationship of the
Levels, Queue of the New Objects Implementation, General Level
Design Description)
Reference: http://digitalworlds.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/the-processof-game-creation-the-game-design-document/ (Program Ace)
Just E.T.C [email protected]
The design document defines the game concept as well as functional
and technical specifics of the game. A design document consists of 3
parts:
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ELEMENTS OF GAME PLAY
Character Development, Storytelling and
Narrative, User Interfaces, Game play, Core
Mechanics,
 Game Balancing, Level Design
 Introduction to the Game Design Document
 Activity: Analyze a serious game in light of a
game design document – “Project Moonwalk”
 Group discussion of Moonwalk
 Activity: Brainstorm Game design ideas, begin
documentation
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ANATOMY OF GAME DESIGNER
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Requires both
Talent
 Skill
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Skill Set
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Imagination
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Still if you do not have a talent for it, you can grow and
improve (through exercise of imaginations)
Forms of Imagination
 Visual and auditory
 Dramatic
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Good character plot, motivation, emotion, climaxes, and outcomes
Conceptual
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Relationship between ideas, their interactions, and dependencies
Basic knowledge of the technical capabilities of the platform
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ANATOMY OF GAME DESIGNER
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Analytical Competence
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Mathematical Competence
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Some math concepts are essential
Aesthetic Competence
 Writing Skills
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Able to recognize good part and bad part of a design.
Self criticize and improve
Take opinions, and process those opinions
Technical Writing
 Fiction Writing
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Manual, Background Material, Character Description
Dialog Writing
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Audio voice cover and cinematic materials
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ANATOMY OF GAME DESIGNER
Drawing Skills
 Ability to Compromise
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Consider customer or publisher interests and adjust
 Compromise to the limitation of the platform
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REFERENCES
Fundamentals of Game Design, 2nd Edition,
Ernest Adams, Prentice Hall, 2006, ISBN-10:
0131687476. ISBN-13: 978-0131687479
 http://computer.justetc.net

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FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME DESIGN
UNREAL AND MAYA
By
Just E.T.C www.JustEtc.net
Sayed Ahmed
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BSc. Eng. in CSc. & Eng.
MSc. in CSc.
http://sayed.justetc.net
http://www.justETC.net
Just E.T.C [email protected]
Presented at the University of Winnipeg
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
UNREAL GAME ENGINE (UDK)
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Reference:
Basics , creating a scene
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8eJUYMKvUo
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Adding Objects/Items to the scene
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqVPQ5S_Au
0&feature=related
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Just E.T.C [email protected]
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VIDEO TUTORIALS
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http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/VideoTutorials.html
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User Interfaces
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Sound Effects
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Use existing sound waves
Use Existing Sound Cues
Create new sound waves/cues
Physics
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All
Content Browsers
 Import external objects
View Port Options
Just E.T.C [email protected]
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Whatever is shown in the class
UI Scenes
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Convert UI elements and add game play
Import external objects and add properties
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CREATE AND USE EXISTING MAP FILES
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Create
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http://www.fileplanet.com/209254/download/UDKTutorial---First-Map-Creation
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RESOURCES
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http://udk.com/documentation
Just E.T.C [email protected]
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GAME DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT CAREER
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Inside EA:
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EA Game Design Career Paths
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Mum, Dad, I want to be a Game Designer
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiQcANX3NN
E&feature=relmfu
EA QA (Games Tester) Career Paths
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvPZ8xG4LlQ
Just E.T.C [email protected]
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http://www.youtube.com/user/InsideEA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foyEgHHBcI4
&feature=relmfu
EA Programming Career Paths
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Eo2ikmbRE
o&feature=related
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