TMT3053 Computer Game Design &
Development
Chapter 5: Game User Interface and
Level Design
Hamizan binti Sharbini1
Dr Dayang Nur Fatimah Awang
Iskandar2
Faculty of Computer Science &
Information Technology
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
This OpenCourseWare@UNIMAS and its related course materials are licensed under
a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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TMT3053 Computer Game Design &
Development
Topic 5: Game User Interface and
Level Design
Hamizan binti Sharbini1
([email protected])
Dr Dayang Nur Fatimah Awang Iskandar2
([email protected])
Faculty of Computer Science & Information Technology
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
This OpenCourseWare@UNIMAS and its related course materials are licensed under
a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Objectives
• Know the general principles in designing the
game user interface
• Learn how to design game level
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User Interface Design
• It lies between the player and the internals of the game
• It is crucial to let the player know what is happening in
the game world.
• The design of the interface shall answer these points:
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–
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Player’s point of view of the game world
Inform the player what need to be done
Inform the player the current status
Types of challenges will be faced
How the player can overcome the challenges
Show some indicator e.g. health levels or power level left
Show the progress of player’s achievement
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General Principles for UI
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Designing Game Levels
Know the leaning curves
• Designing game level based on learning curves
e.g. Example on real world situation or practice:
“ Ali is trying his best to learn how to juggle. He get a minimum number of catches for
the first throw in a minute, then continue practicing to grasp the juggling
techniques. The longer time he practices, the more amount he can catch in one
minute.”
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Designing Game Levels
Know the leaning curves
• How does it apply to computer games?
• It can improve in designing game’s level.
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Learning Curves = Three Stages
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2
3
• Players have to process a lot of information
• Slow in progress to complete the tasks or challenges
• Fear of getting fail to complete the challenges
• Necessary to provide training level or mode to support the player at this stage
• Players's skills slowly increase as they learn the strategy
• No more frustration at this stage, but happy feelings instead
• Designer should take into consideration on how to retain the player's interest at this stage
• Reflects the player's mastery stage
• Players may tend to feel bored at certain point since they already mastered the challenges,
even before they complete all the levels in the game
• Designer should ensure this must not happen too early in the game
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Types of Game Level Design Principles
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Types of Game Level Design Principles
• Types of game level design principles:
– Universal level design principle
• Design level in any types of games
– Genre-specific level design (not to be discussed in
details here)
• Specific on design issues in different game genres
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Universal Level Design Principles
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Summary
• Game design involves user interface design
and level design
• General principles of user interface design can
be adapted to start designing game interface
• Game level design is based on game level
design principles: Universal or Genre Specific
• Game level design can be improved by
learning curve theory
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References
• Adam,E. (2010).Fundamentals of Game Design (2nd
Edition).Pearson.
• Habgood, J. and Overmars. M. 2006. The Game Maker's
Apprentice: Game Development for Beginners.
Apress.Books24x7.
Image Sources:
• Clker.com. Downloaded from http://www.clker.com/clipartcartoon-thought-bubble.html# on 28th August 2014
• Wee Sen Goh, Licensed under Creative Commons.
Downloaded from
https://www.flickr.com/photos/weesen/5325973437/ on 28th
August 2014
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