Game Design Theory
The Essential Experience
Paul Taylor 2010
Today’s Working Example
• Today we are focusing on a game about
broken toasters
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyRC4c-_u4A/RFPY0P6D0I/AAAAAAAADFg/pCQXLDET2co/s40
0/10491.jpg
http://media.techeblog.com/elephant//ul/
5172-450x-toasty_8.jpg
Why are we designing games?
http://bokardo.com/images/comics/contentor-design.gif
The Essential Experience
We are trying to create an experience
A game is simply our tool
An environment to allow players an experience
Creating the Experience
http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2
007/06/experience_map.html
How does one create an experience?
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlLA/origi
nal/experience22.jpg
http://ih2.redbubble.net/work.2261257.3.flat,
550x550,075,f.blue-storm-newport-the-hdrexperience.jpg
Separating Design and Development
http://www.gogaminggiant.com/wpcontent/uploads/2009/11/manhunt-2-axe.jpg
What is Design?
The Oxford Dictionary:
“a plan or drawing produced to show the look
and function or workings of a building,
garment, or other object before it is made”
Prototyping
The Oxford Dictionary:
“a first or preliminary version of a device or
vehicle from which other forms are
developed“
“the first, original, or typical form of something;
an archetype”
Development
• The process of creating the actual artefacts
• In our world, it’s mostly art and programming
Breaking down the Game
http://vogons.zetafleet.com/files/crash_game.j
pg
Creating an Experience
• This is the overall semester goal
• You understand how difficult games and play
are to define?
• Now we need some approaches to
considering game design piecewise
Dissecting a Game
• What do you do when multiple designers are
to work on a game?
• So how do we divide and conquer?
• According to Schell....
The four basic elements of a game
Mechanics
Story (when
used)
*Stolen from TAOGD
Aesthetics
Technology
What do we need for an realistic first
person shooter game?
Mechanics
Story (when
used)
*Stolen from TAOGD
Aesthetics
Technology
Doom
• The original ‘mass murder simulator’ by Dave
Grossman, the leader of the Killology Research Group
(http://www.killology.com/)
• See
http://www.defunctgames.com/shows.php?id=bonusle
vels-81 for a good laugh
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c
8/Doom_gibs.png
Context and Form
Paul Taylor 2010
Christopher Alexander
• Architect
• Wrote ‘Notes on the Synthesis of Form’ 1964
– A building architecture book which has been
influential computer scientists since
• His approach to architecture design involved
two simple components, context and form...
Context
• This is the framework in which one is
attempting to design
Form
• This is the mouldable content which interfaces
with the context
• The Form is the only editable part of the
whole
Context and Form
• Solutions should always be a form which fits
within a context
• Alexander insists that a designer must
consider many different forms and contexts to
arrive at the best solution
Applying Form and Context to Design
• Broken Toasters..... ??
Form and Context?
Mechanics
Story (when
used)
*Stolen from TAOGD
Aesthetics
Technology
So how do we decide upon Form and
Context?
• C# is an Object Oriented Language
The End