Matakuliah : T0944-Game Design and Programming
Tahun
: 2010
Game Design Theory
Pertemuan 3
Game Design
• Game design is the process of:
– Imagining a game
– Defining the way it works
– Describing the elements that make up the game. (conceptual,
functional, artistic, and others)
– Transmitting that information to the team that will build the game.
Game: Art, Science, or Craft?
•
Art
– The creativity that possessed only by a talented few.
– Game is an imaginations, is an aesthetic expressions.
•
Science
– Concentrate on the methodology
– Game is a set of techniques, a process of thought.
•
Craft
– The goal of game is to entertain through play, and designing a game requires
both creativity and careful planning.
– Game contains both artistic and functional elements, so can be enjoyable to play.
Ground Rules of Game Design
• Core Mechanics
• Storytelling and Narrative
• Interactivity
Core
Mechanics
Storytelling
Narrative
Interactivity
Core Mechanics
• Rules are the foundations of game-play.
• The core mechanics are the translation of the designer’s
vision into a consistent set of rules that can be
interpreted by a computer.
• Is the “science” part of game design.
• Is the heart and soul of the game.
Storytelling and Narrative
• All games tell a story.
• Narrative means that part of the story that is told by game designer
or author to the players.
• Narrative is the non-interactive, presentational part of the story.
• Narrative in games are often quite linear, unaffected by the player’s
action and unchanging from one playing to the next.
Interactivity
• Interactivity is the way that the players sees, hears, and
acts within the game’s world.
• Presenting the gaming experience.
• Making the game playable.
• Interactivity starts at the user interface.
Anatomy of Game Designer
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Imagination
Technical Awareness
Analytical Competence
Mathematical Competence
Aesthetic Competence
General Knowledge
Writing Skills
Drawing Skills
The Ability to Compromise
Imagination
• Imagination is essential to creating artificial universe that
a game exists.
• Imagination comes in various forms:
– Visual and auditory
• New buildings, trees, animals, creatures, clothing,
people.
– Dramatic imagination
• Characters, plots, scenes, motivation, emotion,
climaxes, and outcomes.
Imagination
• Imagination comes in various forms:
– Conceptual imagination
• Relationship between ideas, their interactions and
dependencies.
– Lateral Thinking
• Process of looking for alternative answer, taking an
unexpected route to solve the problem.
Technical Awareness
• Is a general understanding of how computer programs
actually work.
• Knowing the limitations imposed by the selected platform
will result in an achievable design.
Analytical Competence
• Game design requires a keen logical and analytical
mind, and the ability to manipulate nebulous concepts
with a high level of mental agility and critical analysis.
Mathematical Competence
• Designer must have basic math skills.
• Ensure that there are no dominant strategies or fighting
units to unbalance the game is actually quite mathintensive.
Aesthetic Competence
• Designer should have general aesthetic competence and
some sense of style.
• Little fundamental of art:
– The Principles of Composition
– Colors Coordinate and Clash
General Knowledge
• A base level of general knowledge is valuable for a
game designer, as is the ability to research what is might
not know.
• The more source material a game designer can
assimilate, the better the final game design will be.
• Movies, books, encyclopedia are some source of game
materials.
Writing Skills
• This means being clear, concise, accurate,
unambiguous, and readable writing skills.
• Comes in several forms:
– Technical writing
– Fiction writing (narrative)
– Dialogue writing (drama)
Drawing Skills
• Basic drawing and sketching is highly valuable for game
designer.
• “A picture is worth a thousand words”
• The image will remain in our memories long after we
forget the details.
The Ability to Compromise
• The most important skill for a professional game
designer.
• The game designer is constrained by genre and license.
Discussion
• Ideal world of game design versus publisher’s demand.