Game Design TheoryThe Essential Experience
Paul Taylor 2010
Today’s Working Example
• Today we are focusing on a game about broken toasters
http://media.techeblog.com/elephant//ul/5172-450x-toasty_8.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VyRC4c-_u4A/R-FPY0P6D0I/AAAAAAAADFg/pCQXLDET2co/s400/10491.jpg
Why are we designing games?
http://bokardo.com/images/comics/content-or-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/2007/06/experience_map.html
How does one create an experience?
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlLA/original/experience22.jpg
http://ih2.redbubble.net/work.2261257.3.flat,550x550,075,f.blue-storm-newport-the-hdr-experience.jpg
Separating Design and Development
http://www.gogaminggiant.com/wp-content/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.jpg
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 Aesthetics
Story (when used) Technology
*Stolen from TAOGD
What do we need for an realistic first person shooter game?
Mechanics Aesthetics
Story (when used) Technology
*Stolen from TAOGD
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=bonuslevels-81 for a good laugh
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c8/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 Aesthetics
Story (when used) Technology
*Stolen from TAOGD
So how do we decide upon Form and Context?
• C# is an Object Oriented Language
The End