2009 CSE 1 GDT Game Design Theory About
2009 CSE 1 GDT Game Design Theory
About me: Paul Taylor I’m a lecturer in Games Design and Development Currently Studying my Ph. D in Artificial Intelligence for Games I have been working on games design and development since 2003 My Honours Thesis was done using Unreal. Script to demonstrate a new approach to Multi Agent AI Contact Details: p. taylor@latrobe. edu. au black 69@tpg. com. au Ph: 0400 014 159 Course Stuff: http: //hsrc. static. net/GDT
Course Structure • Lectures 2 hrs/Week • Labs 2 hrs/Week – 10% of your overall mark • Tutorials 1 hr/Week • Assignment – 20% of your overall mark – Due on 23 rd October • Exam – 70% of your overall mark – 3 Hours (50% hurdle) – Don’t freak out • Consultation Times – Email me to arrange
Course Goals • Primary Goals – Learn how games are designed and developed – Design and develop some games as a team – Learn XNA – Learn how to analyse games so that you can use your skills on every game you build ever!
Programming Goals • Quickly Learn to Program XNA – Development will be using C# and the XNA framework • You need to be able to code sooner rather than later – the earlier you can identify problems the longer you have to fix them – The faster you learn simple programming, the quicker you can learn networking and advanced programming • C# and XNA are available from dreamspark. com
Game Design and Development Goals • What is required to make a game? • Learn the many aspects of games design – what makes them fun? – what makes a game boring? – Style and Feeling – Wow factors – Game Flow – Player Expectations
The Assignment • Develop a game as a group • Games will be 2 D, not 3 D • Most games are developed in at minimum, an 18 month Cycle • You have 3 Months! – Thus the goal is to deliver a high quality 2 D game as opposed to a crappy 3 D game. – Marking will be based around the design and development of your concept through your XNA project.
Books • There are 2 books for this semester – You WILL learn to LOVE them • Seriously you will never throw these books out.
Book #1 • The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design – F. Dille & J. Z. Platten – It’s not the ULTIMATE book • For the few dollars it costs it is a life saver – Summed up the things in this book that will interest us are: • Documenting, and the Development Process • This book covers everything we will need for the development side of the subject. – Buy It!!!
Book #2 • The Art of Game Design – Jesse Schell – This is also called the Game Design Bible – It is not the holy grail, it is pretty darn close – The things that interest us: • This book covers Games Design and thus inherently covers level design. • The Lenses in this book are a great tool when used properly. (we will learn!)
Why buy both books? • This semester we will design and develop projects in small teams. • The design will be covered by ‘The art of game design’ and the development will be covered by ‘The Ultimate Guide. . ’ • Without the books, you will have to work a lot harder! • *Note: I tried to keep the total for the books to a minimum, but we do require both books
How to Pass Easily!! • Show up to ALL the Lectures • Show up to all the Tutorials • Show up to all the Labs – Seriously, if you sit in every lecture, tutorial and lab you will NOT need to review for the exam, you will already be able to pass it.
As for the Assignments. . . • Spend 1 hour a week working on the game design. (The 3 rd hour of the Lab is booked for you lot) – This will easily get all of the design and documentation finished – If your design runs to schedule you should also be able to get your development done inside of the Lab classes. – Think about it, your assignment done without ANY homework. . . – I’m not saying it is going to be easy, but if you work in the Tutorials you WILL learn a tonne.
Tutorials / Labs • These will be run by myself and one of my ex students • This is where all of the words I throw at you during the lectures will start to make sense. • If you love games, all of this semester will be a load of fun.
References • Game Level Design, Ed Byrne, 2005, Charles River Media • The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design – F. Dille & J. Z. Platten • The Art of Game Design – Jesse Schell
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