Game Design For Development

Brent M. Dingle 2014Game Design and Development ProgramMathematics, Statistics and Computer ScienceUniversity of Wisconsin - Stout

Game ArchitectureDecomposition

to Master Task List

Consider

• Designing a game FOR Development– requires consideration and understanding of– all the aspects of creating and implementing it

• Lots of people have game Ideas

• Some can put that idea into a Design description

• Very few see their designs be Developed into real games

• Increase your odds– Design so it is easy to Develop

Who Are You?

• You are– NOT just an Artist– NOT just a Programmer

• You are learning to – Design– AND Develop– Games

Millions of these

Very few Understandand Can Do this

Development Process for Gamestransfers to development of other things-- remember that

Emphasis for Today• Designing and Developing a game– requires understanding many aspects– of the development process

• You should be learning – how to think at all levels of the process

• When designing a game you should consider – all the aspects of creating and implementing it

• in addition to all the other things that make a good design

Game Architecture

• Building a game from Assets

Game Architecture

• Building a game from Assets

Game is made from AssetsPremise is

Game Architecture

• Building a game from Assets

Game is made from Assets

Assets Build Into Components

Premise is

Game Architecture

• Building a game from Assets

Game is made from Assets

Assets Build Into Components

Components Build Objects

Premise is

Game Architecture

• Building a game from Assets

Game is made from Assets

Assets Build Into Components

Components Build Objects

Objects Build Scenes (levels, menus, …)

Premise is

Game Architecture

• Building a game from Assets

Game is made from Assets

Assets Build Into Components

Components Build Objects

Objects Build Scenes (levels, menus, …)

Scenes Define Games

Premise is

BUT we Start at the Top

• You will be given a high level game description

• You must Design the Gameso it is possible to be Developed successfully – using an approach that is

easy to understand and implement

From the Top

• Decompose the game into manageable pieces– Assets, or game elements,

that can be assigned to people to create

• How?– Categorize the assets– Similar to how people are categorized

People Categories

• Generic Game Company (GGC) divides employees by disciplines– Design– Art and Animation– Audio– Programming/Engineering– Production– Quality Assurance

Asset Categories

Asset Categories

Asset Categories

Asset Categories

Asset Categories

Asset Categories

Asset Categories

Asset Categories

Decompose

• Have categories of people and assets

• Now Decompose the game – From the Top

Top Down

• Since we have only a high level (top) view

– We start with a TOP-DOWN approach– Later – When we have lots of basic pieces/assets

» We may add extra stuff using a Bottom-Up Approach• Re-using assets already created (crazy isn’t it?)

May also think:Design and Planning go Top-DownDevelopment and Implementation go Bottom-Up

Asset List Creation – Top Down

• From Big to SmallWe have a description of a game Should include scenes/levels/menus/…

Asset List Creation – Top Down

• From Big to SmallWe have a description of a game Should include scenes/levels/menus/…

Decide on a scene to create

Asset List Creation – Top Down

• From Big to SmallWe have a description of a game Should include scenes/levels/menus/…

Decide on a scene to create

Determine what type of objects areneeded to create that scene

Asset List Creation – Top Down

• From Big to SmallWe have a description of a game Should include scenes/levels/menus/…

Decide on a scene to create

Determine what type of objects areneeded to create that scene

Determine what components we need to make each object in the selected scene

Asset List Creation – Top Down

• From Big to SmallWe have a description of a game Should include scenes/levels/menus/…

Decide on a scene to create

Determine what type of objects areneeded to create that scene

Determine what components we need to make each object in the selected scene

Determine what assets are needed tomake each of those components

Asset List Creation – Top Down

• From Big to SmallWe have a description of a game Should include scenes/levels/menus/…

Decide on a scene to create

Determine what type of objects areneeded to create that scene

Determine what components we need to make each object in the selected scene

Determine what assets are needed tomake each of those components

And viola we have a list of assetsfor ONE scene

Repeat for the other scenes

Game Decomposition: SCENES

• Game into Scenes– Often derivable straight from Game Description– Usually Easy• As things go may add more, sometimes delete extras

Game Decomposition: OBJECTS

• Scenes into Objects– Usually Easy• Add, delete, and move between scenes• Different Scenes

should decompose into similar same objects– This is good design that makes

reuse doable during development– Saves time and money– Can make scenes more unique later (after success)

Game Decomposition: COMPONENTS• Objects into Components

– Can be tricky

– By accident often become equal• Try to avoid accidents

– Intentional is okay

• Think:– Component = Generic Ship– Object A = Bomber Ship, Object B = Fighter Ship– Object A = Generic Ship + Bombs, Object B = Generic Ship + Guns

– Try to design so that objects are all made from similar components• i.e. Objects should decompose into similar components• Just as scenes decompose into similar objects

Game Decomposition: ASSETS

• Components into Assets– Also can be tricky– A component should be made of a small number

of assets of the same or different types

Object Decomposition Example• Example: PAC-MAN Object

– Script Component• Asset: Script for user interface motion control• Asset: Script for collision with walls

– with food and points update– with ghosts and death (if not powered up)– …

• …

– Image Component• Asset: Static Image for marketing• Asset: Static Image for menus

– Animation Component• Asset: Image Sequence for Moving • Asset: Image Sequence forDying,

– Sound Component• Asset: Sound for moving• Asset: Sound for eating• Asset: Sound for dying

Decomposition Summary

• Simple Enough?

Complication by Humans and English

• Games are made from Assets– The previous

decomposition is very detailed and gets into low level stuff

• Managers do NOT like tricky stuff– It confuses them

Complication by Humans and English

• Managers do NOT like tricky stuff– It confuses them

• Games are made from Assets– The previous

decomposition is very detailed and gets into low level stuff

• Managers do NOT like tricky stuff– It confuses them

– They get Objects– They get ‘types’ of

workers– They kind of get ‘types’ of

assets• Their Asset lists tend

to be more Object Lists– (object) Asset Lists

• Managers do NOT like tricky stuff– It confuses them– They get Objects– They get ‘types’ of

workers– They kind of get ‘types’ of

assets• Their Asset lists tend

to be more Object Lists– (object) Asset Lists

Complication by Humans and English

– And you get (object) Asset Sheets

ASIDE: We will talk more on Asset Description Sheetsat a later date- how to create them,- where you want to keep them- how detailed thy need to be- …

(object) Asset Lists

• Managers create (object) Asset Lists• Example:

(object) Asset Lists

• Managers create (object) Asset Lists• Example:

Object Assets Are Composed of Assets of Various Types

(object) Asset Lists

• Managers create (object) Asset Lists• Example:

Object Assets Are Composed of Assets of Various Types

What is important about this list?

This ties your Design through Decomposition to People Skills

Making it Easier toUnderstand, Manage and Develop

Creating the Master Task List• Managers Use the object Asset List to Create Task Lists:

• To make a Task List, Add columns to it, such as– Estimated Time/Cost– Priority– Status– Actual Time Spent

Adding Columns

• To make a Task List, Add columns to it, such as– Estimated Time/Cost– Priority– Status– Actual Time Spent

Each Sprint, Fill In the Columns

• As a team– Assign a priority to each asset– Estimate the time/cost for each asset

• (total for all categories of work)

Each Sprint, Fill In the Columns

• As a team– For Each Sprint• Based on Object Asset priority

– Team members commit to working on the assets

Additional Tasks• Not all tasks are game asset creation– EX: Give Status Report and Demo to Client

• Some tasks may generate temporary things– EX: Create placeholder image to allow script testing

• Some tasks occur AFTER asset creation– EX: Create new build– EX: Test current build (with all changes)

– aside: all independent changes should be tested prior to committing to build

Object Asset Lists – Just ONE way

• Using Object Asset Lists to generate Task lists – is Just One Way– It is not perfect

• It illustrates how to – Link the Architecture and Design of the Game

to the Development of the Game• never forget about the people aspects• make the development

of the design easy to plan and implement

Summary• Designing and Developing a game– requires understanding many aspects– of the development process

• You should be learning – how to think at all levels of the process

• When designing a game you should consider – all the aspects of creating and implementing it

• in addition to all the other things that make a good design

Summary

• Designing a game FOR Development– requires consideration and understanding of– all the aspects of creating and implementing it

• Lots of people have game Ideas

• Some can put that idea into a Design description

• Very few see their designs be Developed into real games

• Increase your odds– Design so it is easy to Develop

The End

• Questions?

• Additional material may exist past this slide– For practice and/or references