Most Popular Games Genres
• Adventure games:– Solving puzzles– Finding clues
• E.g., through conversations with NPCs• Role Playing Games (RPG)
– Player assumes fictional roles through Avatars– Avatar acquires skills by performing tasks/actions– “Levels” indicate the progress of the avatar – Massive Multiplayer Online RPG (MMORPG)
• RPGs with multiple other players in pervasive worlds
Most Popular Games Genres (II)
• Strategy games:– resource gathering, managing economy, technology
development– Real-Time Strategy (RTS)
• Simultaneous actions– Turn-based Games (TBS)
• Take turns– Wargames
» Accurate depiction of actual units and maps• Sport Games
– Simulation of actual sport games• Games of chance
– Outcome highly influenced by a stochastic environment
Motivation: Scripting Programming Languages
• The “Community Expansion Package” is a game created by players, many non-programmers
• It is build using a software tool called Aurora which is included in the game Neverwinter Nights
• In fact using Aurora, gamers creating thousands their own games – Most variants of the original game– Others significant departures
Finite State Machines and Games
• State: an activity performed by an avatar
• Event: something that happens in the game world that makes state change
PatrolEnemy on sight
Attack
Another Finite State Machine
• States– Attack– Chase– Spawn– Wander
• Events– E: see an
enemy– S: hear a sound– D: die
Spawn
Wander
~E
D
Attack
~E
E
E
D
~S
Chase
E
S
S
D
But it gets even easier (event-on-map)
If player walks here thenSpawn Mephisto
Starting place of player
Put 3 orcs here
Ok Let Us Construct One Finite State Machine
• Lets program High Priestess Jeklik – Here is she in action– Text Description
• Step 1: list states and events
• Step 2: Construct the Finite State Machine
Homework (next class)
• Pick an existing game– Select one or more NPCs in the game– Create a Finite State Machine modeling the behavior
of the NPCs• List states (at least 5)• List events (at least 5)• Draw Finite State Machine
• Pick and existing game (can be same as before)– Provide at least 3 different examples of events-on-map
Computer Programs
-Program: sequence of instructions that the computer can understand
read(x)
read(y)
z x + y
print(z)
Scripts
- Script: specialized program that uses instructions that are based on game world
pick-weapon()
if monster then
attack(monster)
if hurt then
heal()
A Finite State Machine
Three Engines
• Adventure Game Studio http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/
• RPG Makerhttp://www.enterbrain.co.jp/tkool/RPG_XP/eng/
• Aurora (Neverwinter Nigths; http://nwn.bioware.com/
• Almost for every game genre there is such an engine– Available with the commercial release of the game
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