Chapter 1 Design Composition

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Objectives Detail the components of a game and differentiate between a game and a toy. List the roles and responsibilities of the specialists within a video game design team. Explain what is meant by the scope, or life cycle, or a video game. Outline the five Ps that guide the development of most video games.

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Objectives (Continued) Define piracy and explain how it impacts the video game industry. Describe the four major types of business ownership.

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Game Composition A game is a specific type of activity with three parts –Game environment is an area that enables gameplay –Rules state how a game is to be played –A victory condition is what it takes to win the game Toys do not have all three parts and are not games

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Video Game Classification Gameplay is what the player does Core mechanics is the computer programming used to enforce the rules Genre is a major category of video game gameplay Genres are further broken down into themes Examples include action, fighting, and puzzle

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Examples of Genres and Themes Action Adventure Bat and Ball Crime Flight Horror Platform Tactical Board Games, Card Games, Game Show Educational/ Edutainment Fighting Martial Arts Other Music and Party Dance Music Party Singing Puzzle Guessing game Logic puzzle Transport puzzle Word puzzle Goodheart-Willcox Publisher

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Examples of Genres and Themes (Continued) Role Playing (RPG) Single/ multiplayer Massive multiplayer Shooter First Person Side Scrolling (shoot em) Third person Simulation A-life Flight Sim Tycoon Sports Baseball Basketball Bowling Fishing Football Golf Hockey Hunting Racing Skateboarding Tennis Wrestling Strategy Turn based Toys Al pets Screen savers Goodheart-Willcox Publisher

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Video Game Design Team A design team is a group of people who bring the idea of a video game into a playable version A design team is made up of specialists who have the right skills for a project Examples include artists, programmers, and game writers

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Video Game Scope Video games have a life cycle Video game publishers fund most major video games The publisher manufactures, markets, and supports each video game, or title To finance your game, you need to convince a publisher to take on your game project

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Project Composition Video games are developed following the five Ps of video game publishing –Pitch –Preproduction –Production –Post production –Patch and return distribution

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Pitch A pitch document is used to sell the game idea to the video game publisher –The high-concept document is a one-page overview of the basic idea for a game –The game-treatment document explains the vision of the game in greater detail –A game-treatment document should be designed as a leave-behind document

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Preproduction Preproduction includes concept elaboration and prototyping Design documents contain all of the decisions used to make the game The proof of concept shows that the concept can work Provisional approval means approval has been given to start the project

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Preproduction (Continued) Goodheart-Willcox Publisher

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Production Production is the stage where specialists build all the parts for the game The art bible contains a drawing or mock-up for every asset that needs to be created The technical bible is a binder filled with all the programming structure for the game The first playable level is the first iteration of the games first level that can be tested

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Production (Continued) The design team discusses progress and issues with the game project All changes are recorded on the design history Major changes result in a new version The project is broken down into tasks A length of time is assigned to each task Using the critical path method (CPM), all tasks are prioritized

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Post Production Post production includes testing, tuning, and distribution –Games are tested for functionality and playability –Tuning is polishing the game to perfection –Porting is converting a game from one platform to another –Distribution is how the game is sent to the customer

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Post Production (Continued) Goodheart-Willcox Publisher

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Patches and Return Distribution When a customer purchases a game and it does not work, the game has to be fixed or refunded A patch is a software installation program that fixes known bugs or damaged programming The publisher will try to put a positive spin on patches The patch may be called an upgrade

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Five Ps of Video Game Publishing Goodheart-Willcox Publisher

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Piracy The video game design process is threatened by piracy Piracy is the illegal copying or distribution of copyrighted material, such as a video game Piracy is a form of theft If the companies that make games do not receive money for their work, they may stop creating new games

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Types of Business Ownership In the game industry, there are many of each type of business organization An indie company is small and considered to be independent A corporation is a legal entity that limits the personal liabilities of its owners –Corporations are owned by stockholders –Corporations may pay dividends to stockholders

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Types of Business Ownership (Continued) A partnership is owned by two or more people –Partners may share ownership equally or unequally –A limited partner does not take part in running the company A limited partnership or company limits the personal liability for its owners A sole proprietorship is owned by a single person

Review Your Knowledge Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Which genre of video games do you find most interesting or challenging? Why? Consider the various jobs of specialists on a game design team, such as game writer and creative director. Which job appeals most to you as a possible career choice?