1. Fundamentals of Game Design, 2 nd Edition by Ernest Adams Chapter 17: Vehicle Simulations

2. Chapter 17 Vehicle Simulations2 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Objectives Know the different types of vehicle simulation games Know how the design of the game world influences the player’s perception of speed Know some ways to design artificial opponents for the game

3. Chapter 17 Vehicle Simulations3 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Objectives (Cont.) Understand the distinctions between military and civilian flight simulations Be familiar with the various views often used in vehicle simulation interfaces

4. Chapter 17 Vehicle Simulations4 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. What Are Vehicle Simulations? Feels like driving, flying, or controlling a vehicle Simulations vary from realistically handling the vehicle to adding game mechanics such as combat, racing, and special challenges Space and water vehicle simulations follow the same fundamental features as flying and driving simulations

5. Chapter 17 Vehicle Simulations5 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Game Features Flight simulators  Civilian flight simulators are realistic and don’t include combat  Military flight simulators are simplified but provide tactical conflict as well as physical challenges Driving simulators  Organized racing is driving in an existing racing class; requires licensing  Imaginary racing uses imaginary situations

6. Chapter 17 Vehicle Simulations6 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Game Features (Cont.) Players  Purists demand highly accurate simulations of real vehicles  Casual players don’t care about the details as long as they can fly or drive

7. Chapter 17 Vehicle Simulations7 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Game Features (Cont.) The player’s role  Flight simulators—pilot or military positions such as navigator or bombardier  Racing-oriented driving games—driver or mechanic

8. Chapter 17 Vehicle Simulations8 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Game Features (Cont.) Competition modes  Military flight simulators—similar to first-person shooters  Civilian flight simulators—single-player mode  Driving simulators—single-player games or multiplayer races  Military flight simulators and organized race- driving simulators—often include career mode and campaign mode

9. Chapter 17 Vehicle Simulations9 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Game Features (Cont.) Gameplay and victory conditions  Primary challenge is controlling the vehicle  Military flight sims must also achieve the mission objective Type of plane determines gameplay Many offer a series of missions  Civilian flight sims seldom have victory conditions  Organized racing sims take gameplay from the real races

10. Chapter 17 Vehicle Simulations10 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Core Mechanics Vehicle simulations are technologically oriented, so the core mechanics are almost entirely about physics Designing opponents  Provide different vehicles with different characteristics  Modify the behavior of individual opponents

11. Chapter 17 Vehicle Simulations11 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Core Mechanics (Cont.) Damage  Children’s games can ignore damage to the vehicle  Damage can be modeled as a single variable like health points  Accurate modeling divides the vehicle into areas Tracks damage in each individual area Computes damage’s effect on vehicle performance

12. Chapter 17 Vehicle Simulations12 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. The Game World Landscape is an important part of the entertainment Flight simulators—setting is the plane and the ground Driving simulators—racetrack, road, or off- road Weather affects vehicle handling Consider adding people to racetracks and airports to enhance immersion

13. Chapter 17 Vehicle Simulations13 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Other Vehicles Boats and ships  Fluid medium changes handling characteristics, making it different from driving simulators  Large warships simulated as parts of fleets  Submarines are popular simulations  Sailing simulations are rare  Ocean is not modeled accurately Shoreline is usually correct Depth, tides, currents, reefs are not

14. Chapter 17 Vehicle Simulations14 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Other Vehicles (Cont.) Tanks and mechs  Rotating turret on tanks adds complexity  Mech is an invented mechanism unrestricted by reality Spacecraft  Majority of spacecraft simulations are science fiction  Not modeled accurately—similar to fighter planes

15. Chapter 17 Vehicle Simulations15 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Intellectual Property Rights Generally, you can simulate military equipment without obtaining permission from the manufacturers To simulate an existing car or other civilian vehicle, you need a license from the manufacturer

16. Chapter 17 Vehicle Simulations16 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. The Presentation Layer Interaction model—vehicle is the avatar; view through cockpit window Camera model  Views common to driving and flight simulators Pilot’s/driver’s view—default Cockpit-removed view Chase view Rear, side, and front views Free-roaming camera

17. Chapter 17 Vehicle Simulations17 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. The Presentation Layer (Cont.) Camera model (cont.)  Views unique to military flight simulators Ground target view Bomb or missile view  Views unique to driving simulators Track-side view Grandstand view Blimp view

18. Chapter 17 Vehicle Simulations18 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. The Presentation Layer (Cont.) User interface design  Biggest challenge is mapping vehicle’s real controls to those available on target machine  Simplification Military simulators require some simplification Flight simulators commonly simplify navigation  Most flight simulators produce automatically coordinated flight

19. Chapter 17 Vehicle Simulations19 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. The Presentation Layer (Cont.) User interface design (cont.)  Creating the sense of speed—critical in driving simulations Display a speedometer Vary the driving surface Include roadside objects Use sounds  G-forces Military planes can show a G-force meter Pilots can black out or red out

20. Chapter 17 Vehicle Simulations20 © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Summary You should now understand  How to identify different types of vehicle simulation games  How to design vehicle attributes and characteristics  How to create AI opponents  How to list the requirements for a military simulation  How to design the UI for a vehicle simulation