Games Production Process Computer Games: Digital Games Design F1R2 11 © 2012 West Lothian College August 2012/Review date August 2015 Games Production Process

Production cycle Plan Design Build Test Amend Re-test

Planning Audience Gameplay Genre Environments Characters Themes

Planning - AUDIENCE Who will play the game? Created to suit intended audience Scary game not for kids Age range Pre-school Primary school Teen Adult Male or female? Special requirements?

Gameplay Describes the experience of playing the game Game mechanics Story quality Ease of play Desirability Game mechanics Rules Level of interaction Game balance Emergent gameplay Ways unimagined by game’s designers

Gameplay All games are computer games. Fun! Bold statement: Game design is a form of programming. What makes a game a game? Fun! Games serve an emotional purpose, not a pragmatic one

Gameplay Games as software: CODE PROCESS RULES GAME ‘SESSION’ ‘FUN’! REQUIREMENTS RULES GAME ‘SESSION’ ‘FUN’!

Genre See previous slides

Environments Settings for game Tone Where When Lighting etc. Geographical Indoors or outdoors? When Tone Lighting etc.

Characters Personalities in game Differences / similarities Interaction Identification As player With NPCs Avatars

Themes Subject matter the game deals with, e.g. Espionage Gang warfare Managing a sports team Attracts the interests of users because of the theme A bit like musical styles

Summary - Planning Planning means a developer knows: Targets to aim Boundaries to stay within Allows the developer to begin designing the game

Design audio narration visual style concept art storyboarding scripting

Audio & Narration Sound effects Music Dialogue Narration Public domain / record own Volume / clarity synchonising

Visual style Consider: Audience Mood / tone Genre Hardware specs Programming limitations

Concept Art Sketches Give outlines & ideas to programmers Can help sell a game Can change during production Use digital sketches, not just pencils

Storyboard See handout Scripting See handout

Summary - Design Starts once planning is finished Deals with creative decisions – audio & visual Allows everyone to share “vision” Can evolve during development Now building can start

Task Find pre-production design ideas for a well-known game Compare them with the finished result.