Computer games: Developing an online multiplayer game Introduction

about today Players: Jesper, me, you. Course description Course format Course contents How to do a games critique break part I part II

players Academic background Research Game Design Courses taught What are we playing? Name Academic background Writing thesis? Computerspil I? II? Why are you here? What are you playing? GMs multiplayer

course description I Create a computer game prototype by applying experience with games, theoretical understanding and technical skill. Understand the process of designing, and developing a game (in this case a multiplayer role-playing game). Understand what games are from a theoretical perspective. They will be able to analyse and do academic critique on games. Describe the principles and practice of game design, focusing on multiplayer games of various sorts. Discuss aspects related to the game development process. Generally: To learn the process of coming up with, discussing, and documenting game ideas. goals

course description II In this course, the class will create an online multiplayer game in the role-playing game genre. This takes place by reading game design literature and general computer game theory, looking at existing games, and using these as input for our game design. The practical side of the course deals with designing a computer game from scratch but implementing it using existing tools. The class will in conjunction define the content of the game, document it, and implement it in an existing system. We will then use external playtesters to comment on the game and learn to modify the game according to the external input. contents

course description III contents The class will decide the content of the game. As a point of inspiration, the teachers suggest that we start with a well-defined goal: We can begin by looking at a focus group (children, pensioners, people like us, people who don’t normally play games, etc.), a mood (a game that makes people cry, techno, spleen etc..), an existing game (Cluedo, EverQuest, Anarchy Online, Dungeons & Dragons etc..), an existing story (Kafka, Matrix, Dostojevski, Usual suspects, Star Wars, Hamlet, Camus etc..). We will focus on: how to work with raw ideas, game proposals (documents, planning, scheduling), genre-specific issues, immersion, interactivity (actions and gameplay), the interface (setting, time, space, characters, etc), tools, the AI, levels, playtesting.

course description IV technical We will use a Java-based system for creating graphical multi-user worlds. The client runs in a browser. The server-side stores all world and player information in an SQL database. Programming skills can come in handy in terms of scripting (using a JavaScript syntax) and Java programming (to create custom objects in the game world).

course description IV Interest in games / storytelling. Since the development process will consist of dividing the work between the course participants, no specific set of skills are required, but proficiency in programming, graphic design, and writing can come in handy. prerequisites

course format I blocks lecture + discussion workshop 9 to 15 = 6 hours lunch break 12 to 13 9:15 to 9:45 10:00 to 12:00 13 to 15 break game critique

evaluation in groups -Project: individual or groups (in by 22nd November) -Oral examination (based on group prototype)

course content II Game design and game genres Game and RPG history Gameplay Storytelling Sociology of online worlds Player types Characters & Agents Performance & Identity

time for a break

game critique? Description (look&feel, gameplay) The gaming experience (getting started, possible actions & outcomes, interaction kinds) The game in context (game history, other media, game community...) Evaluation

Neverwinter Nights’s single player game is not as good as Baldur’s Gate, and the multiplayer option is about the same as Vampire: the Masquerade, so where’s the big hype?

A review should take a work seriously and consider it on its own terms. That doesn't mean not being critical. I'm happy for a reviewer to decide that the work's premises are flawed, or that it doesn't fulfil what it's trying to do. Jill Walker

Halo just looks so awesome you would never believe it. Visually stunning, one of the best shooters ever.

Rouse reviews... -chap 4: Centipede -chap 8: Tetris -chap 12: Loom -chap 16: Myth: The Fallen Lords -chap 20: The Sims

Next week: - Rouse, Richard Game Design. Theory and Practice. Plano, USA: Wordware Publishing. p Bruce Shelley: "Guidelines for Developing Successful Games". Fra Gamasutra, Bates, Bob “Genre-Specific Game Design Issues” in Game Design: The Art and Business of Creating Games. California: Prima Publishing. p