DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds Week 7 Designing Virtual Worlds for Games 6pm – 9pm Tuesday, September 4 th, 2007 Kathryn Merrick and Owen Macindoe DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007

Announcements  I have marked your assignments.  They will be handed back in the tutorial.  Check out the gallery at:  c9180readings/task1_gallery.htm c9180readings/task1_gallery.htm DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007

Lecture Overview  Demonstrations:  World of Warcraft and Pharaoh  Virtual worlds for games:  History  Requirements of a virtual game world  Other properties of virtual game worlds  Introduction to Task 2 DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007

The First Virtual Game World  1962: Spacewar! developed by researchers at MIT  Two players each control a spaceship orbiting a planet  Players can shoot, turn and accelerate  Goal is to hit the other player DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007 Spacewar!, The first computer game (Stephen Russel, 1962)

History of Computer Game Genres DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007 Action games: Spacewar! (1962) Sports games: Pong (1972) Adventure games: Adventure (1977) MUD (1978) (Refer to Week 2 lecture) Simulation games: Flight Simulator (1977) Role playing games: Ultima series (1980) Strategy games: Civilisation (1991)

Action Games  Usually require use of deadly force to save the world from forces of evil  Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, Descent, Half- Life, Tomb Raider, Unreal Tournament, Halo DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007 Doom: Episode III: Inferno

Virtual World Design: Action Games  Virtual environment:  Battle fields, dungeons  Training grounds  Weapons, armour  Characters:  Teachers  Partners  Enemies DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007 Half Life Captain Comic (1988)

Sport Games  Players are coaches or athletes in popular sports  Football, basketball, cricket, racing… DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007 Mario Kart WiiMadden 06

Virtual World Design: Sports Games  Virtual environment:  Playing fields  Race tracks  Training grounds DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007 The original Atari upright cabinet for Pong The Pong playing field  Characters:  Opposition  Team members

Adventure Games or Interactive Fiction  Emphasise story telling and puzzle solving rather than combat or sporting conflict  King’s Quest, Zork, Monkey Island DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007 The HobbitLemmings

Virtual World Design: Adventure Games  Virtual environment:  Objects to support the plot  Contain puzzles DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007 Monkey Island II: LeChuck’s Revenge  Characters:  Tell the story  Partners The Curse of Monkey Island

Simulation and Strategy Games  Player has ‘god-like’ control over a virtual simulated world  World or characters respond to player actions by evolving  SimCity, Caesar, Pharaoh, Black and White, Creatures DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007 SimCity (for Atari) SimCity 4

Virtual World Design: Simulation and Strategy Games  Virtual environment:  Highly modifiable  Dynamic  Characters:  Evolve or change their behaviour in response to changes in their environment DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007 Norns from Creatures

Role-Playing Games  Players take on a role such as a magician, thief or warrior…  They pursue quests, collect materials, craft items, sell goods, fight monsters… DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007 A battle ground at the end of a raid (left) and dance party (right) in World of Warcraft

Virtual World Design: Role-Playing Games  Virtual environment :  Battle grounds  Social spaces  Commercial centres  Educational or training centres  Characters:  Merchants, teachers, enemies, quest givers… DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007 Auction house (top) and bank (bottom) in World of Warcraft

Properties of Virtual Game Worlds DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007 Persistent Online First person Static world 3D world Networked Third person 2D isometric Non - persistent Single player ‘god-like’ control Dynamic world Text based

Introduction to Task 2: You Versus the World  Design and implement a game that has no humanoid or animal characters  The aim is to build an exciting and dynamic virtual space DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007 Surfeit Surface’s Crooked House in Second Life (right) IBM’s maze in Second Life (left)

Marks for Implementation (Due 23/10/2007)  Use of prims (2 marks)  Use of sculpted prims (3 marks)  Simple scripts (3 marks)  Agents (3 marks)  Use of space (4 marks)  Plot cues (4 marks)  Sense of place (4 marks) DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007

Group Report  Due Tuesday, 23/10/2007, 6pm  Real and Second Life names of group members  Location of game in Second Life  Plot of the game (2 marks)  Design principles (3 marks)  How plot is communicated, navigational cues, aesthetics, user experiences  Strengths and Limitations (3 marks)  Future improvements (2 marks) DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007

Group Planning and Participation  This is an individual mark based on:  Group plans, progress reports and meeting minutes (4 marks)  Review of object and script ownership (4 marks)  Tutorial attendance in sessions dedicated to Task 2 (2 marks)  Group folder due 23/10/2007, 6pm DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007

Group Presentation (23/10/2007)  This is your opportunity to show off your game!  Each group will have 20 minutes  Presentation should include:  Slides describing plot, strengths, weaknesses (2 marks)  Demonstration of game-play sequences (3 marks) DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007

Feedback on Assignment 1  Design:  Marks for this were very high  Marks mainly lost for:  No navigational cues  Little or no use of textures DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007

Feedback on Assignment 1  Presentation:  Marks mainly lost if:  I couldn’t hear you  You didn’t explicitly say why your space was an impossible place or why it was a social space. DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007

Feedback on Assignment 1  Report:  Some hints for future reports:  When a report spec has detailed requirements, use those requirements as headings for your report  Check your spelling and grammar  Marks lost for:  Report specs not met or too brief DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007

Tutorial  Sculpted prims!  Try out one or more of the tutorials recommended on this week’s tutorial sheet. DESC9180 Designing Virtual Worlds University of Sydney, September 2007