Computer Game Development By Jijun Tang

Google Group Please check and ask for membership Will serve as the main way of communication

Presentations First presentation:  Friday 09/07/2012  Start 10 minutes earlier  Each group has 5 minutes to present To present  Group info: name, logo, etc  Game ideas  Game design issues  5-7 slides

Tennis for two (1958)

Spacewar (1961)

Light Gun and Odyssey

Pong and Arcade Computer Space

Cartridge-based Console (1977) Atari 2600, 1977 Able to support many games

NES (90% market) NES Game boy Mario contra

Wii

Playstation I Final Fantasy Grand Theft Auto

MS Games

Types Adventure (text-based/graphical) Action (shooting, combat sim)  First-person shooting  Combat sim  Action adventure  Platformer (Mario)  Fighting  Real-time strategy (RTS)  Survival Horror

Types Role Playing Game (RPG) Stealth Simulation  SimCity  Flight Simulator  Train Simulator Racing Sports

Types Rhythm  Dance Dance Revolution Puzzle  Tetris Education  Typing  NSF funds many such games

Languages Assembly C/C++ VB Java Flash Script

ESA Entertainment Software Association

Sales From ESA

Comparison 2005 Ave age: 33 Game buyer: 40 Women: 38% Online: 44% Women online 42% Head of household 67% 2009 Ave age: 35 Game buyer: 39 Women: 40% Online: ? Women online 43% Head of household 68% 2010 Ave age: 34 (30) Game buyer: 40 (35) Women: 40% (47%) Men online: 58 Women online 42% Head of household 67%

Who and what From ESA

Genre info From ESA

Online game From ESA

How to Interpret the Data Pro-data:  Do as data suggests  Why: the failure of targeting pre-teen female market Anti-data:  Explore un-charted territory  Target older audience on Xbox?  Real Time Strategy on Xbox?  Shooting game for moms?

ESRB Entertainment Software Rating Board Self-regulated rating board From ESA

Why Rating? Example: Conker Animated Violence, Mature Sexual Themes, Strong Language Age 17+ Seven different worlds with 60+ sub- chapters to explore Massive multiplayer mode Easy to confuse parents and buy for young kids

Conker Screens

New Conker on Xbox

Controversial Games Sega’s Night Trap (1992)

DOOM School shooting----Doom?

Grand Theft Auto Teaching how to hi-jack?

Hot Coffee Mod Hidden sexual mini-game in Grand Auto Theft San Andreas Can be unlocked by changing one bit in the main.scm file Who created the scene? Re-rating and recall, lost $300M, numerous lawsuits. Who’s responsibility? Rockstar? Modifier? End users?

The Mini-Game

Game and Violence Study from National Institute on Media and the Family Concerns  Children are more likely to imitate the actions of a character with whom they identify. In violent video games the player is often required to take the point of view of the shooter or perpetrator.  Video games by their very nature require active participation rather than passive observation.  Repetition increases learning. Video games involve a great deal of repetition. If the games are violent, then the effect is a behavioral rehearsal for violent activity.  Rewards increase learning, and video games are based on a reward system.

Concerns Warranted? Exposure to violent games increases physiological arousal Exposure to violent games increases aggressive thoughts Exposure to violent games increases aggressive emotions Exposure to violent games increases aggressive actions Exposure to violent games decreases positive prosocial (i.e., helping) actions

Evidence against Linking Games and Violence Violent crime, particularly among the young, has decreased dramatically since the early 1990s, while video games have steadily increased in popularity and use. Many games with violent content sold in the U.S. -- and some with far more violence -- are also sold in foreign markets. However, the level of violent crime in these foreign markets is considerably lower than that in the U.S Numerous authorities have examined the scientific record and found that it does not establish any causal link between violent programming and violent behavior. The above are claims from theesa.com

Results on 9 th Grader By David Walsh

Parents Controling Kids

CSCE 552 Fall 2012 Understanding Fun

What is Fun? Game is all about fun Dictionary: Enjoyment, a source of amusement It is important to consider underlying reasons Funativity – thinking about fun in terms of measurable cause and effect

Why fun? It ’ s deep in our evolution root, and we must look to our ancestors (200 yrs of tech advancement haven ’ t changed our instinct) Cats, dogs, etc play to learn basic survival skills (physical and social) Games are organized play Human entertainment is also at its heart about learning how to survive Social rules are also critical to us

Surviving Life is all either work, rest, or fun To survive, we must work  Our ancestors were those who survive  The survive skills are passed down Who is more likely to survive?

People working too hard?

People resting too much?

We must play to gain skills

Learning is fun Fun is about practicing or learning new survival skills in a relatively safe setting People who didn ’ t enjoy that practice were less likely to survive to become our ancestors

Hunting and Gathering Basic skills are hunting and gathering Current popular games reflect this It ’ s a good start point to design games Shooters, wargames = hunting Powerups, resources = gathering Sims, MMO = social, tribal interaction

Gathering and hunting

Natural Funativity Theory All funs are derived from practicing survival and social skills  Key skills relate to early human context  Often in modern guise: play chess, football, dance, etc Three overlapping categories  Physical  Social  Mental

Physical Fun Sports  Enhance our strength, stamina, coordination skills  Winning is also a mental fun Exploration  Knowledge of surrounding areas  Explore unknown Hand/eye coordination and tool use are often parts of fun activities – crafts Physical aspect to gathering “ stuff ”

Wii Sports

Social Fun Storytelling is a social activity  First virtual reality  Learn important lessons from others Gossip, sharing info Flirting Showing off

Social funs

Mental Fun Humans have large brains Abstract reasoning practice Pattern matching and generation  Music  Art  Puzzles Gathering also has mental aspect, categorizing and identifying patterns Gambling

Casino/Online Gambling

Multipurpose Fun Many fun activities have physical, social and mental aspects in combination Games that mix these aspects tend to be very popular Incorporate ways to practice these skills to increase the popularity of games