Game Maker Instructor : Christy Ekroth christy_ekroth@ddouglas.k12.or.us

What’s Average?? Time Spent on. . . TV—3 hours Internet—1/2 hour Video Games—3 ½ hours Has this changed???

What’s your world like? (mine was cars, telephones, and finally we got a TV) Internet E-mail FaceBook MySpace Text Messages On line . . . Chats Games

Got Game? Platforms Classifications Consoles/Cell Phones PC Core Halo, Call to Duty Casual Chess, Tetris Serious Medical, Educational, Military

Gaming Platforms Console PC Standard OS Game Pad Interface Licensing, Royalties PC Minimum Requirements Keyboard, Mouse, Game Pad Freeware, Shareware, Independent License

Gaming Genres Action Quake, Halo “Twitch” games often rely on eye/hand coordination. They are usually fast paced and winning is based on the player’s reflexes. Strategy Starcraft, Age of Empires Emphasizes logical thinking and strategic resource planning. Winning is based on critical decision making. Many are played by taking turns.

Gaming Genres Adventure Myst, Raven Action with a story-line and puzzle solving. Winning takes action and inventory management. Role Playing Games (RPGS) WoWarcraft Adventure with more reliance on character growth and development. There is Strategy because of some combat and management of reported statistics. Huge epic quests and fantasy with non-playing characters (NPC) are common.

Gaming Genres Sports NFL, Links, Nascar Although realism is the goal of the game, fantasy is no exception. Single or team players (networked) give instructions or direct manipulation. Simulations Sim City “God-games” where gamers build and manage cities, civilizations, traffic, etc. through realistic recreations of processes in the civil, animal or mechanical world

Gaming Genres Music/Aerobic Dance Revolution Played using one’s feet stomping options on a dance mat. Puzzle/Classics Solitaire, Chess, Tetris Casual games of leisure derived mostly from board, cards, trivia or tile games. Very profitable on cell phones.

Playing Perspectives First Person Deer Hunter Third Person Tomb Raider Top Down Solitaire Isometric Baldur’s Gate Flat, Side View Mario, Sonic Text-based Facade

Game Development Disciplines Programmer AI, Physics, Engine, etc. Art and Animation Character, Scene, etc. Game Design Game, Level, Writer Production Managers, Directors Quality Assurance non-tech Beta-testers Audio Engineers, Composers, Musicians Business and Legal Accountants, Lawyers

Making the Game Pre-production Creating the Character Begin with a story Story boarding World, Levels, Outcomes Creating the Character Putting the Character in motion/UI Designing Scenes Code Post Production Marketing

Advice for Designing a Game. . . Remember: Game Play, Game Play, Game Play Be a devoted gamer. Study games. Innovate. Learn to write, learn to draw, otherwise, hire someone who does. Learn the process. Write lots of small games to start with. No bugs!

Advice for Designing a Game. . . Have fun doing it. Get excited about your work. Get inspiration from everywhere, novels, movies, books, history, etc. Make levels rich in possibilities. Get the player lost in the game. Try to retain ownership of your work.

Advice for Designing a Game. . . Make crystal clear specs/design document. Know the limits of your platform. Never give up, patience is the key. Pay for professional voice talent. Excite everyone to your game with a 5 minute talk and a 1 page sell sheet. Work with a tight well-balanced team.

Incentives $16.7 Billion Video Game sales for 2005 Emerging Market: Cell Phones 180,000,000 units sold in 2005. Tetris and Bejeweled are in 30+% of all cell phones. Each earns over $60,000,000 a year in royalties. Casual 2D. Addicting game play is the key. Create your demo using Game Maker.

Incentives Untapped Market: “Chick” Games Estimated at 2x the Death and Destruction market. $32 Billion per year. Unlimited Market: Serious Games Custom order. Client advances capital. Expanded definition of “gaming” in architectural, medical, military, educational, legal, commerce, etc.

Got Game? GENRES PERSPECTIVES Action First Person Strategy Third Person Adventure Top Down Role Playing Isometric Sports Flat, Side View Simulations Text Based Music Aerobic Puzzle/Classic

History of Video Games First Generation Magnavox Odyssey | Pong | Coleco Telstar The years: 1972-1977

History of Video Games Second Generation Fairchild Channel F | Atari 2600 | Magnavox Odyssey² | Intellivision | 5200 | ColecoVision | Vectrex | SG-1000 The years: 1977-1983

History of Video Games Mr. Van’s First System:

History of Video Games Third Generation NES | Master System | 7800 The years: 1983-1987

PC Engine/TurboGrafx 16 | Mega Drive/Genesis | SNES | Neo-Geo | CD-i History of Video Games Fourth Generation PC Engine/TurboGrafx 16 | Mega Drive/Genesis | SNES | Neo-Geo | CD-i The years: 1987-1993

History of Video Games Fifth Generation CD32 | 3DO | Jaguar | Saturn | Playdia | PlayStation | PC-FX | Pippin | Nintendo 64 The years: 1993-2002

Dreamcast | PlayStation 2 | GameCube | Xbox History of Video Games Sixth Generation Dreamcast | PlayStation 2 | GameCube | Xbox The years: 1998-2005

Xbox 360 | PlayStation 3 | Wii History of Video Games Seventh Generation Xbox 360 | PlayStation 3 | Wii The years: 2005-