University of Illinois at Chicago Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) CS 426 Planning the Game Design Spec & Blitz3D Workshop © Jason Leigh Electronic Visualization Lab, University of Illinois at Chicago

University of Illinois at Chicago Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) Game Design Document - again Executive summary – the 1 page “big picture” summary – specifies the FOCUS of the game. Game mechanics - how the user reacts to the world. What can the user can do in the world? Artificial Intelligence – how the world reacts to the user. How do opponents respond to the users? Game Progression – the events the player experiences. Game levels. What happens when the player finishes a task? What happens when you finish the level? What is different in the next level? Game Elements: Characters, items, objects/mechanisms – elements that are encountered, accessible, at each level of the game. Story – if there is one, the story helps define why certain gameplay elements make sense- e.g. why can the player fly? Script – final execution of the story and cutscenes will require a script. Sound effects – elements in the story that generate sound effects and the sound effects they generate. Background sounds. Menus and interface design – how users control the environment, game dashboard, opening menus, save/load screens, options & cheat screens. Art Bible – sketches and mockups of objects, characters, items. Storyboards – useful in illustrating aspects of the gameplay- e.g. camera angles or layout of game screens; storyboards are absolutely necessary for cutscenes.

University of Illinois at Chicago Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) Approaching the Game Design Document 1.Today, go through Game Design Document template and write down what you know or have defined explicitly, and what you still have to define. 2.Prioritize what are the aspects of the game that you will develop. 3.Web site for your company where you will post this design document. a.Intro page with names of all the company members and roles b.Game design document c.Software design document d.Gallery a.Early art work b.Screen snaps as game develops e.Link to download the game 4.Look at the due date for the 1st prototype presentation and work backwards to come up with a schedule. E.g. –10/21 – present demo –10/20 – install and test demo on demo machines –10/18 – completed web page document to provide overview of what has been accomplished to-date –10/14 – freeze game prototype capabilities –10/7 – add models –10/1 – build basic game engine to drive tank through space and fire bullets –Oh crap- we’re out of time!

University of Illinois at Chicago Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) Presentation Schedule for Blitz3D Workshop Group 11- Entity Movement Group 22 – Entity Animation Group 33 – Entity Control & Pivot Group 44 – Entity State Group 55 - Entity Collision Group 66 - Camera Group 77 - Surface Group 88 - Sprite Group 99 - Terrain Group 1010 – Listener/Audio Sound and Music

University of Illinois at Chicago Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) Preparing for Workshop Presentations Day (s) before class, install your demo program on cs426 local directory including your html document. Rehearse. If you don’t rehearse then your first presentation is your rehearsal and ALL rehearsals are bad and Jason will roast you for it Link a copy of this on your company’s web site. 1 hour before class, do tech check of everything. Bring a backup copy just in case. What to put in HTML document –Outline of the purpose of the DB feature (ie why is it useful to anyone?) –Explanation of command line parameters –Example source code The presentation: (You have 15 minutes – 10 minutes to talk and 5 minutes to answer questions) –Present HTML document – 5 minutes –Run demo – 5 minutes –Answer questions – 5 minutes