1. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/50101 Design Teams Team Structure Interdisciplinary Teams

2. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/50102 Game Design 1. The game design vision drives everything 2. Every team member contributes something vital Respect their expertise

3. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/50103 Team Structure  Director/Producer –The person who’s driving –Has the creative vision for entire project –Possibly an expert in some area

4. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/50104 The Game Vision  A game derives from a vision  The Visual, Audio, Graphics, AI, Networks derives from this vision  It’s a collaboration!  It’s probably not a dictatorship –No one person can do all the work

5. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/50105 Team Components/Members  Game Play/Storyboard  Level Design  Graphics  Graphic Design  Animators  MoCap Actors  Networks  Multi-player Design  AI  Audio  Audio Design  Dialog  Voice Talent  Playtesting  Marketing  Technical Writers

6. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/50106 Software Engineering  The Waterfall Model: –Design -> Spec -> Coding -> Testing  Better: –Programmers discover what the customer wants –Programmers implement prototype –Users test prototype –Tests feed back to design

7. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/50107 Game Software Engineering  Many team members are non- programmers  Eg. Graphic artists are sometimes semi- literate –Their mastery is pictures!  Audio people have some CS experience  Marketing people have limited CS experience

8. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/50108 Specifications  Game specifications will cover many bases  It’s not all about software per se

9. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/50109 The Bottom Line  The team members are there for a reason:  Each team member is an expert

10. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/501010 Eg. Audio Design  Like any design job, there must be a logic to the audio design  The logic drives –Instrumentation –Musical style –Selection of phrases

11. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/501011 Logic Source  The audio design logic arises from game logic  The driving vision comes from the game –It’s not about creating a hit record, for example  Team members…

12. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/501012 Game Play  Expertise: Games, Storytelling  Provide a compelling experience  Set up goals for player(s) –Script –Storyboard  Programmers –Control game logic –Formal Language Scripts, etc for game play –Formal Language Script interpreter

13. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/501013 Level Design  Expertise: Games, Storytelling, Creative writing  Provide compelling experience this level –Adjust difficulty appropriate to level –Subsidiary to game design  Design –Spatial layout –Composition of forces –Pacing

14. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/501014 Level Design  Expertise: Games, Storytelling  Programmers –Creating behavior of enemy agents in geographic space –Special-purpose features this level –Design tools

15. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/501015 Graphics  Expertise: CS -- Computer Graphics  Programmers –Create the graphics game engine –Customize engine components for particular game –Visual effects –Performance tuning –Until recently, used most CPU

16. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/501016 Graphic Design  Expertise: Visual Arts/Graphic Design  Providing the visual content –Design the look –Implement the look  Graphic design will generate a visual system –Main task is to make the system visually consistent, coherent

17. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/501017 Animators  Expertise: Visual Arts/Animation  Create the animated characters –Keyframes –MoCap – Capture, Blending, Adjustment –Programming simulation controllers to create good animations  Programmers –Animation control & playback system –Scripting setup –Simulation system

18. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/501018 MoCap Actors  Expertise: Dance, Acting  Act out motion scripts –Create consistent character for each captured motion –Seamlessly join together motion segments  Programmers –Motion capture –Data management

19. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/501019 Networks  Expertise: CS Networks, Multiplayer  Programmers –Implement network components –Client-server system –Server creation –Create multi-player control for game Prediction, Etc

20. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/501020 Multi-player Design  Expertise: Multiplayer, CS Networks  Design multi-player scheme –Resolve conflicts –Deal with lag  Programmers –Game-specific strategies

21. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/501021 AI  Expertise: AI Algorithms, AI Game Practice  Programmers –Create the AI engine Could be just a general object suite –Customize to game components –Responsible for good AI enemy play Details!

22. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/501022 Audio  Expertise: CS -- Digital Sound Filters/Effects  Programmers –Create System-level audio software –Environmental effects filters –Resource management

23. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/501023 Audio Design  Expertise: Music  Designers –Create audio space –Interact with other system elements Player health, location Time of day, environment

24. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/501024 Dialog  Expertise: Creative Writing, Play Writing  Create believable speaking characters –Create lines of dialog that will sound good –Get the point across (or obscure it!)

25. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/501025 Voice Talent  Expertise: Acting, Radio  Create a compelling animated voice character –Voice fits the body –Delivers the lines appropriately

26. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/501026 Playtesting  Expertise: Games, Dealing with people  Test the game with real users –Get feedback –Adjust game difficulty –Adjust explanations, back story, etc –Get organized!

27. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/501027 Marketing  Expertise: Game market, distribution  Get the game on the market –Figure out who your customers are –Generate demand Get it reviewed favorably Place ads Hype

28. Aug 24, Fall 2005ITCS4010/501028 Technical Writers  Expertise: Technical communications  Create documentation –Game manuals –API manuals In house External