1. Game Development Dr. Mathias Lux ITEC - Universität Klagenfurt mlux@itec.uni-klu.ac.at This work is licensed under a Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Austria License. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/at/

2. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 2 Agenda ●Why teaching “computer games”? ●What is a “good” game? ●Game projects in teaching ●Game development

3. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 3 Why teaching computer games? ●Commercial relevance o Games are a big business ●Research and technology o Games lead to innovation ●Application of knowledge in game dev. o Maths, physics, algorithms, data structures o Project management & planning o Self reflection and team work Image (cc) by http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliebee

4. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 4 Why teaching computer games? ●Many people … o play games themselves! o assume they are experts! o think they can do better! Image (cc) by http://www.flickr.com/photos/neilschelly

5. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 5 Industry Facts: ESA (US) ●Gaming industry economics & sales: o 2003-2006 the annual rate (gain) exceeded 17% (cp. <4% for the US economy) o Game console software sales: $6.6 billion / 153.9 million units in 2007 o Computer games sales: $910.7 million / 36.4 million units in 2007 o Portable software sales: $2.0 billion / 77.5 million units in 2007 Source: esa, entertainment software association - http://www.theesa.com/

6. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 6 Industry Facts: ESA, 2006 ●Gamers facts: o The average American gamer is 35 years old and has been playing for 13 years. o 38% of American households have a video game console, 65% play video / PC games o 56% percent of online game players are male and 44% are female o Adult women represent a greater portion of gamers (33 %) than boys age <=17 (18 %) Source: esa, entertainment software association - http://www.theesa.com/

7. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 7 German Game Industry 200720062005200420032002

8. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 8 German Game Industry

9. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 9 German Game Industry: Details on the consumers

10. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 10 German Game Industry: Market share

11. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 11 German Game Industry: How old are gamers?

12. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 12 German Game Industry: Restrictions - USK

13. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 13 ESRB??? ●Statistics of the ESRB !?! ●It has revealed that 1,563 games were given ratings last year, a 22 percent increase from 2006. The E for Everyone category continued to have the most games, with 59 percent of ratings, followed by T for Teen (13 and over) with 20 percent, and E10+ (10 and older) at 15 percent. M for Mature (17 and older) rated games made up 6 percent of the total, down from 8 percent in 2006, and 12 percent in 2005. ●A statement from the ESRB president, Patricia Vance, said, "Although we tend to hear from the media most about the more controversial Mature-rated games, the reality is the 8.5 out of every 10 games sold last year were rated as appropriate for ages 13 or younger." ●http://www.gamespot.com/news/6185699.html

14. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 14 Germany: Releases of the last 12 months Source: games.markt

15. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 15 Germany: Releases % in Genre

16. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 16 MMOG Economics ●WoW has >11 Mio. subscribers (Oct. 2008) o Monthly fees o Add-ons & DLC o World of WarCraft: Wrath of the Lich King was Xmas best seller at amazon.de Source: http://www.mmogchart.com/Chart1.html

17. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 17 Example: Super Mario ●Jump & Run, Nintendo ●Video game for NES o World -> SNES & GameBoy o Mario64 -> Nintendo64 o Super Paper Mario -> Wii o … ●Most successful video game ever o 295 Mio. units sold

18. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 18 Example: LBP ●Little Big Planet o A collaborative platformer o 2.5 D Jump & Run ●Awards o Academy Of Interactive Arts & Sciences 2009 8 Awards including “best overall game” o E3 Awards Best console game, best casual and social game o etc.

19. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 19 Example: LBP ●Videos: o Danger – Showing the gameplay o Sackzilla – Showing the editor

20. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 20 Example: Guitar Hero & Rockband ●Guitar Hero (Activision) & Rockband (EA) o Revenue of 2.3 billion dollars o Within three years ●Guitar Hero III – Legends of Rock o First game exceeding 1 billion $ revenue

21. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 21 Example: Popcap Games Popcap Games creates „casual games“ ●Most popular game: Bejeweld o 150 million downloads, o 25 million sold units ●Distributes on o XBox Marketplace o PSN o PC (Steam, own shop, boxed)

22. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 22 Computer & Innovation ●Consumer Hardware o 3D graphic cards, Open GL for consumers o Video decoding (HD video) Cp. Nvidia & ATI/AMD graphic cards o Input and output methods High performance mouse Sensors (cp. Wiimote) 3D screens, shutter o PC Setup PSUs, cooling, etc.

23. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 23 Computer & Innovation ●Consumer Entertainment Hardware o PS3: 1 (control) +1 (PPC) +7 (SPE) =9 Cores o XBox: 3 Cores w. Hyperthreading ~= 6 Cores o Compare to Wii, DVD recorder, routers, … ●Consumer Software o 3D interfaces Google Earth Brockhaus Multimedial Aero, Beryl, KDE4, etc.

24. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 24 Computer Games & Computer Science ●Computations o Using shaders for parallel processing o High performance clusters, CUDA ●Serious Games o Human Computing (v. Ahn) o Article “Games with a purpose” ●Educational Games o Military training o E-Learning, pedagogical (e.g. common sense)

25. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 25 Example: Hazmat Hotzone ●3D training for fire fighters ●Handling hazardeous materials o E.g. terrorism, … ●Employs Unreal engine ●Developed at CMU Quelle: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20051102/carless_01b.shtml

26. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 26 US Army leadership development (CSU) ●Stories of soldiers are converted to „knowledge“ ●Knowledge is applied in training scenarios for soldiers o Decisions in combat and surveillance scenarios o Interaction with locals (customs, etc.) (cc) by Army.mil, http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/2941583135/

27. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 27 Games as part of our culture … ●Common sense & knowledge o Lara Croft & Pac-man o Mario Bros. & Sonic ●Merchandising o E.g. Game & Film ●Many people have/had contact with games o PC, Nintendo, Playstation, etc.

28. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 28 Games as part of our culture …

29. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 29 Games as part of our culture … ●Human TETRIS Performance o GAME OVER Project o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0LtUX_6IXY ●Real Life Donkey Kong o Bam Margera o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KyIpMtvJvE ●Real Mario o Gordon College o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0fCnf8uWxw

30. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 30 Acceptance and controversial issues “The disturbing material in Grand Theft Auto and other games like it is stealing the innocence of our children and it's making the difficult job of being a parent even harder... I believe that the ability of our children to access pornographic and outrageously violent material on video games rated for adults is spiraling out of control.” - (Hillary Clinton, 2005)

31. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 31 Acceptance(Rock’n’Roll) "The effect of rock and roll on young people, is to turn them into devil worshippers; to stimulate self-expression through sex; to provoke lawlessness; impair nervous stability and destroy the sanctity of marriage. It is an evil influence on the youth of our country." - Minister Albert Carter, 1956

32. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 32 Acceptance Similar statements to ●Comics (1954) ●Phone(1926) ●Film (1909) ●Waltz (1816) ●Novels (1790) Source: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.04/war.html

33. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 33 Agenda ●Why teaching “computer games”? ●What is a “good” game? ●Game projects in teaching ●Game development o XNA o Tutorials

34. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 34 A good game … ●World of Goo

35. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 35 Aspects of a Game Review game in several aspects: ●Challenge ●Choice ●Clear and Compelling Goals ●Representation ●Conflict ●Feedback Source: http://www.cs.wisc.edu/graphics/Courses/679-s2007/Main/GameDesign

36. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 36 Challenging Goals ●Premise of the game o Story o Character o Motivation ●Why do I play the game? ●Why do I build towns, jump & run, …?

37. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 37 Clear Goals ●Different aspects o What is the goal? o When is the goal achieved? ●Strongly connected with feedback o I need to know when I’m making progress ●Short term vs. long term goals o “Get over fire pit” vs. “Rescue princess”

38. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 38 Clear Rules ●Figuring out rules o In play: learning curve? o Common sense (gravity, rebound, etc.) ●Unclear rules are frustrating o I couldn’t.. because I didn’t know … ●Do not allow workarounds o Circumventing != cheating Happens within allowed rule set

39. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 39 Choices ●Player should have meaningful choices ●Consider example choice qualities: o Hollow -> No consequence o Obvious -> Choice without alternative o Informed -> based on provided information cp. guessing o Dramatic -> Connects to emotions o Weighted -> Both neg. and pos. outcomes o Immediate -> Need fast decision o Orthogonal -> Choices are independent

40. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 40 Challenge ●Tuning / Balance o Make things hard, but not too hard ●Dynamic games o Change with game progress & gamers skills ●Challenge from design vs. technical issues o Can’t figure out puzzle vs. can’t find button combo (cc) by law keven, www.flickr.com/photos/66164549@N00/2506022298/

41. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 41 Feedback ●Action & Reaction o Choose a new car and feel the effect … o Buy new clothes & see them on avatar … ●Gamers need rewards o Cp. concept of highscore ●Experience o Buy weapon or skill upgrades o Reach new levels & challenges

42. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 42 Assumed audience ?!? ●Who will play your game? ●Who will pay for your game? ●What are appropriate distribution channels? o App Store, Steam, Download, Boxed, …

43. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 43 Agenda ●Why teaching “computer games”? ●What is a “good” game? ●Game projects in teaching ●Game development o XNA o Tutorials

44. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 44 Possible Topics ●Arcade games o Typically 2D, lots of historical examples ●Puzzle games o Simple graphics, focus on logic ●Mobile games o Realistic scope & deployment scenario ●Educational games for kids o Topic based, more weight on story

45. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 45 Possible Aspects ●Programming skills o Learning by doing ●Hands-on with tools o GFX, SFX ●Soft skills o Teamwork, discussion, coordination ●Specific topics different areas o Physics, geometry, linear algebra, AI, …

46. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 46 Project Milestones 1.Planning & Design 2.Implementation 3.Testing & Evaluation 4.Deployment 5.Post mortem

47. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 47 Design Documents (not technical) ●High Level Document o Abstract of the game in 2-4 pages ●Game Treatment Document o Present game in a broader outline o It’s also more sales than dev document ●Game Bible o Character design o World design o Flowboard: flow of gameplay modes o Story & level progression: storyline o Game script: rules and mechanics of the game (cc) by dunechaser, www.flickr.com/photos/dunechaser/103294050/

48. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 48 Game Script ●Should enable one to play the game ●Create a paper prototype o Use it for testing (cc) by kekremsi, www.flickr.com/photos/emraya/2929959881

49. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 49 Sample Design Document: Abstract Catch the Clown Catch the Clown is a little action game. In this game a clown moves around in a playing field. The goal of the player is to catch the clown by clicking with the mouse on him. If the player progresses through the game the clown starts moving faster and it becomes more difficult to catch him. For each catch the score is raised and the goal is to get the highest possible score. Expected playing time is just a few minutes. source: http://www.yoyogames.com/make/tutorials

50. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 50 Sample Design Document: Game Objects Game objects There will be just two game objects: the clown and the wall. The wall object has a square like image. The wall surrounding the playing area is made out of these objects. The wall object does nothing. It just sits there to stop the clown from moving out of the area. The clown object has the image of a clown face. It moves with a fixed speed. Whenever it hits a wall object it bounces. When the player clicks on the clown with the mouse the score is raised with 10 points. The clown jumps to a random place and the speed is increased with a small amount. source: http://www.yoyogames.com/make/tutorials

51. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 51 Sample Design Document: The Rest Sounds We will use two sounds in this game. A bounce sound that is used when the clown hits a wall, and a click sound that is used when the player manages to click with the mouse on the clown. Controls The only control the player has is the mouse. Clicking with the left mouse button on the clown will catch it. Game flow At the start of the game the score is set to 0. The room with the moving clown is shown. The game immediately begins. When the player presses the key the game ends. Levels There is just one level. The difficulty of the game increases because the speed of the clown increases after each successful catch.

52. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 52 Game Postmortems ●Written after finishing the project o Done by senior developer or manager ●Summarizes dev process to o Avoid pitfalls in later projects o Apply practices that worked well in later projects Check for instance gamasutra.com (cc) by devicer, www.flickr.com/photos/devicer/42503985/

53. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 53 Game postmortems: Structure ●Project Overview o Describe the game (idea, setting, story, features) o Describe team and circumstances ●What went right o Describe „best practices“ o Describe and argue „good“ decisions o Motivation for this part: Think of benefits for future projects

54. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 54 Game postmortems: Structure ●What went wrong o Describe pitfalls and difficulties o Describe mistakes experienced, technical as well as from management perspective ●Conclusion & Closing o Final note from the authors, personal experience o Project brief: Dev tools, resources, …

55. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 55 Agenda ●Why teaching “computer games”? ●What is a “good” game? ●Game projects in teaching ●Implementation

56. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 56 Typical Basic Elements (I) ●Game Loop o Painting current state to screen ●Sprites o Moving objects, animated ●Level o The playground ●Score o The achievement & reward system

57. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 57 Typical Basic Elements (II) ●Collision Detection o Check if objects interfere ●Sound o Background & SFX ●Game AI o Some “intelligence”, dynamics or adaptation

58. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 58 Game Frameworks Framework manages … ●Input & Output o poll & queue input controllers o render game in time (hardware acceleration) o network & storage ●Physics o object-world and object-object interaction ●Resources o loading, animation

59. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 59 Microsoft XNA Game Studio ●Set of game development tools ●Based on.NET Compact Framework ●Available in version 3.0 o Version 3.1 already announced ●Programming in C# o Help in MSDN / Knowledgebase

60. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 60 Out-of-the-Box Game

61. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 61 Basic game structure

62. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 62 Experience with XNA ●Students find their way fast o Workshop (1 day) for first tutorial based game ●Students are occupied for hours o Hours of adaptations Graphics and sounds Gameplay and levels Testing and tuning ●XNA is very powerful o With necessary limitations

63. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 63 Experience with XNA ●Team members have different roles o Sound & 2D Design o Implementation & Testing o Planning & Coordination ●Learning programming along the way o How can we rotate/scale/translate a sprite? o How can we add a loop for …?

64. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 64 Summer Camp 2008-2009 ●Arcade game development in teams of 2 o Students of age 16-18 o Basic knowledge of programming (Java) ●Duration: 5 Days with ~ 3 hours each ●Results o Steep learning curve o 2 (out of 5) very innovative projects Design & Gameplay o Students programmed in their spare time

65. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 65 VK Games @ Uni Klu ●Goal: Arcade (Casual) Game o In 6 weeks of development time o With planning and self reflection o In teams of 3 with max. 40 h of work each ●Results o All but one projects finished o Everyone put a lot more effort in than 40 h

66. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 66 Proposed Format 1.One day workshop as introduction o Basics on games o Basics on game development o Self directed learning through tutorials 2.Multiple units of self directed (but tutored) game development. o Based on the outcome of the tutorial 3.Final presentation of the outcome

67. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 67 Resources ●XNA Creators Club o Lots of tutorials and game samples o http://creators.xna.com/en-US/education/catalog/ ●Visual C# Express Edition o Free 2 use version of visual studio o http://www.microsoft.com/express/vcsharp/ ●Alternative: Gamemaker o Strange tool, but immediate results o http://www.yoyogames.com/make

68. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 68 Final words ●Nearly every single student was very much involved with the gaming projects. o Some even failed other courses ●Typically people spent a lot more time on the project than they should have. o Despite prior warning ●Overall feedback was very encouraging o Although many reconsidered their career plans

69. http:// www.uni-klu.ac.at 69 Questions? Mathias Lux mlux@itec.uni-klu.ac.at http://www.itec.uni-klu.ac.at/~mlux