Programming Final Review

Video Game

Programming Final Review Name ______

Chapter 1:

1. List at least two of the passions and skills that we learned are good to have as a game designer:

______

Possible Answers: Communication Teamwork Process Inspiration Becoming a Better Player Creativity

2. Which of the following are steps of the Iteration Process?

1. Production

2. Physical Prototype

3. Software Prototypes

4. Design Documentation 2 5. Presentation

6. Brainstorming

7. Quality Assurance

8. All of the Above

Answer: All of the Above

3. Name some of Peter Molyneux’s Influential Titles: Any of these:

1. Populous 2. Powermonger 3. Syndicate 4. Theme Park 5. Dungeon Keeper 6. Black and White 7. Fable 8. The Movies 9. Fable 2

4. The role of the game designer is: First and foremost to be an advocate for the player

5. By watching other people play the game, you can learn a great deal

6. Write the Main Ideas of each of the steps of the Iteration process (can be any of the answers below or a summary of them)

a. Step 1: Brainstorming

 Set Player Experience Goals

 Come up with game concepts or mechanics that you think might achieve your player experience

 Narrow Down the list to the top 3

 Write up a short, one page description of each of these ideas

 Test your written concepts with potential with potential player

b. Step 2: Physical Prototype

 Create a playable prototype using pen and paper or other craft materials.

 Playtest the physical prototype using the process described in Chapters 7 & 9

 When the physical prototype demonstrates working gameplay that achieves your player experience goals, write a three to six page gameplay treatment describing how the game functions. 3 c. Step 3: Presentation (Optional)

 A presentation is often made to secure funds to hire the prototyping team.

 Your presentation should include demo artwork and a solid gameplay treatment.

 If you do not secure funding, you can either return to Step 1 and start over again on a new concept

d. Step 4: Software Prototypes

 Create a rough computer models of the core gameplay

 Playtest the software prototype

 Move on to the documentation step if the software prototype is complete

e. Step 5: Design Documentation

 Write the first draft of a document that outlines every aspect of the game.

 Form a design wiki.

f. Step 6: Production

 Make sure the game is achievable and correctly described in the document.

 Start production of the game.

g. Step 7: Quality Assurance

 Debug the game and get it ready for the market.

Chapter 2

True/False: 7. All games share the same exact structure. False

8. Name three things that all games need/have in common:

Players Rules Objectives Procedures Resources

9. Salen and Zimmerman define “____Play______” as “free movement within a more rigid structure.”

10. The Random House Dictionary defines a “____Puzzle______” as “a toy or other contrivance designed to amuse by presenting difficulties to be solved by ingenuity or patient effort.”

11. A game is a closed, formal system that engages players in structured conflict and resolves its uncertainty in an unequal outcome. 4 12. Whether in single player or multiplayer, you will always have a role in a game, no matter what.

13. Fill in the interaction based on each type of play:

Game- winning

Puzzle – Goal

Toy has no Goal

Story has no interaction

14. Procedures are detailed instructions that you can do to achieve the objectives; they are methods or actions that are allowed by the rules

15. Rules define what you can or cannot do in a game

16. Resources are items in the game that are made scarce by the designer which help the player reach the objective

Chapter 3

17. Name at least two interaction patterns:

______

Possible Answers:

Single player vs. Game

Multiple individual players vs. game

Player vs. player

Unilateral competition

Multilateral competition

Cooperative play

Team competition

18. Name at least two Video Game Resources given in the book:

______

Possible Answers:

Units 5 Health

Currency

Actions

Power-ups

Inventory

Special Terrain

19. Procedures are the ______of play and the actions that players can take to achieve the game objectives.

a) Methods b) Styles c) Techniques d) Texture packs A

20. While thinking about procedures, you should….

a) Who does what, where, when, and how? b) Who can use the procedures? One player? Some players? All the players? c) What does the player do? d) Where does the procedure occur? e) All the above E

21. Like procedures, rules are generally _____ out in the rules document of board games.

a) Sketched b) Laid c) Planned B

22. The classic resource in action games are_____. a) Lives b) Units c) Health d) Currency A

23. ______are also generally temporary, limited in number, available for only a short time, or useful only in certain games states. a) Lives b) Health c) Power-ups d) Units C

24. Some game systems allow players to collect and manage game objects that are not power-ups or units, which is called… 6 a) Special Terrain b) Inventory c) Time d) Actions B

25. Name 5 different types of objectives

Capture Chase Race Alignment Rescue or escape Forbidden Act Construction Exploration Solution Outwit

26. Name any two games that were designed for a specific amount of players Single player – PacMan, the 7th Guest & Tomb Raider Multiple Player – bingo, roulette & Slingo Player vs Player – Checkers, chess, tennis, Boxing (Atari) Soul Calibur II (Xbox) Unilateral competition – tag, dodge ball, Scotland Yard board game Multilateral Competition – poker, Monopoly, WarCraft III, age of Mythology, Super Bomberman, Mario party Cooperative play – Harvest time, Lord of th eRigns Team Competition – soccer, basketball, charades, Halo 3

27. What is an example of conflict? Pinball: Keep the ball from escaping the field of play using only the flippers or other devices provided. Golf: Get the ball from the tee to the hole, past any obstacles on the course, in as few strokes as possible. Monopoly: Manage your money and your properties to become the richest player in the game. Quake: Stay alive while player or non player opponents try to kill you. WarCraft III: Maintain your forces and resources while using them to command and control the map objectives. Poker: Outbid opponents based on your hand or your ability to bluff

28. What is a boundary? Boundaries - Help set the rules for the game, and rule off where or when the player can go somewhere in then game

30. Name one of the types of conflict Obstacles Opponents Dilemmas

31. Name one of the types of Boundaries Physical or conceptual

32. What is a dilemma? When your choice influences the game outcome 7 Chapter 4

33. What is challenge?

Tasks that are satisfying to complete, that require just the right amount of work to create a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment.

34. What is the 'Paradox of Control?

This “paradox of control” is a key element of the enjoyment of game systems. How to offer meaningful choices to players, without offering complete control or an assured outcome

35. What are the two effects of a game challenge?

Accomplishment & Enjoyment/Achievement & Happiness

36. Remake the 'Theory of Flow' chart? What does it mean?

[Extra Credit: Who made the 'Theory of Flow'? (1pt)]

37. What is play?

 Play-the freedom of movement within the rigid structure.

 Nature of play is: boisterous, non directed, spontaneous, non scripted, fun, competitive, chance, make- believe/fantasy.

 Playing is not always serious 8 38. What is premise?

• Engages the players in the game

• Established in the exposition of a story

• 1st Task is making a games formal system playable for the user.

• Opportunity to heighten the experience of players

39. What is the difference between a protagonist and an antagonist?

Main character is the protagonist; the character working against the protagonist is called the antagonist.

40. What is world building?

 World build is a deep and intricate design of a fiction world.

 Most famous is Middle Earth (LOTR), Star Wars and WoW.

41. Make a diagram of the Dramatic Arc of a game, explain each part. (12pts) 9

 Most important element of a game

 The heart of good drama

 Gives you a goal to accomplish

 Exposition/Plot –introduces the conflict

 Rising Action – the dramatic arc becomes steeper

 Climax - highest point of tension

 Falling Action – tensions starts to drop

 Resolution – the end

42. What are two things a character would think? Why would they think that? (6pt)

• Character goes through questions

– What does the character need?

– What does the character want?

– What does the player hope?

– What does the player fear?

Some FACTS:

 Characters are predesigned with back stories and motivations while avatars are player created with role play, growth and customization.

 Free Will: having any kind of control with the character, choosing which path you go down with your character

 Player Control: You have to abide by the story of the character

43. Name all 10 types of players and explain each type. 10 Competitor

Explorer

Collector

Achiever

Artist

Director

Storyteller

Performer

Craftsman

Chapter 5:

44. Systems exist throughout the ______and ______world

Natural & human made

45. Systems can produce precise ______or they can produce widely varied unpredictable effects. Predictable results

46. ______are the basic building blocks of a system Objects

47. Provide a definition for each word shown below

Properties:

 Properties are qualities or attributes that define physical or conceptual aspects of object

 Properties also involve things such as color or location just like the pieces in chess 11 Behaviors:

 Behaviors are the potential actions that an object might perform in a given state.

 For example, the behaviors of the bishop in chess include moving along any of the diagonals radiating from its current position until it is blocked by or captures another piece

 As with the sheer number of properties, the more potential behaviors an object has, the less predictable its actions within the system.

48. Games are designed for ______, and the systems in the game are based on the nature of that interaction.

a. Hardcore pros

b. Player Interaction

c. Nature

d. Game Designers

49. The system is considered internally complete if the system is fair and ______.

a. Balanced

b. Unfair

c. Programmed

d. Cool

T or F

51. ____ Information structured in a game has a large influence on player decisions? T

52. ____ Behaviors are the potential actions that an object might perform in a given state? T

53. ____ Alan R. Moon hated designing games but liked editing F – he hated editing Chapter 6

54. Which of the following methods would be most effective for a TEAM to develop a game? Consider ease of sharing ideas.

a. Verbally recording one’s ideas

b. Creating a visual mind map

c. Writing a stream of consciousness list

d. Hiring Morgan Freeman to vocalize the ideas of one guy who you like more than everyone else 12 B

55. What is the main idea of a storyboard?

a. To make the game you are making as good looking and as flashy as possible. A fancy storyboard will really win someone over

b. To show off your artistic talent, after all, artists are very important in the video game designing process.

c. To communicate the ideas you have through simple imagery, and step by step process of when something is done/activated.

56. The key to productive brainstorming is finding the right balance of stimulation and structure

57. List the best practices for brainstorming: State a challenge No criticism Vary the method Playful environment Put in on the wall Go for lots of ideas Don’t go too long

58. List the 5 classic stages of creativity according to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Preparation: Preparation is becoming immersed in a topic or domain of interest, a set of problematic issues.

Incubation: Incubation is a period of time in which ideas “churn around” below the threshold of consciousness

Insight: Insight is sometimes called the “aha!” moment, when the pieces of puzzle, or an idea, fall together.

Evaluation: Evaluation is when the person decides whether the insight is valuable and worth pursuing.Is the idea really original?

Elaboration: Elaboration is the longest part of the creative process; it takes the most time and is the hardest. This is what Edison meant when he said invention is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration.

Chapter 7

59. Prototyping is ______

a. The creation of a working model of your game

b. Testing a finished game

c. Showing your game to your team 13 d. Coding your game

60. While prototyping you are looking for ______

a. Whether the technology is optimized

b. Perfecting how it looks

c. The fundamental mechanics

d. All of the above

61. Which type of prototyping is considered the easiest for most game designers?

a. Visual

b. Physical

c. Video

d. Software

T or F

62. ____ Prototyping is always on the computer (False – only sometimes)

63. ____ An octagonal grid is used for physical prototyping for first person shooters (F Hexagonal)

64. ____ Physical prototyping is the easiest type of prototyping (True)

65. What are some things that you could use for physical prototyping – Household items or materials

66. What are the four types of prototyping – physical, visual, video, software

67. What are some of the games that can be tested using physical prototype? – a map such as First Person Shooter

Unity Questions: 14 68. Multiple choice: below are the 5 interface panels in Unity; match each panels with their function:

A. Scene view ___lists of all objects in alphabetical order B. Game view ___where properties of assets, objects and settings you will use C. Hierarchy ___where you preview your game D. Project ___where you construct your game E. Inspector ___lists all assets you are using C E B A D

69. How do you save a project in Unity? ______&______(save scene, save project)

70. Describe 5 skills you learned using Unity (5 points)Essay for final