Game Engines Education Module Game Engines 09 from a to Z
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software Problem-Solving Activities for Computational Thinkers ➒ Game Engines education module Game Engines 09 from A to Z software education module Traditional Games Revisited How Game Characters Move Becoming a Game Developer Computational Thinking Map How to Use 1. Traditional Games 3. Becoming a Game This Program Revisited Developer Activity 1 Activity 4 Software is changing the world. The programs installed in computers and apps Problem Decomposition Problem Decomposition that make it more convenient to use smartphones are all software. Software is in Collect information about Look into the games built every part of our lives, so it is difficult to find areas where we are not affected by games similar to Yut Nori by using a game engine software. The state-of-the-art science and technology that we see in the news is also Recognizing Patterns Automation Automation Recognizing Patterns helped by software. In turn, progress in math, science and technology advances Assign symbolic meanings Program a game that uses Come up with a game idea Compare the games similar to game pieces and express a game engine, by combin- and compare it with similar software further. As such, math, science and technology are closely related with to Yut Nori them as a drawing ing images and game logic games and cannot be separated from software. These module series were created through collaboration between experts in Abstraction Making an Algorithm Making an Algorithm Abstraction related fields and software education, and its suitability for classrooms has been Check whether the game Make a game board and Define stations to be includ - elements were designed Draw game characters, verified. As students follow teachers' direction through each module, they will be define the composition of ed in the game board and according to the back- backgrounds, and obstacles the board characterize each station able to better understand the world that has been changed by software. ground story of the game 2. How Game Activity 2 Characters Move Activity 3 Problem Decomposition Recognizing Patterns Recognizing Patterns Problem Decomposition Find out how to mathemat - Find an ordinary object Look into the types of ically calculate the collision Choose an ordinary object (such as a vending machine) geometric shapes between two dots and and draw its state diagram that can be expressed as a between two lines state diagram Making an Algorithm Abstraction Abstraction Making an Algorithm Understand the 2D coor- Make state diagrams for Define collision conditions dinate system and mark Learn how to express the a game character, a game in each of the situations relative positions by using transition of states the variables x and y screen, and a game play Automation Conceptually explain whether or not an object’s characteristics are easily expressed as a state dia- gram software education module CONTENTS Intro Game Engines from A to Z 02 PART1 Traditional Games Revisited 08 Building a Board Game Based on Activity1 Yut Nori 12 PART2 How Game Characters Move 16 Activity2 Aircraft Collision Detection 24 Activity3 Making a State Diagram 26 PART3 Becoming a Game Developer 28 Building a Game by Using Activity4 a Game Engine 30 Making Flappy Bird by Activity5 Using GameSalad 36 Career Exploration Game Developer 40 Maker A Robot Catapult and Activity a Catapult Game Engine 42 Game Engines from A to Z Whether with a computer or a smartphone, many of us are enjoying games almost everyday. There are various kinds of games, from simple puzzle games to complex strategy games with rich visual elements. How are these games made? The answer is by using “game engines.” Then, what is a game engine? Is it similar to an automobile engine? From here on out, we will look further into game engines. 2 3 What Is a Game Engine? such as how two objects move when they and a bathroom. You simply have to assemble the units widely. Thus, they have a higher chance of producing collide with each other and what kind of as desired. A game engine is just like a living room or successful games. changes happen when an object drops from bathroom module. A slight modification to a game high above. You also need to know how to engine can result in a new game. No programming is Choosing a game engine depict such scenes realistically, as well as how needed regarding the motions/sounds or graphic de- Game companies are not the only ones that can make gunshots, bomb explosion, wind, etc. sound. tails of objects. games. If you have brilliant game ideas and are able to Based on such various forms of knowl- Some game companies develop unique game en- use a game engine to some degree, you can also make a edge and many possible situations, you gines and sell them or sometimes provide them for game by using a commercial engine and you can even make a game (program) that controls your free. These are called “commercial engines.” Used sell that game. computer’s sound card, graphic card, and by many game developers, commercial engines are There are a lot of game engines, but the most repre- display devices. This is far from easy. known to have relatively few errors. Companies can sentative ones are: Unreal Engine, Unity, CryEngine, When you play games, you see a variety of scenes on a Thus, as a result of efforts to build games more easily, make games more quickly by using commercial game and Cocos2d. Those four engines are all commercial screen: characters collide with each other; bombs are a number of “game engines” have been created. engines than by developing their own ones. engines. dropped and explode in your enemy’s camp, and so Let’s assume you build a large and complex house forth. Some games are composed of only quadrangular by using Lego blocks. Instead of placing the blocks one The use of game engines Unreal Engine backgrounds and characters. A game is a sophisticated by one, it would be easier to build a house if someone Large game companies with sufficient financial re- The Unreal Engine (UE) is a game engine developed “computer program” that determines what happens has already made bigger units such as a living room sources develop and use their own engines that can by Epic Games in 1994, first showcased in the 1998 within a variety of possibilities. provide the best output for their planned games. How- game Unreal. One of Korea’s Making a program is called “program- ever, smaller companies with less money tend to pur- representative games Lineage II Combines ming” or “coding,” and the content of a pro- the three game engine chase commercial engines. uses UE2 released in 2001. This graphics gram which consists of various conditions engines. engine Lineage II, one of Korea’s representative games, was second version was also used and commands is called a “source code.” physics built using the Unreal Engine 2. (Source: NCSOFT) in games such as Ragnarok 2, engine sound Programming requires knowledge of pro- engine Then, is a game more likely to fail if a commercial Priston Tale 2, and Blade & Soul. Released in 2004, gramming languages. engine has been used rather than its company’s own UE3 is an extended version made to adapt to various one? Not necessarily. Although a game engine is es- game genres. In March 2015, a free version of UE3 Game engines: a quick and easy sential in making a game, the success of a game often was released, following a free version of UE4 in 2014. tool for making a game depends on a creative scenario and/or game rules. Although these versions are basically free to use, you Just knowing a programming language Admittedly, companies with their own engines could are required to pay Epic Games 5% of possible gross is not enough. In order to create various also afford to have their games developed by uniquely revenue resulting from the use of one of them if the game scenes, you need scientific knowledge talented game developers and promoted or advertised revenue exceeds a certain limit. 4 5 The 4 Best Game Engines Unity dollars, Unity only cost about 1,000-2,000 dollars, Cocos2d-x is loved by indi- Making a game is getting easier Released in 2005 by Unity Technologies, Unity was making it an ideal engine for small to mid-sized vidual game developers. So far, we have taken a brief tour of the four most initially a dedicated game engine for Apple’s Mac video game companies and individual developers. Popular games that use popular game engines. computers. Since 2010, however, Unity has gained Moreover, Unity comes loaded with various game Cocos2d-x include Cookie Run When game engines were first introduced, de- popularity as it came to be used characters and backgrounds that are availiable for and Everybody’s Marble. The velopers had to write program codes one by one for smartphones as well as video free or at a price so that developers with fewer skills game engine is provided free of for configuration settings. They also had to type in game consoles such as Xbox 360 in the area of creating characters/backgrounds or charge. commands in order to check the results of game and Wii. programming can easily make a game. Since the re- execution. One of the greatest advantages lease of Unity 4 in 2012, the number of Unity game Today’s game engines, however, are very easy to of Unity is that you can easily ap- developers around the world has reached about use. A developer can move a game character by ply games to multiple platforms such as Windows, two million and games that use the Unity engine simply dragging the character with a mouse and macOS, Android, and iOS.