Game Design Foundations Roger E. Pedersen Wordware Publishing, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pedersen, Roger E. Game design foundations / by Roger E. Pedersen. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 1-55622-973-9 (paperback; CD-ROM) 1. Computer games--Programming. I. Title. QA76.76.C672P43 2002 794.8'151--dc21 2002154127 CIP © 2003, Wordware Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved 2320 Los Rios Boulevard Plano, Texas 75074 No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from Wordware Publishing, Inc. Printed in the United States of America ISBN 1-55622-973-9 10987654321 0301 All brand names and product names mentioned in this book are trademarks or service marks of their respective companies. Any omission or misuse (of any kind) of service marks or trademarks should not be regarded as intent to infringe on the property of others. The publisher recognizes and respects all marks used by companies, manufacturers, and developers as a means to distinguish their products. All inquiries for volume purchases of this book should be addressed to Wordware Publishing, Inc., at the above address. Telephone inquiries may be made by calling: (972) 423-0090 I dedicate this book to my four beautiful daughters, Michele Leslie, Brooke Laurel, Megan Leigh, and Meredith Marlowe Pedersen. This page inten tion ally left blank Contents Chapter 1 The Game Designer ....................1 Game Designers Are NOT Programmers ...............1 Game Designers Are NOT Artists ...................2 Game Designers Are NOT Audio Engineers or Musicians ......2 Game Designers Are Visionaries ....................2 Chapter 2 Pedersen’s Principles on Game Design .........3 Principle 1: Understand the Role of the Designer and Producer . 3 Principle 2: No Designer or Producer Is an Island...........5 Principle 3: Let Professionals Do Their Jobs..............6 Principle 4: KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) ...............7 Principle 5: Schedules Are Like Laws .................7 Principle 6: The Yardstick: One Day’s Pay for a Week’s WorthofFun...............................8 Principle 7: I Never Met a Genre I Didn’t Like ............8 Principle 8: Be True to Your License ..................8 Principle 9: Share Your Toys! ......................9 Principle 10: There’s No Magic Formula for Success ........10 Chapter 3 War Stories ........................11 Lesson One ...............................11 Lesson Two ...............................12 Lesson Three ..............................12 Lesson Four ...............................13 Lesson Five ...............................13 Lesson Six................................14 Chapter 4 Game Concepts ......................15 Games Are NOT Linear ........................15 Games Have a Goal ...........................15 Games Must Be Winnable .......................15 Start of the Game ............................16 Middle/Ending of the Game ......................16 Chapter 5 Game Genres.......................19 Action Games ..............................19 Top-Selling Action Games: .....................20 Adventure Games............................20 Top-Selling Adventure Games: ...................21 v Contents Casual Games ..............................21 Top-Selling Casual Games: .....................23 Educational Games ...........................23 Educational Game as an Adventure Game.............23 Educational Game as a Sports Game................24 Top-Selling Educational Games: ..................24 Role-Playing Games (RPGs) ......................25 Top-Selling Role-Playing Games: .................25 Simulation Games............................26 Top-Selling Simulation Games:...................27 Sports (Including Fighting Games) ..................28 Top-Selling Sports Games: .....................29 Strategy Games .............................29 Top-Selling Strategy Games: ....................29 Other Games (Puzzles and Toys) ...................30 Top-Selling Puzzle Games: .....................30 Chapter 6 Game Ideas .......................31 Sports ..................................31 Board Games ..............................33 Card and Gambling Games .......................33 Simulations ...............................34 Science .................................34 History .................................34 Literature ................................35 Authors .................................35 Art....................................35 A Pulitzer Prize-Winning Play Based on a Painting ........35 Music ..................................36 Dance and Instruments.........................36 Movies and Film ............................37 Chapter 7 Research .........................51 Simulation Game: The Survival of the Fittest ............57 Homo Erectus ............................57 Neanderthals ............................58 Cro-Magnon Man ..........................58 Final Thoughts ...........................59 Classic Game: Poker ..........................60 The Shuffle .............................60 Hand Rankings ...........................60 Poker Variations ...........................61 Special Considerations .......................63 Strategy Game: The Navy SEALs ...................64 History and Facts ..........................64 SEAL Platoon ............................64 Platoon Loadout (Uniforms) ....................65 SEAL Weapons ...........................65 SEAL Vehicles............................66 vi Contents SEAL Training ............................66 BreakTime.............................68 Navy SEAL Games .........................68 Electronic Arts’ SEAL Team, 1993 IBM PC-DOS .......68 Zombie Interactive’s SPEC OPS, 1998 IBM PC ........69 Yosemite Entertainment’s Navy SEALs, PS2, and IBM PC . 70 Novalogic’s Delta Force .....................71 Novalogic’s Delta Force 2 ....................72 Novalogic’s Delta Force Land Warrior .............73 Novalogic’s Delta Force: Task Force Dagger ..........75 Novalogic’s Delta Force Urban Warfare.............76 Novalogic’s Delta Force: Black Hawk Down ..........77 Red Storm’s Rainbow Six ....................77 Red Storm’s Rogue Spear ....................78 Rogue Spear: Black Thorn ...................79 Rogue Spear: Urban Operations.................80 Red Storm’s Ghost Recon ....................80 Ghost Recon: Desert Siege ...................80 Rainbow Six: Eagle Watch ....................81 Rainbow Six: Covert Operations Essentials (aka Covert Ops) ........................82 Red Storm’s Rainbow Six: Raven Shield ............82 Sports Game: Baseball .........................83 Baseball Basics ...........................83 Baseball Data ............................84 Baseball Games ...........................86 Interplay Sports Baseball 2000 .................87 Microsoft’s Baseball 2001 ....................89 Electronic Arts Triple Play Baseball ..............90 Electronic Arts/3DO High Heat Baseball............91 Electronic Arts Triple Play 2002 ................93 3DO High Heat Baseball 2003 .................93 Acclaim All-Star Baseball ....................94 Acclaim All-Star Baseball 2003 .................95 Chapter 8 The “One Pager” Concept Document ..........97 Example 1 ................................98 (Megan Pedersen)’s International Wakeboarding Open ....98 Example 2 ...............................100 Medical Kombat.........................100 Chapter 9 Game Art and Animation ................103 Adobe Photoshop (www.adobe.com) .................103 Jasc Paint Shop Pro (www.JASC.com) ................104 CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 (www3.corel.com) .........104 Equilibrium DeBabelizer (www.Equilibrium.com) .........105 Alias|Wavefront Maya (www.AliasWavefront.com) .........106 What’s the Catch? .........................106 Maya Complete and Maya Unlimited ...............107 vii Contents Softimage|XSI (www.Softimage.com) ................107 Softimage|XSI 3.0...........................109 NewTek LightWave 7.5 (www.Newtek.com).............110 Discreet 3D Studio Max 5.0 (www.Discreet.com/ products/3dsmax5/) ..........................113 Poser 4 by Curious Labs (www.CuriousLabs.com) .........114 LIPSinc Mimic ...........................116 NXN Software’s alienbrain (www.Alienbrain.com) .........116 PVCS Merant (www.Merant.com/pvcs) ...............118 Rational Software ClearCase (www.Rational.com/ products/clearcase/) ..........................118 Starbase StarTeam (www.Starbase.com/) ..............119 Telelogic CM Synergy (www.Telelogic.com).............119 Chapter 10 The User Interface ...................121 War Between the States User Interface (UI) ............122 Last UI Thoughts ...........................125 Chapter 11 The Basics of Programming...............127 A Look at Programming........................128 Operating Systems ..........................129 Programming Commands .......................130 Conditional Statements (Also Called “if” Statements or Decision Blocks) ..........................130 Compound “if” Statements (Multiple Conditions) .........130 Mathematical Statements .......................131 Computer Concepts ..........................132 Min-Max Gaming Theory (with Alpha-Beta Pruning) .......133 Tic-Tac-Toe...............................134 Forced Move ............................136 Forced Move Revised .......................140 Visual Basic Tic-Tac-Toe .......................142 Visual C++ Language: Code for the AI Logic of Tic-Tac-Toe . 154 Chapter 12 3D Game Engines ....................165 New Definitions ............................165 Economy 3D Engines .........................166