flast.indd xxii 5/12/2010 5:10:06 PM ffirs01.indd i 5/12/2010 5:09:59 PM Copyright Information Please note that the following characters are copyrighted to the following corporations: Tennis for Two—This work is in the public domain in Ico © 2001 Sony Computer Entertainment the United States because it is a work of the United Doom © 1993 id software States Federal Government under the terms of Title Darksiders © 2010 THQ 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code. Syndicate © 1993 Electronic Arts Space Invaders © 1978 Taito Corporation Supreme Commander © 2007 THQ Galaxian © 1979 Namco Warriors © 1979 Vectorbeam Star Wars Arcade © 1983 Atari Inc. Castle Wolfenstein © 1981 Muse Software PAC-MANTM & © 1980 NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc. GoldenEye 007 © 1997 Nintendo Space Panic © 1980 Universal LittleBigPlanet © 2008 Sony Computer Entertainment Popeye Arcade © 1982 Nintendo Europe Pitfall! and Pitfall Harry © 1982 Activision Playstation Dual Shock controller © 1998 Sony Dark Castle © 1986 Silicon Beach Software Computer Entertainment Donkey Kong and associated characters © 1981 XBOX 360 controller © 2005 Microsoft Nintendo World of Warcraft © 2004 Blizzard Entertainment Mario Bros. © 1983 Nintendo Dragon’s Lair © 1983 Cinematronics Super Mario Bros., Mario, World 1-1, Super Mario Bad Dudes vs Dragon Ninja © 1988 Data East Bros. Theme © 1985 Nintendo Mortal Kombat © 2009 Warner Brothers Interactive Ghost n’ Goblins © 1985 Capcom Entertainment Mega Man © 1987 Capcom Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, Haunted Mansion, Pirates Mario 64 © 1996 Nintendo of the Caribbean, Peter Pan’s Flight and Crash Bandicoot © 1996 Sony Computer associated characters, Pirate’s Lair © 2010 Walt Entertainment Disney Company Wizard of Oz and associated characters © 1939 Prince of Persia © 2010 Ubisoft Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer Kratos © 2010 Sony Computer Entertainment of Monty Python and the Holy Grail and associated America characters © 1975 Solid Snake © 1987 Konami Star Wars and associated characters © 1977 Marcus Fenix © 2006 Epic Games Lucasfi lm Ltd Gauntlet © 1985 Atari Games Robocop © 1987–1998 Orion (MGM) Pictures Spider-Man, Rhino © 2010 Marvel Entertainment/Walt Maximo vs Army of Zin © 2004 Capcom Disney Company Maximo: Ghost to Glory © 2002 Capcom Bioshock and associated characters © 2007 2K Team Fortress 2 and associated characters © 2007 Games 2007 Valve Corporation Demolition Man and associated characters © 1993 Laura Croft © 1996 Eidos Interactive Warner Brothers Batman © 2010 DC comics Earthworm Jim © 1994 Virgin Interactive Resident Evil 2 and associated characters © 1998 Master Chief © 2001 Microsoft Game Studios Capcom Holst, the Planets—Mars Bringer of War, copyright Army of Two © 2008 Electronic Arts unknown All other characters displayed within this book are created by Scott Rogers and cannot be reproduced without his permission. © 2010 Scott Rogers Dude with Sword, Dude with Sword 832, Relic Relic Raider © 2010 Scott Rogers Raider, Farm Wars © 2010 Scott Rogers Die Zombie Die © 2010 Scott Rogers The Mighty Bedbug, Grave Robber © 2005 Scott Farm Wars © 2010 Scott Rogers Rogers The Mighty Bedbug © 2005 Scott Rogers Dude with Sword © 2010 Scott Rogers Grave Robber © 2005 Scott Rogers Dude with Sword 2 © 2010 Scott Rogers ffirs01.indd ii 5/12/2010 5:10:02 PM LeveTI Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design Scott Rogers A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication ffirs01.indd iii 5/12/2010 5:10:02 PM This edition first published 2010 © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd Registered office John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com. The right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Refer to page ii for further copyright information pertaining to the content of this book. ISBN 978-0-470-68867-0 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Set in 10 on 12pt Swiss721BT-Light by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited Printed in the US by RR Donnelley ffirs01.indd iv 5/12/2010 5:10:02 PM To Brenda Lee who always thought this would make a great book. I love you. ffirs02.indd v 5/12/2010 5:10:04 PM Publisher’s Acknowledgments Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Editorial and Production VP Consumer and Technology Publishing Director: Michelle Leete Associate Director—Book Content Management: Martin Tribe Associate Publisher: Chris Webb Assistant Editor: Colleen Goldring Publishing Assistant: Ellie Scott Project Editor: Juliet Booker Content Editor: Céline Durand-Watts Development/Copy Editor: Gareth Haman Technical Editor: Noah Stein Marketing Senior Marketing Manager: Louise Breinholt Marketing Executive: Kate Batchelor Composition Services Compositor: Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited (HK) Proof Readers: Sarah Lewis and Gill Whitley Indexer: Robert Swanson ffirs02.indd vi 5/12/2010 5:10:04 PM Contents Foreword by Danny Bilson xiii About the Author xiv Press Start! xv Acknowledgments: Everything I Learned about Writing a Book xxi Level 1 Welcome, N00bs! 1 A Brief History of Video Games 4 Game Genres 9 Who Makes this Stuff? 12 Programmer 12 Artist 13 Designer 14 Producer 15 Tester 16 Composer 17 Sound Designer 18 Writer 19 Have You Thought about Publishing? 19 Product Manager 20 Creative Manager 20 Art Director 21 Technical Director 21 And the Rest . 21 Level 1’s Universal Truths and Clever Ideas 22 ftoc.indd vii 5/12/2010 5:10:16 PM viii Contents Level 2 Ideas 23 Ideas: Where to Get Them and Where to Stick Them 24 What do Gamers Want? 28 Why I Hate “Fun” 30 Brainstorming 31 Breaking Writer’s Block 34 Level 2’s Universal Truths and Clever Ideas 36 Level 3 Writing the Story 37 The Triangle of Weirdness 44 Time to Wrap It Up 48 Creating Characters 50 A Few Pointers on Writing for Kids of All Ages 54 Writing for Licenses 54 Level 3’s Universal Truths and Clever Ideas 56 Level 4 You Can Design a Game, But Can You Do the Paperwork? 57 Writing the GDD, Step 1: The One-Sheet 60 ESRB Ratings 60 Writing the GDD, Step 2: The Ten-Pager 62 The Rule of Threes 63 Ten-Pager Outline 64 The Game Design Document (and the Awful Truth about Writing Them) 72 Gameplay Progression 76 The Beat Chart 77 Above All, Don’t Be a Schmuck 79 Level 4’s Universal Truths and Clever Ideas 81 Level 5 The Three Cs, Part 1—Character 83 Personality: Do We Really Need Another Badass? 85 Let’s Get Personal 88 Finally, We Talk about Gameplay 92 Why Walk When You Can Run? 95 The Art of Doing Nothing 99 Might as Well Jump 100 Hoists and Teeters 104 What Goes Up, Must Fall Down 105 Me and My Shadow 106 ftoc.indd viii 5/12/2010 5:10:16 PM Contents ix The Water’s Fine… or Is It? 108 Be Kind to Our Four-Legged Friends 109 Using All of the Parts 110 We Are Not Alone 111 Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood? 116 Level 5’s Universal Truths and Clever Ideas 118 Level 6 The Three Cs, Part 2—Camera 121 Get It Right: Camera Views 121 First Person Camera 127 Third Person Camera 130 Giving Up Control 133 So You’ve Decided to Let the Player Control the Camera 133 So You’ve Decided to Not Let the Player Have Control Over the Camera 135 So You’ve Decided to Let the Player Sometimes Have Control Over the Camera 137 Two and a Half D 137 Isometric Camera 138 Top-Down Camera 139 Special Case Cameras 140 Tunnel Vision 141 Camera Shot Guide 141 Camera Angle Guide 145 Camera Movement Guide 146 Other Camera Notes 148 Always Point the Camera to the Objective 149 Never Let the Character Get Out of the Camera’s Sight 150 Multiple Player Cameras 151 Level 6’s Universal Truths and Clever Ideas 153 Level 7 The Three Cs, Part 3—Controls 155 Dance, Monkey, Dance 159 Character or Camera Relative? 164 Shake, Rattle and Roll 166 Level 7’s Universal Truths and Clever Ideas 168 ftoc.indd ix 5/12/2010 5:10:16 PM x Contents Level 8 Sign Language—HUD and Icon Design 171 Health Bar 172 Targeting 173 Ammo Gauge 174 Inventory 174 Score 175 Radar/Map 176 Context-Sensitive Prompt 177 The Clean Screen 178 Icon Has Cheezburger? 179 Don’t Get QTE 183 HUDs, and Where to Stick ‘Em 185 There Are Other Screens Than the HUD 187 The Pause that Refreshes 189 A Final Word on Fonts 195 Level 8’s Universal Truths and Clever Ideas 196 Level 9