5 Game Development Slides

: requirements elicitation

Video Game Development by ian kabeary, franky cheung, stephen dixon, jamie bertram, marco farrier 1 2

the process of requirements elicitation for game development is unlike that of any other type of software.

topics (some) requirements developers have to deal with how they deal with them must be fun have surround how requirements have changed over the years sound can’t be boring have good graphics be fun 4 years from now have plot twists add character development have long, detailed levels

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must be fun have surroun d soun d these are vague, yet very important to the end users of can’t be the system, and cannot be discarded by developers. [1] boring have good

so what can be done? graphics be fun 4 years from now have plot twists add character development developers can attempt to create new gameplay experiences http://cdn.digitaltrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/portal_mirror-2.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SzkHfVP1Lig/TyMgyWmbBHI/AAAAAAAAD3M/ItQVnEJjw_E/s1600/PokemonRed_Nintendo_GameBoy_005a.jpg 5 have long, detailed levels 6 some statistics

• Pokémon Red, Blue, Green sold 20.08 million, worldwide

• Pokémon FireRed, LeafGreen sold 11.18 million, worldwide

• Other derivatives, (like Gold, Silver, Ruby, Sapphire, Crystal, Emerald, Diamond, Pearl) sold a total of approximately 48.6 million, worldwide.

or, refine existing (successful) concepts into a new game.

http://cdn3.digitaltrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/portal-2-review.jpg http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Pokemon http://www.easybizchina.com/picture/product/200911/04-54a30540-67b0-49f3-8af3-38f0f95b2e78.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VrKGuN_pMOY/TjPql78UI9I/AAAAAAAAATg/rcI3edZvYr8/s1600/iStock_money+tree.jpg 7 8

over the years, consumer expectations have what made mario popular? changed. http://gamesdbase.com/Media/SYSTEM/Nintendo_NES/Snap/big/Super_Mario_Bros._-_1985_-_Nintendo.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QXybMfeXlHw/TRyEWQdkW2I/AAAAAAAABNk/W5w6LQNmSpY/s1600/New%2BSuper%2BMario%2BBros.%2B2.png 9 10

classic games seemed to be difficult to master

http://www.gamesdbase.com/game/nintendo-nes/donkey-kong.aspx while newer games focus more on realism. http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Features/2010/10/Top%207%20secret%20rooms/MarioBros--article_image.jpg 11 12 http://cdn2.gamefront.com/wp-content/uploads/gallery/crysis/931665_20070706_screen001.jpg similarities to software design : game design • requirements analysis • documents/planning risk analysis referenced in this section • Ernest Adams, Fundamentals of Game Design, 2nd ed., Karyn Johnson et al., Eds. Berkeley, CA, United States of America: New Riders, 2009. [Online]. http://proquest.safaribooksonline.com/book/ programming/game-programming/9780321685377/copyright/copyrightp1g

Bob Bates, Game Design, 2nd ed., Mark Garvey, Mitzi Koontz, and Sean Medlock, Eds. Boston, MA, United States of America: Thomson Course Technology PTR, 2004. [Online]. http://www.scribd.com/ doc/53700545/Game-Design-Second-Edition

Francois Dominic Laramee. (1999, Nov) gamedev.net. [Online]. http://www.gamedev.net/page/ resources/_/creative/game-design/the-game-design-process-r273 http://www.usmansheikh.com/Images/canvas.jpg

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stages of design pitch doc(ument)

• proposal • document

• pitch document • short, (1-5 pages) • concept stage

• concept doc • high level of game design • preproduction • acceptance needed to start project • game document

• prototype

• elaboration stage / development • alpha

• beta

• tuning stage / maintenance http://www.marketinghomeproducts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/elevator-pitch2.jpg

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concept stage pre-production

• concept document • acts as a proof of concept

• detailed pitch document • contains: • contains: • similar to requirements document • genre

• gameplay • game document • features • art / graphics bible • setting

• story • game prototype • etc. • etc..

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17 18 development / elaboration tuning stage

• development • upgrades • testing • patches • bug ﬁxes • new features

http://www.competence.co.in/images/software-testing.jpg http://patyrykin.ru/wp-uploads/2011/08/update.png

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is this a good bug report?

: testing

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testing phases

• pre-production

• alpha pre-production • beta

• might not be called “testers” • gold • what happens here, sets the tone for the rest of the project

• post-release • what if I don’t do this?

23 24 planning tasks test kickoff

• scope • why?

• GDD (game design document) • better process deﬁnition • TDD (technical design document) • better problem solving • lead tester • schedule reduction • appoints vice

• phase acceptance • two phases

• game design reviews • tester prep

• bug database • kickoff meeting

http://pmtips.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/kickoff.jpg

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beneﬁts of kickoff

• prepares the tester

• familiarizes the tester

• resolves conﬂicts in test instructions alpha testing

• provides a forum for test improvement • design is ﬁne tuned • you get more assets • it’s exciting • lots of bugs • establish base lines

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6oApBCwNjcU/TyACwKYIZWI/AAAAAAAAEZo/z6BMpSDiIuo/ s1600/happy+computer.jpg

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alpha phase entry criteria

• all major game features exist • ﬁrst party controllers

• a tester can navigate the game • art

• code passes 50% of TRC • multiplayer beta testing

• interface is complete • audio • after alpha testing

• time to perfect it • QA has documentation

• game is compatible with most conﬁgs

• level scripting

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29 30 beta entry criteria

• all features implemented

• passes TRC

• navigation • GUI design lock

• compatibility • do we implement a feature? • logic and AI

• controllers • cut a level?

• art • audio

• online

• localization http://www.psdgraphics.com/ﬁle/padlock-security-icon.jpg

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gold testing

• code lock

• game appears to be a commercial release

letting a bug go • last versions are gold master candidates

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gold testing entry criteria

• severity 1 Bugs are ﬁxed

• > 90% of severity 2

• > 85% of severity 3 : the creative

• workarounds have been communicated to technical support interaction design process

• performance is good

35 36 interfaces have to accomplish two goals: feedback has two purposes in game design

1. feedback (receiving information from the game) 1. indicate current progress

2. control (providing information to the game) 2. suggest ways of progressing further

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control

• players must have some method of overcoming challenges in the game

in terms of progress, players • control mechanisms often work in tandem with feedback

like to know • this allows players to conﬁrm that actions they initiated were in fact executed

• strategies: which should they use?

• duration: how long will it take?

• success: am I winning?

example: health bar

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interfaces have several secondary goals as well considerations in game interfaces

• immersion: does the player “forget” it’s a game? • functionality: does the interface achieve its goals?

• atmosphere: does it “ﬁt in” with the mood? • usability: does the interface force users to take unnecessary steps?

• aesthetics: does the interface detract from in game art? is it attractive?

41 42 use of frameworks : commonly used frameworks how do you make a game? rarely built from the ground upward. game engines are often reused new ones built off of existing technology

http://www.matrix-explained.com/photopost/data/509/2906architects_room_1280x960.jpg

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hierarchy of a game engine

the main areas

collisions and physics

online multiplayer

audio

rendering

animation

collisions and physics

nVidia PhysX, havok, bullet (open source) http://images.psxextreme.com/wallpapers/ps3/collision_1155.jpg http://playstationlifestyle.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/uncharted-2-image-001.jpg 45 46

online multiplayer audio ) ) )

abyssal engine, bigworld technology, multiverse network, http://evepics.ﬁles.wordpress.com/2010/10/kkarmageddonatposbattle.png BASS, fmod, miles audio http://www.k2audio.com/images/sitemap_background.jpg RedDwarf server (open source) http://mmohuts.com/wp-content/gallery/maplestory-bigbang/maplestory_higher-resolution.pnghyperlink http://www.deshow.net/d/ﬁle/cartoon/2009-04/audio-jungle-cg-illustrator-497-12.jpg 47 48 rendering... animation

ogre3D, granny 3D, crystal space, based on DirectX, CUDA, OpenCL http://phoebeola.webs.com/halo-cutout-render.png havok, ogre3D, UbiArt (Ubisoft proprietary), unreal, CryEngine http://lcc.gatech.edu/~cpearce3/lcc4725/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/lightning-ﬁnal-fantasy-13-ffxiii-high-def-render.jpg 49 50 http://xn--80aqafcrtq.cc/img/1/6/4/164907.jpg

examples of game engines (that are better than Game Maker)

artificial intelligence

AI Implant, DI-guy, Direct AI, kynapse, AI Live http://www.dan-dare.org/FreeFun/Games/CartoonsMoviesTV/WALL-E7/images/fullscale/eve_2.png http://www.zastavki.com/pictures/1600x1200/2010/Photoshop_Artificial_Intelligence_021071_.jpg 51 52

http://www.mono-project.com/ﬁles/6/68/Editorshot.jpg http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/store/img/products/dvds/WBR02/stills/01.jpg http://www.indiegamemag.com/media/unity3d1.jpg http://www.freebestwallpapers.info/bulkupload//20082010//Games/Unreal-Tournament-3-face2face.jpg Unity 3d Unreal Engine (Unreal Development Kit) 53 54 http://blog.operationreality.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/CryENGINE-3-Free-SDK05.jpg http://solarlune.ﬁles.wordpress.com/2010/12/printhi.png http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/images/9/2011/04/crysis2modkit.jpg http://www.yofrankie.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/screen_nut.png CryEngine Blender Game Engine 55 56

thankyou. (questions?)

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