Video Game Design
Principles and Practices from the Ground Up
1st Edition
Published on 25. February 2016
208 pages
978-1-4725-6749-9 (ISBN)
Description
Video Game Design is a visual introduction to integrating core design essentials, such as critical analysis, mechanics and aesthetics, prototyping, level design, into game design.
Using a raft of examples from a diverse range of leading international creatives and award-winning studios, this is a must-have guide for budding game designers. Industry perspectives from game industry professionals provide fascinating insights into this creative field, and each chapter concludes with a workshop project to help you put what you've learnt into practice to plan and develop your own games.
With over 200 images from some of the best-selling, most creative games of the last 30 years, this is an essential introduction to industry practice, helping readers develop practical skills for video game creation. This book is for those seeking a career making video games as part of a studio, small team or as an independent creator. It will guide you from understanding how games engage, entertain and communicate with their audience and take you on a journey as a designer towards creating your own video game experiences.
Interviewees include:
James Portnow, CEO at Rainmaker Games
Brandon Sheffield, Gamasutra.com/Game Developer magazine
Steve Gaynor, co-founder The Fullbright Company (Gone Home)
Kate Craig, Environment Artist. The Fullbright Company (Gone Home)
Adam Saltsman, creator of Canabalt & Gravity Hook
Jake Elliott & Tamas Kemenczy, Cardboard Computer (Kentucky Route Zero)
Tyson Steele, User Interface Designer, Epic Games
Tom Francis, Game Designer, Gunpoint & Floating Point
Kareem Ettouney, Art Director, Media Molecule. Little Big Planet 1 & 2, Tearaway.
Kenneth Young, Head of Audio, Media Molecule
Rex Crowle, Creative Lead, Media Molecule
Using a raft of examples from a diverse range of leading international creatives and award-winning studios, this is a must-have guide for budding game designers. Industry perspectives from game industry professionals provide fascinating insights into this creative field, and each chapter concludes with a workshop project to help you put what you've learnt into practice to plan and develop your own games.
With over 200 images from some of the best-selling, most creative games of the last 30 years, this is an essential introduction to industry practice, helping readers develop practical skills for video game creation. This book is for those seeking a career making video games as part of a studio, small team or as an independent creator. It will guide you from understanding how games engage, entertain and communicate with their audience and take you on a journey as a designer towards creating your own video game experiences.
Interviewees include:
James Portnow, CEO at Rainmaker Games
Brandon Sheffield, Gamasutra.com/Game Developer magazine
Steve Gaynor, co-founder The Fullbright Company (Gone Home)
Kate Craig, Environment Artist. The Fullbright Company (Gone Home)
Adam Saltsman, creator of Canabalt & Gravity Hook
Jake Elliott & Tamas Kemenczy, Cardboard Computer (Kentucky Route Zero)
Tyson Steele, User Interface Designer, Epic Games
Tom Francis, Game Designer, Gunpoint & Floating Point
Kareem Ettouney, Art Director, Media Molecule. Little Big Planet 1 & 2, Tearaway.
Kenneth Young, Head of Audio, Media Molecule
Rex Crowle, Creative Lead, Media Molecule
More details
Series
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
200 colour illus
File size
20,03 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-4725-6749-9 (9781472567499)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
03/2019
Bloomsbury Academic USA
€46.00
Shipment within 15-20 days
Book
02/2016
Fairchild Books
€57.19
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Person
Michael Salmond, Digital Media Design, Florida Gulf Coast University, USA. Michael is a digital interaction designer, video game artist and digital theorist. His work has been exhibited and published nationally, internationally and online. He has been teaching video game design and interaction design for over ten years in the UK and the USA. He is the co-author of The Fundamentals of Interactive Design (2013).
Content
Chapter One: Play, games and culture
-What is this book and who is it for?
-Defining games
-Games have rules and mechanics
-Games have always been with us
-Game Culture
-So you want to be a videogame designer?
-Chapter summary: beginning with the quest
-Interview: Adam Saltsman, Game Maker
-Case study: Canabalt
-Project: Redesign/ Modify a game
Chapter Two: World building (Mechanics, rules and behaviour)
-When you build a game, you construct a universe
-Games, Rules and Mechanics
-The building blocks of game design
-The field of play
-Game mechanics, an overview
-Rules of play
-Videogame rule taxonomy
-Outcomes of play
-Player resources
-Conclusion
-Case study: Art Meets Interactive Narrative: Kentucky Route Zero
-Project: Game rule analysis
Chapter Three: Videogame analysis
-Thinking like a game designer
-Understanding bias
-Starting the analysis process
-Bias informs the mechanic
-First Order Optimal Strategies (FOOS)
-Game consistency
-Becoming a designer/ player
-Interview: James Portnow, CEO of Rainmaker Games
Chapter Four: Understanding the motivations of play
-Player-focused game design
-Bartle's Taxonomy of Play
-The big five: Personality traits and videogame players
-Personality traits of players
-Translating the O.C.E.A.N. model to game design
-Correlating the player models
-Patterns of play
-Designing an experience
-Interest curves
-Pacing-Pacing: Arc, scene and action
-Conclusion
-Interview: Brandon Sheffield, Director of Necrosoft Games
-Project: Social game play
Chapter Five: Videogames are event-driven experiences
-Experiences come from emotions
-Where do emotions come from?
-Identify the emotion
-Emotions triggered by the game mechanic
-Flow: Getting into the zone
-Emotions transmitted through story
-Emotional experiences
-Conclusion
-Case study: Gone Home
-Project: The narrative game
Chapter Six: Planning, preparation and play-testing
-The preparation phase
-Lack of experience
-Player numbers as mechanic
-Paper prototype phase
-Design is achieved through iteration
-Fixing on the game's visuals
-There are no crystal balls
-The 3C's: Character design, camera design and control design
-Testing
-Leave the ego outside and observe
-Try not to fixate on the negatives
-Conclusion
-Interview: Kate Craig, Environment Artist
-Project: Narrative game prototype
Chapter Seven: The principles of level design
-Level design from the ground up
-Concept art and sketches
-Creating an emotional aesthetic
-Planning the level
-Bird's eye view and environment flow
-The player path
-Limiting lines of sight
-Conclusion
-Case study: Gunpoint
-Project: Narrative game level design
Chapter Eight: The principles of videogame level design
-Invisible boundaries
-Scale is important
-Sizing and field of view
-Wayfinding systems
-Silhouette environment design
-Choke points and strong points
-Looking back is important
-Conclusion
-Interview: Media Molecule
-Project: Narrative game level design 2
Chapter Nine: Character design
-The principles and processes of videogame character design
-What is a character?
-The building blocks of character design
-Personality and personification
-Characters that serve a purpose
-Stereotypes: Uses and misuses
-Building the character
-Making the character 'real'
-Non-player characters and relationship maps
-Further defining the character aesthetic using mood boards and model sheets
-Conclusion
-Interview
-Project: Narrative game characters
Chapter Ten: Getting them to play, then keeping them playing
-Tutorials, on-boarding and rewards
-Tutorial design, easing the player in
-On-boarding
-On-boarding methods
-Rewarding the player
-Designing rewards
-Intrinsic and extrinsic rewards
-Motivating by design
-Interview: Kenneth Young, Head of Audio Media Molecule
-Project: Narrative game reward system
Chapter Eleven: Interface design and audio design
-Constrained choices, how to think about interfaces
-Pick a path, designing constraints
-Interface design
-Invisibility and feedback
-Interface design schemes
-Interfaces are communication
-Interface types
-Mapping and modes
-Interface overload
-Audio design, a brief overview
-Designing sounds that do not exist
-Audio for atmosphere
-Conclusion
-Interview: Tyson Steele, User Interface Artist for Epic Games
-Project: Game final prototype and testing
Chapter Twelve: Ethics, inclusion and monetization
-Ethics and gaming
-Games are transformative
-Inclusion
-Inclusion and doubt
-Copyright and intellectual property
-Personal responsibility
-Monetization
-Conlusion: Thanks for playing.
-What is this book and who is it for?
-Defining games
-Games have rules and mechanics
-Games have always been with us
-Game Culture
-So you want to be a videogame designer?
-Chapter summary: beginning with the quest
-Interview: Adam Saltsman, Game Maker
-Case study: Canabalt
-Project: Redesign/ Modify a game
Chapter Two: World building (Mechanics, rules and behaviour)
-When you build a game, you construct a universe
-Games, Rules and Mechanics
-The building blocks of game design
-The field of play
-Game mechanics, an overview
-Rules of play
-Videogame rule taxonomy
-Outcomes of play
-Player resources
-Conclusion
-Case study: Art Meets Interactive Narrative: Kentucky Route Zero
-Project: Game rule analysis
Chapter Three: Videogame analysis
-Thinking like a game designer
-Understanding bias
-Starting the analysis process
-Bias informs the mechanic
-First Order Optimal Strategies (FOOS)
-Game consistency
-Becoming a designer/ player
-Interview: James Portnow, CEO of Rainmaker Games
Chapter Four: Understanding the motivations of play
-Player-focused game design
-Bartle's Taxonomy of Play
-The big five: Personality traits and videogame players
-Personality traits of players
-Translating the O.C.E.A.N. model to game design
-Correlating the player models
-Patterns of play
-Designing an experience
-Interest curves
-Pacing-Pacing: Arc, scene and action
-Conclusion
-Interview: Brandon Sheffield, Director of Necrosoft Games
-Project: Social game play
Chapter Five: Videogames are event-driven experiences
-Experiences come from emotions
-Where do emotions come from?
-Identify the emotion
-Emotions triggered by the game mechanic
-Flow: Getting into the zone
-Emotions transmitted through story
-Emotional experiences
-Conclusion
-Case study: Gone Home
-Project: The narrative game
Chapter Six: Planning, preparation and play-testing
-The preparation phase
-Lack of experience
-Player numbers as mechanic
-Paper prototype phase
-Design is achieved through iteration
-Fixing on the game's visuals
-There are no crystal balls
-The 3C's: Character design, camera design and control design
-Testing
-Leave the ego outside and observe
-Try not to fixate on the negatives
-Conclusion
-Interview: Kate Craig, Environment Artist
-Project: Narrative game prototype
Chapter Seven: The principles of level design
-Level design from the ground up
-Concept art and sketches
-Creating an emotional aesthetic
-Planning the level
-Bird's eye view and environment flow
-The player path
-Limiting lines of sight
-Conclusion
-Case study: Gunpoint
-Project: Narrative game level design
Chapter Eight: The principles of videogame level design
-Invisible boundaries
-Scale is important
-Sizing and field of view
-Wayfinding systems
-Silhouette environment design
-Choke points and strong points
-Looking back is important
-Conclusion
-Interview: Media Molecule
-Project: Narrative game level design 2
Chapter Nine: Character design
-The principles and processes of videogame character design
-What is a character?
-The building blocks of character design
-Personality and personification
-Characters that serve a purpose
-Stereotypes: Uses and misuses
-Building the character
-Making the character 'real'
-Non-player characters and relationship maps
-Further defining the character aesthetic using mood boards and model sheets
-Conclusion
-Interview
-Project: Narrative game characters
Chapter Ten: Getting them to play, then keeping them playing
-Tutorials, on-boarding and rewards
-Tutorial design, easing the player in
-On-boarding
-On-boarding methods
-Rewarding the player
-Designing rewards
-Intrinsic and extrinsic rewards
-Motivating by design
-Interview: Kenneth Young, Head of Audio Media Molecule
-Project: Narrative game reward system
Chapter Eleven: Interface design and audio design
-Constrained choices, how to think about interfaces
-Pick a path, designing constraints
-Interface design
-Invisibility and feedback
-Interface design schemes
-Interfaces are communication
-Interface types
-Mapping and modes
-Interface overload
-Audio design, a brief overview
-Designing sounds that do not exist
-Audio for atmosphere
-Conclusion
-Interview: Tyson Steele, User Interface Artist for Epic Games
-Project: Game final prototype and testing
Chapter Twelve: Ethics, inclusion and monetization
-Ethics and gaming
-Games are transformative
-Inclusion
-Inclusion and doubt
-Copyright and intellectual property
-Personal responsibility
-Monetization
-Conlusion: Thanks for playing.
