Game Design: Theory and Practice : Theory and Practice

Foreword xvi Introduction to the Second Edition xvii Introduction xx What Players Want 1(19) Why Do Players Play? 2(6) Players Want a Challenge 2(1) Players Want to Socialize 3(2) Players Want a Dynamic Solitary Experience 5(1) Players Want Bragging Rights 5(1) Players Want an Emotional Experience 6(1) Players Want to Explore 6(1) Players Want to Fantasize 7(1) Players Want to Interact 8(1) What Do Players Expect? 8(11) Players Expect a Consistent World 8(1) Players Expect to Understand the Game-World's Bounds 9(1) Players Expect Reasonable Solutions to Work 10(1) Players Expect Direction 10(1) Players Expect to Accomplish a Task Incrementally 11(1) Players Expect to Be Immersed 12(2) Players Expect Some Setbacks 14(1) Players Expect a Fair Chance 14(1) Players Expect to Not Need to Repeat Themselves 15(1) Players Expect to Not Get Hopelessly Stuck 16(1) Players Expect to Do, Not to Watch 17(1) Players Do Not Know What They Want, but They Know When It Is Missing 18(1) A Never-Ending List 19(1) Interview: Sid Meier 20(20) Brainstorming a Game Idea: Gameplay, Technology, and Story 40(17) Starting Points 41(6) Starting with Gameplay 42(1) Starting with Technology 43(2) Starting with Story 45(2) Working with Limitations 47(5) Odyssey: The Legend of Nemesis 48(1) Damage Incorporated 49(1) Centipede 3D 50(1) The Suffering 51(1) Embrace Your Limitations 52(4) Established Technology 53(1) The Case of the Many Mushrooms 54(1) The Time Allotted 55(1) If You Choose Not to Decide, You Still Have Made a Choice 56(1) Game Analysis: Centipede 57(12) Classic Arcade Game Traits 59(3) Input 62(1) Interconnectedness 63(2) Escalating Tension 65(2) One Person, One Game 67(2) Focus 69(18) Establishing Focus 70(7) An Example: Winter Carnival Whirlwind 72(2) The Function of the Focus 74(3) Maintaining Focus 77(5) Fleshing Out the Focus 78(1) Changing Focus 79(3) Sub-Focuses 82(3) Using Focus 85(2) Interview: Ed Logg 87(28) The Elements of Gameplay 115(26) Unique Solutions 116(3) Anticipatory versus Complex Systems 116(1) Emergence 117(2) Non-Linearity 119(6) Types of Non-Linearity 119(2) Implementation 121(2) The Purpose of Non-Linearity 123(2) Modeling Reality 125(2) Teaching the Player 127(4) Tutorials 128(3) Input/Output 131(9) Controls and Input 131(5) Output and Game-World Feedback 136(4) Basic Elements 140(1) Game Analysis: Tetris 141(10) Puzzle Game or Action Game? 142(2) Tetris as a Classic Arcade Game 144(2) The Technology 146(1) Artificial Intelligence 147(1) Escalating Tension 148(1) Simplicity and Symmetry 149(1) Fifteen Years On, Who Would Publish Tetris? 150(1) Artificial Intelligence 151(21) Goals of Game AI 153(9) Challenge the Player 154(2) Not Do Dumb Things 156(1) Be Unpredictable 157(2) Assist Storytelling 159(3) Create a Living World 162(1) The Sloped Playing Field 162(2) How Real Is Too Real? 163(1) AI Agents and Their Environment 164(3) How Good Is Good Enough? 167(1) Scripting 168(3) Artificial Stupidity 171(1) Interview: Steve Meretzky 172(30) Storytelling 202(25) Designer's Story Versus Player's Story 203(3) Places for Storytelling 206(11) Out-of-Game 207(5) In-Game 212(4) External Materials 216(1) Linear Writing Pitfalls 217(5) Player Character Personality 218(4) Game Stories 222(3) Non-Linearity 223(1) Working with the Gameplay 224(1) The Dream 225(2) Game Analysis: Loom 227(10) Focused Game Mechanics 228(2) User Interface 230(1) The Drafts System 231(2) Difficulty 233(1) Story 233(2) Loom as an Adventure Game 235(2) Multi-Player 237(20) Motivations 238(1) The Forms 239(3) Single System Multi-Player 239(2) Online Multi-Player 241(1) Design Considerations 242(9) Playing to Strengths 244(2) Protect Newbies 246(2) Socialization 248(3) Development Issues 251(5) Playtesting and User Feedback 253(3) A World of Their Own 256(1) Interview: Chris Crawford 257(24) Getting the Gameplay Working 281(15) The Organic Process 283(3) Too Much Too Soon 283(2) Keep It Simple 285(1) Building the Game 286(5) Core Technology 286(1) Incremental Steps 287(1) A Fully Functional Area 288(2) Going Through Changes 290(1) Programming 291(2) When Is It Fun? 293(3) Game Analysis: Myth: The Fallen Lords 296(10) Use of Technology 297(3) Game Focus 300(1) Storytelling 301(1) Hard-Core Gaming 302(1) Multi-Player 303(1) A Cohesive Whole 304(2) Game Development Documentation 306(14) Document Your Game 308(11) Concept Document, Pitch Document, or Proposal 308(1) Competitive Analysis 309(1) Design Document 309(2) Flowcharts 311(1) Story Bible 311(2) Script 313(2) Art Bible 315(1) The Game Minute 316(1) Storyboards 317(1) Technical Design Document 317(1) Schedules and Business/Marketing Documents 318(1) No Standard Documentation 319(1) The Benefits of Documentation 319(1) Interview: Jordan Mechner 320(35) The Design Document 355(27) The Writing Style 357(2) The Sections 359(14) Table of Contents 360(1) Introduction/Overview or Executive Summary 360(1) Game Mechanics 361(5) Artificial Intelligence 366(3) Game Elements: Characters, Items, and Objects/Mechanisms 369(2) Story Overview 371(1) Game Progression 371(2) System Menus 373(1) One Man's Opinion 373(1) Inauspicious Design Documents 374(5) The Wafer-Thin or Ellipsis Special Document 374(1) The Back-Story Tome 375(1) The Overkill Document 376(1) The Pie-in-the-Sky Document 377(1) The Fossilized Document 378(1) A Matter of Weight 379(1) Getting It Read 380(1) Documentation Is Only the Beginning 380(2) Game Analysis: The Sims 382(10) Abdicating Authorship 383(1) Familiar Subject Matter 384(2) Safe Experimentation 386(1) Depth and Focus 386(1) Interface 387(2) Controlled Versus Autonomous Behavior 389(1) A Lesson to Be Learned 390(2) Designing Design Tools 392(16) Desired Functionality 394(6) Visualizing the Level 394(2) The Big Picture 396(1) Jumping into the Game 397(2) Editing the World 399(1) Scripting Languages and Object Behaviors 400(3) Us Versus Them 403(3) The Best of Intentions 405(1) A Game Editor for All Seasons 406(2) Interview: Will Wright 408(41) Level Design 449(26) Levels in Different Games 450(4) Level Separation 451(2) Level Order 453(1) The Components of a Level 454(6) Action 455(1) Exploration 456(1) Puzzle Solving 457(1) Storytelling 458(1) Aesthetics 459(1) Balancing It All 460(1) Level Flow 460(3) Elements of Good Levels 463(4) Players Cannot Get Stuck 463(1) Sub-Goals 463(1) Landmarks 464(1) Critical Path 465(1) Limited Backtracking 465(1) Success the First Time 465(1) Navigable Areas Clearly Marked 466(1) Choices 466(1) A Personal List 466(1) The Process 467(6) Step 1. Preliminary 467(1) Step 2. Conceptual and Sketched Outline 468(1) Step 3. Base Architecture/Block Out 469(1) Step 4. Refine Architecture Until It Is Fun 469(1) Step 5. Base Gameplay 470(1) Step 6. Refine Gameplay Until It Is Fun 471(1) Step 7. Refine Aesthetics 471(1) Step 8. Playtesting 472(1) Process Variations 472(1) Who Does Level Design? 473(1) Collaboration 474(1) Game Analysis: Grand Theft Auto III 475(8) Believable Game-World 476(1) A Living City 477(3) Actions and Consequences 480(1) Storytelling 481(2) Playtesting 483(17) Finding the Right Testers 484(5) Who Should Test 485(2) Who Should Not Test 487(2) When to Test 489(2) How to Test 491(1) Guided and Unguided Testing 492(1) Balancing 493(4) Your Game Is Too Hard 495(2) The Artistic Vision 497(3) Interview: Doug Church 500(32) Conclusion 532(3) Art 532(1) The Medium 533(1) The Motive 534(1) Appendix A Sample Design Document: Atomic Sam 535(44) I. Overview 539(1) II. Game Mechanics 540(15) III. Artificial Intelligence 555(6) IV. Game Elements 561(10) V. Story Overview 571(1) VI. Game Progression 572(6) VII. Bibliography 578(1) Appendix B Sample Design Document: The Suffering 579(76) Section I: Introduction 587(1) Section II: Game Mechanics 588(29) Section III: Resources 617(5) Section IV: NPCs 622(16) Section VI: Gameflow 638(8) Section VII: Maps 646(5) Section VIII: Menus 651(4) Glossary 655(17) Selected Bibliography 672(5) Index 677