Fundamentals of Game Design

by ;
Edition: 1st
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2007-01-01
Publisher(s): Prentice Hall
List Price: $102.00

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Summary

Game design is the most fundamental skill you need for a career in the video game industry. Noted authors and game developers Ernest Adams and Andrew Rollings lead you through the concepts, principles, and techniques for designing an entire video game. The first half of the book gives you the necessary groundwork for creating worlds, characters, stories, gameplay, core mechanics, and a user interface. It also shows you a process by which to approach the task. The second half of the book applies the principles of the first half to the most common game genres on the market today including action games, strategy games, role-playing games, and vehicle simulations.

Table of Contents

Game Design and Development Series Walk-Through xiv
Introduction xvi
About the Authors xxii
Acknowledgments xxii
PART ONE The Elements of Game Design
1(432)
Games and Video Games
3(33)
What Is a Game?
4(13)
Conventional Games Versus Video Games
17(4)
How Video Games Entertain
21(15)
Summary
31(1)
Test Your Skills
32(4)
Design Components and Processes
36(38)
Approaching the Task
37(6)
The Key Components of Video Games
43(4)
The Structure of a Video Game
47(5)
Stages of the Design Process
52(8)
Game Design Teams
60(2)
Documenting the Design
62(4)
Anatomy of a Game Designer
66(8)
Summary
69(1)
Test Your Skills
70(4)
Game Concepts
74(23)
Getting an Idea
75(3)
From Idea to Game Concept
78(1)
The Player's Role
79(1)
Choosing a Genre
80(3)
Defining Your Target Audience
83(5)
Progression Considerations
88(1)
Types of Game Machines
89(8)
Summary
92(1)
Test Your Skills
92(5)
Game Worlds
97(36)
What Is a Game World?
98(1)
The Purposes of a Game World
98(1)
The Dimensions of a Game World
99(25)
Realism
124(9)
Summary
126(1)
Test Your Skills
126(7)
Creative and Expressive Play
133(15)
Self-Defining Play
134(3)
Creative Play
137(4)
Storytelling Play
141(1)
Game Modifications
142(6)
Summary
143(1)
Test Your Skills
143(5)
Character Development
148(33)
The Goals of Character Design
149(1)
The Relationship Between Player and Avatar
150(6)
Visual Appearances
156(9)
Creating Character Depth
165(8)
Audio Design
173(8)
Summary
175(1)
Test Your Skills
175(6)
Storytelling and Narrative
181(43)
Why Put Stories in Games?
182(3)
Key Concepts
185(7)
The Storytelling Engine
192(2)
Linear Stories
194(2)
Nonlinear Stories
196(9)
Granularity
205(1)
Mechanisms for Advancing the Plot
205(3)
Emotional Limits of Interactive Stories
208(2)
Scripted Conversations and Dialog Trees
210(3)
When to Write the Story
213(1)
Other Considerations
214(10)
Summary
218(1)
Test Your Skills
219(5)
Creating the User Experience
224(53)
What Is the User Experience?
225(2)
Player-Centric Interface Design
227(5)
The Design Process
232(5)
Managing Complexity
237(2)
Interaction Models
239(2)
Perspectives
241(7)
Visual Elements
248(8)
Audio Elements
256(3)
Input Devices
259(5)
Navigation Mechanisms
264(5)
Allowing for Customization
269(8)
Summary
270(1)
Test Your Skills
270(7)
Gameplay
277(39)
Making Games Fun
278(2)
The Hierarchy of Challenges
280(6)
Skill, Stress, and Difficulty
286(3)
Commonly Used Challenges
289(13)
Actions
302(4)
Saving the Game
306(10)
Summary
310(1)
Test Your Skills
310(6)
Core Mechanics
316(42)
What Are the Core Mechanics?
317(6)
Key Concepts
323(8)
The Internal Economy
331(9)
Core Mechanics and Gameplay
340(2)
Designing the Core Mechanics
342(7)
Random Numbers and the Gaussian Curve
349(9)
Summary
352(1)
Test Your Skills
352(6)
Game Balancing
358(40)
What is Balanced Game?
359(2)
Avoiding Dominant Strategies
361(6)
The Role of Chance
367(1)
Making PvP Games Fair
368(4)
Making PvE Games Fair
372(1)
Managing Difficulty
373(11)
Understanding Positive Feedback
384(5)
Other Balance Considerations
389(1)
Design to Make Tuning Easy
390(8)
Summary
392(1)
Test Your Skills
392(6)
General Principles of Level Design
398(35)
What Is Level Design?
399(1)
Key Design Principles
400(5)
Layouts
405(11)
The Level Design Process
416(8)
Pitfalls of Level Design
424(9)
Summary
427(1)
Test Your Skills
427(6)
PART TWO The Genres of Games
433
Action Games
435(33)
What Are Action Games?
436(1)
Action Game Subgenres
436(7)
Game Features
443(25)
Summary
462(1)
Test Your Skills
462(6)
Strategy Games
468(39)
What Are Strategy Games?
469(1)
Game Features
470(7)
Core Mechanics
477(16)
The Game World
493(2)
The Presentation Layer
495(2)
Artificial Opponents
497(10)
Summary
500(1)
Test Your Skills
501(6)
Role-Playing Games
507(35)
What Are Role-Playing Games?
508(2)
Game Features
510(8)
Core Mechanics
518(10)
The Game World and Story
528(4)
The Presentation Layer
532(10)
Summary
535(1)
Test Your Skills
536(6)
Sports Games
542(29)
What Are Sports Games?
543(1)
Game Features
544(7)
Core Mechanics
551(6)
The Game World
557(3)
The Presentation Layer
560(11)
Summary
563(1)
Test Your Skills
564(7)
Vehicle Simulations
571(24)
What Are Vehicle Simulations?
572(1)
Game Features
572(4)
Core Mechanics
576(3)
Other Vehicles
579(3)
Intellectual Property Rights
582(1)
The Presentation Layer
583(12)
Summary
589(1)
Test Your Skills
589(6)
Construction and Management Simulations
595(23)
What Are Construction and Management Simulations?
596(1)
Game Features
596(11)
Core Mechanics
607(3)
The Game World
610(1)
The Presentation Layer
610(8)
Summary
612(1)
Test Your Skills
612(6)
Adventure Games
618(32)
What Are Adventure Games?
619(3)
Game Features
622(17)
The Presentation Layer
639(11)
Summary
644(1)
Test Your Skills
645(5)
Artificial Life and Puzzle Games
650
Artificial Life Games
651(8)
Puzzle Games
659
Summary
664(1)
Test Your Skills
665
Glossary 1(1)
References 1(1)
Index 1

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