Everything you need to know about game design_Part 1

Game design is a fascinating world in which our favorite video games are born. And those who create games are called game designers. We can say that game designers are the wizards of our time, who create magical worlds in which we can travel, fight, explore and have fun with our friends.

What is game design

Game design (also game design concept) - the process of creating the form and content of the game process (gameplay) of the game being developed.

Work with gamdizayn can occur both through the appropriate document (design document is a so-called document in which a detailed description of the developed computer game is prescribed), and exist only in the minds of game developers.

The direction of gamedesign determines: the set of possible options from which the player can choose during the game; the conditions of victory and defeat; how the player controls what happens in the game; how interacts with the game world; the complexity of the game, etc.

Stages of game development

Game design development can be divided into several major stages:

1. Design

• Purpose: (idea, genre, setting)
• Means: (program code, game engine)
  

2. Creativity

• Game mechanics: (objects, controls, physics engine, AI)
• Levels: (object placement (level design))
  
• Graphics: (artwork, 2D, 3D models, animations, backgrounds, special effects, screen and menu design)
  
• Plot: (scripts, events, dialog, narration, video inserts)
  
• Sound: (sound effects, music, voiceovers)
  

3. Publishing

• Polishing: (material consolidation (alpha version), bug fixing (beta version))
• Sales: (advertising, localization, sales system)
  
• Support: (release of patches, release of add-ons)
  

In this article, we will go through the first 2 steps in detail. Read about the third stage here.

1. Design

Purpose

The first thing we will need is to decide on our purpose. What do we want to get in the end? If you want your game to "shoot", you need to start by aiming more accurately instead of hitting randomly.

The concept and goal setting stage is handled by the project manager.

Genre

When you are creating a game, there are 2 ways you can go about it:

• The first is to think about everything that will be in the game from the beginning. How to tell the story and what it will look like.
• The second is to make things up as you go along, like fairy tales are made up together.
  

But the genre of the game is something to choose right away. It will determine what the game will be like.

Setting

Let me explain what genres are in computer games. They are like different types of games. They tell us what actions to do in the game. For example, in one game you can fight monsters and in another you can build houses.

But there's also an important thing called setting. It tells us where and when the game takes place, and what kind of world it has. For example, the game could be in a fantasy world with wizards and dragons, or in the future in space with robots. There are many other worlds like medieval or anime world. So, genres say "what" and setting say "where and when".

1. Design

Medium

Let's look at how computer games are made. First you have to think of what the game will be about, that is, its purpose. Then, to make the game, you need to use a special thing called program code. This code is like building material - it stores pictures, sounds and texts, but they are not written in words, but in numbers.

And the code also works as a tool, like commands that control all the things in the game, like figures and sounds. So code is both the building blocks for the game and the instructions to make things work.

Program code

Let's break down how computer games are made. First, to create things and sounds in a game, you have to make them up, and that's a lot of fun! 

First we choose a special language, like a magic word that the computer understands. Then we start writing code that tells the computer how to move and draw things in the game, like magic commands. It's work that requires patience, but it's important to make everything in the game work properly.

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Game Engine

Thankfully, nowadays you don't have to mess around with writing a low-level program part for a long time, but immediately use a ready-made program module (game engine), where the basic functions are already implemented, capable of linking together graphics, sound, objects and their movements.

2. Сreativity

Game Mechanics

The most important creative part of any game is the game mechanics. This thing is not on the surface, so it often escapes the gaze of inattentive game connoisseurs.

The more diverse and interesting the game features, the longer the player stays in the game.

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Objects

At the heart of all mechanics are the game's objects. The protagonist of the game, computer opponents, minor characters (NPCs), power-ups, movable objects, scenery - all these are game objects with their properties and possible actions.

Control

Game mechanics determines what keys will be controlled by the main character or the main game object, what action will occur after pressing this or that button. This includes the laws of behavior of game objects (physics engine) and the behavior of enemies (artificial intelligence).

Example of control in the game PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS

Physical engine

If the "control" is responsible for the movement of the character under our control, the physics engine is responsible for those movements that occur without direct intervention of the player. These actions mimic the physical laws of the real world (sometimes a little distorted towards the fantastic).

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI is responsible for the behavior of computer-generated enemies or allies. The role of AI varies greatly depending on the genre of the game.

A serious strategy game requires a huge amount of work on AI, and in simple casual games and online projects focused on battles only between real players, artificial intelligence is not needed at all.

2. Сreativity

Levels

In games there are many different places, like different rooms or different streets. These places are called levels or locations. Games often have several of these locations, and the transition between them happens as you go through the game.

Levels are built by level designers (level designers).

Level editor

level editor in Minecraft game

Sometimes along with the game is given a special program that allows regular players to create their own levels and maps in the game. It's like building your own adventures!

Sometimes, game developers allow players to share their homemade levels with other players and even expose the best of them on the game's official servers.

In this way, game studios find very talented players who become the best at creating levels.

2. Сreativity

Graphics

Next, we begin to cover the bare framework of the game with decoration in the form of graphics. This is the art of game design.

Creating graphics is done by artists, game designers.

Of course, if you are developing a simple 2D game, you can make something out of pixels yourself, but in more serious and large projects it is better to hire professional artists and designers.

Artwork

To begin with, you need to create images of heroes, enemies, game items, and backgrounds. Initially, they are drawn either on paper or on the computer using a graphics tablet.

Example of mutant artwork of villains in The Last of Us game

For small game studios, this stage is not necessary, but it is simply necessary in large companies, not on fingers, but on visual images to explain to all designers, what they have to get in the end.

2D, 3D models

Example of a 3D model of the character Ellie from The Last of Us

Based on the artwork, designers create either 2D sprites from pixels or 3D models from polygons.

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Animations

This video demonstrates motion capture and animation creation for The Last of Us using Motion Capture technology

Animations are created for game objects that will move in the course of the game. Especially difficult will be with the heroes and enemies, the number of animations which sometimes exceeds a hundred different movements.

Currently, to create humanoid 3D characters there is a special technology "Motion Capture", which allows you to create animations based on the movements of real people.

Backgrounds

Artbook with backgrounds from The Last of Us game

With the backgrounds everything is much easier - you draw once, put it in the right place on the level without any changes, and forget it.

Special effects

An example of how special effects affect the game. This is an example of a new game that is being developed on Unreal Engine 5. Unrecord. The game looks like a realistic recording on the chest camera. Although it is entirely a game created from scratch.

Visual special effects are essentially the same animations, only instead of moving objects they use moving particles and light filters.

Without such effects, the game will seem bland and too ordinary. The use of special effects adds brightness, juiciness and expressiveness to the game.

Screen and menu design

It's not just the game levels that are important in a game, but all the buttons and menus that help you control the game. It's like the pages and buttons in a game book. The initial menu that you see when you first start the game is very important. It should be beautiful and user-friendly. In English this is called GUI, which means "graphical user interface".

Artists, programmers, and people who know how to create web pages work to create interesting menus and buttons.

2. Creativity

Story

Getting the player involved in the game is already a challenge, but it's even more important that the player actually completes the entire game. If something in the game is boring or too complicated, the player can quickly lose interest.

L.A. Noire - You play as a certain professional and brave man who holds the position of a detective who stands in for the Los Angeles Police Department. The name of our main character is Cole Phelps, and he goes on another investigation.

Our character is an honest, well-meaning and meticulous who tries his best to solve and bring to light even the most successful and confusing crimes.

Often players just drop the game and forget about it. But if the game has an interesting and good story, the player can gather the will in a fist and reach the very end of this interactive story.

Scripts, events

A script is the following: a player enters a certain place, or performs a necessary action, or some other necessary conditions are met, and then the actions you programmed for this case start to be executed.

Scripts are thought up by scriptwriters, and their implementation is done by programmers.

Dialogs, narratives

Example of dialog in the game Fallout 4

In-game texts and dialogs occur during the game, but in safe places, or with a stop game time, so that the player can focus only on the text. The narratives the player has to listen to, as the game pauses for this time, but does not stop altogether.

The writing of the text and dialog is handled by screenwriters and writers.

Video Inserts

Between levels of the game or in certain control points of the levels you can show players video inserts (cutscenes) instead of dry text and voice-overs. These screensavers can be created either with separate video files or with the help of the game engine.

Artists, animators, 3D-modelers, scriptwriters, directors are involved in creating video inserts.

2. Creativity

Sound

Beautifully drawn and spectacularly designed project silently looks at us, and waits for us to add sound to it. This is another important component of the game.

Sound effects

For any simple game movement you need to add an appropriate sound. This can be sword strikes, melee attacks, sounds of car movement, getting a bonus, detection of the hero by the enemy.

Most often, real sounds digitally recorded are used as sound effects. On the Internet there are many free collections of sound effects, you just need to find them and choose the most suitable.

Music

Example of music recording for the game World of Tanks

In addition to sounds for a full game needs and music (soundtrack). It will be a sound background for what is happening on the screen. Music is also one of the stylistic elements of the game, and most of all affects the mood of the player.

For example, the developers of Atomic Heart posted the soundtrack of the game in the public domain. Playlist with tracks from the game appeared in "Yandex Music" and VK.

Voiceover

The process of voicing the main character Kratos from the game GOD OF WAR: RAGNAROK

Sounds in a game can include not only music and environmental sounds, but also voice dialog and narration. It's like when characters in the game talk.

Voice dialog is expensive, but not all games require it. In some games, characters are silent or their words are shown as text on the screen. Small games often have no voice acting at all, but in larger projects, like in movies, professional actors are invited for voice roles.

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Read the continuation here.