Designing Games

Ernest Adams

Lectures

Module 2: Monday, July 15 th through Tuesday, July 16 th 2002

Abstract

game design
level design
production process
multi-user environments

This module takes the form of a series of 10 one-hour lectures on different aspects of game design and development. After each lecture there will be a period for questions and discussion. The first day will concentrate on practical issues of game design and development. The second day will look at some theoretical design problems and social concerns.

Course Outline

Day 1

Morning session:

Practical Issues in Game Design and Development

10:00-11:00: Overview of the Interactive Entertainment Industry
This session will discuss how games are developed, career paths for developers, and how the industry functions financially. It also looks at market segments and consumer buying decisions. Understanding this material will be critical for everything that follows.
11:00-11:30: Discussion, questions, and short break.
11:30-12:30: Fundamental Principles of Game Design
Key theoretical principles of designing games. We will examine gameplay modes, interaction models, perspectives, the player's role, and above all balancing the core mechanics of a game. We will also go over the dimensions of a game setting, the issues of storytelling and narrative, and the skills that a game designer must have.
12:30-13:00: Discussion and questions.
13:00-14:00: Lunch.

Afternoon:

14:00-15:00: Innovation: Games that Changed the Industry (notes)
This lecture looks at games from the past that changed the industry, and examines what the nature of those advances were. It also examines some of the obstacles to creativity that occur in the modern industry, and also makes a series of suggestions about how creativity could be better facilitated.
15:00-15:30: Discussion, questions, and short break.
15:30-16:30: The Secret of Eternal (Product) Life: Lessons from J.R.R. Tolkien & John Madden (notes)
This is a lecture about product longevity: how to design games that last a long time in the marketplace. We examine the longstanding success of the John Madden Football product in the United States, and then go on to examine why some of our products don't last and what we could do about it.
16:30-17:00: Discussion, questions, and short break.
17:00-18:00: Bad Game Designer, No Twinkie!
To end the day, this is a lighthearted look at some design errors of the past, illustrating them with case studies from famous games. We will discuss bad conceptual design, bad game mechanics, bad user interface design, bad programming, bad level design, and bad content. The lecture concludes by showing how these are really all caused by certain basic problems in the designer's attitude.
(A Twinkie is a very sweet manufactured cake with cream inside, normally eaten only by children. It is the ultimate "junk food". Game developers eat them too, because they have bad diets and Twinkies can be purchased from vending machines. If a game designer is bad, he should have his Twinkie taken away.)

Day 2

Theoretical Issues in Game Design and Development

Morning session:

10:00-11:00: Problems with Justice in On-Line Communities
On-line role-playing communities have significant problems with maintaining order in the anarchic world of cyberspace. Games that allow combat often have problems with sociopathic players who enjoy causing trouble for others. Game companies are rarely properly equipped to deal with these issues. This lecture examines the issue and discusses some steps that can be taken to make the "electronic frontier" a safe one.
11:00-11:30: Discussion, questions, and short break.
11:30-12:30: In Praise of Sex and Violence (notes)
A discussion of the role of sex and violence in entertainment, and the social issues surrounding them. The lecture examines how sex and violence are perceived by the brain, and how this affects our attitudes towards them in society and government. It concludes with some suggestions about the best way for the industry to deal with the problem.
12:30-13:00: Discussion and questions.
13:00-14:00: Lunch.

Afternoon:

14:00-15:00: Putting the Ghost in the Machine (notes)
In this lecture we look at the role of artificial intelligence in games: what we use it for and how it works. It ends with some suggestions about how we can improve our games with better AI.
15:00-15:30: Discussion, questions, and short break.
15:30-16:30: Dogma 2001: A Sermon on Technology, Creativity, and Art (notes)
Dogma 2001 is my variant on the famous Dogme 95 movement in filmmaking. I propose an outrageous list of rules for the game industry, that challenge the designer to think about games in new ways. The lecture then goes on to look at the world of art, and whether computer games can ever be a legitmate art form.
16:30-17:00: Discussion, questions, and short break.
17:00-18:00: Why We Shouldn't Make Games (notes)
To end the module, a look at the limitations of the "game" paradigm. It examines the industry's view of games, and compares with society's view of them. It also discusses the relationship between dramatic tension in literature and gameplay tension in games, the universal versus the specific in entertainment, and the nature of social relations among players of a game.