Laboratory 14
Game Design - Interface Design & Game Development
Game development process:
- Pre-production: high-concept, pich, concept, game design document, prototype
- Production: desgin, programming, level creation, art production, audio production, testing
- Post-production: maintenance
- Milestones: first playable, alpha, beta, code release, gold master, chrunch time
According to Gamasutra.com game user interfaces (UI) are classified as following:
- Diegetic - Interface that is included in the game world -- i.e., it can be seen and heard by the game characters. Example: the holographic interface in Dead Space.;
- Non-diegetic - Interface that is rendered outside the game world, only visible and audible to the players in the real world. Example: most classic heads-up display (HUD) elements;
- Spatial - UI elements presented in the game's 3D space with or without being an entity of the actual game world (diegetic or non-diegetic). The character outlines in Left 4 Dead are an example of non-diegetic spatial UI;
- Meta - Representations can exist in the game world, but aren't necessarily visualized spatially for the player; these are meta representations. The most apparent example is effects rendered on the screen, such as blood spatter on the camera to indicate damage.
Acreativity and process experiment where a developer tried to make 10 small videogames in 1 hour or less each. This presentation displays the results.
Augmented Reality Toys
The Master Game .
Game Engines
- ShiVa3D - for Windows, Mac OS, Linux, iPhone, Android, Palm, Wii and the iPad.
- Unity3D - Engine, Editor, Publishing platform.
- 3DVIA Virtools - online, PC, large-scale interactive digital mock-ups or videogame consoles.
- MIBBU - JavaScript game framework.
- XNA Game Studio - windows 7 and Xbox.
- Blender - 3D engine.
- CopperLicht WebGL Javascript 3d engine
- List of javascript game engines
Game Editors
- Game Creation Resources & Classic Game Links.
- Wintermute Engine Development Kit - tools for creating and running graphical games.
- Game Editor - open source game design software.
- GameMaker - free game development tool.
Further Reading
- Programming Game AI by Example Mat Buckland, Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2004
- Game Engine Architecture Jason Gregory, A K Peters, 2009