Design Lab 5: Game Media   [ Monday 6pm - Rm 908]

instructor: Jonah Warren
email: jonah AT feedtank DOT com
url: http://www.feedtank.com/2005/gamemedia/

Homework 5

  1. READING.
    Read pages 85-90 and 120-125 in Rules of Play. Its not much, so its easy to do. It talks about digital games and and rules.

  2. MIDTERM GAME ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW
    For the next three weeks, you will be working on your midterm game created in GameMaker. This will count for 25-30% of your final grade.
    • DUE ON OCTOBER 24th: Concept and Game Design document (explained below). Though you concept might change, you MUST come to class with a complete concept. You will have class time to work on your game.
    • DUE ON OCTOBER 31st: Present current state of game to the class. You must at least show core mechanic. You will have class time to work on your game.
    • DUE ON NOVEMBER 7th: Final Game critique.

  3. GAME DESIGN DOCUMENT (due next week)
    • COME UP WITH A CONCEPT: Sit down and think about a concept for your game. You may (and encouraged to) start from a game or interaction that you've completed previously or come up with a completely new idea. You only have three weeks, so be realistic.
    • REVIEW YOUR CONCEPT: After you've come up with an idea, think about how much time its going to take to build. Can you finish it in two weeks? Is it too much? If so, what can you simplify? Often the simplest ideas are the best to start with. Feature creep happens naturally.
    • WRITE A GAME DESIGN DOCUMENT: See examples here. After you've decided on you game design concept, write a game design document. You game should basically describe the game in enough detail to be able to give to someone else to build. If you unsure of a given part of your game or gameplay, you may articulate this in your document. Include visual aids such as charts, diagrams, sketches or screenshots where necessary. Your document should be broken into the following sections (you may switch the order depending on your game):
      1. Overview: Just that, an overview. How would you describe your game as an overall experience? If you were to explain your game to someone in conversation, how would you do it? If there is a narrative or story behind your game, describe it here.
      2. Game Interaction / Game Play: What is the core mechanic in your game? How does the gamer interact with your game? What are the rules of this interaction? What is the goal of the game?
      3. Game Elements: What are the game elements (or game objects) that the user is interacting with? What are are the relationships between these elements? What the characteristics of each game element? What does it do?
      4. Other possibilities of sections: Game Modes, Level structure, Assets (graphics and sounds)...
    • Your document should be atleast 2-3 pages.