Feb 7, 2008: Design About todayEverybody here is a game designerWhat is game design?Two gods (according to Chris Crawford)OK, but what are you designing?Meaningful PlayGame design documents Tim Ryan: The Anatomy of a Design Document (1999)How to make gamesMark Cerny’s Method Mark Cerny & Michael John: Game Development Myth vs. Method (2002)Iterative Game DesignIteration winsA Very Short Development Cycle (20 mins). 4:15What did you try? How did it work?MIT OpenCourseWarehttp://ocw.mit.edu Game DesignCMS.608 / CMS.864 Game DesignCMS.608/CMS.864Spring 2008 For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use, visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/terms.Feb 7, 2008: DesignGame DesignCMS.608/CMS.864Jesper JuulAbout today•Meaningful play (the what)•Iterative game design (the how)•Exercise in iterative game designEverybody here is a game designer• Change rules in board games. • More money to start with in Monopoly. • Card game variations.• Change the playing field in soccer.• Pretend to be somebody else.What is game design?• About the player experience. (The player should have the fun.)• Challenging the player in a pleasurable way.• Design a thing and design an experience.• Paradoxes: Many experiences from the same fixed set of rules.Two gods (according to Chris Crawford)• Storyteller: Fly bird, fly. Blow wind, blow.• Designer of the laws of nature:Birds can fly, wind can blow, gravity. (This is game design.)OK, but what are you designing?• Good game designs results in what?Meaningful Play• Salen & Zimmerman • Meaningful play: When relation between action and outcome is discernable and integratedGame design documentsTim Ryan: The Anatomy of a Design Document (1999)• Introduction (a few lines)• Background (optional – other relevant information)• Description (describe the game to the play as “you ... experience, do etc...”)• Key features (what stands out)•Genre• Platforms• Concept art (perhaps)•!Target groupHow to make games• 1977 – ca. 1990: Just start coding• 1990 – ca. 2002: Design document up front• 2002 – present: Prototype and iterateMark Cerny’s MethodMark Cerny & Michael John: Game Development Myth vs. Method (2002)Myths:1.Scheduling is possible2.Don’t throw out good work3.Milestones4.Alpha = first playable5.Killing a project is bad6.The bigger the design document, the better7.The consumer is kingImage removed due to copyright restrictions. Please see Cerny, Mark, and John, Michael. “Game Development Myth vs. Method.” Game Developer 9 (June 2002): 32-36.Iterative Game DesignZimmerman: Play as Research1. Come up with a basic idea. 2. Implement a prototype that demonstrates the idea.3. Playtest it. 4. Revise.5. RepeatIteration winsImages removed due to copyright restrictions. Please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gow-cogs.jpgand Bleszinski, Cliff. “Designing GEARS OF WAR: Iteration Wins.” San Francisco, CA: Game Developers Conference, 2007.A Very Short Development Cycle (20 mins). 4:151. Start with Rock Paper Scissors2. Play it3. Make changes4. Repeat at least 3 times.• What did you try? How did it work?What did you try? How did it
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