- Designed core game graphics (Illustrator skills)
- Completed game functionality (beginner level AS2 coders)
- Discussed the principles of games design and what makes an effective game
- Impact of games on society and the role of the designer
Activity #1 - Visit the Disney - Cars 2 website and play the World Grand Prix Races game
Discussion: What more do you need to learn if you were to design an industry quality flash game like the Cars racing game?
What are you going to learn today?
- Rules of interface design and why they are important
- How these rules are applied to games design
- Look at your assessment task on Moodle
Discussion: Assessment - HUD for Game
Who are we designing for?
Discussion - Target Audience and User Characteristics (example - Cars 2 game)
Activity #2 - Identify target audience and user characteristics of your own game. Post answers on your blog.
- computer/internet literacy
- demographics, such as:
- age
- gender
- education
- occupation
- cultural background
- location
- hobbies/interests
- language, literacy and numeracy
What game are we designing?
Discussion - What different screens/states would you expect in a game?
- Start up screen
- Instructions
- Mission Brief
- Different Levels (Predetermined or Random in nature)
- Level Select
- End (Fail/Success)
- Restart/Respawn
- Final Score/ Top Scores
- Help set up your frame markers
- Keep you on track and goal focussed (time management)
- Other team members of large projects ('information architecture')
- Game equivalent of video storyboard
- "Wisdom is knowing how little we know" – Socrates
Avoiding Gamer Frustration!
Demonstration - Watch the following video - '10 Usability Heuristics - by Jakob Nielsen'
Discussion - 10 Usability Heuristics (Jakob Nielsen - usability guru)
- Visibility of System Status (What is going on) - Visually confirm input/loading/output
- Match between system and the real world (What are you talking about?) - Familiar language & concepts
- User Control & Freedom (Oops) - Take me back to where I should be (menu)
- Consistency & Standards (I know that) - Function keys
- Error Prevention (Glad I didn't do that) - Barriers
- Recognition or Recall (Or what was that already?) - Maps, Clues
- Flexibility, and efficiency of use (It doesn't matter if you're an expert or a newbie) - Shortcuts
- Aesthetic & Minimalist design (Wow...and woah!) - No clutter, efficient design
- Help users recognise, diagnose and recover from errors (My bad) - Wrong way, go back!
- Help & Documentation (Now I get it) - Instructions
Activity #4 - Post an example of games design on your blog that demonstrates your understanding of each of the '10 Usability Heuristics'. Response should be no more than 1-2 sentences. (eg #1. Gun fire is confirmed by shells and appropriate sound effect)
What is a HUD?
Discussion - What is a Heads-Up-Display (HUD)? What makes a HUD effective? Pros and Cons?
Examples of HUDs -
Call of Duty
Resource: http://www.neoseeker.com
Time Crisis
Resource: http://www.gamershell.com/
Creating a start-up screen for your game.
Increase game interest and user satisfaction by incorporating the following in your game:
Atari 2600: Punchy! vs Asteroids (Real game graphics vs Illustration)
Discussion - What is a Heads-Up-Display (HUD)? What makes a HUD effective? Pros and Cons?
Examples of HUDs -
Call of Duty
Time Crisis
Creating a start-up screen for your game.
Increase game interest and user satisfaction by incorporating the following in your game:
- meaning/message
- theme
- tone
- consistent colour combinations
Start-up screens should be well illustrated or include photographic elements. Do not include actual game graphics unless they are detailed and aesthetically pleasing.
Discussion:
Atari 2600: Raiders of the Lost Ark (How to promote your game)
Resource: http://www.atariguide.com
Recent designs - Call of Duty: Create a strong themed interface
Resource: http://www.mobygames.com/
Summary
Game design is a complex task that requires planning and much consideration of who the audience is and how are they likely to behave. Not only do we need to make interesting game characters and have a sound idea for our game, we also need to an aesthetically pleasing, and user-friendly interface design for the game to be successful.
Further Reading:
Case Study - A Look Through 14 Beautiful Video Game HUD Designs
Advanced Concepts - Beyond the HUD - User Interfaces for Increased Player Immersion in FPS Games
Next Lesson:
Summary
Game design is a complex task that requires planning and much consideration of who the audience is and how are they likely to behave. Not only do we need to make interesting game characters and have a sound idea for our game, we also need to an aesthetically pleasing, and user-friendly interface design for the game to be successful.
Further Reading:
Case Study - A Look Through 14 Beautiful Video Game HUD Designs
Advanced Concepts - Beyond the HUD - User Interfaces for Increased Player Immersion in FPS Games
Next Lesson:
- Create an online survey to document user interface testing
- Interface design for web
