Game Developer - August_2010.pdf

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IF I SHOULD DIE TODAY
AN ÉRIC CHAHI INTERVIEW
Create animated 3D interfaces using Scaleform GFx 3.2
CONTENTS.0810
VOLUME 17 NUMBER 7
POSTMORTEM
20 ACCESS GAMES’ DEADLY PREMONITION
Access Games’
D
EADLY
P
REMONITION
had a long and difficult
development period that was beset by technical problems. The game
was dragged from the precipice of cancellation several times and
ultimately persevered to become an underground hit. In this candid
postmortem, the staff of Access Games describes how a passionate
commitment to their game saw them through the production’s highs
and many lows.
By SWERY and the staff of Access Games
F E AT U R E S
7
D E PA R T M E N T S
2
4
GAME PLAN
By Brandon Sheffield
Constrained Design
[EDITORIAL]
HEADS UP DISPLAY
The link between review scores and sales, the Indie Fund,
Fantastic Fest game festival, and more.
TOOL BOX
By Matthew Burns
Unity Technologies' Unity Pro 3
THE INNER PRODUCT
By Colin Crenshaw
Downloadable Hero
PIXEL PUSHER
By Steve Theodore
Trust Me
DESIGN OF THE TIMES
By Damion Schubert
The Casual/Hardcore Continuum
[NEWS]
MAKE IT FAST!
Developing a social game in less than two months presents a
challenge, but only after it is launched does the real work start. In an
inside look at Zynga’s development process, Amitt Mahajan describes
how the studio uses a client-server model in order to quickly tune
play mechanics, add content to games, and stay on top of the
evolving Facebook platform.
By Amitt Mahajan
34
37
41
44
46
[REVIEW]
[PROGRAMMING]
[ART]
13
FINDING PERSONALITY IN GAMES
Designing characters that players will take to heart is a tricky
business. It may seem easy; simply dress them in primary colors
and slap on some attitude, but for every Sonic or Mega Man there are
countless Busby’s thrown into the dust bin of video game history.
Twisted Pixel’s Josh Bear looks beyond visual design and finds the
keys to creating appealing characters in the complex intersection of
animation, audio, gameplay, and environment.
By Josh Bear
[DESIGN]
EYE ON GDC
By Staff
[EDUC ATION]
GDC board members announced and the Developer's
Choice Awards.
AURAL FIXATION
By Jesse Harlin
Tools of the Trade
GOOD JOB!
By Brandon Sheffield
Dan Teasdale Q&A, new studios, and who went where.
EDUCATED PLAY
By Jeffrey Fleming
Team 3's
G
EAR
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
By Matthew Wasteland
A Day in the Life of an Email Alias
[SOUND]
47
48
51
56
29 INTERVIEW: ÉRIC CHAHI
After years in self-imposed exile from the game industry,
A
NOTHER
W
ORLD
creator Éric Chahi has returned. Far from idle, Chahi spent much
of the past decade on such diverse pursuits as volcano exploration
and writing complex music synthesis software. These non-game
experiences have had a deep influence on his design thinking and in
this interview he describes how witnessing the volcanic processes
of the Earth first-hand led to his upcoming
P
ROJECT
DUST.
By Brandon
Sheffield and Chris Remo
[CAREER]
[EDUC ATION]
[HUMOR]
COVER ART: ACCESS GAMES AND JOSEPH MITCH
WWW.GDMAG.COM
1
GAME PLAN
//
BRANDON SHEFFIELD
www.gdmag.com
600 Harrison St., 6th Fl.,
San Francisco, CA 94107
t:
415.947.6000
f:
415.947.6090
CONSTRAINED
HEADLINE
DESIGN
DEK
THE SIMPLER THE GAME, THE MORE IMPORTANT YOUR DESIGN DECISIONS BECOME
AROUND CHRISTMAS HERE IN
the office, a coworker was given
a very simple LCD game as a
joke. The game was
S
UPER
R
ACING
from Techno Source, and as we
kept it on a divider between
our cubicles, the staff of
Game
Developer
and Gamasutra wound
up playing it more than any other
game we have in the office.
Why would this be? There are
a few reasons that are beyond
the scope of the game itself. First,
its simplicity is inviting—we can
play it while having conversations
about our plan of attack for the
day, or simply to take a break
from work, and it’s a very low
time and mental investment.
This has obvious parallels to
casual and social games, which
have low barriers to entry,
simple mechanics, and (in some
cases) almost no consequence
for failure.
Obviously the game is not an
amazing world-changing piece
of software, but more than the
fact that it’s easy and available,
the game’s simple design does a
good job of reminding us of the
importance of each decision we
make when developing a game.
there is a set placement for the
icons or dots (what we might call
sprites in a traditional game),
which can simply be on or off.
In
S
UPER
R
ACING
, the background
is a road, and approaching cars
are indicated by larger and larger
identical vehicles that simulate
increased proximity. Here’s
where the first critical design
choice comes in—the road is
curved, and all the cars are
drawn with some perspective,
which helps tremendously with
the sense of motion, compared
to the straight-on perspective of
many LCD racers.
Then, as a step to distinguish
your car from the others (which
are all drawn the same way),
other cars never pass into your
horizontal space, so it’s more
like you’re aiming your vehicle
into open spaces than actually
passing cars in real time. The
final piece of the puzzle is that
the pattern has a degree of
randomization, so there’s always
at least one space for your car,
but you pretty much never play
the same wave twice.
And that’s it! There are
a few more flourishes, like
beeps for feedback when the
cars advance, and a visual
hit state if you’re struck by
another vehicle, and of course
the necessity for responsive
control, but that’s by and large
all standard stuff. The game
proves that with a combination
of a few smartly-realized
elements, you can turn even the
most simplistic of interactions
into something enjoyable.
game work versus other similar
products was a good reminder of
what’s important in game design.
At this scale, basic elements
of art, gameplay, and systems
design can have a huge impact on
fun—and so too in casual games
and the social space.
PopCap’s
B
EJEWELED
, for
instance, has had countless
match-three imitators, but none
have achieved the former’s
success.
B
EJEWELED
wasn’t the
first game to use the matching
of three or more items as a
main gameplay feature, but it
succeeded because of its polish
and attention to small details,
from the physics of the jewels,
to the satisfying sounds, to the
visually uncluttered interface
and large, colorful graphics.
Without that focus on minutiae,
it would’ve been just another
puzzle game.
These lessons can be
extended throughout game
development. It’s obvious that
polish helps a game, and that
critical design choices work best
when finalized early. But when you
look at it on the scale of an LCD
game, a social game, or a casual
game, you begin to appreciate the
gravity of each choice.
Applying these lessons
to create a game of similar
constraints, or even simply
paper prototyping an idea seems
like a good exercise to help you
refocus on what’s important,
and in fact got me unstuck in a
recent project of my own. And it
turns out that stepping back and
analyzing what makes games
fun, even something as simple
as
S
UPER
R
ACING
, can be a real
help in terms of getting your
priorities straight. So break out
your favorite Game & Watch and
get on with the analysis!
—Brandon Sheffield
SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES
FOR INFORMATION, ORDER QUESTIONS, AND
ADDRESS CHANGES
t:
800.250.2429
f:
847.763.9606
e:
gamedeveloper@halldata.com
FOR DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
www.gdmag.com/digital
EDITORIAL
PUBLISHER
Simon Carless
l
scarless@gdmag.com
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Brandon Sheffield
l
bsheffield@gdmag.com
PRODUCTION EDITOR
ART DIRECTOR
Jeffrey Fleming
l
jfleming@gdmag.com
Joseph Mitch
l
jmitch@gdmag.com
PRODUCTION INTERN
Tom Curtis
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Jesse Harlin
Steve Theodore
Daniel Nelson
Soren Johnson
Damion Schubert
ADVISORY BOARD
Hal Barwood
Designer-at-Large
Mick West
Independent
Brad Bulkley
Neversoft
Clinton Keith
Independent
Brenda Brathwaite
Independent
Bijan Forutanpour
Sony Online Entertainment
Mark DeLoura
Google
Carey Chico
Independent
ADVERTISING SALES
GLOBAL SALES DIRECTOR
Aaron Murawski
e:
amurawski@think-services.com
t:
415.947.6227
MEDIA ACCOUNT MANAGER
John Malik Watson
e:
jmwatson@think-services.com
t:
415.947.6224
GLOBAL ACCOUNT MANAGER, RECRUITMENT
Gina Gross
e:
ggross@think-services.com
t:
415.947.6241
GLOBAL ACCOUNT MANAGER, EDUCATION
Rafael Vallin
e:
rvallin@think-services.com
t:
415.947.6223
ADVERTISING PRODUCTION
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Pete C. Scibilia
e:
peter.scibilia@ubm.com
t:
516-562-5134
REPRINTS
WRIGHT'S MEDIA
Ryan Pratt
e:
rpratt@wrightsreprints.com
t:
877.652.5295
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
TYSON ASSOCIATES
Elaine Tyson
HOW IT PLAYS
»
The aim is to race down a
track, avoiding (or passing)
all other cars along the way.
Your car can absorb three hits
before it’s game over, and there
are three waves, each with
increasing speed. All you can do
is move right and left. So why is
this fun? That’s where some very
simple design and art choices
help to elevate this game above
the rest (we’ve since tried other
LCD games here, and most are
nowhere near as good).
LCD games usually play on
a static field with an image, or
no on background at all, and
2
e:
Elaine@Tysonassociates.com
LIST RENTAL
Merit Direct LLC
t:
914.368.1000
MARKETING
MARKETING SPECIALIST
Mellisa Andrade
e:
mandrade@think-services.com
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
»
This may all sound silly,
but the fewer game elements
you have, the more important
each one becomes, and for
me, dissecting what made this
GAME DEVELOPER | AUGUST 2010
WWW.UBM.COM
Power up your game with advanced pathfinding and
movement – done by the experts.
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