Principles and conventions of interactive media and game design

 

Visual style of the game relates to the design of its world, main character, non-playable characters, feedback interface, perspectives and full motion video. Quality graphics are very important as they make the game more appealing to the user. The world of the game consists of terrain, architecture and objects. Different examples of terrain would be grass, mud, sand, water and tarmac. It is a landscape where the player moves over. Architecture includes different designs of buildings, monuments and structures within the game. Objects are all the items within the game that the main playable character or non-playable character (NPC) can interact with. It would be a flower, weapon or road sign. All of the game world elements have to match the same visual style. The main character or protagonist is any character within the game that can be controlled by the player. Non-playable character cannot be controlled by the player. They are incidental characters that create more realism in the game. Antagonist is an enemy within the game that struggle against or compete with the main character. Their visual style is equally important and contributes to the success of the game. Feedback interface gives information about the player’s current status or progress within the game. It would be the score which gives information about the player’s progress or mini map which communicates the place of the player within the game. Perspective is very important element of the designing process of the game. This is the view the player has of the game world which can be two or three dimensional. 2D perspective can also be called a scrolling view where images are sliding horizontally or vertically across a monitor or display. First-person refers to the graphical perspective rendered from the viewpoint of the playable character. It simulates the player presence in the real or imaginary worlds.  Third-person refers to the graphical perspective rendered from a fixed distance behind or in front of the main character. This viewpoint allows the player to see precisely the protagonist of the game. Aerial viewpoint shows the player the game world from the above. Full motion video (FMV) is a pre-recorded animation which shows the action in the game. For example, the animation in Angry Birds shows to the player how to kill pigs using angry birds.

 

Gameplay is a connection between the player and the game. It defines the pattern of player’s interaction with the game. There are two different ways of interaction models in the game: avatar and omnipresence. The first model, avatar, is when the player is presented as the main character in the game. This model focuses on how the protagonist is controlled by the player and moves through the world. The second model, omnipresence, is when the player controls the whole army of characters or to be a God like. It gives the player the ability to be everywhere at the same time. Single player mode allows the player to play against the artificial intelligence of NPCs. This is the simplest mode. Multi player mode is when two or more players play together or against each other. Massive multi player online games allow a great number of people to play around the world. Narrative in the game can be presented by the graphics, text, audio, video and feedback. It tells the story of the game which is a non-linear narrative controlled by the player. When designing the game, game settings such as temporal, physical, environmental, emotional and ethical have to be taken into consideration. Physical setting refers to how the player will interact with the game. Temporal setting could be a background sound as a result of the player action. Environmental setting includes any weather condition which enhances the overall experience of the player. It has to represent the weather change as realistic as possible. Emotional setting dictates players’ emotions within the game. The designer has to take the targeted emotions into consideration and set a proper atmosphere in the game. Ethical setting includes game content which depends on the targeted audience. Mini tasks such as goals, challenges and rewards are very important for a success of a game. Challenges are built on goals. Rewards can give the player extra points or life. These mini tasks enhance the experience of the player. Rules and mechanics in the game have to be considered in advance by the designer. Thus, the game will be programmed correctly and will correspond correctly to complex interactions. The balance of the game has to be set correctly so that it is not too easy or too difficult. The player has to build its skills on easier levels of the game. Feedback is part of the feedback interface which gives different information about the player’s performance within the game. It could be a text based or video based information which reacts to the player’s actions. A flowchart gives structured information of how different game elements interact between each other. Fun and exciting design can make one game successful as well as the immersion experience which involves the player into its virtual world.

 

Game genres are based on the gameplay interaction rather than on the visual style of the game. There are different genres such as action, adventure, role-playing, puzzle and simulation.

 

There are different game platforms such as desktop computer, mobile device, television, console and online. Porting is the process of adapting an application, game, to a different computing environment. The lower the cost of porting a game to a different platform than writing it from scratch, the more portable it is said to be. The difficulty of portability depends on the differences between the two platforms and the software language they are written on. If the original authors of the game are familiar with both programming languages of the two platforms, the porting process will not be difficult. A game engine is a system of creating and developing a video game. It incorporates a software framework which helps to create the video game for different platforms. It, also, incorporates rendering engines for 2D and 3D graphics, physics engines, collision detection, animation, sound, scripting, networking etc. Unity is across-platform game engine software which is primary used for developing mobile and web games. Often, the same game engines are reused in order to create different games or to make the porting process easier.