Week 11 ( The elements of Game Design - Gameplay)

What are the game design elements that make up a really good game? Of course, there is no definitive answer to such a question. Nonetheless, as a game designer you will be expected to intuitively know exactly what the answer is. Understanding game design, as with any art form, is very much an internalized understanding, a "gut" reaction, a "feeling" you might have. It may be that you will not be able to form that answer into words, but you will need to understand what aspects of a game are strong and which are weak, and how the latter can be replaced with more of the former. Experience plays a big part in understanding what makes a game fun, experience both as a game designer and as a game player.Gameplay includes all player experiences during the interaction with game systems; the term "gameplay" in video game terminology is used to describe the overall experience of playing the game excluding the factors of graphics, sound, and the storyline

Week 10 (Game Character Development)

As games continue to mature and become more sophisticated, the expectations for production values become higher. These production values include graphics, music, and story. Story is the result of character development: what happens to the characters as events transpire around them.

Character development in and of itself isn't going to make your gameplay any better, but it will create a more satisfying experience because you're furnishing a more well-developed context, a more immersive world for the player to explore.

You can't read a review of an adventure game or shooter without seeing some kind of reference to the storytelling, the dialogue, the characters. Can you relate to the characters? Are they well-developed? Are they interesting? It's become an expectation, an industry norm.

So these well-developed characters will engage the audience and immerse the player in a well-developed fantasy world. These techniques are applicable to a wide variety of games. In all cases, we are creating a fantasy world that the player can discover and explore. That illusion can be shattered by uninspired writing and character development.

The final reason to consider character development during the development of games is that these characters can become iconic represenations of a brand. There are numerous characters whose very names are synonymous with their respective franchises, such as Master Chief and Samus Aran.

Biography: Write a detailed background for the characters. Does he have family, friends, a hidden secret? What kind of trouble does he get into? What does he like or hate about himself?Player Identification

Week 9: (An introduction to Game Technology)

This task covers topics from abstract research on games to applied technology for commercial video game production. It aims to appeal to academic researchers and game developers, as well as those who fall somewhere in between.
Video game design and production is a fast paced, hit-driven, technology-based field. Hardware used in game consoles and personal computers continues to improve, getting faster and cheaper at a dizzying pace. Video game developers start each new project with increased computational resources, and a long list of cool features they would like to incorporate. Since they normally work on very tight production schedules, they have little or no time to experiment with untested technology. Results from recent research help to bridge that gap.

Researchers, working largely in academia and occasionally in industry, are motivated by exploring new technology. To be published, research must be novel: either a completely new idea or a significant improvement on an old idea. Commercial game development can provide a rich stream of "...it would be nice if..." ideas which can inspire new research projects. This focus on novelty in the research world contrasts with the commercial world. There, while novelty is good, what really matters is an enjoyable, engaging experience. A sequel can be a hit while a strikingly original game may not.