In the lecture track this week, our series on digital game design considerations commences with a look at feedback systems (explicit and implicit; visual, aural, accumulative, emotional, etc.) and various rewards (type, amount, and longevity) afforded to players.
In the lab track, we continue our adventure in Game Maker software by marching through The Platformer Game. This homage to Mario, Sonic, and the like is a very popular departure point for Course Projects.
The Midterm Exam is next week:
Next week features the midterm exam. It is worth 15 points and covers the lecture material from this week (including general knowledge of Game Maker), plus the above textbook chapter and the required reading sections for this week on the course web site. This will be a comprehensive exam with questions from the entire first half of this course.
The link below is the homework assignment due at the beginning of the next class session.
These links feature the supplemental material that you are responsible for knowing before the second exam (that takes place at the beginning of Week 8). Be sure to click on every link in this section!
Article: A Detailed Cross-Examination of Yesterday and Today's Best-Selling Platform Games by Daniel Boutros
This article is very deep on research and well worth studying. However, it is very lengthy, so the link above takes you straight to the last three pages, which are the conclusions. At the very least, you should read the bullet-pointed page this link goes to and you may want to soldier on through the last two pages with the author's Opinions and Closing Thoughts. Real game developers would be fascinated to read the whole article from the beginning, but only the page linked to (above) will be covered in the exam.
These supplemental link are worth investigating for more information on the subject. Adding evocative character, story, and plot to games is a highly prized design achievement worthy of your time to study further.
Article: Lost Along the Way: Design Pitfalls on the Road from Concept to Completion by Rob Irving
This is another lengthy article that is a mile deep and delves into its subject with considerable near-academic acumen. You must make it all the way to the last page entitled Losing the Player: Obstacles to Enjoying the Title, which has a great pay-off in describing interface design problems.
Bibliography: General Course References
