In the lecture track this week, our series on digital game design considerations continues with a look at digital game rules. That is, the designer's rules, the player's rules, and the invisible rules that permeate computer game design.
In the lab track, we continue our adventure in Game Maker software by wrapping up the scrolling shooter with a major overhaul into a 2-player game with the design of a 'Boss Monster' (Wingman Sam) and begin building The Maze Game in class (to be completed, with several original gameplay levels designed, as this week's homework).
Next week also features the second exam at the beginning of the class period. It is worth up to 15 points and covers the material from weeks 4 through 6 (including the required reading sections for those weeks on this web site).
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!
Articles: Beginning Level Design Part 1: Rules to Design By and Part 2: Rules to Design By and Parting Advice by Tim Ryan
These articles are a two-part series that covers theories behind level design and suggests a set of design rules. The intention is to aid gamers who want to design levels for pleasure or pursue a career in level design.
This supplemental link is well worth reading, particularly if you're making an analog game for your Graded Course Project Game.
Article: Better Games Through Usability Evaluation & Testing by Sauli Laitinen
The best way to make sure that unintended problems do not hinder enjoying the game is to take usability into account in game development. This article presents how this can be done and what kind of results to expect.
Article: Spore: Pre-Production through Prototyping by Eric-Jon Waugh
Maxis Senior Development Director Eric Todd offers a lesson on the value of prototyping and creating experimental models before dedicating one's self to any one approach to a software problem.
Bibliography: General Course References
