Anyone in the computer game development team (this role is usually played by the planner) will be pregnant with the birth of new games as long as he has new ideas or ideas. After full discussion, plus accurate judgment of interesting operation process and prediction of marketing feasibility, this idea can produce a complete planning scheme. After full discussion, the planner must express the key points of the discussion in words, that is, put forward a complete planning scheme, which can be approved by the decision makers before entering the next step. This plan is just like the script of a movie. It must completely cover the story, process, content, mode, game screen, role modeling, scene planning, artificial intelligence, hardware equipment, market evaluation and so on. The detailed description and execution plan of the whole game process should be recorded. After entering the creative process, the planner must keep in touch with graphic designers and programmers at any time to avoid the game program getting out of control. Planning should be able to understand the content and spirit of the game, communicate with each group in time, and control the whole process of game production.
2. The basic theory of game design
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To design a game, we must first determine several important principles. One is what kind of game you want to design, the other is the background of the times, the third is the mode, the fourth is the programming technology, the fifth is the expression technique, the sixth is the market positioning, and the seventh is the research and development time. After mastering the above seven principles, you can make detailed planning contents and allocate resources. So what are the seven principles? The author illustrates with examples!
I. Type:
The so-called genre refers to a game mode that this game focuses on, and players can achieve the purpose of entertainment through this mode. This game mode has proper nouns to be named separately, as follows:
(1) RGP role-playing:
This kind of game helps players integrate into the world where the protagonist exists through story traction. Most of these games complete the plot route laid by the designer step by step through the way of fighting upgrade system and character dialogue. The most representative works are Space Warrior Series designed by Japanese Squawell and Legend of the Sword and the Chivalrous Man designed by Daewoo Information in China. Of course, many works such as Fantasy Legend are among the best.
Among the types of RGP, several similar types have branched off in recent years. For example, Dirblo by Blizzard is positioned as "action RPG" because of its high action content, while Legend of Magic and the legend of heroes in Time and Space are positioned as "strategic RPG" because of their high proportion of strategic components, which is different from traditional RPG.
(2) SLG strategy:
When it comes to strategic games, what everyone is most familiar with is the "Three Series" produced by Japan Glory Company. KOEI's "The History of the Three Kingdoms" is popular in East Asia, and the evolution of one generation to the present six generations is talked about by players. The so-called strategy game is to win the ultimate goal of the game through three means: management → war → territorial expansion. Generally speaking, there are few dynamic components, and the most emphasis is on games that consume brains. However, since Ximu's new strategy game Dune Magic Castle came out, the strategy game has also been divided into two parts: one is the turn-based strategy game represented by KOEI, and the other is the real-time strategy game represented by C & World of Warcraft represented by C and Blizzard represented by Ximu. Unlike turn-based games, real-time systems give players more opportunities to interact with computers and consume less brain power. The way is construction → production → attack → annihilation. There is a quip in the industry that says: "Playing turn-based games is like being a general (head of state), strategizing and winning thousands of miles away.
(3) Action:
In fact, the so-called action game depends entirely on the player's reaction. Well-known ones, such as Doom, Tomb Raider, Hammer of Thor II, etc. , also branched into quite a few types in action games. For example, the final battle and Tiequan III are defined as battle types. The main game mode is that two or four people fight each other until the outcome is decided, while Doom Warrior and Tomb Raider are positioned as 3D action adventure games, the main purpose of which is to kill the enemy and break through the customs. Another example is Abby's escape and black heart, which is positioned as a horizontal scroll game. The game mode is to experience a series of levels through attacks and jumps, and the performance mode is mostly 2D scrolling. Another example is flying dragon knight and extreme crazy shooting, which are defined as action shooting games. The game mode is to dodge shooting and destroy the demon guardian through the network of fire. These branches have the same characteristics but are different, which is also an important reason why action games are attractive.
(4) PZL puzzle:
This kind of game takes interesting thinking as the main axis of the game, and the content can be all-inclusive. Thinking patterns can also focus on physical and logical directions. The representative ones are Taiwan Province Sixteen Mahjong, Monopoly and Cang Fan with Daewoo information, while the chessboard thinking mode is famous for its spectral information such as China's Decisive Chess and Gobang Master. These games are easy for men, women and children to learn and enjoy.
⑤ADV Adventures:
The connotation of adventure games is mostly inseparable from the elements of solving puzzles, yes! This kind of game allows players to find out the hidden mystery behind the game, so as to successfully complete the game. Representative works include Evil Castle, Alien Search, Ghost, etc. This kind of game is older and not suitable for domestic manufacturers to develop.
When you conceive a new game plan, you should think about the type of meaning in advance, and then make the next plan. Generally speaking, the type of RPG role-playing is the most accepted in the domestic market, which is why domestic manufacturers will make great efforts to develop RPG-type games.
Second, the background of the times:
It is a very important policy for game art, because determining the background of an era means whether it is convenient to search for information and the examples that artists need to rely on when making shapes; For the domestic market, most people can accept the ancient background of China. There are basically several times. For example, Xilin's red alert framework is the future around 2000, while Warcraft is set in illusory medieval Europe, the Three Kingdoms is set in the late Han Dynasty, Xinghai is set in the outer space world, and Xuanyuanjian is set in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
The background of the times must have been decided by the planner when he planned the whole game in the first stage, so that artists can collect information with confidence.
Third, the mode:
After deciding the genre and background of the times, you will begin to conceive the mode to be presented in the game. For example, suppose your background is set in ancient China, and the genre is set as real-time strategy. At this time, you must think about the trend of the game content and the factors that your game may need to produce. What is this factor? It can be grain, minerals and wood, and it can also be volcanic energy, oil, solar energy or natural gas. Do the project according to the needs of your story. In terms of combat mode, the mode you design may take into account terrain factors, weather factors and resource factors, and will be widely used in various tactics and attack methods. Because of this, there are many games of the same type, but the modes have their own characteristics and the game routes are also biased. They also gathered their own supporters, which is the importance of a mode setting. Remember never to copy the pattern set by others, because in this way, when the game you designed is finished, the sharp-eyed players will abandon your products on the grounds of copying outdated, which will not last long in this highly competitive domestic market.
Four, program technology:
No matter how well you think about a game and how huge the architecture is, if the programmer's own skills can't match, in fact, everything is still empty talk, so you must consult the programmer before designing a game. In this environment, not only programmers need to know the related technologies of Windows98 and Wi-Wi-windows NT, but also a complete system analysis and system planning is essential. This can avoid unexpected mistakes in the program, and in a game design, it is best to have two programmers working, one is responsible for the internal program (the game core engine) and the other is responsible for the external program (the interface program), so as to fight a complete battle.
Verb (abbreviation of verb) expression skills;
In this link, planners, programmers and artists should have perfect communication and discussion. Generally, we know that most computer games are 256-color systems, and these games have quite strict requirements for the control of the color wheel. In order to achieve the best visual effect, artists usually ask programmers for resources of multiple color wheels, and programmers will consider the switching situation and whether the memory configuration can be completely sufficient. After the problems in the system are determined, the planner will put forward suggestions for presenting the effects, such as the expression of the explosion effect, the intense flame that expands from the inside out to disappear or the combustion type that contains a lot of smoke. This should be defined by the planner according to the content of the story, and at the same time give the artist a suggestion with physical logic, and then the artist will draw it.
Another example is "Red Alert by C & ampC" and "Ago Empire Century Empire", which shows that the coast of Ago Empire Century Empire is static, and the sea water will not flow, at most, only fish will jump in the middle of the sea, while the coastal expression of "Red Alert" by C & ampC will flow, but there is nothing special in the sea. These two expressions have their own merits, but the author still prefers "the red alert of C & ampc"
The expression of game content is usually accompanied by the differences between the same type of games and has different evaluations and supporters, not only the expression of artistic effects, but also the game play conceived by the planner and the program performance of the programmer.
Market orientation of intransitive verbs;
No matter how good your game creativity is, if you don't clearly locate your own market trend, the finished game software may encounter the embarrassment of poor sales, so before designing the game, you need to know where your target group is, and you can make a reference for market positioning from the following table:
Types and contents suitable for the education level of all age groups
7~ 12-year-old elementary school movements and puzzles are interesting and enlightening.
13~ 18-year-old junior high school students' movements, puzzles, more thoughtful and exquisite graphics, role-playing and strategic reflection.
/kloc-over 0/9 years old, low level of knowledge, smart, violent, adventurous, interesting and easy to operate.
19~30 years old, college degree or above, role-playing and strategy are full of diverse thinking, which can allude to weeks, adventures, simulations, encounters, puzzles and creative sports.
Seven, research and development time:
This is the last project planned by the planner in the early stage. According to the above production policy, you must arrange a complete schedule for artists and programmers, and judge the release time from this schedule. From the planning point of view, in order to prevent good ideas from being launched by other game companies first, and to avoid the outdated model after the launch, from the cost control point of view, it is best to develop a game within one year, at most not exceeding 18 months.
Suppose you spent a year planning this game, then you should distinguish between the time of art production (first-line) and the time of program production (second-line), and also consider the time when the trial version goes online and the game is completed, so as to make the game famous at the right time and lay a business opportunity for the game sales.
production process
If the production of a game cannot completely control the whole operation process, there is a danger of delay. Everyone knows how much the delay of game software will affect sales, so how to avoid de-lay as much as possible is something that every game designer should try to avoid. The most important thing to avoid the delay of game development and operation is to strictly control the operation process and progress.
So what is the game making process like? First of all, the planner should work out a planning outline one month before production, collect available resources, and implement it after being confirmed by programmers and artists. We use a real-time strategy game to illustrate that when making a phased program, the programmer will devote himself to writing the map editor, and the logical settings of the map editor will be planned in advance by the planner, and then the programmer will write the program according to the planner's plan.
At the same time, artists began to cooperate. Generally, a game working group will have four artists, who are responsible for making four parts: appearance, character action, interface and map. However, this rough division method is often adopted by domestic game companies. In foreign countries, art design is divided into nine parts: modeling, character action, interface, texture, title, editing, post-production lens and scene, and each part is possible. There are also producers who control the style and level of execution. These people are unified by the post-production staff to communicate with the programmers on drawing submission and drawing modification, so the success or failure of post-production artists is really related to the quality of the whole game.
Because programmers need to use some pixels to test when designing a map editor, map pixel designers should draw the pixels that programmers need first, and then they can enter the mass production stage after the programmers pass the test. Because the designers of map editors are mostly directly responsible for the production of game engines, in the early stage, planners began to describe the logical judgment of artificial intelligence AI in detail. It is expected that programmers can write AI immediately after writing the map editor. At the same time, programmers in charge of interface writing will work closely with artists in charge of interface design to start making various interfaces, because the interface is not only the operation panel that the owner controls the whole game, but also the appearance of the game. An innovative and excellent interface is very popular among players. When testing the map editor, programmers also need to use moving objects (people) to test the obstacle judgment and shortest path search method on the map. Therefore, to design a role action artist, we must first do a set of role actions for programmers to test. After the programmer completes the map editor, the artist who designs the role action only needs to keep doing it and give the picture to the programmer.