COIT23003 Games Development

3. Elaboration: Pre-visualisation

References

• Meigs, T., 2003. Ultimate Game Design: Building Game Worlds, McGraw Hill.

Why Pre-visualisation?

• To provide team members/stakeholders with a reference point as to what we want to achieve

• That reference point is not necessarily fixed – it’s a start,

• It needs to capture the “feel” of what the game is to be about

• Emphasises that game design is not software design

Objective

Create a set of artefacts that provide an overall “feel” for the game:– Base– Structural– Behavioural – mood

Base Artefacts

Sketches, photos to set the tone for the game (dark and sombre, …)

Structural Artefacts

Sketches of – Overall environment (ie maps)– interior layouts/levels (props, entries, exits)

Behavioural Artefacts

• Sketches of – Character positionings– Room flow– Interior to exterior transitions

• Scripted events (cf use cases)

Mood Artefacts

Annotations on structural/behavioural artefacts for– texture– audio– Special effects

Exercise

The artefacts described relate to a games with rich and complex environments, like adventure games. What artefacts would you consider appropriate for the previsualisation phase of a simpler environment, such as an arcade game?