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Eight Rules For Making Your First Great GameNick Prühs
About Me
“Best Bachelor“ Computer ScienceKiel University, 2009
Master GamesHamburg University of AppliedSciences, 2011
Lead ProgrammerDaedalic Entertainment, 2011-2012
Co-Founderslash games, 2013-2016
Technical DirectorDaedalic Entertainment, 2016
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Diversity of Games
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Diversity of Games
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Diversity of Games
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Diversity of Games
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Diversity of Games
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Diversity of Games
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Game Development
“Games are insanely complex.”
- Warren Spector
Rule 1
Make testing as easy as possible!
Make testing easy!
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At the beginning of Campus Buddies, Christian had the idea of creating
a debug web page containing links for several debug functions
creating and logging in a test user
adding points for the current user
unlocking achievements
and many, many more
Make testing easy!
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Make testing easy!
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This was arguably the best idea we had throughout the project.
Make testing easy!
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• Debugging can be a pain in the ass
especially when network communication is involved
• Our debug page saved us lots of blood, sweat and tears
• The earlier you set up your debugging tools, the more you’ll benefit
from them
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Rule 2
Deploy often!
Deploy often!
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Creating a new version can involve a step or two:
Accessing source controlo Syncing working copy
o Creating tags
Writing version numbers
Performing the actual build
Packaging the build result
Publishing the game on a build page
Running unit tests
Sending email notifications
Deploy often!
You wouldn’t wanna do all that by hand.
Every time.
Do you?
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Deploy often!
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Rule 3
Use a bullet-proof, feature-based
project structure!
Bad Example
• Assets
EMHQo Data
– Icons
– Images
– Sprites
– Textures
o Resources– Icons
o UI– Common
» Sprites
EMHQ_gfx_exporto Textures
GUIo Assets
– Images
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Bad Example
• Assets
EMHQo Data
– Icons
– Images
– Sprites
– Textures
o Resources– Icons
o UI– Common
» Sprites
EMHQ_gfx_exporto Textures
GUIo Assets
– Images
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Bonus Objective:
- Find the icon for the Main Menu button.
Bad Example
• Assets
EMHQo Data
– Icons
– Images
– Sprites
– Textures
o Resources– Icons
o UI– Common
» Sprites
– Base» HUD
• Sprites EMHQ_gfx_export
o Textures
GUIo Assets
– Images
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Bonus Objective:
- Find the icon for the Main Menu button.
Feature Folders
• Project Root
FingerGestures
FreudBot
HOTween
NGUI
NData
Unity Test Tools
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Feature Folders
• Project Root
FingerGestures
FreudBoto Animations
o Atlases
o Fonts
o Localization
o Prefabs
o Scenes
o Sounds
o Sprites
o Scripts
HOTween
NGUI
NData
Unity Test Tools
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Feature Folders
• Project Root
FreudBoto Scripts
– Ads
– Analytics
– Comics
– Core
– Debug
– Dialogue
– IAP
– Mobile
– Progression
– Sound
– UI
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Feature Folders
• Project Root
FreudBot
o Scripts
– Ads» Components
» Events
» Systems
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Feature Folders
This way, features and plugins can easily be updated
or removed without having to scan the full project
tree.
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Rule 4
Listen to your players!
Analytics
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Analytics
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Analytics
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This is okay. (Endboss)
Analytics
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This is not. (Intermediate level)
Rule 5
Fix bugs immediately!
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Why you should always start debugging immediately
Why you should always start debugging immediately
• Code entropy says your code will get worse, all the time, unless you
actively invest in preventing that
• Broken windows theory says the worse your code is, the worse it will
become
• Tracking down bugs is harder in a larger code base
• Tracking down bugs is harder in a buggy code base
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Code Quality Tools
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Code Quality Tools
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Code Quality Tools
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/// <summary>
/// Attaches the passed component to the entity with the specified id.
/// Note that this manager does not check whether the specified id is valid.
/// </summary>
/// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException">
/// Passed component is null.
/// </exception>
/// <exception cref="InvalidOperationException">
/// There is already a component of the same type attached.
/// </exception>
public void AddComponent(int entityId, IEntityComponent component)
{
if (component == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException("component");
}
if (this.components.ContainsKey(entityId))
{
throw new InvalidOperationException(
"There is already a component of type " + component.GetType() + " attached to entity with id "
+ entityId + ".");
}
this.components.Add(entityId, component);
this.OnComponentAdded(entityId, component);
}
Divide-and-conquer
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Divide-and-conquer
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Divide-and-conquer
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Divide-and-conquer
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Divide-and-conquer
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Divide-and-conquer
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Logging
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On-Screen
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Pair Programming
48 / 12Source: University of Utah, UIT
And if nothings helps …
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And if nothings helps …
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Try again tomorrow!
Some are really nasty …
• Remote systems
• Race conditions
• Mobile development, embedded systems, drivers
• “Release Mode only” bugs
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Quoting My Tutor
“If the bug is not where you expect it to be,
you better start looking for it where you’re not expecting it to be.”
- Hagen Peters
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You need a repro. Period.
How can you be sure you’ve fixed it?
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Rule 6
Gameplay first!
Gameplay First
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Erich Schaefer. Postmortem: Blizzard's Diablo II. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131533/postmortem_blizzards
_diablo_ii.php
“First, we make the game playable as soon as possiblein the development process. Our initial priority was toget a guy moving around on the screen and hackingmonsters. This is what players would be doing most ofthe time, and it had to be fun.”
Rule 7
Learn from others!
Because you wouldn't use a screwdriver on a nail...
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StarCraft II Galaxy Editor
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StarCraft II Galaxy Editor
Because you wouldn't use a screwdriver on a nail...
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StarCraft II Galaxy Editor
Because you wouldn't use a screwdriver on a nail...
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StarCraft II MakeCombat
Because you wouldn't use a screwdriver on a nail...
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Erich Schaefer. Postmortem: Blizzard's Diablo II. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131533/postmortem_blizzards
_diablo_ii.php
“In many cases we created tools to speed up contentcreation, but then abandoned them. Too often, wedecided to keep using inferior tools because wethought we were almost done with the game, anddidn't want to take the time to improve them.Unfortunately, in most of these cases, we were notreally almost done with the game.“
Because you wouldn't use a screwdriver on a nail...
Genre Standards
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StarCraft II Screenshot
Genre Standards
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StarCraft II Screenshot
Genre Standards
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StarCraft II Screenshot
Genre Standards
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StarCraft II Screenshot
Genre Standards
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StarCraft II Screenshot
Genre Standards
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StarCraft II Screenshot
Genre Standards
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StarCraft II Screenshot
Genre Standards
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StarCraft II Screenshot
Genre Standards
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Unreal Tournament 3 Splash Screen
Genre Standards
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Unreal Tournament 3 Login Screen
Genre Standards
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Hostile Worlds Screen Transitions
Genre Standards
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Steam Server Browser
Genre Standards
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WarCraft III Lobby
Genre Standards
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WarCraft III Loading Screen
Genre Standards
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WarCraft III Score Screen
Genre Standards
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StarCraft II Options Screen
Open Game Sources
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Doom 3 GPL Release on GitHub
Open Game Sources
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Blizzard on GitHub
Open Game Sources
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Blizzard QT on GitHub
Open Game Sources
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Blizzard Premake on GitHub
Project Structure
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Windows 10 - System32 Folder
Project Structure
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> 3000 Libraries
Project Structure
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Hearthstone Asset Bundles
Project Structure
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Hearthstone Data Files
Project Structure
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StarCraft II “Mods”
Project Structure
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StarCraft Game Folder Size
Project Structure
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StarCraft MPQ Files
Data Structure
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPQ
MPQ (Mo'PaQ, short for Mike O'Brien Pack, named after its creator[citation
needed]), is an archiving file format used in several of Blizzard Entertainment's games.MPQs used in Blizzard's games generally contain a game's data files, including graphics, sounds, and level data. The format's capabilities include compression, encryption, file segmentation, extensible file metadata, cryptographic signature and the ability to store multiple versions of the same file for internationalization and platform-specific differences. MPQ archives can use a variety of compression algorithms which may also be combined.
Data Structure
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Hearthstone Localization Files (GAMEPLAY.txt)
TAG TEXT COMMENT
GAMEPLAY_COIN_TOSS_LOSTYou get an extra card
GAMEPLAY_COIN_TOSS_WON You go first
GAMEPLAY_FATIGUE_TITLE Fatigue
GAMEPLAY_FATIGUE_TEXT Out of cards! Take {0} damage.
GAMEPLAY_FATIGUE_HISTORY_TEXT Trying to draw from an empty deck
deals increasing damage to your hero.
GAMEPLAY_END_TURN END TURN
GAMEPLAY_ENEMY_TURN ENEMY TURN
GAMEPLAY_YOUR_TURN Your Turn
GAMEPLAY_ERROR_PLAY_REJECTED Too late! Your turn is over.
GAMEPLAY_MOBILE_BATTLECRY_CANCELED Battlecry canceled.
GAMEPLAY_MANA_COUNTER {0}/{1} 0=unused mana 1=current total mana
Data Structure
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Hearthstone Data Files (BOARD.xml)
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><Dbf><Column name="ID" type="Int" /><Column name="NOTE_DESC" type="String" /><Column name="PREFAB" type="AssetPath" /><Record><Field column="ID">1</Field><Field column="PREFAB">Assets/Game/Boards/STW/STW</Field><Field column="NOTE_DESC">Stormwind</Field></Record><Record><Field column="ID">2</Field><Field column="PREFAB">Assets/Game/Boards/ORG/ORG</Field><Field column="NOTE_DESC">Orgrimmar</Field></Record>
Log Files
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Hearthstone Log File
Platform assembly:
D:\Games\Hearthstone\Hearthstone_Data\Managed\ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll (this
message is harmless)
Loading D:\Games\Hearthstone\Hearthstone_Data\Managed\ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll
into Unity Child Domain
Platform assembly: D:\Games\Hearthstone\Hearthstone_Data\Managed\PlayMaker.dll
(this message is harmless)
Loading D:\Games\Hearthstone\Hearthstone_Data\Managed\PlayMaker.dll into Unity
Child Domain
Log Files
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League of Legends Log File
Function: Spell::Effect::SpellFXRenderer::Update
Expression: false
001567.413| 0.0000kb| 0.0000kb added| ERROR| Assertion
failed!
File: E:/jenkins/workspace/game-code-Releases-4-18-public-
win32/code/Game/LoL/Spell/Effect/Client/SpellFXRenderer.cpp
Line: 854
Art Guides
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Development Blogs
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Post-Mortem of WarCraft
Developer Conferences
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Post-Mortem of Ochestrator
Rule 8
Commit to quality!
Commit To Quality
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Erich Schaefer. Postmortem: Blizzard's Diablo II. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131533/postmortem_blizzards
_diablo_ii.php
“The task of testing a game of Diablo II's scope, with itshuge degree of randomness and its nearly infinitecharacter skill and equipment paths, required aHerculean effort. […] Would a party of five Paladins,each using a different defensive aura, be untouchable?After more than 100 hours of play, is a fire-basedSorceress unable to continue in Hell Mode?”