In this presentation, given to middle school students participating in Aim High, I teach the fundamentals of designing video games. This is an interactive lesson where students spend the majority of their time in teams building, playing and iterating on a game prototype.
Python Notes for mca i year students osmania university.docx
Game Design for Middle School Students
1. ethan levy | aim high comic book club| july„12
LEARNING TO MAKE VIDEO
GAMES
www.famousaspect.com
2. a brief history of Ethan
Intern & Test Metrics & User Test
Game Design Game Production
• 9.5 years experience as a game designer and producer
• Contributed to games for
PS2/Xbox, iPhone/iPad, Facebook, PC, Browser, DS
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11. top 3 hobbies
• Video games
• DJing
• Exercising
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12. today, you all become game designers
• Roles on a game development team
• Q&A
• Game design is iteration
• Group activity – let‟s make a game
o game prototyping
o game testing
o iteration
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13. video games are made by teams
• Producer
• Designer
• Artist
• Programmer
• Writer
• Project Manager
• Marketing/PR
• Community Manager
• Quality Assurance
• Audio
• Product Manager
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14. producer
• Lead the team
• Define the vision
• Set the goals
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15. designer
• What is the game?
• What are the rules?
• What does the player
do?
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16. artist
• Define the look
• Create the world
• Illustration
• Animation
• 3d modeling
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17. programmer
• Write the code
• Make the engine
• Bring the game to life
• Solve difficult
problems
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18. writer
• Write the story
• Write the dialog
• Detail the world
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19. project manager
• Own the schedule
• Keep everything
running
• Set team goals
• Track team progress
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20. marketing and pr
• Get the word out
• Get articles written
• Trailers
• Advertisements
• Competitions
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21. community manager
• Interact with players
• Tell devs what the
players want
• Tell players what the
devs are doing
• Keep the community
engaged
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22. quality assurance
• Test the game
• Break the game
• Give quality feedback
• Help determine if the
game is “done”
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23. audio
• Write the music
• Create the sound
effects
• Create the atmosphere
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24. product manager
• Research player‟s
needs
• Gather insight on
player behavior
• Figure out how to
make $$$
• Run experiments in the
game
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25. what would you like to know about making video games?
QUESTION AND ANSWER
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26. shortened q&a
• I cut some of the audio out of this slideshare
• You are listening to some of my favorite
questions
• Students also asked questions on the following
topics
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40. basic rules of monopoly
• Each player has a character and some money
• On his turn, the player roles the dice to move his
character around the board.
• When the character lands on a property, the player may
purchase it for its price
• If the player lands on a property another player owns, he
must pay the owner rent
• If a player cannot pay rent, he goes bankrupt and his
properties are given to the player he owes rent
• When all players except one are bankrupt, that player
wins
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41. parts of monopoly
• Components
o Characters
o Property
o Money
o Dice
o Cards
• Goal
o Own property
o Get money
o Last player standing
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42. iterating on monopoly
• Designer
o Characters > Heroes
o Property > Battles
o Money > Loot
o Dice > Stats
o Cards > Spells
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43. iterating on monopoly
• Writer
o Heroes > Ninjas
o Battles > Monsters
o Loot > Weapons &
Armor
o Stats > Abilities
o Spells > Scrolls
• Artist
o Define look and feel
o Define goals
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44. group activity
• 15 minutes to make a game
• Team roles
o Artist, Designer, Writer, Project Manager
• Change 1 or 2 rules
• 3 sentences describing the story
• 1 example describing the art
• Must be able to play 3 rounds
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45. prototyping
• I‟ve shortened the audio here
• Students had 15 minutes to prototype
• 4x teams of students
• Adults walked around and helped
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49. player testing
• Project manager stays with the game
• Rest of team tests another game
• Project manager takes notes
• 5 minutes
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55. congratulations game designers!
• Find games to use as models
• Make changes to the rules
• Test your game with real players
• Take notes and improve
• Iterate until your game is fun
• Polish up your game
• This process works for board games, card
games, video games, any type of game!
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56. continue the conversation…
• Aim High – Donation Page
• Read www.famousaspect.com
• Follow @FamousAspect on Twitter
• Contact FamousAspect@gmail.com
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