Design Theory – Part I

Si Jung “Jun” Kim, PhD

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Outline• Design Theory - Part I

• Research Design - Part I

Announcement• Have you created discussion groups on facebook?

• Add a prefix, DIG4725c Fall 2012

• Ask me your preliminary ideas

The beginning of gameplay• Mankind has been playing games• The Senet

– Credited as the first game; Egyptian game around 3500BC– Two player game

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The beginning of gameplay• Mankind has been playing games• The Senet

– Credited as the first game; Egyptian game around 3500BC– Two player game

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The beginning of gameplay (cont.)• The Royal Game of Ur (aka Game of Twenty Squares)• An ancient mesopotamian board game; Found in the Royal Tombs

of Ur in Iraq by Sir Leonard Woolley in the 1920s.• Two players

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The beginning of gameplay (cont.)• The Royal Game of Ur (aka Game of Twenty Squares)• An ancient mesopotamian board game; Found in the Royal Tombs

of Ur in Iraq by Sir Leonard Woolley in the 1920s.• Two players

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The beginning of gameplay (cont.)• Extended Versions

http://www.odessadesign.co.uk/bmgame.htm

http://agongame.com/boardgames/

iPad

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Some Common Examples of Game Mechanics in the Ancient Games

• Luck– Random chance, an outcome that the player has no control over

• Strategy– Player’s ability to turns and moves

• Diplomacy– How players interact with the others

• Resource Management– Assets that players can use

• Territory Control– Controlling the game space

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More History of Games• Read articles at

1) http://historicgames.com/gamestimeline.html

2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_games

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The Beginning of Videogame

• Some ideas in the 1947• The cathode ray tube (CRT) amusement device

– Earliest known interactive electronic game to use a CRT

– Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann

– The gaming device was never marketed nor sold to the public.

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The Beginning of Videogame (Cont.)

• First video game: – Tennis For Two by physicist William Higinbotham– Tennis game in an Oscilloscope in 1958– First electronic game– Two players

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The Beginning of Videogame (Cont.)

• First video game: – Tennis For Two by physicist William Higinbotham– Tennis game in an Oscilloscope in 1958– First electronic game– Two players

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The Beginning of Videogame (Cont.)

• First video game: – Tennis game in an Oscilloscope

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The Beginning of Videogame (Cont.)• 1960s

– Space War (MIT)– The first influential computer game

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The Beginning of Videogame (Cont.)• 1970s

– Galaxy– The first coin-operated video game

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Space War Legacy

1971 Bill Pitts and Hugh Tuck formed Computer Recreations

Galaxy Game Cost: $20KPlay cost: 10 centBuilt: dozens

1972 Noland Bushnell and Ted Dabney (@Nutting Associates)

Galaxy Game Built: 1.5K

1972

PONGBuilt: 10K“Breaks down”

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The Beginning of Videogame (Cont.)• Pong (1972, Atari)

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PONG - First documented Video Ping-Pong game (1969)

The Golden Age 1979-1981

• Atari releases Asteroids!

• Pac-Man, Bally/Midway, 1980

• Frogger, Konami/Sega, 1981

• Donkey Kong, Nintendo, 1981

• Namco releases Pac-Man, 1982 (+300K machines sold)

– Own television show

• US Army commissions Atari for a tank simulation game– Start of a long enduring activity

• Nintendo releases first console in 1981• http://www.tripletsandus.com/80s/80s_games/

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The Great Crash 1982-1984

• The Commodore 64 PC is released• Coleco releases the Adam PC• Too many competitors small and large saturate the market

– 1982 Warner Corp. stock fell 32% after Atari announces les-that-expected sells of consoles

– Atari sold to Jack Tramiel (owner of Commodore)– New company: Atari Corp. pulls from Console market

• Bright spot: Nintendo releases famicon does well in Japan

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The Return of the Video Games 1985-1988

• Nintendo releases NES

– Met with skepticism by market observers

– Turns out to be an instant hit

– Legend of Zelda

• Apple releases the Mac, Atari releases 520ST

– Who won?

• Tetris is released!

• Coleco files for bankruptcy

• 1985 MS releases Windows• PC as a gaming platform

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The Story Continues

• 1989 Nintendo releases Gameboy, Sega releases Genesis

• 1991 Nintendo releases SNES, Sega releases Sonic• 1993 32-bit consoles

– Nintendo releases Mortal Combat!

• 1999-2001 Playstation 2, Gamecube, Xbox22

More History of Video Games• Read articles at

1) http://www.onlineeducation.net/videogame_timeline

2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_games

3) http://www.time.com/time/interactive/0,31813,2029221,00.html

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Type of Games• Digital vs. Non-Digital

• Single vs. Multiple (known as MUD)

• 2D vs. 3D

• First Person vs. Third Person

• Platform specific

• Purpose specific• Device specific• …

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Non-Digital Games• Board Games

– Cover whole rage of themes; family/group entertainment; based on luck– E.g., Monopoly

• Card Games– Games played with playing cards– E.g., Magic: The Gathering

• Role-Playing Games (RPG)– Players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting– E.g., Dungeons & Dragons (D&D)

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Monopoly

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Magic: The Gathering

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Dungeons & Dragons

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http://www.wizards.com/playdnd/playdnd.asp

Hybrid Games• Dungeons & Dragons-style

• Nintendo 3DS AR Games Cards

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• Ting Ting

Types of Digital Games• Shoot-’em-ups (shooting games)

– A subgenre of action game, which often test the player's speed and reaction time. – E.g, Space Invaders (1978)

• First-person shooter (FPS)– The view is given to the player as if seeing the scene through the character’s eyes– E.g., doom (1993)

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Types of Digital Games (Cont.)• Platform

– Characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles – E.g., Donkey Kong

• Strategy – Requiring the players' decision-making and skillful thinking to achieve victory– Coined by Brett Sperry – E.g., Intellivision's Utopia

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Types of Digital Games (Cont.)• Platform

– Characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles – E.g., Donkey Kong

• Strategy – Requiring the players' decision-making and skillful thinking to achieve victory– Coined by Brett Sperry – E.g., Intellivision's Utopia

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Types of Digital Games (Cont.)• Puzzle

– A maze game that player action is required to escape monsters, outrace an opponent, or navigate the maze within a time limit.

– Action, arcade, hidden, etc.

– E.g., Heiankyo Alien (1979 Denki Onkyo Co.)

• Game structure types – Linear vs. Nonlinear (Sandbox

– Every player sees every challenge and sees them in the same order, vs. Every player sees only some of the challenges possible in a different order.

– E.g., Shenmue (1999)

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Next (Sept. 14th)• Design Theory - Part 2• Project Design – Part 2

• Phase I: Project Proposal Due• 11:59pm, Tuesday 11th Sept.• Send to hisijung@gmail.com & post to your fb group

• Phase II: Project Design/ Research Design Due• 11:59pm, Tuesday 18th Sept.• Send to hisijung@gmail.com & post to your fb group

Suggested Template for Phase I

1. Project summary (1/2 - 1 page – use a diagram, etc)

* Motivation, goal/objectives

2. Team responsibility (1/2 page – use a chart, etc.)

3. Context of use (Place to be used) (1 page)

4. Stakeholder analysis (user analysis) (1-2 pages)

5. Expected prototype (1-2 pages – use a figure/diagram, etc.)

* Game type, genre, etc.

6. Expected results (1/2 – 1 page)

7. Expected outcomes (1/2 page)

8. References (1-2 pages)