26/01/2011

Who am I?

Dr. Martin Flintham

Horizon Transitional Fellow in Computer Science

G54GAM - Games

Introduction A Brief History of Computer Games
office: SCCB A17 email: mdf@cs.nott.ac.uk slides: http://www.mrl.nott.ac.uk/~mdf/teaching.html

Module Structure

10 credits 1 lecture a week

Thursdays 2pm C60

Module Overview

Education Aims

Provide an appreciation of the range of gaming applications available Enable students to chart the emergence of computer games as a prevalent form of entertainment Consider design issues such as the development of narrativeoriented structures in gaming Consider technical issues associated with networking games Consider strategies for evaluating games and game design
1 practical lab session a week
Tuesdays 4:00-6:00pm C11 (beginning next week)

No exam 3 courseworks

Learning Outcomes Knowledge and understanding A2 the use of computers in a variety of social, work, educational and business contexts, socio-technical systems, models of work flow and organisations, cooperative work and learning A3 a range of application domains and areas, including communications oriented interfaces (email, www, telephony), continuous control systems (process control, virtual reality systems), document oriented systems (desktop publishing, spreadsheets), embedded systems (consumer electronics, home appliances), learning technologies A7 ergonomic issues in relation to technologies, workplace and environments, including human anthropometry, human cognitive and sensory limitations, sensory and perceptual effects of display technologies, control design, health and safety, lighting, temperature and noise issues, designing for disability A8 the characteristics, design and use of a variety of input and output devices, both physical and virtual A9 the basic software architectures and terminologies
Games is a broad, dynamic and fast moving field / industry We have 12 lectures We wont cover <your favourite game> Well cover ways to formally talk about games Well talk about the building blocks of games as interactive systems
academically, technically, socially
We wont be making the next World of Warcraft We will make some small games to understand some of the key concepts
Computer Games and Technological Entertainment
History Development State of the art

Recommended Reading

Books
Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. Salen, K. and Zimmerman, E. (2003) Patterns in Game Design. Bjork, S. and Holopainen, J. (2004)

Game Design

In theory In practice

Online

Guardian Games Blog http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog Kotaku, the Gamers Guide http://kotaku.com/ The Independent Gaming Source http://www.tigsource.com/ IndieGames http://www.indiegames.com/blog/

Game Development

System architecture of games, networked games Production process

Games and Society

Serious games Games and culture

Lecture 1

Introduction and Admin A Brief History of Computer Games

Lecture 2

Defining games and play
Properties of computer games Rules and identifying the core mechanic Categorising games by genre

Lecture 3

Game Design (1)
Frameworks for game design Games as Interactive Systems Meaningful play, interaction and choice Mechanics, dynamics and aesthetics

Lecture 4

Game Design (2)
What is game play? Formal elements of game play Dramatic elements of game play Creating challenge

Lecture 5

Game Design (3)
Narrative Progression Balance

Lecture 6

The architecture of a game
Building an interactive system Components and terminology The game loop Model, view, controller architecture Events and state machines

Lecture 7

Online and Multiplayer Games
Player interaction patterns Technical challenges Lag, scalability, replication

Lecture 8

Game Production
How the games industry works Roles, process and documents Franchises and licenses Platforms, development kits and middleware

Social challenges

Types of players Cheating and griefing

Lecture 9

Pervasive Games
Online and on the streets Breaking the magic circle

Lecture 10

Serious Games
Educational games Training and simulation Games as art and performance Games as political statement and satire

Games and society

Controversy and morality

Lab sessions

Tuesdays 4-6pm, C11 Beginning next week Initially using Game Maker to explore different aspects of game design Moving onto more complex systems developed with XNA Leading onto building a larger game (coursework)

Assessment

3 Courseworks Dates TBA 30%, 30% and 40% respectively Written - Critiquing the game design of an existing game Written - Designing a prototype game Practical - Constructing a prototype game
What if I get stuck/lost/confused/angry? Email me in the first instance

mdf@cs.nott.ac.uk

A Brief History of Games
Or, how did we get from this?

to this?

Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device (1947)
The Origins of the Video Game
Inspired by WWII radar displays Players use knobs to adjust the trajectory of lightbeams (missiles) and attempt to hit targets printed on clear screen overlays Receives first patent for an electronic game

OXO (1952)

Graphical tic-tac-toe Developed on the EDSAC Cathode ray tube displays memory contents as a visual display Compete against rudimentary AI using a rotary dial

Tennis for Two (1958)

Oscilloscope display Analogue computer Two player Players take turns to change trajectory of the ball

SpaceWar! (1961)

DEC PDP-1 Two players controlling ships Firing missiles at one another Manoeuvre in the gravity well of a star First widely available computer game
The Golden Age of the Arcade Game

Computer Space (1971)

PONG (1972)

Space Invaders (1978)

Asteroids (1979)

Pac-Man (1980)

University Mainframes
Hunt the Wumpus (1972) Adventure (1975) Zork (1977)
Adventure / Colossal Cave (1975)

The First Consoles

Magnavox Odyssey (1972)

Home Pong (1975)

Atari 2600 (1977)

2nd Generation Consoles

Pitfall (1982)

Pac-Man (1982)

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Intellivision (1980)

Emerson Arcadia 2001 (1982)

ColecoVision (1982)

Atari 5200 (1982)

BBC Micro

Commodore 64

ZXSpectrum

Atari ST

Commodore Amiga

Manic Miner (1983)

Jet Set Willy (1984)

Elite (1984)

Killer Gorilla (1984)

Nintendo Entertainment System (1985)

3rd Generation Consoles

Sega Master System (1986)
The Legend of Zelda (1986)

Final Fantasy (1987)

4th Generation Consoles

Sega Megadrive (1990)

Super NES (1990)

Wolfenstein 3D (1992)

Genre defining 32bit PC games, CD distribution

Dune II (1992)

Myst (1993)

Ultima Online (1997)

Half-Life (1998)

Sony Playstation (1994)

5th Generation Consoles

Nintendo 64 (1996)

GoldenEye 007 (1997)
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)

6th Generation Consoles

Sega Dreamcast (1998)
Sony PlayStation 2 (2000)

Nintendo Gamecube (2001)

Microsoft Xbox (2001)
Colin McRae Rally 2005 (2005)
The games industry swells to become a multi-billion pound sector
Colin McRae Rally Colin McRae Rally 2.0 Colin McRae Rally 3 Colin McRae Rally 04 Colin McRae Rally 2005 Colin McRae: DiRT Colin McRae Rally Mac Colin McRae: DiRT 2
Ubiquitous broadband and internet access leads to a huge rise in online gaming

Halo (2001)

World of Warcraft (2004)
An interesting divergence
7th (next) Generation Consoles

Xbox 360 (2005)

PlayStation 3 (2006)
Nintendo Wii (2007) High budget, high power games
Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010)

Wii Sports (2006)

New forms of interaction

Guitar Hero (2005)

Kinect (2010)
Can You See Me Now? (2001)
Casual / Indie / Mobile Games

Bejeweled Blitz (2008)

Angry Birds (2009)

Braid (2008)

Next week categorising games, game mechanics and genres

G54GAM - Games

Introduction A Brief History of Computer Games

Who am I?

Dr. Martin Flintham
Horizon Transitional Fellow in Computer Science
office: SCCB A17 email: mdf@cs.nott.ac.uk slides: http://www.mrl.nott.ac.uk/~mdf/teaching.html

Module Structure

10 credits 1 lecture a week

Thursdays 2pm C60

1 practical lab session a week
Tuesdays 4:00-6:00pm C11 (beginning next week)

No exam 3 courseworks

Module Overview

Education Aims

Provide an appreciation of the range of gaming applications available Enable students to chart the emergence of computer games as a prevalent form of entertainment Consider design issues such as the development of narrativeoriented structures in gaming Consider technical issues associated with networking games Consider strategies for evaluating games and game design
Learning Outcomes Knowledge and understanding A2 the use of computers in a variety of social, work, educational and business contexts, socio-technical systems, models of work flow and organisations, cooperative work and learning A3 a range of application domains and areas, including communications oriented interfaces (email, www, telephony), continuous control systems (process control, virtual reality systems), document oriented systems (desktop publishing, spreadsheets), embedded systems (consumer electronics, home appliances), learning technologies A7 ergonomic issues in relation to technologies, workplace and environments, including human anthropometry, human cognitive and sensory limitations, sensory and perceptual effects of display technologies, control design, health and safety, lighting, temperature and noise issues, designing for disability A8 the characteristics, design and use of a variety of input and output devices, both physical and virtual A9 the basic software architectures and terminologies
Games is a broad, dynamic and fast moving field / industry We have 12 lectures We wont cover <your favourite game> Well cover ways to formally talk about games Well talk about the building blocks of games as interactive systems
academically, technically, socially
We wont be making the next World of Warcraft We will make some small games to understand some of the key concepts
Computer Games and Technological Entertainment
History Development State of the art

Game Design

In theory In practice

Game Development

System architecture of games, networked games Production process

Games and Society

Serious games Games and culture

Recommended Reading

Books
Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. Salen, K. and Zimmerman, E. (2003) Patterns in Game Design. Bjork, S. and Holopainen, J. (2004)

Online

Guardian Games Blog http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog Kotaku, the Gamers Guide http://kotaku.com/ The Independent Gaming Source http://www.tigsource.com/ IndieGames http://www.indiegames.com/blog/

Lecture 1

Introduction and Admin A Brief History of Computer Games

Lecture 2

Defining games and play
Properties of computer games Rules and identifying the core mechanic Categorising games by genre

Lecture 3

Game Design (1)
Frameworks for game design Games as Interactive Systems Meaningful play, interaction and choice Mechanics, dynamics and aesthetics

Lecture 4

Game Design (2)
What is game play? Formal elements of game play Dramatic elements of game play Creating challenge

Lecture 5

Game Design (3)
Narrative Progression Balance

Lecture 6

The architecture of a game
Building an interactive system Components and terminology The game loop Model, view, controller architecture Events and state machines

Lecture 7

Online and Multiplayer Games
Player interaction patterns Technical challenges Lag, scalability, replication

Social challenges

Types of players Cheating and griefing

Lecture 8

Game Production
How the games industry works Roles, process and documents Franchises and licenses Platforms, development kits and middleware

Lecture 9

Pervasive Games
Online and on the streets Breaking the magic circle

Lecture 10

Serious Games
Educational games Training and simulation Games as art and performance Games as political statement and satire

Games and society

Controversy and morality

Lab sessions

Tuesdays 4-6pm, C11 Beginning next week Initially using Game Maker to explore different aspects of game design Moving onto more complex systems developed with XNA Leading onto building a larger game (coursework)

Assessment

3 Courseworks Dates TBA 30%, 30% and 40% respectively Written - Critiquing the game design of an existing game Written - Designing a prototype game Practical - Constructing a prototype game
What if I get stuck/lost/confused/angry? Email me in the first instance

mdf@cs.nott.ac.uk

A Brief History of Games
Or, how did we get from this?

to this?

The Origins of the Video Game
Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device (1947)
Inspired by WWII radar displays Players use knobs to adjust the trajectory of lightbeams (missiles) and attempt to hit targets printed on clear screen overlays Receives first patent for an electronic game

OXO (1952)

Graphical tic-tac-toe Developed on the EDSAC Cathode ray tube displays memory contents as a visual display Compete against rudimentary AI using a rotary dial

Tennis for Two (1958)

Oscilloscope display Analogue computer Two player Players take turns to change trajectory of the ball

SpaceWar! (1961)

DEC PDP-1 Two players controlling ships Firing missiles at one another Manoeuvre in the gravity well of a star First widely available computer game
The Golden Age of the Arcade Game

Computer Space (1971)

PONG (1972)

Space Invaders (1978)

Asteroids (1979)

Pac-Man (1980)

University Mainframes
Hunt the Wumpus (1972) Adventure (1975) Zork (1977)
Adventure / Colossal Cave (1975)

The First Consoles

Magnavox Odyssey (1972)

Home Pong (1975)

2nd Generation Consoles

Atari 2600 (1977)

Pitfall (1982)

Pac-Man (1982)

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Intellivision (1980)

Emerson Arcadia 2001 (1982)

ColecoVision (1982)

Atari 5200 (1982)

BBC Micro

Commodore 64

ZXSpectrum

Atari ST

Commodore Amiga

Manic Miner (1983)

Jet Set Willy (1984)

Elite (1984)

Killer Gorilla (1984)

3rd Generation Consoles
Nintendo Entertainment System (1985)
Sega Master System (1986)
The Legend of Zelda (1986)

Final Fantasy (1987)

4th Generation Consoles

Sega Megadrive (1990)

Super NES (1990)
Genre defining 32bit PC games, CD distribution

Wolfenstein 3D (1992)

Dune II (1992)

Myst (1993)

Ultima Online (1997)

Half-Life (1998)

5th Generation Consoles

Sony Playstation (1994)

Nintendo 64 (1996)

GoldenEye 007 (1997)

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)

6th Generation Consoles

Sega Dreamcast (1998)
Sony PlayStation 2 (2000)

Nintendo Gamecube (2001)

Microsoft Xbox (2001)
The games industry swells to become a multi-billion pound sector
Colin McRae Rally 2005 (2005)
Colin McRae Rally Colin McRae Rally 2.0 Colin McRae Rally 3 Colin McRae Rally 04 Colin McRae Rally 2005 Colin McRae: DiRT Colin McRae Rally Mac Colin McRae: DiRT 2

Ubiquitous broadband and internet access leads to a huge rise in online gaming

Halo (2001)

World of Warcraft (2004)
An interesting divergence
7th (next) Generation Consoles

Xbox 360 (2005)

PlayStation 3 (2006)

Nintendo Wii (2007)

High budget, high power games
Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010)

New forms of interaction

Wii Sports (2006)

Guitar Hero (2005)

Kinect (2010)
Can You See Me Now? (2001)
Casual / Indie / Mobile Games

Bejeweled Blitz (2008)

Angry Birds (2009)

Braid (2008)

Next week categorising games, game mechanics and genres