Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

C H A P T E R 5
As this chapter unfolds, we’ll survey some of the major design elements for major
genres, and finish up by looking at creating cinematics, backstory, and dialog. In the
big picture, these can be applied across genres. We’ll conclude our game genre survey
with a summary of the game designer’s everyday work tools.
SPORTS GAMES
Some players hate sports titles; others can’t get enough of them. One thing is for sure:
they have done more to promote console gaming than any other genre. Football,
baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, track and field, volleyball, rugby, racing, surfing,
fishing, skateboarding, tennis, BMX, golf … they’ve all been treated as electronic
games. Hang around the game industry long enough and you’ll probably work on a
sports-related title. The following list focuses in on some of the relevant design aspects
of sports titles:
� Motion capture versus hand animation
� Established rules
� Simulation versus fantasy
� Licensing
� Heavy tuning
� Defense scripts
� Player and arena look and feel
� Statistics
Sports games frequently require that game characters (based on well-known professional
athletes) perform both elaborate physical moves and utterly unique signature
moves. This can take the form of a particular batting stance and swing, a
particular pitch delivery, or a one-of-a-kind slam dunk on the basket. Players expect
and appreciate the ability to “control” these moves within a sports title. This makes
fluid character motion a design requirement.
Developers have to either “hand” animate this motion, by moving joints and
bones attached to the 3-D character model, or use motion-capture technology (sometimes
they even employ both methods). Motion-capture sessions outfit an actor/athlete
in a suit with small light-reflective balls or points attached to it, which are then
read into a computer via a scanning system that tracks the movement of the ball
points. This data must then be significantly processed into useable motion data for
the game. So, one of the first big design hurdles for sports is making player motion
look accurate and familiar, while working functionally in the game. Figure 5-1 shows
an athlete wearing a motion-tracking suit with the reflection points visible.
109
Design by Genre