Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

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C H A P T E R 6 SCRIPT/EDITING SYSTEM CONSIDERATIONS As you can see, there is plenty of room for growth among scripting and triggering systems in games. The practical considerations that constantly limit the growth of these tools are budgetary, schedule-sensitive, and resource-oriented (can you find exceptional programmers willing to devote themselves to tools creation—budget and schedule permitting?). Due to game complexity and scope for the current consoles and PCs, budgets are increasing slightly, while schedules for game content turnaround stay fixed. Quite understandably, to the benefit of the industry as a whole, players want new titles coming out regularly in their favorite series or as original games. In addition, the demand for new game content grows rapidly with the wide success of consoles like the PlayStation 2, which has made it into a stunning number of homes around the world. These factors, combined with the burgeoning world of massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) and their own demands for regular sequel packs and updates, create a scenario where developers begin to live or die based on their ability to turn around well crafted content quickly. The grit and life-force of the game content itself is dependent on having robust scripting and construction tools in place. To date, a few developers have built very impressive scripting toolsets and abilities, but no one that I’m aware of has really offered up a unified solution. This solution would have to be part of an overall engine technology that is flexible enough to conform to the requirements of multiple developers and be widely used (licensed) throughout the industry. To meet some of the demands I’ve mentioned here, developers and publishers in partnership will have to make a considerable investment. If they wish to remain competitive, and be able to respond in a timely and opportune way to the purchasing power of gamers, they will need construction systems that allow content to be built and tested with maximum efficiency. This is both a problem and a goal for many developers right now. As discussed, a few of the summary features for a world-editing system include � “Snap” geometry construction (the ability to use construction modules or pieces, reuse parts efficiently, and add accessories easily) � Powerful animation blending (the ability to quickly generate tweens, in-between frames, for character, prop, and effects motions) � Extensive built-in or engine-ready effects editing to include character effects, prop effects, and custom environmental effects (weather) � Command-line editing (where useful) in actor and trigger definitions � Audio tagging (the ability to attach audio events to actors) 153 Scripting Action Events
Building Game Worlds 154 U L T I M A T E G A M E D E S I G N How will a drag-and-drop construction system with immediate scripting power (right-clicking an actor in a scene not just to set but to “define” new behaviors) come together into one technology solution? It may very well end up being a per-genre solution. Remember that there is another sizeable problem to deal with: by definition, each genre game has its own unique construction and script facilitation requirements. Some very nice efforts in this direction have been made by several developers to date. However, I’m not sure that very many in the industry would agree that any one of these systems approaches the kind of power and extensibility I’ve suggested here. CASE STUDY COMMENTS ON SCRIPTING A BASEBALL GAME If you’re lucky, you will come into a game development situation during the planning phase. This is always a benefit since it’s the best way to develop a real sense for the history of a given project in terms of the challenges and expectations for the game. It’s important to make sure that your team deliberates upon game tool considerations as early as possible in the development cycle, rather than as addendums to other forms of ongoing game development that have a way of charging forward with little or no consideration for game tools. Unless your team plans carefully for a substantial script and trigger system, you probably won’t get one. Programmers, facing constant time and functionality challenges already, will simply code game agent behavior functionality themselves deep within the actor code of the game engine. “Exposing” these variables (or making them available to a script system) adds complexity, planning, and execution requirements. There are cases in which a complete scripting system is unnecessary. In those cases, it might be easier to make edits directly in the game code itself. The determining factor should rely on whatever serves the needs of the game title the best. However, most modern titles are both large in scope and potentially expandable (with add-on levels or mission packs, sequels, or subscription game delivery). Script systems regularly prove to be necessary and valuable undertakings to support the creation of current titles and should be flexible enough to account for future development needs. Keep in mind that it is often difficult to determine how to best manage and orient your scripting needs for future projects. Different game genres and styles require unique and particular scripting system support. Once the design details for your title are established and basic design/feature lockdown has taken place (no new major elements can be added), your gameplay goals at the concept level should be very clear. You will need every bit of this clarity to build a script system. If you are still defining your game details, don’t waste resources
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A BOUT THE AUTHOR Tom Meigs is a ga
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Brandon A. Nordin Scott Rogers Wend
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2 THE game design process begins by
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24 AFTER you’ve completed your pr
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54 FOR a game to be competitive the
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86 YOU now understand the developme
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Page 129 and 130: 108 UP to this point, we’ve cover
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Page 157 and 158: 136 SCRIPTING in games gives develo
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Page 209 and 210: 188 A whole new avenue for games ha
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204 Building Game Worlds 204 U L T
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216 ANOTHER new content horizon for
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238 THERE is a wide and growing ran
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Building Game Worlds 254 254 U L T
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266 AT some point in your skills gr
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274 Building Game Worlds U L T I M
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Building Game Worlds 278 FIGURE 11-
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286 THIS appendix includes useful r
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296 MANY types of software tools we
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304 TO assist you to further define
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310 I’VE gathered together a few
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322 AS a point of reference and as
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Building Game Worlds 336 Baseball s
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Building Game Worlds 346 crowd, 146
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Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

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