Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

Building Game Worlds
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U L T I M A T E G A M E D E S I G N
the Scooby Doo universe is different from a street lamp in the Blade Runner universe,
which is probably different from a street lamp in your universe.
So, what props might we want for our cathedral example? Some of the props are
already indicated on our map:
� O Requires a pipe organ
� A Requires an altar
� P Requires wooden pews
We also have props that are used to scatter around the environment to add some
realism. Most cathedrals are not barren inside, so our first-pass listing of props might
also include:
� Organ bench
� Candelabras
� Wall tapestries
� Frozen beast statues 1 and 2 (two versions)
Our frozen beasts in this case are props that serve to tell a short backstory point on
our cathedral area. It has been frozen by a curse, and these poor unfortunate beasts
have been immortalized as frozen statues—unless maybe you break up the curse later.
Sound familiar?
Effects
Next, we want to consider some of the effects we’ll require for our cathedral example.
Yes, even the effects need to match up with the visual style that we are planning in
our previsualization phase. An effect like “steam” in The Simpsons world looks different
from “steam” in the world of Minority Report. How is it handled? Typically, a
game engine like the Unreal2 or Doom III engines (built up on core code modules
like an input/output system, rendering and animation system, audio system, and
game loop/game logic system) handles effects (like ice spray off a hockey skate) as
sprite-based effects or as part of a built-in particle or dynamics system.
Although we’re still in our first-pass previsualization phase, we already know that
we’ll need some effects to visually detail our environment, such as the following:
� Cold steam (rising from our frozen beasts)
� Magical glow (surrounding our altar)
� Candlelight fire (for our candelabras)