Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

Building Game Worlds
78
U L T I M A T E G A M E D E S I G N
CASE STUDY COMMENTS ON
CORNERSTONE ELEMENTS
From our discussion in this chapter, we have seen how important lighting, texturing,
particles, effects, and audio are to building game worlds. These categories are regularly
drawn from when building convincing game locations. With the advent of 3-D gaming
came something closer to real lighting (today’s move toward dynamic lighting sets the
bar even higher!), particles, and true environmental modeling. In the 2-D games of the
recent past, lighting was simply “drawn” into sprites, particle systems didn’t formally
exist for game developers, and flat “environments” were created using nothing but
tiled sprites.
It’s important to recognize how much 3-D has brought to gaming. In addition to
new capabilities and a wider palette of action, it has brought about a slightly different
kind of workflow for game developers.
As games have moved from 2-D to primarily 3-D, software tools have tried to keep
pace. In the days of 2-D game development, all game assets (art and audio) were
handed off to game programmers, who installed them and created their behaviors.
This is still the case, yet the scope and complexity of the games being made have skyrocketed.
A game today is no longer a novelty or a marvel in its own right (although
there is plenty to marvel over in today’s games). A game today is made within the
confines of a highly competitive business, where content is king. Developing great
content requires having the time and ability to focus on content. Most independent
developers, quite honestly, can’t focus on great content if the development team is
fighting to get a game engine and toolset into working shape. This has encouraged
many publishers and developers to move toward using licensed game engines (such
as Quake, Unreal, and so forth).
For the working game designer or level builder, becoming very familiar with each
of the cornerstone areas (lighting, texturing, particles, effects, and audio) is essential.
Keep in mind that this role on a development team has many forms of challenges. For
example, perhaps you’ve constructed all or part of a level according to a set of team
guidelines, using a new or emerging toolset. Unfortunately, game development is an
often-hairy evolving beast, so these guidelines may change. Guideline technologies
tend to change at the most inopportune moments of your game project’s existence.
This frequently happens mid-development. All the while, you will be expected to
demonstrate progress to your game publisher. Occasionally, you will have to redo
work and basically end up re-creating a level, yet again, according to another set of
guidelines or to serve the needs of a critical game engine adjustment, enhancement,
expansion, or new technology demand.