Computer Game Design

1
Computer Game Design

• CIS 487/587
• Bruce R. Maxim
• UM-Dearborn

2
Kinds of Games

• 1.     Adventure
• 2.     Role playing
• 3.     Sports
• 4.     Card games
• 5.     Arcade games
• 6.     Flight simulators
• 7.     3d games
• 8.     Childrens games

3
Platforms

• Computer Win95/98 Direct-x (Mac or pc)
• Video games console games
• Multi-player games
• Peer to peer modem
• Pc network
• Client server

4
Languages

• Assembly
• C
• C
• VB
• Java
• Flash

5
Tools

• Sound digitizer
• Music editor or sequencer
• Graphics tools like photo shop
• Video digitizer
• Video cameras
• Graphics library
• Game engines

6
Trends

• 3D technology
• Motion capture
• Virtual reality
• Improve interaction devices
• Really good AI
• Allow games to react to users dynamically
• Build really good opponents

7
Trends

• Specialized play hardware
• 3D accelerator cards
• Wave audio
• Force feedback devices
• Web games (interactive)

8
1970s and Earlier

• Space War developed at MIT 1961
• Used vector graphics on PDP-1
• Star Trek popular in 70s
• Mainframes
• Almost no graphics

9
1971

• Nolan Bushnell develops Computer Space from Space
  War
• First commercial arcade game
• Vector graphics
• Company formed will become Atari

10
1972

• Atari releases pong as arcade game
• Odyssey produced by Magnavox

11
1974

• Kee releases Tank
• First game to use ROM
• Atari releases Pong as home game

12
1975

• Wiliam Crowther develops Adventure
• First text-based adventure
• Ran on DEC PDP-10 mainframes

13
1976

• Bushnell sells Atari to Warner Communications
• Warner markets home version of Pong
• Breakout designed by Jobs and Wozniak

14
1977

• Apple begins selling Apple II
• Atari introduces 2600 VCS as first home console
  with multiple games

15
1978

• Space Invader developed by Taito in Japan
• Phillips creates Odyssey II
• Adventure for Atari released

16
1979

• Activision created by Atari developers
• First third party game development houses are
  created
• Atari 800 introduced

17
1980

• Mattel creates Intellivision
• Good graphics, poor controller
• Namco markets Pac-Man as arcade game
• Atari releases Asteroids
• Zork released by Infocom

18
1981

• Game industry gt 6 billion in sales
• Nintendo releases Donkey Kong
• Hot games
• Galaxian
• Centipede
• Tempest
• Ms. Pac-Man
• IBM introduces the PC

19
1982

• Atari
• Sales down 50
• Buys rights to develop ET
• ColecoVision gets Donkey Kong
• Activision releases Pitfall
• Game companies start for home computers
• Sierra On-Line
• Broderbund
• BudgeCo
• Electronic Arts is formed

20
1983

• Mattel loses 225M from Intellivision
• Atari loses money
• Lots of poor quality games
• Coleco crashes
• Commodore 64 released as home computer
• Dragons Lair released by Bluth Studios as first
  Laserdisk arcade game

21
1984

• Industry drops below 800M
• Apple introduces MacIntosh
• Birth of modern computer
• Good graphics and sound
• Kings Quest release by Sierra On-Line

22
1985

• Nintendo creates NES
• Strict control on software
• Sells cartridges to software distributors
• Atari markets 16-bit 520ST as computer and game
  system
• Carmen Sandiego released by Broderbund

23
1986

• Commodore ships the Amiga as computer system
  designed to support games
• Sega ships Sega Master System as console game
• Atari ships the 7800
• Nintendo is king (10 to 1)

24
1987

• Electronic Arts releases their first in-house
  game Skate or Die
• Serious games released for IBM PCs
• VGA and SVGA graphics

25
1988

• Tetris imported from Soviet Union

26
1989

• Sega Genesis released as 16-bit system
• Sells EA sports titles to console market
• Nintendo stays with 8-bit
• Super Mario Brothers
• Introduces Gameboy

27
1990

• Nintendo releases Super Mario 3
• Amiga and Atari die out
• PCs and consoles are major game platforms
• Electronics Arts starts to buy out other
  publishers

28
1991

• Nintendo launches Super-NES as 16-bit machine
• Nintendo has 7 billion in sales (higher profits
  than all US movie and TV studios combined)

29
1993

• Pentium chip launches
• Sega and Nintendo consoles are 80 of game market
• Panasonic ships Real-3DO as 32-bit software
  product
• Civilization released

30
1994

• Atari ships 64-bit Jaguar
• 700 for console
• 100 for game titles
• DOOM released by Id
• Myst becomes the all time biggest game

31
1995

• Sega ships 32-bit Saturn
• Sony ships 32-bit Playstation
• Microsoft releases Win95
• Inlcudes DirectX as Game SDK
• Internet and WWW explode
• Full-motion video capture becomes part a game
  (e.g. 7th Guest)

32
1996

• Nintendo ships Ultra 64
• Multi-player gaming becomes serious
• Modem
• Network companies
• Internet
• Legend of Zelda generates more revenue in 6 weeks
  and any single movie

33
1997

• Force-feedback joy sticks and steering wheels
• Games begin to assume 3D acceleration
• Standardization around 3D-FX
• Pentium IIs with 200MHz processors introduced

34
1998

• Lots of very good PC games
• Playstation is console king

35
1999

• Sega Dreamcast
• HDTV
• UM-Dearborn offers first game design course

36
2000

• Development moves from PCs to consoles
• Playstation II
• Diablo II
• Sims

37
2001

• Gamecube from Nintendo
• X-Box from Microsoft

38
2002

• PC Hardware Standard
• 300 MHz Pentium
• 64MB RAM
• 300-700 MB disk space
• CD ROM
• MS Windows 95/98/2000/XP
• DirectX
• Sims best selling game of all time

39
2003

• SIMS on-line
• SIMS Superstar
• Star Wars Galaxies gt275,000 registered users
• Ports from consoles
• Warcraft III
• Half Life 2
• UT 2003

40
2004

• Serious games summit added to annual Game
  Developer Conference

41
2006

• World of Warcraft generates 1B in on-line
  subscription sales
• Hand-held and cell phone games gross 3.5B in
  single year
• Educators workshop added as GDC pre-conference
  workshop
• UMD listed as as 9th best game design school in US