This page has (will have) all the programming chapters attached.  

Agenda

1. Playtest
2. 3rd Game with Formal Constraint
3. Intro to Conceptual Constraints (communicative games; games about stuff)

Ground Rules for Playtesting

Today we started with a short discussion of playtesting. Here are some quick points:

First, we spent time going over a productive definition of games: "A game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome." - Salen & Zimmerman 2004, p80

This definition is elaborated further here.

Further, it is important to create interesting constraints. We had an extended discussion of the meaning of "mechanic" as it relates to games. A few possible definitions follow:

The latest version of the book.

Here are links to some sample video tutorials.  Note, they are referenced in the

yellow boxes in chapter 1 of the book.  Chapter 1 is attached in .doc format.

Rotate perspectives in a platformer

Fez has the look of a standard pixelated platformer, replete with cutesy characters and whimsical worlds. The key difference is that it gets rendered to play as a 3d game. So in a way, Fez is neither 2 dimensions or 3 dimensions, but halfway ... 2.5d !

Author : http://www.kokoromi.org/fez
Video : http://www.gameculture.com/node/337

Play, Create, Design at the same time !

Small company, started january 2006 with a good game and went to the doors of Sony, London to present it. now they are the poster game for PS3.In LittleBigPlanet, players control small characters (nicknamed "Sackboy", owing to their material and appearance), each of which can jump, move, and grab objects. Players can use their abilities to shape and develop the highly manipulable environment to build custom spaces either individually, collaboratively, and/or competitively.

Author : http://www.mediamolecule.com/about.html
GamePlay : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuoOosTdFiY
Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_big_planet

is played by solving physical puzzles in a somewhat standard video game environment like Super Mario Bros. with jumping and enemies. This is made innovative by the player's ability to reverse time and "rewind" one's actions, even after dying. Complicated puzzles result from features like objects that don't rewind with the rest of the universe and "ghosts" of the player's actions before rewinding.

Author : http://www.davidhellman.net/blog/the-art-of-braid-part-3
http://braid-game.com/news/
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braid_%28video_game%29

Use Game play iteration to solve puzzles

University of Southern California - School of Cinematic Arts - Interactive Media Program. Use iteration of game play to help you solve the puzzles.
Author : http://www.winterbottomgame.com

World of Goo is a physics-based computer puzzle game being developed for Wii, Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux by 2D Boy, an independent game developer company formed by former Electronic Arts employees.

Author : http://2dboy.com/games.php
Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Goo

FPNS : First Person NON Shooter :)

Portal is a single-player first-person action/puzzle video game developed by the Valve Corporation. The view is from first person but it is not violent game. The prototype was developed by Digipen, and was presented to Valve. The game was released for Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows on October 9, 2007, and for the PlayStation 3 on December 11, 2007.

Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal_(video_game)

Flash version : http://portal.wecreatestuff.com/portal.php

Visual and Audio creation through non-violent shooter

Everyday Shooter is an album of games exploring the expressive power of abstract shooters. Dissolute sounds of destruction are replaced with guitar riffs harmonizing over an all-guitar soundtrack, while modulating shapes celebrate the flowing beauty of geometry.

Game : http://www.everydayshooter.com/

Desktop Tower Defense is a Flash-based browser game of the tower defense game genre created by first-time game designer Paul Preece in March of 2007. In the span of a few months, the game had been played over 15.7 million times as of July 2007. The game was among one of Webware 100's top ten entertainment web applications of 2007.

Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_Tower_DefenseGame Game : http://www.handdrawngames.com/DesktopTD/game.asp

Unique interface, Move the legs of a three leg spider independently.

Trianchnid is an action game where you have to control each leg of a three legged creature. Tough to learn but really fun after you get the feel of moving the legs.

Author : http://www.triachnid.com/
Video : http://kotaku.com/348998/hot-flashes-tri+achnid

Use evolution ideas and a simple mouse interface

The game involves the player guiding a tiny, aquatic worm-like microorganism through various depths of the ocean to consume other organisms and to evolve their organism as the player advances.

Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FlOw
Author : http://thegamecompany.com
Game : http://intihuatani.usc.edu/cloud/flowing/

Use team work skills to protect each other

Schizoid is an action game that foucuses on team work. Players must co-operate to protect each other from enemies of different color. The title is being developed by Torpex Games scheduled to launch on Xbox Live Arcade in the first quarter of 2008.

Author : http://www.torpexgames.com

Use Perspective to walk through Escher’s 3d World

Echo Chrome is a graphically simple puzzle game developed for the Sony PSP, with game play involving rotating a world occupied MC Escher’s impossible constructions to be traversed by a mannequin figure.

Review :
http://www.gamespot.com/psp/puzzle/echochrome/news.html?sid=6186366
Game Play Video: http://www.findinternettv.com/Video,item,130016457.aspx
Escher Pieces :
http://trese.cs.utwente.nl/taosad/escher.htm

Crayon Physics is a freeware puzzle game designed released on 2007. Its object is to guide a ball to a goal point marked by a star.The original game was developed in the span of less than a week using resources freely available under the Creative Commons license. A level editor was released on June 30.

Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crayon_Physics
Author site : http://www.kloonigames.com/crayon/

Humane Games fit these categories:

The MacArthur foundation just granted $1.1 Million towards development of a school in New York City that will use “game design and game-inspired methods” to teach children. There are lots of interesting parallels to our work in this article. Katie Salen (author of Rules of Play) and the Gamelab Institute of Play are involved.

Needed Scenarios:

Needed Scenario:

RedHoodFinal.zip

Game Title: Fatworld

Publisher: Persuasive Games, Ian Bogost

URL: http://www.persuasivegames.com/games/game.aspx?game=fatworld

Further reading: http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/magazine/15-07/pl_games

Game Title: Darfur Is Dying

Publisher: mtvU

URL: http://www.darfurisdying.com/

Further reading: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/30/AR200604...

Game Title: PeaceMaker

Publisher: Impact Games

URL: http://www.peacemakergame.com/

Further reading: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12423759/

Game Title: Food Force

Publisher: United Nations World Food Program (WFP)

URL: http://www.food-force.com/

Further Reading: http://www.watercoolergames.org/archives/000381.shtml

Game Title: A Force More Powerful

Publisher: International Center on Non-Violent Conflict

URL(s): http://www.afmpgame.com/

Further reading: http://www.aforcemorepowerful.org/game/