Change Your World DOWNLOAD FREE* 2013 AUTODESK SOFTWARE Rea mun a a Ce ue eee rg Autodesk feet A oe cae eee Re usa ors) Reem ok rns Pete eerie See ee Se eee ed ns Loomer ven nr tee eee ee ee re ee "3 ea ee ee eae eee ee ee eer ee = poet eee ee Lent earOur students make = si award-winning games. DigiPen student games have won 40 awards at the Independent Games Festival—more than those of any other school. a ay the td n i/gan Nous 2012 IGF Student Showcase Winner 2012 IGF Student Showcase Winner DigiPen Institute of Technology offers bachelor's and master’s degrees in hardware and software engineering applied to simulation, video game design and development, fine arts and digital art production, and sound design.Pil Sa We PeBi) GAME PLAN Pret HE GAME OF MAKING G. WELCOME TO THE WILD WORLD OF VIDEO GAME DEVELOPMENT! Pe acre) JHU elcome to Game gamelike CALL OFDUTrorHAlo, Markus Perssonjust made the Poles Developer magazine's Yyoullneedtojoinalageteam. game he wantedto pay. andit 2012 Game Career Guide! Regardless of whichpath you turned out other people did 00, If you like games and take, yolfind someinformation __Youmay worty that people ‘think you want tomake about potential salaries and ‘wont atch onto your idea. But them, we're here to get you compensation inourSalary none ofusisunique.asmuchas [tne started, Atthe very least Survey [page 33]. These are ‘we might fie to thinks, Theres {you'llbe able to determine not guaramees ofcourse, but almost certainly someone ese er Whether making games is theydotel youwhat developers _outthere tat kes the things Something youtruly want earlyintheieareerare reporting youda And even if your intial a todo. income-se ‘games dont setthe word on fe, UP FRR eee Win these pages, we have Nomaterhow youwantte they prove to yourself andta {utorials that can ake you rom make games,havingsome projects everyone else that you can do rca zeroto game ith nocost, nd under yourbatisthe best wayto it The more youlearn fram your minimallearning curve Whether showapotenilemployer(ora failures andthere willbe some!), URIs louwant totryutleveldesignin potential ine eam) that youhave the mare youtlimpreve asa game Unreal Engine 3 (page 23) leam —whatittakestoworkwiththem, developer I's often a good idea to toprotoype gameideasin 30 —_-Wsthatchicken-anc-egg scenare: doa postmortem of your projet, Tur erayea space [page St), char gameplay Youneedexperience before you _toigure out how you can improve meticsin Excel (page 55],or _cangetajeh burhowdoyouget__next time (seepage 4). Fai make RPG quests inthe Source experence makinggamesifyou _eary faloten! engine (page 7], weve got you cantgetajob inte industry? If youre not confident going Covered. Andi youte woriedthat__AnswerStartmakingthem onyour talon, that's no problem. Game yovtenottechnicalortalented—ownyorwithassocates at school, jams (se page 63) area great fnoughtomake games, dont —_orhaweveryoucan! ‘wayto meet ater developers that _woery—ith enough time andthe ‘area or above yourleve, and try Fightattud, anyone cant (See OKAY, WHAT NOW? ‘omake some games together ered ‘more abou this on page 58) > Game schools canbe good withtheminatam. Ina jam ‘Once youve gotten yourfeet_ way network with future environment, you form ateam on wetwehave anextense list of developers, and gain ask the spotandirytomakea game Uae mang {though otal] ee game foundation of knowedge across in usualy) 4B hours. The time developmenttoalsyoucan use alldscipines. Butevenifyou _—_pressuremay scund raublesome, UE Wen nie tein gp tostart making games (page cant afford school you can work butts rea introduction 31), and game enginesyoucan on yourownand make yourway creative problem-solving and freely mod (page 17). youwart inthe world of games. keeping project small. Game Scrat more tutorials, checkout our The key when making your jamare happeningall the tine, ast game career gueissues, owmpojectsistoscale small. allover the word sothere’s a ‘where we have basic aides Maybe you want to create huge, god chance youl be able ond tomaking games with Fash sprawling action RPG—but theres ajamnearyou. Cnr! andlUbity settingupasimple a reason took DAB.Il so long to arifcalinelignce,andmaking come out. Large poets reqite WELCOME TO THECLUB! retro-styed pela Youcan find alevelofpolishthatseten very > We want you to make games, ‘those [andiotsmore stuf ike an dffcut when ist starting out, and we want youtohave fun interactive and extended version of especially witha smallteam, dint We ook forwardto urschool dectoryenpage 64) at Star byfiguingout whet you seeing what you come up wth, wi gamecareerguide com, cantealsticaly achieve, andtry and hope youijon usas weal, tomake innovative small projects together define the industry ore WHAT KIND OF before youtake onthat bigfrst- years to come. And dont forget DEVELOPER AM I? person shooter fyouhave some tosubscibeteGome Ceveloper NEL I ‘> Some people prefertawork specific areafinerest, ar sme magazine, where youl get very sol, orin seall soups. This sort smallfeatuce you always wished deep-level ips year-round (check of personisprobably best suited youcould seein games, then go _ourstudent discount subscription tothe patho theindependent ——_forthat! MNECRAFTforcxample, rates at gmagecom/subscribe, developer Make small games _—_wasn'vervsioned as some grand Happy game making! forsmallmoney,butlove what scale project that would enchant Branden Sheffield youd. you wanttowork ona millans, MMECRAF creator unten @reerosotyPenn Penn Engineering's PNM ES mM ene acay Uda led AND GAME TECHNOLOGY Cees Ue Computer Science grads: A unique, one-year graduate-level program combining art with engineering and balancing theory with practice Awide array of interdisciplinary courses from UPenn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, School of Design, the Wharton School of Business and the Annenberg School of Communication Access to the LiveActor Motion Capture Studio for student game projects Cutting edge research opportunities at the Center for Human Modeling and Simulation A world class education at University of Pennsylvania's Philadelphia-based Ivy League campus GET IN THE GAME DASA UR LesGAME CAREER GUIDE WHO TO KNOW AND WHAT TO DO INT GAME INDUSTRY Video jame events and trade shows are an excellent resource for learning about the industry and making connections with professional developers. Here are a few events you should know. GAME DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE ve goenfcom »» The Game Developers Conference (60C) brings together deveiopes fremall alksof fences, soca ame devs and console and PC game developers ub shoulders with ‘Students ad game development hopefus. 6 Features lecures, sum, workshops nd mere, al designedto make you beter at youd (orhelp youland one). OF Panicular interest for students is ‘he Game Career Seminarin which incustry luminaries give lectures sspirational game developers. This popular event continues to grow and supports the show's Game Career Pavion, where attendees can meet face-to-face wth some of the industry’ top studios and hand outa few resumes. GOC also hosts the annual Independent Games Festival which showcases someafthe finest games inthe inde development space. has aspecal Student Showcase, which displays 10 specially chosen student projects and puts themin front of thousands of attendees (and potential publishers), [60cisonnedand operated by UBM Teche, which ata ars ome Developer magazine. next takes place in 2013in San Francisca) 600 ONLINE vee geeonne cam .50COnine is sinlortoGOCbut fas youray have guessed has more ofan online focus. Ks usally held dustin Texas, ab of game development inthe southern ited States, Bu thats natal the show covers—moble and sociales sit ext ta roe to-play and subscription ‘sed MMs, not tomentin offing game development. The next GUC Online is October 9-14 2012. onc EUROPE we gdeowape com GDC Europe follows the structure ofthe San Francisco-based GDC, bt ittums its gaze toward European developers and regional market twends. The show takes place in Canjuncton withthe consumer focused rade show Garnestom and has cheaper student passes that allow access to all content. takes place in Cologne, Germany from August 13-15 2012, oc CHINA een >» GUC China, which is November 47-19 2012 in Shanghai, hosts talks on business and management, game design, production, programming, and visual arts, butt has 2 bent toward the Asian market. The show also hosts its own IF competition, ‘much like the primary GOC, and is open to Oceania as well as all Asian countries GAMES COM ‘rerganeci elfen > Be sure to book some extra vacation time after GOC Europ, because Cologne, Germany hosts ‘the consumer-oriented Gamescom ‘on August 15-19 2012. Gamescom | Europe's largest trade fai or games, and the show invites the public and industry professionals Tocheck out upcoming tiles ‘and interact with the developers behing them DEVELOP CONFERENCE wr dep confronce.com > Theannual Develop Conference, held in Brighton, UK, hos talks on production, coding audi, design, art and business, The show also features the Evolve Conference, which focuses onthe emergence of new platforms, technologies, ane ‘markets. Develop usually takes place during the summer, the 2012 conference is July 10-12 INDIECADE > TheanrualinieCade Festival Longe tapetherncepencent mes and davelopers rom around the ver tcelabrae the growing rie space The event alls developers to showcase theitites and network vith pers aethe event organizers host an aware ceremonyto hon the inaustas standout nse games and studios, The nat riod wil take place October 4-7 in Les Anges. PENNY ARCADE EXPO wwmporsiecom >> Te biannual Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) held Sette and Boston, bull ts eputation on celebrating ‘ideo games andthe culture that surounds them, PS fainted fecusmakesitthe most accessie ofalthe shows we've mentioned ‘The show features a range of teumament and ther soil events forattendees, 2s wellasanumberof panels from industry professions Theshow’s expo for offers acollection of upcoming titles aswell asa showcase of top indo games known asthe PAK 10. The Seat based PAX Prime even takes pace August 31-Septembor 2, and the ext PRK East takes place in Boston ineaty 2013, Anes part ofthe AX lineups smaller, developer focused event called PAX Oe which runs right before PRX Prime in Seaton August 29~! The DICE. (Design. ovat, Communicate, Entertain} Summits more about the business end ofthe industry, bringing the higher-level executives together as they discuss developing ends and opportunites witio the game industy.The shows ognized by the Academy oflmeractive Aas Sciences andhasts the annual Inde Game Challenge a5 wel asthe Interact Achievernent Awards, Thelast DICE. Summit took place in February 2012 in Las Vegas—dewails forthe 2013 event have yet tobe announced re Electric Enertainment Expo (€3} ogpnized oy the ESA sone the gest and most extravagant US game events nthe industry The showbrings together publishers and hardware manvfecurersas revealtheic upcoming projects and build eitemant forthe ever mpartant fourth quarier While he showisony open toprfessonals £3 drew inmare than 45700 stendeesin 2012.€3 usualy sin eer June ands hd in dowrtovn Los Angles, wgscesacre/ The Toyo Game Show [TC _apans largest vdeo game rade show, where the regions biggest publishes exh har ucamng lest joumalits, fans, andthe industry. The show features a number shops and conferences for developers and serves asa venue forthe Computer Entertainment Supplies Associations (CESA Japan Gamera, TS Sense of Wonder ight slows deveepers to showcase thei new or experimental projects andieas. The fst wo days oFT6S are instr nly, though the final ‘wo days are open tothe public. The verti co-opinized by CESA and Nike Busness Pbleatons. nc, andthe 2012 showis September 20-23 tthe Nakuhar Messein Chiba Gy, Japan fezzed i aelatively new UK. based PC and inde games showease eventhostedin Brighton by game publications Eurogamer and Rock, Paper, Shotgun Rezzed is mare ofa payerfocused show, and ts biggest arts preview builds of PC games, but sind showease cou oferlcal devs exposure, Rezzed typically takes place in cary July ORGANIZATIONS semigeocry ‘ssaction (608) sims teennnee developers ‘onpolt rp hae capers in arin Europe ant sponsors ‘umber fevers and patios at hein liseusions that allow developers oconect ‘Sareinfonnaton '30and to professionals for, vathar pons auabeor ules india Thay even havea group mesg The Ecc Sofware dE seas centey he ESA 1994 rates corer dtemesrntn ereues that he nd erating guidelines The oypnzaton eceies sing rm patsers (ESA) epesers he leestsofUS a publishers vi aniacy Froyamns, business and svermantaureach Set om The organcavon also cone snd operate Edna funds several hares though ESA Faunstion aos The are cio scorn gare peers, share leas, su nde pes. Hembars ofthe ‘rganaation gan dio profess. precieneeceen DnevseotGame less the chrge| agonist video game nt Sponcoe oy the EK, teria sine ect gare regulator andere The cero Inarctie ht ana Sconces [AAS] isa rnp oraniatin eveopers hing intent ges. The AuShoste the aval DICE summivas was the events Ines eieverentInvent the Future of Games. We imagine new game experiences that haven't been invented yet The largest game research group in North America Game design lab with industry-standard resources, including 30 motion capture Near the epicenter of innovation and entrepreneurship, Silicon Valley Interdisciplinary, with courses spanning art, engineering, and digital media studies Graduates now working at Microsoft Studios, EA, Sony, Zynga, Blizzard, and others A research university located in a redwood forest overlooking the Pacific Ocean cs. sc.edu/game’ admissions.uesc.eduoa lf you want to get into game development, modding an existing game is a good way to start exploring design ideas and building prototypes without reinventing the wheel (see our modding primer on page 1?) In this tutorial, we're going to use Valve Software's Source Engine (the same game engine that powers Remar 1d TEAM FORTRESS 2) to prototype a mod with RPG-esque quests within HALF-LIFE 2: EPISODE 2, Cree1H Note that this wtorial assumes with mast ofthe elements inthis in ammerarenotfully supported complied everything in that group (putaveatasicknolegect tuoislaswel intetrsnocThovesionanéray _ wilbeskppein the pocess ana Source SOtstlamerEatorand Fyouvariosddeuson ——_crashypuredi, seer eppeni the gees Face Poser tol cots deinely dalbgetoyour typed isverysetltecsiset lows bainerredeciendpriec, " ‘sonepusoeie ceva. OUTLINING THE (our selective view ingvival Yovsroudbe comerabewih Auscty()isate opensource QUEST STRUCTURE a. oranjeasty themseves RETR GREEN EUELSMLTTGS Selmer acorchoen pache mites medsetcgep garglousewreemdyouownonthequesingapecofa, srthou a he ter St geting tigger bee elowngtis,—_Gaogutoryourmed Ilopiinggee blanga —_intheway. Wel san using thm Cun anf youwonti se VicTasoreedaProene _charecaryagesion sym wih inthe naw secton costo dogue yas need Excerpt) valhep epee poms wauk hve to Toknowtowbuidandsave your makeFacePorervotbeverwih beacompltayseprtegace, BUILD A QUEST owmscenesin foe Poser Nsekoy —inaws fst Domiodtand—Ourgemetee wave weeron, TEMPLATE iiyadverevervaedthe source folwteinaltonnstuciont.payercoraers(WPes} ging, WITH INSTANCES SOktelsbefore—thereareston Wihouhutptchbetodttat—woquetseach Wecanuethem le gring ous a pil Aiseremucisoune a you mencuas ange teenth opie qanm verter, ollaowracisaneg wha cane oleom howto use them. sundies we wer fe oginet the ploy orf add__ the Harmer tor soning, Str withthe ate Developer Hest ga crSpe (5) etotheenvionnent ilo jure mw ate Wi Resource tJ which oss GCFSepealowsustoopenupthe Yoheopourewelsorgriatd, other mapsand ines them aiootveryusehltvorasand cachefiesthtcomevensizm ket Suoeanamingconaon pfx ihe bul el beatings feerencesandthen checkout gresaowecanviewandernact__forurseperstgvpscfenies, “qestinsance,'which ibe the Gest {2)(aeaiveriam thefeswinnttom Meleeusngt sseqpaedn igre Shp rey cr qt oe deewraconrinted ersep, errata ror Tiswilmalefiingthe date Dn wetive cur rt bysepnerucinal eos on Tiuhwvetaresdy oil! eniesmucheaseyespevally—_intnce; we con quchy ope Sesoucetngine Teminimin —needwealveSnreesOKso when walogenindnthalquess. i pacehin hen, and en Temitemenstorunthese ‘oo openupthescom Glen gotothe Faron atdgthe Leverett sctingsfreacnew ues We can scteuieuteegremn inuhaitsalt eovarsed wadatta aaaectaied ceearemurceriaytivesan! TortWrLRe2-Ersoo G2 youtemmaptewerkwiywell— leepethemalinoneloaion n chang properties emake each {PGi processor SteMEMAM, feerwoRas-mainmapsheanbe —telistandoutoftewayelthe one uiguetn overt save alot of Dec" tevel ponies ad, onphngtompistatewsmpe—_questemies, tire rg development These andWindoweXPorreweYuvill eonsuptoawigecpenfanscape, ele we sar making quest, instance illconl the gmenog Stoneccamirophonetha pugs Fue tsa sueenstoffelerel_ weneestoeaktiem Sowin® | snéupeefu: t becsse ino your Tesemtistuorafyoudile— snaterconperens gue’. teywllcomain te Gotpe and tousetisleeltertbetworsige isatalethtistethearderin character aconsin he game GEARING UP eatanddonmladit at URL Hip: wich the components reused Unfortunately EPSOE TWO does (a toe ne ytsined ets ginopeonvesouresteniegtp— inewhquestetat" Quest I tent Level level

level ope Clobal Variables (Global dest ‘Global gic(0,00) as possible We alzowant and ignoreplayerpush (dont give _canchangethe sprite imagein this both game text entities. ext_start, ‘ohave them siting ontop of wayto player) rmenifyouhave one that youwant willbe the message that displays the X/¥ ans because when the Next were going toned te cdteyourgame,but fernow —_duringthe quest and text_ene wil instance simportedintothe main tigger that tells us when the standard sprite wil do, Also, ne message that tes the player mapitwillbe oiented around the _payerhas approached our quest _-makesure that Staton is checked toreturn tothe quest giver ora fune_instanee entity, whieh means giver. Create a brush thats 64 inthe Flags tab, certain area, ou might lse sight of enti nis tal 32 units wide, and Now we'e going o add Were going toneed some Lunde the workiftheyare toolow. _unitsthick, and then place itjust some dialogue. Find logic relays to keep our riggers Youecan check the location of your infront of eur NPC. Wellchange _—_choreographec_scene in the entity organized, Aveay isan entity that entties byusingthe topandside _itstextureta"nadraw’ sothatit _lstandplaceitmnextto aur NPC. _ activates ether entities when t Viewportsto determine where they doesrit gt rendered nthe game. Were gongtonced atleast two gets triggered. Theyre used by arefneeded, use the Selection Tochangethe texture, just select ofthese foreach quest,onefor _leveldesignerstokeeptiggered Teolto place them above the XY the rush itch tothe Toggle ‘the start dialogue and one forthe _eventsthat occur atthe seme avis. Ourinstance also gives all texture application toa, click the endlague, socopyand pastea__ ime togetherin one pace, and theentes inside taprefixofour Browse buten fer for nodraw, _—_-secondane above the fst. Name they can easilybe enabled and choice Welleavethetriggersuntil double-click the nodraw texture, one scene_start andthe other disabled Create two logic_slay theendofplacingallthe entities _andclick Apply Then tie the tigger scene end We won't ad the actual entities and place them near your andleave somevalues out unt _—toanentty by pressing Ci +Tand —daloguejust yet, but well cover NPC. Name them “elay_content late, sodont warryfitlooks ike selectingfunc_buton fromthe that soon, ‘and relay_complete”These wll we missed something ‘lass ist Les name "trigger We wil also need sn audio be the relays that activate al ofthe Weve goingtoneedallofthe __stat"and change the speed 100. natifiation that he player has entities inthe quest. The specifies entities mentionedinthelistin ‘Hit Apply tosavethe changes we've acceptedthe quest andthat ts ofthe actual quest ave upto you to Figure3.Levs star byplacinga just made, begun. Createsnambient_ generic create forthe player to complete NPC. With the Entity Tal eelected Noxt, adda spite that ill entity place t near your NPC,and Youll needtosetupa condition find npc_citzen on the drop. alerttheplayerthatthe NPChas a nameitsound start. youdont’ forthe playerto meet, ike "get down lst and place atthe origin quest. lace an ene_sprite entity _alreadyhave one youwanttouse, to. specific location” or collet coordinates. This willbe our quest above yourNFCshead and apen —_tryusingelevbelllwav by typing’ _acertain number of objects" You vec ital Entertoopenhis —_upthe Object Properties window “platslavbeld wav“ into the canuseenttios such as math Properties and make hisname by hing + Enter Namet Sound Name fl Then gota the counters, or brush enti such as “giver Nsochange Prevent picking “Sprte“Werrealso going toneed _—‘Fagstaband make sureallthree _vigger_oncet check whether the Upweapons? toes. HitApply and tochange the render made so that options are checked, condition has been met. those then go int is Flgs panel and he sprit renders properly inthe ‘erthat we're goingto add the entities fin that the condition has check Not Commandable,orelse game. Within the ject Properties textthatexplains the quest othe been et, they wllhen tigger the ‘the quest giver wl fllow your window, locate the Render Mode instance, Add two separate game relay_ complete entty that weve fer around the map. Well also option bax and select WorldSpace text entiesandname them 'text_ setup. The elay_complete wil want to enable Gant drop weapons Gl from the drap-dewn men, You _start"and text_end"The Hold Time then trgperall the entities needed forbothvilineedtobe ahighvalue, —torunthe end ofthe quest Make Figure 3: Te anata of guest, tke 99999, otha he message sure that "elay_compete is eae won't disappear unt we kllthat| gered when your quest section ae entty Wealsawartthetexttobe is completed. eee anes off to the side of the screen where Now wre need the audio Sorte Shows where the questcan be tated itwor' obstruct the layersview, notification forthe end ofthe evel er The NPC Whois ving tie qt sosettheXandVfldst00.1for Add another ambient-geneicenity SceneStart The calogu explaining she quest Sud SF A al es ae AYE OFTRESAATGFRAETINY) se + reese quscnounceremp est TextSian Ate cue with aif desenpion ofthe quest flay Content Arelay hat activates the main pars ofthe quest, suchas npc spammers wil trigger the Relay Complete when fnished> Relay Complete || Enables the nowt set of ens forthe folowing quest Text End “Tex that explains hw end the quest Sprite Rseivaed 6 SHOW Which NPCRS tak TiggerEnd The wiggerto activate the end ofthe quest ‘Seen id [THE in dao Sound End Audio cue thot wl signal the end of the quest eh Ouest) (=ithere isa pert questieis activated eres Aetvaton>Fig urge ting scene start [End of quest) ‘rigger complete Onhigaer scene end Start Oniigger triggeccomplete Kil nigger levelquest, Display complete Ftc 6: Organize Vie Gaup inthe Objet Papers ndow | | Fee a and name t“sound_comlete and tht iggr_starisin front by Setittoa sound that indicates the using your top and side viewports ‘quest hasbeen completed, such toplace them. Also, make sure asabellorcash register lokeep that thay aren front ofthe NPC's it simple wel use“plats\eevbal. _hitbox or ese the game cannot tell wav" agai for now. if you ate selecting the triggeror Well need to add one more button. To check the hitbox location, tuigerin ort oF he NPC. Thiswill just select your NPC and a yellow bethe same2s the starting tigger wireframe bounding box should wemade early sojust copy nd appear around it pastetrigger_start Namethisnew Let's set upall ofthe wigaers tuiggetwigger_end” and make sure listen igure 5. For now, you that Starts locked is checked inthe don'thave to worry about the Frags ab, Make sure both riggers _viggersin [brackets] because acenot overlapping each other a all well ade ther ater, elect he Viel 3 Ale Neda = Tooter = pe ne = vile listed entities, open their Object Properties, oto the Outputs tab and add the designated outputs te teach entity using the table below forceference. Be sure ta hit Apply tosave each output! That's how we set up our quest instance, Now we can take that instance and put tint efferent places around aur map ight now, furinstance is essentially abasic «quest template that we can easily ‘modify and add new elements to. PLACING INSTANCES 211 Now that we have our instance setup, les ad copies oft at different point sin our main map owe can star making our actual quests, Place a func instance wivere you want your first quest ta start Open up its Object Properties window and under MF Filename browse for your quest_instance ‘map ile, (Note that browsing can be bit bugey, se you may have rotype inthe relative file path to *quest_instance" yourself) Youcan ‘ow copy an paste these entities saround your level. Go ahead and duplicate the instance until you've gotasmany quests as you want Select your frst quest instance and callapse it by sping to nstancing, Collapse, Selection. Harnmer wll then import all the entities and sive them a prix normally “futolnstancecrumber>" Everything wl be selected when it eso tle Gps ame [Sr oo. | Beno has been collapsed, so were going tw organize them into VisGroups tomake the uestbuiking process easier Bring upthe Object, Properties window and click an the WsGroup tab, You should see ‘something like Figure 6 Don't worry about the “sewer* and “main level entries —!m using ‘hem in my own map te break up ‘the space, but you doit have to have thern in yous, Hit the Edit groups button and youl se the ‘window shown in Figut ? From here you can create new \isGroups tous in your own map. Press the New group button and {youll see. new entry onthe lis. Cickon it anlthen name itusing ‘the name field 10 Quest_n, wheres isthe numberof your quest. lick Close ater youve done that and (you should see the new VisGroup appear as.a new optiononthe main list Check the bax to add enties tothat group hit only and chick Close. You can now hie/nhise that ‘r0up by checking or unchecking iRinthe VisSroup conto panel, ‘seen in Figure 8, Do tis For the est ff your quests 25 wll IMPORTING YOUR OWN AUDIO (11 Our RPGs goingto be extremely boringwithout any recorded dialogue 1o convey the stry, 30 were going touse Audaciy to Feeord your own dialogue. You must have amicrophone for hispart Oue tothe way the Face Poser pplication works, you're going to want to record one sentence at time, Recording ausion Audacity is easy. All you need 0 dois get your mie setup correctly, hitthe Fed button to record and save your auio as a.wav fle when youre fnishe. if you have any robiems, Audaciy help menus have las of useful information. ‘When youre done recording your dialogue, create a folder named "RPG" and save each sentence as .wav ile int it Move that RPG folder to Ci/Program Fils/Steary steamapps// halite episode twovep2/scunds! It's important to save the audi into 1a flder one level above the sounds folder because the engine wll ot reac the sound file otherwise Next let's create a sound_ scrip file so that the engine will be able to reference aur sounds in {he editors an the game. Launch IcFScape, goto Fle, Open, gover to yoursteamapps folder, and open upthe “episode two content. gc” file After GCFScape has loaded ‘that fle, well ned to finda fle named game_sounds_maniest, ‘xt which islocatedinthe / steamapps//ep2 soripts/ folder Right-click onthe file ane cick Exact, and place the manifest within steamapps//haltlife 2 episode two/ep2/scripts. We're done with [BCFScape, so you can cose it now Gotothe scripts faker and open Upthegame_sounds_manifesaxt file we ust extracted In this text fle wecan see al ofthe sound serps Figure 8 Togging ibe Groupe Vabroone User | Auto Moet Son] 6a | Mai 4] 4] | Move tt tena | thatthe game will use when tleads, and we need toad our own tothis list Under the lst ne of cade, within the last bracket, 2d your own entry ike Listing 1/806 FILES PRECKCuE FILE" Nov we're going to create the “1p_sounds file that we are referencing, s0 save the manifest file and close it now. Inthe scrips fldes rightclick and select New ext Document Rename tis new tex fe to “p_sounds.t" After you rename the text fil, open it up and add the code in Listing2 the filenames and extensions ‘match what it saysin the seript file Save and close the text fle when you are done. IF you're running Windows then place it in /steamapps//hafilife episode two/ ep2/Scenes/2P6_MO0Y. Il make it easier to find later on if you give the seene name prefix such sting SCRIPTS/R0G.SOUNDS.THT* Vista or Windows ,we'lineed to help Face Poser out aie bit. AS ‘mentioned ear, you'll need to download and install the Phoneme [Extractor patch in erdero do this, Follow te instructions and replace the necessary fies, This patch villallow Face Poser to correctly translate the audi files and sound crits int the phoneme "RPG. SOUNDS. FEMALE, 02" as‘RPG_'. Nxt, Face Poser wll ‘ask you Ta name your first Actor, Name your actor" targeten>" vere isa number between ‘Land 8 because we can have up to ight incividual NPs in each scene. Hammer willuse whichever [NPC you selectin the editorbased conthis name. We currently only have one characte, se name the stig? { awe cn suTO oLUne ‘OL_nORR parca rree.wonn SOUNOLEVEL — SRDLYC_NORN anes *CUTIZENMONTE/FENMLECTTIZEN-LINEL-TRY2 ~ PROCESSED. KA" } “he frst lines the name of the sound that will appearin Face Posen: "tpg sounds" i the prefix, and the second pats the name, You can change thi naming convention to whatever yo ike The nex four lines tel the engine how to dal with the sounds, and welleave them as they are for ow. The astline isthe way file itwillosd and contains a relative path tothe “sound! older, located in /steamappa// halle 2 episode two/ep2/ sound All you need o dais put the flder with your audio files imo that “sound” flder and make sure facial expressions that will be animated on the characters. I's important to note that Source SOK refreshes itself each time itis launched, so this patch fix needs ta be done each time Source SOKis opened. Yes, itis @ bit of pain, ut i's way easier and faster than tying line up phonemes tothe audio manually With Face Poser open, we're goingto star a new scene. Under the Choreography menu tab click “Neu! which wil ereatea new ‘scene to work with, tl prompt {outa save the scene, so nameit Something you can cemernber, and gre : nce your equ enimation io et pin Corogrophy wok he hi actor“ target Right-click on the Actor name that has appeared inthe Choreography window and then goto New, Channel bring up ‘the Create Channel box. Name this channel ‘hucia” Well ned to make second channel fr animations, so repeat the last step and name ini, Now we'e goingtosortout the auc. In thelist af tabs at the bottom ofthe Face Poser screen double-click Phoneme Ector and itil ring up a new window. Clk ‘on Loa ana select the. wav file you want to add tothe character. The file willbe displayed asa waveform iagramin the Phoneme Editor window ater tis leaded, Press the Revextact button, and Face Poser wil prompt us to write out the Sentence text ofthe same dialogue auc clipwe selected. Witeaut the line and then press OK. The words {you entered should now be paced at the appropriate points over the waveform, 0 rightclick onthe ‘waveform and nt Commit extraction twoappiythe phonemes to your waveform. you pla i by pressing {your space bar you should se the Acton the window meve their ‘mouth. Ht Save onthe Proneme itor window ane then closetWe need oad that. wav fle Alweneedto donowiewieger hour oF garnepay, sts vital to toowecersorghcickonthe tescmnets Sart pig Meineed haves autneve etre jin Hato che sndCKcAV Fic, wttggrte scene fem naar” cael happen ocr per dndthencheckShow Sounds! entyatthe point tere we wart Fortunately atsave sexy thatwe ge ourwavtieinthe amps yuanuses iger_once loge avo emt Frit on Doktorniteverrame youd shod enya our stones plcemer fo important bt imoyeurcemsounésciptovcan soft dealecichonthetrchto godt hve sores ieOnce yout seetRandhit change SeerePlefldtothe __themensrofndLetsramet Ok miswipace tonypurhoda —seameypewanyaurNPC reac “tasters "The aesee Mecnndtstelsmceyee TRIGGERING EVENTS. Svcs cowereyingtomate or Sigur Looce Pure Sforan needs sem that alowseach sige oravtsve nace MuKneparcca iGiunormntmp on Gon tEre Gee ar Joke once yoo done Conpitede spectesask his Outputs tabor our, conte Typswomedioaa! pstes, lesotbeypnecan gees ond snd aa i opis ONT the wortcomrhein istweral but sng peforna atthe eisai Now he pe shout Secon) Necsoegarsene TS" GAME ENDING bumingtothoropepty Swe Herésancranpeofaquest: _/Ourgame is ging tohave wo APPLYING CUSTOM — ectuncensessuorn, Srathergeupofenttee ole i Nowveresttoseou danpe — Wenmpe.ceupusauigge's) showin igre iden pace en Cphoure Ve ggioaat rege ely ime suite pein there some indeniiswecesed ——cupoihestppmeremies andremembe Sackanportsincreatic — sgemity average! expense Faas Emarocpenep he hctgheacvatingsprtes,ondebon. ents rte ending cet a Fropetes winter. urecan iene Seneniiyardyollseeoncpion Usingreaysteepsthe uber wggrs Openup teat bon named‘Smetie"Seectisoyion ofoupuslowandinoneace youre ey andreatethse cde "cones Tae Welinced nies wichcan every ta Osco nttpyered ft toasigtanNPCowse re scee 80 covsngoncompoxmape Gop econds On ae tencwintnenoneatyouace SETTING UP Sects Tis wl ake the seven infos focertttypiosmetese AUTOSAVE ixirotack yew fe canes Tenrwencmene/(anpotylewskvhene Rvandtnevetesecrds ert posestreceneendenay singectshensee erect garewildacomect te player Figur 0: Yonge ture these ants tomate your ending cree sequence end fase sametext endiext Message: Created by Hols tine: 100 HER ose oevesoren 2012 annual cane cansen auroe Using the cient command, Now youjust need to compile \yourmap.Complingis the process of packaging everything and making _3.BSP fle thatthe game can read, To compile, just got ile, Run Map. Tis vl bring up the Run Map options window with some diferent compile options, such as launching the game ater the compile rishes. Just it (Ok to compile the map aed youre goodtogol QUEST COMPLETE ‘HI Now you should have te basic teols you need to bulla your own PS protatype. Weve shown you how create quests, incorporate (your on aalogue, ne use lngie toenhance your gome, so now it your jo to keep testing and refining those quests, eve. and lalogue decisions. You can make any sort of quest you can possibly imagine, orads a mukiplager co-op ‘component like the Synergy mod, ‘revenue elements fram other Valve games lke Lert 4 Des. Getin there and start modding! ‘Ben Evans agar dovelpo wit cong Hse design cry pec whan canes tSouce engine programmer at Super Sus neon be Jour on iter 8 Tee Bevan. ‘pct nko ss So he ‘tte Machinima sie Gv Prtcon nd remand forprovting dole ing ond eorecrsing resources 4. Valve Doveoper Wik htpa/ evolopervavesottware com skisin Page 2 Design’ hpi daign’ 2. Audacity hips /avdacy. sourceforge net “Phoneme Exwactr patch ‘omumodeb.convmemers? varsty/downleadswindows- ‘sta? phoneme-ertractort3 5 tFScape hp. nemess ‘thowavelengthnevindex php?p=26 6. Design? Source Ttoral design’ com/taining center? engines sdka/soureENTERTAINMENT (ela e Ate Te el DO YOU HAVE THE PASSION TO CREATE AND THE WILL TO FORGE GREAT GAMES? If you have a passion for games and strive for excellence, we encourage you to check out these opportunities to join Blizzard Entertainment and contribute to the Ce eeu Pet Cele ea ae Continuing students fram all aver the country are Teo ea ees welcome to apply for our Summer Internship program! graduate, have a passion for games, and aspire to work Nee Re ed Cee ee ee operations departments to gain hands-on experience! Sea Cano Oa PTAC om PCy De Lc Cu Cue RYN Orava eCOMPETITIVE SPIRIT Indie game competitions can be a useful resource for student developers. Events such as the Independent Games Festival and showcases like the PAX 10 can help rookie developers gain exposure and raise awareness about their games. These events also help incentivize efficient development and timely release windows by forcing teams to meet deadlines and produce finished games. IGF Student Showcase Competition igtcom Entry Requirements: dpen tool sudent developers woridvide, Eanes must be atleast 19 years old Entry Fe: Nove Organizers, ‘Sponsors: 8M Techieb > As par of OCs Independent Games Festival the I Student Showcase encourages students to submit their games or mods frjudging bya panel of roughly 60 leading independent and professional developers ‘The winning tes inthe other games featured at ‘helGFPaviion onthe GC show flow, and each team receives $500 to help fund ateip tothe show atthe Independent Games Festival Choice Awards, ane ofthese Finals wl win a $3,000 riz for Bost Student Game. IGF Student Showease finalists from 2012 include THESHOWFIEL, NOUS, WAY, and One Au OMe SRY Dream-Build-Play allenge vo eeu cm Entry Requirements: pen toindividvols who are ot Jest 18 years ed end who are leglresidants in their ‘country of entry Enty Fee None Organizers, Sponsors: Mirosoft » The Microsofthosted Dream, Build Play Challenge tasks entrants with creating a high-quality tile using XNAGame Studio 40, Winners ofthe competition spt a prize pool of $75,000 and secure publishing contract and exposure for thee gare on the Yoox Live Marketplace Sense of Wonder Night weep iaip.cojp/ ‘53/2012 enone Entry Requirements: The ‘game must invoke @ sense of wonder! nty Fee None Organizers, Sponsors: Computer Emertoinment ‘Suppliers Associton (CES), Niki Business Publications Ine, 160A Jopon > The Tokyo Game Show's Sense of Wonder Night provides developers with an opportunity to present ew and experimental gameideas to an audience of professional, Winning applicants get 10 minutes te present theridea or prototype to an audience atthe show and can exhibit their project atthe SOWN Pavilion on the T6S show fea. Indie Game Challenge vcndogamecolenge com Entry Requirement: Open toindividuoleor teams worldwide excepto those located in US-embargoed countries) Entry Fee $100 (fess waived for esidente of ertain states inthe US) Organizers Sponsors The ‘Academy of interactive Arte and Sciences; Gamestop, Inc The Guild at Southern Methodist University >» This game development competition, hosted alongside the Interactive Achievement Awards at DICE. allows student ‘developers to compete for upto $100,000 in prizes. Finalists inthe competition receive $500 to help pay fortravelto the awards ceremony, where the challenge’ grand prize winner is announced, These finalists also receive ‘the opportunity otk toanumber af game companies about potential publishing deals. indiecade wwmindacdecom Entry Requirements ‘Submited gomes must not have nding rom a ‘mojrpubishor Entry Fe: Processing fees range fom $250 70 and are based on time of entry Organizers, ‘Sponsors: Creative Media Colborative > Indioade offers developers chance te gin exposure for their games by grontingwinners a spot inthe incieCade Festival showcase in Culver Cy, Califia. The games shown at IndieCade are selected by panel of ver 160 jurors, And the show welcomes indie ites ofall types, including exotic genres such 8 virtual ays nd Alternate Realty Games (ARGS), Entrants may submit works in progress, butall games should include atleast one finished, playsble eve PAX 10 wmeprine pat ama, oe Entry Requirements: panto independent developers witout otaaional publsherdevloper relationship in place ery Fee: $50 Organizers, ‘Sponsors: Penny Arcade > The PAX 10 showcase ‘a both the Seattle and aston shows allows indie evelopersto demo their titles onthe PAK show foot. These developers receive exposure for thei work ane getthe chance to interact nth the show's attendees. Independent Propeller Awards seendeputgames con contest hp ny Requirements: Open tool applicants mare thon 19 yeors ld Emery Fe: ons Organizers, Sponsors: indiePu,Z00 Games, South By Southwest (SHSH7) > Te Independent Propeller Awards, presented by the ndiePub community oes indie developers the chance towin a $50,000 grand GAME CAREER GUIDE prize, with $25,000 ingto the winners of feur subcategories best ar, alo, design, ana technical excellence. The avards are held annually at South by Southwest Inneractive's SereenBuro, the conference's veo game-based ack GIRL (Gamers in Real life) ves comgh! Entry Requirements: Students over 18enaled in 2 gomerelted program check site for specifics ney Fee one Organizes, ‘Sponsas: Sony Online Entertainment vw TheGLAL Sclrship Progam sa diferent hind ot conpetton—inted of sng nef teen students gme- rete incing, rudesguarinatin, peogrnnig via thet endeo or] on Sana apece feo aiter3D and ashot tsanyontow the apcrk cantelmake goes tot tore women wi vant to pig rasa 931,000 Scilrhp anda week inertia Sor One Enrteert in Son ig. The concept isa Seton Sony nine ge [the 2012 competition hedentanis suit reateta Punane 2 dnd HUET, andthe eons eae way fasineany Marchoe COURSE TECHNOLOGY marrage: eee TAKE YOUR GAMES FROM CONCEPT TO COMPLETION lbs! ws alvle x Course Technology PTR game development books offer coverage of everything from programming and character design to story line development and special effects creation, using the latest game creation toolkits, software, and engines. We also offer titles that teach essential advanced-level skills such as math and physics, and coverage of other topics including business, marketing, and legal issues, Latest RELEASES: 7 iPhone Es a = a SEs By Jonathan S. Harbour By Allen Sherrod and Wendy Jones from Those Who Have Done It ‘By Jonathan Williamson 352 Pages $3499 SOURIS Urea eraHIN gou'eeinerested in making your own games, buldinga few mods is a great way 0 B get your feet wet When you're tying tomake a {game from scratch, i's easy to get stalled early Con-—especialyif youre working by yourself and dont have the skills ortime todo al the art sound, coging, designing, and testing all 1 yoursel On the ether hand, you decide to modi an existing game, you already have an excellert base to start ror and you getto jump straight tothe game-making pracess. ‘so, modding can aisobe a good way 0 star buiing your porto for when youre eal to start looking for work asa game developer since youcan stat practicing your level design, 20 and 30 ar kil, sound design, ane other game development eisciplines without having to make a game rom scratch first FH! Game mods have been around for neatly 2s long as games themselves have; Steve Rusel’s SPACEwaR! (1962) had plenty of tir-party aukltione, inctuding cloaking generators, different weapons, and even 3 fst person perspective. MS, PAC-MAN started outa atin party Pac-Man conversion kit called Chazy OT And one ofthe earliest games to feature after: market mod support was actualy McROSoFT Fc SanuLacor 4.0 Areraft and i Designer expansion pack (1990), ost of modem modking ctiviy cen trace itefbackto id Softwares WOLFEWSTEN 30 in 1992s codebase was particulary easy for enthusiasts to play wth, so many people mode new level packs that extended he fe a the game. \enoticed this and built D908 with deliberate enery Alex n mind by separating the code, medi, and lvesieto modular wad packages tomakeit easier formodderstaclstnbutetherchanges, and would centnueta encourage moder twark with he Quake srs by including moddingtools and eventually making thelrengines open-source, Since hen, wee seen many major games 700 rem humble game-mod argnsinno Have you ever wanted to make changes to a game while you were playing it? Perhaps you thought your weapons were too weak, or you were frustrated by your incompetent Al teammates. Maybe you simply weren't satisfied with something more fundamental, Well, you're not alone—there are hundreds of thousands of players out there wha like to make modifications ("mods") to the games they avin, ranging from humble subtle changes and bug fixes to complete overhauls that leave very little of the original game intact. Modding isn't just fun and games, though! The Skills you learn while making a game mod can be the beginning of your career in game development. In this article, we're going to walk you through the basic information about modding games; well discuss modding history, popular games and engines, and a few stories of modders-tumned-developers—to encourage you to start making Your ovin fuledged ple tles—orinsome cases, entraly new genres, COUNTERSTRKE, one ofthe most legendary online games in istry and the forefather of practically every ealistic FPS out ‘there, started out a 8 HALF-LIFE mod, LEAGUE Lecewos, HEROES UF NEWERTH, and other games inthe emerging multpayer online batieground (WOBA) genre all stare one common ancestor WARCRAFT mod DEFENSE OFTHE ANCENTS you havea greatideaforamod, you might fin that t can ecipse te original game you modified! UNHEAL ENGINE lerig Games) 117 oe Uores gine is ubiquitous. ts curent incamation (Unreal Engine 3, a the time ofthis ‘wiing] powers mare than 200 titles, andi’ a when an Unceal Engine game is notresent inthe current charts, How both uniquely helpful and ofthese gemescannet be ected by the mo reative. Unreal boats a wide community inf, only UNREAL TOURNAMENT renindustry standart does complete mod suppor, athaugh some its crambacks; you can't access the Unreal other games have level edltors availabe any evel ther than Un “The Unreal Engine has been aroundin one form or another forneay 15 years, and with this but ot ealy pow Pe rats Caco eee Pe eet i ee eee ret ener ee ret ery Cee eee ene eae you're not much ofa PC gamer. Kotablyittends to Meee ee ee ‘that are both easy to work with and well documented, Some older games may have once been wel Ce eee ec See ee ae eer aero eee) pair nner more a ee ett Tord Oe ee en ee ee) Cee ee ee cece ie? oi ‘chieved forthe games you have at hand there arent many, itmay be worth asking inthe forums Seek ees Ea? ts, 5 [ihout aot of extra work, st east wads, ran Unrea Development platform forthe Unreal Engine that. free for nancammercial use and comes wt ince licensing tems and multpatorn su [For more on the Unreal Development Ki, read surhands-on tte on maki the UK on page: Toumavenr 3 andbots MOODAGLE GAMES: Unnen Toumanen Roost En) TOR-ONLY oF Wak, Maron's Ence(unsupperte yar he most on spl choice with mod-makers ne has impressively own projec‘a the engine behind Hl F-LIE 2. In onder ‘make amed with the Source Engine, you don't ‘need to own a specific game (unless you want touse specific content froma game}—i's ree toallSteam users, Wile the Source Engine large community ane excelent documentation make ta great place te start, tan be notorusly award to werk oth thanks tot rather dsted tool set and ively weak asset pipeline There are sone fentastic madern works using Source, but the tools hinder more than they help. Ad since Sources feeling litle dated, we wouldnt be surprise Voie hada new version inthe works. 0 ES, Just about an game that uses the Source Engine: HA LEFT 4 Dea, POR, and soon CAYENGINE teavreK] 11 CagTeks CoyEngine (used irs in FARCRY) isnewer than bath Source and Unceal, and has a smaller community base, butts atest incarnation [version 3, aso this wring] is every bita competent val During FaRCR'S release days, CryEngine wasnt a popula too! with mainstream medders because the tools ‘werent well supported, but after CRS Was BE released, Crylek made sure woofer of tos The CA¥SS mal community simi tothe UREA. ToURHAMENT 3 modaing community insofar as most ins modders have started working withthe CeyEngine 3 SOK, whichis offered with comparable tems to those of UK (although notably lacking ‘the UOKS intial royaty free $50,000 for commercial software). CryEngine 3 hos superior landscaping tools and access to onably exible C++ game code, b Unreal offers stong baked ighting and an excellent material editor, Unfortunately, the foe CryEngine 3 SDK curently has some ORM restrictions in place that prevent anyone but {you fom opening levels you're werking on, hich makes ithardtecalaborate with others CANES: CRs, CRs? 11 This article has mostly focused on the big first-person shooter releases—but these fare not the only games that can be modes (nor the only shooters), They ae simply the {games that have proven tobe some ofthe ‘most popular and retain active communities to this day, Real-time suategy games are anather popular target for game mods; the Conan AND CONOUER an! TOTAL Wa series have fly robust modeing communities, and STARCRAFT 2's map editar is so powerful that enterprising madders have usedit to make all kinds of games, rom Terns clones to frst person shooters. took an igiterestin games, as cid ‘many who work inthe indus veasn't until CREATURES 2 that | go int in mods, It was the ngrm for players of that game to share not only their creature Fles, But also scriptable objects knawn as COBs. It a lesserknown community today, without the grand history of Do0H andthe like, but at ite peak was very large for he time. 3180 found myself inking no ConoueR: BERN Su, editing the units and creating new levels and playing around with Quek Il and its ‘source code during high school My departure for university almost went ina completely different erection | had intially chosen to workin aerospace and engineering, but nstead elected to take a newly inteoduced the course in computer game programming: University of Derby,Ispent we years there under ely challenging regimen tat introduced meto some ofthe higherlevel concepts to do with rerderng pipelines, though at the time was ‘more intrestedin gameplay and much oft proved dificult o grasp unde the accelerated ace with which it was delivered. Nevertheless, 't dramaticallyimproved my grasp of how games work especally after attempted to write my own crude software renderer aspart ofan assignment. That course also introduced me to UNREAL TOURNAMENT 2004, lich I tinkered with during the summer prior tomy supposed placement year. hat tinkering landed me a jb working with an architectural visualization frm in London 98 ‘the sole programmer dealing with avery early Unveal Engine 3. Tis is where really learnedto propram and eamed my wings—ieft te my avn devices with apartialy documented and very ‘much more complex solution than Ia ever had te des with before [attempted to return to university for my third and final year, but family things dd {quite work out, sot had to start picking up assorted freelance work to keep me afloat, ‘That work was 0 time-consuming could. complete the course. leventually bagged ‘enaugh money to head to 8 new university {Contral Lancashire) and took fll advantage ofthe availabilty oa new student loan scheme. never di stop working with Unreal uring this time, and lent a hand te one Cor two mod teams atthe time 1 develop ‘my skills with the engine. Twa years ater, Wicrosoft Game Stuias offered mea job working on FABLE: THE JOURNEY, which took {and put my degree on hold): knew fa be foclish to pass up the opportunity, It di cost me five years of my education, but itis ‘undoubtedly the best move | could have made Game os ond esr waking on Fe um Tr (wie) GG enstingcissforgher students in schoo, despite not really being ited Since the NES had just been feleased, | vied wo recreate the SUPER WARIO ‘80S experience The computers we used in class didrit have enough graphical power to pull that off butt did give me the bug for making games. My mast life-changing game experience ‘came withthe release of 000% and its robust community, readily available tals, and ‘map-sharng va early internet eial-up Ses. I began building levels, sprites, and gameplay ‘ads immesiately and it waset long before ue {had an entire episode oflevele with new ‘monsters, weapons, and $0 0. After graduating fom high sehoo, | found myself with enough meney to bay my ow P, anda frend pointed me inthe direction ofthe latest thing todrop on the world—Quake Test 00k my first stepsinto 0 modeling with Quake Testjust 5 the internet started coming int its own, and | soon found myself making skins for Duake clans, creating mods, and even running a Quake Skins and Ttal Conversions site on Planet uake.com. In 199? received a contract 0 work on 2 QuiKe 2 add-on, and ane ofthe mods | worked on was tobe included inthe QUE I ExrRebtTs commercial mod package. A game jouralst knew that a company that needed an Att and hit me up based on my earlr work Ihwas acureal experiance: was brought in 2 “the professional’ eventhough lll had done was make a few mods. From there | maved tfulilla dream slong with a Fellow animator and went to work ona PlayStation 2 game, then later went further with 2 GameCube and Xbox release ‘of GOBLN CoumanoeR. That same animator rw runs his ovn studio and introduced me to educational games, Using the SEROUS Sam engine, we made a demo that was actualy pretty sweet, Networking i really just Aanather word fr fiendship, for that projet | went to Mythic to work con WARHAMMER ONLINE: AGE OF RECKONNG, nd itwas networking that helped to get my name inthe basket (anda big thanks to 30 art site Polycount) Myth was one af the best wack expariences of my life because got to work with somany goed people, and it was fullof Polycounters anid kis rom Full. When the game shipped, the lays came witht, and took 3 sabbatical before eventualy taking ale aslead artist overt lfoni. I's been great, and Ie been working wth top-level technology anc teavling the wor for shows and vaining PIs Usa) CG erie sitet or Doo i using an eetor found on ‘shareware C0, and when DUKE NUKEM 30 was celeased I did load of levels for that. was always experimenting ane trying to push things alte bit futher than the given stu Around! the same time | also got Klik nd Pay, ‘which let me make 20 games without any coding knowledge. | made alot of smal games with that. My frst experiences with proper 30 software came after | saw the fist Toy Story in ‘the cinema, installed a version of 30 Studio Max R3 about an hour after the movie had finished ané started to play wth it The tuff sid was completely forgettable but I certainly found the taste Hater became quite involvedin the German HALF-LIFE adding scene, mostly eyears qa testers Pera ‘uatity assurance professionals ae the lowest pad people inthe ‘ame industry, expecially the entry-level hires. On the bright side, they id manage to make an ext $80, on average, over the previous yer. if you're tryingto breakinto the gare industry without any trade skils like programming ora, you wil probaly find OAthe easiest place to start ur, But not many studios offera QA career track that's as eyears ‘ALLAUOIO DEVELOPERS. ALLOATESTERS ‘YEARS EXPERIENCE INTHE INDUSTRY Percentreceiving aon Income: 7% ‘varage adatonalincome: 89.875 {ype of adaional compensstion Ea Patent paren ey Prot shang Pe Projet ba, 24 co ‘ENDERSTATSFORAUOIO DEVELOPERS. ecene receiving benefit Pereent Average Type of benefit received Gender Represented Slary edi 70% ale 93% —~$99,969 Dera 74 Fervale 7 $72,500, 40Ketrement om YEARS EXPERIENCE NTHEINOUSTRY Percent recaving addons! Income: mm o ‘varage aaonalincome: $12,640 23% eee Ey {ype ofaddional compensation ea Received 31% Feasonvtmpayer conibutono HA Reement pan nn BB era ieshatn a Peper hs ie Rapes * Sack oplonsequty 308 GENOERSTAISFOROATESTERS Per Percent Average ype ofbanefie received Gender Represented Heda le ca Dana Ferale re ADtK/eerentbusiness and legal people The “Business andl Legal People" category includes chief executives and executive managers, community managers, marketing, legal, human resources, content acqusitin and icensing, and general administration staf Younger people onthe business side made an average oF $7,818 in 2011, $18,000 up fam $52778 in 2010, Business profesional received the highest average salary (across ailskllevels inthe industry ($102,160, 25 well a the mast ational nonalary income [$24,874]. However, bot those numbers ae actualy ‘donn om 2010 by $3,300 and $4,000, respective, Women were eatively wel presented inthe business side ofthe game industry, reaching 176 percent in 2011, whichis 25 percent higher ‘than average aeress the entire industry this year, and 3.6 percent higher thanin 2000. LL BUSINESS AND LEG YEARS EXPERINCE NTHEINDUSTRY Percent receiving addons ‘verge adtonl income: ‘ype ofaddtians compensation Prof sharing, oysties [GENDERSIATS FOR BUSINESSPEOPLE Porcenreceving benef Fareent_ average Type benetts received Gender__nepresented ‘Soap Media. ale ws $108,402. Dena Femle 18% ——«$73,834, 401K Retirement JOBS IN THE GAME INDUSTRY APPEAR TO BE GETTING SLIGHTLY MORE ‘stable, OF 3,100 respandems, 13 percent had been lad of in 2011, compared to 14 percent in 2010 and 19 percent in 2008. From those people who were laid off, §8 percent found new employment inthe games industry, 19 percent went into contracting ‘or consuting, 10 percent founded 2 new company, 13 perzent went inte independent games development, and 13 percent havent found now ‘game development wark. (Note that fortis survey question, tiple responses were allowed.) ' significant amount of respondents reported being li off and rehired by the same company, either asa contractor, ras 2 salaried erplayee with a different b tile (but the same responsibltes) Fewer Inid-off developers opted to start their business, join an independent studi, orga into contract work this year. This could be a sign ofa slowing bubble inthe social and mabile sectors, which were ving away massive amounts ofcashin recent years. sr sipies) Vas $87;909) S WITH HIGHEST AVERAGE SALARIES ing soe wth on sarpesice) 7 Salforaia SS 2h SSS, 2 Washington Seger aay Sioa are North Carolina 382,900." $83.38 Teas seg aay sas 5 Nassachusetis $7356? aa S048 Maryland Sige aay Saha 7 an $7722 704 sai 2 ilinois Sanaa see New or 369,907 6 308 10 vida see S80.000 AVERAGE SALARY BY U.S. REGION BY DISCIPLII Propanmer SAIS $2802 $92,740, $101,300 Ietand Animation $64,236 $66% S118 $01,229, ‘Seaa7s sexois””se2.c16 "$02,208 S27eis” $e7005””“sea09" $90,395. uso 360,628" se6,00“s69.393 sezaus oA ‘Suns00” $44.67" sag.43 saa sis ‘92a "Sen500 “$83,250 Si0g056 BY ION Homeowners SOR.56__seLa7e__ Sais _su1se42 Won-Homeowners” $56,602 $5570” $88,223 $70,148 N THE U.S across alla experience, by dcp given in US) Popanmer Seas $74,970 _ $46,808 ‘et and Animation $63.24 S66651 $35,007 Game Design $62,104" $60,240" $38,281 Production 362255" $71 500. $56,346 ‘udio $65,658. $67,955 $25,500, oH ‘Sasoat $43,125 $32,500 Business $25,260" Si00,a38 Sa7222 a@ ACADEMY of ART UNIVERSITY® FOUNDED IN SAN FRANCISCO 1929 BY ARTISTS FOR ARTISTS TAKE CLASSES ONLINE OR IN SAN FRANCISCO Acting* Advertising Animation & Visual Effects Architecture Art Education Fashion Fine Art Game Design Graphic Design Illustration Industrial Design Interior Architecture & Design Landscape Architecture Motion Pictures & Television Multimedia Communications Music Production & Sound Design for Visual Media Photography Web Design & New Media ENROLL NOW EARN YOUR AA, BA, BFA, MA, MFA OR M-ARCH ACCREDITED DEGREE ENGAGE IN CONTINUING ART EDUCATION COURSES EXPLORE PRE-COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS WWW.ACADEMYART.EDU 800.544.2787 (us. only) or 415.274.2200 79 NEW MONTGOMERY ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105 Accredited member WASC, NASAD, CIDA (BFA-IAD, MFA-IAD), NAB (M-ARCH} “Acting degree program is not curently available online. Visit www.academyartedu to learn about total costs, median student loan debt, potential occupations and other information. Photo croc: Molly Maloney, Cris Hagin huHigh schoo GED Some College Associates Oe Bachelors Degree me Graduate Masters Doge Some Doctoral Doctoral Degree Pear ROR ee Serer eee cena ere See) ee i ore in 2011 than they iin 2010, Independent contractors $56,282 in 2011 (up Soe O nce errr ee ery ome es een ect eee Percy eke Rees eet Indie games made a bit eee eee independe less han $500 from the sale of thei 1, down from 55% in 2010, ener es eee ane eet) eee On aes ee pean erere eeeas ee ee pee eee) elatively hard to obtain—7% Perera nes sa0.e70 Siozs00 CONTRACTORS BY JOB FUNCTION — io Deon Production Pesrmcing INDIES BY J08 FUNCTION a ‘uso Design Production Programming, cM een nee errr ear) Tee Peter erry ee are good at designing gomes eens peer eso CORES s ene sere Mies Pern Pereeeat ty eee Ser eee Seen eet Pe eae ete the two sectors, Developin ee ee ene tats oer) ees ciple w eee Sore ees to Perera eee eee what percentage of independent Peer aes) ae ee eo era eaeec| A (43%, up 12%), and production oe eee Peer een ci oO ene eat ean ee Sec tet ee eee Se eee eee See ee ee METHODOLOGY NOW iN TS ELEVENTH YEAR, he Game Developer Salary Survey was conducted in February 2012 for the cal year January 1 ember 3: the assistan Insights Email ference attendees, a utra.com members asking them to paricipate in th gathered 4,132 responses from develop worldwide but not all ho participated in the survey provided enough ‘compensation information be included in the final report, We also excluded ares ofless than $10,000, and the salaries of studen and educators, The small of reported salaries greater than $202,500 were excluded to pre their high numbers from unnaturally skewing & idated fi e included separa The usable sample reflected among salarie in the U. Canada 403, and for Europe 339; and 524 for indies and 0 provided compe 1 munity ith @ margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 BF 25% confidence level. The 54% forff The attitude toward work life balance is absolutely terrible tis not an hong to work in games, Engineers are treated like garbage, especially when compared to the treatment they can easily get outside of games: The desire for 9 te be fun, creative, ane unique ie slowly being diminishes by the neverending need for ‘money, money which is best acquired by making derivative boring tities often seen in the secial games market. The game industry is going the way ofthe movie industry with constant remakes and prequels and no new innovation besides independents who often give themselves too much creat” The longer I workin the BB incustry, the toss | can telateto gamers. The vocal minority ‘smowe annayjing than ever” (Tris isan industey Ive at times wanted to leave Ive often come very close to it Because, plain and simple, i's ret easy being a woman in this industry Thankfully I've recently joined @ company where my gender isnt used against me as an argument to dismiss me, and it's been a really empowering experience. Also, 2 lot of companies are closing, many are biting. There's always a jb open Somewhere. But we need to stop the firing of employees once a game has shipped as a viable saving the company money measure, and we need ta find ways to welcome students within fur ranks better, #8 opposed to always ask for only experienced personnel, thus not giving revicemers chance toleaen” f(r still surprises by how much sexism/acism the Industry exhibits, and by how ditfcut tie tochange perspectives cont. While the industry asa whole is slomly improving frequently find myself trying to explain to coworkers why certain content— however hilarious they find it—might offend certain groups Of people, There still seems to be & “boys' club” atmosphere in the office sometimes and many wornen are put in the unenviable and unfair position of political correctness enforce ffs been a terrible year in BB the ux there have boon hardly any new design positions, and somany stusios have closed” f tudio designers in the BB game industry are often ‘ueated asa disposable resource, land the opportunities for us, both inside and outside the game industry, are incredibly searce, as sound is very much misunderstood and undervalued as a craft, There are bright glimmers, but we have to really band together, speak up, and make a lot of noise about examples of great sound design to help continue to validate our work. Great games where audio plays a prominent role like BASTION and PORTAL 2 really help sto move forward” {ff The outsourcing of art jobs has made this a less than desirable position for starting artists, Why spend thousands of dollars on an art degree, and countless hours perfecting your skills, only to ‘came into a studio and lackey clean up on work received from the autsourcers? Alot of talented atists don't even really create art anymore, just mundane clean-up tasks ff) | think the advent of BB crowe-funding and self publishingis going to see a huge shiftinthe coming years terms of what games get made and who ‘makes them, Indie game studios fonce agtin possess the tools and funding necessary to retake the game development industry much ike they did in the'80s and early 1990's fff Were at a big wrning GB point. the digital Aistribution model, along wth the explosion of mobile gaming, is Ushering in a new age of smaller studios and quicker development In order to hear what developers are saying about the industry right now, we allowed space at the end of our survey for direct comments. Here are some of the more notable responses. cycles. The age of tiple A, 2-3, year games is coming roan end” Of Were in a time of great change, not only in business models and distribution platforms, but aso in ethics. Ym optimistic forthe furure—more people than ever are playing games and when this recession is over, we're going o see some incredible revenue across all aspects ofthe industry” Ie seems that he ndusty b A is on the precipice of 4 creative revolution as SDKs and self-publishing options are getting more accessible, creative dliceetin wll come less fom the publisher, who relies more on preven methods, and more from wiléeyed developers wo would rather experiment than replicate” f Developers that have BB been able to adapt to he rise of social and mobile gaming have done well despite ‘an overall economic dace nthe wotid, Mobile and social gaming is exciting because it allows 3 eveloper to focus on simple, tight, and polished gameplay. In that regard fel the recent trend is somewhat of a return to the golden age of games” ff There is a lot to learn BB avout game design and how to appeal toa wide audience Think abour the average time unt someone who has never played 1 game before starts having fun in your game-social games do this better than most traditional games, This isan incredible and exciting thing. I some ofthe early companies in social games were unscrupulous, don't let this keep you rom lesming exciting lessons from social gaming and let this improve your ow designs” ideo games!NOW HIRING ate Ane ee ee me Serge ea Sa ud nd aug AUDIO Pe ele) DESIGN eC aaa age cae wy ENGINEERING & Senior A.|, Engineer / Senior Multiplayer Engineer / Race UR aa ee Ue cle R al aL Le Senior Backend Engineer LUCASARTS ENTS ey Petree wrrirct) ee ee cane ee ae etoMAKE YOUR MARK IN Wry aga ee VEC : Sr as . DEGREE PROGRAMS IN: Game Art Game Design Game Development aes 800.226.7625 fullsail.eduUa) FROM SINGAPORE CVS ee | By. Cie Giese peat hee aay ILE _ SUMMER-DEVELOPMENT % PROGRAM AT MIT.wae a | was the product owner for THE SAOWPELO, as it was based on theories of naraivedesien | had developed over several years 35 GAMBIT game design cirector Our goal was to take these theories, tun them toa clear method for development, and test that method witha gem, THE Snawrin was a responce tothe idea, in both industry ard academia, that there are principles of gcod storyteling tht we need to systematize in order {6 marty video games vith narrative effectively This as led to ideas ike “drama management” which assumes that emergent narratives require an Al. storyteller who conas events te ensure the emerging storys itstyng ‘Such nations are buit en an assumption that “0d storyeling’ is somehow an objective, with rules we can’ apply to achieve consistent results. Stryteling, 38 any storytalle who isn Holywood huckstr wil tell you, isnot science wanted THE SHOWFEL to ilustrate how we could pill an emergent, emotionally rich, playerdriven narrative experience fom the ground up by relying solely on ar, aude, and character Al. (refined via player etng) SEE GF trying to deni Farmulaicnovions of "good" storyteling and work thom into the game beferchand, | wanted the team to develop an open simulation with strong ‘metenal hooks and minimal issarance and see ifthe user's imagination wauld do theres waar wenr RIGHT 1 ambition One ofthe best things we did with THE SNOWRigLO was to makita fully 30 game. with a semistraional overhe-shoulder camera This greatly contributed tothe atmosphere and {general emotional impact-of the game, which tended up being our saving graces when other aspects didnot ten oUt as planned, this was” considered y ly, the GAMBIT summer program advises interns to avoid 30 whenever possible since tadds an extralayerof complexity for things lke calision, modeling, texturing, and lighting Using 20 so, can-put intems in the frame of mind that they might achieve resuts ‘Simitor {9-2 tpl@-A gamein terme of til, means they likely to spend more time rangling technology than actualy cutting their teeth on game desig We talkeda10t about whether to go 20 or 3D. during the frst fw weeks of brainstorming and paper prototyping, As the product owner, | elt our narrative goals mig ‘only be achievable in the eightweek time freme if we used a highly abstract art styl, lke pixel 4 or stick figures | thought this wouldsallow us time to generate enough assets to sufficiently populate the large number of narrative events and situations we were planing, In retrospect, | may ave been right—our decision to go full 30 gid have a major impact an ity to mplernent large numberof content, However, Im not eorvine rt game, The immed design of a Wl bated sted a8 the defining Feature of the ‘game, and the main Sour ofits emationalimpa.Aso, ty making THE SnownILD 2 30 gime ‘vith an overthe shoulder perspective, became 4 sor of commentary on traditional ples war ames like GEARS OF WAR, which sport similar Conventions Since we wanted to- depict war in a "Wau that counterpints most commercial games, speaking thei language had certain advantages, THE SNOWFIELO could play upon the players ‘expectations to drive adaitanal narrative impact. 2 unity Choosing Unity was absolutely the fight move for this project. Even though it had Cerain drawbacks and caused ¢ertin problems, wthoutit we would not have gotten he results we id in 30 within the same time frame. Unitys. easy rouse interace and ready vale utorals alloved even people whald never Used it before to produce onscjeen tests and proteiypes quickly I is very easy to create 2 30, space lace objects with behaviors, st lights and Calsion and go rfc, one of thereasons the team ‘decided to go 30 was becouse Urityrnade itso easy totakeourprtotypes and ove the camera around {0 9e)ow woul jgok rom a yarenyof anges. Special kudos have to be given to Unity for ‘making ou sound design pipe a snap: Because itis vey easy t9 move sound sources around in Unity, our sound designer easily filed the werd with an emationally rch, hauetiog soundscape Sithout Fighting the tech or king tne aay from programmers which played a age pain making ‘THE SAONRIELD as eective as twas, 3 artist in charge’ oneotthomyths bout narrative we wanted to discredit was the idea that plat stuctures or archetypes are what make players care abaut game stories—in other words, what;makes players react emotionally. Traditionally, game developers assume naratve creates emotion. We believed emotion creates narrative, and that emationa touchstones are what cause players to perceive a set of system ouiputsasastoy “ome this meant artists should be the backbone of whatever Rarrative impact we were creating, ust as the eght bi of ating or music treats an emotional effect in fm el the ight character animation or sound is what creates ‘emotional effectin a game. This is why chase to paring with Jason Beane, GAMBIT at director. As the project's game directa, he mentored the team’s manspement.process, but he also set the tone forthe project as an artfocused project, led brainstorming, and heawly emphasized THE SnweELosart fom beginning to end aon i-one of the main reasons the project went 20, since he championed the emotional possibilties of adopting the overthe-shaulder View. He also pushed back heavily on my desieto include text (both descriptive prose and alogue) in the game, My inital vision for THe SvOWFELD ‘was more ike a comic book or # Japanese RPG from the 19905, which would use icons text, and characters in various combinations to produce different eects, Jason pushed for a ‘more singular, simple approach because he ‘et it would be more emotionally rect. While do think combining styles can work wel | do admit that Jason's simple approach was the right choice: {ext certainly would-have sistacted from the simplicity and directness of he final product, 4ason also pushed the team to be the best ansts they could be. He insisted they do proper reference gathering and concept creation before iting started on asses, and had thom post the images that ingpred them around the room, Jason "wanted the arsts to work in an environment of imagination, where you could. get an instant impeessionotthe projec ust bylokingatthewals, anditwasa great asset to Tie SwuWILO' process and the final result. rts often nat leverage the way i could be in game development. Artists need tbe treated like drivers and callaberaters of game design and narative, nt st illustrators for decisions that other depariments make. 4 weto power ThSuurc.owasasudent inter preject guided by two professional game development staff mentors. Jason and | therefore had 0 ask ourselves when {if a al] we wanted to ay the authority ard when weft t would greatly benef the proj. This ony happened ance, but in hindsight we made the right chai. ‘tthe end of our extensive brainstorming process, in which the entice team participated squall, we put up all te ideas and had a vote. came dow o two ideas: one about bing the last survivor ofa WW bate, and the other about being @ chil ving on a sureal, tiny planet (3 la Le Petit Prince), When we fst voted the ting planet idea beat the Wl idea bya single vote. Though we also’ liked the tiny wort des, Jason and fel the WIN) idea was the smarter choice for this particlar projet. We fle that because the gal was to create emation with a8 minimal development work as possible, the WNI concept had the advantage of having most ofits -ramatie confit and emotional content uit into the setting itself The core situation suggested rafa/right out of the gate, whereas with @ ‘sural wold the team would have to work harder to set up conte, establish word rules, and then ‘reat stations for characters to react agains. ‘le decided t Pa-out tll the team to use the idea ardhope that the morale it would not be {oo great [which twasnot].Lingypto the cbvious ramaticpossbiis ofan existing word is avery ifferent challenge than tring to ereste dramatic possibity in an imaginary wor, We'though the bistoricalsetingweuld ake the pressure of creating anentrewerdoffheteam cothay could get ightto ‘modeling and simulating dramatic elements, The WHI scenario also helped THE SaOWnELD ‘get more recognition due tothe unusual nature ofits content. There are many whimsical, sureal ‘games out there, especially in the inde/stadent space, Theeae vitally no gomes about Wl, and ‘almast na war games that dant involve shooting Though whimay fh Fike a move Yun" theme to ‘pend the summer o, the sanity shateringhoror ‘ofthe most awful warin history had the benefit of ipaking a more striking impression. Utimately we ‘wanted ths game 10 afer people 5 follow your own advice Near the end of the project we were running into ‘seriou! frobloms. getting. in all the narrative content we fad planned. Werhad piotatyped on paper many different character types, object {ypes, and behavior types. Though simplistic, his rade alot of sense ina stiaightforvard way, was ‘thematically relevant, and alwed us to at least finjh the game by gving it a goal structure, allPIR ie cn eum Mae ea ee ees ae TESTED, RE-IMPLEMENTED, TESTED} Sonne oe EL UP en POCA us Rapes cotter of which interacted in'complen ways to produce erpergent narratives, Aterall, we wanted to prove that we could make an erttionl,repiagable narrative, The art and. sound was intended to achieve the eration, while the systems. depth ded toachieve the replayabity One of our paper prototypes involved a shel shocked woman. who would fallow you, a crazed soldier who stle things, and land mines that would expe if You stepped on ther. During 2 prototyping session this ganerate! a sty where the player befiended the woman and began searching houses with her fo food, But very house they went into hed no feod, ad eventually they found out the hit was traveling toall the houges.and sealing it They found him, sssaulted him once, and chased him away, Then, Inter, when the woman had found some fod, the ‘thief appeared again and kidnapped he, (Since his behavior was pick up food" and she had fod, ea Rome aT Tei uha kr a he picked her up] Tis resulted in a chaseshat fended spectacularly when the player stepped on ‘landmine and lew up, casing the tie to drop the woman, wo then escaped with the food These were the Kinds of emergent naratives we wanted our system to generate, but we had implemented slmast none of her by the inal wo weeks, lehod ance atmospheric demo, butt was, ‘mood piece, not game. There was no goal, ne end stat, and we hac only implemented one character ‘ype [the solder] andone bhaviosype (flowing) Given that we had protatyped dozens of behaviors, and that the projec sel in theory hinged” on achieving 2 cecal densty of behaviors to even, generate nara ths was 3 potential disaster Ne had four days, a short grace period before ci freeze, totum what we had into a game. We could not add features. We could onky connec fexisting features in ways shey had oot been connected, Since our feature set was so smal vwe had ta be radically creative. One of our artists suggested designing the game envicely around ‘the “follow” behavion, since it was the only one ‘we had, and make the game about leading stray freezing soldiers back tothe Fire Me made, similar decision”eader that summer about THE SNOWFELD'S freezing t-deat) mechanic. Oiginaly freeting wos just a gating mechanic, to prevent players to reaching the edge of the map wthout resorting (9 invisible walls but when, testers responded so emetionally toi {erly all ofthem sat t made them fel cok and alone” in the heat of uly} we decided to embrace that simple emotion and build the game around it This was an outgronah of our "emotion creates jesophy, 35 something that guided clevelopment as wall as in-game player narrative. THE SNOWRELO,may not have been the deep nt system thad hoped, but the fact tate ‘ere abl to look at even the smallest numberof rics we had and find ways to leverage even ‘their emerional and thematic value was ultimately an illstraion of how hard itis 0 folaw your own advice sometimes: The goal Was to recognize ‘whatever emotions happened to be crested by the features we had, and tailor toe user experiance to ‘them. The fet that we were forced 1 do this with ‘an insanely small poo of features was frtratng, butitallowed the taro inish the project without ental. war went WRONG 1 personality problems’ we learned early oh that the people onthe team: ‘th the loudest ideas were not necessarily the people withthe best ideas, GAMBIT historically does not assign a strict hierarchy of creative | within teams; we pret ‘who tends to emerge as 9 syong visionary and shen encourage them to acept that role, whether they be designer, artist, producer, OR, sound designer, or program (On. THE SHOWFALD this approach backfired 2 bit. One of she-team members, who was very cing and wha strong persenalty encee up ing his willin ways that were nat especially in line with the projects overarching. goals. Mesnwtile another team member, whe wa shy and soft spoken, rally understood the goals well and had excellent instincts but tended tadeterto thé loud, mafe age save tears member, compromising our Jason deat wth this problem the best he could, by giving the softspoken team member rmore expt authority, but after a certain point it really comes down to the people themselves, haw willing they are fo accept responsibilty and ‘work things ut on their oom, We eould have easly stepped in and rade decisions fr the teom, but ‘since GAMBIT: goals both training and quai, we sstugged (asis typical in GAMBIT] to find abaance between letting the team learn fem fire whi ensuring we got an accetabefnal product.Inthe end, the team got through the summer intact, but Jason and also found out afterward — after the interns had left—that tensions on the {eam ran even deeper than we had realized. Had wwe known earlier we might have been able to reallocate or swap team members to find beter balance of personality types. On the other han, Sometimes the ply way to discover these things isto watch them play out. You can never be sure. 2 wmity Though Unity basicaly-made the project possible also caused lat of ref that we had nat anticipated The versione were using got ery finicky with code merging near the end ofthe ‘ight weeks just when things began to really heat. up, Features and fixes that out fazed, already struggling ear spent hours implementing would Aisoppear foro apparent reason. fora while team members thoveht they were going (more) crazy, ntl we realized it was a mergingprobem, ‘There waS no time o fe this, so we adjusted cur pipeline so that ony one of our 10 team members ‘ouldeverhave the pjectepen onasingle machine at 8 Une. Tiswa5-a major pai t-say the east; ‘uring the toms process into a tedious relay race, Rasa svugale wo find effective use of ther peoples time (especally peogrammers} hie they "ware nat alowed to work directly cn the bd. in some cases peopl ist ended up crowing around a single machine for hours, or aking tts wating” ade ona single machine. The tam got through it in the end, but was a monkey wrench on tp of veryhingelse at exactly the rangement, ei ha proper version contol the tam would have had fener setbotks andmight have accomplished mare, 3 two drivers Josof and hod worked togethers artist nd designer on GAMBIT internal projets prior to THE SNONFIELD, These were game prototypes developed entirely by GAMBIT staf, not inwotvng student inten: Dur collaboration was very heathy and involved, and we collaborated Closely. | respected his design input, and he respected my art inputy We thought that co managing a student projet wth me as product ‘owner and himas game director wouldbe a cinch, Tene” found out how iflerent aor management styles were. Jasons jb prior to joining GAMBIT had been an art manager ata game ‘company, and mine had been producer ata game company, We therefore had our own instincts on how to unateam, and this created some prety distressing triton between us before ong. Ta make matters worse, the producer on the team was supposed 10 report directly to Jason, but he had developed 9 rapport with ‘me and tend to came irectly to me when he wanted advice or dretion, Because the project represented ry theories of parative design, | was personaly invested and’ determined to get the resuts | wanted. For this reason | tended ‘to grant the producer advice, which was often contraryto Jason’. ‘hon and | eventually clashed over this, and | decided to back down and let him eur the show, Tis is what | should have done originally, becduse thats how the product owner / game rection relationship is designed to work. We should have worked our dur siffering approaches. and boundaries of responsibilty rore clearly beforenand, and when the dference became clear | should have brought it up with him immediatly, rather than going behind his back. kt would have been beter fr us an less conusing forthe tea. 4 too much brainstorming 0» THeSNDureLaWehadavery organic brainstorming process, We literally spent days sitting n a cece, writing down ideas, sifting through them, and waiting far & consensus to emerge While | dont thinkthis isa bad proces, it did slow the teams ‘momentum early on Certain feammembers were itchingt® get started, especially once they saw ther teams begin %0 prototype environments and mechanics atthe beginning of the second week. Me certainly wanted tint in the team 8 eathy appreciation For proper brainstorming, but we might have verdant itl bit tend think ofthe eghtwaek GAMBIT summer proramasalong gomejom,wherelost secondscan ‘aan lost features. Wie | hk the brainstorming process we put the tam trough was necessary | a beleve we could have probably gotten as goed results fe ad spent day ortwoless, and alsoet ‘the team members wh seemedlessimvestedgetto werk on things ike tech explration sane, Svague theories Vinagiowaceback mast ofthese problems (especialy the excessive brainstorming) t0 9 deeper underying problem, it would be that | fled to make my method of narrative désign clear eatly on. | ad @ callection of notions surounding narrative! wanted to explore but they were not asorganized a rfined. ‘as they should have been to give Both Jason and the team proper direction inthe ist few weeks, Tomake matters worse, had an entice semester before the sumer where | explored the nanatve ideas Iwas iterested in using a diferent student, team. Tis Semester was inferded a5 prep and eclration forte sure aethe galas precisely ‘refine my haces into 2 coherent method | ead greta the summerteam when theyarived ‘While the spring team di very god waka helped me refine Some of my ees, id nt sit. down andiogx tall the eta they collected on my ‘nn uni a Few weeks before the summer. that pont | didnot have enough time, before traveling to Singapore for the two-week intern orientation, to properly organize what | had into clear set of rmethadiea guidelines. tld myelfthat because | was product owner, | would be on hand to clarify things for Jason and the team, but this was just a atlonalization for beingaey, The fact was had not adequately clariled my ideas to myst Never alow yourself to believe that, just because you fel ike You have a strong intuitive ‘128p of something complicated, you truly o. IF You cant write it out, draw it out, or otherwise ‘express it cleanly in some media frm, youd not realy understand it sreanina te ICE Given THE SaowretO'S ambition and various ificutes, Im surprised tha the project di not selfdestruct Thad grand visions of a deep ch ‘emational simulation, with hundreds of possible ‘dramatic stuatons—al somehow conceives, prototyped, buit, implemented, tested, re implemented, tested again, refined, waned, and polished in eight weeks with an alhintem team. [knew that wasat possibie, but I thought that by aiming high wwed-be able to release something moderately deep. owas wrong, but the team kept things together ‘endugh to release 2 version of THE ‘SHOWFIELD that sill ilustrated the theory/methed. The fact that {is minimal version retained such impact is @ testament tothe teams heroic Commitment to, creating atv intense audioveual experience in spite of everyting One is supposed to admit failure, since analyzing failure wilhepleadan entire community of practice toward gradial understanding. While THE SMOWFELD was @ succesefl “emational ‘experience, a successful mood and atmosphere piece; and a successful viral evocation of Wars Wart i as not @ successful ilustration ‘of my theories on naratve. The cfical mass of interacting behaviors necessary to create a dense possibly space was never achieved, nor a5 a Nexbly abstract yet-emotional visual syle ta go along with ist love ta sce that kind of combination happen, though | now fee tight be beter suited to something like 2 MNECRAFT mod than frrmscatch student projec Stil getting a haunting WW survival sim out cof tis itself something tobe proud of. The video ‘game industry has put way too much energy into making war fun, when theres a milion other things we can and should be saying about i, 2s only digtal games can, Successful narrative ‘periment oF nt, if The SaCwieLD at least managed to sucker punch a few people, we've ‘done a public good ATTHEW WISE werd ove boos & dame cosign eco fr the Sogpare? GAMBI/ Game La, is bos, etn pubis, ond con be found requty rok ae deiner Harman Mane Syete. "we SNOWED ae a akeer a) Cees cD rr ce Leam everything youneedto create An authoritative guide to creating Launch your career in writing for video etd ‘games in Unity. Taking you through games or animation. Let our award-winniny Give your digital art depth and breadth, game design, programming, and art. _ writers and game developers show you ho! to generate ideas and create compelling Bo ee oe aa Are you a game pro looking to make a few bucks while sharing your knowledge? ee ee cue eM ae a cro cU ce INE ME Ae MMOL a PER edo @) Poot ey has an endless shelf life. coedUICK AND DIR AME ART MAKE PLACEHOLDER ART FOR YOUR BRILLIANT GAME PROTOTYPE ey Roete of some So you've downloaded an amazing game-development SDK, or you've learned the basics of a scripting language, or you're already a coding genius. You're all ready to work, except for one problem: You have no art assets to work with, When you're making a game intended to show off your talent, it's important that you don't draw attention to your weak paints. If you are pitching yourself as a coder, your game shouldn't look like it came from a four-year-old’s sketchbook (unless it's supposed to). Your code might be immaculate, but your audience will be too distracted by the hideous visual style to care. You can get around this by making art that looks visually appealing, clean, and finished~ but still temporary. Stylization is your friend! Let's say you have an idea for a great game and a clear idea of how it should look in your mind’s eye. Now, take one item at a time from that imaginary ensemble and strip it of color, shading, and fine details until you're left with a form that represents your object. It is not your object-your object will be far more detailed, colorful, and alive than this. Take this stripped-down object and quickly draw it with a pencil. What you have now is a concept asset, and if you keep all of your game art in this style, anyone playing your game that all it needs is a hotshot artist. Of course, you can’t use a pencil-anc-paper sketch for your prototype's art, because you'll need the geometry and size to be consistent in order for you to handle collision detection, physics, and so on. So we're going to use SketchUp to build our assets instead. STARTING WITH A SKETCH 2 SketchUp (sketchup google.com] is free, easy-to-use too that’s well sulted o making 30 models and 20 art Wire using Sketchlp for this article because ft has display features that make iteasy 0, ‘make your art look ikea preliminary sketch, whichis important for eminding your audience thatthe gameisstilla verk in progress. Yet the asets you create willbe geometrically denial tothe finshed 'a38et you might commission inthe future, 50 you can develop and test your game code as you would thefinished article [note At the time ofthis writing, SketchUp inthe process of being acquired by Trimble. Trimble plans to ep the fee version of SketchUp, sothe contents ofthis tutorial shouldn't change, tthe oven URL might.) SPRITE SHEET IN 20 MINUTES 2» Every ume developer should know how to create her own sprites. Dawnlading someone els’ tuff from he Internets just going to imi what you can do with your proterypes visual style and how you can move a sprite and you dont want anything to impede your ereatvty Download SketchUp (the free version], instal it and fireit up. In the fist window, click Choose Template and select a template that sults you (Millimeter, Meters, or Feet and inches), then ‘lick Start Using SketchUp, Once the main SketchUp window opens, select the Rectangle Tool on GAME CAREER GUIDE the lefthane side of the toolbar, and draw 9 rectangle that you're going to use asa bex that borders your new sprite. Note that cepencing ‘on which template you select, you wil either start with a top-down orisomeric view. lick ‘the top view icon or use the middle mouse button to rotate the view so that you easly see the red and green axes, We're going to draw a spaceship next. Draw an outline ofa spaceship in Sketch Select the Pencil too, and start érawing a rough ‘outline of half your spaceship atthe middle of the top edge of the rectangle. Erase the rest of ‘the rectangle, and then use the PushPul tool (3 cube wth a red arrow pointing upward} 1 give the shape some thickness, You can continue touse the pencil too! to drawinllitle more deta here and there, and whenever you drow ‘a closed shape, just use the PushPull tol to ‘ade depth ‘Use the Pencil and PushPull tote draw shapes and give them depth,GAME CAREER GUIDE [n/MOC JIE SEG RAA BOG OW S5aH08 eesee o ODO | @omepsreritnre etre, C= eae cern sea Seta background olor toigolate the spite forthe sprite sheet. Now trple-lick on you half spaceship to select the entice thing, and then rightclick and choose Make Component Use the Move tol and hold Contra to drag copy of your haltship tothe side [Option-cick if youve on a Mac), and then right-click and selec Flip Along, Red Direction. Move this halo join twit te orignal hal You now have a finished ship shape! Select both ofthese halves, right-click again, and choose Make Component again, and then select Set Component axes and move the axis othe mide rear ofthe ship. Tis allows you to rotate ie more easily, which will come in handy later. LOOKING SKETCHY >> We need to make sure your spaceship loks like placehelder ar, so go te Window, Styles, and select Sketchy Edges from the drop-down list Select any ofthe styles youtike, and then goto the Esit ab, select the Background icon {tne one with the empty cube inthe middle of the Styles palette), and click Background, and then select abe or green color. This wll make it easy toisolate the sprites in your image editing software later Now wele realy to build your spite sheet. oto Camera, Standard Views, choose the Top View, and then goto Camera and choose Parallel Projection Fromhere, uoucan create your sprite sheet by moving, copying, nd rotating th the Move 0. Hover the mouse aver the spite and youl see some red crosses. Cickone and move the mouse ‘orotate the spaceship. Thisis beter than the Rotate tal inthis instance Because the Move too! always rotates araund the spite’s center point. Contalclick (Optin-cckifyou'e on a Mac) nd drag the mouse to copyit. Rotate your ship fom the top rar, orside camera views to achieve the rang banking or turing effect you want. Export yourimage as apn fle (untick the antaias bain Sertings} open tin your image editor, and then selet and delete the blue background te make is background transparent, Now, all you need todos use a sprite extraction taal ke ShoeBo hsp:/renderhj.net'shocbox) to creat individual numbered sprites for use in Cocos20, Corona SOK, or other 20 game development tools BUILDING BASIC 30-LEVEL GEOMETRY >» These days, many smartphones feature a ‘quad-core processor and a 720p widescreen isplay, both of which are perfectly capable ‘of playing full 30 gomes—so i's important that you supplement your programming résumé mith some 20 asset creation skills And isnot just good for ob hunting, ether If you have some basic 30 props and scenery modeling sills, you're more able to tweak ‘game mechanics on the fy, Maybe you need tonarrow a gap between two obstacles 2 player needs 10 jump over or modify the height of a walla player can shoot over. Youll need tobe able to judge distances, sight lines, heating range, and other similar factors {you cant do witha pencil and paper. Let's ‘walk theough building some simple 30 level ‘geometry in Sketchlp, First, open up SketchUp and select the Google Earth Modeling Meters template, Use the Rectangle tool and click onthe Origin point (where the red, blue, and green axes intersect), Draw a rectangle fom here, ‘and then type in "10, 15" and press Enter. Use the PushPull tol to give this vectangle ‘some height (about six meters). This is your building. Use the Peni tol to draw a line the height ofa single step (rser], ane then ‘another line for the depth, Select these, andGID skeen BaA05 [N/BOCCIFHLxS BEE BAA BG OWe @) a oe a eB) eB O00 @rrcorreseen atten ne, Bui an opening inthe rof with the Offaet 0. then use Move to select the bettom ofthe rises, and hit Contol (Option on the Mac] to copy, and click where the next riser should start, Cuta single step into the side ofthe building, and then copy it several times [you ‘an type in 20x-and press Enter to create a whole staircase). Delete any excess lines at the top of the building withthe Eraser tool, and then draw a line down from the edge ofthe building to complete the side ofthe staircase Then use the PushPull tol to extrude the steps out Use the PushPull ofa building. Double-click the roof and use the Offset tac! {1 above) to create asim inside the rot PushPull this up to create a roof parapet, and then use the Rectangle tl ane PushPll to create an opening inthe parapet by the top ofthe star. Go to Window, Components and select a person, and then place him on the root Now you have a building with some steps and a parapet that you can import and test in your game engine, You can now work out whether your character ean walk up the steps, decide at what height you wish to trigger damage [or en the game) i he falls off the steps, decide whether the parapet is low enough o look aver but 00 tallto jump over, and so forth. You can test your {game scripting decisions and environment rules before asking someone to made! game assets. This s called "grey boxing” et “blocking out” in the industry, Tipte-ick on the building and tur tinto ‘Cornponent, and then copy around afew times to create a back of buldings Doubleclick ‘na component tet it, and then crew some rectangulae windows wth the Rectangle tol These should now show up on each and every bulng, i ‘% \\ N ‘i > e\ ‘Att windows to your buldng None ofthis oks very polished, wich simportant: Keep assets simple during the development process, and you and your eam can focus on mare important geomenc and dimensional level design issues until youre ready to pass your SketchUp {ies on oan artist whe can finish them using our geometry asa bose, Tis way, the artist can ‘ade visual appeal but won't be able to "break the ‘development work you've aleady done, TESTING GAMEPLAY WITH vou NEW LEVEL > Now that you havea level you conse totest ‘out potential ingame scenarios Let's say your character has found the end bess nthe bulingFAW WK IW Adjust the camera so you're accurately reading the payer's porepectve, Map outthe different possible projectile trajectories ona graph and peste into your level and you can quichly determine how you payer an hth sho from af. shown inte Your games ina historical or post apocalyptic sting, andthe player could havea bow and arrow (abet) ora oc at wos) toknock he bass out wth Imogine tat the level-dsign specication requires that any ofthese weapons shou be ale a ender the boss unconscious, whieh then tigers an end of leel cutscene The layer should be able finsh off the gme witha ack shot ram the areen ratop through he window he re bulking while the bossis pacing areund the tp fo, So oul need token the range, fightpath and decay ate fe each neapon to workout wth your 30 machi. Fist, make sure theres a ine-f ight connection fom the green rotap others window by ssingto mers, Postion Camera and cicking the crf the eof ofthe green building Nowletcick and dagtne mouse took around Look tthe person you placed onthe rot. his eye evels onthe havo, youle athe right eight Otherwise type in aheight ane press Ema unt it feels eae. Fromhre lock at there ilding ae check fyoucan sete window Yacan walk rund the map asf you were in your ished game by right-clicking and choosing Walk Move the tage uid winsow ifyounee a. Now select the Tape Measure al (or ress]. cckon te parapet where outstanding, uid Conrol hover vethearget window, dna the estance Then create waectory path busing the Fencitoo dara ne rom the parpetto he window, move the pend, srap othe ue axis dothe same atthe ihe en, arden compete te rectangle Youean now catany ejector, you on is canvastsingthedre lof yore ely dvr do seme nd paste the esuting graph onit Mile incomingangle ofthe projects clear the window ame to ithe boss nthe ead ot us is bigtoe? You can see where ne'e going ith hs 's easy to do the hard work af level design before you ever touch the code—if you Know what yore cing Now you can inpart your new mockup assets Sleight ito your game engine and cantine development while 3D ats i polishing t up athe same time (or bul perfect funetional assets fr your prototype sa you can get hire). Maybe you won" need those accountng clases afterall 8 ROBIN DE JONGHe he avharaf we Dok n Sky, he latest eng Gog Ste for are Desig Lave ad Pops Hews aan caustinedtron gore development an 31 books for Pack PubsOE SO) i BLIZZARD IS HIRING We are actively recruiting for the following key positions across our game and online technology teams: Ba eid 748 1 1 ea eee eae el Le SENIOR 3D ENVIRONMENT ARTIST | SENIOR 3D CHARACTER ARTIST | FX ARTIST PaO Ve 1) Ul Ae OC eee et Ue eel Beare ee Rol) CUR seg CL eelGAME CAREER GUIDE fy rea fay MICROSOFT EXCEL FOR GAME DESIGNERS USING EXCEL FOR DATA ANALYSIS When people ask me what tools I use as a game designer, they're usually surprised when I tell them how much T use Microsoft Excel {or more recently, Google Docs). Excel can be a powerful data analysis, tool for any level of game designer, and it takes some practice to master. Feed playtest results into your spreadsheet and suddenly yau have all of the information you could ever want about your game. But it's important to remember that Excel can't work on its own: We need to analyze data thoughtfully. It’s also worth remembering that Excel can help with text-based games. Here are some Excel tips and tricks for aspiring game designers with real-life examples taken from games that I've designed. MicRosofr vs. 6o06ie > Fst let’ tak about Microsoft Excel vs, Google Docs spreadsheets. While these two epins are general intrchangeabl, there are some ey diferences, Google Does ree across ptform [it runsin your web browser), andi great ifyou want multiple people out documents simitaneously. Unfortunately you need tobe connected tothe Intemet to create andsave your documents ands not easy ack changes, Eee documents canbe easy ntgratednto your version-conrl system can be saved and edited without an internet connection, an include advanced festres such as counifs|) and sums). 8ut Exealisn ree snd mute poop cat work simultaneously on the same document. Tnmast cases, you can use ether one, though ts useful tobe aware of the liferences so you can cnoes the teal hats best suede your neds wont spend ime covering the basics of using spreadsheets wich you can leasin few minutes on your own ie yeukrow hot use these functions: sum), average) ax), min(), aden). iso, you shouidhrow howto sr your data ascending and escening and employ ree OWS and columns so you can always see ow and clan headers wl scaling your document. fang of that fees unfamiliar to you, spend a few minutes ping around or searching the nee foarte. SETTING UP YOUR DATA >> When starting 2 game project make sure to consider what data need to gather Pan to gather the right data earl anand you'll ensure \you have the ight ool to balance the game later, When I was designing 8 casual bingo/ottery seratcher card game calles LOso EXPRESS [tp// oge-comy/gamesotsoexpress, | worked with the game's engineer to ‘utput certain mets into an Excel spreadsheet that was generated very day fille wth data from our beta testers. you want to play along, \you can find the raw Excel files at htip//gdmag conveesources/code,php. For LOTT EXPRESS, I stated by laking a the rank points [experience points) player eamed curing a game, the game tokens (in-game currency] the player earned, and the jackpot tokens the player earned froma slot machineslike bonus atthe end of ome games. Al these rmetics wece measured fora single game, which was recorded inthe {game length column—make sure to note the units! Are we measuring in ‘seconds, minutes, of something ele? | asked the engineer, and geme length was being measured in seconds, sa the entry in 8 [see Figure 4] is actualy single ame that took more than five hours (18,965 seconds A B € 1 rank points game tokens jackpottokens game length 2 6 6 o 2 3 7 27 ° 81 4 187 635 125 im 5 120 368 150 1481 6 a7 361 20 1495 7 175 656 125 8507 [el aa as 50 10965) GURE Game mattis rma few sessions of arts Bras 160 seconds ina minute /60 minutes in an hour =5.2? hours} Since thisis a casual game designed tolast 1 minute to 15 minutes, |knew something was wrong, lasked the engineer again, and we were actully measuring time from game stat to game over. If players pause the game for longtime, we get very ong game lengths, which throw off the rmeties wee trying to balance, This brings up our fist important Excel lesson: Don't blindly tust the ata, Data is important, but you must use your powers of analysis and reason to determine the correct course of action. Also, youll want to make sure you have good eammunication with the engineering team, since theyre the people feeding you the data you need to do your jb, AWALYZING YOUR DATA >» Now that we have some statistics that show how people are playing our ‘game, we can start figure out what we shoud fine-tune. The tuning goal for this game was 3,000 tokens per hour, with 2,500 coming fom the game ‘telf and 0 cing fram the jackpot slot machine. The following formulas getus started TOTAL HME TOKENS EXRNED (IH 89): =SUN(82:88) TOTAL JNCKPOT TOKENS E4RUED (IW C9): =SUN(C2:c8) TOTAL IRE LENGTH (ZH D9) =SUN(02:08) Instead of ypng each forrnula by hand, ony create the formula for game tokens (in 89, thecal below the current data. Then select B99, andA B c D Ez ZL Singular Word last2 Letters All Except Last2 Letters Plural En¢ Plural Word 2 “acorn”, rn", “aco ms “acorns", 3 ankle", le", ank les ankles", 4 "army", my", "ar mies "armies", 5 "bench", ch’, "ben ches "benches", 6 "berry", ry", "ber ries "berries", 7 "boy", oy", "b oys "boys", 8 "child", Id, "chi Ids "childs", ounce Yuan abe cla generat at of pia words, whieh saul word games 18, and use the Fil ight commane (Control +R) You'l save yourself countless hours of tying i you learn and properly empley the Fil Right and Fill own cemmmands. Now we can use the initial sums to calculate tokens per hour ‘GARE TOKENS PER HOUR: JNCAPOT TOKENS PER HOUR: 1 (09 / 3600) =<9 / (08 / 3600) RESULT: 290 RESULT: 82 Ie’ important to remember the units of your data, which s why we must divide D9 by 3,600, since there ae 3,600 seconds in an hour. Given those results, the game is paying out less than 400 tokens per hour which is way off rom our gol of 3,000 perhour OF cours, that analysis includes some really lng games, which ae skewing the results. Therefore, we can ook ‘more closely and exclude abnormallyane games, Todos, recernmend, ‘the function sumif{}, 2s follows: ‘GAME TOKEYS EARKED TH GURES <30 RIUTES:=SUNIF(02:08, *<1800", 2:08) SNCKPOT TOKENS EARNED IM GAMES Although we tendo thnk of Excel a a tool for numeric dat, I've also sed Excel to manage text in many games. Recently, was working on 2 vocabulary game where I had a dictionary of only singular words, ana needed plural words, co, so | created table lke the one in Figure 2 The data in Column Ais taken directly rm the dictionary file used inthe ‘game, The function in 82s simply =right(A2, 4). Then selected 82 through {89 and used the Fil Down command (Control +0).C2 contains ef(A2, len{A2}-4), Thea is inthe formula because want to split the wor apart, leaving the ast tw letters (and quote and comma) separate Unfortunately the rules for plural wordsin English are ricky, First, started with something simple, ike =LEFT(B2,2]8”s", whic simply appends an‘s" tothe end ofthe word. Then realized shoul detect words that endin “yo used an) statement, ike this: =T(MI0(82,2,1 Lee T(82,2)0°5") 1, LEFT(82, 4) TES" ‘Aor that |realzed should actualy append an"s" instead of ies" ifthe etter preceding the y"fs avowel. Therefor, | updated the formula to look ike: 1 (m10(82,2,1)=7 TFC OR(LEFT(82,1)=°0", LEFT(B2,1 LeFT(82,1)=*E", LEFT(82,1): LeFT(62,2)8"5" LEFT(62, DATES"), LeFT(2,2)8°5") )=9H", LEFT(G2,1)=0", Sy ‘As you can seo, the actual algorithm forinding the plural speling of an Engish ward gets campliated quite quickly Nonetheless, you build your formula one step at atime, youl be able to create powerful results. Start ‘smal nd werk your way up in complet, t some point, you may reach Make games because you rather specialize in one particular love them. Forme, |make games area, suchas 3D modeling or a5 part of atwo-person indie database programming, you could developer caled Meranet Software be anintegral part of larger development team—maybe at a big-budget triple-A team of hundeds or at aleaner indie ‘studio with a couple dazen employees you're a designer, ‘rif you want to first sketch out some ideas until you havea feel for what you can do and what {you mast enjoy, you might start ‘ut on your own, Making games means diferent things to fferent people: can mean single handedly constrveting the entire game from start to finish, ait can ‘mean contributing just ane small, carefully crafted part. Its all about experimenting until you discover what satsties you the most. WOW CAN You BE SURE I CAN MAKE Games? >» Because anyone can they try. Your age, race, sex, religion, social status, height™—none ofthis ‘matters ll you realy need ta get stared a passion for games. Even having ne pir experience in games can bea good things if \oulre new, you wont necessarily be operating within the established “rules, which allows you to explore unconventional solutions th eretivty an innovation. None is boen a perfect gome i's hugely beneficial to have educational resources and totals available, bt experince—paying, leaming, experimenting, and spending time working—is even better Schools useful but you already have everything you need te startleaming on your own, and for free oF cheap, onthe intemet. The nteret is an incredible resource with te answers to pretty much any question you ‘could ever have Also, the best way te leara how games workis by experimenting on small projects by \yoursetfor with others, IF you're wari that your skills arent at the level they need tobe to workin the game industry, ‘there's good news: W's never too late to learn and the great thing ‘about sills is that they improve with practice. Plu, there are so ‘many tools out there to help you {mang of which are explained inthis very magezin], In game evelopment, your potential ist Fimited by what you know or wnat (you can do right now but by how wiling you ae tear and try new ‘things and how well you persevere through difficulty ‘You can always lear. Knowing howto code is useful kl, especially ana small team where you wll have to workin variety cof roles. You could also explore ‘modern game-making tools, such as Stencyl, GameMaker, and even Fac, which remove aot ofthe Making games isnot an easy career path—whatever you do and however you doit, you are ping to fl repeatedly. The Uickis antcipateit and not ett Aiscourage you. The development of SOUND SHAPES began wth many prototypes that Jon Mak showed ata Hand Eye Sacety social in Toronto. Each prototype was Aistnes, intriguing grain ofan idea that could grow into a game nits ‘ia ight, and the only quaites| ‘they ll shared were a unique mix of ation and music-making ane ‘a falure wo capture the magic Jon was looking fr. He could've given up and succurnbedta the idea that he would never gait right, but he continued to search fora game that matched hs vien by learning fom the mistakes ofeach failed prototype. Failure makes it very dificult to stay mativated and persevere, butif you can ecognize when a project just isnt working and shift your focus o developing {your skis and experimenting, ‘dds are good that youl eventually create something wonderful WHAT IF NO ONE LIKES MY GAME? > Rarely does anyone get anything in gamesight onthe ist try. The important partis to keep honingand refining yourideas and execution Surrounding youself with other people who are interested in making games definitely helps, since you can share knowledge with experianced peers and provide Feedback on each other's gamesto iterate andimprove your games. Pus, youll need strong support eter that chagion your Hort nlp yousroaph hse rough pte Maybe your game ist as gent as youthoug ane pr serpin Use hat disappointment oinspre yousel totes and improve yon ar gore ies F yore not geting players or pressinerestes nour pie, it robs neads more mark Ge feedback rom plaerssten 0 i and keep bldg ad tiling tn everyone can see what you fina so compan To sive te gaunet of emctial aura that is gamedevelopment oreay ara crestive endeavor), yournaed determination bit, uy, euros, and mos ofa ove for srt ye ing you dr ike ‘purge, you probably work be matted enough finish WHAT IF I NEVER MAKE A GAME THAT SELLS A MILLION COPIES? > Selling millions copes ofa game is an exceedingly rare event. Moreover huge sales numbers are only one way to measure ‘success, and they aren't always the best or most accurate way ‘Bra, arguably one ofthe most successful indi games, has Sold “only 450,000 copies on XBLA, bout to calli failure because it didn sella milion plus copies does ta disservice: Bea's re ‘worth comes from its innovative and uniquely competing brain bending gameplay mechanics anc lasting impression on its players. Formast games, the number of sales isjust a number, the best measure of success is your wn personal stands, success for {you equates tospending my life Teaming and doing what love it's ‘much easier to attain than “being rich and famous" (ands likely 0 bbe much mare gratifying, ta). WHAT IFT START 10 WATE WHAT I’M WORKING ON? » Younsedto beable o give your project, and yourself the freedom tobe something else, Flexibility in generals one of the most important skills you can have You rmaybecome aware that something {yout working on is moe or less fun than expected but feel that changing its daunting since $0 ‘much worktimesimoney has been spent on it. We iniialy wanted the gameN tobe a slow:naced stealth game, until we discovered hw fan twat run and jump around te level at top speed—9 huge avergence from our plans Having the courage to change gears and maximire o minimize ‘ew discoveries can ead to some wonderfully unconventianal ‘outcomes and abetter game, The history of games tel many such stories, everywhere rom the triple-A to indie games, fom SPACE INBOERS to SOUND SHAPES to {GeaW0 THEFT AUT, That concurrence ihminates the fundamental goal of game developers: Weare trying to reat games. That's what | believe should ‘imately unite each person working inthe pare industry We care about making games, and wale genuinely concerned with thei content. God games| are fun, exciting, engaging, and intriguing, and are often the resut ofa combination of earefl centerplation, planning and happy accidents they ae incresily hard to create. When you make games because you believe in them and want to play more of them, ‘and because you enjoy exploring creative ides, then regardless of crtical oc commercial results this can be the most enjoyable and satisfying work you could eve do, ‘The payofisimmense: You get to vratch your ideas come life in surprising and dynamic ways, and {you getto play an awesome game ‘ben you're done, you take away only one thing from this article, make this: Your fecus should be on making great games, or making games gret. Make something that you care about and beevein. This industyreally needs more creative and passionate individual who are ambitious and enthusiastic and ioe what they do—thase are the most important, qualifications you cous have. ‘that’s you then weleeme! cart wat to see you get started, and.am very ‘much ooking forward playing (your games. willbe a dict” journey, but you can doi ARE SHEPPARD se ai of tae Softwore nc. nn game deeper ose on, ania founding member aft Hons ye Society a Tanto bose lan igo we games ‘retin Meron eran ploy endencewroing mare people och cred poy goes further inspiration epg congravtyghost can tensive 0-9 game design coe ‘ew ibang. COURT $og/2032/04/06/how-to-make- games! ‘wor igh a comibogy>p=aT