Clic The Technology

Posts Tagged ‘Issues in Game Design’

Nothing knocks a player out of a game like a bug. Many designers think that bugs are the exclusive domain of programmers. Not so. There are many ways you can help keep the game bug-free. Be clear in your design documents. If you’re unclear and the programmers do things the wrong way, they’ll have to go back and do it again. This reduces the amount of time they have to address other problems, and vestiges of the incorrect way are certain to remain and will be hard to stamp out. The more you can get it right the first time, the  more they can too.

Be flexible in creating your design. Consult with your tech lead and listen to his advice. If he says of a particular feature, “It will be hard to code and buggy as hell,” believe him. Perhaps there’s some other way to accomplish what you want. Stay involved throughout the whole development cycle. You can’t create a design document and walk away.

A bug doesn’t have to be a crash. It can be anything that deviates from what you intended: a weapon that’s too powerful, a line of dialogue that’s spoken in jest but that you meant to be taken seriously, or an inappropriate lighting scheme that creates the wrong mood for a room. The earlier you catch these problems in the development cycle, the easier they are to fix. The later you discover them, the more likely they are to remain in the game.

The goal of an educational game is to teach a specific body of knowledge.

You must have a clear idea of what this knowledge is from the start. You cannot create a  game first and then tack on some educational value at the end. This usually means working  with a subject matter expert and adhering to the following guidelines:
* Have a clear goal. “By the time the player is done, he will know this.”
*  state frameworks, the documents published by state governments that contain the objectives for a given curriculum.
* Target age is important. Children develop rapidly and move quickly from one  stage to another. For example, older kids like the element of mystery in a game,  whereas younger kids need to feel safe.
* Interactivity, important in every genre, is even more vital in children’s games. Every time the player does something, he wants to see something happen on the screen.
* Keep the interface simple. Don’t clutter up the screen or give the player too many  options at once. Make buttons large and easy to click. Young players might not yet have the motor skills to maneuver the cursor to a precise area on the screen.
* Engage the emotions, and wrap the educational content into goal-oriented behavior.
* Reward the player often, not necessarily with points but with responses that  encourage him to carry on. Deemphasize failure with encouraging words and a  hint to push him in the right directions.
* Don’t shy away from conflict. It is as engaging to kids as it is to adults (witness  Saturday morning cartoons). Do steer away from violence, however. It will never  be accepted in a children’s game.