Game Design Complete Book

Part I	Constraints or Opportunities
	Introduction	xix
Chapter 1	Getting Back to the Basics of Great Game Design	3
	Real-World Design Isn't Idealistic Design	4
	Living the Life of a Game Designer	5
	Getting the Basic Terms and Concepts Together	7
	Ten Rules for Game Designers to Live By	13
	Using the Core Gameplay Fundamentals	18
	Summary	26
	An Interview with Noah Falstein	27
Chapter 2	Licensed to Thrill	31
	The History of Licensed Games	33
	Designing for Constraints or Opportunities	37
	Designing for Licenses	43
	Coming Up with Original Gameplay	50
	Working with Outside Creative Talent	52
	Working with Licensors	55
	Summary	62
	An Interview with Richard Leibowitz	63
Chapter 3	The Art (and Challenge) of Designing for Game Platforms	67
	Striving for Platform-Independent Design	68
	Common Platform Design Mistakes	75
	Pushing Each Platform	76
	Designing for Future Platforms	88
	Summary	89
	An Interview with Ben Gunstone	90
Chapter 4	A Break from the Norm	93
	Designing for Demographics	94
	Designing Games for Older Gamers	98
	Designing Games for Children	101
	Designing Games for Women	103
	Designing Nonstandard Games and Applications	109
	Summary	118
	An Interview with Tim Wright	119
Part II	Core Gameplay
Chapter 5	Designing Camera Systems	125
	The Importance of Good Camera Work	126
	A Library of a Thousand Different Cameras	129
	Understanding Basic Camera Principles	131
	Styles of Cameras	134
	Using Other Camera Techniques	144
	Summary	147
	An Interview with Simon Andreasen	148
Chapter 6	Control Systems	153
	Creating Gameplay Magic	153
	A Library of a Thousand Different Control Systems	154
	Basic Control Design Techniques	155
	Advanced Control Techniques	163
	Unusual Control Systems	164
	Using Controllers in Unusual Ways	166
	Summary	168
	An Interview with Dax Ginn	169
Chapter 7	Designing Characters	173
	Heroes Aren't Perfect	173
	Creating Unusual Characters	174
	Important Questions to Ask in Designing Characters	190
	Using Multiple Characters	194
	Design Project: Mole with a Mission	196
	Summary	198
	An Interview with Toby Gard	199
Chapter 8	Game Environments and Level Design	203
Step 1	Creating the Blueprint	204
Step 2	Designing the Level	205
	The Process of Creating Levels	209
	Other Level Design Considerations	216
	Summary	222
	An Interview with Andrew Oliver	223
Part III	Design Challenges
Chapter 9	Online Gaming	231
	Key Online Gaming Technical Issues	233
	Understanding the Online Gaming Process	237
	Designing One-off Online Games	242
	Designing Persistent Online Games	244
	Technical Issues with Online Games	25
	Digital Distribution and Steam	251
	Summary	252
	An Interview with Raph Koster	253
Chapter 10	Designing Sequels	257
	The Challenges of Creating a Sequel	258
	The History of Sequel Games	259
	Starting Your Sequel	264
	How Far Can You Go?	271
	Summary	275
	An Interview with Alex Ward	276
Chapter 11	Advergaming and Sponsorships	281
	The Challenge of Advergaming	281
	Advertising in Games	283
	Techniques for In-Game Advertising	287
	Summary	295
	An Interview with Maryam Bazargan	296
Chapter 12	Audio	299
	The Magic of Audio	299
	Working with Musicians and Audio Engineers	302
	Designing Your Music	303
	Designing Sound Effects	308
	Working with Voices	312
	Audio Technology	315
	Summary	316
	An Interview with Chris Nuttall	317
Part IV	A Smarter Designer
Chapter 13	Market Research and Focus Groups	323
	The Value of Market Research	323
	Useful and Useless Research	325
	Doing Good Market Research	327
	Getting the Most from Focus Groups	331
	Summary	335
	An Interview with Ian Baverstock	336
Chapter 14	Design Teams, Prototypes, and Pitching	339
	The Value of Using Design Teams	340
	Prototyping Games	343
	Pitching a Game to a Publisher	345
	Two Great Pitches and One Big Loser	352
	Summary	353
	An Interview with Tim Heaton	354
Chapter 15	Designing Seriously Serious Games	357
	A Quick Look at Serious Games	358
	The Market for Serious Games	367
	Design Challenges for Developing Serious Games	370
	Summary	373
	An Interview with Dr. Ian Bogost	374
Part V	If All Else Fails...
Chapter 16	Disaster Management	379
	Surviving a Project from Hell	379
	Case Study: Fixing JetPack Jim	385
	Common Problems You'll Encounter with Fixing Troubled Games	390
	Summary	397
	Dan the Disastrous Designer Has a Job Interview	398
Chapter 17	The Final Chapter	401
	The Top Trends in Gaming	401
	The 10 Game Design Commandments	407
	A Final Thought	414
Appendix	Game Design Template	415
Section 1	Overview	416
Section 2	Gameplay	417
Section 3	Game Detail	418
Section 4	Project Issues / Risks	419
Section 5	Summary	420
	Index	421