Who Are We? Soren Johnson Civ IV: Lead Designer/AI Programmer Civ III: Co-Designer/AI Programmer...

Who Are We?

• Soren Johnson• Civ IV: Lead Designer/AI Programmer• Civ III: Co-Designer/AI Programmer

• Dorian Newcomb• Civ IV: Lead Animator• Civ III: Animator

Why a Playable Prototype?

• Get to the fun faster• Develop gameplay with low costs• Can spend more time polishing!

But… have to bug fix early!

Less is More: Small Teams

• Designer/programmer = faster prototyping• Flat decision-making process• Good communications (within earshot)• Less pressure for “pretty” results

1st Year: 5 programmers, 2 artists, 1 producer

A History of Civilization IV

New Features from Each Version:

Version A – September 2003

Turn-based, Tile-based Fractalized Random Maps Tech Tree MP-Only! Simultaneous Moves Team Game “Natural” Terrain Style Visible Yield Symbols Multiple Unit Selection “Progress Bar” Concept

Multiplayer First?!?

• Easier to go from MP to SP• Same with Simultaneous Moves to Turn-

Based• Can test features/balance without AI• Early team buy-in for design

Prototype “Fun” Testing

• Weekly Play Session (Consistent day & time)

• Designers can never skip, ever.• Extra goodies help (Papa John’s!)• Try a testing “pit”

But… it requires a weekly release plan

Version B – December 2003

Single Combat Strength (+ Modifiers) Collateral Damage XP and Promotions Civics Health Maintenance Improvements/Resources Python/XML Designed to Middle Ages Tile-based Rivers and Hills Dynamic Help System First Popups (Choose a Tech) Screens: City, Diplo

Civics Gone BadAbandoned Types• Welfare State• Federal Reserve• Legalism• State Atheism• Fundamentalism

Bad Ideas• Blind Research• Blind Production• Build Military with Food• Interest on Treasury

Version C – May 2004

Religion (levels) Great People Multiple Leaders/Civ (and Traits) Workers/Settlers Built from Food Happiness and Culture Sliders 2-Move Workers Design to Modern Age Saturated Terrain Palette Font Icons (for Help System) More Popups (Production) Very Early Advisors (Python) Screens: Intro! MP Lobby!

The “Play Session”

• Starts small (10 – 20) during Summer ‘04• Invitation only – no public announcement• Peaks at around 100-150 by release date• Bi-weekly patches• Community leads for sp, mp, and modding

Version D – August 2004

Religion (boolean) Return of Free Palace Impassable Terrain (Ice, Peaks) Great People & Golden Ages Victories Game Speeds Map Scripts! World-Builder Scenario File Format (Text) Animated Resources Tile-Based Land/Sea Hammers replace Shields

Religion in Civilization IV

but first…

There are few games that show any flair for simplification. 'Sid Meier’s Civilization' is one; Sid was so brutal in his simplification of history that I sometimes wince at the game's inaccuracies. Yet the result of Sid's design parsimony was one of the greatest computer games of all time.

- Chris Crawford

Religion: Simple is Better… and Safer!• v1.0: Levels (None, Low, Medium, High)• v2.0: Countable (Number of Praying

Hands)• v3.0: Boolean (Either There or Not There)• “Natural Diffusion” vs. Missionaries

Version E – January 2005

Limited Specialists Wonders create Great People Combine Happiness and Luxury Sliders Automated Workers Starting Eras Multi-unit Graphics Unit Flags Subdued Terrain Palette Tile-Based Coastlines Prototype Animated Leader First Main Interface Pass Screens: Tech Tree

Whither AI?

• Not easy to prototype• Traditional testing fails too• Need hard-core fans to analyze• Automated testing helps greatly

And… don’t forget that fun comes first!

Version F – April 2005 Auto-Explore Prototype art disappearing Art “Final” Animated Leader (Gandhi) Final Button Art (Units, Buildings) Final Improvement Art Multi-unit Graphics (4 to 5) Civ-specific Flags Natural Border System Tile-Based Terrain Improved Rivers & Coasts Final Font Early Civilopedia Screens: Foreign, Religion

Coastline Evolution

Coastline Evolution

Version G – June 2005 Air Units Globe View! Flood Plains Art Multi-unit Graphics (5 to 3) Improved Combat Animations Plateau System for Hills Subdued Terrain Textures Goto Lines New Interface Middleware “Final” City Screen Rebuilt Diplo Screen Animated Leaders City Billboards Screens: Military, Civilopedia

No More Tiles?Hills

Rivers

Terrain

but wait…

Civilization is a Turn-Based Game

Civilization is a Tile-Based Game

The Return of the TilesHills

Rivers

Terrain

Retail Version – October 2005

L-System for City Graphics Air Unit Animations Improved Hills and Peaks Tree Cuts Front-end Interface Full Interface Conversion Selectable Cities Python World-Builder Screens: Histograph, Rewards

When Important Changes Were Made

0

2

4

6

8

10

A B C D E F G R

Gameplay Graphics Interface

The Civ 4 Development Experience

Gameplay: First Half Graphics: Second Half Interface: Early and Late

But… it’s never too early to work on good Interface Widgets

Art Prototypes

• Different goals from playable prototype• “Functional” concept art• Develop art prototypes outside production

loop• Avoid waiting to see if it’ll work “in-game”

5 vs. 5 melee combat (Standard)

1 vs. 5 melee combat (Extreme Case)

It takes too long to move units…

Do this whenever you can

All new art should have an “in-game” concept image.

The Point

Iterate on fun when it’s cheap

Finish game before production starts

Art must reflect gameplay

Questions?

www.designer-notes.com