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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! - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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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