Unit 71 - Object Orientated Design For Computer Games

Unit 71 - Object Orientated Design For Computer Games

Concepts and principles:
- Simplified understanding - relating to blueprinting it is when a blueprint is made and made as simple as possible so that it is easy to understand. For example if there was blueprinting for a character to make him walk, simplified understanding would be when the blueprint of this would be simplified so it is easy to understand and know what it is. This can even simply be just naming the blueprint the name of the action that it carries out.

- Re usability - Re usability refers to re using an object in a game more than just once. Objects that this is normally done with can be things such as multiple cars, or trees/the environmental objects. This can also be in terms of code/blueprints that are used multiple times, such as a piece of blueprinting that allows a character to pick something up, this saves time and makes it easier to create the process which will be used a lot of the time.

- Maintenance - Maintenance is when you fix any errors and simplify the code that is there in the game so that it is not only easy to understand what blueprint does what, but allows you to know what has gone wrong. For example the character is walking jittery, the problem would be found within character animation, it also is a way for you to go in and edit/change the code whenever needed.

- Efficiency - Efficiency can be how well a piece of blueprinting works and how useful it is in your project. Efficiency can also refer to how efficient the creators time is, making time plans for creating certain elements of a game. For example, giving yourself a week to create a character and setting realistic time periods for when it needs to be rigged and animated, allowing you to work out a rough estimation of when parts of the game will be done. This can be then used to plan for the creation of something else down the line.

- Real World modelling - Real world modelling is the art of creating something that exists in the real world, this can be created off of drawings of the object such as a car like an Audi, or a photo of the car. When this is done the model is supposed to be an exact copy, or in some cases is modified for the games benefit, such as theme or look of the object. For example an apocalyptic game will have a car with rust or maybe has been modified with guns on and more armor.

- Collaboration and sharing - Collaboration and sharing can be when different members of a project all working on a game work together to achieve the completion of the game. One element of this is between a game artist and a game designer, the game artist will create the models and assets, which will then be animated and coded by the designers. There is many more parts to a game creating team, however these are just two.

- Quality assurance - This is the checking of the game throughout the process of creation, and making sure that each part of the game works in harmony with its corresponding features, whatever they may be. It also refers to a certain standard that is to be kept throughout, when being tested it wont pass merely on the action or object working, but also being up to the standard marked out at the design process. For example an object will look like its concept art, or have the style intended such as cel shaded or photo realistic. Testing should be done throughout to make sure that no problem is missed and causes a bigger problem down the line.

Game objects
- Sprites - Sprites, normally used for 2D games, are what make up things such as characters, enemies or weapons. Sprites form almost everything and anything in a game, and are normally created in pixel form. A game known for using sprites is super mario.

- Characters - Characters are found in almost every game, the word character in terms of a game normally refers to the person you are playing as, however can also be used to describe an enemy or ally. They take the form of people, or even animals that are within a game.

- Weapons - Weapons are within a game to be used against the enemy of the players characters or to be used by the enemy. A weapon in a game can take many forms, but are known to cause some form of damage to characters and/or objects within the game. A gun, or knife would be considered a weapon.

- Rooms - rooms can also be called levels, they signify a change of location or area and are normally made seperately. In some games a room can be when the character enters a house, giving him a cutscene or a jump to the next area/inside the house. Some games have many rooms, other games such as open world games have fewer.

- Walls - Walls keep the player in a certain area, normally having a collision box linked to the player to stop them from going past it.

- Scenery - Scenery adds life to a game, it builds an environment or location. Scenery can also be in many forms, such as trees, a river, or buildings that have no impact to the game, and only serve the purpose to make the game more immersive for the player.

- Rewards - Bonuses - Power-ups - These all fall under a similar catagory, they all boost something within a game/effect something. A reward is when the player has done something good, such as reach the end of the level they get extra points. A bonus can be in the form of extra gold coins for the player, and a power-up normally enhances the players abilities, in some cases making him invulnerable to attacks which in most cases benefits the player.

Object properties

- Object properties are normally linked to one object and vary from object to object. Colour will almost definitely be different from object to object, but in some cases will be reused. Object sizes vary upon how big they are to be, most objects are normally re-sized to coordinate with the player, for example a mouse object will not be bigger than the player unless it is meant to be bigger. Speed and movement is also something which is defined by the object that it is meant for, some enemies for a game may be much faster than others adding a challenging element to a game. Sound is dedicated within games to either alert a character to something, or to add further detail to an object such as a sliding door. Adding the sound effect to a sliding door adds immersion to the game. Health and lives are two different things however result in the same outcome if both are reduced to 0. Health is used in some games and can range from numbers to a bar of health, damage done to the player is taken directly from the health and can vary in the amount that is taken depending on the type of attack/damage dealt. In some cases health can regenerate or be restored by power-ups/rewards. Lives are more like chances, if you have 3 thats 3 chances to complete the task, these also can be replenished in some cases and when they are all gone you have run out of chances and the game ends.


Actions and events

- Actions and events define what a character is or isnt able to do. These can range from an attack animation, to a movement animation when a key is pressed. These are called keyboard events, when a character is moved by a keyboard press it is known as an event as it is something that is happening within the game.

- Collision - Collision is between two objects, but not every object. Some objects do not collide, such as a ghost perhaps that has no physical form. However anything physicaly in a game will most likely collide with another object, the main form is a wall and other moving objects such as a ball. The ball if it has collision on with the wall will not be able to pass through it and will most likely bounce off or collide with it and be still.

Inheritance

- Inheritance allows for the creator to reuse code or sprites from other objects but with the ability to change certain features. The parent is the object from which the code and design is from, and the child is the object that it will effect/be given to. Things such as cars that do the same task however look different may use inheritance, with a red car being the parent and the different coloured cars being the child. inherited behaviors means that the child will normally act the same as the parent, as its code is similar if not the same as the parent.