Miscellaneous Things

By: Matthew Nixon

Miscellaneous Things

Gameplay Element Template


Light Version

  • Name - Name the element

  • Description - Describe in as concise a way as possible what the gameplay element is supposed to be

  • Complexity - Estimate of the complexity of the element


Medium Version

  • Name

  • Category/categories (movement, UI, menu… etc.)

  • Description

  • Complexity

  • Tags

  • Design pattern

    • Possibly an example of implementation

    • In the future, implementations in different engines


Analyzing a Game

Play through a level or two and note everything the player can do. Note the environment and every unique thing about it. Note the enemies and what each of them can do. Have different items for different tasks. For instance when in the Venturing Out section, you should have one item for programming the player’s jump and one for making the graphics for the player’s jump. Then later you’ll have another item for making the sound for the player’s jump. When I do this, I make the lists separately, so I’ll go through all the gameplay elements making a list of all those, then I’ll go through again and make a list of all the GFX elements I’ll need, then a list of the sounds… etc.


Then take that list start to fill out the following items:

  • Name

  • (optional) Category/categories (movement, UI, menu… etc.)

  • Description

  • Complexity

  • (optional) Tags

  • (optional) Design pattern

    • Possibly an example of implementation

    • In the future, implementations in different engines


  1. Give each thing a name: If you’re making your own list of items so that you don’t have to repeat effort when working on new games, then name it something descriptively useful. For mine, for a basic AI movement pattern where it bumps into walls and falls off ledges, I named it “AI Movement - Basic Falling” That works for me, but you should find what works for you.

  2. Describe the item: This should be a concise but clearly defined description of the element. If you gave this to someone else to do, they should have no problem picking it up and creating it close to how you imagined it.

  3. Estimate how complex the task is:

    • 1. Basic

    • 2. Easy

    • 3. Moderate

    • 4. Challenging

    • 5. Difficult

  4. Categorize it as the type of thing it is: If you choose to categorize it, try to keep them down to a few categories. Like “AI Movement” for a category, so that when you look it up it’s easy to find what you’re looking for or something close enough.

  5. Add in tags: If you want to further help with searches, this might help.

  6. Design pattern: This can wait until it’s implemented in a game and you know a good way to achieve the desired result. If you’re not > 90% sure about the implementation, then hold off on writing up the design pattern until you really like the method.


Deciding on a Game Engine

While it doesn’t matter too much which on you choose, most modern engines are very good, this decision needs to be made. If you’re having trouble deciding between a few, then try out different engines alternating them for each game in this section. If you’re still deciding, then keep cycling them and drop off one game engine each time you’re sure it’s not the one. Or if you’ve found the one you like, then just select that one and keep going with that one.


While copying and pasting is not possible between game engines, the design patterns will always work no matter what engine you’re using, even if you wrote the engine yourself.


Complexity Sorted Lists

    In general, I’ll be speaking generally. I know that there will be a few examples that are outliers to what I’m about to talk about. In general, older games are less complex than modern games. Asteroids is less complex than

Skill Proficiencies

  • 1

    • Game Engine

  • 3

    • Game Play

    • Graphics

  • 5

    • UI

    • Menu

  • 10

    • Story

    • Sfx

    • Music


Eras

  • Birth (1965-1975)

  • Early (1975-1985)

  • 8 bit (1985-1991)

  • 16 bit (1991-1996)

  • 32/64 bit (1996-2000)

  • 2000s (2000-2010)

  • Modern (2010-present)



Genres by Complexity (in general)

  • 1

    • Action [Act] Active

    • Platformer [Plt] Active

    • Runner [Run] Active

    • Story [Sty] Mindful - Refrain until working on stories

    • Trivia [Trv] Other -- Refrain until working on UIs

  • 3

    • Adventure [Adv] Story

    • Fighting [Fgt] Sport

    • Puzzle [Pzl] Mindful

    • Racing [Rac] Sport

    • Shoot ‘em Up [Sht] Active

  • 5

    • Role Playing Game [RPG] Story

    • Sports [Spt] Sport - Balls

    • Stealth [Stl] Mindful

    • Tower Defense [TD] Mindful

    • Turn Based Strategy [TBS] Mindful

  • 10

    • Openworld [Opn] - Other

    • Real Time Strategy [RTS] Active

    • Simulation [Sim] Mindful

    • Team [T+] Other

  • 25

    • MMORPG [MMO]