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Senin, 04 April 2016

Create A 2D Game - Part 5: Game Testing

This is the fifth and final section on how to design and create a 2D game. Before reading this article you should ideally have read the 2D Game Concept, 2D Game Structure, 2D Game Graphics & Audio and 2D Game Programming sections.

2D Game QA Testing

The life of a game tester is a lot more difficult than people think...

Quality Assurance (Q.A.) technicians, or testers, perform a vital role, testing, tuning, debugging, and suggesting the detailed refinements that ensure the quality and playability of the finished game. Their job involves play-testing the game in a systematic way, analysing the game's performance against the designer's intentions, identifying problems and suggesting improvements. They test for bugs in the software, from complete crashes to minor glitches in the programme. They also act as the game's first audience, reporting on its playability, and identifying any aspects which could be improved.

Testers work in teams, sometimes playing together on a multi-player game, and a team might 'own' part of a game. Testing involves playing a game over and over again, testing different levels and builds (incomplete 'development versions' of a game, sometimes with various features missing). The work can be repetitive and tedious, but Testers have to test long after the novelty and fun factor may have worn off.

So 2D game testing is effectively the equivalent of quality assurance for the game. There are two main types of game testing, 'in progress testing' and 'in situ testing'. 'In progress' testing should be conducted throughout the programming stage while the development of the game is still in progress. While 'in situ' testing should be conducted once the game is deemed to be complete and has been published in its final form, whether that be online, on CD or DVD for a console, as an app or on a mobile device.

TIP: It is vital to keep notes while testing to ensure that an identified glitch or suggestion is not later overlooked or forgotten.

Each type of testing will check a variety of different things as shown in the lists below...

'In Progress' Testing will check...

Whether the style and size of game graphics are suitable
That charcter costumes portray smooth movements
Whether game audio and sound effects are suitable
If Programmed actions are occurring as they should
That in game controls are working correctly
Any changes or updates in graphics or programming

'In Situ' Testing will check...

If the game loads correctly on its selected platform
That the game plays correctly from start to finish
All possible game-play scenarios - this may be very tedious
How long it takes to play the game
What the re-playability level is
The learning curve and overall game difficulty
The quality of graphics and audio
If there are glitches of any kind - are there any jumpy parts/missing elements etc.
If the game is interesting or fun

Test Your Testing...

Test out your testing skills on the sample games below (which do have errors/glitches/areas for improvements). When your done write your results in a notepad and then remix the game yourself to improve or fix it based on your testing notes.

You can also test out a world of games on the Scratch website and especially the OnlineDesignTeacher Scratch Channel. Once testing is complete upgrades to graphics or audio, repairs/changes to the programming code or even an overhaul of the general game structure may be necessary.

That brings to an end our 5 part series on how to create a 2D game. We hope you found it useful and that you managed to use the guide to create a 2D game of your own. You might now be interested in creating a 3D game.

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Kamis, 31 Maret 2016

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Create A 2D Game - Part 3: Graphics & Audio

SEM 15.40 Komentar

A character sprite sheet for a 2D game

Once you have completed all the previous steps in the 2D game development process you should be armed with a series of drawings, sketches, plans and notes on exactly what you need for your 2D game - now all you have to do is make them!

But even before then there is one final decision to be made, what style is your game going to be...? You should know what genre the game is and how it will work but there are a variety of graphic styles in which a game can be presented and it is important to choose a style appropriate for your game. With that said, let's look at our options.

Game Graphics Styles:

The detail of your graphics can range from stick-man drawings to photo realistic or anywhere in between. A selection of possible graphic styles is shown below.

Game Graphics Styles

The list below documents some game using each of the graphics styles...

Ultra Basic Graphics - such as stick-man character game - stick-man.
Hand Drawn Graphics - Harold, Shank, Closure, Castle Crashers etc.
Cartoon Style Graphics - Angry Birds, Cut The Rope, Mario, Sonic etc.
Geometric Graphics - Pong, Tron, Pacman, Tetris, Bubble etc.
Quirky Graphics - Little Big World, Wego, Rhythm Heaven Fever etc.
Anime Graphics - Street Fighter, Pokemon, Suikoden, Tales Series etc.
Photo Realistic Graphics - LA Noire, Beyond Two Souls, GTA, Heavy Rain etc.

Can you think of any more? What category would your own games fall into?

Graphics Creation & Set-up:

Once you have decided on the style of graphics that you want for your game the next thing is to create them! If you need help with creating your 2D game graphics see our series of Photoshop Tutorials for guidance. The tutorial on how to use the pen tools are especially useful for creating suitable game graphics. If you do not have Photoshop then try the online photo and image editor Pixlr, it is an excellent and free alternative to Photoshop and has most of the same tools so you can also use it to follow the Photoshop tutorials we provide.

Create Graphics In Scratch...

When creating graphics it is important to know the best file size, file type and colour system to set them up in. As mentioned previously for this series of tutorials we will are recommending the freeware game engine Scratch as the best place to create your first 2D game. Scratch has a large library of graphics to choose from as well as an in built graphics editor which allows the creation of both bitmap and vector graphics. The interactive guide below (made using Scratch) explains how best to make graphics for your 2D game in Scratch.

Create Graphics In Photoshop or Pixlr...

If you still want to use a separate software such as Photoshop or an online editor such as Pixlr to make and import your own graphics to Scratch it is important to know uses a game screen size of 480 x 360 so all graphics should be created with this ratio in mind. For side scrolling, vertical scrolling or top down games graphics can be made in multiples of the 480 x 360 dimensions and then spit into sections before being imported into the game. See the example below.

The level graphics for a 2d side scroller game

Tip: Like with the character sprite sheet at the top of the page, some game objects will require multiple graphics in order to achieve the illusion of movement.

As games are made for display on screen they should be set up using the RGB (Red Green Blue) Colour System as opposed to the CMYK (Cyan Magenta Yellow Black) Colour System which is for printed graphics. In terms of file types, scratch will accept all the major file types so you need to consider which file type is best suited to each individual graphic. For example .JPG files are best for photographs while .GIF files are best for line drawings.

To help get your started here are 3 websites where you can source copyright free images/graphics to use in your 2d game.

Game Audio:

The game audio editor in Scratch

In gaming the Audio Engineer creates the soundtrack for a game. This might include music; sound effects to support the game action, such as gunshots or explosions; character voices and other expressions; spoken instructions; and ambient effects, such as crowd noise, vehicles or rain. The soundtrack helps to create a more immersive experience for the player by reinforcing the mood of the game. It can also enhance game play by affecting the tempo and adding emotional depth.

The importance of audio in games should not be underestimated. Background music will set the atmosphere in a game, while in game sound effects can shock or surprise the player, make us laugh or giggle, guide us to as whether an object is useful or harmful, to confirm an action has been processed, warn us of threats or hazards or just add to the in game experience.

Working to a creative brief, the Audio Engineer produces a sound design for the game and, when this has been agreed, realises it. This might involve the composing, scoring and recording of music. They are responsible for sourcing any sound effects that are needed, improving or creating them where necessary. These might be real or imaginary sounds, depending on the type of game. The Audio Engineer then edits, mixes, and masters the music and sounds to produce the soundtrack for the finished game.

Scratch allows for the recording of sounds through a microphone directly into the game and it also has a collection of audio songs and sound effects in it's media library but if what you need cannot be easily recorded or if something suitable in not available in the audio library then try one of the following audio download websites...

Next Up

Once you have created and/or gathered all the graphics and audio files that you need it is time to get programming your 2d game.

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Create A 2D Game - Part 2: Game Objectives and Structure

SEM 15.14 Komentar

Once you have settled on all the details of your 2D game idea you should next look to map out how the game will work. This will include listing the game objectives, identifying game controls, game menus and options, user interface layout, number of level, level maps, enemy A.I. and more.

All of these things must be clearly identified in order to be aware of the graphics you will require, the variety of sound effects you will want and the programming elements that will be needed in the next stages.

Main Game Objective:

You need to settle on the game's objectives as they are the driving force for the player in the game

First clearly and definitively write down the main objective of the game - you may already have done this using the worksheets in the previous section - and then outline how the player can achieve these objectives.

For example if the aim of the game is to collect coins, a la Sonic, then you also need to map out the location of these coins, the amount of coins, the number of coin types or costumes (for graphics), will there be a coin counting system, where will the counter be displayed, will that require a graphic, will there be a sound effect...? There are lots of questions to be answered so I recommend the use of quick annotated sketches to help make this process easier and faster.

Game Structure:

With the main objective of the game now fully explained and planned you can begin mapping out the structure of the game (how it will progress). The list below outlines a possible game structure....

Intro Scene ↓
Game Menu ↓
User Interface Layout - Health, Score, Timer, Inventory etc. ↓
Level 1 ↓
Level 1 Boss Battle ↓
Cut Scene ↓
Level 2 ↓
Level 2 Boss Battle ↓
End Scene ↓
Game Credits

Note: Within your game structure certain sections will require more detail, planning and/or mapping out.

Game Menu:

A sample 2D game menu screen

The game menu will be the first point of contact for your players, it is important to provide them with all the information they need about the game in order to begin playing. This should involve creating a section in the menu where the game controls are explained. A section explaining the game story/plot is also recommended to help the player relate to the character they are playing as. A page in which the game options can be altered is also advisable to allow for things such as editing difficulty level, turning sound on/off or choosing a character to play as.

From a design point of view you should also identify the menu graphics and sound effects you will need. For example will you need a different background image for each menu section? How many buttons will you need? Will they have mouse over effects or sound effects? How will the game name/title be displayed?

From a programming point of view any editable options your menu allows for will have to be programmed into the game, this may involve the creation of extra variables or a different programming approach so they need to be decided upon at the outset as they may be very difficult, time consuming or even impossible to add into the game at a later stage.

For now you only need to sketch out possible layouts/designs for your game menu. The creation of and programming of it will be covered in the next sections.

User Interface:

A sample 2D game interface for a shooter game

After the game menu the next point of contact for the player is the game itself. At all points during the game the G.U.I. (Graphic User Interface) should be visible to allow the player to view important information associated with their status in the game. You must decide what this information should be and how it will be represented. For example the players health could be represented numerically, as a value between 0 and 100, or graphically ,through a health bar where red and green represent health or damage amounts. Below is a mock up of a possible user interface layout alongside a list of information which could be displayed on a User Interface...

Player Lives
Enemy Lives
Health
Score
Collected Items
High-score
Time
Ammunition
Selected Weapon
Inventory Items/Pack
Position/Map

As with the game menu, for now you only need to sketch out possible layouts/designs for your game's user interface. The creation of and programming of it will be covered in the next sections.

Level Map:

Once created the level map is a very useful document to have at your side throughout the rest of the 2D game design process. Your level map should be a detailed outline of your level including the 'landscape' of the level in terms of platforms, terrain or basically whatever the player is standing on or flying through. The position of enemies and obstacles and hazards should also be outlined on the level map to see potential impossible areas or to ensure there are no areas too hard/easy/boring. It should be possible to view the potential route the player will need to take or the actions the player will need to complete. It may be necessary to create 2 or 3 versions of your level map until you are happy that what you have created is interesting, appropriate and achievable.

The two examples below are from http://www.flickr.com/photos/dexteryy

sample level map version 1