Moldy's Stage 2: Define

I need a project name. I'll call it MOLDY for now.

The next stage of my MIRAGE method is Define. This is where I ask myself several questions that begin to turn my Idea into a Project. I usually don't make it thru this part becuase I cant answer all the questions, or I realize that it might not be fun to play. This portion, just concentrates on defining the game itself, not the actual code or the story.

The story could be any part of a large arc, or a simple quest, or no story at all. You only need to knwo if the game is tied heavily to the story.

The code completely depends on the final requirements, so its left out of this part. Mainly so it wont pollute the game ideas.

Basically the process is done in 7 steps, each being more detailed than the last. I've tried to use acronyms to make it easier to remember the steps, and tried not to use the same name twice. A MIRAGE goal is to reduce ambiguity in terminology.

Here's a list of the question sets in order.

1. G.A.M.E.S
2. P.E.R.S.O.N.A.L.I.T.Y.
3. M.I.N.D.S.E.T.
4. S.O.U.LS.
5. B.R.A.I.N.S.
6. H.E.A.R.T.B.E.A.T.
7. Platform

When you are done, you should have enough information to build a project file and get started assembling the game.



Step 1: The G.A.M.E.S.

General overview of the game.

(G)oals: What is the overall goal of the players? (example: kill final boss by getting there in 30 smaller levels)

(A)dvancement: How do you reward the player as he plays? (example: power ups, XP to buy new skills)

(M)odel: The game itself is a model of some smaller world. How should this world work? (examples: homeworld is a spherical 3d free movement, NWN is 3d isometric terrain. Starcraft is 2d isometric map)

(E)conomics: How are resources generated/traded/spent?

(S)tory: How much of the story is integrated into the game?



Step 2: P.E.R.S.O.N.A.L.I.T.Y.

Define the rules of the game.

(P)artners: Does the player has friendly NPC's or other remote players?

(E)nvironment: What type of physics are to be used? What is the world the game takes place in?

(R)esources: What resources does the player use?

(S)creens: What do the screens look like?

(O)bstacles: the player has obstacles the keep him from completing the goal. Describe them.

(N)otifications: What are the game events (example: "hit key, shoot laser, play sound", "boss dead, change level")

(A)tmosphere: What type of ambiance, background sounds, mood does the game have?

(L)ogic: define the hard rules you know you want in the game.

(I)nterface: How does the player interface with the game (example: mouse, keyboard, joystcick only)

(T)iming: What type of pace does the game have? (example: real time strategy, turn based, decision based, time limited)

(Y)ou: Who are YOU the player?(example: You are god, you are the shooter, you are the observer) This is a good place to describe the camera POV's.



Step 3: M.I.N.D.S.E.T.

Define the assets of the game

(M)aps:

(I)mages:

(N)arratives: conversations the NPC's have with the player

(D)atabases:

(S)ounds:

(E)ntities: (Actors, Objects, etc)

(T)emplates: (i.e. Character classes)




Step 4: S.O.U.L.S

The game is always at a certain state (in-game-play, paused, on level 3). Each state can be defined by 4 categories:

(S)tartup: what need's to be initialized.

(O)utput: what needs to be outputted, text, graphics, 3d scene. Network syncs, RPC functions

(U)pdate: take the inputs, and determine the needed updates. Mouse, camera, keyboard input. Network inputs.

(L)eave: are the conditions there to change this state?

(S)hutdown: what needs to be released?



From this point on is more if you are writing the game code by hand. If you're using a game engine, like torque, it can be skipped because it might not apply.


Step 5: B.R.A.I.N.S.

The interface between the game and platform.

(B)IOS: (background tasks, I/O calls,System Calls )

(R)ender: render scene

(A)udio: play sound assets

(I)nput: get input

(N)etwork: process network I/O

(S)cripting: update script engine




Step 6: H.E.A.R.T.B.EA.T.

The main Loop for the game:

(H)igh Performace Timer: get delta time for this frame.

(E)val Souls: update states

(A)dd extra Commands to Command Queue:

(R)un All Commands from Command Queue:

(T)ransitions: Does state need to be change?

(B)rains: update the B.R.A.I.N.S

(E)vents: check for global events, add them to Command Queue

(A)ssets: update game objects

(T)riggers: find/throw game triggers




Step 7: Platform

Choose the platform engine the game is intended for. (example: windows directx, windows gdi, ...)