22CDO02-IMGD-UNIT-I-MOBILE GAME DESIGN PROCESS

KONGU ENGINEERIG COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS)
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND DESIGN
P.GOWSIKRAJA M.E., (Ph.D.,)
Assistant Professor
Department of Computer Science and Design
22CDO02 – INTRODUCTION TO MOBILE GAME DESIGN

22CDO02 - INTRODUCTION TO MOBILE GAME DESIGN
UNIT 1: Mobile Game Design Process
UNIT 2: User Interface Design for Mobile Games
UNIT 3: Graphics and Audio for Mobile
UNIT 4: Mobile Game Controls and Coding
UNIT 5: Prototyping

1. Introduction
2. Mobile operating system
3. Mobile Indie Team:
4.Roles – Basic Game Design Process
5.Do’s and Don’ts of Game Design
6.Hardware Limitations
7.Design Constraints
8.Business models

1.1. Introduction:
What is meant by OS?
Various types of OS
The revolution of personal computers (PC)
The main advantage of this new approaches

1.1. Introduction
Developing games for mobile requires many
decisions to be taken.
The platform to develop your game for and the
tools you are going to use.
Will your game be developed for a single platform
or many?
Which are the most popular operating systems of
today's mobile phones?
Which are the best tools to work with each of them?
Operating systems various
types:
Mobile operating systems
Android development
iOS development
Windows Phone development
Java ME development
BlackBerry development

Operating systems:
An operating system (OS) is a collection of software that manages device hardware
and provides common services, which allow programs to run on a device, be it a
mobile phone or a personal computer.
The operating system acts as an intermediary between programs and the computer
hardware, it can be found on almost any device that contains a computer—from
cellular phones and video game consoles to supercomputers and web servers.
USER APP OS HARDWARE

The revolution of personal computers (PC):
BASIC and DOS Operating Systems.
It ran on terminals composed of a case
containing the main hardware, a
monochromatic screen, and a keyboard.
All these fit on a common desk, allowing
computers to enter people's houses.
software used to run on magnetic tapes or
on a number of 5'1/4" disks.

The PC became an object of common
use with visual environments made
of icons that could be processed with
the use of a device called mouse.
This solution turned operations into
metaphors of real world actions:
select and drag an icon.

The main advantage of this new approaches:
It didn't need an expert to use a computer for basic operations. Anyone could
use a PC!
The evolution of visual interfaces led to touch interfaces, made possible
with the touch actions directly on the screens of the devices.
It allows users to use their fingers instead of the mouse of desktop PCs,
thus triggering a revolution in user interfaces and user experience, as well
as offering the possibility of developing devices.
such as tablets and smartphones, that could handle the same basic
operations available on a desktop PC on a smaller mobile device.

1.2 Mobile operating system
1. Android
2. iOS
3. Windows Phone
4. Java ME
5. BlackBerry

1.2.1 Android OS:
Android is the open source mobile OS (developed by Google and Open Handset Alliance
and released in 2007) that powers smartphones of the last generation.
The main manufacturers: Samsung, HTC, Sony, LG, and Motorola.
Android-equipped devices were developed to be the competitors of the Apple iPhone; share a
similar touch interface , Apps can be downloaded from an online store called Google Play.
1.2.2 iOS:
The iOS( i phone operating system, i-> individual, instruct, inform and inspire) is
Apple's mobile OS used on the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and AppleTV.
Released in 2007, iOS is based on OSX, the operating system running on Mac PCs.
Like OSX(MAC OS X [2001-2016], X-> Roman letter 10)
It uses the Cocoa Touch interface for use solely with touch screen technology.

1.2.3 Windows Phone:
This is a proprietary OS developed by Microsoft. It replaced its predecessor Windows
Mobile in 2010.
It is possible to port Windows Phone games to iOS and Android using tools, libraries, and
resources made available by Microsoft.
1.2.4 Java ME:
Java ME is an open source, free-to-use OS, developed by Sun Microsystems. It is a
rimmed-down version of Java so it can run on any Java-enabled device.
It is very ease of use and that its games don't need porting to run on various devices.
Java supports with tools, code libraries, and instruction. Though not as popular in the
US as it once was, it is still in use in Eurasia and South America.

1.2.5 BlackBerry:
This is a proprietary OS
developed by RIM(Read Interrupt
Mask) for its line of smartphones
that mainly aim at the enterprise
market.
It provides instant messaging
and push e-mail features,
High level security protocols as
well, handset to support their
business needs.
1.2.1 Android(2007): Linux-based OS designed to
run on touch-screen mobile devices, mainly smartphones
and tablets.
1. Google Play and Amazon Appstore
2. Android Development Tools (ADT)
3. Games for Android
4. Eclipse versus Intellij
It was developed by the Android Corporation and Google,
A consortium of hardware, software, and
telecommunication companies, named the Open Handset.
Android powers 100s of millions of mobile devices all over
the world.

Advantages: Its open source approach.
The large community of distributing their own modified versions of the OS with new features and
updates, faster than the official manufacturers.
Porting Android to specific hardware is a time and resource consuming activity for manufacturers.
Android UI is based on direct manipulation through touch inputs that resemble real world
actions, such as swiping, tapping, and pinching.
It also takes full of an internal hardware, such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, and proximity
sensors, to further improve the experience.
Drawback: The high variety in the hardware it runs on, updates tend to be quite slow in
reaching devices when compared to iOS.

Google Play and Amazon Appstore:
Google Play is the premier marketplace to sell and distribute Android apps, to download more
than 25 billion apps at the rate of 1.5 billion per month.
To define when and what to publish, letting developers maintain full control with regard to
the devices to develop for, the technology to use, and the target audience to address.
To adopt any business model for their apps: priced, free, with in-app products or
subscriptions. To get visibility for their products, with weekly sales charts and rankings.
The premier language to develop Android apps is Java (ADK)Android software development kit.
Other tools are like Native Development Kit that allows applications to be built in C and C+
+. Cross platform mobile frameworks are available too, such as Phonegap, Titanium, or
Rhomobile.

App development:
When developing apps for Android, To use the Eclipse Integrated Development
Environment (IDE).
It is the fast, tools integration to make the developer's life as easy and open source.
A collection of plugins (java), that integrate with the platform and its features.
Android Development Tools (ADT):
It is a plugin for the Eclipse IDE that is designed to provide a powerful, integrated
environment in which to build Android applications.
The ADT plugin provided in Eclipse. The SDK tools that allow developing, testing, and
debugging applications developed for Android.

Eclipse is a multi-language environment that allows other languages to be used as well.
If you are an eager CC++ programmer and prefer to develop your games in native code
language, NDK(Android Native Development Kit) for reusing already existing code
libraries and possibly increasing performance. But such options have their costs.
The native code on Android doesn't always produce a performance improvement, while
it increases the app complexity.
"I simply prefer programming with CC++".

Games for Android:
To develop a mobile game on Android, there are two types of device to take into
consideration as reference models;
Processor (CPU) and Graphic Processing Unit (GPU),
HTC (High Tech Computer Corporation) Dream (or G1), the first Android powered
phone equipped with Half Video Graphics Array (HVGA) screens and average 500 MHz
CPUs.
The Wide Video Graphics Array (WVGA) screen, a faster CPU, and a GPU that support
OpenGL ES 2.0 hardware acceleration (high-end).

New Android project is started with Eclipse:
1. First you need to create an Android Virtual
Device (AVD).
2. Navigate to Window | Android SDK | AVD
Manger | New.
3. You can leave all parameters with the current
default settings, but if you plan to use multi-
touch features, you need to work with Version
2.2 or higher.
4. Click on Create AVD to create your virtual
Android Virtual Device to work with.

To create a project.
1. From the menu, navigate to New | Project and choose Android Project.
2. The name of your game is set in the Application name: space, while classes are
grouped in the Package name:.
3. set Android 2.2 as Build Target. Create Activity: check. The activity is the class
that is instantiated when starting application.
4. Click on Finish to create your application.
5. Right-click on the project and navigate to Run As | Android Application.
6. Choose the Virtual Device you configured before and don't need to close its window
once it has started—Eclipse launches the application.

Eclipse versus Intellij:
Intellij can be considered the main competitor of Eclipse, which mainly works with Java.
Eclipse offers a larger number of plugins and supports multiple coding languages,
because it is easier to extend, compared to Intellij.
Intellij is better (and faster) than Eclipse.
Friendly user interface, easier and more natural.
Eclipse works better than Intellij. Projects open faster and handled more efficiently,
especially very large ones.
Intellij provides a full functional 30 day trial version, and then a license is required for
commercial purposes, while Eclipse is an open source project and thus, its license is
totally cost free.

iOS:
iOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple.
It was released in 2007 for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, and then was extended to
support the iPad.
It is Apple's specific policy that the iOS cannot be installed on non-Apple devices. With
around 25 million devices sold in the last quarter of 2012.
The App Store
Development on iOS
Xcode
Using Xcode

The distribution platform hosts more than 700,000 applications and downloads have
been counted in the order of more than 30 billion.
The direct manipulation of icons using multi-touch gestures, iOS user interface and
a trademark of mobile devices developed by Apple.
It offers the best UIUX in the entire smartphone market.
The interface elements are sliders, switches, and buttons.
The interaction is via actions, such as swiping, tapping, and pinching.
Applications also make use of the sensors and other features, such as the
accelerometer, to obtain effects and shaking the device to undo the last action or
rotating it to switch between portrait and landscape modes.

The App Store:
Developers are free to set any price above a minimum for their apps or games, of
which, Apple takes 30 percent of the revenue, while the developers take 70 percent.
In case the app is distributed for free, the only cost to the developer is the membership
fee needed to install newly created apps on physical devices.
To submit your game to the Apple Store, you first set its selling price, then you need a
descriptive text for the game that will be found in the App Store, three icons (29x29,
57x57, and 512x512), a launch image that appears while the game is loading, one-four
screenshots of your game, and the contract information.
If the game is not rejected for some reason by Apple's full time reviewers, in around
10 to 15 days it will be available in the store.

Development on iOS:
Most consumers agree that iOS devices offer a better UI experience and its development
tools are generally considered more user friendly.
Apple always gives to design and focus on innovation and user experience.
The down side of this approach is that Apple wields quite lot of control.
The iOS is not an open environment in the first place.
Tools allow making hard things as easy as possible, but the cost is that when working
with iOS it can be frustrating being limited to Apple's features.
When compared to Android or Java ME platforms, which are open source and thus,
put total control in the hands of the developer, working with iOS may seem limited.

The no-cost alternative is to run apps in the iPhone simulator, which is provided
with the SDK and runs your application in pretty much the same way as an actual iOS
device.
For testing multi-touch interactions well, you need to pay the fee.
All the necessary tools for the SDK are contained in a single installer package that is
easy to download, though not very light (it is a single 4.5 B file).
Moreover, if a new update is available, you need to download and reinstall everything. It
seems like the iOS SDK team doesn't believe in patches!
Unless you use specific cross platform tools, iOS apps require a Mac to be developed,
which means that if you don't already have one, you may be forced to buy a Mac to
develop with iOS.

Xcode:
The development environment for iOS SDK is called Xcode (now distributed in its Version 4) and like
iOS and OS X, it is written in objective-C.
Xcode contains all the necessary development tools made by Apple to build applications for OS X and
iOS: a source code editor and a user interface editor.
Together with the Cocoa framework, easy-to-use development environment, powerful enough to
develop the same kind of tools used by Apple to produce iOS.
Example:
Xcode finds mistakes in syntax and logic, highlights them, and also suggests fixes.
Workflow in the IDE is performed in a single window, so that all relevant info is available at once.
• The UI editor, called the Interface Builder, permits specifying the details of the user interface and its
connections to the logic and data of the app in a very intuitive graphical environment.

Using Xcode: To create a new project
with Xcode, follow the given steps:
1. Navigate to File | New Project. A
dialog will appear, as shown in the
following screenshot.
2. Once a new project has been started,
you need to name it and choose the
device type for it to be built (generally
iPhone).
3. In the Company Identifier field, use a
unique string. It will be used to generate
a Bundle Identifier for your game.

Windows Phone: Windows Phone Store
Developing apps with Windows Phone
Developing a game for Windows Phone with XNA
Windows Phone is the operating system developed by Microsoft for mobile devices
To further improve the usability of Windows Phone, Microsoft developed a new design
language, called Modern Style UI, to create a new user interface and set minimum
requirements for the hardware the new services run on.
Microsoft released an update to its OS, known as Tango, which lowered the
requirements for devices to run Windows Phone, allowing the new OS to effectively run
on lower-end hardware.

Windows Phone Store: The service provided by Microsoft to allow users to browse and download
applications developed by third parties for their Windows Phone powered phones.
The UI presents a panoramic view, where users can browse items by categories, see featured
items, and get details, such as ratings, reviews, screenshots, and pricing information.
To submit apps to the Windows Phone Store, an annual subscription fee of $99 is required,
which offers an unlimited number of submissions on the Apps+Games section of the store.
Apps must be approved by Microsoft: A strict control is wielded on the contents in order to
forbid pornography, promotion of violence, discrimination, hate, usage of drugs.
Microsoft takes 30 % of the revenue (70 % goes to the developer).
Developers are paid only if they reach a set sales figure, but above a revenue of $25k, the
shares become 20 % to Microsoft and 80 % to the developer.

Developing apps with Windows Phone:
Apps and games for Windows Phone can be designed with Visual Studio 2010,
Standard and Express editions.
Windows Phone 8 offers full support for native CC++ libraries, thus allowing easy
porting of Windows programs to Windows Phone 8.
Desktop games designed for Windows 8 can also be easily ported, thanks to the full
support Windows Phone offers to Direct X architectures, and HTML 5 can be used to
develop apps as well, depending on the features needed by games and apps.
To specifically develop high performance games, XNA (X box New Architecture) is the
optimal IDE Microsoft offers to developers to include the best graphics and audio for
your mobile games for Windows Phone.

There is also the Windows Phone SDK 8.0, which offers all the tools needed to develop
games for Windows Phone: editors, software templates, and the Windows Phone
Emulator 8 for testing your apps.
The Windows Phone SDK provides a stand alone Visual Studio Express 2012 edition for
Windows Phone or works as an add-on to Visual Studio 2012 Professional, Premium,
or Ultimate editions.
Testing apps on Windows phone devices requires a developer's account and a registered
testing device.
Remember that the development of Windows Phone 8 apps is supported only on 64-
bit Windows 8 Pro or higher: Windows Phone apps cannot be developed on
Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and 2012.

Developing a game for Windows Phone with XNA
1. Navigate to File | New Project. A dialog window that lists
several project templates appears as shown in the following
screenshot:
Windows Phone Game (4.0): This is a project for creating an
XNA
Framework 4.0 game application for Windows Phone.
Windows Phone Game Library (4.0): A project for creating an
XNA Framework 4.0 game library for Windows Phone.
Windows Phone Silverlight and XNA Application: A project
for creating a Windows Phone Silverlight Application capable of
rendering graphics using the XNA Framework.
Content Pipeline Extension Library (4.0): A project for creating
an XNA Framework 4.0 Content Pipeline Extension Library.

2. Once Windows Phone Game (4.0) is selected,
type a name for the project in the text box and
click on OK. A new dialog appears which requires
us to select the version of Windows Phone to
target, as shown in the following screenshot:
3. Select the Windows Phone OS version and
click on OK.
Java ME: Java ME is a platform designed
for mobile devices and PDAs by Sun
Microsystems.
Although it is not used on today's
newest mobile platforms, such as
iPhones and Android-powered
smartphones, it is still very popular on
low-end devices, such as the Nokia's
Series 40.
Developing games with Java ME
NetBeans

Developing games with Java ME: Mobile devices powered by the Java ME platform implement a profile
called Mobile Information Device Profile (MIPD). Profiles contain a configuration of a restricted
number of Java libraries, a minimum amount of classes needed for the Java virtual machine to work.
The profile which is implemented on Java ME powered mobile phones is called Connected Limited
Device Configuration (CLDC) provides the most basic libraries and virtual machine features to run a
Java ME.
The MIPD 3.0 extends the capabilities of Version 2.1 with the following features:
• Enables multiple concurrent MIDlets . • Enables MIDlets to run in background
• Enables auto-launched MIDlets and screensavers • Enables inter MIDlet communication
• Tightens specs to improve cross device interoperability • Improves the UI for applications
• Better support for devices with larger displays • Enables richer and higher performance games

NetBeans: NetBeans is an open source IDE to develop apps and games for Java ME-
powered devices.
Applications can be developed from a set of modular software components called modules
and can be extended by third party developers.
The latest released version of NetBeans is 7.2. To create a new project with NetBeans,
1. Start the NetBeans IDE.
2. Navigate to File | New Project.
The New Project Wizard will open. Expand the Java category and select Java.

3. Click on Next.
In the Name and Location page do the following
(refer to the following screenshot):
1. Name your project in the Project Name: field,
such as HelloWorldApp.
2. Leave the Use Dedicated Folder for Storing
Libraries unchecked.
3. In the Create Main Class field, type something
like helloworldapp. HelloWorldApp.
4. Click on Finish.
Your project is now ready to go.

BlackBerry
BlackBerry can be an interesting market niche, less competitive but not necessarily
less remunerative than the iOS or Android markets.
Revenue for a BlackBerry app is about $4000 per month, much higher than average
revenues for the apps developed for iOS and Android.
Reasearch In Motion (RIM) (the company behind BlackBerry devices) offers a guarantee
that if a quality certified app doesn't make $10,000 in the first year, No other platform
owner company offers such a guarantee!
The BlackBerry App World
Developing games for BlackBerry

The BlackBerry App World:
It provides all fundamental services provided by its direct competitors: intuitive user
interface to browse applications by category, the possibility of reinstalling already
purchased apps, several flexible payment options, and a rating and review system for
apps available for shopping.
Apps submitted to the App World must be approved by RIM and a fee of $200 is
involved in the submission process, which covers 10 submissions. Note that the fee is
refunded if the developer's account is not approved.
Developing games for BlackBerry
When getting to the game development for BlackBerry, there are two options available.

The first is to build native apps using the BlackBerry SDK and its C++ framework. The
BlackBerry SDK is aimed at the newest devices equipped with OS 10 and to the BlackBerry
tablet, known as the PlayBook.
Being a framework for native apps, it guarantees better performances, thanks to the full
integration with the specific APIs of the BlackBerry platform.
The other possibility is to use the Java SDK, or even better, the Java Plugin for Eclipse which
extends the Eclipse development framework.
The main advantage: MIDlets (Java applications) can equally run on any device powered by OS 7
and on, thus widening the potential audience for their games.
Everyone interested in delving into the game development for BlackBerry.
Native apps: https://developer.blackberry.com/develop/platform_choice/ndk.html
MIDlets with Eclipse: https://developer.blackberry.com/java/documentation/overview_2006571_11.html

1. Introduction
2. Mobile operating system
3. Mobile Indie Team
4.Roles – Basic Game Design Process
5.Do’s and Don’ts of Game Design
6.Hardware Limitations
8.Business models

3. Mobile Indie Team
The process of videogame development is a pretty tough one and it requires talent, skill,
patience, and an iron will. This is especially true for an indie team.
Key roles in a successful team
Commitment
Cohesion
Software development methodologies
Discipline
Professional training
Passion for games

A matter of size
Mobile game development is that it offers opportunities to small teams to effectively get into
the competition. From a certain perspective, mobile game development recalls the age of
early computer games, when a team of few members shipped games that could gain
worldwide popularity.
Electronic Arts got their start by publishing indie developers' products.
Mobile games tend to have a limited scope when compared to common high budget/high
quality (AAA) console or PC titles.
Mobile games are designed to be played in small chunks and rely on simple game mechanics
that require fewer assets, less programming, and shorter testing and debug time.
This means that mobile games require less people for development and can be developed by
teams of one or few individuals for every key role.

A good reason to keep the mobile dev team small has very much to do with the
progress.
Working progress can slow down either if the team is too small or too big.
A limited amount of work and too many people on each role, the responsibility is shared
among too many members and the progress slows down because nobody feels really
responsible for what needs to be done.
The more people on the team, the greater the chance of miscommunication and wasted
effort.
Another important reason to keep the team small is that the larger the group, the
higher it costs!

Key roles in a successful team
Though it is very important that each member has a well-
defined role, when dealing with small teams it is likely
that one member will have multiple roles and that those
roles are shared between more than one member.
Where people are required to work on different aspects of
the game at the same time, they have the opportunity to
show their different talents and to advance their careers.
It is also a good opportunity to learn new skills and
expand their overall expertise.
The key roles in a
mobile dev team are:
Design, Art
Modeling,
Programming,
Sound, QA
Testing, and
Production.

What it takes? Game development is a lot of work! There is a huge amount of things to do
even to make simple games.
Before we delve into the details of each role in a team, it is worth saying something about
the cross competencies that each individual should have for that team to be effective and
reach its goals.
Commitment
Cohesion
Software development methodologies
Discipline
Professional training
Passion for games

Commitment:
In videogame development, (almost) any element of the game needs to be created from
scratch.
Every pixel requires someone to draw it, any action performed by a character needs someone to
animate it, any event needs to be coded, any sound effect must be composed, and the list is
long.
Cohesion:
To develop a game requires weeks, or months, more reasonably.
Any sort of problem that arises can hinder the course of the project: the code doesn’t work as
expected, graphics mess up when imported in the engine, design questions with no clear answers.

Software development methodologies: Videogames are software, of course, and software has
proven processes and methodologies that increase the chance of reaching one's goal while
minimizing waste.
There are several methodologies to develop a software, each one with its own pros and cons.
Agile software development based on an iterative and incremental approach, where teams
periodically examine the short term progresses of their work and set new short term milestones
according to their results. You can find resources on Agile development at
http://agilemanifesto.org/.
Discipline: The iterative nature of the creative process implies that it is very likely that the project's
initial schedule suffers delays and missed milestones.
Each team member is well organized with his work and is able to advance his work day by day. This
is especially important when dev teams work remotely, which is often the case with indie projects.

Professional training:
A general rule is that, when building up the team, people covering the key roles should have
previous experience working on a project in the same or a similar position.
They should at least have already worked on a true project, working in a team.
The reason for having experienced people in key roles is that they can provide reliable
previsions when drafting the schedule of the project.
They know what they can do and the time it takes to do it.
Inexperienced people, on the other hand, could underestimate their assigned task, with the
result that the project deadlines fail and a new schedule needs to be made.
It is also true, however, that once the key roles are assigned to experienced people, hiring
talents, even with few or none experience, can provide an invaluable resource for the team
on the long run.

Passion for games:
Well, it is very easy to understand that to develop games for a living, it is important that those
who are part of the team love videogames.
High level of commitment required to achieve important goals and the need to make a lot of
personal sacrifices.
Out of our personal experience, it is very likely that a brand new dev team interested in developing
videogames will be asked to do other things in order to be able to develop games, such as working on
web sites or other kinds of non-gaming apps to support their business.
If these people are passionate about developing games, it will be easier to commit themselves to
things which they don't really like doing, having their main goal in mind and time management.
Indie game development is an opportunity to turn a passion into a profession, but only if you can
give the time it takes!

4. Roles – Basic Game Design Process
The main roles required for an ideal mobile indie team. For each role, we provide a
description of duties, skills, personal traits, and the academic formation.
The game designer
Designer at work
Designer tools
The practices of game design
Academic formation and personality
No game is ever done!
The game artist

The game designer:
During the pre-production phase of a game, the designer is responsible for defining what the
game is about, its story and the game world, what the game mechanics are, which features
the game will implement, what its Unique Selling Points are, and its main competitors.
Designer at work:
Game design starts with a good idea. It can be a nice game mechanic, the idea of a cool
character or a piece of a story: anything can provide the inspiration for a good game. A
popular indie game called Braid finds its premises in the consequences of a bad love delusion.
The designer should have a working knowledge of the team's skills, such as art, sound,
programming as well as a background in playing games. A designer needs the ability to
analyze game play and to articulate what works and what doesn't work in a game.

Designer tools:
1. Pencils and paper: Any game mechanic description should begin with a sketch of some
sort to explain how it works. If you can't sketch the idea for a game mechanic, it probably
isn't a good mechanic.
2. Text editors and software: To create mind maps and schemes, text editors and
software are a strongly recommended requirement, to create documents and
presentations that can be better communicate the ideas behind a game and throughout all
its development process. Spreadsheets with data and formulas are included.
3. Image editors: These are necessary as well to create schemes, fake screenshots, basic
level sketches, and any other reference image that can be helpful to convey the idea the
designer has in mind. A design document with no images is not a good one.
The ability to use 3D modeling software to create geometries

The practices of game design: In a
small team, the designer can be
accounted for practically implementing
the specific aspects of a game.
Depending on his/her background, he
can help the programmer with
additional coding and scripting to take
care of updating a developer's blog for
the project.
(designing and managing testing
sessions of the game during its
development).
Communication
Technical writing
Drawing
ProgrammingScripting
Scripting languages
Math
Finance
Psychology

Communication: Being able to talk to a programmer, artist, writer, tester, sound
designer, producer, marketer, and financier.
Technical writing: Formal technical writing skills-Grammar, punctuation, and spelling
Drawing: Photoshop and/or Visio will aid the designer greatly. A picture is worth a
thousand words, especially in game design.
ProgrammingScripting: basics of programming
Scripting languages: Java or LUA (a lightweight, high-level programming language).
Math: Statistics, algebra, games are a set of math problems. Ex: Dungeons & Dragons.
Finance: Cost Decisions, Changing direction mid-project can cost a lot of money/time
Psychology: Yes, games punch some very basic human feedback buttons, reward
behavior, aversion feedback loops, and the like. Understanding to build a truly
addictive experience. Yeah, that sounds bad, but it's what we do!

Academic formation and personality: A good place to start is by using pencil and
paper, a deck of cards, a chess board, poker chips, whatever is at hand.
Take an existing game and modify it. Example, tick tack toe is an interesting game to
start with. Fundamentally, it's a broken game, since the player who moves first will
always win unless they make a mistake.
Try to think of ways to fix that: a bigger board, different types of moves or pieces, add
dice and/or cards, and so on.
A game designer is a person who asks himself how things work and how their behavior
can be described by rules.

No game is ever done!
You will always find things you want to change. It is the nature of the beast.
Usually you just run out of resources and say, "it's good enough". If you have ideas on
how to improve the game, file them away and save them for the sequel.
More about the role of game designer and his/her tasks can be found at the following
links:
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/so-you-want-to-be-a-game-designer
http://www.raphkoster.com/2012/09/26/mailbag-i-want-to-become-adesigner/# more-4280

The game artist: The game artist is responsible for creating in-game art: characters,
animations, game objects, backgrounds, environments, and game interface.
The customers are attracted to a title by its visual characteristics. When judging a
game from its preview, if gameplay is unavailable, the game is judged solely on its
visual appeal.
In a mobile team it is very likely that graphics will be made by two to three people with a
separation of duties, such as one artist on 2D graphics (concept, sprites, game interface,
and textures) and one or two on the production of 3D assets (models, animations, 3D
environments, and lighting).
Brushes and canvas- 3D Studio Max, Maya, Blender, and Zbrush.
Forms of art: The production of graphic assets for games involves many different activities.

2D graphic assets: The 2D graphics are the foundation of any game. Videogames were
born 2D and 2D graphics are always required, even for 3D games. The following list
describes the main fields of 2D graphics for games:
Concept art: This consists of sketches, storyboards, and free hand drawings that
reproduce key aspects of a game, such as the main character, the villain, relevant game
environments, and crucial game mechanics.
Sprites: These are 2D representations of any game object of a title. The ability to draw
convincing characters and objects using few pixels is a talent that is fundamental to those
who want to 2D assets creation.
Backgrounds, terrains, and tilesets: These are the construction blocks for any
bidimensional game. Tilesets, in particular, are very important, because they save system
memory for your game.

Interface: Any game, whether it is 2D or 3D, needs an interface to provide the player
with relevant information during gameplay (score, lives and energy, ammo), as well as
menus and presentation screens for the game. The artist takes care of creating the
assets for the game interface.
Textures and materials: 3D objects and characters need to be improved with 2D
graphic assets that add details to a model and make its surface interact with the
lighting environment of the game engine. The artist is accounted for creating these
assets.

3D graphic assets: The advent of 3D and the improvement of mobile devices hardware offer
the opportunity to mobile developers to create beautiful 3D titles for the mobile market.
Models: 3D characters and game objects must be modeled. Actual games and mobile games
too tend to make extensive use of 3D graphics, a game artist to be proficient with 3D
modeling and for a team who wants to develop mobile games.
Animations: Animations for game characters are usually made with the same software
used to model them. if an animation is good, especially for humanoid characters.
3D environments: These are crucial elements of a polished game; a game artist to be
capable of depicting to make the player feel immersed in the game action.
Lighting: The use of light and colors is very important to produce nice game levels. a game
artist to have at least some basic understanding on how to use light to convey emotions.

5. Do’s and Don’ts of Game Design
The basic game design
process:
Rough concept document
Storyboarding
The dos and don'ts of game
design
Dos
Don'ts
Rough concept document:
• Write down the highlights of your idea;
• What is/are the fun parts, how does one
win, what gets in the way of winning,
• how the player overcomes their obstacles to
winning.
• Storyboarding:
The best way to test an idea is, well, to test it!
Use pen and paper to create storyboards of
your game and try to play it out on paper.

Dos:
The designer's role is to lose gracefully. If the player wins having been challenged, the
designer wins.
Provide enough hints to guide the player to a solution of a puzzle.
Reward the player's efforts appropriately; the higher the challenge, the higher the
payoff, and vice versa.
Make creative use of the features the game has; avoid the underuse of the
game's unique/cool elements.
If a situation can have only one outcome, make it a cutscene.
Don't give the player the illusion of control when they don't have it; this breaks the
player/ designer trust.

Don'ts
Don't allow the player to miss essential content.
Don't cheat; play by the same rules the player has to follow.
Avoid mindless repetition; it's not fun in real life so skip it in your game too.
Don't allow the player to be lost; if they need a map, provide one. Same goes for clues.
Don't break the game's illusion by introducing story-inappropriate elements.
Avoid randomness for the sake of same. Being weird for weird's sake is not fun; it's lazy
design.
Avoid obscure solutions to obstacles; if it doesn't make sense in the real world, it won't
make sense in the game.

6. Hardware Limitations
Hardware limitations: An advancement of mobile technology allows high-end devices to
have the same capabilities of the former generations of consoles, an average mobile user
possesses an average mobile device with limited capabilities, especially with regards to
memory and processing power.
Screen size
Game controls
Audio output
File size
Processing power touch screen game controls

Touch Screen Interface for controls

22CDO02-IMGD-UNIT-I-MOBILE GAME DESIGN PROCESS

Screen size: the screen on most of the mobile platforms
is tiny. This presents two problems: how to show enough
information for the gameplay to be meaningful and
how to make that information identifiable.
Game controls: To find a good balance between game
mechanics and the number of controls required to
manage them.
Audio output: the mobile devices can't feature stereo
sound, as they are provided with a single speaker. No
need then to say that audio for mobile games should be
treated as a "secondary feature" and that it's better not to
design games that strongly rely on audio for the
gameplay or for involving the player in the action.

File size: All game contents are included in a small sized file, for example, though the max
size for an iOS application is 2 GB, the limit for over the air downloads is only 50 MB!
As you create assets and contents for your game, you will find out how easily that
threshold can be overrun.
Optimization is the key word to deal with that. Have your programmers engineer your
project so that memory requirements are kept at minimum.
Android developers can, for example, refer to
http://developer.android.com/index.html.
Processing power: we restate it here: don't expect the majority of users to possess phones
equipped with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU.
Half Bricks’ Jetpack Joyride slows down on 800 MHz CPU speed devices.

6. Hardware Limitations
Hardware limitations: An advancement of mobile technology allows high-end devices to
have the same capabilities of the former generations of consoles, an average mobile user
possesses an average mobile device with limited capabilities, especially with regards to
memory and processing power.
Screen size
Game controls
Audio output
File size
Processing power

Play time
Game depth
Mobile environment
Smartphones
Single player versus multiplayer

Play time:
The most obvious design limitation is play time.
The player should have a satisfying play experience in three minutes or less.
A satisfying play experience usually means accomplishing a goal within the context of the
game. A good point of reference is reaching a save game point.
If save game points are placed about two and a half minutes of an average game player's ability
apart, the average game player will never lose more than a couple of minutes of progress.
Game depth:
Generally speaking, mobile games tend not to have much longevity, when compared to titles,
such as Dragon Age or Fallout 3. There are several reasons for this, the most obvious one being
the (usually) simple mechanics mobile games are built around.

Mobile environment:
Mobile games are frequently played outdoors, in crowded, noisy, and even "shifting“
or "scuffling" environments. Such factors must be considered while designing a
mobile game.
Smartphones:
Smartphones are still phones, after all. It is thus necessary that mobile games can
handle unexpected events, which may occur while playing on your phone: incoming
calls and messages, automatic updates, automatic power management utilities that
activate alarms.

Single player versus multiplayer
Multiplayer is generally much more fun than single player, no question. But how
can you set up a multiplayer game in a two and half minute window? For popular
multiplayer titles it is possible.
Asynchronous play model where one player submits a move in the two and half
minute window and then responds to the player's move.
Very popular titles like Ruzzle, Hero Academy, or Skulls of the Shogun game
system do that, but keep in mind that to support asynchronous gameplay it
requires servers, which cost money and complex networking routines to be
programmed. Are these extra difficulties worth their costs?

8. Business models
Game Developer should know the genre and target
audience of your mobile game. The next step is to
decide how you will make money out of it!
When releasing a game on the mobile market, there
are several options available to make it profitable.
Deciding which business model to use is an
important, and is a tough decision that will affect
the commercial success of your product. Let's
invest time in describing each of them and their
pros and cons.
Premium
Freemium
Ad supported
Hybrid
Choosing the right
business model

Premium
Premium was the predominant business model in the beginning years after Apple launched its
App Store.
It means that users are charged an amount of money, usually 99 cents, to download a game.
It is used by some of the most popular mobile games, such as Angry Birds, Doodle Jump, or
Cut the Rope.
Freemium
Freemium means that you give away your game for free, planning to make money through In-
App Purchases (IAP) of virtual goods.
It is the dominant business model today, if you consider that of those 20 most profitable apps
on the App Store, 15 are Freemium games, including Clash of Clans, Zynga's Poker, and
Bejeweled Blitz.

Ad supported:
Ad supported games include several kinds of in-game advertising to be displayed in the
game.
They range from banners constantly displayed on screen, right outside of the gameplay
area to interstitial videos of 15 to 30 seconds in length displayed during breaks of the
game (careful with these, they can have a strong detrimental effect on users' retention!), to
offer walls, which provide users with free contents in exchange of taking actions, such as
signing for a free trial of a different app or linking the game to Facebook or Twitter.
Imangi Studios' Temple Run is an Ad supported game of success, though this business
model is generally used by utilities that are so essential that people need to open them
every day or which promote long session times.

Hybrid:
As each title has a story of its own, and for the sake of completeness, the most popular
hybrid forms of mobile business models: the Freemium plus Ads supported which we
already mentioned and the Premium plus in-app purchase.
The possibility to download a game for free (Freemium), which display banners (Ads
supported) but offers the option to pay to remove those banners (IAP: In-app
Purchases ) is an example of a very smart, very hybrid, mobile business model!

Choosing the right business model
The games for money (and obviously because we love them!) never put the monetization policy
interests ahead of your game interests!
If the business model you choose doesn't fit the characteristics of your game, take a step back
and change it.
The fact that the Freemium model is the most popular and (sometimes) profitable one today
doesn't mean that you must implement it at all costs.
Consider that the industry giants, such as EA, Popcap, Zynga, and Gameloft invest a lot of money
on the games they make and part of that money is spent to support their business models.
The decision about the business model to adopt as part of the game design process itself.
The earlier you think of your game in terms of its monetization policy, the better you can embody
the business model into the game mechanics.

22CDO02-IMGD-UNIT-I-MOBILE GAME DESIGN PROCESS

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