Studio Art 100: Game Design
Winter 2010
Tu/Th 1pm-3.20pm, HIB 335

Robert Nideffer
email: nideffer@uci.edu (email contact preferred)
phone: (949) 824.4218

================== Overview: Day 1

Class Focus and Objectives

Recommended Hardware and Software

- WoW (live account not req'd)
- Mapviewer
- Modelviewer
- Image Editor - Photoshop (GIMP, etc.)
- Animation Editor - Fireworks, Flash IDE
- Sound Editor - Sound Forge

*** Assignment #1 - Map 1st 5 Levels of WoW

- Environment
	- Look and Feel
	- Topography
	- Flora and Fauna
	- Music and Sound
	- etc.
- NPCs
	- Who
	- Where
	- Role (Questgivers? Enemies? Etc.)
	- etc.
- Quests
	- Title
	- Type (meet, collect, kill, object, single/chain)
	- etc.
- Player
	- Race, Class, Skills, Professions, Appearance
	- Controls
	- Abilities
	- Stats
	- etc.

- Account Creation
	- email me: Realm/Server, Player Name, Login Name (for Blizzard unlock)

================== > The Tools:

- WTF?! Bkgd
	- Concept
	- Capabilities
	- Editors =>

*** Assignment #2 - Map 1st 5 Levels of WTF?! (Discussing/Visualizing same elements as in 1st assignment)

- Editing Suite
	- Making Flash based WoW styled side-scrolling action adventure games (Alt approaches, misuse, etc encouraged)
	- Bug/Feature forum (Googledoc)
	- Developer Forum (if needed for Alex Q&A)


================== Rest of Term Topics:

- Project Planning
	- Type of Game
	- Concept
	- Style
	- Look and Feel
	- Goals and Objectives
	- Characters (Playable and NPC)
	- Objects
	- Key Events

*** Assignment #3 - Map your own starting zone

- File Management and Organization

- Asset Generation (Mapviewer, Modelviewer, Camera, Drawing, etc.)

- Zone Background/Terrain Creation (parallax scrolls)

*** Assignment #4 - Create a parallax zone background and get it working in the editor

- Object Creation

- Player/Character Creation

- Quest Creation

- Item Creation and Balancing

- Special Effects (particle system)