GameStar - Elements of Game Design: Space

GameStar - Creating Space in Games

by Carrie Casey

​GAME SPACE

​Game space is the environment in which the play of a game takes place. Decisions about its features— how it handles gravity, whether it scrolls, the way its visual and audio design expresses an idea—are central to the game designer’s craft.

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.”Big Ideas The design of a game space greatly influences the way in which designers use avatar, enemy and system sprites.

The design of a game space can evoke different feelings and game play experiences.

​An Element of Game Design is Game Space

​The qualities of a game space determine the kinds of activities that can take place.

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Game spaces are a defining feature of a game.

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Compare and contrast top-down, bounded spaces with those that are platformers. Through the design of games students will explore the relationship between game space and game mechanics.​

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Multiple Choice

What is a bounded space in game design?

• the player can't move to another screen

• the player can move to another screen

• the player can move in and out of the screen

Multiple Choice

Choose which picture is a top down game.

​Wrap Around and Edge Bounding Games

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Changing the properties of a game space can create the need for new kinds of core mechanics. Edge bounding and the wraparound space feature enable designers to create games that either rely on edges or create illusions of cylindrical space.

Multiple Choice

Which below shows a wraparound game?

Multiple Choice

Choose which picture is a platform game

Multiple Choice

If you have a top-down game and change it to a platform game, you have changed the element of space in the game.

• true

• false

​Games that Scroll

​Changing the properties of a game space can result in spaces that impart a unique feeling, setting, or experience.

​A vertically scrolling video game or vertical scroller is a video game in which the player views the field of play principally from a top-down perspective, while the background scrolls from the top of the screen to the bottom (or, less often, from the bottom to the top) to create the illusion that the player character is moving in the game world.^[1]

Continuous vertical scrolling is designed to suggest the appearance of constant forward motion, such as driving. The game sets a pace for play, and the player must react quickly to the changing environment.

Multiple Choice

Which below shows a game that scrolls?

​GSM - Changing the Space in a Game

​You are going to design a top-down game that looks like a RACETRACK.

1. Remember to Use the game label, intro & outro screen to let users know about the game.

2. Add a 2nd level using platform space to recreate your 1st space.  (in level 1 you are designing a racetrack then in level 2 you are going to use a different space to recreate the same game but using platform)

3. How did the concept of the game change from level 1 top-down to level 2 platformer?

​- Mrs. Casey

​"Remember when you finish your 3 level platform game today to get it checked off with Mrs. Casey. Then start on your Racetrack Game that is first based on a Topdown and then the 2nd level will be a platform.