Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Design Practice
CASE STUDY
Choose a CMS that you believe, from your own experience of playing it, is an
excellent example of the genre (or use one your instructor assigns). It can be a pure
CMS, a hybrid, or a pure business simulation. Write a report documenting the fea-
tures that place it in this genre as opposed to another one and explaining why you
believe it is superior to others of its kind. Be sure to cover at least the following areas:
■
Determine if this is a purchase-and-place or plan-and-build CMS. Describe any
game mechanics that are unique to this game.
■
Make a table that documents the resources, sources, and drains available to the
player at the start of the game.
■
Estimate what percentage of your game-playing time you must spend in mainte-
nance. What percentage must you spend repairing damage from disasters? Does
this change as the game progresses or does it remain the same?
■
How well does the presentation layer represent the activities of the player and of
the inhabitants (if there are any) of the CMS world? Can you easily see if the people
are happy? Can you quickly and easily determine, through visuals, if you need to
work on maintenance? If not, what method does the game use and does it work
well for the player?
■
Explore the user interface in all the gameplay modes. Is it easy to understand?
Does it illustrate the cost or consequences of the player's actions? For example, con-
sider the interface for building as compared to the interface for increasing taxes in
SimCity
. How are they different? How can they be changed for the better?
■
Address the economy of the CMS world. During play, is it clear how your action
will impact that economy? Is there an immediate reaction or is it delayed? How
does this cause the player to modify her management behavior?
The design questions in the next section may help you to think about these issues.
In your report, use screen shots to illustrate your points. End the case study with
suggestions for improvement or, if you feel the game cannot be improved, sugges-
tions for additional features that might be fun to have in the game.
Alternatively, choose a game that you believe is particularly
bad
. Do the same case
study, explaining what is wrong and how it can be improved.
A case study is neither a review nor a design document; it is an analysis. You are
not attempting to reverse-engineer the entire game but simply to explain how it
works in a general way. Your instructor will tell you the desired scope of the assign-
ment; we recommend from five to twenty pages.
