Unit 71: Object-Oriented Design for Computer Games

Unit 71: Object-Oriented Design for Computer Games

Concept and principles:

Simplified understanding is when blueprints of code in a game is simplified by saying what it actually does so that when other people see it they know what it does and what they have to do with it. Re-usability is when assets are are copied whether it be codes or entire models, it is used for increasing the efficiency.

Maintenance is when a game developer fixes problems with the game and improves the game, whether it be to remove glitches or improve the gameplay and physics of the games. Efficiency are things that are done to make game production faster and makes the game better. Real-world modelling is when a game implements real life physics in to a game, this does not mean that the game has to be realistic. Collaboration and sharing is people who work in a development company share the code that they have used so that it is easier to finish the game. Communication is when people who work on developing a game talk to each other so that they can convey ideas to each other so that they can develop games better. Quality assurance is a standard that all games have to follow if they want to be published by publishers.

Game objects:

Sprites are 2D artwork in games, they can be used as textures for any 3D objects such as characters, items or areas. Characters are 3D models in games that can move around and will do actions like attacking the player or helping the player.

2D sprites are also used in 2D games as everything from enemies, players, backgrounds and obstacles.

Weapons are separate models from the player so that weapons can be used by enemies to save time so you don't have to make several different types of weapons and so the weapon can be upgraded to make the game more in-depth.

Rooms are the area that a player is able to control their character the rooms change depending on the level and are often separated by a loading screen.

Walls are the boundary that prevents a player from going outside a level and either having their player removed or being stuck outside of the level, the walls are either invisible or an actual object used to block the player. Scenery is the background of a level in a game, it will be 2D or 3D depending on if the game is 2D or 3D, it is used to fill the blank void that will be there because of how the player cannot access it so it doesn't have any actual objects.

Instance is what runs the game by spawning in all objects, whether it be enemies, the player or the walls. Rewards are something that the game gives you whenever you do well at a game it will give something that will help you whether it be a power that will increase your health, attack power, increased stats in an RPG when leveling up (e.g. bonuses and power-ups).

Object properties:

Colour is set to objects to decorate them, colour can be used to help some understand what something does (Red means something bad, green means something good).

Size is the amount of pixels an object has the more pixels there are the bigger the sprite will be. Speed is the number that dictates how fast an object can move, this is done so that the enemies don't move too fast so the player can never hit them and so the player doesn't move too fast so the player can't control them. Movement is when a character can only move in a certain way and can only move in w. Sounds. Health is what the games uses to decide how many hits the enemy has it hit you with or how many hits the player has to hit an enemy before the player or enemy dies.

Lives are how many times the player can die before they get a game over, many games nowadays don't often use lives they just re-spawn the player at the last checkpoint. The reason lives are used less is because lives were originally used to make old games more difficult to extend their play time due to how little there actually was in the game.

Action and events:

Mouse and keyboard events are how your keyboard has keys that controls the character that the player controls, the average layout for control is having the WASD keys used to move the character (W to move forward, A to move left, S to move backwards and D to move right) and the mouse is often used to move the camera.

Create is when an asset is made in a game whether it be a simple shape or a premade asset that has already been pre-made in the game engine. Destroy is when an asset is a game engine is removed from the game by deleting it. Collision is when two objects run into each other and the two objects stop because the game designer wishes the game to have realistic physics and to prevent the two objects from clipping through each other, it is also used to make sure the player doesn't fall through the floor. Timers is used for matching the animation of a character to their movement of what their code says what they should do.

Scoring is when the player does something like collecting objects that boost your score or killing enemies to increase your score, the reason that they do this is because it gives the player an incentive to do well in a game and it encourages competition between players.

Inheritance:

A parent in coding refers to an object that has been linked to another object but has more importance or is higher up in the hierarchy which means anything that happens to the parent will also happen to the child. A child in coding refers to an object that has been linked to another object but has less importance or is lower down in the hierarchy which means anything that happens to the parent will also happen to the child. Inherited behaviours and properties are when the parent object is change and it affects the child object whether it be by changing its position, size or what it does. Overriding events is when an event on a child object is overridden by changing an event on a parent object.