Published by Pearson (September 13, 2021) © 2022
Dax GazawayAs games grow more complex and gamers' expectations soar, the discipline of game systems design becomes ever more important. Game systems designers plan a game's rules and balance, its characters' attributes, most of its data, and how its AI, weapons, and objects work and interact. Introduction to Game Systems Design is the first complete beginner's guide to this crucial discipline. Writing for all aspiring game professionals, even those with absolutely no experience, leading game designer and instructor Dax Gazaway presents a step-by-step, hands-on approach to designing game systems with industry-standard tools. Drawing on his experience building AAA-level game systems (including games in the Star Wars and Marvel franchises), Gazaway covers all this, and more:
- Exploring the essentials of game design and its emerging subdisciplines
- Asking the essential questions at the heart of all design
- Getting started with modern game system design tools, including the spreadsheets most professionals now use
- Creating systems and data from a blank page
- Populating and quantifying a world of data into a game
- Tuning and balancing game systems
- Testing game systems and data
- Leveraging communication, psychology, and rewards within your games
- Balancing game probability within systems
Whether you're a college freshman entering a game design program, an indie developer using Unreal or Unity, a Dungeon Master, or anyone who wants to really understand modern games, this guide will help you get where you want to go.
Preface xx
Chapter 1 Games and Players: Defined 1
Chapter 2 Roles in the Game Industry 23
Chapter 3 Asking Questions 31
Chapter 4 System Design Tools 43
Chapter 5 Spreadsheet Basics 51
Chapter 6 Spreadsheet Functions 89
Chapter 7 Distilling Life into Systems 109
Chapter 8 Coming Up with Ideas 119
Chapter 9 Attributes: Creating and Quantifying Life 133
Chapter 10 Organizing Data in Spreadsheets 145
Chapter 11 Attribute Numbers 157
Chapter 12 System Design Foundations 169
Chapter 13 Range Balancing, Data Fulcrums, and Hierarchical Design 195
Chapter 14 Exponential Growth and Diminishing Returns 215
Chapter 15 Analyzing Game Data 229
Chapter 16 Macrosystems and Player Engagement 245
Chapter 17 Fine-Tuning Balance, Testing, and Problem Solving 257
Chapter 18 Systems Communication and Psychology 279
Chapter 19 Probability 291
Chapter 20 Next Steps 341
Index 345