No Cheat Codes Required: How to Build Your Own Computer Game
Over the last decade, there has been increasing interest in how digital games can support learning goals within museums. These types of ‘serious games’ offer a unique, tactile and immersive form of education, which provides an alternative way for visitors to experience an exhibition, collection, or narrative.
In November 2017, the George Eastman Museum launched its first digital game in conjunction with Abandoned and Rescued, and exhibition featuring materials and stories from the rescue of a collection of Indian films and ephemera. The goal of the digital game is to help visitors gain a first-hand appreciation for the circumstances under which these materials were rescued, understand the decisions made by the collections manager, and raise awareness of the historic value of these objects.
At Museums and the Web 2018, Jennifer Aho and I shared the process behind creating our game, from developing learning goals and wireframes, to creating the first level itself using Construct 3.
Here, I want to share Part 1 of that workshop: what you need to consider before you start actually programming and creating the physical game.
Find Inspiration
This may seem like an obvious first step, but it is important that the inspiration for the game actually has game like elements that will make it easy. A video game isn’t a magic hammer you can use on anything-you need to find the right nail.
Our inspiration was based on the rescue of a large collection of contemporary Indian cinema from an abandoned movie theater. It had elements that made it perfect for a game:
- Time limit: The theater was scheduled to be demolished in three days.
- Environmental factors: The lights didn’t work in the movie theater and there were unexpected hidden rooms.
- Decision making: The inventory that included just a 100 boxes of film was wrong-there were way more films than anticipated and not everything could be saved.
Learning Goals
Once you have the inspiration, you need to think about why you’re building the game. Learning goals for the game are not what the player will do (ex. collect as many films as possible), they are what the player will get out of it.
Our goals were simple:
- Players will gain an appreciation for the circumstances under which the collection was rescued
- Players will understand the decisions that needed to be made during the the rescue regarding how much was collected and what was chosen
- Create a game with a balance of fun and education
This is also an important step because it is your argument for why you should be spending precious work time building a game. What is this going to add to your institution? An opportunity to play through concepts or address exhibition concepts in a new way? Will it reach a new audience?
Basic Game Decisions
Next, it’s time to make some basic decisions about the game that will help you design the game.
What type of game are you going to make? Is it going to be character based or not? Are you creating a trivia game? Is it going to be a first person game? This is really going to define the complexity.
How will players access the game? You can make the game to fit multiple platforms, but it does confuse things a little. Is this going to be on a kiosk? Will there be a mouse or keyboard, or will they need to use a touchscreen? Our game works on mobile, computer and kiosk, but it did add some complexity and doesn’t always works correctly.
What content are you going to need? As we know, this can be the most complicated part of doing digital projects. Luckily, things like music you can get free, and many things you can get by creating them on your own or hiring someone to do them. The richer the world you create, the more elements you will need to add. Our game has 15 layouts, over 100 design elements, and 6 sound elements even though it is only a short three level game.
Who can help you? Do you have staff at the museum who will be able to help create text and images? Do you know someone who can find you music or help with characters? Think creatively about who you know.
What is your timeline? Our game only took about a week of work followed by a week or two of testing, but I was lucky enough to be given time to focus on the game. If this is something you’re working on a little at a time, it’s going to take a lot longer.
What is your budget? If you’ve got money, you can hire people to help. But if not, you’ll need to be a little more creative about finding people to help you.
Wireframe
Now it’s the fun part- start designing the levels and assets you’ll need for your game!
A wireframe is an image which displays the functional elements of a digital app or program. It is a useful tool for game design because it will help you think about what you need to create and how complex it is going to be.
Start with the start screen- what will be included on this initial page? Or will you jump straight into the game? Traditionally, this includes the start button, an about section, potentially credits, and maybe instructions. it also usually has a feature image or feature title.
From here, think about what each of those sub-pages will lead to and how you will get back. When people click start, what happens? You need to tell the story, which can be done in the game through pop-ups, or can be done with interstitial screens like cut-scenes. We chose to do a series of cut-scenes and instructional screens.
Initially, just think about the bare minimum for each screen- normally called layouts. What is needed? Text? Button? Sound? Character? Obstacles?
From here, think about the levels- what will the map look like? Is it a maze or not? Is it going to have closed off spaces? Is it going to be in the dark? Do players have the potential to “die”?
You also want to think about the levels- if there are multiple levels, will they look dramatically different or can you reuse elements from them? Can you reuse elements but just recolor them?
Design Elements
Once you know what your game needs, you can start creating it. Honestly, I’d suggest getting someone else to design the complex characters, though simple things like flooring and walls you can probably do yourself.
Start with a color palette so everything matches, and think a little about the style. Are you going with classic 8-bit like Super Nintendo or do something a little more complex?
Now start creating the list of all the assets you need, and begin creating! Remember to think about everything involved in creating a rich experience- backgrounds, textures, walls, non-person characters, non-moveable or non-game objects like trees and plants.
We hired Jennifer Aho at Unvalhe Concepts (jennifer.leigh.aho@gmail.com) to do all our assets. Feel free to contact her if you need some characters!
Begin Creating Your Game!
We made our game using Construct 3. It was easy to make, cheap to use ($40 educational license), and is super fun. Also, it has a fabulous community with lots of free tutorials and answers to questions that will help you learn to use it. I will say that it helps to have a basic understanding of SQL queries- not because you’ll have to do anything with SQL but because it is good to know the structure of how these are done when you’re making characters move.
