Exam 98-374: Gaming Development Fundamentals/Understand Game Design

This lesson covers Understand Game Design. It looks at game types, game genres, player motivation, user interfaces, components, user data, and XNA.

Activity 1 - Differentiate Among Game Types
This objective may include but is not limited to: console, Xbox, MMORPG, mobile games, PC games.
 * 1) Refer to Rogers, Scott. Level Up: The Guide to Great Video Game Design (West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2010) ISBN 9780470688670
 * 2) Refer to Schell, Jesse. The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses (Burlington: Morgan Kauffman, 2008) ISBN 9780123694966

Activity 2 - Differentiate Among Game Genres
This objective may include but is not limited to: fantasy, sports, role playing, card, board, First Person Shooter.
 * 1) Refer to Rogers, Scott. Level Up: The Guide to Great Video Game Design (West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2010) ISBN 9780470688670
 * 2) Refer to Schell, Jesse. The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses (Burlington: Morgan Kauffman, 2008) ISBN 9780123694966

Activity 3 - Understand Player Motivation
This objective may include but is not limited to: quests, tasks, activities, how to win, game goals.
 * 1) Refer to Rogers, Scott. Level Up: The Guide to Great Video Game Design (West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2010) ISBN 9780470688670
 * 2) Refer to Schell, Jesse. The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses (Burlington: Morgan Kauffman, 2008) ISBN 9780123694966

Activity 4 - Design the User Interface
This objective may include but is not limited to: UI layout and concepts, asset management, game state, gamer services.
 * 1) Read XNA Game Studio.
 * 2) Read Windows User Experience Interaction Guidelines.
 * 3) Refer to Miles, Rob. Microsoft XNA Game Studio 4.0: Learn Programming Now! (Redmond: Microsoft Press, 2011) ISBN 9780735651579

Activity 5 - Understand Components
This objective may include but is not limited to: differentiate between tool creation and game programming, understand artificial intelligence (AI).
 * 1) Read Video Games and Artificial Intelligence.
 * 2) Refer to Millington, Ian, and John Funge. Artificial Intelligence for Games (Burlington: Morgan Kauffman, 2009) ISBN 9780123747310
 * 3) Refer to Rogers, Scott. Level Up: The Guide to Great Video Game Design (West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2010) ISBN 9780470688670
 * 4) Refer to Schell, Jesse. The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses (Burlington: Morgan Kauffman, 2008) ISBN 9780123694966

Activity 6 - Capture User Data
This objective may include but is not limited to: save and restore user data, save and restore game state, handle input states, store data, manage game state, input services.
 * 1) Refer to Miles, Rob. Microsoft XNA Game Studio 4.0: Learn Programming Now! (Redmond: Microsoft Press, 2011) ISBN 9780735651579
 * 2) Refer to Rogers, Scott. Level Up: The Guide to Great Video Game Design (West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2010) ISBN 9780470688670
 * 3) Refer to Schell, Jesse. The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses (Burlington: Morgan Kauffman, 2008) ISBN 9780123694966

Activity 7 - Work with XNA
This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding the architecture of an XNA game; using built-in XNA tools; work with XNA hierarchy (initialization, update loop, drawing).
 * 1) Read XNA Game Studio.
 * 2) Refer to Miles, Rob. Microsoft XNA Game Studio 4.0: Learn Programming Now! (Redmond: Microsoft Press, 2011) ISBN 9780735651579