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GUY WHITE: Hello, everybody.

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This is Guy White with Harvard CS50.

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And thank you so much
for joining us today

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with Making Small-Scale 2D
Games with LOVE and Lua.

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I'm so excited to be with you here
today and be presenting this topic.

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Before we get started, what I'd like
to do is just simply see who's with us

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today.

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If you would, go to the chat box.

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And in that chat box, let's
figure out how experienced

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you are with game programming.

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If you are a die-hard game
programmer, and for some reason

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you found your way into
this introductory seminar,

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you're going to put a five.

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If you are brand new to the
idea of programming games,

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you've not programmed games
previously, if you'd put a one.

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And give yourself a rating somewhere
between one and five-- one, brand new;

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five, a seasoned expert, you
probably could teach this.

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Go and pop that in
there in the chat box.

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And what I'm seeing is
lots of ones, a few twos.

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And I wanted to say
thank you for being here

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today, because this seminar is
going to offer you the chance

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to dip your toe into
the world of 2D games

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through an amazing framework called
LOVE that implements the Lua programming

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language.

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I am Guy White.

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I'm a teacher in Harvard CS50, a
teaching fellow at Harvard CS50.

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I'm a business owner, and I am
a small-scale game designer.

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I reside in Portland, Oregon with
my three soon-to-be black belt

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children and my awesome spouse.

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And this presentation is really
the culmination, at least for me,

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of what led me into
wanting to do game making,

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and how could I assist you in avoiding
some of the major roadblocks that

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get in the way when you are getting
your start in game design and game

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programming.

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I want to thank you for your time.

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I want to give you my
commitment today that I'm

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going to do everything in my power
to hand you as much as I possibly

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can during this about one-hour session.

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And I give you that commitment
with the idea that at the end,

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I'm going to be providing you
some resources about where

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you can take this next.

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Here, in this CS50 ecosystem, there
are plenty of supports for you

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to take this work further.

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And I'm really excited
to share those with you.

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I grew up in the golden
age of console gaming.

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I grew up in the golden
age of PC gaming,

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where games were relatively
small, they were often expensive.

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You would go to stores and there
would be boxes on the shelves

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that you would peruse,
and you would make

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your selection based upon,
usually, the box art and the type

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on the back of those boxes.

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During that time, when I
was exposed, and maybe you

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can relate, where you
first got into gaming,

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where you really longed for a
teacher to teach you about how to get

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started in game design and programming.

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Now, in my 30s as I
sort of entered into my,

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I guess, second or third
career with programming.

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And through Harvard Extension
School, initially dipping my toe

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into the edX world, I
really wanted someone

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to hand me a pathway where
I can make my own games

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and bring my own creations
out into the world.

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And now, finally, when
I started my first game,

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when I was taking Harvard CS50,
I really wanted to make sure

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that all my time was properly invested.

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Because for those of you that are
engaged right now in Harvard CS50,

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whether through Harvard Extension
School or through our edX

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platform or OpenCourseWare, you
know how much of a time commitment

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a lot of this work is.

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My hope is that, through the
steps that we talk about today,

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that you're going to feel
like, OK, not only do

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I know how to get
started in game design,

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but I really know how not to
waste time in the process.

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This seminar is specifically for you
if you're interested in 2D game design.

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Though, surely, much of what
we're going to be discussing today

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is applicable to the 3D world, as well.

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And you want to create a
very clear, or at least

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find a very clear, worthwhile,
pathway that will help you

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in getting that game started.

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And you want to make sure
you're not wasting your time.

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Today, we have three, I
guess four objectives today.

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First, I'm going to be talking about
how to design a small-scope game that

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can be created within only 14 days.

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These are not massive projects.

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These are ones that you could probably
use for if you're in a computer science

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class.

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If you're in CS50, you could probably
use this for your final project.

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Or another small-scale
project that you'd

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like to work on with a
short turnaround time.

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We're going to talk
about how to get started

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using the LOVE 2D framework to create
that 2D game of your initial dreams.

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And we're going to end today
by talking about the three

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landmines of small-scope game design
that get in the way of programmers

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finishing, game designers finishing.

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And a fourth and final
objective our time together is I

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want to provide some opportunity
for you to ask some questions.

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That chat box is right
down there right now.

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And I want to tell you that you
can be asking questions throughout.

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Many of the questions,
though, we're going

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to be addressing there at the
end of the session, probably

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in about 30 or 40 minutes or so.

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So with that, I'd like us to jump in to
how to design a small-scope game that

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can be created within 14 days.

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Now, to that chat box, I would like
all of you to take a stab at this.

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What do you think that scope
means, in terms of game design?

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What is scope?

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And why might that be important?

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Just your quick one, two, three
word definition is perfectly fine.

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If you want to write a paragraph
in that chat box, that is fine.

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But I probably won't see it in time
before I hit the next three slides.

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So one, two, or three word definition.

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Yeah, "your aim," Maria says.

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Thank you, Maria, for that.

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"Who will play?"

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Cecilia says Connell
says, "the entire idea."

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And most definitely what scope is--

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it's defined as the extent of a
player's possible in-game activity.

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The extent of the
players in-game activity

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that is going to create
certain restrictions

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and demands upon the person
that's creating the game.

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So I want you to think about the
games that you enjoy right now.

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I want you to, in your
mind, start envisioning

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what games have led you
to this seminar today.

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And as you're thinking about
that, I want you to ask yourself,

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is this a small-scope game?

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A tight game, where, essentially, it can
be played within a matter of minutes?

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Or is this a massive-scope game, games
that can take hundreds of hours to play

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and probably took
thousands of individuals--

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without exaggeration-- years to program.

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A lot of those big blockbuster
games often can be just like that.

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You see, the most common and persistent
mistake that game designers can make

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is overcommitment to
the scope of the game.

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Usually, those
overcommitments in scope often

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come in terms of the features
that are in the game,

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the artwork of the game, the storyline.

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Often, the expanse of the in-game
universe that you're creating

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can often be places where you
or any other game designer

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might find themselves overcommitting.

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When you think about it, chances are
you're on some sort of time frame.

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You might be somewhat on
your own, just learning

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about computer science on your own.

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You might be engaged with one
of our classes here at CS50.

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But a challenge is that you want to
do useful things within a useful time

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period.

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So in your mind right
now, I want to budget you.

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I want to ask you really
directly, how much time

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are you willing to invest in this
first project into 2D gaming?

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Are you willing to invest
years in this first project?

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Or is this something small, something
that you can get your effort behind,

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organize your time around?

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And so, in your mind
right now, consider--

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is this a two-week project
that I'm working on?

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Is this a three or four-week?

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Or is this a many month
project that I'm working on?

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And chances are, if
it's your first game,

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I would implore you to choose a small
time frame, somewhere probably around

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14 days, maybe 10 days at most.

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The big question that I
hope you have on your mind

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is, how, then, do I
make sure that I'm not

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overcommitting to a game scope that's
going to exceed my capabilities

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and my available time?

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Because, indeed, one of the
worst things that could happen

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is that you get into this project
some direction and then you give up

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and you walk away.

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It's those unfinished ideas that often
become like cuts in oneself, where

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I have this unfinished project
that I didn't bring to fruition,

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and, accordingly, I'm less likely to
bring my future projects into fruition,

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because I started developing
this habit of not finishing.

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So there are three steps that I'd
like to discuss about preventing

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that level of overcommitment.

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And that first step in making
sure you don't overcommit

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is taking stock of the game dynamic that
is the core of your desire for a game.

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Now, you might be asking,
well, what is a game dynamic?

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A game dynamic is essentially
what the basic gameplay is about.

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I want you to picture any sport
that you might have played recently,

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or perhaps as a child.

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There are a certain
set of dynamics that go

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into making a game a game, like
catching a ball, or throwing a ball,

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or throwing a ball at a target,
putting a ball in a hole,

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keeping a ball out of a
hole, touching your opponent,

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running away and not being
touched by your opponent,

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hiding or finding your opponent,
hiding from or finding your opponent,

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avoiding an obstacle,
amongst many others.

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And these are the things
that make games fun.

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And at the core of every game, there
is some sort of core game dynamic.

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The authors Romero and
Schreiber, in their book,

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Challenges for Game Designers, they
talk about 10 core game dynamics.

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And those core dynamics are quite
familiar to if you think about some

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of your favorite games, games that
involve territorial acquisition,

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prediction, spatial reasoning, survival,
perhaps is a type of game you really

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enjoy playing, destruction,
collection-- my Pokémon fans--

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chasing or evading,
trading, and race to the end

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are common core game dynamics
that you might be used to.

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And so, right now, I want you
to start thinking about, what

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is my game going to be about?

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Could I distill-- could
you distill your game down

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to one of these 10 core game dynamics?

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And so go ahead and go
to the chat box when

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you think that you have chosen yours as
we talk just for a minute about Mario.

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So if you think about
Mario, the core game dynamic

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is mostly avoiding being
touched, avoiding being touched.

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Now, it just so happens
that there is the option

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to stomp on top of your enemies.

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But in general, Mario
is all about not being

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touched by these evil characters
that are running around the screen.

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And for those of you that were
exposed to this game as a child,

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or even perhaps recently if you have
a classic system, in that opening

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frame of this game, you're presented
with a coin box and a platform

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and a Goomba, a little
enemy walking towards you.

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And chances are in those
first moments that you played,

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you ran right into that
Goomba sideways and you died.

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And the game started over again.

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So right away, Mario
sets up this game dynamic

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that there are objects that
we can touch and are OK

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and other things onscreen that
we can touch and they are not OK.

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And we are basically
on an obstacle course.

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It is, in a way, a race to the end game,
where the dynamic is don't be touched.

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And that makes this
game what it is today.

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If this game was anything else,
if it was territorial acquisition,

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this would not be Mario as we know it.

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It becomes an entirely different game.

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So as you take a look
at these game dynamics,

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my beautiful people, please
go and take one of these

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and write down in the
chat box, which one do you

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think that you are going to be pursuing.

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And for those of you that are
listening to this on recording,

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whether on YouTube or one of our
websites, what I would just simply say

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is take notes on your side about what
we're talking about during this time.

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And I'll be cuing you.

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As I'm saying to write
things down in the chat box,

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probably a great thing to
write down on your side.

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And so lots of-- wow, lots
of race to the ends here.

233
00:14:53,380 --> 00:14:54,700
And a few survival people.

234
00:14:54,700 --> 00:14:56,410
And one spatial reasoning.

235
00:14:56,410 --> 00:14:57,470
Really great.

236
00:14:57,470 --> 00:15:01,240
So the second step in making
sure that the scope of your game

237
00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:04,150
is just right, probably
for about a two-week game,

238
00:15:04,150 --> 00:15:07,600
is to take stock of what
you'd like to create.

239
00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:12,410
And, in general, when
you're thinking about this,

240
00:15:12,410 --> 00:15:16,510
you would probably think about
it in terms of game features.

241
00:15:16,510 --> 00:15:20,650
This becomes a dangerous
area for us as game designers

242
00:15:20,650 --> 00:15:24,070
or as programmers, because it can
be really tempting when you're

243
00:15:24,070 --> 00:15:30,310
working on your own or in a small team
to load up on features as an overcommit

244
00:15:30,310 --> 00:15:34,030
to the number of features that are
going to be present in your game.

245
00:15:34,030 --> 00:15:36,820
I want you to think about some
really core questions right now.

246
00:15:36,820 --> 00:15:41,050
I want you to think about this
game that you're producing.

247
00:15:41,050 --> 00:15:43,540
What is this game about, anyway?

248
00:15:43,540 --> 00:15:48,600
And how does one win the game?

249
00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:50,440
How does one play the game?

250
00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,340
What are the basic gameplay rules?

251
00:15:53,340 --> 00:15:56,910
And what are those
features that are going

252
00:15:56,910 --> 00:16:01,770
to be in your game that
support that core dynamic?

253
00:16:01,770 --> 00:16:04,250
And so linking us to what
we were discussing before,

254
00:16:04,250 --> 00:16:11,210
if your game has a core dynamic,
a specific purpose for playing

255
00:16:11,210 --> 00:16:15,870
the game, what are the
bare number of features

256
00:16:15,870 --> 00:16:18,610
that you would need to accomplish that?

257
00:16:18,610 --> 00:16:19,660
How do you win the game?

258
00:16:19,660 --> 00:16:21,060
And how do you play it?

259
00:16:21,060 --> 00:16:25,620
And it's that, those
essential pieces, that

260
00:16:25,620 --> 00:16:30,630
become the start of a
very tight game, a game

261
00:16:30,630 --> 00:16:34,900
that you, perhaps, could
produce in your limited time.

262
00:16:34,900 --> 00:16:37,260
Now, there are a lot of
different game features

263
00:16:37,260 --> 00:16:39,660
that you'd have to pay attention to.

264
00:16:39,660 --> 00:16:41,940
You'd have to ask
yourself about the player.

265
00:16:41,940 --> 00:16:43,380
Who is the player?

266
00:16:43,380 --> 00:16:46,270
And how does the player move?

267
00:16:46,270 --> 00:16:49,680
What's the environment in
which the player is living?

268
00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:54,820
And are there other characters that that
player is going to be interacting with?

269
00:16:54,820 --> 00:16:59,860
A concern that tends to come up rather
quick in one's work is the artwork.

270
00:16:59,860 --> 00:17:06,970
And, often, programmers can
get distracted in that artwork,

271
00:17:06,970 --> 00:17:09,280
and sort of live there
instead of working

272
00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:11,050
on the core dynamic of their game.

273
00:17:11,050 --> 00:17:16,030
The abilities of the characters and
the player also become of interest.

274
00:17:16,030 --> 00:17:19,510
The levels in which they are going to
be working, the power ups they can get,

275
00:17:19,510 --> 00:17:21,190
and the score that they can get.

276
00:17:21,190 --> 00:17:26,140
These are all pieces about what
makes your game unique and yours.

277
00:17:26,140 --> 00:17:32,380
For example, if we think about
probably my favorite open-source game,

278
00:17:32,380 --> 00:17:35,250
Endless Sky--

279
00:17:35,250 --> 00:17:36,270
pretty amazing.

280
00:17:36,270 --> 00:17:38,670
This is designed as an
open-source game that you

281
00:17:38,670 --> 00:17:43,920
can download right now for
free, available on great Steam

282
00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:46,020
applications everywhere.

283
00:17:46,020 --> 00:17:51,540
We have a game where a player
is in their own shuttle,

284
00:17:51,540 --> 00:17:59,370
and they're floating in this star
system amongst this seemingly endless

285
00:17:59,370 --> 00:18:00,720
universe.

286
00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:03,960
And they're alongside
other NPC ships that

287
00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:10,260
are attacking them, or stealing items
from them, engaging in trade with them,

288
00:18:10,260 --> 00:18:15,210
drawn with this high-density,
professional art.

289
00:18:15,210 --> 00:18:18,810
And every single one of these ships--
enemy ships and the main ship--

290
00:18:18,810 --> 00:18:24,120
are able to expand their capabilities
using thousands of different power ups.

291
00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:29,190
And you, with your own whimsy, get
to decide where in this universe

292
00:18:29,190 --> 00:18:30,930
you are able to travel.

293
00:18:30,930 --> 00:18:33,450
Hundreds and hundreds of
star systems, searching

294
00:18:33,450 --> 00:18:37,020
for power ups, all for
the purpose of building

295
00:18:37,020 --> 00:18:39,120
the ultimate fleet of your own.

296
00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:43,530
And you can understand
how confusing and how big

297
00:18:43,530 --> 00:18:47,490
this project can get if you're not
reigning in each one of those features.

298
00:18:47,490 --> 00:18:51,960
Because, in the end, you could
end up with designing a game

299
00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:55,290
that could take hundreds of individuals
or thousands of individuals years

300
00:18:55,290 --> 00:18:55,890
to create.

301
00:18:55,890 --> 00:19:00,060
That game might be in your mind, but
what is the specific type of game

302
00:19:00,060 --> 00:19:03,030
that you are capable in
making in the time frame

303
00:19:03,030 --> 00:19:05,770
that you have available to you?

304
00:19:05,770 --> 00:19:09,835
And so, likewise-- if I
can get to my next slide--

305
00:19:09,835 --> 00:19:13,050


306
00:19:13,050 --> 00:19:14,335
that's always interesting.

307
00:19:14,335 --> 00:19:17,660


308
00:19:17,660 --> 00:19:19,010
This is Death by Layers' team.

309
00:19:19,010 --> 00:19:24,120


310
00:19:24,120 --> 00:19:25,470
There we go.

311
00:19:25,470 --> 00:19:27,990
So let's think about game
features for a moment.

312
00:19:27,990 --> 00:19:29,460
Let's think about Mario.

313
00:19:29,460 --> 00:19:36,550
So in Mario, we have dozens upon dozens
of levels-- just the original Mario.

314
00:19:36,550 --> 00:19:40,055
So you as a game designer, I
want you to make some guesses.

315
00:19:40,055 --> 00:19:41,680
Yeah, "the meme broke it," Angela said.

316
00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:44,550
Yep, the meme did break it.

317
00:19:44,550 --> 00:19:48,720
I want you to think about
if you were a game designer

318
00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:52,050
and you were creating a
game within two weeks,

319
00:19:52,050 --> 00:19:56,280
what will you have to do to make it
possible to create something like Mario

320
00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:58,250
in that short amount of time?

321
00:19:58,250 --> 00:20:01,520
Well, you probably the first
step that you would take

322
00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:05,090
is you would look at all these levels
that you potentially create and you

323
00:20:05,090 --> 00:20:07,070
probably would limit
it just down to one.

324
00:20:07,070 --> 00:20:10,520
You would say, given that
this is two weeks long,

325
00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:11,990
I'm just going to take only--

326
00:20:11,990 --> 00:20:16,380
of all the different things I could
do, I'm just going to create one level.

327
00:20:16,380 --> 00:20:20,720
In fact, just to get started,
rather than doing one level,

328
00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:24,980
I'm saying do one frame, one
little piece of that giant level.

329
00:20:24,980 --> 00:20:28,430
So that way, I can get
the core game dynamic down

330
00:20:28,430 --> 00:20:33,430
and get it working before I expand out
to something greater if I have time.

331
00:20:33,430 --> 00:20:37,000
Indeed, rather than having
all the different Marios

332
00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:38,380
you could possibly have--

333
00:20:38,380 --> 00:20:41,530
small Mario, big Mario, fire Mario--

334
00:20:41,530 --> 00:20:45,580
you would say, you know what, just for
this project for the next two weeks,

335
00:20:45,580 --> 00:20:47,900
just small Mario.

336
00:20:47,900 --> 00:20:51,980
Likewise you think about in
Mario there are dozens and dozens

337
00:20:51,980 --> 00:20:54,380
of potential bad guys.

338
00:20:54,380 --> 00:20:58,490
I guess in the original Mario, there's
only about a dozen or so characters.

339
00:20:58,490 --> 00:21:02,420
And you would probably
just resort down to one.

340
00:21:02,420 --> 00:21:05,060
One single character
would be in the game.

341
00:21:05,060 --> 00:21:07,730
And by doing this,
what you're essentially

342
00:21:07,730 --> 00:21:13,610
doing is taking all of this what
could be and boiling it down, saying,

343
00:21:13,610 --> 00:21:16,040
what is the core game
dynamic that I want

344
00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:19,040
to communicate in my game
that is possible for me

345
00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:22,760
to produce in this
two-week or so time period?

346
00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,340
And you think about it--

347
00:21:25,340 --> 00:21:29,760
a finished prototype of this game that
you potentially amp up into something

348
00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:33,630
greater is far more effective
than an unfinished, massive game

349
00:21:33,630 --> 00:21:37,200
that you attempted but never finish.

350
00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:41,750
So step three, step three of producing
a game that is of the correct scope

351
00:21:41,750 --> 00:21:45,000
would be to reduce the game down
to that minimal viable product.

352
00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:47,270
And so the way to do that--

353
00:21:47,270 --> 00:21:52,440
when I say minimal viable
product I want you to think about

354
00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:56,690
if you are producing
something for the marketplace,

355
00:21:56,690 --> 00:21:59,860
what is the minimum product
that you could create

356
00:21:59,860 --> 00:22:03,000
that could be viable in and of itself?

357
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:08,190
One of the big games that I
was interacting with early on

358
00:22:08,190 --> 00:22:10,020
was Minecraft.

359
00:22:10,020 --> 00:22:13,830
And you got to think about what
makes Minecraft a great game.

360
00:22:13,830 --> 00:22:16,500
For those of you that have played
Minecraft, go to that chat box

361
00:22:16,500 --> 00:22:20,070
and tell me, in one or
two words, what makes--

362
00:22:20,070 --> 00:22:24,278
I'll give you three, even-- what
makes Minecraft a great game?

363
00:22:24,278 --> 00:22:25,320
One, two, or three words.

364
00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:28,280


365
00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:30,065
"Voxels," someone says.

366
00:22:30,065 --> 00:22:34,340


367
00:22:34,340 --> 00:22:36,110
"The freedom you have."

368
00:22:36,110 --> 00:22:36,740
Absolutely.

369
00:22:36,740 --> 00:22:39,140
"Open-endedness
creativity, and exploring."

370
00:22:39,140 --> 00:22:48,180
And notice that we just took this
game that has loads of features

371
00:22:48,180 --> 00:22:50,700
and we boiled it down to a core dynamic.

372
00:22:50,700 --> 00:22:55,410
And that core dynamic is something
around freedom and exploration.

373
00:22:55,410 --> 00:22:58,950
You're able to do something creatively.

374
00:22:58,950 --> 00:23:01,120
What does it take to do that?

375
00:23:01,120 --> 00:23:05,460
I mean, now, of course, Minecraft
is completely massive in a way

376
00:23:05,460 --> 00:23:07,230
that I can't even comprehend.

377
00:23:07,230 --> 00:23:10,360
But if you were designing
something of that,

378
00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:13,312
imagine the features that
would make it in the game

379
00:23:13,312 --> 00:23:16,020
and that wouldn't make it in the
game in your two-week time span.

380
00:23:16,020 --> 00:23:18,960
Something you could bring forth
to others, present to others,

381
00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:22,200
perhaps even turn in as a
final project, maybe even

382
00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:27,240
bring to market as some
introductory game, your first game.

383
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:33,480
But it still has that core, because you
knew from the start what that core was.

384
00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:37,890
Just looking at this, this
doesn't look like much.

385
00:23:37,890 --> 00:23:47,180
We have a good, green box, we have a
bad, red circle, and we have a star.

386
00:23:47,180 --> 00:23:50,440
And it's OK for us to touch the star.

387
00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:54,550
And it's not OK for us to touch
that red circle as the green box.

388
00:23:54,550 --> 00:23:56,390
We are the green box.

389
00:23:56,390 --> 00:23:59,320
Notice, it's exactly what Mario is.

390
00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:00,670
It's just like that.

391
00:24:00,670 --> 00:24:03,500
Boiling it down to that
essential core dynamic.

392
00:24:03,500 --> 00:24:05,740
And so when you're
producing something, I

393
00:24:05,740 --> 00:24:08,002
encourage you to start
thinking about, rather than

394
00:24:08,002 --> 00:24:10,960
think about all the thousands or
hundreds of features that might end up

395
00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:13,418
in your game, even the dozens
of features that might end up

396
00:24:13,418 --> 00:24:16,540
in your game, take that entire
list of your greatest desires,

397
00:24:16,540 --> 00:24:20,560
take a piece of paper, fold it in
half, and on the left hand side,

398
00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,200
put the must-haves, the
things that make up your game.

399
00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:27,430
Without them your game does not exist.

400
00:24:27,430 --> 00:24:30,870
And then on the right hand side, put
the things that are the nice-to-haves,

401
00:24:30,870 --> 00:24:32,850
the things that you'd
like to add on later

402
00:24:32,850 --> 00:24:35,340
that could create an
even better game, perhaps

403
00:24:35,340 --> 00:24:40,110
a second version of this great game,
but are not the essential core dynamic.

404
00:24:40,110 --> 00:24:42,690
Because if you think about
it, you have an opportunity

405
00:24:42,690 --> 00:24:44,970
to create something
that in and of itself

406
00:24:44,970 --> 00:24:48,690
is complete and whole,
based upon that minimal--

407
00:24:48,690 --> 00:24:51,540
the core game dynamic,
or you could create

408
00:24:51,540 --> 00:24:56,970
something that is potentially massive
but you just simply don't finish.

409
00:24:56,970 --> 00:25:00,050
So with that, to our third step--

410
00:25:00,050 --> 00:25:06,380
or excuse me, I'd like to talk briefly
now about getting started in LOVE 2D,

411
00:25:06,380 --> 00:25:09,120
because that's what a lot of
you have come here for today.

412
00:25:09,120 --> 00:25:14,770
So just to give you some
background, I want--

413
00:25:14,770 --> 00:25:17,860
for those of you that have
prior coding experience,

414
00:25:17,860 --> 00:25:23,380
you can imagine how building a game
engine that would run something like

415
00:25:23,380 --> 00:25:23,920
Mario--

416
00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:30,310
that is the physics, the way sprites
are drawn on the screen, the way

417
00:25:30,310 --> 00:25:34,870
that levels load, the
way memory is handled--

418
00:25:34,870 --> 00:25:41,320
all those things, traditionally,
once upon a time were handled in very

419
00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:43,190
low-level programming languages--

420
00:25:43,190 --> 00:25:47,680
C, C++, even C#, of course,
many of you touched on now.

421
00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:51,040
And, of course, over
time programmers have

422
00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:54,640
had benefited from layers
and levels of abstraction

423
00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:58,592
moving away from those
languages because--

424
00:25:58,592 --> 00:25:59,550
well, for many reasons.

425
00:25:59,550 --> 00:26:03,850
I suppose a chief reason is, if
you think about old games, games,

426
00:26:03,850 --> 00:26:07,000
potentially, that were created
either before you were born,

427
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:11,560
or games, perhaps, in your
early life, those games

428
00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:15,830
were produced during a time when there
was very limited system resources.

429
00:26:15,830 --> 00:26:19,210
And those resources were
exceedingly expensive.

430
00:26:19,210 --> 00:26:24,460
Games like DOOM were created,
Wolfenstein were created in C.

431
00:26:24,460 --> 00:26:29,020
And they needed to do that, because
one, that was one of the few things

432
00:26:29,020 --> 00:26:33,460
available to them when creating
this, but also because they needed

433
00:26:33,460 --> 00:26:35,980
to go as close to the
hardware as possible

434
00:26:35,980 --> 00:26:40,210
to pump out as much as they possibly
could from that limited and very

435
00:26:40,210 --> 00:26:42,490
expensive hardware.

436
00:26:42,490 --> 00:26:48,040
Well now, because of the
popularity of game programming,

437
00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:52,150
there are tools out there
that you can use, frameworks,

438
00:26:52,150 --> 00:26:55,600
that allow you to get a quick
start at your game work.

439
00:26:55,600 --> 00:27:06,278
Probably my favorite growing up was,
oh gosh, was it's not Game Workshop.

440
00:27:06,278 --> 00:27:08,570
Carter, what is that thing
called that I'm thinking of?

441
00:27:08,570 --> 00:27:09,540
Not Game Workshop.

442
00:27:09,540 --> 00:27:12,230
What is that framework called?

443
00:27:12,230 --> 00:27:13,340
CARTER: Game Creator?

444
00:27:13,340 --> 00:27:17,840
GUY WHITE: Game Creator, absolutely, was
where I got my start, most definitely.

445
00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:20,957
LOVE 2D is another framework
that's, absolutely, of course,

446
00:27:20,957 --> 00:27:22,040
we'll be discussing today.

447
00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:26,420
And then Unity is one that's out
there and usable by most people today.

448
00:27:26,420 --> 00:27:29,700
And so where you get your
start is really up to you.

449
00:27:29,700 --> 00:27:33,380
I want you to go into this
by asking yourself, really,

450
00:27:33,380 --> 00:27:35,840
some really fundamental, core questions.

451
00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:39,200
They're almost existential
questions of, who am I?

452
00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:44,330
Am I the type of person that
wants to design a game in code?

453
00:27:44,330 --> 00:27:47,360
That is, am I a person who
wants to iterate through code,

454
00:27:47,360 --> 00:27:54,140
creating functions and code in a coding
environment that produces a game,

455
00:27:54,140 --> 00:27:58,130
or am I one that wants to work
in a graphical environment

456
00:27:58,130 --> 00:28:00,920
where I can see a lot of
these sprites on the screen

457
00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:05,240
as I develop them, move them in
a 3D environment, potentially.

458
00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:09,200
That choice, who you are
and how you'd like to work,

459
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:12,470
could really determine
which direction you go.

460
00:28:12,470 --> 00:28:15,140
For those of you that are
interested in creating

461
00:28:15,140 --> 00:28:17,780
a game without any coding
at all, Game Creator

462
00:28:17,780 --> 00:28:20,420
is actually a really
fantastic option for you.

463
00:28:20,420 --> 00:28:24,500
For those of you that are
really wanting to learn and work

464
00:28:24,500 --> 00:28:28,610
in the coding environment, LOVE 2D
is absolutely a fantastic framework.

465
00:28:28,610 --> 00:28:29,690
Unity also.

466
00:28:29,690 --> 00:28:32,540
But Unity is a very
graphical environment

467
00:28:32,540 --> 00:28:34,200
and offers you different things.

468
00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:40,410
So as we're talking about these basics,
just know that you have a choice.

469
00:28:40,410 --> 00:28:45,750
And the great hope is that if you decide
that a tool is not working for you,

470
00:28:45,750 --> 00:28:49,130
you can go find another tool
that perhaps functions better,

471
00:28:49,130 --> 00:28:51,770
more in the way that you
think about game creation,

472
00:28:51,770 --> 00:28:57,580
and more in line with who you
are as a person, as a creator.

473
00:28:57,580 --> 00:29:02,950
So with LOVE 2D, the
main dot lua file, which

474
00:29:02,950 --> 00:29:07,810
is the essential file that
runs any LOVE program,

475
00:29:07,810 --> 00:29:11,620
has simply three main
functions, and that's it.

476
00:29:11,620 --> 00:29:14,990
We have the love.load
function, as you see here,

477
00:29:14,990 --> 00:29:18,820
and we have the love.update,
and the love.draw.

478
00:29:18,820 --> 00:29:23,680
And as long as those three functions
are present in our main dot lua

479
00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:28,090
file, what this will do is this
will allow our game to run.

480
00:29:28,090 --> 00:29:32,110
And right now, this is
as basic as it gets.

481
00:29:32,110 --> 00:29:39,430
All I'm doing is I'm saying, draw,
when we run this program, a rectangle.

482
00:29:39,430 --> 00:29:42,160
And we're going to use
a line to draw that.

483
00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:44,380
And what we're going to
do is we're going to have

484
00:29:44,380 --> 00:29:47,500
it 100 pixels wide, 100 pixels tall.

485
00:29:47,500 --> 00:29:51,880
And I'm going to put
it at position 200, 200

486
00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:56,950
on our screen, which is, from the
top left, it's 200 over and 200 down.

487
00:29:56,950 --> 00:30:02,770
And the other functions here,
love.load, are the pieces of code

488
00:30:02,770 --> 00:30:05,980
that run only once,
once the file is loaded.

489
00:30:05,980 --> 00:30:09,550
And also love.update is what
happens as a function of time,

490
00:30:09,550 --> 00:30:13,000
what happens every single
moment as a function of time

491
00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:16,580
that we are running through our
program, running our program.

492
00:30:16,580 --> 00:30:19,658
And, as you can imagine,
this doesn't do much.

493
00:30:19,658 --> 00:30:21,700
As you can see here on
our screen, what this does

494
00:30:21,700 --> 00:30:27,820
is it simply just displays a box.

495
00:30:27,820 --> 00:30:29,920
Angela is mentioning
Adventure Construction Set,

496
00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:34,630
which is absolutely another interesting
tool you should take a look at.

497
00:30:34,630 --> 00:30:39,820
Now, to our second level, what we could
do is-- notice what we're doing now.

498
00:30:39,820 --> 00:30:42,020
We're adding some features here.

499
00:30:42,020 --> 00:30:45,970
So in the previous,
notice at the bottom where

500
00:30:45,970 --> 00:30:49,150
we started, love.draw, all the
way at the bottom of the screen.

501
00:30:49,150 --> 00:30:53,800
What we have is we have
the rectangle being drawn,

502
00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:58,720
but this time, rather than telling
as hard coding the compiler

503
00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:04,630
to run this with 100 pixels wide and
100 pixels tall, what we're going to do

504
00:31:04,630 --> 00:31:07,540
is, this time, we're going to go
up into our love.load function

505
00:31:07,540 --> 00:31:11,025
and we're going to add
those as variables there.

506
00:31:11,025 --> 00:31:13,150
And we're doing that for
the purpose of the ability

507
00:31:13,150 --> 00:31:16,580
to manipulate those items later.

508
00:31:16,580 --> 00:31:20,020
And as you can see in the
love.update, as a function of time

509
00:31:20,020 --> 00:31:22,480
throughout our program
as it's running, what

510
00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:26,620
we're going to be listening for
using these if statements is,

511
00:31:26,620 --> 00:31:29,620
is the keyboard being pressed?

512
00:31:29,620 --> 00:31:33,670
Is our W, S, A, or D key being pressed?

513
00:31:33,670 --> 00:31:37,580
And depending upon which we press,
we're going to take an action.

514
00:31:37,580 --> 00:31:42,850
So in the case of the W,
we're withdrawing from the y,

515
00:31:42,850 --> 00:31:47,560
we're moving our object up
closer to zero and so on.

516
00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:52,960
So our y up here at our top and our
love.load function, is moving up,

517
00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:56,170
and hence, our rectangle is moving, too.

518
00:31:56,170 --> 00:31:58,000
And the opposite being true.

519
00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:03,370
And, of course, using our A and D keys,
we can move that box left or right.

520
00:32:03,370 --> 00:32:09,190
Now, as you implement this
in LOVE, what you'll find

521
00:32:09,190 --> 00:32:17,380
is an immediate challenge we have
is this box can leave the screen.

522
00:32:17,380 --> 00:32:20,110
And it almost infinitely
can leave the screen.

523
00:32:20,110 --> 00:32:24,520
I don't know, I have not held
down that A key for an hour

524
00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:28,018
to see if it would cause an error, but
I know that the box leaves the screen.

525
00:32:28,018 --> 00:32:30,310
And at some point, it takes
a great deal of time for it

526
00:32:30,310 --> 00:32:32,000
to come back, if you'd like to.

527
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:37,990
So what we can do is we can create
some, in a way, some collision where

528
00:32:37,990 --> 00:32:43,800
it checks, where it
says, are we out, are we

529
00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:47,460
hitting the boundary of our screen?

530
00:32:47,460 --> 00:32:50,910
And so adding, again, another
layer of abstraction here.

531
00:32:50,910 --> 00:32:55,170
Rather than just simply having x
and y-coordinates, what I might do

532
00:32:55,170 --> 00:32:58,530
is I might create an
object called mySquare.

533
00:32:58,530 --> 00:33:03,000
And what I'm now doing is I'm assigning
an x-value to it, and a y-value to it,

534
00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:05,730
and a height and a
width to it, and so on.

535
00:33:05,730 --> 00:33:11,490
And rather than just simply controlling
the x or the y, I'm actually--

536
00:33:11,490 --> 00:33:15,660
or x and y arbitrarily, I'm
working with only mySquare's

537
00:33:15,660 --> 00:33:19,890
x and y, as you can see that I
changed here in the update function.

538
00:33:19,890 --> 00:33:27,120
And most poignant for this part
is this second piece of our code

539
00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:31,650
where we start adding some
if statements checking to see

540
00:33:31,650 --> 00:33:36,270
is the x and the y-value
of the square moving

541
00:33:36,270 --> 00:33:40,200
outside the bounds of our screen?

542
00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:44,730
And if it does attempt
to go outside the bounds,

543
00:33:44,730 --> 00:33:48,070
we're going to push it back just a
little bit, not enough for the user

544
00:33:48,070 --> 00:33:51,630
to say, whoa, that's a big jump, but
enough just to make it stick there

545
00:33:51,630 --> 00:33:54,270
and prevent it from moving any further.

546
00:33:54,270 --> 00:33:57,585
We're having it bump all
the walls, as it were.

547
00:33:57,585 --> 00:33:59,460
And as you can see in
the love.draw function,

548
00:33:59,460 --> 00:34:02,830
we are adding that level of
abstraction down there, as well.

549
00:34:02,830 --> 00:34:04,170
So what do we have now?

550
00:34:04,170 --> 00:34:07,410
Well, we have a box that
appears on the screen.

551
00:34:07,410 --> 00:34:10,360
And we have the ability to
move the box around the screen.

552
00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:14,250
And now, we have the ability
to keep that box inside.

553
00:34:14,250 --> 00:34:22,090
Now, you could take this small, very
small-scale game to a game level

554
00:34:22,090 --> 00:34:25,120
by simply adding something to it.

555
00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:29,199
And the options are almost limitless.

556
00:34:29,199 --> 00:34:32,730
All my team here on the
chat box, what is one thing

557
00:34:32,730 --> 00:34:34,949
we could add, in just a
couple of words, what's

558
00:34:34,949 --> 00:34:39,960
one thing you could add to this game to
potentially, now, make it a full game?

559
00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:41,699
Just one little thing you could add.

560
00:34:41,699 --> 00:34:44,250
So we have a box moving around a screen.

561
00:34:44,250 --> 00:34:46,889
Yeah, we can have a
platform, absolutely.

562
00:34:46,889 --> 00:34:49,750
So as Greg says, we could
have it on a platform.

563
00:34:49,750 --> 00:34:53,699
And if we step off the
platform, it falls.

564
00:34:53,699 --> 00:34:57,000
We could have items to collect, where
the box has to move around the screen

565
00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:58,560
and grab items.

566
00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:00,300
Angela says, "something to dodge."

567
00:35:00,300 --> 00:35:01,530
Absolutely.

568
00:35:01,530 --> 00:35:05,430
So notice, just based
upon a box on a screen,

569
00:35:05,430 --> 00:35:08,610
how you three just came up
with three different games

570
00:35:08,610 --> 00:35:10,890
with three different core dynamics.

571
00:35:10,890 --> 00:35:12,700
What an interesting thing.

572
00:35:12,700 --> 00:35:18,820
So how, then, complicated
could you make your game?

573
00:35:18,820 --> 00:35:25,100
How feature-filled could you make
your game, then, within two weeks?

574
00:35:25,100 --> 00:35:26,920
And so imagine that.

575
00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:30,820
Imagine where, instead of
creating-- just setting out to say,

576
00:35:30,820 --> 00:35:33,760
I'm going to create the next
whatever that big game is,

577
00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:36,940
imagine, for one of your
first games, that you say,

578
00:35:36,940 --> 00:35:40,990
I'm going to distill something
that I think is fun down

579
00:35:40,990 --> 00:35:43,630
to its most essential core dynamic.

580
00:35:43,630 --> 00:35:46,410
And I'm going to implement that.

581
00:35:46,410 --> 00:35:49,920
And if you think about those two sides
of the piece of paper I talked about,

582
00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:53,790
the must-haves and the
good-to-haves, imagine, then,

583
00:35:53,790 --> 00:35:57,420
within two weeks looking at
your side with the must-haves,

584
00:35:57,420 --> 00:36:01,770
accomplishing all those, and then
bringing those over, bringing

585
00:36:01,770 --> 00:36:05,460
over the nice-to-haves into the
feature list, and saying, OK, now

586
00:36:05,460 --> 00:36:07,350
that I've implemented
the core of the game,

587
00:36:07,350 --> 00:36:10,030
what would I like to implement next?

588
00:36:10,030 --> 00:36:13,800
And this is where I bring
up my warning about artwork.

589
00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:16,920
I am not blessed artistically.

590
00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:20,040
Many of you are, and
congratulations on that.

591
00:36:20,040 --> 00:36:21,570
I might hire you one day.

592
00:36:21,570 --> 00:36:24,960
But for the majority of us that
are not artistically blessed,

593
00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:27,990
it can be really
distracting to get stuck

594
00:36:27,990 --> 00:36:30,760
in the artwork phase of your project.

595
00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:33,300
And so what I encourage you
to do is as your prototyping,

596
00:36:33,300 --> 00:36:36,210
as you're building out your
minimal viable product,

597
00:36:36,210 --> 00:36:40,492
try to avoid getting stuck
in places that you really

598
00:36:40,492 --> 00:36:43,200
don't need to address at this
moment-- artwork being one of them.

599
00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:46,450
Artwork, you can most
definitely address later.

600
00:36:46,450 --> 00:36:51,360
But to get the core dynamic
working, probably not.

601
00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:55,610
So I'd like to talk to you about the
phases, then, of producing a LOVE game.

602
00:36:55,610 --> 00:36:59,420
And this, in a way, speaks back
to those existential questions

603
00:36:59,420 --> 00:37:00,950
that we spoke about a moment ago.

604
00:37:00,950 --> 00:37:03,800
One is-- there's the setup phase.

605
00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:07,970
That's where you go to
the LOVE2D.org website.

606
00:37:07,970 --> 00:37:09,530
I hope I'm getting that URL right.

607
00:37:09,530 --> 00:37:12,540
And you run the setup there.

608
00:37:12,540 --> 00:37:14,810
You follow the setup instructions.

609
00:37:14,810 --> 00:37:19,290
If you're on the Mac platform, there are
some specific terminal-related things

610
00:37:19,290 --> 00:37:20,370
that you'll need to do.

611
00:37:20,370 --> 00:37:22,560
Same thing for the
Windows setup as well.

612
00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:24,440
And you get running on your computer.

613
00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:30,560
You know that you finished this
phase when you can open a LOVE file

614
00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:31,970
and it will run on your screen.

615
00:37:31,970 --> 00:37:35,580
And they provide some sample
LOVE files that you can download,

616
00:37:35,580 --> 00:37:38,360
so that way, you can test your
setup to make sure it works.

617
00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:42,510
The next step is really
the gut-check phase.

618
00:37:42,510 --> 00:37:47,400
And the main question that I'd like you
to ponder as you're engaging in this

619
00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:51,000
is, is this framework right for me?

620
00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:57,050
Is this way of making a game the
way that I'd like to make a game?

621
00:37:57,050 --> 00:37:58,940
If the answer is no, that's OK.

622
00:37:58,940 --> 00:38:04,710
Go find a tool that works well for you,
a framework that works well for you.

623
00:38:04,710 --> 00:38:09,680
Choose one granular
element that is going

624
00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:14,990
to make your game your game, just
one little piece, and ask yourself,

625
00:38:14,990 --> 00:38:19,190
is this really what I want
to be doing with my time,

626
00:38:19,190 --> 00:38:24,290
implementing this type of
thing in this type of way?

627
00:38:24,290 --> 00:38:28,580
GameMaker Studio is open to you, Unity
is open to you, Godot is open to you,

628
00:38:28,580 --> 00:38:31,490
LOVE 2D is an amazing tool.

629
00:38:31,490 --> 00:38:33,380
Corona SDK is open up, too.

630
00:38:33,380 --> 00:38:37,550
There's so many different frameworks
that are out there, ready for you.

631
00:38:37,550 --> 00:38:39,000
So you have a choice.

632
00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:42,950
And the day to choose
that is just a matter--

633
00:38:42,950 --> 00:38:46,220
the time to choose that is just a
matter of an hour or two, probably,

634
00:38:46,220 --> 00:38:49,160
into the process of working on the game.

635
00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:51,590
Next is the game dynamic phase.

636
00:38:51,590 --> 00:38:57,880
In this place, you're going to be
choosing the core game dynamic,

637
00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:01,000
and you're going to be
implementing it there in your game.

638
00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:02,920
And you want to test it.

639
00:39:02,920 --> 00:39:08,490
And you want to get it to a point where
you have a playable copy of your game

640
00:39:08,490 --> 00:39:11,550
where you can show other
people and have them play it,

641
00:39:11,550 --> 00:39:16,530
and watch how they react to getting the
core, the most basic, the must-haves

642
00:39:16,530 --> 00:39:18,520
of your game running.

643
00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:20,760
And then, from there is the MVP phase.

644
00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:24,000
And this is taking it
from a prototype that's

645
00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:26,730
playable into something
that is, in fact, finished,

646
00:39:26,730 --> 00:39:30,780
something that is releasable, something
that-- it might not be the best

647
00:39:30,780 --> 00:39:34,590
release ever, but it's something
that you can give to others,

648
00:39:34,590 --> 00:39:36,150
and it's a completed game.

649
00:39:36,150 --> 00:39:39,510
It's something that has a
beginning and an ending,

650
00:39:39,510 --> 00:39:44,040
or at least has the potential of
being perpetual forever, potentially.

651
00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:47,310
And, finally, there's the feature phase.

652
00:39:47,310 --> 00:39:50,460
And this is where, after you've
produced that minimal viable product,

653
00:39:50,460 --> 00:39:53,190
you're adding in more features
to make it an even better game.

654
00:39:53,190 --> 00:39:55,350
You're adding menus,
you're adding levels,

655
00:39:55,350 --> 00:40:02,466
you're potentially adding power ups.
And that way, the material that you're--

656
00:40:02,466 --> 00:40:07,700
that way, what you're
putting into the game

657
00:40:07,700 --> 00:40:10,730
is on top of what has already
been deemed essential.

658
00:40:10,730 --> 00:40:14,480
Because you've already created a game
that accomplishes the goal that you

659
00:40:14,480 --> 00:40:17,870
set forth, that core
dynamic, and the features

660
00:40:17,870 --> 00:40:23,090
are something that are going to want
to further enhance that core dynamic.

661
00:40:23,090 --> 00:40:27,350
Many of you have played games before
where the game was absolutely almost

662
00:40:27,350 --> 00:40:30,710
perfect as is, but then they
added a new element to it,

663
00:40:30,710 --> 00:40:32,840
and it actually took away from the game.

664
00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:34,970
And so you'll be doing
some soul searching

665
00:40:34,970 --> 00:40:38,930
during this period of your
work in LOVE to decide,

666
00:40:38,930 --> 00:40:41,855
is this a feature that really
should be implemented now?

667
00:40:41,855 --> 00:40:47,050


668
00:40:47,050 --> 00:40:51,220
The best resources that I
can hand you to get started,

669
00:40:51,220 --> 00:40:55,000
flat out, is first of all, is
Sheepolution's How to LOVE.

670
00:40:55,000 --> 00:40:59,200
It is, perhaps, the most
comprehensive, step-by-step tutorial

671
00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:01,330
that I've ever seen.

672
00:41:01,330 --> 00:41:03,790
What I like about
Sheepolution's tutorial

673
00:41:03,790 --> 00:41:07,300
is it gets you to a
built game very quickly.

674
00:41:07,300 --> 00:41:13,510
And getting to a built game,
building a prototype game

675
00:41:13,510 --> 00:41:15,610
using someone else's
instruction is a great way

676
00:41:15,610 --> 00:41:22,120
to familiarize yourself with this
framework and what is possible,

677
00:41:22,120 --> 00:41:23,620
what it can possibly do.

678
00:41:23,620 --> 00:41:28,967
And on top of it, to learn
about how you can use this,

679
00:41:28,967 --> 00:41:31,300
how you can implement each
of the individual pieces that

680
00:41:31,300 --> 00:41:33,460
are discussed there
in that tutorial, like

681
00:41:33,460 --> 00:41:37,360
how to implement a different
level, and game states, and so on.

682
00:41:37,360 --> 00:41:40,390
Simple Game Tutorials is
another amazing one, as well.

683
00:41:40,390 --> 00:41:43,030
What I appreciate about Simple
Game Tutorials above all

684
00:41:43,030 --> 00:41:46,240
is you are reimplementing
games you already

685
00:41:46,240 --> 00:41:49,340
know about out there in the world.

686
00:41:49,340 --> 00:41:55,510
And so games like Pong are on
there where you can reimplement.

687
00:41:55,510 --> 00:41:58,580
Creating a basic pinball
machine is one on there as well.

688
00:41:58,580 --> 00:42:02,200
And it's by building from
those very basic templates

689
00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:06,380
that you could potentially
create your own game as well.

690
00:42:06,380 --> 00:42:09,400
I would be quite remiss
if I did not mention

691
00:42:09,400 --> 00:42:14,290
Brenda Romero and Ian Schreiber's
book, Challenges for Game Designers.

692
00:42:14,290 --> 00:42:20,230
This book is a huge guide for me
in my life, has been very helpful.

693
00:42:20,230 --> 00:42:23,140
Both of these authors have another
book about breaking into the game

694
00:42:23,140 --> 00:42:25,480
industry, which is exceptionally good.

695
00:42:25,480 --> 00:42:28,177
But for you, in your stage
of creating your first game,

696
00:42:28,177 --> 00:42:30,010
I think this book is
probably the best place

697
00:42:30,010 --> 00:42:33,790
to start if you are a book person.

698
00:42:33,790 --> 00:42:36,860
I love listening to YouTube
videos, watching YouTube videos,

699
00:42:36,860 --> 00:42:38,240
especially as I'm on the go.

700
00:42:38,240 --> 00:42:40,970
And so Extra Credits is an amazing site.

701
00:42:40,970 --> 00:42:43,822
Many of you have absolutely--

702
00:42:43,822 --> 00:42:46,780
you've been exposed to this before,
probably, if you've been on YouTube

703
00:42:46,780 --> 00:42:47,822
and searched game design.

704
00:42:47,822 --> 00:42:52,900
And I, of course, can't think
Colton Ogden enough for his work

705
00:42:52,900 --> 00:42:55,000
in CS50's Introduction to Game Design.

706
00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:58,240
I took that class while I
was at Harvard Extension.

707
00:42:58,240 --> 00:43:02,530
And it was instrumental in allowing
me to produce the games that I've

708
00:43:02,530 --> 00:43:03,580
produced to this date.

709
00:43:03,580 --> 00:43:08,050
And you can access it there at that URL.

710
00:43:08,050 --> 00:43:10,810
However, do know that as you
go in, it is a full course.

711
00:43:10,810 --> 00:43:14,410
So don't fall down the rabbit
hole too much as you're

712
00:43:14,410 --> 00:43:17,130
creating your two-week-long game.

713
00:43:17,130 --> 00:43:21,748
So lastly, as parting before
we get to your questions--

714
00:43:21,748 --> 00:43:24,040
and by the way, this is a
great chance for those of you

715
00:43:24,040 --> 00:43:25,960
that are here with us live.

716
00:43:25,960 --> 00:43:29,740
If you have questions for us,
please direct them to that chat box

717
00:43:29,740 --> 00:43:33,070
now, as we're engaging in the
final moments of our time together.

718
00:43:33,070 --> 00:43:36,700
Because I'd love to answer
your questions and just say

719
00:43:36,700 --> 00:43:38,480
thank you to you by name.

720
00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:44,350
So how do you avoid the three
landmines of small-scope game design?

721
00:43:44,350 --> 00:43:46,900
And this is for, really,
I suppose this applies

722
00:43:46,900 --> 00:43:52,630
for really well seasoned
programmers as brand new ones alike.

723
00:43:52,630 --> 00:43:56,830
The first landmine is skipping
the prototyping stage.

724
00:43:56,830 --> 00:44:01,180
The prototyping stage is
where you create a product--

725
00:44:01,180 --> 00:44:04,090
that is, create a game
that is playable--

726
00:44:04,090 --> 00:44:06,970
that implements the
most core game dynamic.

727
00:44:06,970 --> 00:44:09,580
And it is not the prettiest thing.

728
00:44:09,580 --> 00:44:12,440
It is not fancy, probably,
in any way at all.

729
00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:18,820
But it's playable and allows you to test
to see if the core game dynamic works.

730
00:44:18,820 --> 00:44:22,585
This phase is what tells you whether
or not your game is going to work.

731
00:44:22,585 --> 00:44:25,190


732
00:44:25,190 --> 00:44:29,050
Taking a stone and
dipping it in chocolate

733
00:44:29,050 --> 00:44:30,830
is not going to make it taste better.

734
00:44:30,830 --> 00:44:32,950
It is still a stone dipped in chocolate.

735
00:44:32,950 --> 00:44:34,898
And so, likewise--

736
00:44:34,898 --> 00:44:36,190
I appreciate the smile, Bernie.

737
00:44:36,190 --> 00:44:38,200
Thank you.

738
00:44:38,200 --> 00:44:41,920
So that, likewise, prototyping
enables you to see,

739
00:44:41,920 --> 00:44:46,780
is this thing viable
in its most core state?

740
00:44:46,780 --> 00:44:51,260
Adding on 16 levels of bad is
not going to make it better.

741
00:44:51,260 --> 00:44:53,020
It's still a bad game.

742
00:44:53,020 --> 00:44:56,050
And only you can decide,
I suppose, if it's

743
00:44:56,050 --> 00:44:59,410
a bad game or not by your own standard.

744
00:44:59,410 --> 00:45:02,890
And then, you can put it out to
others and see is it worth it.

745
00:45:02,890 --> 00:45:07,120
Sometimes, what game designers can do
is they can really overcommit to an idea

746
00:45:07,120 --> 00:45:10,390
and they get so far down
the production pipeline

747
00:45:10,390 --> 00:45:13,120
that it's almost like, I don't
want to turn from this bad idea,

748
00:45:13,120 --> 00:45:14,980
because I've just
invested so much into it.

749
00:45:14,980 --> 00:45:19,270
If one had taken just the time
even a few hours, just a prototype,

750
00:45:19,270 --> 00:45:21,820
we would have seen if this
was a good direction or a bad.

751
00:45:21,820 --> 00:45:24,820
Naturally, the big thing we've been
talking about today is over scoping.

752
00:45:24,820 --> 00:45:26,800
That is the second
land mine, is producing

753
00:45:26,800 --> 00:45:30,340
a game that's just simply too
large, beyond your capability,

754
00:45:30,340 --> 00:45:35,290
potentially, but more about your
time than about your capability.

755
00:45:35,290 --> 00:45:37,390
Because capability can always be--

756
00:45:37,390 --> 00:45:39,100
not for an academic course--

757
00:45:39,100 --> 00:45:42,400
but for business pursuits, you
can always outsource creativity.

758
00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:45,700
You can always go find great
people that can do work with you.

759
00:45:45,700 --> 00:45:49,130
For those of you that are engaging
this in an academic environment,

760
00:45:49,130 --> 00:45:52,280
like a class, such as
CS50, you might be working

761
00:45:52,280 --> 00:45:56,690
with a partner who might complement your
strengths, complement your weaknesses.

762
00:45:56,690 --> 00:46:00,230
But still, if the game is
over scoped in terms of time,

763
00:46:00,230 --> 00:46:02,750
that's going to prevent you
from finishing this project.

764
00:46:02,750 --> 00:46:05,930
The final landmine is focusing
on features over function.

765
00:46:05,930 --> 00:46:08,550
We've been talking about that
all the way through here today.

766
00:46:08,550 --> 00:46:13,970
But I really want to hit home that this
is the biggest problem that all game

767
00:46:13,970 --> 00:46:18,320
programmers face, is sometimes
they can lose sight of what creates

768
00:46:18,320 --> 00:46:23,570
the essential greatness of
their game and try to add

769
00:46:23,570 --> 00:46:26,240
features that get away from that core.

770
00:46:26,240 --> 00:46:31,400
And so focus on the minimal viable,
the core dynamic of this game

771
00:46:31,400 --> 00:46:35,900
before you go and create a million
features on top of that core dynamic.

772
00:46:35,900 --> 00:46:40,700
So it's with that, beautiful team, that
I would love to take your questions.

773
00:46:40,700 --> 00:46:46,790
And I see Ezra is asking, "what are
some examples of recent games that

774
00:46:46,790 --> 00:46:50,240
have innovative game mechanics?"

775
00:46:50,240 --> 00:46:52,970
Well, first of all, I pose that
to everyone here in the chat box.

776
00:46:52,970 --> 00:46:55,520
Anyone here have some
innovative game mechanics

777
00:46:55,520 --> 00:46:58,250
that you would like to bring forward?

778
00:46:58,250 --> 00:47:00,620
And as you're typing
those out, like games that

779
00:47:00,620 --> 00:47:03,410
have really innovative game mechanics--

780
00:47:03,410 --> 00:47:07,580
one thing that I think is really
fascinating, there's a game on LOVE 2D

781
00:47:07,580 --> 00:47:18,320
called Stray, and the game dynamic
is it is a boiled-down survival

782
00:47:18,320 --> 00:47:22,190
game, the most boiled-down
it can be, but it

783
00:47:22,190 --> 00:47:28,610
looks like you're watching the whole
thing on a CRT security monitor.

784
00:47:28,610 --> 00:47:34,430
And I think the game dynamic
that works so well in that is it

785
00:47:34,430 --> 00:47:37,670
takes all the things we'd
expect of a survival game

786
00:47:37,670 --> 00:47:41,520
and it distills it down to
its most essential elements.

787
00:47:41,520 --> 00:47:43,580
And when you take
something and you distill

788
00:47:43,580 --> 00:47:47,720
it down like that and your
brain fills in the gaps,

789
00:47:47,720 --> 00:47:51,140
because it doesn't have
anything extra in it,

790
00:47:51,140 --> 00:47:55,940
that is really fun, a
really great game dynamic.

791
00:47:55,940 --> 00:47:59,120
As far as the templates
for this, number one

792
00:47:59,120 --> 00:48:03,527
is these slides are going to be
released on the CS50 website.

793
00:48:03,527 --> 00:48:05,360
If you're watching this
on YouTube, there'll

794
00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:09,470
be a link appearing below that where
you can also access those files.

795
00:48:09,470 --> 00:48:12,540
And those templates will be there.

796
00:48:12,540 --> 00:48:17,510
In addition to that, if you're talking
about the Simple Games Tutorial,

797
00:48:17,510 --> 00:48:19,940
the link is provided in the
slides which you'll also

798
00:48:19,940 --> 00:48:23,610
have access to at the conclusion
of our time together today.

799
00:48:23,610 --> 00:48:25,910
So this is our final
opportunity for any questions.

800
00:48:25,910 --> 00:48:30,000
If you quickly type, I can
surely answer your question.

801
00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:33,510
And so my encouragement
for all of you, first

802
00:48:33,510 --> 00:48:35,670
of all, number one,
what I want you to do

803
00:48:35,670 --> 00:48:38,610
is I want you to dip your toe into LOVE.

804
00:48:38,610 --> 00:48:40,470
And I want you to gut-check--

805
00:48:40,470 --> 00:48:43,450
is this the framework for me?

806
00:48:43,450 --> 00:48:47,130
Or is there another framework
that can potentially

807
00:48:47,130 --> 00:48:51,960
allow you to express yourself
more quickly or more in line

808
00:48:51,960 --> 00:48:55,040
with who you are trying to be?

809
00:48:55,040 --> 00:48:59,810
John is saying, "I am self-taught and
trying to get a job as soon as I can.

810
00:48:59,810 --> 00:49:02,420
Building a game sounds
really fun, but is it

811
00:49:02,420 --> 00:49:04,490
something that many
employers want to see

812
00:49:04,490 --> 00:49:07,310
in a portfolio for an
entry-level position?"

813
00:49:07,310 --> 00:49:11,210
I would say if it's an entry-level
position in game design or game

814
00:49:11,210 --> 00:49:13,230
programming, absolutely.

815
00:49:13,230 --> 00:49:16,670
In fact, I think what,
as Romero and Schreiber

816
00:49:16,670 --> 00:49:19,910
both say in their other book,
what they're looking for is--

817
00:49:19,910 --> 00:49:23,210
often, employers are looking
for are you creating games,

818
00:49:23,210 --> 00:49:24,800
or is this a theoretical idea?

819
00:49:24,800 --> 00:49:29,000
So, yes, spending a week or two
and creating a small-scope game,

820
00:49:29,000 --> 00:49:31,070
that could be really beneficial, John.

821
00:49:31,070 --> 00:49:35,690
If you're asking for a general job,
whether it's in computer science

822
00:49:35,690 --> 00:49:39,680
and programming or one of
those associated fields,

823
00:49:39,680 --> 00:49:45,710
I would say creating something you
can show others is really great,

824
00:49:45,710 --> 00:49:50,960
because, often, the people that are
hiring in entry-level positions--

825
00:49:50,960 --> 00:49:52,790
I suppose it depends where.

826
00:49:52,790 --> 00:49:57,740
If you're talking about a small
company, a mid-sized company that's

827
00:49:57,740 --> 00:50:02,090
not traditionally working in computer
science or in those associated fields,

828
00:50:02,090 --> 00:50:05,810
the people hiring you might not be
entirely familiar with programming.

829
00:50:05,810 --> 00:50:08,260
So being able to show
them something is useful.

830
00:50:08,260 --> 00:50:10,010
For those of you,
though, that are looking

831
00:50:10,010 --> 00:50:13,827
for entry-level positions in
a technology-related field,

832
00:50:13,827 --> 00:50:16,910
and you're probably going to an employer
that's hired many people like you

833
00:50:16,910 --> 00:50:19,970
before, they know exactly
what they want to ask you.

834
00:50:19,970 --> 00:50:21,650
Is it an absolute necessity?

835
00:50:21,650 --> 00:50:23,120
No, I don't think so.

836
00:50:23,120 --> 00:50:26,540
But your ability to show
the type of work you've

837
00:50:26,540 --> 00:50:28,850
done before, that you
can manage your time,

838
00:50:28,850 --> 00:50:32,420
that you can manage workflow, and
also answer their coding questions.

839
00:50:32,420 --> 00:50:35,550
And we have a great video, by the way,
in CS50 about the coding interview.

840
00:50:35,550 --> 00:50:36,800
I think you should also watch.

841
00:50:36,800 --> 00:50:38,840
You can see that on our YouTube channel.

842
00:50:38,840 --> 00:50:40,650
That could be potentially
useful as well.

843
00:50:40,650 --> 00:50:43,580
So my encouragement
is yes, create a game.

844
00:50:43,580 --> 00:50:48,260
One to two weeks, you'll have
something that you can show.

845
00:50:48,260 --> 00:50:49,640
Let's see here.

846
00:50:49,640 --> 00:50:53,420
Nathaniel is saying, "with all the
noise in the gaming environment,

847
00:50:53,420 --> 00:50:55,310
what is the best way
to break down the noise

848
00:50:55,310 --> 00:50:59,180
and find a new area to focus on a game?"

849
00:50:59,180 --> 00:51:01,430
Gosh, so many different sources.

850
00:51:01,430 --> 00:51:03,290
I would just go to any
source of creativity.

851
00:51:03,290 --> 00:51:09,120
I would say the most creative people
aren't necessarily the people that

852
00:51:09,120 --> 00:51:12,150
think the most deepest, necessarily.

853
00:51:12,150 --> 00:51:14,340
I think, often, people
that are most creative

854
00:51:14,340 --> 00:51:17,950
are those people that notice
things more than other people.

855
00:51:17,950 --> 00:51:20,640
And so what I encourage you
to do is, as you're walking,

856
00:51:20,640 --> 00:51:22,830
Nathaniel, throughout
your life and your day,

857
00:51:22,830 --> 00:51:26,550
is I want you to notice
what interests you.

858
00:51:26,550 --> 00:51:31,110
And if you start noticing things that
interest you, certain dynamics in life

859
00:51:31,110 --> 00:51:34,710
or certain things that are
happening out in the world today,

860
00:51:34,710 --> 00:51:37,710
see if you could somehow
bring that into a game.

861
00:51:37,710 --> 00:51:39,930
Because if it interests
you in your life,

862
00:51:39,930 --> 00:51:43,342
surely it can be something that would
be interesting to others as well.

863
00:51:43,342 --> 00:51:45,300
If we're talking about
game marketing, I am not

864
00:51:45,300 --> 00:51:47,100
the person to ask about game marketing.

865
00:51:47,100 --> 00:51:49,350
But there's a lot of
great experts out there

866
00:51:49,350 --> 00:51:51,210
that you can most definitely find.

867
00:51:51,210 --> 00:51:56,400
GDC, the Game Developers Conference,
is an excellent resource for marketing

868
00:51:56,400 --> 00:51:57,675
and things of that nature.

869
00:51:57,675 --> 00:52:01,790


870
00:52:01,790 --> 00:52:04,515
And forgive me if I get your
name incorrectly, Alercio says,

871
00:52:04,515 --> 00:52:06,140
"can I make larger games with LOVE 2D?"

872
00:52:06,140 --> 00:52:07,957
You absolutely can.

873
00:52:07,957 --> 00:52:10,040
You can take the small
game you've already created

874
00:52:10,040 --> 00:52:11,060
and create something big.

875
00:52:11,060 --> 00:52:12,185
You can create large games.

876
00:52:12,185 --> 00:52:14,510
In fact, as you go to
LOVE 2D's website, you

877
00:52:14,510 --> 00:52:17,960
can most definitely find other games
that have done quite well in the space.

878
00:52:17,960 --> 00:52:21,730


879
00:52:21,730 --> 00:52:24,670
Angela is offering that "people
want to hear a good story."

880
00:52:24,670 --> 00:52:26,470
Sometimes.

881
00:52:26,470 --> 00:52:28,660
Many of you know games
that tell no story.

882
00:52:28,660 --> 00:52:30,280
There's no story at all.

883
00:52:30,280 --> 00:52:33,910
And that's part of the fun, as
you fill it in with what you need.

884
00:52:33,910 --> 00:52:36,187
But there's lots of games
that have a great story.

885
00:52:36,187 --> 00:52:38,770
And, Angela, it sounds to me
like you love games with a story.

886
00:52:38,770 --> 00:52:42,670
So an interesting point
while we're talking

887
00:52:42,670 --> 00:52:46,910
about a minimum viable product, the
question becomes, how much of a story

888
00:52:46,910 --> 00:52:48,220
can you tell in that?

889
00:52:48,220 --> 00:52:51,310
If this is a two-week-long
game that you're creating,

890
00:52:51,310 --> 00:52:53,050
how much story can go in that?

891
00:52:53,050 --> 00:52:57,280
Is the five paragraph background of
the main character going to make it?

892
00:52:57,280 --> 00:52:58,360
Probably not.

893
00:52:58,360 --> 00:53:02,053
You probably only have a few sentences
to get across that main idea.

894
00:53:02,053 --> 00:53:04,970
Jonathan's asking, "is there a simpler
graphical game design framework

895
00:53:04,970 --> 00:53:06,470
for beginners similar to Scratch?"

896
00:53:06,470 --> 00:53:07,980
Well, Scratch is a great one.

897
00:53:07,980 --> 00:53:09,860
I would take a look at Godot.

898
00:53:09,860 --> 00:53:13,160
I would look at GameMaker Studio are
all ones that can get you started,

899
00:53:13,160 --> 00:53:15,440
most definitely.

900
00:53:15,440 --> 00:53:20,270
I'll also offer, Jonathan, that it
might not be as difficult as you think.

901
00:53:20,270 --> 00:53:23,810
But if you're looking for a
graphical game design tool,

902
00:53:23,810 --> 00:53:29,690
GameMaker Studio, as well as Godot
might be ones that are helpful.

903
00:53:29,690 --> 00:53:33,200
Unity also has amazing
training available.

904
00:53:33,200 --> 00:53:38,120
The docs are really
helpful and wonderful.

905
00:53:38,120 --> 00:53:41,560
Ezra's asking, "what are some key things
to keep in mind when designing sound

906
00:53:41,560 --> 00:53:42,700
for a game?"

907
00:53:42,700 --> 00:53:44,380
You know, I'm not a huge--

908
00:53:44,380 --> 00:53:46,720
I'm not a sound expert,
but what I would say

909
00:53:46,720 --> 00:53:51,500
is that one is simplicity
over anything else.

910
00:53:51,500 --> 00:53:55,060
And if you're looking for someone
that is an expert in sound,

911
00:53:55,060 --> 00:53:56,290
I would go find an expert.

912
00:53:56,290 --> 00:54:00,250
Go find someone that's
really great in sound design.

913
00:54:00,250 --> 00:54:05,122
You can go on to most
musicianal hire websites.

914
00:54:05,122 --> 00:54:07,330
And you'll type in sound
design, and there are people

915
00:54:07,330 --> 00:54:09,413
there that you can hire
if you're wanting to hire.

916
00:54:09,413 --> 00:54:15,340
If not, go to YouTube and type in "how
to design sound for a great game."

917
00:54:15,340 --> 00:54:17,720
There is a great tool--

918
00:54:17,720 --> 00:54:19,840
in fact, this is one of
the unexpected things.

919
00:54:19,840 --> 00:54:25,030
That's why I love Q&A. There is
a tool out there called BFXR--

920
00:54:25,030 --> 00:54:32,470
like Bob, Frank, X like
X-ray, R as in ray--

921
00:54:32,470 --> 00:54:33,170
BFXR.

922
00:54:33,170 --> 00:54:37,910
And this tool is a synthesis
tool, like a sound synthesis tool,

923
00:54:37,910 --> 00:54:43,460
and it creates free, usable
sound effects for your game.

924
00:54:43,460 --> 00:54:47,000
Like, there's a coin button, and
it knows what a coin sounds like,

925
00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:50,450
and it will join, it will
hit, it will do a random coin.

926
00:54:50,450 --> 00:54:53,270
If you want a power up,
it has power ups there.

927
00:54:53,270 --> 00:54:56,180
And again, I want to think Colton
Ogden for pointing that out to me.

928
00:54:56,180 --> 00:54:56,680
BFXR.

929
00:54:56,680 --> 00:54:59,610


930
00:54:59,610 --> 00:55:02,550
So with that, team, I want to say
thank you for being here today.

931
00:55:02,550 --> 00:55:06,300
If you want to go deeper in this,
I encourage you, first of all,

932
00:55:06,300 --> 00:55:10,170
to check out our offerings here in CS50.

933
00:55:10,170 --> 00:55:13,260
If you're watching this on YouTube,
just simply go down below this video

934
00:55:13,260 --> 00:55:16,350
and you're going to see a host
of links for you to access.

935
00:55:16,350 --> 00:55:24,310
I would encourage you to delve deep
into the next two weeks or so into one

936
00:55:24,310 --> 00:55:28,120
project and not give up on that
project unless you're absolutely

937
00:55:28,120 --> 00:55:30,370
sure that it's simply not viable.

938
00:55:30,370 --> 00:55:33,190
And if it isn't, immediately
turn around and decide

939
00:55:33,190 --> 00:55:35,800
to create something that's
viable and work in that project.

940
00:55:35,800 --> 00:55:39,470
So an absolute honor
working with all of you.

941
00:55:39,470 --> 00:55:42,970
And I wish you a great day as you go out
and you create the game of your dreams.

942
00:55:42,970 --> 00:55:43,928
Have a great day, team.

943
00:55:43,928 --> 00:55:45,630
Thanks again.

944
00:55:45,630 --> 00:55:47,000