Programming Games Without Programming sort of

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Programming Games Without Programming(sort of)

• H. Muñoz-Avila
• Jarret Raim
• Jonathan Martin

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Most Popular Games Genres

• Adventure games
• Solving puzzles
• Finding clues
• E.g., through conversations with NPCs
• Role Playing Games (RPG)
• Player assumes fictional roles through Avatars
• Avatar acquires skills by performing
  tasks/actions
• Levels indicate the progress of the avatar
• Massive Multiplayer Online RPG (MMORPG)
• RPGs with multiple other players in pervasive
  worlds

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Most Popular Games Genres (II)

• Strategy games
• resource gathering, managing economy, technology
  development
• Real-Time Strategy (RTS)
• Simultaneous actions
• Turn-based Games (TBS)
• Take turns
• Wargames
• Accurate depiction of actual units and maps
• Sport Games
• Simulation of actual sport games
• Games of chance
• Outcome highly influenced by a stochastic
  environment

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Motivation Scripting Programming Languages

• The Community Expansion Package is a game
  created by players, many non-programmers
• It is build using a software tool called Aurora
  which is included in the game Neverwinter Nights
  
• In fact using Aurora, gamers creating thousands
  their own games
• Most variants of the original game
• Others significant departures

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Thief 2 How to program NPC behavior?
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Finite State Machines and Games

• State an activity performed by an avatar
• Event something that happens in the game world
  that makes state change

Enemy on sight
Attack
Patrol
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Another Finite State Machine

• States
• Attack
• Chase
• Spawn
• Wander
• Events
• E see an enemy
• S hear a sound
• D die

Attack
E
D
E
Wander
E
E
Spawn
D
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But it gets even easier (event-on-map)
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Even at a Larger Scale
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Ok Let Us Construct One Finite State Machine

• Lets program High Priestess Jeklik
• Here is she in action
• Text Description
• Step 1 list states and events
• Step 2 Construct the Finite State Machine

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Homework (next class)

• Pick an existing game
• Select one or more NPCs in the game
• Create a Finite State Machine modeling the
  behavior of the NPCs
• List states (at least 5)
• List events (at least 5)
• Draw Finite State Machine
• Pick and existing game (can be same as before)
• Provide at least 3 different examples of
  events-on-map

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Computer Programs

• -Program sequence of instructions that the
  computer can understand
• read(x)
• read(y)
• z ? x y
• print(z)

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Scripts

• - Script specialized program that uses
  instructions that are based on game world
• pick-weapon()
• if monster then
• attack(monster)
• if hurt then
• heal()

A Finite State Machine
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Three Engines

• Adventure Game Studio
• http//www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/
• RPG Maker
• http//www.enterbrain.co.jp/tkool/RPG_XP/eng/
• Aurora (Neverwinter Nigths
  http//nwn.bioware.com/
• Almost for every game genre there is such an
  engine
• Available with the commercial release of the game

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Aurora Neverwinter Toolset
By Nicholas Haines
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Final Remarks

• Give some serious thought to doing the optional
  assignment of creating a game
• Try one of the engines
• Last time some 50 of the class created one
• Its fun and
• Some 80 of them got exempt from the Final Exam