Game Design and Game Development Resources¶

This page lists useful resources that can explain how to design games in general. It also lists resources for a specific subtopic of game design, the structure of the game's code. Try to divide this page with useful subheadings that group the links.

Story Design¶

• The master himself on "Fairy Stories" (sic): J.R.R. Tolkien, On Fairy Stories (1939). In: C.S. Lewis (editor), Essays presented to Charles Williams. William B. Eerdmans Pub., Grand Rapids 1947.

  • Easier to find reprint: J.R.R. Tolkien, Tree and Leaf. George Allen & Unwin (Publishers) Ltd, London 1964. ISBN: 0 04 820015 8.
  • English Wikipedia summary, German Wikipedia summary. Reading the original is recommended, but Tolkien's English is very elaborate and for a non-native speaker quite challenging. There's a German translation around somewhere, but Tolkien heavily draws from language specifics, thus the essay cannot really be fully understood in another language than English.

• Appearently an early good example of applying these principles is System Shock, as documented here.

Code Design¶

Game coding¶

• Robert Nystrom, Game Programming Patterns (web version is free of charge, consider buying the hardcopy)
• OpenGL tutorial: https://learnopengl.com/
• HN discussion on enemy pathfinding
• Generating organic patterns with L-systems
• Small study on small custom game engines
• This person wrote a custom C++ game engine from OpenGL scratch in 30 weeks with a team size of 11 persons
• Background on programmatical colour handling
• GameMode, sets various OS configuration parameters on Linux while a game is running
• Efficient memory management with handles instead of pointers (lobste.rs discussion)
• Ray Tracing in One Weekend
• Procedural Content Generation
• Random scattering: Creating Realistic Landscapes
• Bullet3D physics tutorial (targetted at iOS, but the concepts extend to other platforms).

Coding in general¶

• If you need to refresh your C++ knowledge: learncpp.com
• Stay up to date with latest C++ concepts by following lobste.rs on C++
• How to properly organise C++ header files: Kieras, C++ Header File Guidelines (2015)
• Highly recommended article on API design: Henning, acmqueue 2007/4, 24: API Design Matters (PDF available)

Abstract topics¶

• Transformation
  • Transformations in OpenGL
  • Quarternions in Ogre
  • Rotation matrices
  • Vector math (German)

Ogre specifics¶

• Blender's Y axis is Ogre's default Z axis. Consequently, models exported from Blender with blender2ogre into .mesh format appear rotated in Ogre without further adjustments. The upwards-pointing axis in Blender cannot be changed. Early versions of the blender2ogre exporter had a transformation option to auto-rotate a mesh on export from Blender, but the option was dropped around 2007. The now recommended solution is to rotate Ogre's camera accordingly and simply disregard Ogre's default setup.
  • Turns out the option has been reimplemented meanwhile. The exporter now calls it "Swap Ax" and it's right the first point under "General" in the exporter menu.

Dungeon design¶

• Dungeon map generator
• Hobbyist creating a modded dungeon for an existing game, quite interesting read

World design¶

• Lighting tutorial
• How Barcelona developed, illustrated with maps over time (Spanish)
• Blend Swap -- liberally licensed Blender assets
• OpenGameArt -- large collection of 2D and 3D graphics under liberal licenses

Graphical ideas¶

• Truchet tiles: Many interesting floor or wall patterns from very simple tiles
• Wallpaper groups, or: how to make a graphic tile properly
• Generative art

Miscellaneous¶

• Monastery Plan of St. Gall. This plan dates to the 9th century and gives the ideal form of a monastery. English Wikipedia, German Wikipedia
• Passauer Kunst (“Art of Passau”) Superstitional believe in the Middle Ages that certain papers from the city of Passau could make you invulnerable.
• British Museum's Historical Travel Guide to Edo. The Tōkaidō may serve as inspiration for our fantasy world's most important street.
• Montezuma's headdress, a featherwork crown of unknown history from the Aztec empire.
• How to Write Cuneiform -- might be useful for a script system in the game.
• Mile stones, to be placed among the overworld for orientation (English)
• How to create a waving flag in GIMP