Assignments for Session 8 of The Los Angeles Film School's Game PreProduction course.

1. Session 8
David Mullich
Concept Workshop - Game PreProduction
The Los Angeles Film School

2. Rule Hierarchy
 Rules
 Mechanics
 Systems

3. Examples of Game Systems
 Scoring
 Progression
 In-Game Economy
 Health
 Combat
 AI (Enemy Behavior)
 Magic
 Multiplayer

4. Health System Example
 The player starts the game with 3 lives.
 The player can gain an additional life by one of these methods:
 Collecting the Reincarnation Medallion
 Defeating three Mummies in less than 30 seconds
 The player loses a life when his health reaches 0% (see Combat
System).
 If the player has at least one life remaining:
○ The player’s Health is reset to 100%
○ The player respawns at the nearest player respawn point
○ All enemies respawn at their respawn points at 100% Health
 If the player has no lives remaining, the Lose Game Screen appears.

5. Progression System Example
 The player starts the game with 0 Experience Points.
 The player gains experience by successfully performing actions in
this chart:
Action Points Earned
Collecting gold 1 for each gold piece
Opening a treasure chest 50 points
Defeating a minion 100 points
Defeating a boss 1,000 points

6. Progression System Example
 The player gains an Experience level each time he accumulates the
necessary number of Experience points according to the table
below.
Experience Level Experience Points
1 100
2 200
3 400
4 800
5 1600

7. Progression System Example
 When the player Earns a new experience level:
 A pop-up appears announcing: “Congratulation! You have
reached level <LEVEL> and have earned <REWARD>.”
 Player level rewards are determined by the table below.
Experience Level Experience Points
1 Iron Sword
2 +1 Strength
3 Steel Sword
4 +1 Speed
5 Vibranium Sword

8. Combat System Example
 The attacker is the character (player character or enemy character)
who initiates combat)
 Combat occurs in a serious of rounds, in which the attacker strikes
the defender, and then the defender (if still alive) strikes the
attacker)
 The amount of damage done in each attack depends on the
character’s weapon, according to the table below:
Weapon Damage
Fist 1
Club 3
Dagger 5
Short Sword 10
Long Sword 20

9. Combat System Example
 The damage done by the weapon is subtracted from the target’s
health.
 If both character’s health is greater than 0, then combat continues
for another round.
 If either character’s health reaches 0, then combat immediately
ends. (See Life System).

10. AI System Example
 There are 4 states in the basic AI: Patrol,
Follow, Combat and Runaway.
 PATROL: Each enemy starts the level in Patrol mode.
In Patrol mode, each enemy walks between two
assigned waypoints at normal speed.
 FOLLOW: If the player moves within an enemy’s sight
range while it is in Patrol Mode, it goes into Follow
mode. In Follow mode, the enemy follows the player
at high speed.
 COMBAT: If the player and enemy character collide,
the enemy goes into Combat Mode. (See Combat
System).
 RUNAWAY: Each 10 seconds the enemy is in Follow
mode, there is a percent chance equal to the player’s
Experience Level, that the enemy will go into
Runaway Mode. In Runaway mode, the Enemy
returns to its closest waypoint at High Speed. Once it
arrives, it returns to Patrol mode.
Combat
Patrol
Follow
Runaway

11. Systems - Example
Enemy Radius Normal
Speed
High Speed Damage Hit Points
Womp Rat 5 3 5 1 5
Vorpel
Bunny
10 10 20 2 8
Bug Bear 20 5 10 10 15
Lion King 30 15 20 20 20
Kimono
Dragon
30 5 30 30 100

12. Develop your Systems Wiki page:
 What are the systems in your game?
 How does the player interact with these systems?
 How do the systems interact with one another?
Describe these in detail exactly how they work. Remember that a
programmer will eventually have to implement these, so the
programmer needs specific information about each system, not vague
generalities. However, avoid long paragraphs, and instead get your
meaning across using:
 Flowcharts
 Diagrams
 Formulas
Wiki