3D Game Genres and Styles

Game development is a creative enterprise. There are ways to categorize the
game genres but I want you to keep in mind that while some games fit each genre
 like a glove, many others do not. That's the nature of creativity. Developers
 keep coming up with new ideas; sometimes they are jockeying for an advantage
 over the competition, sometimes they are just scratching an itch. At other
 times, calculating marketing departments decide that mixing two popular genres
 is a sure-fire path to a secure financial future.

The first rule of creative design is that there are no rules. Like all rules, of
course, there are exceptions. If you are just scratching an itch, then more
power to you. If you are looking to make a difference in the gaming world, you
should at least understand the arena. Here we're going look at the most common
3D genres around today, and a few that are interesting from an historical
perspective. When you are trying to decide what sort of game you want to create,
 you should try understanding the genres and using them as guides to help focus
  your ideas.

It's also important to note that all of the screenshots in this chapter are of
games by Indie Game developers. Some of them are currently shipping retail games
and some are still in development. Almost all of them use the same Torque Game
Engine we will use in this book to develop our own game.

By no means is this a definitive list; there are many genres that don't exist in
the 3D gaming realm, and the number of ways of combining elements of genres is
just too large to bother trying to enumerate. If you take pride in your
creativity, you might resist attempts to pigeonhole your game idea into one of
these genres, and I wouldn't blame you. However when trying to communicate your
ideas to others, you will find it very useful to use the genres as shorthand for
various collections of features, style and game play.

[3]Action

Figure 1.1
ThinkTanks - a 3rd Person Point-of-view Action Game made by BraveTree
Productions using Torque.

Action games come in several forms. The most popular are the First Person
Point-Of-View (1st PPOV), where your player character is armed, as are your
opponents. The game play is executed through the eyes of your character. These
 sorts of games are usually called First Person Shooters (FPS). Game play
 variations include Death Match; Capture the Flag; Attack & Defend;
 King-of-the-Hill. Action games often have multiplayer online play where your
  opponents are enemies controlled by real people instead of just
  computer-controlled opponents. Success in FPS games requires quick reflexes,
   good eye-hand coordination, and an intimate knowledge of the capabilities
   of your in-game weapons. Online FPS games are so popular that some games
   have no single-player game modes.

Some Action games are strictly 3rd PPOV, where you view your player-character,
 or avatar while also viewing the rest of the virtual world your avatar inhabits
  (Figure 1.1).
Half-Life, Rainbow 6 and Delta Force:BlackHawk Down are popular examples of
FPS-style Action games.
[3]Adventure
Adventure games are basically about exploring, go on a quest, find things and
solve puzzles. The pioneering Adventure games were text based. You would type
in movement commands, and as you entered each new area or room you were given a
 brief description of where you were. Phrases like "You are in a maze of twisty
 passages, all alike" are now gaming classics. The best Adventure games play
 like interactive books or stories, where you as the player decide what happens
  next, to a certain degree.

Text adventures evolved into text-based games with static images giving the
player a better idea of his surroundings. Eventually these merged with 3D
modeling technology. The player was then presented with either a first- or third
- person point-of-view of the scene his character was experiencing.

Adventure games are heavily story based and typically very linear. You have to
find your way from one major accomplishment to the next. As the story develops
you soon become more capable of predicting where the game is going. Your success
derives from your ability to anticipate and make the best choices.

Some well-known examples of Adventure games are The King's Quest series, The
 Longest Journey, and Syberia.

Many elements of Adventure games are now found merged with those of Role Playing
 Games, and vice versa.


Figure 1.2

TubettiWorld - a hybrid Action/Adventure game being developed by Tubetti
Enterprises, also using Torque


Online adventure games have not really come into their own yet, although some
games are emerging that might fit the genre. They tend to include elements of
FPS Action games and RPG games to fill out the game play, since the story aspect
 of the game is more difficult to accomplish in an online environment. Players
 advance at different speeds, so a monolithic linear storyline would become
 pretty dreary to more advanced player. An example of an Online Adventure / FPS
 hybrid is Tubettiworld (Figure 1.2), being developed by my all-volunteer team
 at Tubetti Enterprises.

[3]Role-Playing

Figure 1.3

Myrmidon - Science Fiction RPG being developed by 21- 6 Productions, another
Torque-based game.

Role Playing games are very popular, and that popularity probably find its roots
 in our early childhood. At younger than six or seven, we often imagined and
 acted out exciting adventures inspired by our action figures and other toys, or
  children's books. Like strategy games, the more mature forms of these games
   first evolved as 'pen-and-paper' games, such as Dungeons & Dragons.

These games moved into the computer realm with the computer taking on more of
the data-manipulation tasks of the game masters. In role-playing games, the
player is usually responsible for the development of his game character's
skills, physical appearance, loyalties and other characteristics. Eventually,
the game environment moved from each player's imaginations onto the computer,
with rich 3-D fantasy worlds populated by visually satisfying representations of
 buildings, monsters and creatures (Figure 1.3). RPGs are usually science
 fiction or fantasy based, with some historically oriented games being popular
 in certain niches.

[3]Mazes & Puzzles


Figure 1.4

Marble Blast - a Maze and Puzzle hybrid game by GarageGames using their Torque
Game Engine.

Maze and Puzzle games are somewhat similar to each other. In a Maze game you
need to find your way through a 'physical' maze where your routes are defined by
 walls and other barriers.. Early Maze games were 2D, viewed from the top; more
 recent ones play more like 3D Adventure or FPS games.

Puzzle games are often like Maze games but with problems that need to be solved
instead of 'physical' barriers to progress.

Mazes also make their appearance in arcade pinball-style games such as Marble
Blast (Figure 1.4) by Garage Games. It is a Maze and Puzzle hybrid game where
you compete against the clock in an effort to navigate a marble around physical
 barriers. The puzzle aspect lies in determining the fastest (not necessarily
 the most direct) route to the finish line.

***Insert Figure 01-05.TIF


Chain Reactions -  Puzzle Game by Monster Studios, using their Reaction Engine

Puzzle games sometimes use puzzles that are variations of the shell game, or
more indirect problem solving puzzles where you must cause a series of things to
 happen in order to trigger some further action that lets you advance. Many
 puzzle games utilize direct problem solving modes where the puzzle is presented
  visually. You then need to manipulate on-screen icons or controls in the
  correct sequences to solve the problem. The best puzzles are those where the
  solution can be deduced using logic. Puzzles that require pure trial-and-error
   problem solving techniques tend become tedious rather quickly. An historic
   example of a puzzle game is The Incredible Machine series by Dynamix. The
   latest variation of this type is the new game Chain Reactions by Monster
   Studios (Figure 1.5).

[3] Simulators

The goal of a Simulator game is to reproduce a real-world situation as
accurately as possible. The measure of the accuracy is usually called its
fidelity. Most simulators put a heavy emphasis on the fidelity of the visual
appearance, sounds and physics of the game.

The point is total immersion in the game environment, so that you get the
feeling that you are actually there. You may be flying a jet fighter or a
thoroughbred Grand Prix racing car. The game mirrors the real life experience to
 the maximum the developers can manage.

Simulators usually require specialized input devices and controllers, such as
aircraft joysticks and rudder pedals. Many simulator enthusiasts build complete
 physical cockpit mockups to enhance the immersion experience.

[3]Sports

Sport games are a variation of the simulator class of games where the
developer's intent is to reproduce the broad experience of the game as
accurately as possible.

Unlike the action-oriented Flight and Driving Simulators, Sports games usually
 have a 'Season' or 'Manager' angle where you can also take on the role of
 coach, owner or team manager. You can execute draft picks and trades or groom
  new players like any major league ball organization would. In a modern sports
  simulator you could be managing budgets; you might play or race a regular
  year's schedule, and different stadiums, arenas, or tracks; you then can play
  out the part of one or more of the roles of the team.

[3]Strategy

Strategy games began as 'pen-and-paper' games, like war games, that have been
around for centuries. As computer technology evolved, computer-based tables and
random-number generators replaced the decision-making aspects of strategy games,
 traditionally embodied by look-up charts and dice rolls.

Eventually the tabletop battlefields (or sand-box battlefields) with their
cardboard markers or die-cast military miniatures moved into the computers as
well. The early tabletop games were usually turn-based: each player would in
turn consider his options and issue his 'orders' to his units, then the dice
would be thrown to determine the result of the orders, The players would then
modify the battlefield based upon the results. Next, the players would observe
the new shape of the battlefield and plot their next moves. The cycle then
repeated itself.

The advent of computer-based strategy games brought the concept of real-time to
the forefront. Now the computer determines the moves and results and structures
the battlefield accordingly. It does this on a time-scale that reflects the
action. Sometimes the computer will compress the time-scale, and other times the
 computer will operate in real-time, where one minute of time in the game action
 takes one minute in the real world.. The player issues orders to his unit as he
 deems them to be necessary.

There are Strategy games that exist outside the world of warfare. Some examples
 include business strategy games and political strategy games. Some of these
  games are evolving into Strategic Simulations, like the well-known SimCity
  series of games.


Table 1-1 A list of some popular retail 3D games and their genres.
Game	Publisher	Genre
Doom III	Activision	Action-FPS
WarCraft III: Reign Of Chaos	Blizzard	RTS
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City	Rockstar Games	Action/Sim
Star Wars Jedi Knight 3	LucasArts	Action-FPS
Battlefield 1942	Electronic Arts	Action-FPS
Homeworld	Sierra	RTS
Everquest	Sony	RPG
Diablo	Blizzard	RPG
Enter The Matrix	Infogrames	Action-FPS
Half Life 2    	Sierra	Action-FPS
Command & Conquer	Electronic Arts	RTS
Unreal Tournament 2003  	Infogrames	Action-FPS
Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield	UbiSoft	Action-FPS
Delta Force: Blackhawk Down	Novalogic	Action-FPS
Civilization III	MicroProse	Strategy
Duke Nukem Forever	Gathering of Developers	Action-FPS
PlanetSide	Sony	Action-FPS
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell	UbiSoft	Action-FPS
Age of Empires	Microsoft	Strategy
Unreal II The Awakening	Infogrames	Action-FPS
Star Trek Elite Force 2	Activision	Action-FPS
Return to Castle Wolfenstein	Activision	Action-FPS
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault	Electronic Arts	Action-FPS
WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne	Blizzard	RTS
Dungeon Siege	Microsoft	Action/RPG
Myst III Exile	UbiSoft	Adventure
The Longest Journey	Funcom	Adventure
Syberia	Microids	Adventure
SimCity 4	Electronic Arts	Strategy-Sim


[2]Game Platforms

This book is about computer games written for personal computers. There are
three dominant operating systems - Microsoft Windows, Linux, and MacOS. For some
 of these systems there are quite a few different flavors, but the differences
  within each system are usually negligible, or at least manageable.

Another obvious game platform type is the home game console such as the Sony
Playstation or the Nintendo Gamecube. These are indeed important, but because of
 the closed nature of the development tools and the expensive licenses required
 to create games for them, they are beyond the scope of this book.

Other game platforms include Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) such as the Palm
-based computers, and cell phones that support protocols that permit games to
played on them. Again, these platforms are also beyond the scope of this book.

Now that those little disclaimers are out of the way, let's take a closer look
at the three game platforms of interest. It's important to note that by using
the Torque Game Engine, you will be able to develop what amounts to a single
code base for a game that you can ship for all three platforms - Windows, Linux
and Macintosh!

[3]Windows

Windows has various historical versions but the current flavors are Windows
 2000, Windows XP and the specialized Windows CE. In this book, the expectation
  will be that you are developing on, or for a Windows XP target system, since
  that is the version that Microsoft is now selling to the home computer market

Within Windows XP, we will be using DirectX and OpenGL as our low-level graphics
 Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). These APIs provide a means for our
 engine to access the features of the video adapters in our computers. Both
 DirectX and OpenGL provide basically the same services, but each has its
 strengths and weaknesses. With Torque you will have the choice of letting your
 end-users use either API.

OpenGL's greatest strength lies in its availability with different computer
systems. This has obvious benefits for the developer, making it easier to create
 a game that works on the largest number of computers. OpenGL is an open-source
  product. In a nutshell, this means that if there is a particular capability
  that you want that OpenGL lacks, you can get access to the OpenGL source code
  and rebuild it the way you want. This assumes you have the skills, time and
  tools necessary to get the job done, but you can do it.

DirectX is proprietary - it is the creation and intellectual property of
Microsft Corporation. Its biggest advantage is that it tends to support more
features than OpenGL, and the 3D video adapter manufacturers tend to design
their hardware to work with DirectX as much as they can. With DirectX you get a
much more complete and the most advanced feature set. Unfortunately, you are
limited to Windows-based system if you put all your eggs in the DirectX basket.

The Torque Game Engine uses both APIs, and gives you a rather straightforward
set of techniques to setup your game with either. This means that in a Windows
version of your game you can offer your user the option of using the API that
best suits their video adapter.

[3]Linux

For most people, the single most important reason to use Linux is the price -
it's free. You may have to pay to get a distribution of Linux on CD with manuals
at a store, but you are paying for the cost of burning the CD, writing and
printing the manuals, and distribution. You don't have to pay for the operating
system itself. In fact, you can download Linux from many different locations on
the Internet.

As a game developer, your interest in targeting Linux will be three-fold.

·	Linux is a growing market place, and any market that is growing is a good
target. Although the market is growing, it is still smaller than the Windows
market. However, the place where Linux is growing is in universities, colleges
and other post-secondary institutions - and this is probably where your best
computer gaming audience is.

·	There are few computer games available for Linux desktops; most developers
focus on Windows because it is the biggest market. If you ship a game for Linux,
 you will be a bigger fish in a smaller ocean. That gets you exposure and a
 reputation that you can build on. And that's nothing to sneeze at.

·	Linux offers more a more configurable and secure environment for unattended
Internet game servers. Linux servers can be run in a console mode that requires
 no fancy graphics, buttons or mice. This allows you to utilize slower computers
  with less memory for servers and still get the computing power you need for
  your game server.

Unlike other operating systems, Linux comes in a variety of flavors known as
 distributions. There are many ongoing arguments about the merits of one
 distribution or another. Some of the more popular distributions are Redhat,
 SuSe, Mandrake, Turbolinux, Debian, Slackware, and Caldera. Although they may
  be organized differently in some cases and each has its unique graphical look
   and feel, they are all based on the same kernel. It is the kernel that
   defines it as Linux.
