The art of computer game design by chris crawford

The Art of Computer Game Design by Chris Crawford
Preface to the Electronic Version: This text was originally composed by computer game designer Chris Crawford in 1982. When searching for literature on the nature of gaming and its relationship to narrative in 1997, Prof. Sue Peabody learned of The Art of Computer Game Design, which was then long out of print. Prof. Peabody requested Mr.Crawford's permission to publish an electronic version of the text on the World Wide Web so that it would be available to her students and to others interested in game design. Washington State University Vancouver generously made resources available to hire graphic artist Donna Loper to produce this electronic version. WSUV currently houses and maintains the site. Correspondence regarding this site shouldbe addressed to Prof. Sue Peabody, Department of History, Washington State University Vancouver, peabody@vancouver.wsu.edu. If you are interested in more recent writings by Chris Crawford, see the Reflections interview at the end of The Art of Computer Game Design; the Virtools Swap-meet interview with Chris Crawford; and Chris Crawford's webpage, Erasmatazz. A PDF version of this text isavailable HERE. To download Adobe Reader, follow THIS link. Table of Contents
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Acknowledgement Preface Chapter 1 - What is a Game? Chapter 2 - Why Do People Play Games? Chapter 3 - A Taxonomy of Computer Games Chapter 4 - The Computer as a Game Technology Chapter 5 - The Game Design Sequence Chapter 6 - Design Techniques and Ideals Chapter 7 - The Future of Computer GamesChapter 8 - Development of Excalibur Reflections - Interview with Chris The Education of a Game Designer, November 2003

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I am deeply indebted to Madeleine M. Gross for her painstaking and thorough criticisms of this book. In many cases she invested greater efforts into her criticisms than I had put into my original thoughts. She strove to restrain my wild hyperbole and place myarguments on a firmer foundation of rigorous logic. The logical consistency and reliability in this book I owe to her; the speculative flights of fancy must be laid at my doorstep.
PREFACE

The central premise of this book is that computer games constitute a new and as yet poorly developed art form that holds great promise for both designers and players.

This premise may seem laughable orflippant. How could anybody classify the likes of SPACE INVADERS and PAC MAN as art? How can TEMPEST or MISSILE COMMAND compare with Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, Michelangelo's Pieta, or Hemingway's A Farewell To Arms? Computer games are too trivial, too frivolous to be called art. They are idle recreation at best. So says the skeptic. But we cannot relegate computer games to the cesspit of pop culturesolely on the evidence of the current crop of games. The industry is too young and the situation is too dynamic for us to dismiss computer games so easily. We must consider the potential, not the actuality. We must address the fundamental aspects of computer games to achieve a conclusion that will withstand the ravages of time and change. There are many definitions of art, few of which make muchsense to the uninitiated. I will present my own pedestrian definition: art is something designed to evoke emotion through fantasy. The artist presents his audience with a set of sensory experiences that stimulates commonly shared fantasies, and so generates emotions. Art is made possible only by the richness of the fantasy world we share. Art is nevertheless difficult, because there are so manypractical problems associated with stimulating fantasies deep inside another person's mind. A major problem is getting the attention or participation of the audience. Most art allows very little participation. You sit quietly and listen to music that other people created and perform, or you stroll through a museum and stare at pictures or statues other people made. You sit passively and read a...