Abstract
The creation of a serious game comprises a multitude of tasks ranging from idea finding to playtesting. A crucial step is the implementation of the game design as a computer system. The quality—and to a lesser extent, cost and future adaptability—of a serious game depends heavily on the processes chosen to coordinate and to support all authors involved. This chapter aims at presenting a foundation for specifying authoring processes and selecting authoring tools for an individual serious game project. It starts with looking at the challenges authors face when trying to accomplish their tasks, and discussing approaches that support the authors. On a more general level, basic concepts are introduced with user-centered design and agile development techniques that are often reflected in successful authoring processes for serious games. Finally, software tools for supporting authors are addressed. Here, two examples are examined in more detail: a general-purpose tool for authoring digital games, and an authoring tool that specializes in creating a certain subset of serious games.
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Notes
- 1.
For game development tools, online materials are also of interest. For instance, Unity is widely used in professional and amateur projects, and therefore a multitude of free online resources for learning and getting help exists. The tutorials provided on Unity’s homepage (http://unity3d.com) are a good starting point.
No single conference or journal dedicated primarily to authoring tools for games exists. Research on serious games’ authoring tools is often published in outlets for serious games, such as the International Journal of Game-Based Learning, Game Days, or the European Conference on Game-Based Learning
Recommended Literature
For game development tools, online materials are also of interest. For instance, Unity is widely used in professional and amateur projects, and therefore a multitude of free online resources for learning and getting help exists. The tutorials provided on Unity’s homepage (http://unity3d.com) are a good starting point.
No single conference or journal dedicated primarily to authoring tools for games exists. Research on serious games’ authoring tools is often published in outlets for serious games, such as the International Journal of Game-Based Learning, Game Days, or the European Conference on Game-Based Learning
Gibson J (2014) Introduction to game design, prototyping, and development: From concept to playable game with Unity and C#. Addison Wesley—this book is an example of books that explain game development by sticking closely to a general-purpose game development tool. In this case, Unity is used but there are also similar books available that use other game development software (e.g., the unreal engine)
Keith C (2010) Agile Game Development with SCRUM. Addison Wesley—an introductory text in agile software development techniques and how they can be applied to game development in general
Lightbown D (2015) Designing the user experience of game development tools. Apple Academic Press Inc.—an interesting read for persons who want to provide authors with custom-tailored tools
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Mehm, F., Dörner, R., Masuch, M. (2016). Authoring Processes and Tools. In: Dörner, R., Göbel, S., Effelsberg, W., Wiemeyer, J. (eds) Serious Games. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40612-1_4
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