How Video Game

Designers Use Math

By Jill Egan

Math Curriculum Consultant: Rhea A. Stewart, M.A.,

Specialist in Mathematics, Science,
and Technology Education

VideoGameFNL.indd 1 8/17/09 7:16:26 AM

Math in the Real World: How Video Game Designers Use Math

Copyright © 2010 by Infobase Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
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Egan, Jill.
How video game designers use math / by Jill Egan; math curriculum consultant, Rhea A. Stewart.
p. cm. — (Math in the real world)
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-60413-603-6 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4381-3067-5 (e-book)
1. Computer games—Mathematics—Juvenile literature. 2. Computer animation—Mathematics—
Juvenile literature. 3. Video games—Mathematics—Juvenile literature. 4. Computer games—
Programming—Vocational guidance—Juvenile literature. 5. Video games—Design—Vocational
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 Table of Contents

What Is Video Game Design? ................................. 4

Designing for the Audience .................................... 6
What a Character! ................................................... 8
Creating a Scene ................................................... 10
All About Animation ............................................. 12
Thinking About Speed .......................................... 14
Creating Color ....................................................... 16
What’s That Sound? .............................................. 18
On the Level .......................................................... 20
3-D Design .............................................................. 22
Capturing Motion .................................................. 24
Meet Satoshi Tajiri................................................. 26
If You Want to Be a Video Game Designer .......... 28
Answer Key ........................................................... 29
Glossary ................................................................. 30
To Learn More ....................................................... 31
Index ...................................................................... 32
Answers and helpful hints for the You Do the Math
activities are in the Answer Key.
Words that are defined in the Glossary are
in bold type the first time they appear in the text.

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 What Is
Video Game
Design? I magine spending your days getting
paid to think about, create, and
play video games. For video game
designers, that’s all in day’s work!
There are many steps involved
in creating a video game. It can take
months, or even years, to create just
one game.

Designing the
Game
First, video game
designers have an
idea for a game.
They can get ideas
from reading a
favorite book, hav-
ing fun outside, or
playing other video
games. Designers
then might draw
pictures to show
their ideas. Or they
might write about
their ideas.
Often, several designers will Next, they share their ideas with
work together on developing
a new game.
other video game designers. They
talk about the different parts that
4

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 make up a video game. They talk about
design, animation, and sound effects. Now
the designers are ready to create the game.
They use computer software programs to
build the game’s graphics, characters, and
sounds.
Math is one of the most important skills
for a video game designer to have. For
example, a designer might use geometry
to draw a building.
You Do the Math
A Video Game Designer’s Schedule
The schedule below shows the number of days spent by one designer
to develop a new game. Use the schedule to answer the questions.

A Designer’s Schedule
Task Days Spent on Task
Coming up with the idea June 1, 2
Meeting about the idea June 3, 4, 5, 8, 9
Designing the characters June 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18,
19, 22, 23
Designing the scene June 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, July 1,
2, 3
Designing the game’s levels July 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Designing the sounds July 13, 14, 15
Testing the game July 16, 17, 20, 21

1. Which activity took the greatest number of days?

2. Which activity took the fewest number of days?
3. Which activity took more days: meeting about the idea or testing
the game?

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 Designing
for the
Audience V ideo game designers think about
who plays the games they make.
Players are called the audience.
There are many features that make
up a video game, including the char-
acters, the type of game, and the
speed of the game. Knowing what the
audience likes can help designers
plan the game.

What Does the Audience Want?

Designers look at different types of
information to figure
out what the audience
likes. Designers look at
data on charts, graphs,
tables, and surveys.
They use the data to
learn about the people
in the audience and
their interests. Design-
ers might look at a
chart to find out if the
audience would rather
Video games with features play sports games or fantasy games.
the audience likes can be
very successful. This shopper Or they might read a survey to see if
gets the last copy on a store’s the audience would rather play a fast
shelves of a popular game.
game or a slow one.
6

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 After video game designers know what the
audience likes, they decide how to create the
game to match the audience’s interests.
You Do the Math
Features People Liked Best
The bar graph shows the results when a video game company asked
100 people who had bought games before what features of video
games they liked best. Use the graph to answer the questions.

Features the Audience

65 Likes About Games
60
55
Number of Customers

50
45
40
35
30
25
20
1. What was the
15
most popular
type of game? 10
2. Did more people 5
like fast games or
slow ones? Sports Puzzle Fantasy Humans Animals Slow Fast
3. How many more Type of Game Type of Speed of
Characters Game
people preferred animal
characters than preferred human characters?
4. How many fewer people preferred puzzle games than preferred
fantasy games?

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 What a
Character!
T hink of some of the video games
you have seen or played. What
do you remember best about the
games? There is a good chance it is
the characters. Some video game
characters are so popular that they
appear in books, movies, and TV
shows.
The main character is
usually the one the player
controls. It might be a
space alien, an animal,
or even a walking, talking
pencil!

Creating a Character
To create a character,
some designers first draw
sketches of their idea on
Using special software, paper. Next, the designer tests the
designers can create idea on an audience. The designer
detailed sketches of
their characters on a uses the audience’s comments and
computer screen. suggestions to make the design of
the character better. Then, the de-
signer uses special software to draw
the character on a computer screen.
Some video game designers use
geometry to help create characters.
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 They might want the character to look like a
real person. They don’t want the arms and legs
to be too long or too short. Designers some-
times first draw a sketch of a body using shapes
in geometry that are similar to parts of the
body. For example, they might draw two long,
narrow rectangles where the legs on a body go.
The rectangles represent the legs.
Using shapes to represent body parts helps
designers compare the sizes of objects to each
other and keep the sizes in proportion. For
example, a character’s foot is going to be 1 the
4
length of the character’s leg. If the designer’s
sketch uses a rectangle 4 inches long for the leg,
then a rectangle 1 inch long for the foot will be
in the correct proportion.
Knowing sizes in relation to each other helps
designers later when it is time to draw the char-
acter moving or in different positions. They
can go back to the rectangles to make sure the
body’s dimensions, or measurements, are still
accurate.
You Do the Math
Arms and Legs
A designer is sketching a character. The length of the character’s arms will
be 34 the length of the legs. If the designer’s sketch uses a 4-inch-long
rectangle for each leg, how long should the rectangle be that the
designer uses for each arm?

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 Creating
a Scene
C haracters don’t just run around
a blank screen. They move
through a background, or scene, that
is designed to show the setting the
character is in. The scene helps cre-
ate the feeling, or mood, of the game.
If the scene is in a happy, upbeat
game, the designers probably won’t
choose to create a dark, nighttime
scene with fog rolling through. That
wouldn’t match the mood of the
game. A scene that is bright and
sunny would match the mood of the
game better.

Designing the Action

After the designers know what kind
of scene they want to create, they
draw a map of the scene. This helps
designers see how the game will be
played. They can see how a charac-
ter will move through the game. Just
as someone might follow a map to
get from one part of town to another,
designers want to have a map so that
they know how the character is going
to get from one part of the game to
another.
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 You Do the Math
Getting From Here to There
The map below, called a grid map, is like the kind of map a video game
designer might make. Each column is named by a letter. Each row is
named by a number. Each box is named by the letter and number for its
column and row. For example, the box where Spring Lake is located is in
column C and row 1. Spring Lake is in box (C, 1). The letter and number
(C, 1) are called the coordinates of the box. The map also has a compass
rose that shows which way is north, south, east, and west. Use the map
and the compass rose to answer the questions.
1. What are the coordinates for the box where the supermarket is located?
2. What building is located in the box with coordinates (C, 3)?
3. In which direction would you travel to get from the bank to the
supermarket?
4. What building is located in the box with coordinates (G, 2)?
5. To get from the school to the park, in which direction would you travel?

Compass Rose

Map of New Town

North

West East

South

Bank
4

Blue River Firehouse

School
3
Park

2
Museum

1 Spring Supermarket
Lake

A B C D E F G

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 All About
Animation
C lose your eyes and move your
arm in a circle. What did you
notice? Did your arm stay straight
or did your elbow bend? Video game
designers pay close attention to the
exact movements of people, animals,
and objects to help them create a
game’s animation—the movement
of characters and objects on the
screen. A person who creates anima-
tion is called an animator.

Keeping It Real
Animators watch how our legs move
when we run or how a ball bounces
across a room. When they design
games, they use their observations
to help them make movements look
realistic. They try to imitate real-life

Video game designers

watch how people move
when they are active.
This helps the designers
make the movements of
their game characters
realistic.

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 movement on the video screen. Animators
can spend days working to get the movement
of something just right.

You Do the Math

Create a Flip Book
You can make your own animation with a flip book. You will need 6
sheets of paper of the same size and a clip to hold the left edges
together like a book.
Here’s how to make your flip book.
1. Number each page in the upper right corner, from 1 to 6.
2. On each sheet of paper,
copy the grid shown here. 4

3. Start with a simple 3

object: a bouncing ball. 2
Draw it with a pencil first.
You can color the pictures 1
in later. Keep the ball the A B C D E F
same size in each picture.
4. On the page numbered 1,
draw the ball in the box with coordinates (A, 1).
5. On page 2, draw the ball in (B,2).
6. On each following page, draw the ball in (C, 3), (D, 2), (E, 1), and (F, 2).
7. When you are finished drawing, clip the pages together on the left
side. Make sure the pages are in order from 1 to 6.
8. Holding your book on the left side, use the thumb of your right hand
to flip through the pages quickly to see the ball bouncing across
the pages.
After you’ve mastered this flip book, you can try making one that is more
difficult by adding a background scene, creating a moving character, or
adding more pages.

13

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 Thinking
About
Speed I magine a horse walking across a
meadow. Now, picture it running
from a fire-breathing dragon. The
horse in your imagination prob-
ably moved faster when it was be-
ing chased by the dragon. Designers
think about speed when they create
video games. Speed is how fast or
slow an object moves. When char-
acters or objects move across the
screen, designers try to make the
speed seem realistic. They also try to
make the speed fit the type of game.
In a basketball game, they make the
players move up and down the court
quickly. In a puzzle game, the speed
might be slower.
Basketball players
run down the court
quickly. In a basket-
ball video game, the
designers will make
the characters move
quickly so the game
will be realistic.

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 Getting Up to Speed
To help them know what speed to use, design-
ers observe the speed of things around them.
If they are designing a game about a bird, they
want to know how fast or slow birds move at
different times. Designers might watch a bird
slowly flying in circles above a lake. Then, they
might observe how the bird speeds up and
dives down toward the water to catch a fish.
The speed of a person, animal, or thing in real
life and speed on a computer screen are a bit
different. Designers must estimate to help them
figure out how fast or slow something should
move on the screen to look realistic.
You Do the Math
How Well Can You Estimate?
How well can you estimate time? Here are three activities:
1. Bounce a ball 10 times
2. Write your first name 10 times
3. Sit down and stand up 8 times
On a sheet of paper, make three columns. At the top of the left column,
write Activity. At the top of the center column, write Estimated Time. At
the top of the right column, write Actual Time. List the three activities in
the left column. Then, in the center column, write down how many sec-
onds you think each activity should take you to complete. These are your
estimated times. Next, do each activity, and time yourself or have some-
one time you with a watch, clock, or stopwatch. Write down in the Actual
Time column how long each activity took. Now compare your estimated
and actual times. How close was each estimate to the actual time?
15

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 Creating
Color
T he first home video games were
introduced more than 30 years
ago. These games were in black and
white. The first color video games
were sold with a colored plastic
sheet that players taped to their TV
screen to add color to the game.
Today’s games are much different.
Color is an important part of video
game design.
Color is a way designers create
excitement or mystery. Designers
might choose the color red to show
Designers use computer that something is hot. Or they might
software to create colors
and many other aspects
choose blue to show that something
of video games. is cold.

16

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 Making the Color
Designers mix different amounts of just a few
colors to create all the colors they need. Red,
yellow, and blue are called primary colors.
Mixing different amounts of two or all three
of the primary colors creates the colors you
see on the screen. Adding black makes a color
darker, and adding white makes a color lighter.
Designers give each of the basic colors they
work with a certain code that represents the
color. Next they put those codes into com-
puter software. Then, they mix the color codes
using the software to create new colors. They
work hard to get colors exactly the way they
want them.
You Do the Math
Putting It Together
In this diagram, R, Y, and B are the
codes for the primary colors red, R O Y
yellow, and blue. Mixing two primary
colors together makes a secondary
color. Orange, violet, and green are V G
the secondary colors. Red mixed with
yellow makes orange. Red mixed
with blue makes violet. Yellow mixed B
with blue makes green. In the diagram
the codes for the secondary colors are
O, V, and G. Use the diagram and the 1. B + _ = G
codes to fill in the missing letter in each 2. _ + Y = O
of these equations.
3. R + B = _

17

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 What’s That
Sound?
H ave you ever watched a TV pro-
gram with the sound turned off?
Probably not. Without sound and
music, a TV program, movie, or video
game isn’t as exciting.
A person who creates the sound
and music for a video game is called
a sound designer. Sound designers
use music and sound effects to
create excitement and mood.

Types of Sounds
Music is the tune that plays in the
Earphones help the girl playing background during a game. Sounds
this game enjoy the music
and sound effects without
are heard at certain times in a game.
disturbing others. You might hear the sound of a crowd

18

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 cheering. Or you might hear the sound of a bell
ringing when a player gets a reward.
Sound designers decide how the music or
sounds will change to fit different events in a
game. At the beginning of a game, the music
might be quiet. As a player gets closer to
reaching a goal, the music might get louder.
Designers can use graphing to match the
sounds and music to what is happening in a
game. The graphs help them see the points
during a game at which different sounds and
music are needed.
You Do the Math
Graphing Sound Loud 10

A sound designer created 9

this line graph to show three
points in a game when the 8

character reaches a goal and

7
the music should get much
louder. Each point on the 6
graph is named by the letter
of the vertical line and the 5
number of the horizontal line
that cross at that point. The 4

first point is where lines A 3

and 1 cross. The coordinates
for this point are (A, 1). What 2
are the coordinates for the
3 points where the music 1

gets much louder than at

Quiet 0
other times? A B C D E F G H I J
Start End

19

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 On the
Level
M ost video games have differ-
ent sections, which are called
levels. Like the chapters of a book,
the different levels together make a
whole game. The person who creates
the levels is called the level designer.
Level designers think of each level as
a small game within a whole game.

Planning the Levels

Levels are one of the ways games
keep players interested. Level
designers try to make each level
challenging and fun. If a level is too
easy or too hard, players might not
be interested in continuing the game.
Players must complete certain
The challenge of moving tasks at each level before they
from one level to the next
adds to the excitement of can move on to the next one. To
many video games. complete the tasks, players have
to make choices. If
players make the
best choices, they
will get to the next
level faster or more
easily. Usually, each
level is harder than
the one before it.
20

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 You Do the Math
Moving Up in the Game

Taking It to the Next Level

Task 1 Door C
Task 2
Door A Task 3
Task 1
Task 2
Level 1 Task 1 Level 2 Door D Task 3
Level 3
Task 2
Task 4
Door B Task 3
Task 4 Task 1
Task 5 Door E Task 2
Task 3
Task 4
Task 5
Task 6

The diagram shows the different levels of a game. At each level the
player has to choose which door to go through. Each door leads to a
different number of tasks that the player must complete before getting
to the next level. Use the diagram to answer the questions.
1. Which door has the fewest number of tasks to get from Level 1 to
Level 2?
2. Which combination of doors gives the fewest tasks to get from Level
1 to Level 3?
3. How many tasks in all do you have to complete if you choose doors
A and E?
4. Which is the only door that gets a player to the next level without
having to complete any tasks?

21

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 3-D Design

W hen people look at something,

their eyes are able to see three
different dimensions of an object:
its length, its width, and its height
or depth. Something that has three
dimensions is often called 3-D for
short.
If we see a picture of a penny next
to a real penny, we can tell which
object is the real penny just by look-
ing. Our eyes see the
height of the penny’s
edge. We see how
light hits the raised
parts of Abraham Lin-
coln’s face differently
from the way it hits
the flat picture of the
penny. Flat images
that have only length
and width are called
2-dimensional, or
2-D, images.

Video game designers

work hard to make objects
in a game look 3-D.
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 Using 3-D in Video Games
Video games are played on a flat screen, but
designers make things in the games look 3-D.
Designers use 3-D design to make the game more
realistic to the players. They use geometry to
create shapes that look as if they have three
dimensions. To the players, it looks as if they
could, for example, catch a 3-D toad hopping
across the screen. The designers also use
shading to create the look of shadows and light.
This makes an object seem even more realistic.

You Do the Math

Creating Depth

The shape on the left is a rectangle. It has two dimensions, length and
width. The object on the right is called a rectangular prism. It has three
dimensions, length, width, and height. The rectangular prism has six
different faces. The drawing shows three of those faces. One looks like
the front of the box. One looks like a side of the box, and one looks
like the top. On a piece of paper, draw each of the three faces you see
on the rectangular prism.

23

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 Capturing
Motion
S ometimes the smile or the wink
of a character in a game is so
realistic, it’s hard to tell that you’re
looking at an animated figure. One
way designers create realistic
characters is by using something
called motion capture. It helps them
create lifelike movements based on
a real person’s movements.

Using Motion Capture in

Video Games
In motion capture, a person wears
a suit with devices on it called
electronic markers. As the person
moves, the markers track the per-
son’s movements and send informa-
tion to a computer. The movements
are recorded using computer soft-
ware. The software then creates a
digital image of the body’s move-
ments that can be used in creating
animation.
The movements of this model Even though a computer records
wearing electronic markers
are captured on a computer the body’s movements, the designer
screen. must make the software work. The
designer creates equations that will
give the computer directions to chart
24

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 the body’s movements and to store the infor-
mation in a digital format. The designer then
uses this information to help make an animat-
ed figure move in realistic ways.
You Do the Math
Charting Movement
In the illustrations below, the green dots show places where a person
would have electronic markers in a motion-capture suit. Look at how the
markers on the right ankle and knee change position from the left picture,
showing a person standing still, to the right picture, showing a person
climbing a step. Capturing that motion in computer software helps a
designer make an animated character look realistic climbing stairs.

Tracking Motion

Draw your own stick figures with electronic markers. Describe how the
markers on the right wrist and elbow change position as your “person”
raises his or her right arm to throw a ball.
25

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 Meet
Satoshi
Tajiri V ideo game designer Satoshi
Tajiri grew up near Tokyo, the
capital city of the country of Japan.
As a boy, he had a hobby that later
inspired him to create a video game
that became famous. Tajiri collected
bugs. He collected as many different
kinds of bugs as he could find. He
traded the bugs with his friends.
He also enjoyed playing video games.

From Player to Designer

When he was older, Tajiri became
frustrated when he couldn’t find
games he wanted to play. He decided
to make his own. In 1990, he came up
with the idea of Pokémon. Pokémon,
also known as Pocket Monsters, is
one of the most popular video games
of all time. The theme, “Gotta Catch
’Em All,” goes back to when Tajiri
was a boy and tried to catch all the
bugs he could. Tajiri says that all of
the things he did as a child helped
him create Pokémon.
Today, Tajiri continues to create
new versions of the game. He spends
different parts of his day working on
26

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 his ideas in different
ways. His hard work
has made Pokémon
one of the most well-
known video games
in the world.

Video game designers often

put in many hours a day at
their computers.

You Do the Math

A Day in the Life of a Video Game Designer
Video game designers have busy days. The schedule below shows how
one designer spent an 8-hour workday. Use the schedule to figure out
what fraction of the time the designer spent on different tasks in the
8-hour day. Example: What fraction of the designer’s day was spent
brainstorming? The answer is 18 , because the designer spent one hour
(1:30 P.M. to 2:30 P.M.) out of an 8-hour day brainstorming.

A Video Game Designer’s Day

Time Activity
9:00 A.M. – 10:30 A.M. Meeting about future games
10:30 A.M. – 1:00 P.M. Working on game design
1:00 P.M. – 1:30 P.M. Lunch
1:30 P.M. – 2:30 P.M. Brainstorming new game ideas with
other designers
2:30 P.M. – 4:30 P.M. Meeting with testers
4:30 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. Working on game design
1. What fraction of the day was spent working on game design?
2. What fraction of the day was spent meeting with testers?

27

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 If You Want
Answer Key:

to Be a
Video Game D o video games interest you?
Maybe a career in video game
Designer design is right for you.
If you’re interested in video game
design as a career, there are sum-
mer camps and after-school pro-
grams that train young designers.
When it’s time to go to college, there
are many schools that offer courses
in video game design or animation.
Many designers choose to study
digital art or computer technology.
They may have careers as anima-
tors, level designers, or sound de-
signers, or they may work in other
aspects of game design.
If you are the type of person who
likes to solve problems, works well
as a part of a team, and likes to think
creatively, then you might be the
type of person who makes a good
video game designer. Designers
need skills in math and computer
technology, and it’s never too early
to start learning as much about
these areas as possible. Of course,
an important part of being a video
game designer is to love to play
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video games!

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 Answer Key
Pages 4–5: What Is Video Game Design?: Pages 14–15: Thinking About Speed:
1. Designing the characters (10 days). 2. Coming Sample answer: your table might look like this:
up with the idea (2 days). 3. Meeting about the
How Much Time Activities Take
idea. This activity took 5 days (June 3, 4, 5, 8, 9).
Testing the game took 4 days (July 16, 17, 20, 21). Activity Estimated Time Actual Time
Bounce a ball 10 times 20 seconds 16 seconds
Pages 6–7: Designing for the Audience:
Write your first name 15 seconds 20 seconds
1. Fantasy games. 2. Fast games. 3. 20 (60 people 10 times
preferred animal characters; 40 people preferred
Sit down and stand 10 seconds 11 seconds
human characters; 60 – 40 = 20). 4. 20 (25 people up 8 times
preferred puzzle games; 45 people preferred fan-
tasy games; 45 – 25 = 20). Pages 16–17: Creating Color:
Pages 8–9: What a Character!: 1. Y. 2. R. 3. V.
3 inches ( 34 x 4 = 12
4
; 12
4
= 3). Pages 18–19: What’s That Sound?:
Pages 10–11: Creating a Scene: The coordinates are (C, 6), (F, 7), and (I, 8).
1. (F, 1). 2. The firehouse. 3. South. 4. The Pages 20–21: On the Level:
museum. 5. East. 1. Door A. 2. Doors A and C. 3. 9 tasks (3 tasks for
Pages 12–13: All About Animation: Door A + 6 tasks for Door E = 9 tasks). 4. Door C.
The 6 pages of your flip book should look like this: Pages 22–23: 3-D Design:
1 2
4 4
3 3
2 2 x
1 1
A B C D E F A B C D E F Pages 24–25: Capturing Motion:
The markers on the right wrist and elbow,
3 4 which would be almost straight down from the
4 4 right shoulder marker when the person is standing
3 x 3 still, move up to be at about the same level as
2 2 x
the right shoulder marker when the person is
throwing a ball.
1 1
A B C D E F A B C D E F Page 26–27: Meet Satoshi Tajiri:
1. The designer spent 38 of the day working on
5 6 game design (3 hours out of an 8-hour day); 10:30
4 4
A.M. to 1:00 P.M. is 2 12 hours, and 4:30 P.M. to 5:00
P.M. is 12 hour; 2 12 + 12 = 3. 2. The designer spent
3 3
2
8
of the day meeting with testers (2:30 P.M. to 4:30
2 2 x
P.M. is 2 hours); 28 can also be written 14 .
1 x 1
A B C D E F A B C D E F

29

VideoGameFNL.indd 29 8/17/09 7:16:58 AM

 Glossary

animation—Using drawings to give estimate—To figure out about how

life, motion, or activity to characters many or how much.
on a screen. geometry—The part of math that is
code—A system of symbols, letters, about lines, angles, shapes, and solid
or numbers used to represent infor- figures.
mation. mood—The feeling created by a
data—Information that is collected story’s setting.
about a topic. observe—To see or notice some-
design—A plan for how something thing while watching carefully.
will be made. proportion—The size or extent of
dimension—A measurement of something in relation to something
something in one direction, such as else.
length, width, or height. realistic—Seeming to be real.
electronic markers—Sensors that represent—To stand for something
track a body’s movement and send else.
signals to a computer.
task—A job or mission.
equation—A mathematical state-
track—To watch or to record the
ment showing that two things are
progress or movement of something.
equal.

30

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 To Learn More

Read these books:

Cunningham, Kevin. Cool Careers: Video Game Designer. Ann Arbor, Mich.:
Cherry Lake Publishing, 2009.
Duffield, Katy. Ken Kutaragi: PlayStation Developer. San Diego, Calif.:
KidHaven Press, 2007.
Ferguson’s Careers in Focus: Computer and Video Game Design. New York:
Facts On File, 2005.
Mortensen, Lori. Satoshi Tajiri: Pokémon Creator. San Diego, Calif.:
KidHaven Press, 2009.

Look up these Web sites:

Aniboom—Create Your Own Animation
http://www.aniboom.com/Animachines
DragonflyTV: Real Scientists: David Ortiz
http://www.pbskids.org/dragonflytv/scientists/scientist15.html
The Video Game Revolution: History
http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/history

Key Internet search terms:

animation, computer-assisted design, video game design

31

VideoGameFNL.indd 31 8/17/09 7:16:59 AM

 Index

Action mapping 10, 11 Map of game scene 10, 11

Animals 7, 12, 14, 15, 23 Mixing of colors 17
Animation and animators 12–13, 24–25 Mood of game 10, 18
Audience 6–7, 8 Motion capture 24–25
Basketball games 14 Movements 12–13, 25
Music 18–19
Challenges of games 20
Characters, creation of 8–9 Observation skill 12, 15
Choices, making of 20, 21 Pokémon 26–27
Colors, working with 16–17 Popularity of games 6–7, 8, 26, 27
Computer software, use of 5, 8, 16, 17, 24 Proportion 9
Development of games 4–5 Puzzle games 7, 14
Dimensions of objects 22–23 Realism of games 12, 15, 23, 24
Drawing 9, 10, 13, 23 Scene of games 10–11
Education of designers 27 Schedule of designers 5, 27
Electronic markers 24, 25 Shading 23
Equations 17, 24 Sketching 8, 9
Estimation skill 15 Skills of designers 5, 12, 15, 28
Excitement, creation of 16, 18, 20 Sound and sound designers 5, 18–19
Fantasy games 6, 7 Speed of games 6, 7, 14–15
Flatness and depth 22–23 Sports games 6, 7, 14
Flip book 13 Tajiri, Satoshi 26–27
Geometry, use of 5, 8, 9 Teamwork 4–5, 28
Graphing 19 Testing games 5, 8, 27
3-D design 22–23
History of games 16 Tracking of movement 24
Human body 9, 24, 25 Types of designers 12, 18, 20
Levels and level designers 20–21 Types of games 7, 14

About the Author

Jill Egan is a freelance writer who has written numerous stories
about the events and people who shape our world. A native
of Juneau, Alaska, she currently lives with her husband in San
Francisco, California.
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