Introduction to Game Systems Design

As games grow more complex and gamers' expectations soar, the discipline of game systems design becomes ever more important. Game systems designers plan a game's rules and balance, its characters' attributes, most of its data, and how its AI, weapons, and objects work and interact. Introduction to Game Systems Design is the first complete beginner's guide to this crucial discipline. Writing for all aspiring game professionals, even those with absolutely no experience, leading game designer and instructor Dax Gazaway presents a step-by-step, hands-on approach to designing game systems with industry-standard tools. Drawing on his experience building AAA-level game systems (including games in the Star Wars and Marvel franchises), Gazaway covers all this, and more:

• Exploring the essentials of game design and its emerging subdisciplines
• Asking the essential questions at the heart of all design
• Getting started with modern game system design tools, including the spreadsheets most professionals now use
• Creating systems and data from a blank page
• Populating and quantifying a world of data into a game
• Tuning and balancing game systems
• Testing game systems and data
• Leveraging communication, psychology, and rewards within your games
• Balancing game probability within systems

Whether you're a college freshman entering a game design program, an indie developer using Unreal or Unity, a Dungeon Master, or anyone who wants to really understand modern games, this guide will help you get where you want to go.

隨著遊戲變得越來越複雜，玩家的期望也越來越高，遊戲系統設計的學科變得越來越重要。遊戲系統設計師規劃遊戲的規則和平衡，角色的屬性，大部分的數據，以及AI、武器和物件的運作和互動方式。《遊戲系統設計入門》是這一關鍵學科的第一本完整入門指南。領先的遊戲設計師和教師Dax Gazaway為所有有志成為遊戲專業人士的人撰寫了這本逐步實踐的指南，即使是完全沒有經驗的人也能使用行業標準工具來設計遊戲系統。Gazaway根據自己在建立AAA級遊戲系統方面的經驗（包括《星際大戰》和《漫威》系列的遊戲），涵蓋了以下內容：

- 探索遊戲設計的基本要素及其新興子學科
- 提出所有設計核心問題
- 開始使用現代遊戲系統設計工具，包括大多數專業人士現在使用的試算表
- 從空白頁面創建系統和數據
- 將大量數據填充和量化到遊戲中
- 調整和平衡遊戲系統
- 測試遊戲系統和數據
- 在遊戲中利用溝通、心理學和獎勵
- 在系統中平衡遊戲機率

無論你是大學新生進入遊戲設計專業，使用Unreal或Unity的獨立開發者，還是Dungeon Master，或者是任何想真正了解現代遊戲的人，這本指南都將幫助你實現目標。

Dax Gazaway was raised in a gamer family. His parents met in a Dungeons & Dragons group, and he was surrounded with games being played and made. From a very early age, Dax was fascinated by the numbers in games. He would pour over monster manuals and board game books, dissecting the rules to figure out how the systems worked.

Dax started in the video game industry in the late 1990s. During his tenure in the industry, Dax pioneered game system design at multiple independent and AAA studios, helping to refine and define the subdiscipline. In recent years, he has become a course director at Full Sail University, specializing in teaching new students the concepts and tools of the system designer. Dax has created new curriculum and multiple classes for system design students, and he teaches introduction to system design courses.

The following is a selection of Dax's game design credits:

Star Wars: Obi-Wan, System and level designer Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter, System and level designer and QA liaison Star Wars: Bounty Hunter: System and level designer Gladius: System designer Syphon Filter franchise: Lead designer and system designer Spider Man 3: Lead system designer Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Lead system designer Guitar Hero franchise: System designer

In addition, Dax has been the studio lead system designer for Row Sham Bow Games and a system design consultant for multiple projects.

Dax Gazaway在一個遊戲家庭中長大。他的父母在一個龍與地下城小組中相識，他周圍充滿了玩遊戲和創作遊戲的氛圍。從很小的時候開始，Dax就對遊戲中的數字感到著迷。他會翻閱怪物手冊和桌遊書籍，剖析規則以弄清系統運作的原理。

Dax在1990年代末進入了電子遊戲行業。在他在這個行業的任期中，Dax在多個獨立和AAA工作室中開創了遊戲系統設計，幫助完善和定義了這個子學科。近年來，他成為了Full Sail大學的課程主任，專門教授新生系統設計師的概念和工具。Dax創建了新的課程和多個系統設計課程，並教授系統設計入門課程。

以下是Dax的遊戲設計作品選集：

《星際大戰：歐比旺》：系統和關卡設計師
《星際大戰：絕地星際戰士》：系統和關卡設計師兼QA聯絡人
《星際大戰：賞金獵人》：系統和關卡設計師
《格拉迪烏斯》：系統設計師
《滲透過濾器》系列：首席設計師和系統設計師
《蜘蛛人3》：首席系統設計師
《漫威終極聯盟2》：首席系統設計師
《吉他英雄》系列：系統設計師

此外，Dax還擔任Row Sham Bow Games的首席系統設計師和多個項目的系統設計顧問。