96 Video Game Design Foundations
An essential part of designing a video game is creating the background
images to enhance the gameplay experience. The background can be
composed of many different objects to create the environment—the feel and
mood of a scene, Figure 4-7. The choice of trees, buildings, sky, clouds,
lighting, and general color palette are put in
place as boundaries and simple scenery for the
gameplay.
Some background objects can have active
characteristics. Other background objects are
simply there to act as scenery or to set the
mood of the scene. An active object is one
with which the player can interact. A back-
ground object is one with which the player
cannot interact. Most scenery is a background
object. However, some scenery, such as plat-
forms, are active objects because they must
provide some interaction. In the case of a plat-
form, the player must be able to walk on it,
Figure 4-8. Most active scenery objects restrict
the player’s movement or damage or reward the player. In a game, a back-
drop may include buildings, trees, and other objects that do not damage or
reward the player. These active objects act as an obstacle for the player to
avoid. A backdrop object differs from a background object because it is an
element of the scenery that the player can touch or walk behind.
Think of a background object like the sky. It adds artistic design to the
scene, but does not move or interact with the player. This is like when you
get your picture taken. The photographer pulls down a background screen of
Allows a
change in
perspective
Figure 4-6. This arcade racing game allows the player to change perspective by pressing the View button. On the right-
hand side of the steering wheel is a button that allows the player to look behind their car when the current view is a fi rst-
person perspective.
CHEAT CODE: COLOR PALETTE
A color palette is the set of colors used
consistently throughout a scene to maintain
mood. Generally, the desired mood sets
the color palette that will be dominated
by one of four general colors to
maintain the mood: red, yellow,
blue, or gray. In general, red
is used for passion, yellow for
cheerful, blue for peaceful, and gray for gloomy. The
rest of the color palette is selected using contrasting
and complementary colors from the color wheel.