Lesson 1 Continued: Types of Video Games

There are many different types of video games but we can break this down into just a few different major areas that will give you a good understanding of the types of games you can make. And you need to understand the types of games because different game types require different software to use and different skills.

The Types of Video Games

I have broken down video games into four different realms: 2-dimensional, 3-dimensional, single player and multi-player.

Two Dimensional Games - These are the first type of games and are often called side-scroller games. In these games there is no depth and all of the action occurs either up, down, left, or right. For the graphics you just have to create pictures of objects. This is the easiest type of game to make.

Here is an example of a 2-dimensional side scrolling game. You are the airplane pilot and you move up, down, left or right.

These 2d games come in a million variations like pac man, space invaders, tetris and you name it.

Three-dimensional Games - This is the type of game that you can actually move around in three dimensions, up, down, left, right, forward, backward. Picture it as a real world. Some of the graphics in this world are 2 dimensional but some of them are 3 dimensional and have to be created with modeling software. The programming and behaviors of this type of game are more complex but the game is more complex and richer.

This is a 3d Game - The player can move forward and backward just like walking around in a real world.

Single Player Games - This is the type of game where one person plays the game.

Multiplayer Games - MMO's Typically these games are played online and they involve lots of other players. This is a type of game all into itself and although much of the design of the game is the same as a typical 3d game there is a whole set of very specific instructions, routines and scripts that tell this type of game how to act and how to interact with other players.

Let's Continue on and learn Objects in games