FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME DESIGN, SECOND EDITION
Rating the Athletes
One of the biggest tasks you take on in designing a sports game is developing a rating system for the skills and athletic abilities of all the athletes in the game. The rating system provides the raw data that the physics engine needs to accurately simulate the behavior of the athletes. As your programming team develops the physics engine and game AI, you should work with them to determine what ratings are needed. Researching the athletes' performances and setting the ratings for them can take many months, and the lead designer will probably want to delegate it to junior designers or assistant producers.
In most team games, all athletes share one set of ratings, plus specialized ratings that apply only to athletes playing a particular position.
The kinds of ratings that might be common to all the athletes in a game include:
■ Speed. The athlete's maximum moving (running or skating or swimming) speed under ideal conditions.
■ Agility. A measure of the athlete's ability to change directions while moving.
■ Weight. The athlete's weight, which affects the force he transmits in a collision and the inertia he has when struck by someone else.
■ Acceleration. The rate at which the athlete can reach top speed.
■ Jumping. The height to which the athlete can jump.
■ Endurance. The rate at which the athlete gets tired during the course of the game.
■ Injury resistance. The probability that an athlete will, or will not, be injured during play.
Some ratings apply to a specific position—this example uses the quarterback in American football:
■ Passing strength. The distance that the quarterback can throw the ball.
■ Passing accuracy. The precision with which the quarterback can throw the ball.
■ Dexterity. The quarterback's general dexterity in handling the ball. This affects his chances of dropping the snap or fumbling a handoff.
■ Awareness. The quarterback's ability to sense that he's about to be tackled and to try to get out of the way.
