Game developers are able to create better video games than what the limitations of computers allow by understanding how things truly work at a detailed level. They discovered tricks to get around limitations, such as updating colors rapidly to display more than the limited palette or changing sounds quickly to generate new voices. Understanding the underlying systems allows developers to creatively solve problems like drawing huge animated monsters that surpass the small allowed object sizes. This knowledge of how things really function provides advantages beyond initial restrictions.

1. How people can create
better video games
Ange Albertini, Hack.Lu 2015

2. Computers have limitations.

3. Game developers study
how things work, in detail.

4. Because they know
how things really work,
they found some tricks.

5. Thanks to these tricks,
they can create
better video games.

6. Let’s look at graphics...

7. Count the colors! This computer was limited to 16 colors...

8. But this picture has more than 16 colors!

9. 62 colors on the same system! How?

10. The 16 colors are updated while the picture is displayed.

11. Now let’s use our ears...

12. Sound can be very fun in video games.

13. Games music is made with multiple voices.

14. That computer had a very limited sound.

15. By quickly changing sound, one can get better music.

16. By using a bug in the hardware, a different kind of voice could be created!

17. Now let’s look at animation

18. Some systems could only display small objects.

19. But this game had a huge moving monster! How ?

20. This is the picture...

21. The background takes the whole picture.

22. But the moving objects are quite small.

23. So the monster is drawn on the ground of a dark room.
A big room where various animations of the monster are drawn.

24. By understanding how
things really work,
game developers can
create better games
(beyond the initial limitations)

25. If they didn't spend time
trying to understand how
things really work,
their video games
would be not so nice.

26. Hacking:
spend time to understand
how things really work
(and get awesome results)

27. Thank you!
Ange Albertini, Hack.Lu 2015

28. References
backgrounds: Super Mario Kart Wii, Rick Dangerous, Super Mario Bros, Yoshi,
NinjaGo, PollyPocket, Pikachu, Ben 10
Archon - The Light and the Dark, Bio Challenge
● Smooth Mc Groove - Contra youtube.com/watch?v=l2yYauKujfM
● C64 Christmas Demo youtube.com/watch?v=X7AjnpT6guk [1:00]
● Rob Hubbard “Thundercats” youtube.com/watch?v=cdfocyMsT5s
● Joeren Tel “Stormlord” youtube.com/watch?v=w3t5P7pvxlE
● Super Mario Bros youtube.com/watch?v=Af-80nW9lc8 [10:50]
● Master Blaster youtube.com/watch?v=2STUx_9bkB4 [48:00]
Licence CC BY - Ange Albertini & son