UGC In Game : A Brief History and How We Bring It To Mobile | Zhuo Yue

1. UGC In Game:
A Brief History And
How We Bring It To Mobile
Name Zhuo Yue
Job Title Senior Engineer
Company Tencent

2. What does UGC mean in video games?
From wiki:
...Video games can have fan-made content in the form of mods, fan
patches, fan translations or server emulators. Some games come
with level editor programs to aid in their creation. A few massively
multiplayer online role-playing games ... have UGC systems integrated
into the game itself. A metaverse can be a user-generated world...
User-generated content

3. Castle Smurfenstein
(Modified Castle Wolfenstein)
Year: 1981(Original Game) / 1983(Mod)
Modified graphics and sound effects
1981 : Castle
Wolfenstein

4. Doom
1981 : Castle
Wolfenstein
1993 :
Doom
Year: 1993
★First commercial game to
provide user-friendly modding
support/tools
★WAD files! (Media assets
separated from game engine)
Inspired by Wolfenstein 3D
(1992) mods

5. Doom : WAD file
1981 : Castle
Wolfenstein
1993 :
Doom
Where's All the Data?
Pros
• An important step to make modding easier!
• Level structures, Graphics, SFX, Music...
• IWAD(base) and PWAD(patch)
• Easy to share
• Open and extendable data lump structure (like data chunks)
• Lots of third-party editors!
Cons
• Only one IWAD & PWAD can be loaded at a time
• No behaviors...(had to patch game exe)
Media assets separated
from game engine

6. Doom : Editors
1981 : Castle
Wolfenstein
1993 :
Doom
• DEU: Abilities to modify WAD files
• DeHackEd: Abilities to modify
gameplay datas(by hacking exe binary)
• However logic (e.g. enemy AI) can't be
modified

7. Quake
1981 : Castle
Wolfenstein
1993 :
Doom
• Year: 1996(Quake) / 1998(Quake II)
• Evolutionary 3D engine
• WAD / BSP / PAK files
• Quake Introduced QuakeC as scripting
language（which was replaced by DLL subsystem in Quake II）
• Level editors
• Console alias
• Built-in demo record functionality
1996 :
Quake

8. QuakeC Language & DLL Sub System
1981 : Castle
Wolfenstein
1993 :
Doom
1996 :
Quake
QuakeC
• Interpreted language based on C syntax
• Ability to control much of the game
logic
• Weapons
• Enemy AIs
• Triggers
• Game rules
• ...
• Officially released qcc compiler
(with source code)
DLL Sub System (Quake II)
• Pre-compiled C/C++ DLLs to be
loaded by the game
• Used by Quake II and later games
• Can do EVERYTHING
• Much faster
• Less secure
• Source code released in 2001

9. Demos & Machinima (“Quake Movies”)
1981 : Castle
Wolfenstein
1993 :
Doom
1996 :
Quake
• Doom introduced (simple) demo recording functionality, Quake inherited and
enhanced this feature.
• Demos could be shared to the community (in .DEM files)
• Speedruns
• Deathmatches
• In 1996, the Rangers released the first “quake movie” - Diary of a Camper
• Featuring not only deathmatch, but a simple story, with dialogs in form of chat text
• Greatly inspired the whole community
• The name Machinima was created in 1998, and gradually became well-known
UGC goes beyond mods
(Mechanical + Cinema)

10. Half-Life & Counter-Strike
• Year: 1998(Half-Life) / 1999(CS Mod) / 2000(Valve CS Release)
• Counter Strike first released as a mod of Half-Life, then became one
of the Valve games
• “Open Development” - Mods of mods
• Maps
• Bots
• Server Plugins
• Game Modes
• Based on a heavy-modified Quake engine.
• Half-Life SDK
• Team Fortress / Day of Defeat
1998 :
Half-Life
1981 : Castle
Wolfenstein
1993 :
Doom
1996 :
Quake

11. Modding made easy
• Has official support for mods
• Doom / Quake Series
• Fallout / Elder Scrolls Series
• Call of Duty Series
• StarCraft / WarCraft Series
• Has unofficial support for mods
• Grand Theft Auto Series
1981 : Castle
Wolfenstein
1993 :
Doom
1996 :
Quake
1998 :
Half-Life

12. Steam Workshop
• Year: 2003(Steam Official Release) / 2011 (Workshop)
• Steam all-in-one service for distributing videogame official
add-ons and user-generated content
• Favored by independent game creators, mod creators and
players
• Easy to share & subscribe
• Search, category, ranking and comment services
• Compatibility check
2011 :
Steam
Workshop
1981 : Castle
Wolfenstein
1993 :
Doom
1996 :
Quake
1998 :
Half-Life

13. Minecraft
• Year: 2011
• A new type of sandbox game
• The game itself is a mix of map editor experience and survial RPG
elements
• Redstone & Command Block -> Customizable game logic
• Very large UGC community
• Mods
• Custom servers
• Builder teams
• Game record / live streaming videos
• No offcial mod support at first
But Minecraft (Java edition) is easy to modify
2011 :
Minecraft
1981 : Castle
Wolfenstein
1993 :
Doom
1996 :
Quake
1998 :
Half-Life
• Forge API
• OptiFine
• Server Plugins
2011:
SteamWorkshop

14. Minecraft-like games
• Voxel-based (3D) or tile-based (2D)
• Procedurally generated worlds
• Free building as core gameplay element
• Highly customizable
• Fun to create
• Easy to be shared as snapshots or videos
2011 :
Minecraft
1981 : Castle
Wolfenstein
1993 :
Doom
1996 :
Quake
1998 :
Half-Life
2011:
SteamWorkshop

15. Game Creation Platform/Games
• Roblox / Super Mario Maker / Garry’s Mod
• Game = player + editor + official assets + sharing platform +
BBS
?
1981 : Castle
Wolfenstein
1993 :
Doom
1996 :
Quake
1998 :
Half-Life
2011:
SteamWorkshop
2011:
Minecraft

16. User-generated contents
?
1981 : Castle
Wolfenstein
1993 :
Doom
1996 :
Quake
1998 :
Half-Life
2011:
SteamWorkshop
2011:
Minecraft
Texture
3D Model
Sound
&
Music
Level
(Map)
Item
Data
Enemy
Data
PowerUp
Data
Skill
Data
Crafting
Recipe
Enemy
AI
Trigger
&
Event
Game
Rule Item
Behavior
Text
&
Dialog
Custom
UI
Logic
Machinima
Fan Arts Demos Story
Live
Streaming
Game Guide
&
Walkthrough
Visual
Effect

17. What game/engine can do to support UGCs
Easier to use
More extendable
Level/Map Editor
Asset Editor
Gameplay Data Editor
Trigger System
Script System
SDK
Open Source
Demo Record & EditVideo Record
Live Streaming
Editor Studio / IDE
In-game UGC sharing platform / marketShare-to-SNS
Requires Asset Pack and/or Add-on System
● Appearance
●Gameplay Data
●Logic
●Game experience
●Platform

18. What about mobile games?
• Modding:
• Most mobile games don’t come with official mod support
• Android APK could be easily modified by third-party
(not so easy on iOS)
• User-generated content
• Some strategy games features user-created levels (e.g. CoC)
• Voxel/tile based sandbox games (e.g. Minecraft/Terraria)
• Mobile edition of game creation platforms – play only(e.g. Roblox)
• Logic editing is difficult
• Game experience sharing is easy on all mobile games

19. UGC in LEGO®️CUBE
• Voxel-based sandbox game
• Full mobile-functional game creation platform
How did we do that?
Appearance customization
Gameplay data customization
Logic customization
Game experience sharing
UGC

20. First of all...a mod pack system
Internal (non-customizable)
Base (customizable)
Bricks Items Monsters Effects
Mod Pak 1
Bricks Items
Monsters
Mod Pak 2
Items Effects
... ...
Mod Pak 3

21. First of all...a mod pack system
Internal (non-customizable)
Base (customizable)
Bricks Items Monsters Effects
User Map 1
Bricks Items
Monsters
User Map 2
Items Effects
... ...
User Map 3

22. User-created maps in LEGO®️CUBE
User Map 1
User Map 2 User Map 3

23. References between elements
Internal (non-customizable)
Base (customizable)
Bricks Items Monsters Effects
User Map 1
Bricks Items
Monsters
User Map 2
Items Effects
... ...
User Map 3

24. Customizable elements
Base Bricks
Brick 01
Mod Pak 1 Bricks
Brick 02 Brick 03
Brick 01 Brick 02 (Clone)
Each element has
its unique GUID

25. Customizable elements
Base Bricks
Brick 01
Mod Pak 1 Bricks
Brick 02 Brick 03
Brick 01 Brick 02 (Clone)Reference
Look for GUID
Data Manager

26. Customizable elements
Base Bricks
Brick 01
Mod Pak 1 Bricks
Brick 02 Brick 03
Brick 01 Brick 02 (Clone)
Override : same GUID
(‘Brick 01’ from Base
Bricks is hidden)

27. Customizable elements
Base Bricks
Brick 01
Mod Pak 1 Bricks
Brick 02 Brick 03
Brick 01 Brick 02 (Clone)
Clone : new GUID is
generated for newly
cloned element
Brick 02 & Brick 02
(Clone) both visible

28. Mod pack content in LEGO®️CUBE

29. Mod Pak Sharing Platform
Internal (non-customizable)
Base (customizable)
Bricks Items Monsters Effects
Mod Pak 1
Bricks Items
Monsters
Mod Pak 2
Items Effects
... ...
Mod Pak 3
Market
Server
• User Map (Mod Pak) is shared as a whole
• Compressed
• Identified by GUID
• References well reserved
• Simple version control
(update only)
• Author info
• Tags & descriptions
• Ranking & comments
Download
(Update)

30. Data edit framework
• One solution for editing multiple types of hierarchical structure data
(Map Config, Brick, Item, Monster ...)
• User friendly for mobile devices
• Program generated UI
• Tabbed or wizard style
• Dynamic hide or show UI elements
• Can handle references as well as instances
• Data validation
• Automatic serialization / deserialization

31. Data edit framework
Map config dialog (wizard style) Monster config dialog (tabbed)

32. Hierarchical editing

33. How to do that
• The solution is a bit like Unity’s inspector system
• Uses C# reflection

34. How to do that
• Different widget types
• No more UI work
Check button
Slider
Reference link

35. Voxel-based sandbox game
• Building (map editing) is part of the game
• Customizable random world generation

36. Performance problem on mobile devices
• Server simply can’t afford to run world generation for every player
(millions!)
• Clients are short in memory and CPU
• Want to support 20+ players in a single room for every one on every
device
• ... How to?

37. Distribute the load to every client
• Logic update
• Every active section of the map has an owner player designated
by server
• The owner do the logic updates (mostly monster AIs)
• Map update
• World generation is performed on every (according to view)
• Server only holds modified voxel data
• Combat & crafting
• For safety reasons, server controls the skill and item system

38. Enhance the building part
• Creative mode (infinite building materials)
• Section edit tools (copy, erase, move)

39. Game logic customization
DLL
Script
Code
• Can we create an interesting map without the use of PC?
• To control as many things as possible
Not supported
by mobile devices
Too difficult to type
on touch screen

40. What have we tried to bring to mobile...
Some node based scripting system

41. What have we tried to bring to mobile...
Some sequence circuit simulator
Input
A Button
B Button
Press Sensor
Output
And
OutIn #1
In #2
Door
Open
Close

42. Trigger System
• Event - Condition – Action simple enough!
When any player dies
If the player is in team #1
Respawn him on the spawn point

43. Event/Condition/Action Library
• Arranged in categories (all localized)
• Game
• Player
• Team
• Monster
• Item
• Environment
• Dialog
• Variable
• ...

44. Function & Variable
• Functions are
folded/expanded vertically
• Maximize screen usage
• Hide unnecessary detail
• Parameter can be reference to variable or
position/area/monster placed in the world

45. Handle multiplayer games
• Like other logic, triggers are executed distributly
• One player only knows about what’s inside his view range
• When an event is triggered, only one player(client) is chosen to check all the
conditions (for example
• PlayerMoveEvent : the player who moved
• MonsterDieEvent : the owner of the monster
• TimerEvent : the room host
• Once all the conditions are satisfied, the chosen player(client) broadcasts the
event context to all players (himself included)
• Trigger actions are then executed on every client with the same input

46. Sharing game experiences
• Plugins are available to
• Share snapshots to QQ / WeChat
• Invite your friends from QQ / WeChat
• Video recording on Android / iOS
• Storytelling could be done with the help of Trigger System

47. Q & A

48. Thanks
for
listenin
g