Professional and ethical issues in game design

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Professional and ethical issues in game design

• CDMM02 Lecture Week 4

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Objectives of lecture

• Recap elements of good game design
• Understand research issues in video game design
• Appreciate good research methods
• Documenting the game design

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Objective -- Describe the objective of the game.

• If the objective is simply "get as many points
  as possible," then state it so. But if the
  objective is "rescue the princess," then that's
  another matter. In either case, give as much
  detail as possible to aid the reader in having
  some basis in understanding the rest of the
  design document as he reads on. What is the
  player's goal and why would they want to
  accomplish it? Gameplay -- Describe the way the
  game works, from beginning to end. After
  powering up (or booting), is there a title
  screen, what does it look like, is there an
  options screen, what are the choices, is there an
  animated sequence, can it be bypassed and how...

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Background Story

• If applicable, tell the story of the game that
  leads into the beginning of the game, and tell
  the story that unfolds during gameplay, if any
  (in the case of a puzzle game like SHANGHAI, for
  instance, this is probably unnecessary -- but it
  would be necessary for something like ALIENS VS.
  PREDATOR). What is the tone? What is the basic
  narrative? What is the "heart" of the story? Is
  it a linear story? Then, when the game begins,
  we see our hero appear in a scene. Describe the
  scene and what happens next. If nothing happens
  until the user does something, describe what the
  user's options are and what happens as a result
  of all possible actions. Keep in mind that most
  games to some extent are controlled by the user.
  The hero doesn't automatically do anything the
  user, when playing the game optimally, might
  cause the hero to do such-and-such an act, which
  would cause the computer-controlled enemy to do
  this, and the user's options are to do X and Y...
  

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II. DETAILED GAME DESCRIPTION

• Basic Concept -- What is the "high concept" of
  the game? Describe the A.I. of the
  computerized opponent(s), if any. It is sometimes
  helpful to write a "walkthrough" of the game to
  further enhance the reader's ability to visualise
  the game. What is the planned interface? What
  is the planned perspective (1st person vs. 3rd
  person)? What is the basic interactive
  structure? (e.g. Chapters vs. Great Middle
  Section, Levels, etc.). What is the "heart" of
  the gameplay? (e.g. speed, actions, style,
  continuous, turnbased, etc.? How does
  multi-player work? How difficult is the game?
  How long will it take the average player to
  complete?

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III. OTHER ASPECTS OF THE PRODUCT DESIGN

• Characters -- List and describe the characters
  in the game, if any. Tell something about their
  personalities and capabilities, and how they act
  in the game. Who does the player play?
  Single/multi player? Are there other key
  characters? License Exploitation -- If the
  characters are based on a license (such as in
  ALIENS VS. PREDATOR), provide some discussion of
  how the licensed characters will exploit the
  popular features of the license. World --
  Describe the scene(s) in which the action takes
  place, if applicable. In the case of an adventure
  game (such as LEATHER GODDESSES OF PHOBOS 2), the
  design document should probably be organized
  primarily by location, showing all characters and
  objects there, and indicating what events occur
  there. If locations in the game can be visited in
  any order, then list them in either the optimum
  order or in the order one might visit them if
  traveling in the simplest path. Controls --
  Describe the user interface.

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How does the user cause all game actions to occur?

• In the case of a cartridge game, describe all
  uses of the buttons on the controller. In the
  case of a computer game, describe which
  peripherals the game supports and how they are
  used to accomplish all game actions. Describe
  the on-screen interface (if there is a score and
  a life gauge... if there is an inventory icon and
  dialogue choices...), and how it works.
  Describe all menus in detail, and chart out the
  "shell" structure. Onscreen text messages are
  also part of the interface -- if not detailing
  all onscreen messages in this document, describe
  in general terms what they will be like.
  Graphics -- Describe the general style of the
  graphics. In the case of a game with multiple
  graphics modes, tell which one will be used.
  Whenever there are other games or products to
  which the reader can refer for a feel of the
  graphics style, it's a good idea to mention it.

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Research into video games and violence

• There is very little research on the positive
  aspects of video or computer games
• Why?
• The following study demonstrates some of the
  issues and also shows good research methodology

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Richard Coyne Mindless repetition Learning from
computer games Design Studies Volume 24, Issue
3 , May 2003, Pages 199-212

• Conservative moralists so often see this
  revisiting of ethical issues (about displays of
  violent and erotic imagery, or the amplification
  of materialism) as a progressive liberalisation,
  a loosening of standards.
• But on closer examination, insofar as there is a
  liberalisation it constitutes a developing
  recognition of the complex play between value
  systems, institutions, socio-political contexts,
  the roles of the mass media and the culture of
  the contemporary video game generation.
• It is also a recognition of the play element in
  human affairs, and in design

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What makes video games effective?

• (1) a clear goal almost all video games are
  goal-oriented that is, they have a clear and
  specific goal that children must try to reach
  (e.g. capturing the princess, reaching a
  destination),
• (2) adequate level of complexity, not too low but
  not too high well-designed games are highly
  challenging and are rarely totally mastered,
• (3) high speed most video games have a much
  faster speed than traditional mechanical games,

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Beyond Nintendo design and assessment of
educational video games for first and second
grade students

• Ricardo Rosas , , a, Miguel Nussbaumb, Patricio
  Cumsillea, Vladimir Marianovb, Mónica Correaa,
  Patricia Floresa, Valeska Graua, Francisca
  Lagosa, Ximena Lópeza, Verónica Lópeza, Patricio
  Rodriguezb and Marcela Salinasa

Computers Education Volume 40, Issue 1 ,
January 2003, Pages 71-94
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• The main objective of this study was to evaluate
  the effects of the introduction of educational
  videogames into the classroom, on learning,
  motivation, and classroom dynamics. These effects
  were studied using a sample of 1274 students from
  economically disadvantaged schools in Chile

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continued

• (4) incorporated instructions in most video
  games, children understand instructions while
  playing the game and do not need to read
  instructions,
• (5) independence from physical laws video games
  normally do not follow the physical laws of the
  universe objects can fly, spin, change shape or
  color as they please, and
• (6) holding power they capture players'
  attention and continue to do so as the game
  builds a microworld with its own rules and
  regulations (Malone Provenzo and Turkle).

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Motivation

• Students were more motivated to learn when using
  video games
• In general, children from all EG classes reported
  that the gaming time seemed for them too short.
  Teachers shared this opinion, and reported that
  the games turned out to be so motivating that
  students developed a greater interest in learning
  and even a higher motivation in attending school
  itself.

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Conclusion to study

• Table 5. Analysis of variance for posttest math,
  with pretest math as a covariate
• Plt0.01. MATHPREPretest Math
  GROUPIntervention Group EGExperimental group
  ICInternal control ECExternal control.
• the type of intervention had a significant effect
  on posttest Math scores, controlling for pretest
  ability.
• Planned comparisons showed there was a
  significant difference between means for children
  in the experimental schools (either experimental
  or internal control classes) and the external
  control group, but no mean differences were found
  between the experimental and internal control
  groups.

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Role and impact of imagesresearch Playing Doom

• The effects of exposure to violent video games
  on automatic associations with the self were
  investigated in a sample of 121 students. Playing
  the violent video game Doom led participants to
  associate themselves with aggressive traits and
  actions on the Implicit Association Test. In
  addition, self-reported prior exposure to violent
  video games predicted automatic aggressive
  self-concept, above and beyond self-reported
  aggression. Results suggest that playing violent
  video games can lead to the automatic learning
  of aggressive self-views.

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• Journal of Adolescence Volume 27, Issue 1 ,
  February 2004, Pages 41-52 Video Games and
  Public Health      Exposure to violent
  video games increases automatic aggressiveness
• Eric Uhlmann , , a and Jane Swansonb