Chapter 2.2 Game Design

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Chapter 2.2Game Design
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Overview

• This introduction covers
• Terms
• Concepts
• Approach
• All from a workaday viewpoint

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The Language of Games

• Debate continues over high-level views
• Lack of standard (concrete) definitions
• Game (Interactions to elicit emotions?)
• Play (Object of rule-bound play?)
• Aesthetics (Emotional responses during play?)
• High-level concepts tricky to articulate

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The Language of Games

• Why do we play?
• What is the nature of games?
• Not our focus in this class
• How is a game formed of parts?
• Thats what we care about here!
• Computer games are an art form
• The art of making interactive dynamic models!

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Games Exist in a Frame

• The border of a games context
• Inside the frame is in the game
• Outside the frame is real life
• The world of the interactive dynamic model
• Choices have outcomes in the frame
• Varying consequences/weights
• Meaningful choices!

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A Player-Game Model

• A model of the player game relationship

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Play Mechanics

• Gameplay
• Feelings of playing a particular game
• Activities engaged in a particular game
• (Play/game) Mechanics
• Specific to game activities
• What the player does
• Core Mechanics are the central activities

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Seven Stages of Action (Don Norman, DOET)

• Execution
• Intention to act
• Sequence of action
• Execution of action sequence

• Evaluation
• Evaluating interpretations
• Interpreting perceptions
• Perceiving states

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Designer and Player Models

• Systems are built from designer mental models
• Design models may only anticipate player goals
• Players build mental models from mechanics
• Based on interactions

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Goals and Objectives

• Objectives and goals can differ
• Players goals reflect their understanding of the
  game
• Designers must consider how the game communicates
  with players

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Aside Resources

• Things used by agents to reach goals
• To be meaningful, they must be
• Useful provide some value
• Limited in total or rate of supply
• KEY Needed, but limited!

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Premise Sets Context for Model

• The metaphors of action and setting
• Concrete (e.g., Halo back-story)
• Activity based (e.g., Madden)
• Abstract (e.g., Tetris)
• Directs the player experience
• Provides a context in which mechanics fit
• Players map game states to the premise

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Player Strategy

• People usually reason with commonsense
• A view of linear causation cause and effect
• Complex systems do not behave linearly
• Players need information to support linear
  strategy
• Game theory assumes rational players
• But does not assume perfect knowledge

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Aside HCI and Cognitive Ergonomics

• HCI Human-Computer Interaction
• Study of
• Communication between users and computers
• How people design, build, and use interfaces
• Better support for cooperative work
• Cognitive Ergonomics
• Analyzes the cognitive representations and
  processes involved with performing tasks

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Norman, again (DOET Design of Everyday Things)

• Normans five principles of design
• Visibility
• Making the parts visible
• Mappings
• Understandable relationships between controls and
  actions
• Affordances
• The perceived uses of an object
• Constraints
• Prevent the user from doing things they shouldnt
• Feedback
• Reporting what has been done and accomplished

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Systems Design

• Two general approaches to design
• Special case
• Experiences built one scene/level at a time
• Anticipate states while pre-scripting events
• Solved by discovering the intentions of the
  designer
• Systemic
• General behaviors are designed
• Scenes/Levels are specific configurations
• Some events may still be pre-scripted
• Solved by understanding the system

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Systems and Dynamics

• Generalizing dynamic behavior is hard
• Dynamics determined by a given architecture
• Feedback/control loops with player in loop
• Emergent complexity
• Behaviors that cannot be predicted simply from
  the rules of a system
• E.g., John Conways Game of Life

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Systems and Feedback

• Negative feedback
• Stabilizes the game
• Forgives the loser
• Prolongs the game
• Magnifies late successes

• Positive feedback
• Destabilizes the game
• Rewards the winner
• Can end the game
• Magnifies early successes

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Design is all about Working within Constraints!

• E.g., Platform
• General description of hardware and software
• E.g., Game Saves
• Save triggers
• Save-anywhere
• Save points
• Coded text saves

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Design to Different Audiences

• Why We Play Games Nicole Lazzaro
• Internal experience
• Enjoyment from visceral activities
• Hard fun
• Challenge of strategy and problem solving
• Easy fun
• Intrigue and curiosity exploration and
  adventure
• Social experience
• Stimulating social faculties competition,
  teamwork, bonding, and recognition

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Rest of Chapter

• Creativity Section Brainstorming
• Generating ideas without discrimination
• Evaluation after elaboration
• Can be unfocused
• Communication and Psychology
• Useful tidbits
• Lots of courses, books, etc.