Game Play Styles Structure of Game Play Sep

Game Play Styles Structure of Game Play Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 1

Game Play Mechanics g Games Have various structures that the user must handle g Common structures appear in many games Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 2

Suggestions? g Boss, Sep 21, Fall 2006 physics, character development IAT 410 3

Driving & Physical skill g Player must control vehicle/self to win g Must conform to environment g Music and Dance games do this g Fighting game combos g Jumping in platform games g Special moves in Skate / Snow Board Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 4

Puzzle - Arrange Geometry g Some self-contained artifact must be rearranged into a solved position – Sokoban – Solitaire – Sudoku – Adventure games Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 5

Dynamic Puzzle g Some dynamic artifact must be navigated through – Deadly pendulums swinging! – Tetris – Sequence repeat, word puzzle, maze, memory Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 6

Collection g The player has to collect something – Mario Bros, Pikmin, Oddworld, etc • Collect fuel to be used later – Diablo, MMORPGs • Collect cash & special items Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 7

Rescue g The player has to get some character – Someone needs to be saved from peril • Defender, Pronce of Persia, Donkey Kong` – Rescue animals/characters along the way • Sonic – Recruit – Sometimes merely a motivator or an evervanishing goal Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 8

Collision Detection g Shooting – Player shoots a projectile to make progress towards winning g Direct Attack by self g Collision Avoidance – Bullets miss you – Block punch/kick Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 9

Obstacle Avoidance g Player must avoid environmental objects/enemies to win – Pac-Man (Inky, Pinky, etc) – Centipede – Frogger – Mario Bros etc Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 10

Obstacle Creation g Player creates or controls environment to influence or defeat opponent g Eg. Light cycles in Tron g Walls in strategy games g Go g Garbage accumulates Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 11

Search g Something’s hidden in the environment g Key to locked door g Character who knows X g Find best X in Geometric state – Words in Bookworm – Rows or columns of like color in Bejeweled Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 12

Material Removal g Object is to remove opponent’s pieces g Examples – Chess – Checkers – War games – Action games (Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Asteroids) Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 13

Material Creation g Objects are created by user or game g May be competing process with Material Removal g Direct: – Tetris, Go, Othello g Indirect – Fortifications (Walls created to direct traffic) – Economies Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 14

Economic Simulation g You must set up a flow of material and/or money – Get the most stuff as a means of conquest Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 15

Economy Simulation g Resource gathering – Gold, Wood, Iron, etc g Direct – AOE gatherer units, C&C g Indirect – Total Annihilation, Kingdoms, Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 16

Economic Simulation g Buildings – Create NPCs • AOE, Warcraft I, Caesar III – Create/transform materials • Settlers, Caesar III Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 17

Economic Simulation g Traffic Flow – Roads! – NPC must pass a building for a transaction to take place • Zoo Tycoon, Caesar III – NPC must stop and deliver/pick something up • Railroad Tycoon Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 18

“Research” g Create a new technology that makes your NPCs better – AOE, Starcraft g Advance your civilization g Upgrade character g Upgrade car/train/weapons…. Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 19

Dialog/Negotiation g You talk to other players/NPCs – To learn things • Characters tell you X • Learn X in passing – To get missions – To gain/lose membership in a gang/guild/club – To coordinate attack/defense – Trade g Read environment for clues – News clippings Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 20

Artificial Life g Must grow your creature – Train it – Feed it Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 21

Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 22

Fun Flow -- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Chapter 3 “Enjoyment and the Quality of Life” Some thoughts on Game Design – Andrew Glassner Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 23

What is fun? g Can you name an experience that was supposed to be fun but was not? g Not supposed to be fun, but was? Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 24

What is fun? Pleasing Stimulating Addictive Engaging g Can you name an experience that was supposed to be fun but was not? Star Wars parts I & II g Not supposed to be fun, but was? Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 25

g Is it reasonable to say some software “Is fun” ? Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 26

g Is it reasonable to say some software “Is fun” ? It depends: … on audience … do you have to learn a new language? Ease of play vs. Challenge Other experiences: Museum Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 27

Not just software alone! g Software Sep 21, Fall 2006 + context IAT 410 28

Not just software alone! g Software + context Depends on mood Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 29

What Mihaly did g Sociology g Interviews g Surveys of people’s attitudes g Using the beeper – “Tell me how you’re feeling now” Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 30

How can you be happy? g Make external conditions match goals – eg. “kill the jerks” or g Change your experience of external conditions – Even of house is safe, may still worry – Make goals match external conditions Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 31

Happiness g Money can’t buy happiness – eg. Unhappy rock stars g Real happiness – What happens to us – How we feel about ourselves Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 32

Pleasure g Expectations have been met – Too high: Hype about experience – Low expectations: Random video rental Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 33

Pleasure g Expectations have been met – Too high: Hype about experience Star Wars I & II – Low expectations: Random video rental Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 34

Enjoyment g Forward motion, sense of accomplishment – Game with matched opponent – Too easy or too hard is no fun! Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 35

Characteristics of Flow g Have chance of completing the “task” g Able to concentrate g Clear goals g Immediate feedback g Deep but “effortless” involvement g Exercise control Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 36

Flow g. A challenging activity that requires skill – Hunting dog story: – Dog runs in circles, owner tries to catch dog – Dog runs tighter circle when master is tired – Dog tunes the challenge! Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 37

Control g Paradoxical: Can’t be too afraid of failure g Rock climbers minimize risk g More than just being in control: – Exercising control g Illusion of Control – Anorexia – Gamblers “figure out” chance events Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 38

Addiction g Lose ability to control own choices g Have you ever been addicted to a game? – What was going on in your life at the time? – Was it you, or the game? Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 39

Flow g Concern for self disappears – Returns after experience is over g Sense Sep 21, Fall 2006 of time duration is altered IAT 410 40

Flow g Concern for self disappears – Returns after experience is over … you notice you’re hungry g Sense Sep 21, Fall 2006 of time duration is altered IAT 410 41

Success g “Creates order in consciousness and strengthens the structure of the self” Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 42

Success g “Creates order in consciousness and strengthens the structure of the self” Transition from Beginner to Reasonably Skilled Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 43

Why do games stop being fun? Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 44

Why do games stop being fun? Stagnation Obsolescence (new game improves on old) Plateau in skills Pacing or difficulty Why return to a game: Nostalgia Forgetting the bad things Taking a break to think offline Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 45

Design to Achieve Flow g Pace difficulty g Allow control g Don’t make things too hard g Don’t make things too easy Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 46

Glassner g Avoid: – Making it easy to cheat g People will always exploit bugs – Flight sim – Multiplayer sim – etc. Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 47

Repetition g Make it easy for users to repeat things – Interactivity != Participation – The raw count of mouse clicks is not a good measure of quality! – Not all actions taken by the user are desirable. Has to be fun. Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 48

Detail g Too much detail – Required actions overly detailed – Eg. Potions in Ultima Online g Under-detailed – Don't take control away from the user g "A game should offer the fastest and easiest possible way to do everything unless there is some entertaining or informative reason to prevent it. " Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 49

Deception g Faulty Sep 21, Fall 2006 scuba gauge IAT 410 50

Deception g Faulty scuba gauge Only discover by death Too severe, plus “save game often” is the simple, tedious solution Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 51

Large-Scale Randomness Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 52

Multiple-Choice Conversations Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 53

Multiple-Choice Conversations Probably OK between Non-Player Characters Should have a realistic memory Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 54

Agency g "Don't trick players into providing a personality description. " Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 55

Agency g "Don't trick players into providing a personality description. " This is reasonable for Role-Playing Games The conflict is over first person vs. third person play Information about the character is important Can’t play a role without knowing what the role is Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 56

Choices g Label them well g Don’t keep them guessing Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 57

Complexity g Need to have picked up pencil 100 turns ago g Brick example: need to click on 100 bricks to find the right one Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 58

Paste-On Interaction g Design Sep 21, Fall 2006 the game and the UI together IAT 410 59

Character Control g Don't take control of the user's character – Avoid cut scenes in which your character does something stupid Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 60

Character Control g Don't take control of the user's character – Avoid cut scenes in which your character does something stupid Can use them as a reward Must have a plot requirement Problem is primarily with first person agency Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 61

Interactive Fiction g Respect for the player. g Player's time will never be wasted g Don’t insult or deny her individuality, intelligence, or creativity g The player will always be engaged in fun or interesting events – passively – interacting with them Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 62