playerone - dissecting games
Post on 28-Jul-2015
247 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
WHAT IS PLAY?
Autonomy: play is a voluntary activity.
Safety: during play there are radically reduced serious
consequences in what we do
Exploration: the possibility to experiment and try out new
things
Mastery: the will to improve one’s own skills
GAMES VS PLAY
Games are distinguished from play
– Play is free-form
– Games are rule-based
A game is a closed, formal system that· Engages players in structured conflict and· Resolves its uncertainty in an unequal
outcome.
Fullerton, T.; Swain, C. & Hoffman, S.
Game Design Workshop: A playcentric approach
to creating innovative games, 2008
Turn based boardgame vs Real time action shooter
Handmade physical board vs Personal Computer
Public domain rules vs Copyrighted
2 - OBJECTIVES: EXAMPLES
Solution: solve a problem or puzzle before (or more accurately) than the competition or following certain constraints
Connect Four, Milton Bradley,
1974
Professor Layton and the
Miracle Mask, Level-5, 2011
2 - OBJECTIVES: EXAMPLES
Alignment: arrange game objects in a spatial or conceptual configuration
Tetris, Alexey Pajitnov, 1984 Puzzle Bobble, Taito
Corporation, 1994
3 – MECHANICS (PROCEDURES)
“Game mechanics are
methods invoked by
agents, designed for
interaction with the game
state.” – M. Sicart
http://gamestudies.org/080
2/articles/sicart
3 – MECHANICS: EXAMPLE
Starting action: Choose a player to go first. Each player chooses a color: red or yellow.
Progression of action: On each turn, a player drops one colored checker down any of the slots in the top of the grid.
Resolving actions: The play alternates until one of the players gets four checkers of one color in a row. The row can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal.
Connect Four
4 - RULES
• Define Objects• Restrict Actions• Determine Effects (ECA rules)
Chess: A player cannot move her king into check.
Poker: A straight is five consecutively rankedcards; a straight flush is five consecutively ranked cards of the same suit.
WarCraft II: To create knight units, a player must have upgraded to a keep and built a stable.
5 - RESOURCES
Resources: valuable objects that can help the players to achieve their goals but are scarce in the system.
Lives: number of “trials” that can be attempted to reach a goalUnits: multiple objects that has to be managed instead of livesHealth: represent the status of loss or near loss of lives and unitsPoints: numerical value that represents a measure of the skill and progression of a playerActions: number of possible distinct choices that a player can make within a defined timeframePower-ups: object that gives a boost to the playerItems: used by the player to accomplish an objective, made scarce by the systemTurns: the number of game phases within which a player must accomplish the objectivesTime: restricts player actions or phases in periods of time.
6 - CONFLICTS
Conflicts: emerges from the players trying to accomplish the goals of the game within its rules and boundaries, since procedures and rules tend to deter players from accomplishing goals directly or make players work against each other.The most common conflicts are generated by:Obstacles, objects or rules that limit the freedom of the playersOpponents, since they are usually trying to achieve an objective faster than usMeaningful Choices, players have to make choices that will influence the outcome of the game
7 - BOUNDARIES
Boundaries are what separate the game from everything that is not the game and defines the physical or virtual scopes in which the game is performed.
Example: Football would not be the same game if the boundaries of the football field were not defined.
8 - OUTCOME
Unpredictable!
The unpredictability should derive from three different sources:
• Player Choices• Complex Rules• Elements of Chance
FORMAL ELEMENTS
• Formal elements are the elements that ALL games share and constitute their backbone
• You, as a developer, should explore beyond the basic elements of play and explore new forms of interactivity, mechanics and aesthetics
• Nonetheless it is still important to understand the fundamental role of formal elements in every system that we call “A Game”
• We will dig further into details in the upcoming lessons :)
GENRES AND MECHANICS
A comprehensive table describing the relationships between the major game
mechanics and how they define different genres is provided on the website of the
course.
Nonetheless games can be divided in two broad families, sometimes they can also
be mixed together:
GAMES OF EMERGENCE
GAMES OF PROGRESSION
We will focus on games of EMERGENCE in this course, even though some
elements of progressions are often needed.
ENGAGING PLAYERS
• The formal elements provide structure to the experience of games, but what gives these elements meaning for the players?
• What makes one game capture the imagination of players and another one fail completely?
• What allows players to emotionally connect with a game?
• The sense of engagement comes from different things for different players, and not all the games require elaborate means to create it
ENGAGING THE PLAYER
• Challenge
The conflict challenges the player and create tension as well as creates varying level of achievement or frustration
Increasing the challenge as the game goes on increase the tension, but too much challenge causes frustration
• Premise
Overarching premise gives context to the formal elements and creates engagement
Diablo’s premise sees the character in a dark and gothicworld menaced by the threat of the rise of a terrible demon called Diablo
ENGAGING THE PLAYER
• Characters
Agents through which stories are
told with whom players can empathize
• Story
Some games engage players emotionally
by using the power of the story within or
surrounding their formal elements
• How stories can be integrated?
• How much story is too much? Or too little?
• Should the gameplay change the story?
Final Fantasy VII Playable Characters
Lost Odyssey
GAMIFICATION
“The use of game design techniques and game mechanics to enhance non-game contexts”
S. Deterding, M. Sicart, L. Nacke, K. O’Hara, and D. Dixon,
“Gamification. Using game-design elements in non-gaming contexts”
Sebastian Deterding Miguel Sicart
ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY
Core activity must be already engaging for the user.
Gamification involves defining clear and definitive objectives
that last even past the gaming experience, and are either set
by, or negotiated between the user and the game along with a
progressive path of short and intermediate goals leading to it.
Onboarding
Retention
Virality
Social Dimensions
Additional Mechanics
POINTS
Points or Player Scores are a numerical value that represents a measure of the skill of a player.
•External display of progression• Immediate and lasting feedback• May determine the win state•Connection between progress in the game and rewards
Galli, L., Fraternali, P. “Achievement
Systems Explained“ SGSC2012,
Singapore
Werbach, K. & Hunter, D.
For the Win: How Game Thinking
Can Revolutionize Your Business
Wharton Digital Press, 2012
LEADERBOARDS
A Leaderboard is an ordered list of players based on the scores they have obtained in a specific game or system.
• Relates the performance of a player to the others• Fosters competition and participation• Risky: May be demotivating.
Galli, L., Fraternali, P. “Achievement
Systems Explained“ SGSC2012,
Singapore
Werbach, K. & Hunter, D.
For the Win: How Game Thinking
Can Revolutionize Your Business
Wharton Digital Press, 2012
ACHIEVEMENTS AND BADGES
37
An Achievement is a set of tasks, defined by a designer, for the player to fulfill so to achieve a milestone and track the progress in a system.
A Badge is an artifact associated to the completion of an achievement and given to a player after its completion, or, in gaming terms, after “unlocking the achievement”.
• Define goals• Onboarding tool• Visual markers for reputation, • Provide lasting rewards
Galli, L., Fraternali, P. “Achievement
Systems Explained“ SGSC2012,
Singapore
A CLASSIC EXAMPLE:
Just how bad is Big Rigs:
Over the Road Racing?
It's as bad as your
mind will allow you to
comprehend.
CONCLUSIONS
•Play is a universal need
•Games and videogames are entertaining and
controlled means to satisfy it
•We can accomplish astonishing results...
•...if we design a good and tailored gaming experience
•Technological improvements cannot fix a gameplay
mined by bad design choices
top related