Gameplay Concept ToolQuest for a pratical game design framework

@vincenzosan@kopph3r

Vincenzo SantaluciaFrancesco Lanzo

How this come in our mind?

● We’re game studies enthusiast

● We cope with many game concept

● Perhaps we’re fussy guys

The QuestWe look for

1. A game design tool for brainstorming phase

2. Focus on tight game design

3. A tool we actually like to use

We don’t try to build

1. A full, detailed formalism to design or describe any game

2. A rigid mathematical recipe to create game experiences

The primary tool

● We design games with words

● We tell our games with words

● A word processor is our main design tool

Does it work?It is never possible to completely predict the experience of a game. [...] These questions can never be answered by writing a design document or crafting a set of game rules and materials. They can only be answered by way of play.

(Salen and Zimmerman 2003).

Prototype: yes, but

● Take time and cost resources

● Not always under designers’ direct control

● Great for testing, wasteful for supposing

Before prototyping...

Define a game concept:

1. Goal

2. Conflict

3. Mechanics

Output

● In this game you core mechanic in order to goal

● Conflict is the problem you want to solve

● To master the game you have to be good at skill involved

What makes a gameAgency: choices that matter

It requires

● Feedback

● Uncertainty

● Emergence

Complex systems

● Emergence arises out of complexity

● It appears as unplanned patterns

● It leads the player to plan tactics and strategies

Without complexity, the space of possibility of a game is not large enough to support meaningful play.

Salen-Zimmerman

Crossing complexity barrier

In general, a game starts to exhibits emergent behavior when somewhere between two and four feedback loops operate in the game's internal economy

(Dormans, 2009).

Concept potentialityWill my gameplay provide...

● Variety of challenges ?

● Space for tactics and strategies?

● Skills to be learnt?

How do I know?

We need a formal abstract tool

“god damn do design documents suck as a means of communicating game design”

Ralph Koster - (Sheffield, 2007).

key game industry figures and game studies researchers have sporadically but consistently identified this as a problem.

They have argued that formal, abstract tools for designing gameplay (...) must be developed if the craft of video game design is to attain desired levels of sophistication and creative expression.

Katharine Neil - Game design tools: Time to evaluate

MDA

Mechanics: describes the particular components of the game

Dynamics: describes the run-time behavior of the mechanics

Aesthetics: describes the desirable emotional responses

Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, Robert Zubek - (2004)

Concept creation with MDA

PRO

● General and versatile

● Helps to define the game aesthetic unambiguously

● Stresses the role of dynamics for aesthetic activation

CONS

● Doesn’t provide a design method

● Doesn’t provide design tools

LAYERS

http://urustar.net/layers-game-design-tool/

Paolo Tajè, Federico Fasce - (2004)

Concept creation with LAYERS

PRO

● Deck of cards is a great tool for brainstorming

● Starts from MDA, goes a little deeper

CONS

● Doesn’t provide a design method

Skill Atoms

● Player: is driven to learn new skills high in perceived value.

● Skill: is a behavior that the player uses to manipulate the world.

● Perceived Value: Humans are not creatures of pure logic

● Fun: “Aha!” moment

D. Cook - (2007)

“To accurately describe games, we need a working psychological model of the player”

Concept creation with Skill Atoms

PRO

● Is a tool for wireframing the player experience

● Easy to write and to read

● Can describe the whole game

● Coder friendly

CONS

● Too advanced for the very initial phase of design

● Doesn’t show the game as a system and the connections between game elements

Machinations

● Games are state machines

● Designer builds the system

● Every game has an internal economy

● Dynamics emerge from the flow of game resources

● Skills are resources

Joris Dormans - (2009)

Concept creation with Machinations

PRO

● Focus on game as a system

● Shows a game economy in a very deep detail

● Provide a powerful online tool

CONS

● High entry skill; requires study to be used.

● Difficult to apply with real time games

● Not very versatile

GAMEPLAYCONCEPT

TOOL

Game Design Jump Start

● A design tool really providing a method

● Focused on game concept

● No strict formalism (flexible)

● Very easy to use

Project requirements1. A formal method for designing a gameplay concept

a. symbol language based

b. Focused on core elements and connections between them

c. Oriented on designing emergence through feedback loops

2. A formal method for communicating that design

a. Bounding the whole gameplay concept

b. Showing relations between things that make a game

Visual Dictionary

OSMOShttp://www.osmos-game.com/

THREEShttp://asherv.com/threes/

Reading the scheme 1

1. What’s core mechanic?

2. What’s the conflict?

3. Why better player = better outcome?

Reading the scheme 2

1. What’s core mechanic?

2. What’s the conflict?

3. Why better player = better outcome?

4. Is the system complex?

Working with the scheme

1. Need more feedback loops?

2. Need more connections?

3. Can I cut something?

Next stepFilling the canvas

1. Recap the core elements

2. Resume main dynamics

3. Focus on the theme and the core aesthetic

4. Check the consistency overall

Why using a canvas?

1. It shows relationships between elements

2. Is a complete scheme

3. It forces you to be concise

4. All information within reach

What we obtained

1. A tool for designing game concept

a. Simple and easy to remember

b. Not very strict but quite agile

c. Not very detailed but good for defining main features

2. A easy and quick way to describe the designed gameplay

Start from scratch example

● Snowbattle - FPS Capture the flag for PC

● Fill it! - Casual puzzle game mobile

SnowBattle

Snow Battle - Feedback Loops+ Roll = + Ball Size

- Ball Mobility

+ Freeze = - Health (other team)

+ Health = + Teammates+ Move

+ Teammates = + Ball mobility+ Freeze

+ Move+ Roll+ Freeze

= + Covering

+ Covering = - Freeze(other team)

Memo: Skills generally optimize the outcome of mechanics so the related f-loops are more favorable for the player+Agility = Move+

Fill it!

Fill it - Feedback Loops+ Place Shape = + Score

- Space

+ Scale Shape = + Score ₋ Space

+ Score = + Space (change level)

Memo: In this game Risk/Reward dynamic is enhanced by rules

fine

@vincenzosan

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1524/the_chemistry_of_game_design.php http://www.theoryoffun.com/grammar/gdc2005.htm http://www.raphkoster.com/gaming/atof/grammarofgameplay.pdf

http://www.raphkoster.com/games/presentations/teaching-to-fish/ http://www.raphkoster.com/tag/game-grammar/http://www.raphkoster.com/games/presentations/ http://www.jorisdormans.nl/article.php?ref=machinations http://fixnum.org/wim/Game%20Mechanics%20-%20Advanced%20Game%20Design%20-%20E.%20Adams,%20J.%20Dormans%20(New%20Riders,%202012)%20BBS.pdf http://www.jorisdormans.nl/article.php?ref=machinations http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/12168.46494.pdf http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/187777/game_design_tools_for_collaboration.php http://tinygdtool.urustar.net/images/tinygdtool.pdf http://www.jorisdormans.nl/machinations/

@kopph3r