Key Issues in Game Design & Course Overview

Foundations of Interactive Game DesignProf. Jim Whitehead

January 5, 2007

What makes Final Fantasy XII a good game?• Demonstration of Final Fantasy XII• Why is this game fun?• What challenges does it present?

► What interesting choices does it give the player?

► What kind of interactivity does the game permit?

• How does it create conflict?• How does it tell its story?

► Why is the fictional world compelling?► Is the story linear or branching?

• What else contributes to the game being fun?

Source: Wikipedia

Why is it difficult to answer the question?

• It is difficult to tease apart the various issues that contribute to the excellence of a complex modern game like Final Fantasy XII

• Useful to have frameworks for breaking the analysis problem into smaller pieces

• A framework is a way of structuring knowledge on a topic

► Creates an organized mental scaffolding that you can fill with facts and information

► Analogy: memory palace

Rules | Play | Culture

• One useful framework is► Rules:

• The essential logical and mathematical structures of a game system. How one plays a game.

► Play: • The human experience of interacting with a game system.

How you feel while playing a game.

► Culture: • Larger societal contexts that inform the game, and are

informed by the game. How your background cultural knowledge affects how you react to a game, and how a game in turn impacts culture.

Rules|Play|Culture for Final Fantasy XII

• Rules► What are some of the rules of Final Fantasy XII?

• Play► How do you feel while playing Final Fantasy XII, or

other similar role playing games?

• Culture► What are some cultural influences on Final Fantasy

XII? ► How has the Final Fantasy series affected culture?

Teasing apart effects

• Though the Rules|Play|Culture framework helps to structure analysis of games, Final Fantasy XII is still difficult to analyze

• Rules:► The license system in FF XII is new to the series. How does

this affect other rules, and gameplay? Is it a net positive?

• Play & Culture:► Experience of playing game depends a lot onhow strongly you

identify with the characters and their goals► This, in turn is strongly affected by cultural norms and

stereotypes, and experience playing other games

• Perhaps a more simple game would be easier to explore…

Legend of Zelda

• Demonstration of Legend of Zelda

• What are some differences between the two games?

► Battle system► How does it tell a story?► Characters► Structure of gameplay► What challenges does it

present?► How does it create conflict?

Source: Wikipedia

Rules|Play|Culture for Legend of Zelda

• Rules► What are some of the rules in Legend of Zelda?► How does the difference in complexity of rules

between Loz and FF XII affect gameplay?

• Play► What is the gameplay experience of LoZ?► How is this gameplay experience different than FF

XII?

• Culture► How does broader culture impact the design of LoZ?► How has LoZ affected culture?

Even more simple: Pong

• Demonstration of Pong• Let’s strip things down to their bare essentials• Pong is perhaps the most simple computer

game that is fun and compelling to play

Source: Wikipedia

Rules|Play|Culture for Pong

• Rules:► Simple, but effective at creating a wide array of

gameplay possibilities.► Two white lines, one ball. Where the ball hits on the

line determines its subsequent direction (edge of the line: big angles, middle of the line: straight rebound)

• Play:► Simple to play. Every game is unique. ► Games are social: you can talk to the other player

during a game, and it’s interesting for bystanders.► It is fun!

Rules|Play|Culture for Pong

• Culture:► The game of tennis is represented

elegantly in Pong. Instant familiarity.► As the first hit computer game, had

enormous influence on broader culture.

► For broad public, broke technical frame of reference of TV as passive viewing device, replacing it with the notion of TV as space for interactive play.

► Broad awareness in popular culture• Play Saturday Night Live Pong skit (from

11/15/1975)

Pong t-shirt from Cafepress.com

Now let’s change the rules

• With a simple game like Pong, it’s easy to analyze how rule changes affect the game

• Consider Plasma Pong► www.plasmapong.com► Adds fluid dynamics to Pong► Improvement? Why or why

not?

• Part of the broader culture of the original Pong

Source: www.plasmapong.org

Course Overview

• Two game projects (30%)► Drawing-based game► Computer game► Created by teams of 2

• Analysis assignments (20%)► Gamelogging► Game ontology contribution► Multi-game analysis

• Two exams (34%)• Final exam (16%)• Lectures featuring game demos

and lots of participationSuper Mario Bros rendered using ~3,800 Post-It notes on E2 building (2005)

Course Textbook

• Rules of Play► Katie Salen, Eric Zimmerman► MIT Press, 2004► Available at bookstore, online

• “We hope this book will be a catalyst, a facilitator, a kick in the ass. Take these concepts and run with them, quickly, meaningfully, with the same kind of joy that the very first players of Pong must have felt.

We’re all in this together. Are you ready to play?”

Course Website

http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/classes/cmps080k/Winter07/

• Syllabus► Readings, due dates, exams, kept up-to-date

• Descriptions of all assignments• Description of project phases, deliverables, grading

criteria• Tools you can use for your project• Lecture notes and podcasts• Supplemental readings

► Including Koster’s “A Theory of Fun for Game Design” and Crawford’s “Art of Computer Game Design”

• Bookmark this site!► Can also Google for “80k winter 2007” (third link down) ► Can also find via my home page

Library Facilities

• Science and Engineering Library is developing a collection of computer games

• Can check out NES, N64, PS2 consoles (have 5 each)

► Along with games of design distinction► Go to checkout desk with student ID to

check out games

• Also, classic console lab► Important historical consoles► NES, SNES, Genesis, PS1, Saturn, N64,

Dreamcast, Xbox, GameCube► Available early February

• Created specifically for this class, so please take advantage of this resource

Science & Engineering Library

Lecture Notes and Podcasts

• Lecture notes will be posted on the course website after each class

• Will also be experimenting with making podcasts of each lecture

► Let me know how this goes

• In theory, makes it easy to skip lectures• Many reasons to attend class:

► Game demos► Ability to ask questions► Community of other students interested in game design► You’re paying about $35 per lecture, might as well get your

money’s worth

Computer Game Project

• Work in teams of 2 to create novel computer game

► Game Maker tool will be taught in class► Allows interesting games to be created without

programming► Students last year were very effective in creating

games using this tool

• Phases► Game concept document - February 5► Game prototype - February 21► Final game - March 7

Computer Game Projects

• Will have two days of peer assessment of games in small groups

► Receive lots of constructive feedback► One gamelogging assignment using student created

games

• Best games will be demonstrated to entire class• Will have external judges, commercial game

designers• Best game will win a new Xbox 360

► With hard drive, wireless controller, headset, etc.

Course People

• Professor► Jim Whitehead

Associate Professor, Computer Science► Office hours: Tuesday, 12-2pm, or by appointment

• Teaching Assistants► Ken Hullett, David Olsen, Jacob Telleen

• Readers/Tutors► Tim Davis, Nate Emond, Nicolas Kent, Jeff

Brizzolara

• Take advantage of our expertise!