pre-game show rules for 3-to-15: two players alternate turns. on your turn, pick a number from 1 to...

Pre-Game Show

Rules for 3-to-15:• Two players alternate turns.

• On your turn, pick a number from 1 to 9

• You may not pick a number that has already been picked by either player.

• If you have a set of exactly 3 numbers that sum to 15, you win.

Formal Design Tools: Emergent Complexity, Emergent Narrative

Pre-Game Show

Rules for 3-to-15:• Two players alternate turns.

• On your turn, pick a number from 1 to 9

• You may not pick a number that has already been picked by either player.

• If you have a set of exactly 3 numbers that sum to 15, you win.

Formal Design Tools: Emergent Complexity, Emergent Narrative

The Punch Line:

9 42

1 86

5 37

Formal Design Tools

Emergent Complexity,

Emergent NarrativeA rant by MAHK

GDC 2000

Q: What is the most over-used word in all of game design?

Q: What is the most over-used word in all of game design?

A: “Fun”

Down with “Fun!”

A short list of “fun” games:

• Acrophobia• EverQuest• Sim City• Starcraft• You Don’t Know Jack

• Tetris• Alpha Centauri• Quake• Myst• FreeCell

When trying to make good games, “fun” only gets you so far.

Rules, Models, and Techniques

Formal Design Tools

• Well-defined

• Abstract (i.e. cross-genre)

• Day-to-day utility

• Well-understood application context

• Lenses, not value statements

Lecture Overview

• A few more words on “Fun”

• Games as Complex Systems

• Aesthetics of Emergent Complexity– Emergent Narrative

• Creating and Managing Emergent Complexity

• Largely Taxonomical

A Brief Taxonomy of “Fun”


1. SensationGame as sense-pleasure



2. FantasyGame as make-believe




3. NarrativeGame as drama





4. ChallengeGame as obstacle course






5. FellowshipGame as social framework







6. DiscoveryGame as uncharted territory








7. ExpressionGame as self-discovery








7. ExpressionGame as self-discovery

8. MasochismGame as submission

RulesInput Output

State(Player) (Graphics/

Sound)

The “State Machine” Model

Part 1: Games as Complex Systems

Definitions

Properties that cannot be simply inferred from a system’s rules.

Emergent Complexity (“Emergence”)

A system that possesses or exhibits emergent complexity.

Complex System

Example: Conway’s Game of Life

The Rules:• A grid of cells, each cell is either “alive” or

“dead.”• Each cell has 8 neighbors.• Count each cell’s live neighbors

– 2 or 3: Stay alive– Exactly 3: Become alive

This is called a “Cellular Automaton.”

Conway’s Life is a Complex System

• Static Patterns: Block, Honeycomb

• Dynamic Patterns: Blinker

• Moving Patterns: Glider

• Patterns of Patterns: Beehive, Glider Gun

The rules are inadequate to describe the system’s behavior.

Examples in Games

• Chess: Attack & Defense, Discovered Check, Knight Fork, etc.

• Go: Eyes, Life & Death patterns, Tesuji

• Magic: The Gathering: Card Combos, Deck Archetypes

• EverQuest: “Trains,” “Kiting,” “Kill-stealing”

Part 2: Aesthetics of Emergence

What makes Emergent Complexity “fun?”

Emergence and Discovery

• The emergent properties of the system form an explorable space.

• More complexity means more space.

Emergence and Challenge

• A game’s emergent properties form its “strategic vocabulary.”

• New scenarios and obstacles can emerge.

Emergence and Narrative

So there I was...

Emergence and Narrative

• Narrative emerges from game events.

• Complexity gives you infinite monkeys.

• A game’s fantasy gives meaning to the narrative.

Emergent vs. Embedded Narrative

• Emergent narrative occurs as short vignettes.

• Embedded (Authored) narrative works well for major story arcs.

Narrative in Thief

• Embedded narrative:– serves as a “frame” for interaction. – limited to short, discrete, non-interactive

moments.– (Also consider: letter-boxing of Zelda 64

cutscenes)

• During the actual gameplay, narrative is largely emergent.

Emergence and Fantasy

• Emergent properties don’t necessarily support the metaphor.

• Contradictions are common, creating absurd fantasies.

Absurd Fantasy Trouble Spots

• Sci-Fi/Fantasy simulations– Simulation reveals flaws & side effects

• Sports Sims– Emergent properties must be replicated

faithfully.

Other Perils of Emergence

• Degenerate strategies (“exploits”)

• Unintended feedback systems.– Overly stable– Overly unstable

There’s no substitute for playtest!

• Prototype early

• Playtest often

Quick Summary

Emergence can create:

• Discovery

• Challenge

• Narrative

• Fantasy (tricky)

Unexamined:

• Sensation

• Fellowship

• Expression

• Masochism

Part 3: Models of Complex Games

How do we make these things?

Common Characteristics

• Individual elements are simple.

• Rich interactions

• Game state has many elements.

• Random initial conditions.

Complexity does not mean lots of rules.

Homogeneous vs. Heterogeneous

• Homogeneous: Many similar elements (Life)

• Heterogeneous: Many distinct elements (Magic: The Gathering)

• A Spectrum, not a Dichotomy

• Most modern games are heterogeneous.

Creating Complex Systems:A Heterogeneous Approach

• Create multiple systems.• Keep individual systems simple. • Create interactions (“cross-terms”) between

systems.

Focus on system interaction, not system complexity.

Examples

• Magic: Creature Combat, Card Economy

• Civilization: Unit Movement/Combat, City Sim, Diplomacy

• Thief: AI behavior, Sound Propagation, Combat

Individual systems are mini-games, but don’t stand on their own.

Tiered System Structure

• Create a few solid “foundation” systems.• Build a second tier of cross-term-inducing

features.• Foundation remains fixed, while the second

tier grows over development time.

• Examples– Thief: Lockpicking– Magic: Enchantments– Civilization: Tech

Tiered System Structure

• Foundation systems will survive the development process.

• Enables incremental development of second tiers.

• Landmarks for system exploration.

System Interactions: Feed-In

One system’s state directly controls the rules or parameters of another.

• Magic: Card Economy feeds into Combat

• Alpha Centauri: Diplomacy feeds into Economy.

Bi-directional Feed-in is Feedback

• Stable: Resist change (Thermostat)

• Unstable: Amplify change (Snowball effect)

System Interactions: Resource Exchange

Resources serve as a medium for system interaction.

Resource Exchange: Competition

Two systems consume the same resource.

Magic: Spells & Creatures compete for mana.

Resource Exchange: Transmission

One system produces a resources that another consumes.

Civilization: Cities produce units; Combat consumes them.

Resource Exchange: Transformation

A system converts one resource into another

Starcraft: Repairs turn raw materials into hit points.

Resources are Energy

• Energy can be created by – Production– Transformation– Transformation “arbitrage”

Exploits can manifest as “energy spikes.”

Preventing Energy Spikes

• Build in time constraints to:– Production– Transformation

• Understand and tune your exchange rates.

• It’s OK to grow, just don’t grow too quickly.

Summary

• Emergence can create: Challenge, Discovery, Narrative

• Emergence can thwart Fantasy.

• Create Cross-terms between simple systems– Feed-in– Resource exchange

More Info

These slides: www2.lglass.com/~mahk

My email: [email protected]

“Complexification” by John CastiISBN: 0-06-16888-9

Life32: psoup.math.wisc.edu/Life32.html

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