Understand the principles of games design

Learning Intentions

To Know the different principles of games

To understand why these are important

Visual Style and Gameplay Visual style: world (terrain, architecture, objects); characters; non-playing characters (NPC); f Feedback interface; perspectives (2D, 3D, first-person, third-person, scrolling, aerial, context-sensitive); full motionvideo (FMV)

Gameplay interaction model, eg avatar, omnipresence single player; multiplayer narrative; game setting eg physical, temporal, environmental, emotional, ethical goals challenges; rewards player actions rules difficulty game mechanics (inventory, scoring, win condition) balance feedback game structure(flowchart) addiction

Visual Style

World- terrainThe type of terrain used in a game depends on the range of

navigation needed.  Some common styles of navigation are: Top-down games only let you look at a downward angle,

and do not have to deal with a wide range of distances.  Hither clipping and LOD is greatly simplified or not needed.

Unconstrained ground games let you look up or down, and get close to the surface.  They must allow a wide range of distances and levels of detail, and deal with hither clipping.  Some have third-person display modes, but allow the full navigational freedom of a 1st-person point of view.

Unconstrained air games are similar, but do not have to deal with drawing near objects/scenery accurately.

World- terrainthe role of architecture in games, I started off by  making a list

of reasons that humans construct buildings in the first place: To protect people, goods, and animals from the weather. To organize human activity efficiently (factories, theaters,

offices,  sports arenas) To conceal and protect goods and animals from theft

(warehouses, barns,  shops, storage facilities). To offer personal privacy (toilets and private houses). To protect people from other people (fortifications, military 

installations, prisons). To impress, commemorate or simply decorate (civic

monuments and religious  buildings). The primary function of architecture in games is to support

the gameplay.

Characters and NPC How the character is played and used How you interact with the character

NPC The term non-player character is also used in console and

computer role-playing games to describe entities not under the direct control of players. Nearly always the connotation is that an NPC is allied with, or at least neutral toward, the player, while hostile characters are referred to as enemies, mobs or creeps. In video games, NPC is sometimes expanded as "non-playable character" or "non-player class".

NPC behavior in computer games is usually scripted and automatic (see artificial intelligence), triggered by certain actions or dialogue with the player character(s).

Feedback interface There should be continuous visual and aural

confirmation about the state of the system; if the user clicks on something it should move, preview, or make a noise; if something is thrown away it should whimper or vanish in an animated way; if new mail arrives, or new pages are downloaded, there should be a ping and some visual change, and so on. Also, all these noises should be modulated by the content of the page and the context of the user---otherwise the feedback is not providing any other information except that the event happened (which would rapidly become annoying). The user should never be in doubt about the state of the system.

Perspective 2D. A few years ago, the vast majority of games

had only two dimensions. This was especially noticeable in 2D side-scrolling games such as Super Mario Bros. (see Figure 4.1). Mario could run left and right and jump up and down, but he could not move toward the player (out of the screen) or away from him (into the screen). Two-dimensional worlds have one huge advantage when you're thinking about how to display them: The two dimensions of the world directly correspond to the two dimensions of the monitor screen, so you don't have to worry about conveying a sense of depth to the player.

3D 3D. Three true dimensions. Thanks to 3D hardware

accelerators and modeling tools, 3D spaces are now easy to implement on hardware that supports them. They give the player a much greater sense of being inside a space (building, cave, spacecraft, or whatever) than 2D spaces ever can. With a 2D world, the player feels as if he is looking at it; with a 3D world, he feels as if he is in it. 3D worlds are great for avatar-based games with exploration challenges, such as the Prince of Persia series (see Figure 4.3). Most large games for personal computers and consoles now use three dimensions, but many small casual games still need only two.

First person In video games, first person refers to a

graphical perspective rendered from the viewpoint of the player character. In many cases, this may be the viewpoint from the cockpit of a vehicle. Many different genres have made use of first-person perspectives, ranging from adventure games to flight simulators. Perhaps the most notable genre to make use of this device is the first-person shooter, where the graphical perspective has an immense impact on game play.

Games with a first-person perspective are usually avatar-based, wherein the game displays what the player's avatar would see with the avatar's own eyes. Thus, players typically cannot see the avatar's body, though they may be able to see the avatar's weapons or hands.

Third person In video games, "third person" refers to a

graphical perspective rendered from a fixed distance behind and slightly above the player character. This viewpoint allows players to see a more strongly characterized avatar, and is most common in action games and action adventure games. Games with this perspective often make use of positional audio, which the volume of ambient sounds varies depending on the position of the avatar.[1]

There are primarily three types of third-person camera systems: the "fixed camera systems" in which the camera positions are set during the game creation; the "tracking camera systems" in which the camera simply follows the player's character; and the "interactive camera systems" that are under the player's control.

Scrolling A side-scrolling game or side-scroller is a video game

in which the gameplay action is viewed from a side-view camera angle, and the onscreen characters generally move from the left side of the screen to the right. These games make use of scrolling computer display technology.

[edit] Use of side-scrolling The most popular use of the side-scrolling format is in the

platform game genre. Platform games are action games that feature jumping, climbing, and running characters who must be guided through many diverse levels. Games such as Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog are among the most famous side-scrollers of this type.

Full Motion Video (FMV) FMV cutscenes became a nearly mandatory

component in computer games, and even as a better-quality replacement for sprites in FMV games. Popular platforms for FMV include QuickTime, MPEG and Smacker.

FMV differs from real-time cutscenes in that real-time cutscenes must render the game environment just as in the actual game, whereas FMV is simply a playback of something that was previously recorded, usually rendered by a much more powerful machine. Thus, FMV was traditionally usually much higher quality than real-time cutscenes, and the two can usually be differentiated by this.

GAMEPLAY

Interaction Model

Single Player

A single-player video game is a variant of a particular video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. "Single-player game" usually implies a game that can only be played by one person

Multiplayer

A multiplayer game is a game which is played by several players.[1] The players might be independent opponents, formed into teams or be just a single team pitted against the game

Narrative

The standard model for storytelling in video games is based upon having the player complete a set of goals and then playing a cut scene which advances the plot. Some may argue that this is fine; the cut scenes represents a reward given to the player for completing a section of the game

Game setting The temporal dimension of a game world defines the way that time is

treated in that world and the ways in which it differs from time in the real world.

The environmental dimension describes the world's appearance and its atmosphere

The physical surroundings define what the game actually looks like

The emotional dimension of a game world defines not only the emotions of the people in the world but, more important, the emotions that you, as a designer, hope to arouse in the player. Single-player games have to influence players' emotions with storytelling and gameplay.

The ethical dimension of a game world defines what right and wrong mean within the context of that world.

Goals

What the player of a game has to strive for. A goal is an assignment of value to the possible outcomes of a game. The goal refers to the game as an activity, not to the game as an object. Additionally, some games enforce goals, while other games have optional goals.

Challenge

Challenge: an important way to shape the experience of play. If the challenge of a game is too high for a player’s skills, they might become anxious or frustrated. If there is not enough challenge, boredom results. Ideally games provide a balanced challenge at all moments.

Rewards Mechanical Rewards: such as increases in

stats that the player can feel the effect of. Highly motivating for many players –

Narrative rewards: a little narrative exposition is effective for certain players as a reward. A cut scene can be a bigger reward than dialogue - when used well.

Emotional rewards: related to the above, but applicable when the player feels they have done something for someone in the game.

Player Actions

every game has actions that it lets the player perform.  The player can run, shoot, paint, throw, eat, duck, swap polarity, teleport,

It is the process by which a player takes action withinthe designed system of a game, and the system responds to this action.

Rules

Rules are a fundamental part of any game. They provide the structure out of which play emerges, by defining what a player can and cannot do, as well as the relationships between components in the system.

Difficulty

In general usage, difficulty level refers to the relative difficulty of completing a task or objective.

In computer and video games, the term specifically delineates the ease or difficulty with which an average user may complete a game or a part of a game

Game mechanics

Game mechanics are a construct of rules intended to produce an enjoyable game or gameplay.

Scoring: If any kind of reward system is in the game

Win and Lose Conditions How do you win and how do you lose the game.

Balance Game balance is a concept in game design

describing fairness or balance of power in a game between multiple players or strategic options.

One example of imbalance in action games, especially first-person shooters, is the possibility of spawn camping, which can cause players to be killed before they have a chance to defend themselves. This is a clear example of the player being unable to influence the outcome of the game.

Feedback Positive FeedbackPositive feedback occurs when the act of

succeeding makes it more likely that you will succeed. 

The lead car not only has a lead that can be protected, but doesn’t have to deal with other cars forcing him out of the optimal line.

Negative FeedbackNegative feedback either constrains the player in

the lead, or gives an advantage to the player or players trailing

Game structure

Addiction

Addiction of Finishing the GameAn addiction to finish the game is

often basedon either wanting to see the end result

or just to complete it.Addiction of the High ScoreAddiction of Exploration