Piotr Tekien GAR1-D Action Design Principles Game Design - Theory Notebook Docenten: Tim Bosje en Micah Hrehovcsik 3 June 2015

Piotr Tekien GAR1-D

Action Design Principles Game Design - Theory Notebook Docenten: Tim Bosje en Micah Hrehovcsik

3 June 2015

PIOTR TEKIEN – HKU GAME ART – GAR-1D

Table of Contents

Presentations – Game Patterns _____________________________________________________________________________________ 1

Stimulated Planning – Guild Wars 2 __________________________________________________________________________________________ 1

Stealth – Dishonored __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Combat – Tekken ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Critical Hits - Pokemon ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2 Betrayal – Saboteur ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2 Environmental Storytelling – Half Life _______________________________________________________________________________________ 2 Balancing Effects ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2 Easter Eggs _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2 Factions ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2 Player killing ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3

Unwinnable Games ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3 Collaborative Actions __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3

FUBAR (Fucked up beyond all recognition) _________________________________________________________________________________ 4

Stealth __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4 Companions ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4 Jumpscares _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4

Tension _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5

Quick travel ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5 Armour _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5 Cooldown ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5 Regenerating Resources ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5 Ragequitting ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5

Secret areas ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6 Clues ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6

Storytelling ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7

Notes ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7

1-1 Challenge __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8 Old Games ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8

1-2 Challenge __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8 1-3 Challenge __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9 Notes ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9

1-5 Challenge (Read and Reflect) ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 11

Game Design Patterns _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 12

Challenge 2-1 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 12

Notes _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 12 Challenge 2-2 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 14

RTS: Age of Empires _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 14

RPG: The Elder Scrolls IV: Skyrim __________________________________________________________________________________________ 15 FPS: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 _______________________________________________________________________________________ 16 Board: Monopoly ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 17 Serious Games _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 19 Challenge 3-1 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 19 Challenge 3-2 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 19 Challenge 3-2 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 20 Challenge 3-3 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 22

Info ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 22

Challenge 3-4: Read and Reflect ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 24 Challenge 4-1 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 26 Challenge 4-2 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 26 Challenge 4-3 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 26 Challenge 4-4 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 27 Challenge 4-5 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 27

Lesson 5 – Prototyping ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 28

Challenge 5-1 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 28 Challenge 5-2 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 28 Challenge 5-3 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 29 Challenge 5-4 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 29 Challenge 5-5 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 30

Challenge 6-1 A – Nomic ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 31

PRESENTATIONS – GAME PATTERNS Presentations – Game Patterns STIMULATED PLANNING – GUILD WARS 2

In Guild Wars 2 is het belangrijk dat je goed plant voordat je een dungeon raid gaat doen. Dungeon raids doe je voornamelijk met andere party members. Daarbij kijk je dan wie je in je team nodig hebt en word dan soms buitengesloten omdat je net die class niet bent die anderen nodig hebben.

In dat geval moet je een party vormen met lagere levels, maar de dungeon raid wordt dan wel moeilijker en kan daardoor mislukken. Je ontmoet dan in ieder geval nieuwe mensen, wat het dan wel weer leuk maakt.

Stimulated planning is ook heel belangrijk tegen champions (mini bosses). Je hebt dan cooldowns waarbij je goed moet plannen wanneer je die gebruikt. Je kan ze namelijk verspillen en dan moet je 30 seconden wachten totdat je die sterke aanval weer kan gebruiken. Daarom is het heel belangrijk om goed na te denken wat je, wanneer gaat doen.

STEALTH – DISHONORED

Je hebt strategische plannen en tactische plannen. Bij strategisch plannen bekijk je eerst de scene om na te denken hoe je van punt A naar B kunt gaan. Bij tactisch plannen moet je op het laatste moment een andere beslissing nemen en daar van uit herstellen. Stimulated planning is dan een combinatie van tactisch en strategisch plannen die je dan toepast in een level om er door heen te komen.

Flanking routes zijn ook aanwezig in de game, dit zijn speciale routes naast de standaard route die je kan volgen om het level ook te kunnen halen. Soms moet je campen om te wachten totdat een guard voorbij loopt zodat jij bij je eindbestemming kan komen.

Guards hebben een line of sight die ze gebruiken om jou waar te nemen. Dit gebeurd dan in combinatie met geluid en game state indicators helpen jou daarbij om dat te zien.

COMBAT – TEKKEN

Combat heeft vrij duidelijke doelen waarbij je de vijand vangt, verslaat of elimineert. Combat hoeft niet altijd verplicht te zijn in games. Je kan dan er voor kiezen om combat niet te gebruiken en dan alsnog uit te spelen. Een belangrijk onderdeel is natuurlijk een Enemy, zonder een Enemy heb je niet zo veel aan combat. Je kan het interessanter maken door patronen te gebruiken met bijvoorbeeld: • • •

Armor Kwetsbaarheid Combo’s

Dan zijn er verschillende manieren hoe combat kan worden toegepast – er is dan Turn based en Real-time, bij de een wacht je voor je beurt en bij de ander ben je de hele tijd aan de beurt. Bij Age of Empires kan je een hele groep besturen voor combat en bij Assassin’s creed bijvoorbeeld speel je maar 1 speler die alle combat verricht.

Page 1


3 juni 2015

PRESENTATIONS – GAME PATTERNS CRITICAL HITS - POKEMON Critical Hits zijn aanvallen die meer schade doen dan normale aanvallen, deze critical hits zijn vaak random. Je gebruikt critical hits om het spel onvoorspelbaar te maken.

Er zitten nadelen bij critical hits omdat het dan ook tegen jou gebruikt kan worden. Zijn critical hits nou eigenlijk? (PseudoNRG) Deze PseudoNRG algoritme bepaald of jij een crit doet. Het gebeurd dus niet helemaal random.

Er wordt dus hierbij een seed gegenereerd en daar kan je dan achter komen om precies te weten wanneer jij die critical hit land.

BETRAYAL – SABOTEUR

Het doel van saboteur is dat je 2 soorten mensen hebt, je hebt een goudzoeker en een saboteur. Het doel van de saboteur is dat je er voor zorgt dat de goudzoeker niet bij de goudklomp komt.

ENVIRONMENTAL STORYTELLING – HALF LIFE

Geschiedenis/waarde meegeven aan een game. Bij Environmental effects heb je in Fallout 3 bijvoorbeeld radio active zones. Game items kunnen ook vertellen wie je bent, wat je bent en wat je doel is. Er zijn hideout spraypaints, die geven aan dat er rebels hebben geleefd in dat gebied.

BALANCING EFFECTS

Balancing effects hebben als doel om de speler die er slecht voor staat, meer boosts te geven om gelijk te trekken met de andere speler. Een goed voorbeeld waar dit word gebruikt is Mario, hoe verder je achter aan staat, hoe beter je upgrades worden om hoger aan te staan in de rang. Je zet balancing effects in een game om meer controle te hebben over de lengte van de game en leuker maken voor de verliezende speler. De consequenties zijn meer spanning in het spel brengen en houden, betere leercurve creë ren, minder voorspelbaar maken voor wie gaat winnen. Nadelen zijn dat de gevoelen van “Game Mastery” weghaald, waarde van spanning verminderen, minder gevoel van invloed op de (uitkomst van de) game.

EASTER EGGS

Een easter egg is een grap of een verborgen boodschap die in een computerprogramma, een film, een website, een computerspel verstopt is en gevonden kan worden. De film frozen heeft een easter egg waarbij rapunzel in de film staat. Verder heeft Google ook een easter egg dat als je bij Directions van The Shire naar Morder typt dan staat er. One does not simply walk into morder.

FACTIONS

Sociale groep met overeenkomende normen en waarden. Families kunnen faction zijn, criminele bendes, land. Allemaal groepen mensen die dezelfde normen/waarden aanhouden. Wat kan je met factions? Conflict. Je hebt keuzevrijheid met gevolgen waardoor als je een faction kiest, daarmee bevriend word maar ook meteen een vijand creë ert. Verder heb je beloningen/progressie voor als je bepaalde dingen doet voor/binnen jouw gekozen faction.

Page 2


3 juni 2015

PRESENTATIONS – GAME PATTERNS PLAYER KILLING Player killing is eliminatie door een andere speler. Dit kan in First person shooters ook gebeuren binnen je eigen team, dit heet dan friendly fire. Consequenties van player killing zijn meestal penalties; time out, (tijdelijke) minderheid voor je team, verlies van geld en/of items. Bonussen voor tegenspelers. Negatieve reactie; ruzie, pre-made character, selfmade character en Permadeath.

UNWINNABLE GAMES

Unwinnable games zijn games die zijn gemaakt om bijna onmogelijk om te winnen. Redenen om Unwinnable Games te maken zijn: • •

Voor de herspeelbaarheid Never Ending Stories

Redenen/Gevolgen voor spelers • • •

Quitters Eigen voorwaardes Persoonlijke doelstellingen

COLLABORATIVE ACTIONS

Collaborative actions zijn acties die je samen moet uitvoeren. Toepassingsmogelijkheden Combineren van acties: A. Samen op specifiek moment B. Mogelijk maken van acties door andere acties

Coö rdinatie - Hoeveelheid, Precisie, Manier

Verdere Variatie: • •

Rewards Verschill tussen acties

Daarbij is het belangrijk om hier goed over te communiceren. Het kan specifiek ontworpen zijn OF Emergent: Beat the Leader. Dit vindt meestal plaats in teamgames, waar efficië nt naar het gezamenlijke doel gestreven wordt. Hierbij spelen combo’s, shared rewards/penalties een rol.

Het patroon zorgt voor meestal een complexere gameplay. Je hebt een Anonimiteit speler die de keuze baseert op resultaat en niet persoonlijke redenen. Verder heb je een vertraagd effect waar verraad aantrekkelijker wordt. Dan is er nog reward voor é én persoon, soort van Pay it forward principe, waarbij maar 1 iemand de reward krijgt en denkt extra hulp daarvoor te krijgen.

De consequenties van het patroon vormt coö peratie & voldoening. Het vereist sociale interactie. Je moet een bepaalde vorm van communicatie in brengen waarbij coö rdinatie, planning en onderhandling een belangrijke rol spelen  Masteren. Page 3


3 juni 2015

PRESENTATIONS – GAME PATTERNS Er is een (illusie) vrije keuze, waarbij er een vorming van (tijdelijke) teams ontstaat.

FUBAR (FUCKED UP BEYOND ALL RECOGNITION)

FUBAR momenten zijn momenten in games die laten blijken dat het spel bijna onmogelijk is te halen, of met enorm veel moeite te behalen is. Oude games van super mario had ook fubar momenten omdat je op een gegeven moment van alle kanten wordt beschoten. Guitar Hero heeft het ook door bijvoorbeeld de expert levels te spelen. De richtlijnen van FUBAR enjoyment zijn: • • • • • • •

Uitdagende gameplay in realtime Overweldigend Hoge concentratie vereist van de speler Geen makkelijke uitweg mogelijk Hulpeloosheid Multitasken Niet vooruit plannen

STEALTH

Stealth is het doel om ongezien verder te komen. De variaties zijn Ghost: volledig onopgemerkt, geen sporen en Panther: onopgemerkt met takedowns. De gameplay elementen van stealth zijn Line of sight, strategic knowledge, alarms/choke points en verschillende doelen.

Stealth wordt vaak gebruikt voor verschillende doelen, het kan zijn om te ontsnappen of iemand redden of iemand assasinaten of infiltreren/spionage. Metal gear solid was de grondlegger van stealth, het was een primitieve vorm van cover based gameplay.

COMPANIONS

Companions are found in mostly adventure games such as RPG/MMORPG.

They are basically Non-playable/playable characters or entities with similar/unique functional roles or/and privileged abilities who share a goal that is similar to yours and who will accompany and support the player on their way to the end. These companions sometimes play a role to explain the story of the game, or help you fight a certain enemy.

Dialogues  gameplay Internal rivalry Romance  storyline

JUMPSCARES

Jumpscares zijn onverwachte, vaak enge momenten om de speler uit zijn stoel te laten springen. Waarom? Unity games gebruiken dit concept vaak, het wordt ook gebruikt om spanning te behouden en jou dat moment goed laten onthouden. En als laatste, het is gewoon leuk.

Page 4


3 juni 2015

PRESENTATIONS – GAME PATTERNS Hoe pas je ze goed toe? Laat de jumpscares niet dodelijk (schadelijk) zijn, verder moet je de speler onverwacht laten verassing. Je vertelt je speler al van te voren dat je gaat schrikken, hierdoor maak je ze extra bang als het gaat gebeuren.

TENSION

Tension is het gevoel van het geven om de uitkomst van acties of evenementen in een game zonder volledige controle over ze te hebben. Je kan tension creë ren door een tijdsdruk inplementeren. Content zeer moeilijk maken. Zorgen dat er onzekerheid is over de uitkomst. Vertrouwen in andere spelers (en backstabbing). Spannend verhaal en context (detective, horror).

QUICK TRAVEL

Quick travel is snel van punt A naar B te komen. Er zijn verschillende manieren om dit te doen: Warp points, portals, cutscenes. De voordelen zijn: tijdbesparing, snellere game flow, goed voor enthousiasme, illusie dat het een grote wereld is. Er zitten ook nadelen bij quick travel: Het is minder een geheel en je krijgt minder binding met de wereld.

ARMOUR

Armour zijn game items die karakters of avatars beschermen tegen verschillende vormen van schade. Ze kunnen armor vergelijken met die zoals in de echte wereld. Armour wordt als een pickup/percentage gebruikt. 0% of 100% armour. Je hebt armour die geı̈ntegreerd is als hull/lifepoints.

COOLDOWN

A period of time when an action is not possible tob e used after being used. Je hebt verschillende soorten cooldowns, voor bijvoorbeeld een skill in een game of een hint voor bijvoorbeeld een puzzle game. Reloaden is ook een cooldown in bijvoorbeeld shooters.

REGENERATING RESOURCES

Regenerating resources zijn resources die zichzelf bijvullen na verloop van tijd. “Resources in games that are created simply by the passing of game time” • • • •

Lange/continue spelduur (mmorpg’s) Gameplayttteccchnisch ondersteunend (bijv. Resourcegerichtte gameplay vs unitsgerichtte gameplay) Voorkomen van onmogelijke taken Stimuleert uitgave van resource

Werkt goed in combinatie met krachtigere of meer zeldzame “limited resources”.

De nadelen zijn dat het realisme kan opofferen. Het stimuleert farm/grindgedrag en kan game-breaking zijn in bepaalde combinaties. Waar je op moet letten is een resource cap, overpowered combinatie van items en limited resources moet je zeldzaam maken.

RAGEQUITTING

“Quitting a game in an instance due to anger or frustration without regards to how this will affect gameplay for others” Page 5


3 juni 2015

PRESENTATIONS – GAME PATTERNS Ragequitting is een negative pattern. De redenen voor ragequitten zijn: challenging gameplay, slechte samenwerking, verraad en vaak ook lag (slome internet verbinding/grafische kracht). Ragequitten kan voorkomen door ranking systems/bans, achievements en communicatie.

SECRET AREAS

“While most gameplay areas created for games are made so players naturally will visit them, some are Secret Areas that players may need to explicitly search for in order to find” Secret areas horen soms niet bij het level zelf en zijn niet per se nodig voor progressive. Een secret area is dus: • • • •

Een omgeving die niet in het verhaal van het spel hoort Een omgeving waarnaar de flow van het spel niet leidt Een omgeving die goed verborgen is, zodat deze niet of bijna niet toevallig te vinden is Een omgeving die “unlocked” kan worden door een bepaalde handeling

Het nut kan dus zijn: • • • •

CLUES

“Fysieke” rewards in de vorm van collectibles zoals geld (Personal) Achievements Extra resources om de speler te helpen/belonen Extra info over een deel van de game

Clues zijn hints in games die je een bepaalde richting kunnen sturen om je te helpen of hints te geven over wat je moet/kan doen. Dit kan je doen door middel van dialogen, laadschermen.

Page 6


3 juni 2015

STORYTELLING Storytelling NOTES

A game designer puts all kinds of things on a piece of paper to see what connections are available. Reflecting stuff to each other or not. You can also look differently on how a game is designed i.e. a flowchart. You can zoom into the AI of a ghost (wander, see, false, true, chase, evade) Joris Dormans Machinations framework Storytelling

Storytelling tells the story of your organization. It is also found in politics, each of the candidates for presidents had a story to tell of what they could do for us (neatly planned) – storyline. Religion is also built like this. Psychologie discusses this quite often (schematics therapy). Story plot flow map

Beginning  Middle  Climax  Conclusion

A lot of people struggle to implement a plot in this. Storytelling through game mechanics

http://www.necessarygames.com/my-games/loneliness/flash

Mechanics as metaphor  meaning

Page 7


3 juni 2015

STORYTELLING 1-1 CHALLENGE Why is game history important to the game designer? • •

So you can learn what has been developed through the years which you can use in your project. To see what works and doesn’t work in designing a game.

For what purpose were games created? •

To immerse a player in a specific environment with a specific goal to fulfil a specific desire.

What do you think is the oldest game? • • •

Hide and seek Hunting Tennis for two (Oldest video game)

OLD GAMES

*Royal game of vr. *Senet (3500 BC) = Playing this game to have a better understanding of their religion. *Weigi  understanding domination.

*Xiang gi *Shogi *1st Olympics  for military purposes *Episkyros

*Pok-Ta-Pok *Knucklebones *Yezi Gexi *Ganjifa

1-2 CHALLENGE What was the common purpose of games in society thus far? • • •

Entertainment Educative purpose Recovery of certain disabilities

What technology would be the first change for games? • • •

A perfect consumer version of virtual reality (i.e Oculus Rift) An engine which exports to every platform possible and includes all the programming languages and supports every software. The art of press, because of this games could be spread globally in an easy way.

Who was the first credited game designer? •

Page 8

John Jefferys (A Journey Through Europe – 1759)


3 juni 2015

STORYTELLING 1-3 CHALLENGE What was the first videogame? • • •

Tennis for two Second videogame = Pong Space Wars

Why did the video game industry experience two major crashes in the beginning? • • •

There was no innovation within games. Crash #1: Pong (Because there was only Pong and nothing else) Crash #2: Atari (The game’s commercial failure and resulting effects on Atari are frequently cited as contributing factor to the video game industry)

Why is this directly related to you as a game designer / artist? •

NOTES

Because it’s important to know which flaws were in the history so you as a game designer/artist would not make them

The North American video game crash of 1983 •

They thought it would be a big success and started mass production but it turned out that it wasn’t a big success.

What makes video games so powerful? Convergence •

Page 9

(Bringing different mediums together)


3 juni 2015

STORYTELLING

Page 10


3 juni 2015

STORYTELLING 1-5 CHALLENGE (READ AND REFLECT) Reading segments from: • • •

Read

Half-real by Jesper Juul The Oxford History of Board Games by David Parlett Victorian Parlour Games by Patrick Beaver

Each game is a simulation of situations that also occur in our daily lives. The same counts for games that use physical or mental combinations of this. Each game is based on rules. The presence of rules decide if it’s a game or not.

What is a board game actually? Board comes from tables or planks. A board game can actually be played everywhere, as long as there is a flat surface. There are actually two kind of board games. The modern (Monopoly/Cluedo). These are quite new games, with a maker, production line etc. Besides that there are the old traditional games such as Go and Chess. These have no clear maker, no copyright etc. In conclusion you have different commercial and traditional games. There are different board games. • • • • •

Hunting Games: Search & Destroy Racing Games: Being as fast as possible Mancala Games: Conquer as many neutral points as possible Games of Alignment: Acquire all pieces of the other player War Games: Catch or immobilize the enemy.

There is a rather passive attitude in this time. People therefore gladly watch tv. Also, games are often transferred to people through this medium. The physical part is mostly gone, as a result people remain passive. Reflection

I thought it was a tough text to read. The pictures weren’t always clear to me but I did learn that board games have been completely taken over by other media like TV and computer. Of course there are exceptions where people hold tournaments to keep these board games alive. And even if there aren’t tournaments, people will still remain to play these.

It’s a shame that I didn’t have much board games in my youth, I was also raised with Playstations and Gameboys which almost never gave me the chance to experiment with these board games. In example, I discovered how to play Monopoly by the age of 18 or 19. But I’m still glad I did after all that time. I also now know the difference between a traditional board game and a commercial one.

Page 11


3 juni 2015

GAME DESIGN PATTERNS Game Design Patterns CHALLENGE 2-1

1) What is a game design paradigm? • An agreed basic, thinking model system of principles. • Communication between each other in a game. We have game genres for this. Not shooting in a shooter is not logical. Thus, conflict between player and system. 2) Why are game design paradigms important? • It’s the base of a workflow which you can reference to. 3) How can they help the game designer? • It keeps overview over the project.

NOTES Goals

Communication between each other in a game. That’s why we have genres. Not shooting in a shooter is not logical, thus conflict between player and system. The general understanding of a game.

The important thing in a game and players is the goal. It’s crucial to explain a game. Symmetrical goals: cod, asymmetric flock. Many games have a combination of goals. Also called objectives, these can be used as achievements. Rules Operational Rules It’s not just a matter of the gameplay rules, but it can even be something like physics. If you’re confronted with these rules, you cannot change those. The next step up are behavioral rules.

Behavioral Rules Behavioral rules are rules that the player decides him/herself how he/she behaves.

House Rules House rules are rules that change the rules in a specific environment.

Page 12

Choices Hallow Choices The worst choice are hallow choices because you don’t have a choice at all.

Uninformed Choices Uninformed choices are choices that don’t inform the player of the consequences. Weighted Choices Weighted choices are choices which you can compare with each other.


3 juni 2015

GAME DESIGN PATTERNS Emergent behavior Loopholes Loopholes are points in the game which the player can abuse in his/her favor. For example that an enemy spawns on a specific point at a specific time which you can always kill and get the specific items you need. Replayability Games that have enough satisfaction to replay, or that are made to be played again. Dead Ends Dead ends in games that tell the player to turn around and try another path.

Invisible Walls Walls that aren’t actually there. The illusion that the player gets but actually isn’t there.

Balance Paper-rock-scissors Poké mon cycles.

Combined arms Combined arms is an approach to warfare which seeks to integrate different combat arms of a military to achieve mutual goals. Prisoner dilemma Decision making statistics.

Payoff matrix (divide skill sets) Divide skill sets that eventually get all the players on the same level after a certain event. Symmetry Symmetrical balance are games where players start with the same items/characters and skillset to compete against each other. Dominant strategy Exploiting a certain aspect for the best outcome. Handicaps Start with less health for example.

Learning curves How easy a player can understand the beginning of a game.

Information systems Easter Eggs Easter eggs are special places or items in a specific game that don’t essentially belong to the story itself.

Page 13

Exploration Giving the player the idea of exploration, exploring the world. As you explore, you find out more and more about the world. Economies Supplies and demands Diminishing returns


3 juni 2015

GAME DESIGN PATTERNS Rewards Breadcrumbing Reward systems: Variable ratio, fixed ratio, variable interval, fixed interval. Storytelling The hero’s journey – Book – by Joseph Branching stories

Game sessions Real-time Turn based Asynchronous Drop in & out multiplayer Singleplayer Multiplayer

CHALLENGE 2-2 Use the patterns to analyze: • • • •

1x RTS (Real-time Strategy) 1x RPG (Role-playing Game) 1x FPS (First Person Shooter) 1x Monopoly (Board Game)

Call per game 10 patterns that define its pattern.

RTS: AGE OF EMPIRES About

Age of Empires is a real-time strategy game spanning 10.000 years, in which players are the guiding spirit in the evolution of small Stone Age tribes. Starting with minimal resources, players are challenged to build their tribes into great civilizations. Obstacles

The game contains many obstacles such as water where the player cannot cross. In this matter, the player will need a boat to transport his troops to the other side. Anticipation

Anticipation is quite important in this game considering that when you have a specific amount of troops and you send a scout to check the perimeter to see if there are any enemies. If you see an enemy, you can anticipate an attack from a certain direction and be prepared for it. Bluffing

You can bluff by sending a small group of troops and taunt the NPC or other player(s) to attack you by attacking their troops/buildings for a short period of time.

Page 14


3 juni 2015

GAME DESIGN PATTERNS Resources Resources in this game are key. You can’t build anything without them. You’ll need to assign villagers to collect these resources and bring them back to the town hall to gain them. After the player has collected enough resources, only then can he build what he wants. Limited Resources

There is a limit of the resources you can have, the choice of how you use them is important. The amount of resources are displayed at the top of the screen. These are Food, Wood and Gold. Symmetric Goals

The goal of each player/NPC is the same. To get as many resources as possible, get the town upgrades as fast as possible, get as many troops as fast as possible and coordinate your attacks accordingly to win from the opposite player(s) Real-Time Games

Age of Empires requires that the player keeps constant attention on what is happening in the game during play. If the focus is lost and the player is having a hard time to progress, then the player can lower the difficulty or play with other players. Tension

Tension may arise when playing Age of Empires. For example if you get really far in a match and think you’ve got an army strong enough to defeat the enemy base. On that moment, the tension heats up because you might be worried if you have enough troops to defeat the enemy. King of the Hill

The game consists of this pattern because you need to be the last one standing and wipe out everyone on the field. Unless you’re doing a team battle, then you have to work together on destroying the enemy. Usually you play it on your own. Exploration

The map is entirely black when the game starts. To get a better view of the map what’s there and what’s not. You send out your troops to scout for resource spots, enemy bases and the entire environment.

RPG: THE ELDER SCROLLS IV: SKYRIM About

The Elder Scrolls IV: Skyrim is a sandbox roleplaying game. Players create a character and ventures into the open world of Skyrim, developing their character throughout different types of quests. Collecting

There are several type of items you can collect in the world of Skyrim, depending on your own interest. For example, a player can collect herbs to create potions but can also choose to collect metal for creating armor.

Page 15


3 juni 2015

GAME DESIGN PATTERNS Roleplaying Skyrim is a roleplaying game in which a player creates his own character. Also, the player makes choices throughout the game which defines his character. Exploration

A player can choose to go anywhere in the world of Skyrim. At the beginning of the game, the complete map is blank. As the player is exploring the world, he starts to discover locations and the map is being filled in. Immersion

When someone plays Skyrim, he has to completely focus on the game. He becomes immersed in the game. The player pays constant attention to the game, because he is discovering new locations and items all the time. Combat

In Skyrim you have to overcome enemies by either killing or defeating them. This can be done through combat with either physical weapons or magic. After you’ve defeated the enemy, you can take his loot. Characters

Characters, or NPCs, are representations of persons in the world of Skyrim. You can have interaction with them through dialogues. Characters can give you quests, become your allies or enemies. Skills

Skills let a player decide in which style he is going to play the game. For example, a player can choose to play as a stealth archer, or as a berserker. Movement

Players can move in any direction in Skyrim. Also it’s possible to move items in the world, like props and corpses. If you’re playing stealth, the more you move, the more likely you get compromised. Survive

One of the main goals of Skyrim is to avoid getting killed. Players can be killed by enemies, falling, walking into a trap or drowning. Enemies

Enemies are NPCs or characters who are trying to hinder the player by attacking them. The cause of attack can differ. Sometimes NPCs attack the player because of choice the player made earlier in the game.

FPS: CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2 About

Modern Warfare 2 is a single player and multiplayer First Person Shooter game of the Call of Duty series. The game includes classes, machine guns, assault rifles, pistols, machine pistols, shotguns, handguns, launchers and much more of the firearms technology of today.

Page 16


3 juni 2015

GAME DESIGN PATTERNS Damage The game has a damage system, different guns have different strengths of damage which affects the player depending on the amount of hits/damage of the gun. Player Killing

The game is all about player killing, you can either play free for all to kill everyone on sight, or choose to do team battles and compete with your team against the opposite team. Score

The score depends on how many kills/headshots/revives/disarms etc. a player makes. Skills

Skills are essential in Call of Duty, because you’ll need a certain reaction time and execution to kill the player before the enemy kills you in combat. Spawn Points

Spawn points are designated to players after death. The spawn points depend on your team’s current location which decides your next spawn point. Survive

The goal is to survive, and of course get as many kills as possible to get the highest score. The goal is always to kill other players and survive as long as possible to get the highest kill/death ratio. Camping

Camping is done quite often in the game, especially if you’re a sniper rifle user. You’ll sit somewhere hidden, preferably with a perk that gives you camouflage and shoot the other players. Enemies

Your Enemies are the other players considering it being an online game. There is also a single player version and then certain NPC’s become your enemy/target. First-Person Views

The game only uses a first person view because it gives the player the widest view to see his targets. This makes aiming and shooting a lot easier. Maneuvering

This skill is essential in first-person shooters, considering that you’ll have to be able to maneuver the enemy and his gunfire to get a good opportunity to attack.

BOARD: MONOPOLY About

Monopoly is a multiplayer board game. It’s a fast-dealing property trading game. The goal of the game is to drive all your opponents into bankruptcy. Page 17


3 juni 2015

GAME DESIGN PATTERNS Cards Cards in Monopoly are physical elements, used to indicate ownership of a location. Conflict

There is constantly a conflict in Monopoly. Several parties want as much cards and money as possible. Multiplayer

The game can’t be played on your own. There are ought to be at least two players, but preferably four.

Anticipation

Players can try to predict future events when playing Monopoly. For example, if a players is going to have to pay another player or not. Bidding

Sometimes, more than one player wants to buy a card from another player. In this case, the player who bids the highest amount of money, wins the card. Betting

Players can invest their money in buying locations, building houses and hotels. It is an act of risk for the chance of winning more money than was invested. Collecting

The goal of the game is to collect as much money as possible from your rivals. Dice

The amount of steps a player has to take, depend on the dice. Luck

The feeling that a random event is not random but favorable to the player. For example getting extra money because of a card. Trading

Players can choose to trade places with each other.

Page 18


3 juni 2015

GAME DESIGN PATTERNS SERIOUS GAMES What is it? It is the direct image of simulations for military etc. Clients think that it can solve all their problems. Designers see it as broccoli and chocolate. To dip something in chocolate, it is suddenly attractive, but it’s still broccoli. A game that tackles cancer, making the user more aware of it to stimulate the user to keep using medication. An active role, most of the game locates itself deeper – iceberg. Here in the Netherlands there are a lot of serious gaming companies.

CHALLENGE 3-1 1. 2.

3.

What is an applied game? What does it differ from a serious game. a. The difference is in the entertainment. An applied game doesn’t have entertainment as its primary goal. Serious games on the other hand can have this. Why do you think games can be applied to real-world problems? a. It gives you the chance to practice stuff which are actually difficult. Which field can games be applied? a. Actually in every field. In example flight simulators, traffic simulators, surgeon proceedings etc.

CHALLENGE 3-2 Applied games

A game that doesn’t have entertainment as its primary goal. It refers to tactical use. Take skills outside and don’t leave them in the game. Applied games go further than training and education. Studios

Page 19

• • • • • •

Vstep Grendel Games Mijn naam is haas Submarines Ijsfontein Flavour

    

Transmission (education) (Push) Game commissioner -> game -> Player (Pull) Game commissioner <- game <- Player (Adaptive) Game commissioner <-> game <-> player (Collaborative) GAME <-> Commissioner and Commissioner


3 juni 2015

GAME DESIGN PATTERNS The Heart of Applied games The center and core is the design. It’s about the design, not the game.

Anyone who makes a distinction between games and learning, doesn’t know the first thing about either one.

CHALLENGE 3-2 1. 2.

3.

Page 20

What do you think is the most challenging about designing an applied game? a. The making of something actually educative. To ensure that users take their experience out of the game and use it in their daily lives. What kind of pitfalls do you fall in during the development of an applied game? a. Sticking a subject on a mechanic. b. Sticking leather on a boring jacket. c. Not playtesting enough d. Underestimate your target audience e. That in the end it’s not a game f. Research is a lot, lots of playtesting. Draw a scheme of the applied design process


3 juni 2015

GAME DESIGN PATTERNS Designing an applied game

The easy thing of normal game design: You always know where the player is. There is only one place where he can play. This does not apply to applied games. Is it a class? Classroom? How does the teacher behave? Context is a lot more complexer compared to normal design. In education there are lots of ways to transfer knowledge. It depends on your commissioner. Venustas, Firmitas, Utilitas. (Roman architecture) Roman aqueduct Presently mostly: Utilitas. • • •

Venustas: The game element, fun. Utilitas: Must achieve his goal. Firmitas: How does it work in real life?

Greater layer around the game. There is another circle inside. It must be embedded in its entirety. The game IN a class.

Page 21


3 juni 2015

GAME DESIGN PATTERNS CHALLENGE 3-3 Concept for an Applied Game Starting Information Target Audience | Children 10-14 Location | at school Time | Max. 20 min. in class Goal | Daily English (written, spoken, & reading) Method | Individual & collaborative Verbs | reading, writing, talking, etc. Action Design Principles | Micah Hrehovcsik | 29-04-2015 Take home 3-3 Concept for an Applied • • • • • • • •

INFO

Game Concept Nam Core Mechanics Progressive Mechanics Game-play Experience Theme Technology Arguments for why it will help educate

Name Master Wizard & Words of Wisdom

Why it works

Theme Fantasy, Wizards, Magic

Target Audience Chilren 8 to 14

Location In class with a beamer

Time 10min. per class. The whole story takes a year.

Goal To have students train their vocabulary and grammar in English.

This game works because the students are given the same goal. Everyone wins if they all do well, so it pays off for every student and no one feels left out. The ones that are already skilled in English have to help others by giving them hints and not saying the answer, this way they learn patience and that helping others benefits him/herself. When a student learns something from another student or in a playful context, they tend to remember whatever they learn better in combination with talking about it and repeating this game. The game

Included Game Patterns Roleplaying All students play as one big team and every student takes on the roles of a citizen in a small town in the time of wizards & magic. The town lies in a country where there is one master wizard who rules all. One day the town is claimed by this wizard and tries to take it over with his own selfish goals and rules, but no one agrees with this.

The citizens (students) venture out on a quest to find and defeat this master wizard. The teacher takes on the role of their guide to oversee the citizens (students) in their almighty quest. Adventure

Students advance throughout the land by exploring, fighting and completing quests by solving vocabulary/grammar problems. One student gets to control the movement of rest of the class and each lesson a different student is chosen for this role. The chosen one for that class encounters any of the above events and by solving them, rewards the students with a score and gold. If the class gets a certain amount of score and gold, then everyone gets rewarded with Page 22


3 juni 2015

GAME DESIGN PATTERNS candy. This counter resets and depending on how much score and gold they save up, influences the scale of the reward for the whole class. With this they will learn the appreciation of saving money. Combat

The combat is what the game revolves around; it is done based on the idea that all civilians have magic power in them. They can cast spells by correctly spelling and pronouncing words or sentences. The fights are turn based, and each turn they have to choose from 3 possible answers while a timer counts down during their turn. 2 Answers will be wrong and not correctly spelled and one will be right and, when used, will result in the player successfully attacking. All students are allowed to help the student controlling the game to help him or her and each other. Diplomacy

Together with the guide (the teacher), the students have to make smart and realistic decisions. They need to have arguments with each other to stimulate making good choices and individual thinking. Quests

The aforementioned quests also involve homework. At the end of each game session, the homework will be given out and it will involve a few exercises to train the student in English and prepare him or her for the next session. These are also written in the form of magical terms and images. Achievements

By finishing quests the students get certain achievements that will help their town grow stronger. For example after they have finished doing a quest for someone working at an orchard, they unlock new fruits to buy at their local merchant in town, which in turn will be helpful on their quests. Final boss

The final boss in the game is the master wizard. The boss battle is long and requires every student to tune in and do their part. It will test everything they have learned that year and will require full teamwork and skills. Extra Educative Factor!

Not only teaches my game the correct use of English grammar/vocabulary, but also the importance of helping others and the appreciation of saving money.

Page 23


3 juni 2015

GAME DESIGN PATTERNS CHALLENGE 3-4: READ AND REFLECT • • •

Read

Read. Then write a summary for the following texts. Add your ideas and opinions. Minimum 1 A4. o What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy - James Paul o Gee Gaming: The Future's Language – Richard Duke o Serious Games - Clark Abt

The further we educate ourselves, the more complex we get. Technology is becoming some kind of god. The normal citizen barely influences this ‘god’. The society fails if it’s about the needs of mankind.

This is mainly a communication problem. Actually mankind doesn’t possess the resources to maintain this society because it’s so insanely complex. Bureaucracy can’t solve these problems and are sometimes the cause of new problems.

This is also called future-shock. This is the speed of which we accelerate at in our community and cannot maintain it. This results in that the social complexity increases. And then there is no more looking at Getsalt  The overall picture. Instead, separate elements float around that don’t function as an entity which is hard to understand. A new form of clear communication are games. Reflection is on the next page

Page 24


3 juni 2015

GAME DESIGN PATTERNS Reflection I mostly agree with the articles because our current society is indeed very complex. In example if you look at older people, the society moves way too fast forward because these people can barely keep up in the exception of if they are having a high status in the society. Games could indeed be a good solution, it can break the barrier between flat texts and experience. This can only be accomplished if the games are designed extremely carefully for this purpose.

It’s true that we’re not ready enough to develop and accelerate at the same level as our society. There are a lot of factors that you have to take into this matter, a good example is the greenhouse effect. Not only that, we also do far too much mass production. Continuously making new things to make even more money, the technology is already 10 years ahead of what’s on the market now, but they have to sell all the batches that have been made before or else it’s a waste. This increases the market and greed of people. What does this have to do with the acceleration of the development of our society? Well it means that we can’t maintain everything and have to take extreme measure if we want to change anything. A game could be a good tool to accomplish this.

Page 25


3 juni 2015

GAME DESIGN PATTERNS CHALLENGE 4-1 1.

2.

3.

What is gamification? a. Gamification is the concept of applying game-design thinking to non-game applications. Why is gamification interesting? a. To make them more fun and engaging. How does gamification relate to you as a game designer? a. Well, it’s the task of the game designer to make the game fun and engaging, which means that it relates to you directly as a game designer.

Gamification definition

Gamification: Integrates game thinking, mechanics and dynamics into an existing system, in order to drive participation, engage audiences and/or solve problems.

CHALLENGE 4-2 1.

Define the difference between gamification and applied games. a. Gamification integrates game thinking, mechanics into an existing system, whereas applied games have to start from scratch, developing these in the beginning and sit beforehand together to discuss how it’s going to be made.

CHALLENGE 4-3 1.

2.

Page 26

What is playful design? a. Playful design can be applied to everything, for example making a trash can with a score screen to make it more attractive for people to throw trash away. It can also be used in a Browser where if a page doesn’t work, it shows a funny icon and text such as Google Chrome does (He’s dead, Jim!) to show the user that the certain website he/she is visiting, does not work. b. Keeping it simple and highly accessible. c. Design something in such a way to make it look nicer. d. To make it more fun. Find 5 more examples of gamification. a. Steam b. Light bot c. Samsung Nation d. Khan Academy e. Zegel system bij de bakker


3 juni 2015

GAME DESIGN PATTERNS CHALLENGE 4-4 1.

Find 5 more gamification examples. a. Dinosaur from Google which appears if you have no internet. b. A dance floor which lights up when you step on it c. Project CLOUD: An interactive sculpture made from 6000 light bulbs d. Drion-Interactive Installation e. Eject button on the Super Nintendo to remove cartridges

CHALLENGE 4-5 1.

2.

3.

What problem does your gamification solve? a. To make sure that the user doesn’t forget what he/she put in the microwave. How do you improve the microwave experience? a. By making an app that connects to your microwave and making a game out of it. Briefly explain the gamification of the microwave concept.

The Zero Microwave 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Page 27

You put food or beverages in the microwave. You set the countdown timer to a desired time. The countdown timer is linked with your Android/iOs microwave app through WiFi or 3G. When the timer gets close to 0, you have to open the microwave as close as possible to the 0th second Depending on how close you opened the door to the 0th second, a score is displayed on the screen. If your score is above a certain amount of points, the colored lamps inside the microwave start lighting up like a disco for a few seconds.


3 juni 2015

LESSON 5 – PROTOTYPING Lesson 5 – Prototyping CHALLENGE 5-1

What techniques, methods or practices do game designers use? • • • • •

Brainstorming Paper Prototyping Doing research Flowcharts Playtesting

Define a game design tool • • •

A tool that helps the designer create a design. It can be a thinking process but also that helps the thoughts and ideas stay organized, such as a mind map or application like Google Keep. Class’ answer: It’s a repeatable action that helps ideas, thoughts and visions be made into something concrete that can be used for the purpose of games. Micah’s answer: A game design tool is any repeatable action a designer may take because ideas, thoughts and visions cannot be conveyed or created directly.

How could you categorize the different uses or purposes of game design tools • • •

Ideation Creation Evaluation

CHALLENGE 5-2

Can you name 5 game design tools/methods that could be used for generating new ideas or solutions to design problems? • • • • •

Page 28

Brainstorming Graphing Playtesting Researching Playing other games for inspiration


3 juni 2015

LESSON 5 – PROTOTYPING CHALLENGE 5-3 Can you name 5 game design tool/methods that could be used for creating an artifact that communicates the design of the game? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Flowchart Paper Prototyping Game Design Document Mindmapping Gantt chart

1.

Can you name 5 game design tool/methods that could be used for evaluating a. A game’s mechanics, play mechanics, or game-play experience b. Or a game designer’s lessons learned? Results of Playtesting Surveys Sales Reviews Evaluate other/similar games that also have these mechanics PMI

CHALLENGE 5-4

• • • • • •

        

Page 29

Playtesting Heuristics Paradigms Taxonomy Formal Method Psychographics Concept Selection Post Mortems Design Models


3 juni 2015

LESSON 5 – PROTOTYPING CHALLENGE 5-5 Ideation game design tool: Group Brainstorming It helps everyone come up with concepts, it helps solve design problems such as imbalances and loopholes of games. It mainly generates new ideas. The group must sit together, preferably facing each other and ask themselves what result you want to achieve as a group? What you want to create and for how much time you have as a team to put these ideas into motion � a very important process that must not be overlooked. Creation game design tool: Post Mortems

It helps the charting of how the project went so far. It helps you to reflect on what went well and what didn’t. It can also be used for future reference. The tool is used by listing and answering the standard PMI questions: • • • •

Pluspunten: What went right? And why? Minpunten: What went wrong? And why? Interessante punten: What happened that was unexpected, interesting or remarkable? As my own bonus question, what would you do differently next time?

Evaluation game design tool: Analyzing Patterns

By analysing game design patterns your own game or someone else’s game, one can draw inspiration or use something as an example for future reference.

By analyzing patterns in games and research themes, looking up existing patterns and comparing them to the game that is being analyzed, may help you in new findings.

Page 30


3 juni 2015

LESSON 5 – PROTOTYPING CHALLENGE 6-1 A – NOMIC We played Nomic, the definition of Nomic by Wikipedia is:

Nomic is a game created in 1982 by philosopher Peter Suber in which the rules of the game include mechanisms for the players to change those rules, usually beginning through a system of democratic voting.

There are too much rules to write out so I’ll write the rules that we came up with as a group. 300 Rules

301 If it’s your turn, you have to start with “I am [name] and I love [something]” and if you don’t succeed, you lose 1 point

302 If you name [something] of rule 301, it cannot be said before. Did you say something that has been said before? Then you lose 1 point. 303 Do you have a proposal? Then your voice counts as a point in your proposal. 304 Votes are done in a clockwise order.

305 If you have -100 points, you also win the game

306 Rule 208 is adjusted to -50 and +50 points to be able of becoming the winner of the game.

307 We throw a 20-sided dice, if you throw 1 or 20 then you have to make up a roleplay story. 308 Dice points when thrown are double the amount of the result.

309 The [something] word of Rule 302 has to be started with the last letter of the word that the previous player (likes) said. 310 The winner sinds a song of his/her favorite cartoon from his/her youth.

311 If everyone votes, then the people who vote get 2 points and Gijs gets -2 on approval of a rule.

Proposition of rules and what I learned

In the beginning we disagreed on a lot of rules and didn’t want the other person to have points so the first round, was a complete fail and everyone got -10 points, after that the game actually started. We mainly made the choices based on what seemed like most fun for us, not necessarily for the winning itself. I won eventually but I did have to sing the Poké mon theme song because of that, which was hilarious for them of course. So in a way, we made it that everyone would play and enjoy the game rather than be extremely competitive. I learned that a game doesn’t necessarily needs the goal of winning. It can also end like our game, where actually everyone wins because of an outcome that everyone loves. The winner is in the enjoyment of winning the game and the others enjoy his/her good/bad singing which gives everyone a laugh. A good document ends here, with a good laugh! =D

Page 31


3 juni 2015

Piotr Tekien GAR1-D Action Design Principles Game Design - Theory Notebook Docenten: Tim Bosje en Micah Hrehovcsik 3 June 2015

Recommend Documents