game play styles
DESCRIPTION
Game Play Styles. Structure of Game Play. Game Play Mechanics. Games Have various structures that the user must handle Common structures appear in many games. Suggestions?. Boss, physics, character development. Driving & Physical skill. Player must control vehicle/self to win - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 1
Game Play Styles
Structure of Game Play
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 2
Game Play Mechanics
Games Have various structures that the user must handle
Common structures appear in many games
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 3
Suggestions?
Boss, physics, character development
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 4
Driving & Physical skill
Player must control vehicle/self to win
Must conform to environment
Music and Dance games do this Fighting game combos Jumping in platform games Special moves in Skate / Snow Board
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 5
Puzzle - Arrange Geometry
Some self-contained artifact must be rearranged into a solved position– Sokoban– Solitaire– Sudoku– Adventure games
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 6
Dynamic Puzzle
Some dynamic artifact must be navigated through– Deadly pendulums swinging!– Tetris– Sequence repeat, word puzzle, maze, memory
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 7
Collection
The player has to collect something– Mario Bros, Pikmin, Oddworld, etc etc•Collect fuel to be used later
– Diablo, MMORPGs•Collect cash & special items
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 8
Rescue
The player has to get some character– Someone needs to be saved from peril
•Defender, Pronce of Persia, Donkey Kong`
– Rescue animals/characters along the way•Sonic
– Recruit– Sometimes merely a motivator or an ever-vanishing goal
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 9
Collision Detection
Shooting – Player shoots a projectile to make progress towards winning
Direct Attack by self Collision Avoidance
– Bullets miss you– Block punch/kick
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 10
Obstacle Avoidance
Player must avoid environmental objects/enemies to win– Pac-Man (Inky, Pinky, etc)– Centipede– Frogger– Mario Bros etc etc
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 11
Obstacle Creation
Player creates or controls environment to influence or defeat opponent
Eg. Light cycles in Tron Walls in strategy games Go Garbage accumulates
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 12
Search
Something’s hidden in the environment
Key to locked door Character who knows X Find best X in Geometric state
– Words in Bookworm– Rows or columns of like color in Bejeweled
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 13
Material Removal
Object is to remove opponent’s pieces
Examples– Chess– Checkers– War games– Action games (Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Asteroids)
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 14
Material Creation
Objects are created by user or game May be competing process with Material Removal
Direct:– Tetris, Go, Othello
Indirect – Fortifications (Walls created to direct traffic)
– Economies
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 15
Economic Simulation
You must set up a flow of material and/or money– Get the most stuff as a means of conquest
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 16
Economy Simulation
Resource gathering– Gold, Wood, Iron, etc, etc
Direct– AOE gatherer units, C&C
Indirect– Total Annihilation, Kingdoms,
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 17
Economic Simulation
Buildings– Create NPCs
•AOE, Warcraft I, Caesar III
– Create/transform materials•Settlers, Caesar III
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 18
Economic Simulation
Traffic Flow– Roads!– NPC must pass a building for a transaction to take place•Zoo Tycoon, Caesar III
– NPC must stop and deliver/pick something up•Railroad Tycoon
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 19
“Research”
Create a new technology that makes your NPCs better– AOE, Starcraft
Advance your civilization Upgrade character Upgrade car/train/weapons….
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 20
Dialog/Negotiation
You talk to other players/NPCs– To learn things
•Characters tell you X•Learn X in passing
– To get missions– To gain/lose membership in a gang/guild/club
– To coordinate attack/defense– Trade
Read environment for clues– News clippings
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 21
Artificial Life
Must grow your creature– Train it– Feed it
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Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 23
Fun
Flow -- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Chapter 3 “Enjoyment and the Quality of Life”
Some thoughts on Game Design – Andrew Glassner
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 24
What is fun?
Can you name an experience that was supposed to be fun but was not?
Not supposed to be fun, but was?
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 25
What is fun?
Can you name an experience that was supposed to be fun but was not?
Not supposed to be fun, but was?
Pleasing Addictive
Stimulating Engaging
Star Wars parts I & II
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 26
Is it reasonable to say some software “Is fun” ?
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 27
Is it reasonable to say some software “Is fun” ?
It depends:
… on audience
… do you have to learn a new language?
Ease of play vs. Challenge
Other experiences: Museum
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 28
Not just software alone!
Software + context
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 29
Not just software alone!
Software + context
Depends on mood
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 30
What Mihaly did
Sociology Interviews Surveys of people’s attitudes Using the beeper -
– “Tell me how you’re feeling now”
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How can you be happy?
Make external conditions match goals– eg. “kill the jerks”
or Change your experience of external conditions– Even of house is safe, may still worry
– Make goals match external conditions
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 32
Happiness
Money can’t buy happiness– eg. Unhappy rock stars
Real happiness– What happens to us– How we feel about ourselves
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 33
Pleasure
Expectations have been met– Too high: Hype about experience
– Low expectations: Random video rental
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 34
Pleasure
Expectations have been met– Too high: Hype about experience
– Low expectations: Random video rental
Star Wars I & II
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 35
Enjoyment
Forward motion, sense of accomplishment– Game with matched opponent– Too easy or too hard is no fun!
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 36
Characteristics of Flow
Have chance of completing the “task”
Able to concentrate Clear goals Immediate feedback Deep but “effortless” involvement
Exercise control
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 37
Flow
A challenging activity that requires skill– Hunting dog story:– Dog runs in circles, owner tries to catch dog
– Dog runs tighter circle when master is tired
– Dog tunes the challenge!
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 38
Control Paradoxical: Can’t be too afraid of failure
Rock climbers minimize risk More than just being in control:
– Exercising control Illusion of Control
– Anorexia– Gamblers “figure out” chance events
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 39
Addiction
Lose ability to control own choices
Have you ever been addicted to a game?– What was going on in your life at the time?
– Was it you, or the game?
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 40
Flow
Concern for self disappears– Returns after experience is over
Sense of time duration is altered
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 41
Flow
Concern for self disappears– Returns after experience is over
Sense of time duration is altered
… you notice you’re hungry
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 42
Success
“Creates order in consciousness and strengthens the structure of the self”
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 43
Success
“Creates order in consciousness and strengthens the structure of the self”Transition from Beginner to Reasonably
Skilled
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 44
Why do games stop being fun?
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 45
Why do games stop being fun?
Stagnation
Obsolescence (new game improves on old)
Plateau in skills
Pacing or difficulty
Why return to a game:NostalgiaForgetting the bad thingsTaking a break to think offline
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 46
Design to Achieve Flow
Pace difficulty Allow control Don’t make things too hard Don’t make things too easy
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 47
Glassner
Avoid:– Making it easy to cheat
People will always exploit bugs– Flight sim– Multiplayer sim– etc. etc.
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 48
Repetition
Make it easy for users to repeat things– Interactivity != Participation– The raw count of mouse clicks is not a good measure of quality!
– Not all actions taken by the user are desirable. Has to be fun.
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 49
Detail
Too much detail– Required actions overly detailed– Eg. Potions in Ultima Online
Under-detailed – Don't take control away from the user
"A game should offer the fastest and easiest possible way to do everything unless there is some entertaining or informative reason to prevent it."
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 50
Deception
Faulty scuba gauge
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 51
Deception
Faulty scuba gauge
Only discover by death
Too severe, plus “save game often” is the simple, tedious solution
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 52
Large-Scale Randomness
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 53
Multiple-Choice Conversations
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 54
Multiple-Choice Conversations
Probably OK between Non-Player Characters
Should have a realistic memory
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 55
Agency
"Don't trick players into providing a personality description."
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 56
Agency
"Don't trick players into providing a personality description."
This is reasonable for Role-Playing Games
The conflict is over first person vs. third person play
Information about the character is important
Can’t play a role without knowing what the role is
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 57
Choices
Label them well Don’t keep them guessing
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 58
Complexity
Need to have picked up pencil 100 turns ago
Brick example: need to click on 100 bricks to find the right one
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 59
Paste-On Interaction
Design the game and the UI together
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 60
Character Control
Don't take control of the user's character– Avoid cut scenes in which your character does something stupid
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 61
Character Control
Don't take control of the user's character– Avoid cut scenes in which your character does something stupid
Can use them as a reward
Must have a plot requirement
Problem is primarily with first person agency
Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 62
Interactive Fiction
Respect for the player. Player's time will never be wasted Don’t insult or deny her individuality, intelligence, or creativity
The player will always be engaged in fun or interesting events– passively – interacting with them