IMGD 2900Digital Game Design I

Class 5Monday 11.12

Today’s topics

Single-player game playtestingGames and meaningAssignment 07

Playtesting!

Ask your testers to think out loud.

Shut up and pay attention.

If testers get quiet or hesitate,ask what they’re thinking.

Watch faces, not the screen.

Write down everything,especially questions.

Be alert for surprises.

Post-test questions

What is the goal of the game?Was anything confusing or difficult?

Is there any info that would have been good to know before starting?

What did you like? Dislike?How would you describe this game to

someone who has never played it?

Write down the answers.

Today’s vocabulary

Possibility spaceMeaningful playDiscernibilityIntegrationAction-outcome chainUncertainty

Possibility space

All possible actions and meanings that can emerge during the play of a game.

Possibility space

All possible actions and meanings that can emerge during the play of a game.

Game designers engineerplayful possibility spaces.

Example

.

A proposition

A major goal of successfulgame design is the creation of meaningful play.

Playing a game means making choices and taking actions.

The meaning of an action in a game is in the relationship between action and outcome.

Meaningful play occurs whenthe relationships betweenactions and outcomes are bothdiscernible and integratedinto the context of the game.

Discernible

The result of an action is discernible when it is communicated to the playersin a perceivable way.

Discernibility lets the players know what happens when they take an action.

Integration

Integration lets players know how their action will affect the rest of the game.

Counterexample: Decathlon where the outcome of a footrace has no effect on the score.

Action-outcome chain

An analytic tool for diagnosing problems with a game design.

Action-outcome chain

1. What happens before the player isgiven the possibility of choice?

Action-outcome chain

1. What happens before the player isgiven the possibility of choice?

2. How is the possibility of choice conveyed?

Action-outcome chain

1. What happens before the player isgiven the possibility of choice?

2. How is the possibility of choice conveyed?3. How does the player make the choice?

Action-outcome chain

1. What happens before the player isgiven the possibility of choice?

2. How is the possibility of choice conveyed?3. How does the player make the choice?4. What are the results of the choice?

How will it affect future choices?

Action-outcome chain

1. What happens before the player isgiven the possibility of choice?

2. How is the possibility of choice conveyed?3. How does the player make the choice?4. What are the results of the choice?

How will it affect future choices?5. How are the results of the choice conveyed?

1. What happens before the player isgiven the possibility of choice?

2. How is the possibility of choice conveyed?3. How does the player make the choice?4. What are the results of the choice?

How will it affect future choices?5. How are the results of the choice conveyed?

Common problems

Not sure what to do next.

Feeling as if choices are arbitrary.

Not knowing if an action hadany outcome.

Losing / winning / failing to progress without knowing why.

If your game is failingto deliver meaningful play, there is probablya breakdown in theaction-outcome chain.

Uncertainty

A central feature ofevery good game.

Why?

Uncertainty

In a game with no uncertainty,all player choices are meaningless, because they have no impact on the way the game plays out.

If a player's choices have no meaning, there is no reason to play.

Assignment 07:Polish your 1-player game

Refine and polish your gameJournal as you design and codePost on Web by noon ThursdayBring to Thursday’s class

Objective 1:Polish your 1-player game

Fix the obvious bugs!

Comment your code!

Put the game title, name of your teamand names/logins of all team membersat the top of your main file!

Objective 2:Journal as you design/code

Document your creative processIdeas, code fragments, sketchesJournals will be inspected

Objective 3:Post your game before noon this Thursday

Make sure it runs!

Objective 4:Bring game toThursday’s class

Use a flash driveEach team member should have one!Keep a backup

Questions?

Next class:Thursday 11.15