innovative gameplay using time travel and time manipulation€¦ · • repeat timeline: groundhog...
TRANSCRIPT
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Innovative Gameplay Using Time Travel and Time Manipulation
Chris Hazard
Hazardous Software Inc.http://hazardoussoftware.com
(and North Carolina State University)
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Chris Hazard 2
Time Travel is Here: Achron
• Free-form time travel• Multiplayer• CPU & memory now sufficient• Demo...
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Chris Hazard 3
Outline• Time travel taxonomy
– Sci-fi– Games
• Time travel & gameplay: implications & isomorphisms– Undoing– Reversing– Time velocities– Editing timeline– Chronoporting– Overlaying vs branching
• Time mechanisms and game development
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Chris Hazard 4
Time Travel in Science Fiction• Immutable timeline
– Predestination paradox: 12 Monkeys• Mutable timeline
– New “layers”: Primer– Dimensions of time > 1: The Time Ships– Merging changes: Back to the Future– Precognition: The Shining
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Chris Hazard 5
Time Travel in Science Fiction (2)
• Repeat timeline: Groundhog Day• Time wave propagation
– Instant: The Butterfly Effect– Velocity: Back to the Future
• Traveling through time– Instant: Doctor Who– Velocity: The Time Machine
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Chris Hazard 6
Time Travel in Games
• Story only• Time zones• Time loop• Reverse time• Fixed jump back• Free-form
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Chris Hazard 7
Story OnlyCommand & Conquer
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Chris Hazard 8
Time ZonesChrono Trigger Singularity
Darkest of Days
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Chris Hazard 9
Time LoopMajora's Mask
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Chris Hazard 10
Reverse Time
Braid
TimeShift
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Chris Hazard 11
Fixed Jump BackThe Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom
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Chris Hazard 12
Free-FormAchron
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Chris Hazard 13
Why Add Time Manipulation?• A new/different gameplay experience• IP / franchise• Difficulty forgiveness; less time to master
game– Older core gamers– Slower thumbs
• Serious Games– Teach causality– Sensitivity analysis of simulation– Collaborative planning
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Chris Hazard 14
Overview ofTime Gameplay Mechanisms
• Undo / alter past• Reverse / change direction• Edit timeline• Chronoport (transfer things across time)• Timeline overlay & branching
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Chris Hazard 15
Undo
• Save state & quick load• Play perfect game• Transformative:
– NP Complete problems & branching– Isomorphisms
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Chris Hazard 16
Undo Transformation 1
Obstacle/Combat Course Maze
Final Fantasy 12
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Chris Hazard 17
Undo Transformation 2Battletoads
Ninja Gaiden Winnable
Winnable
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Chris Hazard 18
Reversibility
• Reversible computing– Difference (atomic) vs differential actions– Destruction of information
• System state stored as deltas• Reconstructed by traversing timeline
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Chris Hazard 19
Reversibility TransformationR-Type Guitar Hero
Retro/Grade
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Chris Hazard 20
Independent Time Velocities
• Units, etc. (e.g., Singularity)• Different causality velocities (e.g., Braid)
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Chris Hazard 21
Edit Timeline
• Orthogonal to reversibility• System state able to be reconstructed
instantly• Trade-off between memory (ratio of
“keyframes” to deltas)• Merge vs branch vs stability
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Chris Hazard 22
Edit Timeline: Propagation
• Instant: expensive, difficulty w/ paradoxes• Never: overlay, follow player• Time waves
– Speed– Distance between (smoothness)– Spawning process– CPU & Cache
• Player as a time wave
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Chris Hazard 23
Edit Timeline: Info Categories
• A map of time– When X happened
• To inform of ability/need of attention– You can perform Y here
• Changes to timeline– Your opponent just changed Z– Time waves
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Chris Hazard 24
Edit Timeline: Time as a Resource
• “Chronoenergy”– Non-linearity– Recharge– Spending
• Chronoenergy consumption– Grouped consumption: non-local effect– Hierarchical controls: local effect + mgmt assist
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Chris Hazard 25
Edit Timeline: Transformation 1Gran Turismo Sudoku (timed)
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Chris Hazard 26
Edit Timeline: Transformation 2
Street Fighter 4 Street Fighter 4
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Chris Hazard 27
Edit Timeline: Transformation 3
Dead Space
Not Scary
from http://cuteoverload.com
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Chris Hazard 28
Chronoporting
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3106085#post358560692
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Chris Hazard 29
Managing Chronoclones
• Control• Enumeration: name vs reference/handle• Procedural content based on name• Cause & effect
– Age: older comes from younger
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Chris Hazard 30
Chronoclones Strategies• Permanent chronoclone “grief”
– Cause: prevent chronoport at edge of time window
– Carrier units, multiple chronoports• Grandfather paradox arbitrage
– Destroy factory that created unit– Unit produced for free
• Cloned resources, resource processors, buildings
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Chris Hazard 31
Overlaying• “Hometime”• Updating/merging timeline
– Player disassociation with avatar– RPG (some), RTS & RTT, Sports, 3rd person
shooter, simulation games– Better for multiplayer– Attracting states & fixed points
• Being own parent – fixed point, but not attracting• Minority Report – non-attracting fixed point
OverlayingOverlaying
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Chris Hazard 32
Time Branching & Merging
• Causality overlay (branching timeline)– Association with avatar– FPS, platformer, traditional MMORPG– Better for single player
• When to merge?• Multiple players• Reversibility issues
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Chris Hazard 33
Preventing Confusion
• Leverage player memory of past• Groundhog day effect
– Accessibility: Majora's Mask• Branch points & mental stack depth• Tolerance for unobserved changes
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Chris Hazard 34
Time Travel Effects on Development
• Helps to implement upfront• Reversibility: permeate all actions
– How to minimize deltas (CPU & mem)?• Time travel & game state
– Count bits– Quickly recreate query structures (spatial
indexes, caches, etc.)• Lazy vs up front
– Overtake start distance
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Chris Hazard 35
Time Travel Effects Gotchas
• Meta-time weapons: meta-destroying a unit allows it to be created
• Player commands– Frame: relative vs absolute– Moving platforms/buildings– Prediction, lag, & Markov property– Resynchronization
• Distributed processing
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Managing The Butterfly Effect
Image from http://www.naba.org/pubs/bc2001high.html
• Determinism• Locality• Visibility• Agent/unit behavior
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Chris Hazard 37
Time Travel Effects on Bugs• Determinism!• Upper-layer (e.g., scripting) bugs VERY easy
– Save game after rare bug happens– Rewind/reverse & replay to reproduce– Save game is instant test case
• Lower-layer bugs VERY hard– Consistency bugs– Uninitialized vars/bad pointers REALLY bad– Log entire system state, find first diff
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Chris Hazard 38
Conclusions
• Multiple orthogonal time mechanisms• Decide on temporal mechanic early in dev• Think through implications• Interface & controls important• Lots of untried possibilities• Pushes player to think