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Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 1 Game Play Styles Structure of Game Play

Game Play Styles

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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 Presentation

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Page 1: Game Play Styles

Sep 21, Fall 2006 IAT 410 1

Game Play Styles

Structure of Game Play

Page 2: Game Play Styles

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Game Play Mechanics

Games Have various structures that the user must handle

Common structures appear in many games

Page 3: Game Play Styles

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Suggestions?

Boss, physics, character development

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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

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Puzzle - Arrange Geometry

Some self-contained artifact must be rearranged into a solved position– Sokoban– Solitaire– Sudoku– Adventure games

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Dynamic Puzzle

Some dynamic artifact must be navigated through– Deadly pendulums swinging!– Tetris– Sequence repeat, word puzzle, maze, memory

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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

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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

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Collision Detection

Shooting – Player shoots a projectile to make progress towards winning

Direct Attack by self Collision Avoidance

– Bullets miss you– Block punch/kick

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Obstacle Avoidance

Player must avoid environmental objects/enemies to win– Pac-Man (Inky, Pinky, etc)– Centipede– Frogger– Mario Bros etc etc

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Obstacle Creation

Player creates or controls environment to influence or defeat opponent

Eg. Light cycles in Tron Walls in strategy games Go Garbage accumulates

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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

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Material Removal

Object is to remove opponent’s pieces

Examples– Chess– Checkers– War games– Action games (Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Asteroids)

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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

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Economic Simulation

You must set up a flow of material and/or money– Get the most stuff as a means of conquest

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Economy Simulation

Resource gathering– Gold, Wood, Iron, etc, etc

Direct– AOE gatherer units, C&C

Indirect– Total Annihilation, Kingdoms,

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Economic Simulation

Buildings– Create NPCs

•AOE, Warcraft I, Caesar III

– Create/transform materials•Settlers, Caesar III

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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

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“Research”

Create a new technology that makes your NPCs better– AOE, Starcraft

Advance your civilization Upgrade character Upgrade car/train/weapons….

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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

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Artificial Life

Must grow your creature– Train it– Feed it

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Page 23: Game Play Styles

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Fun

Flow -- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Chapter 3 “Enjoyment and the Quality of Life”

Some thoughts on Game Design – Andrew Glassner

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What is fun?

Can you name an experience that was supposed to be fun but was not?

Not supposed to be fun, but was?

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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

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Is it reasonable to say some software “Is fun” ?

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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

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Not just software alone!

Software + context

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Not just software alone!

Software + context

Depends on mood

Page 30: Game Play Styles

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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

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Happiness

Money can’t buy happiness– eg. Unhappy rock stars

Real happiness– What happens to us– How we feel about ourselves

Page 33: Game Play Styles

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Pleasure

Expectations have been met– Too high: Hype about experience

– Low expectations: Random video rental

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Pleasure

Expectations have been met– Too high: Hype about experience

– Low expectations: Random video rental

Star Wars I & II

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Enjoyment

Forward motion, sense of accomplishment– Game with matched opponent– Too easy or too hard is no fun!

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Characteristics of Flow

Have chance of completing the “task”

Able to concentrate Clear goals Immediate feedback Deep but “effortless” involvement

Exercise control

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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!

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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

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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?

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Flow

Concern for self disappears– Returns after experience is over

Sense of time duration is altered

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Flow

Concern for self disappears– Returns after experience is over

Sense of time duration is altered

… you notice you’re hungry

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Success

“Creates order in consciousness and strengthens the structure of the self”

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Success

“Creates order in consciousness and strengthens the structure of the self”Transition from Beginner to Reasonably

Skilled

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Why do games stop being fun?

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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

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Design to Achieve Flow

Pace difficulty Allow control Don’t make things too hard Don’t make things too easy

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Glassner

Avoid:– Making it easy to cheat

People will always exploit bugs– Flight sim– Multiplayer sim– etc. etc.

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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.

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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."

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Deception

Faulty scuba gauge

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Deception

Faulty scuba gauge

Only discover by death

Too severe, plus “save game often” is the simple, tedious solution

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Large-Scale Randomness

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Multiple-Choice Conversations

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Multiple-Choice Conversations

Probably OK between Non-Player Characters

Should have a realistic memory

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Agency

"Don't trick players into providing a personality description."

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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

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Choices

Label them well Don’t keep them guessing

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Complexity

Need to have picked up pencil 100 turns ago

Brick example: need to click on 100 bricks to find the right one

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Paste-On Interaction

Design the game and the UI together

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Character Control

Don't take control of the user's character– Avoid cut scenes in which your character does something stupid

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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

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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