Read Me:Closing the Readability Gap in Immersive Games

Patrick ReddingUbisoft Montreal

Who am I?

Patrick ReddingGame designer at Ubisoft Montreal,unannounced project

Previously, narrative designer on Far Cry 2

Narrative design problems…

… game readability problems.

AI dialogue system

Dynamic narrative

Readable

interface exposes the game’s systems

(and player choices)

Imperfect information

Game mechanics manipulate information

dynamic systems

representation

procedural representation(simulation)

game information

player

Not accessibility, exactly

Both concerned with providinggame cues and feedback

Not talking about legibility

(although UI is important)

≠ uncanny valley problem, although

consistency and interface feel > graphical fidelity

Elements of representation

graphics

physics

dynamic lighting

spatial audio

animation

mo-cap

IK

modeling

hardware

UI

Elements of representation

++ “bit-depth”added to simulation

perfect information

eyes

ears

hands

20101970

1990 20001980

Dynamic complexity

20101970

1990 20001980

Dynamic complexity

Representational depth

The “fat pipe”

AAA game titles

Rich representational content

thin-pipe/fat-pipe problem

Player controls are pitiful

overcompensation

unrecognizable,

disconnected

simulation

emulation

highlow

readability

representation

Splinter Cell

GTA III: SA

Gran TurismoFar Cry 2

Dirt

Virtua Figher

QTE-heavy action games

MGS

Super Mario 64

Myst

Shenmue

RE5

Elements of readability (current working model)

Elements of readability (current working model)

game cues

game feedback

player

interface

Elements of readability (current working model)

feedback

available actions

game cues

response to input

Elements of readability (current working model) game cues

Elements of readability (current working model) game cues

Elements of readability (current working model) feedback

Elements of readability (current working model) feedback

Elements of readability (current working model)

easy to interpret

information

easy to recognize

prioritized

coherence

Elements of readability (current working model)

Players know when they are being told

something

coherence

Elements of readability (current working model)

HUD coherence

coherence

Elements of readability (current working model) consistency

representation

matches natural expectations

assigns similar form to similar meanings

or behaviors

Elements of readability (current working model) consistency

Elements of readability (current working model) consistency

Elements of readability (current working model) context

game space

player understands the

world

player can apply “natural

mapping”

MDA(LeBlanc, Hunicke, Zubek)designe

r

mechanics

dynamics

aesthetics

player

MDA(LeBlanc, Hunicke, Zubek)

MDA(LeBlanc, Hunicke, Zubek)

M D A A’

Authorship ?

designer

player

MDA(LeBlanc, Hunicke, Zubek)

M D A1 A’

A2

systemic

representational

Simulation

‘MDA’ is the purist version…

…But because of the readability problem:

M D ∑{A1+ A2+… An }

Confusing aesthetic experience for aesthetic content

Temptation to tunnel

Risk

Time

As the machinery of content-

creation goes into gear…

design GP prog prototypingmandate

art pipeline asset creation

Not difficult to justify

Willful act of self-deception

Procedural vs non-procedural ‘A’

Jonathan Blow, MIGS 2008 keynote

procedural friction

traditional authorship feels ‘safer’…

…but it’s antagonistic to meaningful play

The six pillars of Far Cry 2

Freedom

Openness

Realism

Meaning

Immersion

Dynamism

Immersion needs to be backed up by lots of data

Graphics

Animation

Audio

Physics

Physical connection to game world

Procedural disconnection from simulation

game information

player

?

game system state ‘verisimilitude’

The industry fetishizes immersion

Yes, metaphorical cushions are useful…

… but games are dynamic systems

Trawling the boundary conditions

Seduced by production values

Cognitive science:Verbal overshadowing

unreliable witness problem

representation

systems

Self-erasing routines

Root of the readability problem?

Dynamic narrative systems

Player achieves goals,earns rewards,

measurable progress…

‘Story-shaped’ output

{ P1, P2, P3, … Pt }local minima

Most likely outcomes

For RPGs, strategy games, sports titles,

{ P1, P2, P3, … Pt } ‘tradition

alnarrative

’

(one of) our failings on Far Cry 2:

game metric

s

playerstory output

buddy manag

er

dialogue

manager

mission manag

er

game input

Why?

didn’t support meaningful play

game metrics:

+Inf

± Hist

+Prog

buddy manag

er

dialogue

manager

mission manag

er

game input

+ 2 hours…

Presents rich characters…

…but doesn’t link them readably

Contradiction:

M D A1

A2systemic

narrativerealization

Contradiction:

M D A1

A2

Reinforcing the wrong things here…

Contradiction:

M D A1

A2

Pulling players away from meaning

Just complaining about pretty, shallow games? No.

We’ve dug ourselves into a hole.

Recent art games seem like an attempt to climb

out.

Braid (2007)

Should “Braid 2” be more like

PoP: Sands of Time ?

Find the balance betweenexpressing dynamic meaning and maximizing simulation fidelity

So…

Reforming production

False design precision

Lack of incrementation

during abstraction

Actual design is happening during implementation

Industry now dominated by game

designers without programming backgrounds

Iterative prototyping and playtesting

Not just mining for fun.

Do players understand their

choices?

Fire-proofing interface schema

Evolving an actionablereadability model

Readability

The quality of giving visibility to player choice

Not giving away the best choice

But revealing the range of choices

Portal (2008, Valve)

Linear

Constrained

FPS

(subversive)

Portal (2008, Valve)

The Portal Gun

Movement through portals

The game environment

Challenge design

Implication

Read

Perceive biases in the local conditions of the gamespace that favor a particular set of choices

What does the player read in Portal?

Start by looking at this:

Platformer paradigm

Same challenges

Primary verbs are the same

(dimensionally constrained)

Overview of entire gamespace.

Perfect information.

How does the real Portal differ?

Looking through portals

Looking through portals

Looking at whole game world in 2D

Spatial information

Parallax

Unique instrument of readability in Portal

Decision scale(working model)

critical

important

necessary

minor

inconsequential

potential upside

potential downside

Game Design Workshop (Fullerton, 2007)

Decision scale(readability-centric)

threat

progress

locality

agency

self

What are the sources of risk?

threat

progress

What is the current goal?

locality

What are the conditions, positionin the gamespace?

agencyWhat are the game’s boundaries?

What is the state of the player/avatar?

self

Decision scale(readability-centric)

threat

progress

locality

agency

self

degeneracy,

hollow

degeneracy,

optimal

information,

blind

information,

perfect

effects,delayed

effects,immediate

Principles

Readability of individual game ingredients

Readability of the game holistically

Principles

One channel, multiple dimensions

Street Fighter 2 (1994, Capcom)

# signsrepresented

Player’s game system literacy

A D M

Principles

If it’s simulated, it affects readability

DOOM (1993, Id Software)

Not all experiences simulate readably

Abstract

Formal

Numerical

Principles

Systemic representations fail by becoming fuzzy and ambiguous

Special-case representations fail by becoming simplistic and misleading

Designers tend to favor the systemic over the

special-case

Neither guarantees success by itself

Principles

Readability of special-case representations combined with systemic representations

Readability of special-case representations that reinforce systemic representations

Thief (1998, Looking Glass Software)

Far Cry 2 (2008, Ubisoft)

Principles

A game system is readable only if the player can perceive the relationship between game cues/feedback

A game system is readable only if the player internalizes the game’s metaphor

“Meaningful play occurs when the relationships between actions and outcomes in a game are both discernable

and integrated into the larger context of the game.”

Rules of Play (Salen & Zimmerman, 2003)

Key readability challenges in game design

Resolving breadth of simulation

Determining the depth of abstraction

Integrating both into player experience

Key readability challenges in game design

Introduction of game ingredients

Functional consistency of game ingredients

Procedural representation of game ingredients

Affordant qualities of game ingredients

Challenge managementfor readability

core activities

low-level input

player verbs

visibility

choices supported by LD

core activities

low-level input

player verbs

visibility

choices supported by LD

Essential actions

Motivating goals

Anticipate/react

Twitch/react

Move (analog)

Move (binary)

Manage/track

Infer/plan

Observe/adapt

Synthesize

core activities

low-level input

player verbs

visibility

choices supported by LD

core activities

low-level input

player verbs

visibility

choices supported by LD

Low-level controls

Range of meaningful input

Parameters that affect gameplay

gameplay patterns

core activities

low-level input

player verbs

visibility

choices supported by LD

Individual ingredients

Sequence of ingredients

Information channels

Systemic representations

Special-case representations

Patterns of feedback

Affordances

core activities

low-level input

player verbs

visibility

choices supported by LD

Just one possible tool…

Questions ?

patrick.redding@ubisoft.com

www.wemakeholesinteeth.com

Read Me:Closing the Readability Gap in Immersive Games

Patrick ReddingUbisoft Montreal