Multimedia Games
Development
COM429M2
Week 1 Introduction to games
Lecture overview
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Game definition/elements
Rationale for playing games
Development factors
Player classification
Flow characteristics
Demographics
Defining a game
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Interest or pursuit which may include an
element of competitiveness
Typically follows rule set
Form of entertainment or serious objective
Includes traditional and modern e.g.
card/board/video
Fundamentals
Games have 4 common fundamental or
standard elements
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Representation
Interaction
Conflict
Safety
Representation
Typical game comprises of a formal model
to represent/simulate alternative realities
where
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The game is self contained
Has explicit or implicit rules
Level of component interaction
Interaction
Interaction can have static and dynamic
elements e.g. Chess
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Chess pieces (Static)
Position changes over time (Dynamic)
Players action affects other players directly
Conflict
Conflict is side effect of interaction based on
players objectives or needs
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Player pursues goals
Encounters obstacles e.g. other player, game
environment, time etc
Safety
Conflict contains element of danger
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Game worlds allows safe way to experience
dangerous situations
Outcome not as extreme e.g. death
Trade off possible e.g. trade piece for position
or tempo in Chess
Reasons for playing games
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Socializing
Seclusion
Competition
Learn
Mastery
Escapism
Addiction
Socializing
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Multiplayer games offers opportunity to
socialize
Interact over distance
One to one, thousands or millions
Seclusion
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Live in virtual world
Create own space (Second life)
Competition
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Urge to compete
AI or human
Learn
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Play to learn (Childhood/animal kingdom)
Skills learned based on objectives of game
Different types of learning (conscious or
subconscious)
Mental exercises
Mastery
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Need to master and dominate
Sense of accomplishment, peer approval
Escapism
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Withdraw or escape from real world
Explore or fulfil fantasy
Stress relief
Behaviour not usually socially accepted
Addiction
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Addictive personalities
Fills a need
Social consequences
Player types
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Different player types with different needs
and objectives
Different perception of experience
Categorize using metrics e.g. location,
psychographics & demographics.
Location
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Players culture/location affects attitudes
towards gaming e.g. western gamers and
first person shooters
Need for consideration in development
process
Game related infrastructure
Broadband vs dial up, wired vs wireless
Console (platform type) vs. computer
Social factors, tolerance and norms
Psychographics
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Local values, attitudes, perceptions,
lifestyles and modes of thinking
Influence cultural attitude to games, game
genres and game play
Essential part of planning/development
process
Player classification (Bartle)
Bartle’s classification of player types
Richard Bartle, “Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades: Players Who Suit MUDs”.
Player classification (Bartle)
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Game requires a healthy balance of the
different types of players to be successful.
Title dependant
Self balancing or design based balancing
Players have opportunity to adapt
Reasons to play (Xeo design)
XEO design report entitled “Why we play games”
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Studied gamer types
Classification on player objectives
Successful games include majority of elements
http://www.xeodesign.com
Hard fun
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Enjoyment drawn from tackling meaningful
challenges
Sense of accomplishment through
overcoming obstacles
Game design involves careful balance of
creating frustration and sense of triumph
Easy fun
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Player focus on the pure enjoyment of
experiencing the game activities
Less focus on achievement and success
Player becomes immersed and explores
world
Altered states
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Enjoyment drawn from changing mental
states
Relieves stress or boredom
Focus on creating world that enables
altered state
Socializing
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Games create environment to socialize, cooperate or perform/show off
Enjoyment based on interaction
Game as enabler to social interaction
Gamer classification
Casual and hard core gamers
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Adams identified 15 factors for classifying
players as casual or hard-core
Metrics to calculate “gamer dedication”
Produces classification scale
Gamer classification
Hard-core gamers (Kim & Adams)
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High level of technical expertise
Early adopters (High end computers/consoles)
Willing to pay to play
Preference for action/violent games
Willing to play for long periods in complex
games
Gamer classification
Hard-core gamers (Kim & Adams)
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Source game related information
Participate in forums/bulleting boards
Play for sense of satisfaction in game
mastery/completion
High tolerance level to game obstacles
Create game mods
Gamer classification
Hard-core gamers (Adams)
Consumer classification
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Values, Attitudes, and Lifestyles Survey
(VALS) undertaken at Stanford Research
Institute.
VALS explains relationship between
personality traits and consumer behavior
Define personal traits and extend to which
an individual has these
http://www.strategicbusinessinsights.com/vals/consumerdata.shtml
Flow and Optimal Experience
Csikszentmihalyi (Psychologist) introduced the idea
of state called “flow” or “optimal experience”
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Belief that certain mental states induce high level of
focus on an activity
Focus leads to high level of enjoyment and
fulfillment in completing a task or activity
Flow is typically defined as being able to devote total
concentration effortlessly to a task
Flow characteristics
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Users undertake activity they believe they can
complete
Users focus entirely on activity
Activity has clear goals/outcomes
Activity has direct/immediate feedback
User experience becomes effortless
Worries and concerns vanish
User is in control
Experience of time is altered
Flow characteristics
Game designers try to build environment to
induce “flow”. Central idea is the flow channel
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Challenges + insufficient skills = anxiety
Challenges + excessive skills = boredom
Flow is achieved by balancing challenge and skill.
Adapt incrementally as skill levels increase.
Flow channel
Demographics
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Gender
Age
Disposable income
Education
Marital status
Ethnicity
Demographics provide valuable information on
the target audience/market
Demographics
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Influence on games elements
Layout of interface
Plot and characters
Pace
Difficulty
Appropriate content
Multimedia Games
Development
COM429M2
Week 1 Introduction to games