Presentation by Andrea Kirk
April 15, 2020 Ch. 10 - Lessons from Game Design 1

April 15, 2020 Ch. 10 - Lessons from Game Design 2

A good game sells millions of copies, but is later discarded when the game is mastered
The game should hook the player in the first
10 minutes of play
Players should be able to develop more skills and achieve greater accomplishments
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Currently, HCI communities and game designers have very little interaction, but both would benefit from it
Example: In games, frustration is the way to a feeling of accomplishment
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Control via keyboard, mouse, optional devices
Allows for more complex games that require more sophisticated control
Updateable
PC games often more “cerebral”, for older audiences
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Living room boxes and portable, handheld units
No need to “install” anything
Control via a special control pad with a specific number of buttons and a directional control
Not updateable – when first released, more powerful than most PCs
Games usually more action-oriented
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A different concept of designing for the audience: designers are also the audience
• “Fun” is hard to capture from useroriented design methods
Reaching the audience
• hardcore gamers vs. “light” gamers
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Challenge ramp
Stories vs . histories
Interface
Mechanics
Gameplay
Conflict
Point of View
Fun
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Hook player within first 10 minutes of play
Variety and pacing within levels (ex: a very challenging level followed by an easy one)
A definite feeling of progress – each level is a step toward the final goal
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A specialty within game design and a large focus in game creation
Game designers create a framework that level designers work in
Challenge ramp – “the progression of player skill and game challenge through the game” (p.305)
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Histories – “open”; players control their path to victory
Stories – “closed”; there is a predetermined story that the player learns about as the game progresses
• Solve puzzles and problems to get more storyline
• Definite right and wrong choices
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“The details of how the controller of keyboard map to functions, and the output displays on the screen that provide game information” (p. 307)
Very little standardization across industry
Designers try to map UI to tasks closely
Games may have unique UIs for special in-game tasks
The UI can be part of the fun
Designers should understand controllers when designing games
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“The ‘physics’ of the world of the game; for example, the simulated and simplified flight mechanics of a fighter pilot game” (p. 307)
Flying, driving, shooting, picking things up, etc.
Mastering the mechanics can be part of the fun
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“the mission of the player in terms of goals and subgoals, including both official scoring and secondary rewards” (p.307)
Also, tactics and strategies to achieve those goals
Levels should offer progression
• End of level – boss or a path to a new level
• Entire level may teach the player how to beat the challenge at the end
Side quests and optional activities
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“The satisfaction of solving a problem is proportional to its difficulty and the amount of frustration that was tolerated prior to solving it”
Need a great villain to make victory more satisfying
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Third-person – player watches a proxy that can be emotionally identified with
First-person – no proxy; may or may not have a specific role
Watching from a third-person point of view can convey more emotion to the player, much like watching a movie
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Genres: action, adventure, strategy, driving, fighting, role playing, etc.
Many newer games cross more than one genre
Classification by skills involved: reasoning , hand-eye skill and luck , attention and strategic thinking
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Exploration and solving problems
Little or no time pressure
Simple controls
Key-lock problems
• find a “key” item to use in a “lock”
Combination lock problems
• need special knowledge
Mission that sounds like a story plot
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Player learns hand-eye skills to control proxy
Usually require more advanced skills and tactics as player progresses
Single players can fight non-player characters (NPCs)
After learning to defeat NPCs, look for human players
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Player makes long-term decisions
Games can be realtime or turn-based
Often complicated to learn and play – requires control and understanding of many different kinds of units
Again, players can learn by playing against NPCs
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Resident Evil
Myst
Populous, the Beginning
Silent Steel
You Don’t Know Jack
Metal Gear: Solid
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Solve a mystery while fighting zombies
Action/adventure game
Puzzle motifs improve the pacing
Third-person POV draws in player, like a horror movie
Good soundtrack adds to the emotion and provides anticipation
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Camera – “camera positions are carefully chosen to dramatize the scene” (p. 318)
• But this can make it hard to see where the proxy is!
Grabbing the camera – stopping the action for a closeup
• The change in view changes aim
• Screen-relative: press left to attack left side of screen
• Character-relative: press left to attack at left side of character (could be right side of the screen)
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“One of the largest selling retail games of all time”
(p. 319)
Adventure game with a simple UI
Good sound and visuals
Rhythmic pacing, puzzle motifs
Quest is to free one of two brothers: “The choice is uncertain, but the quest itself is not.” (p. 321)
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Very little moving video – uses sound to imply movement
Film cuts during character movement
Problem: violation of consistency
• Consistency with user expectations is more important than uniformity
Problem: problems are somewhat difficult for novice gamers
• Wide distribution of elements of solutions
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Player controls a civilization
Progress – more spells, units, etc. – new things can be taken from defeated enemies
Levels are distinct from one another; early levels are for training
Game provides help, but not too much
User testing revealed a major flaw
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Submarine simulation
Interactive movie – player chooses statements made by character
Conversation mechanics
Conversations are consequential to the path of the game
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Problem: consequences should match actions
• Player usually gets to make pivotal decisions
• In one important case, they do not – unfair!
Problem: consequences should be immediate
• Like strategy games, actions have long-term affects
• But this isn’t a strategy game! Bad early decisions can make no-win situations – unfair!
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A trivia game show
Very TV-like atmosphere
Humorous, mocking
MC
Player-aware
Accelerated pacing
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Action/adventure game
In-game retry on failure
• In other games – proxy dies, then player must reload from a saved game
• In MGS , game automatically restarts at last continuation point
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Game mechanics vs.
story mechanics
• A villain thought to be dead is shown to be alive
• A victory in terms of gameplay, but adds tension to the story
Breaking the frame – in-game characters talk about the meta-game
(controls, advice for gameplay, etc.)
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The market for games is much more demanding than the market for other software: games must be “fun”
Game design and application design communities know little about each other, but each could benefit from using some of the other’s techniques
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