Game Play Styles Structure of Game Play Spring

Game Play Styles Structure of Game Play Spring 2007 COMP 7970 1

Game Play Styles g Games Have various structures that the user must handle g Common structures appear in many games Spring 2007 COMP 7970 2

Suggestions? Spring 2007 COMP 7970 3

Driving & Physical skill g Player must control vehicle/self to win g Must conform to environment g Music and Dance games do this g Fighting game combos g Jumping in platform games g Special moves in Skate / Snow Board Spring 2007 COMP 7970 4

Puzzle - Arrange Geometry g Some self-contained artifact must be rearranged into a solved position – Sokoban – Solitaire – Adventure games Spring 2007 COMP 7970 5

Dynamic Puzzle g Some dynamic artifact must be navigated through – Deadly pendulums swinging! – Tetris Spring 2007 COMP 7970 6

Rescue/Collection g The player has to get something – Someone needs to be saved from peril • Defender, Choplifter, Donkey Kong – Something needs to be collected • Mario Bros, Sonic, etc • Diablo, MMORPGs Spring 2007 COMP 7970 7

Collision Detection g Shooting – Player shoots a projectile to make progress towards winning g Direct Attack by self g Collision Avoidance – Bullets miss you – Block punch/kick Spring 2007 COMP 7970 8

Obstacle Avoidance g Player must avoid environmental objects/enemies to win – Pac-Man (Inky, Pinky, etc) – Centipede – Frogger – Mario Bros etc Spring 2007 COMP 7970 9

Obstacle Creation g Player creates or controls environment to influence or defeat opponent g Eg. Light cycles in Tron g Walls in strategy games g Go Spring 2007 COMP 7970 10

Search g Something’s hidden in the environment g Key to locked door g Find best X in Geometric state – Words in Bookworm – Rows or columns of like color in Bejeweled Spring 2007 COMP 7970 11

Material Removal g Object is to remove opponent’s pieces g Examples – Chess – Checkers – War games – Action games (Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Asteroids) Spring 2007 COMP 7970 12

Material Creation g Objects are created by user or game g May be competing process with Material Removal g Direct: – Tetris, Go, Othello g Indirect – Fortifications (Walls created to direct traffic) – Economies Spring 2007 COMP 7970 13

Economic Simulation g You must set up a flow of material and/or money – Get the most stuff – He who dies with the most toys wins! Spring 2007 COMP 7970 14

Economy Simulation g Resource gathering – Gold, Wood, Iron, etc g Direct – AOE gatherer units, C&C g Indirect – Total Annihilation, Kingdoms, Spring 2007 COMP 7970 15

Economic Simulation g Buildings – Create NPCs • AOE, Warcraft I, Caesar III – Create/transform materials • Settlers, Caesar III Spring 2007 COMP 7970 16

Economic Simulation g 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 Spring 2007 COMP 7970 17

“Research” g Create a new technology that makes your NPCs better – AOE, Starcraft g Advance Spring 2007 your civilization COMP 7970 18

Dialog/Negotiation g You talk to other players/NPCs – To learn things – To gain/lose membership in a gang/guild/club – To coordinate attack/defense – Trade g Read environment for clues – News clippings Spring 2007 COMP 7970 19

Artificial Life g Must grow your creature – Train it – Feed it Spring 2007 COMP 7970 20

Spring 2007 COMP 7970 21

Fun Flow -- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Chapter 3 “Enjoyment and the Quality of Life” Some thoughts on Game Design – Andrew Glassner Spring 2007 COMP 7970 22

What is fun? g Can you name an experience that was supposed to be fun but was not? g Not Spring 2007 supposed to be fun, but was? COMP 7970 23

g Is it reasonable to say some software “Is fun” ? Spring 2007 COMP 7970 24

g 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 Spring 2007 COMP 7970 25

Not just software alone! g Software Spring 2007 + context COMP 7970 26

Not just software alone! g Software + context Depends on mood Spring 2007 COMP 7970 27

What Mihaly did g Sociology g Interviews g Surveys of people’s attitudes g Using the beeper – “Tell me how you’re feeling now” Spring 2007 COMP 7970 28

How can you be happy? g Make external conditions match goals – eg. “kill the jerks” or g Change your experience of external conditions – Even of house is safe, may still worry – Make goals match external conditions Spring 2007 COMP 7970 29

Happiness g Money can’t buy happiness – eg. Unhappy rock stars g Real happiness – What happens to us – How we feel about ourselves Spring 2007 COMP 7970 30

Pleasure g Expectations have been met – Too high: Hype about experience – Low expectations: Random video rental Spring 2007 COMP 7970 31

Pleasure g Expectations have been met – Too high: Hype about experience Star Wars I & II – Low expectations: Random video rental Spring 2007 COMP 7970 32

Enjoyment g Forward motion, sense of accomplishment – Game with matched opponent – Too easy or too hard is no fun! Spring 2007 COMP 7970 33

Characteristics of Flow g Have chance of completing the “task” g Able to concentrate g Clear goals g Immediate feedback g Deep but “effortless” involvement g Exercise control Spring 2007 COMP 7970 34

Flow g. 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! Spring 2007 COMP 7970 35

Control g Paradoxical: Can’t be too afraid of failure g Rock climbers minimize risk g More than just being in control: – Exercising control g Illusion of Control – Anorexia – Gamblers “figure out” chance events Spring 2007 COMP 7970 36

Addiction g Lose ability to control own choices g Have you ever been addicted to a game? – What was going on in your life at the time? – Was it you, or the game? Spring 2007 COMP 7970 37

Flow g Concern for self disappears – Returns after experience is over g Sense Spring 2007 of time duration is altered COMP 7970 38

Flow g Concern for self disappears – Returns after experience is over … you notice you’re hungry g Sense Spring 2007 of time duration is altered COMP 7970 39

Success g “Creates order in consciousness and strengthens the structure of the self” Spring 2007 COMP 7970 40

Success g “Creates order in consciousness and strengthens the structure of the self” Transition from Beginner to Reasonably Skilled Spring 2007 COMP 7970 41

Why do games stop being fun? Spring 2007 COMP 7970 42

Why do games stop being fun? Stagnation Obsolescence (new game improves on old) Plateau in skills Pacing or difficulty Why return to a game: Nostalgia Forgetting the bad things Taking a break to think offline Spring 2007 COMP 7970 43

Design to Achieve Flow g Pace difficulty g Allow control g Don’t make things too hard g Don’t make things too easy Spring 2007 COMP 7970 44

Glassner g Avoid: – Making it easy to cheat g People will always exploit bugs – Flight sim – Multiplayer sim – etc. Spring 2007 COMP 7970 45

Repetition g 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. Spring 2007 COMP 7970 46

Detail g Too much detail – Required actions overly detailed – Eg. Potions in Ultima Online g Under-detailed – Don't take control away from the user g "A game should offer the fastest and easiest possible way to do everything unless there is some entertaining or informative reason to prevent it. " Spring 2007 COMP 7970 47

Deception g Faulty Spring 2007 scuba gauge COMP 7970 48

Deception g Faulty scuba gauge Only discover by death Too severe, plus “save game often” is the simple, tedious solution Spring 2007 COMP 7970 49

Large-Scale Randomness Spring 2007 COMP 7970 50

Multiple-Choice Conversations Spring 2007 COMP 7970 51

Multiple-Choice Conversations Probably OK between Non-Player Characters Should have a realistic memory Spring 2007 COMP 7970 52

Agency g "Don't trick players into providing a personality description. " Spring 2007 COMP 7970 53

Agency g "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 Spring 2007 COMP 7970 54

Choices g Label them well g Don’t keep them guessing Spring 2007 COMP 7970 55

Complexity g Need to have picked up pencil 100 turns ago g Brick example: need to click on 100 bricks to find the right one Spring 2007 COMP 7970 56

Paste-On Interaction g Design Spring 2007 the game and the UI together COMP 7970 57

Character Control g Don't take control of the user's character – Avoid cut scenes in which your character does something stupid Spring 2007 COMP 7970 58

Character Control g 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 Spring 2007 COMP 7970 59

Interactive Fiction g Respect for the player. g Player's time will never be wasted g Don’t insult or deny her individuality, intelligence, or creativity g The player will always be engaged in fun or interesting events – passively – interacting with them Spring 2007 COMP 7970 60