Game Play Styles

1. Game Play Styles Structure of Game Play ITCS4010/5010

2. Game Play Styles • Games Have various structures that the user must handle • Common structures appear in many games ITCS 4010/5010

3. Suggestions? ITCS 4010/5010

4. 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 ITCS 4010/5010

5. Puzzle - Arrange Geometry • Some self-contained artifact must be rearranged into a solved position • Sokoban • Solitaire • Adventure games ITCS 4010/5010

6. Dynamic Puzzle • Some dynamic artifact must be navigated through • Deadly pendulums swinging! • Tetris ITCS 4010/5010

7. Rescue/Collection • 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 ITCS 4010/5010

8. Collision Detection • Shooting • Player shoots a projectile to make progress towards winning • Direct Attack by self • Collision Avoidance • Bullets miss you • Block punch/kick ITCS 4010/5010

9. Obstacle Avoidance • Player must avoid environmental objects/enemies to win • Pac-Man (Inky, Pinky, etc) • Centipede • Frogger • Mario Bros etc etc ITCS 4010/5010

10. Obstacle Creation • Player creates or controls environment to influence or defeat opponent • Eg. Light cycles in Tron • Walls in strategy games • Go ITCS 4010/5010

11. Search • Something’s hidden in the environment • Key to locked door • Find best X in Geometric state • Words in Bookworm • Rows or columns of like color in Bejeweled ITCS 4010/5010

12. Material Removal • Object is to remove opponent’s pieces • Examples • Chess • Checkers • War games • Action games (Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Asteroids) ITCS 4010/5010

13. 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 ITCS 4010/5010

14. Economic Simulation • You must set up a flow of material and/or money • Get the most stuff • He who dies with the most toys wins! ITCS 4010/5010

15. Economy Simulation • Resource gathering • Gold, Wood, Iron, etc, etc • Direct • AOE gatherer units, C&C • Indirect • Total Annihilation, Kingdoms, ITCS 4010/5010

16. Economic Simulation • Buildings • Create NPCs • AOE, Warcraft I, Caesar III • Create/transform materials • Settlers, Caesar III ITCS 4010/5010

17. 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 ITCS 4010/5010

18. “Research” • Create a new technology that makes your NPCs better • AOE, Starcraft • Advance your civilization ITCS 4010/5010

19. Dialog/Negotiation • You talk to other players/NPCs • To learn things • To gain/lose membership in a gang/guild/club • To coordinate attack/defense • Trade • Read environment for clues • News clippings ITCS 4010/5010

20. Artificial Life • Must grow your creature • Train it • Feed it ITCS 4010/5010

21. ITCS 4010/5010

22. Fun Flow -- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Chapter 3 “Enjoyment and the Quality of Life” Some thoughts on Game Design – Andrew Glassner ITCS4010/5010

23. What is fun? • Can you name an experience that was supposed to be fun but was not? • Not supposed to be fun, but was? ITCS 4010/5010

24. Is it reasonable to say some software “Is fun” ? ITCS 4010/5010

25. 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 ITCS 4010/5010

26. Not just software alone! • Software + context ITCS 4010/5010

27. Not just software alone! • Software + context Depends on mood ITCS 4010/5010

28. What Mihaly did • Sociology • Interviews • Surveys of people’s attitudes • Using the beeper - • “Tell me how you’re feeling now” ITCS 4010/5010

29. 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 ITCS 4010/5010

30. Happiness • Money can’t buy happiness • eg. Unhappy rock stars • Real happiness • What happens to us • How we feel about ourselves ITCS 4010/5010

31. Pleasure • Expectations have been met • Too high: Hype about experience • Low expectations: Random video rental ITCS 4010/5010

32. Pleasure • Expectations have been met • Too high: Hype about experience • Low expectations: Random video rental Star Wars I & II ITCS 4010/5010

33. Enjoyment • Forward motion, sense of accomplishment • Game with matched opponent • Too easy or too hard is no fun! ITCS 4010/5010

34. Characteristics of Flow • Have chance of completing the “task” • Able to concentrate • Clear goals • Immediate feedback • Deep but “effortless” involvement • Exercise control ITCS 4010/5010

35. 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! ITCS 4010/5010

36. 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 ITCS 4010/5010

37. 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? ITCS 4010/5010

38. Flow • Concern for self disappears • Returns after experience is over • Sense of time duration is altered ITCS 4010/5010

39. Flow • Concern for self disappears • Returns after experience is over • Sense of time duration is altered … you notice you’re hungry ITCS 4010/5010

40. Success • “Creates order in consciousness and strengthens the structure of the self” ITCS 4010/5010

41. Success • “Creates order in consciousness and strengthens the structure of the self” Transition from Beginner to Reasonably Skilled ITCS 4010/5010

42. Why do games stop being fun? ITCS 4010/5010

43. 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 ITCS 4010/5010

44. Design to Achieve Flow • Pace difficulty • Allow control • Don’t make things too hard • Don’t make things too easy ITCS 4010/5010

45. Glassner • Avoid: • Making it easy to cheat • People will always exploit bugs • Flight sim • Multiplayer sim • etc. etc. ITCS 4010/5010

46. 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. ITCS 4010/5010

47. 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." ITCS 4010/5010

48. Deception • Faulty scuba gauge ITCS 4010/5010

49. Deception • Faulty scuba gauge • Only discover by death • Too severe, plus “save game often” is the simple, tedious solution ITCS 4010/5010

50. Large-Scale Randomness ITCS 4010/5010