Spring 2007 COMP 7970 1
Game Play Styles
Structure of Game Play
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Game Play Styles
Games Have various structures that the user must handle
Common structures appear in many games
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Suggestions?
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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
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Puzzle - Arrange Geometry
Some self-contained artifact must be rearranged into a solved position– Sokoban– Solitaire– Adventure games
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Dynamic Puzzle
Some dynamic artifact must be navigated through– Deadly pendulums swinging!– Tetris
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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
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Collision Detection
Shooting – Player shoots a projectile to make
progress towards winning Direct Attack by self Collision Avoidance
– Bullets miss you– Block punch/kick
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Obstacle Avoidance
Player must avoid environmental objects/enemies to win– Pac-Man (Inky, Pinky, etc)– Centipede– Frogger– Mario Bros etc etc
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Obstacle Creation
Player creates or controls environment to influence or defeat opponent
Eg. Light cycles in Tron Walls in strategy games Go
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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
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Material Removal
Object is to remove opponent’s pieces
Examples– Chess– Checkers– War games– Action games (Space Invaders, Pac-Man,
Asteroids)
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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
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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!
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Economy Simulation
Resource gathering– Gold, Wood, Iron, etc, etc
Direct– AOE gatherer units, C&C
Indirect– Total Annihilation, Kingdoms,
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Economic Simulation
Buildings– Create NPCs
• AOE, Warcraft I, Caesar III
– Create/transform materials• Settlers, Caesar III
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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
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“Research”
Create a new technology that makes your NPCs better– AOE, Starcraft
Advance your civilization
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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
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Artificial Life
Must grow your creature– Train it– Feed it
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Fun
Flow -- Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiChapter 3 “Enjoyment and the
Quality of Life”
Some thoughts on Game Design – Andrew Glassner
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What is fun?
Can you name an experience that was supposed to be fun but was not?
Not supposed to be fun, but was?
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Is it reasonable to say some software “Is fun” ?
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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
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Not just software alone!
Software + context
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Not just software alone!
Software + context
Depends on mood
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What Mihaly did
Sociology Interviews Surveys of people’s attitudes Using the beeper -
– “Tell me how you’re feeling now”
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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
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Happiness
Money can’t buy happiness– eg. Unhappy rock stars
Real happiness– What happens to us– How we feel about ourselves
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Pleasure
Expectations have been met– Too high: Hype about experience
– Low expectations: Random video rental
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Pleasure
Expectations have been met– Too high: Hype about experience
– Low expectations: Random video rental
Star Wars I & II
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Enjoyment
Forward motion, sense of accomplishment– Game with matched opponent– Too easy or too hard is no fun!
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Characteristics of Flow
Have chance of completing the “task”
Able to concentrate Clear goals Immediate feedback Deep but “effortless” involvement Exercise control
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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!
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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
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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?
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Flow
Concern for self disappears– Returns after experience is over
Sense of time duration is altered
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Flow
Concern for self disappears– Returns after experience is over
Sense of time duration is altered
… you notice you’re hungry
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Success
“Creates order in consciousness and strengthens the structure of the self”
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Success
“Creates order in consciousness and strengthens the structure of the self”
Transition from Beginner to Reasonably Skilled
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Why do games stop being fun?
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Why do games stop being fun?
Stagnation
Obsolescence (new game improves on old)
Plateau in skills
Pacing or difficulty
Why return to a game:NostalgiaForgetting the bad thingsTaking a break to think offline
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Design to Achieve Flow
Pace difficulty Allow control Don’t make things too hard Don’t make things too easy
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Glassner
Avoid:– Making it easy to cheat
People will always exploit bugs– Flight sim– Multiplayer sim– etc. etc.
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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.
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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."
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Deception
Faulty scuba gauge
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Deception
Faulty scuba gauge
Only discover by death
Too severe, plus “save game often” is the simple, tedious solution
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Large-Scale Randomness
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Multiple-Choice Conversations
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Multiple-Choice Conversations
Probably OK between Non-Player Characters
Should have a realistic memory
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Agency
"Don't trick players into providing a personality description."
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Agency
"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
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Choices
Label them well Don’t keep them guessing
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Complexity
Need to have picked up pencil 100 turns ago
Brick example: need to click on 100 bricks to find the right one
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Paste-On Interaction
Design the game and the UI together
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Character Control
Don't take control of the user's character– Avoid cut scenes in which your
character does something stupid
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Character Control
Don't take control of the user's character– Avoid cut scenes in which your
character does something stupidCan use them as a reward
Must have a plot requirement
Problem is primarily with first person agency
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Interactive Fiction
Respect for the player. Player's time will never be wasted Don’t insult or deny her individuality,
intelligence, or creativity The player will always be engaged in
fun or interesting events– passively – interacting with them
