game design workshop @ naresuan university
DESCRIPTION
Game DesignTRANSCRIPT
by Carolina Islas
Game Design WorkshopNaresuan University
9.2.2014
Section BWhy game design?
Digital games
How much does it cost to make a “big” video game?
What team do I need?Producer
Designers (gameplay, balancing)
Artists
Programmer (graphics, physics, AI, sound, scripting, UI, game tools, network....)
Level designer
Sound Engineer
Tester
Publisher
Model for interactive game design
Important cycles:
play-testing,
evaluating, and
revising
Source Fullerton et al. (2004) page 197
Please make teams
Section Cgame background
Definitions
Figure from Islas Sedano, 2012
Being playful
Gameplay
How old games are?
How old games are?
“The fact that play and culture are actually interwoven with one another was neither observed nor expressed, whereas for us the whole point is to show that genuine, pure play is one of the main bases of civilization.” Huizinga, 1950.
Meta classification
Source: Callois, R. (1961) Man, Play and Games. Page 54.
Digital Game origins (1/2)
1958Wally
Higginbotham
Screenshot source
Digital Game origins (2/2)
1961Steve RusellSpacewar!
Screenshot source
Digital Games
Video games (timeline of consoles, video history MMO)
Mobile games ( video snake, photo - trends)
Location-based games* (e.g. geocatching, visions with AR)
Pervasive games* (IPerG)
ARG (Alternate Reality Games)* (experience of the Lost Ring)
* transmedia
Please fill PART II
of the questionnaire
Section DGame Systems
System.... (in engineering)..... is a combination of components that act jointly to achieve a specific objective.
System.... (in engineering)..... is a combination of components that act jointly to achieve a specific objective.
Ogata, K. (1987) Dynamic Systems. Page 417
System lexicon (engineering)
A component is a particular unit in the function of a system.
A system can be call dynamic when the output depends of an input from the past. That means, systems are changing states or moving constantly to be useful. Example: vehicles, entertainment equipment (TV, radio), computers.
A static system is constant. Example: buildings, bridges, furniture.
Defining
Games are dynamics systems of interaction approached with a playful attitude .
Games Lexicon
Game components
Game mechanics
Game dynamics
Game components
Often includes:
Aesthetics
Story
Technology
Game mechanics
Game mechanics are the core of the game.
Taxonomies of game mechanics are incomplete.
Why?
a) involve objective set of rules
b) involve mental models of the players.
Taxonomy of Game Mechanics suggested by Schell.
1. Space
2.Object, attribute and states
3.Actions
4.Rules
5.Skills
6.Chance
Game dynamics
Once players are playing the game is possible to see the game mechanics in movement, so the game dynamics unveil.
Section EPlayers
IGDA defines Hardcore Gamer: Gamers who typically play high-action, extremely competitive games that require a greater degree of involvement or dexterity in order to progress.
•Core Gamer: Gamers who typically play games with a steeper learning curve or games that require some level of deeper involvement or complex tactical challenges.
•Casual Gamer: Gamers who play games for enjoyment and relaxation rather than games with steep learning curves or requiring high levels of commitment or involvement.
source here
Features of casual games by Brathwaite and Schreiber
1. Easy to learn2.Reduced complexity3.Casual conflicts4.Short play time5.Lack of commitment 6.Family friendly
DemographicsClassification by Schell
0-3: Infant/Toddler4-6: Preschooler7-9: Kids10-13: Preteen or Tween13-18: Teen18-24: Young Adult25-35: Twenties and Thirties35-50: Thirty and Forties50+: Fifties and Up
Five things Males like to see in games according to Schell
Mastery
Competition
Destruction
Spatial Puzzles
Trial and Error
Five things Females like to see in games according to Schell
Emotion
Real World
Nurturing
Dialog and Verbal Puzzles
Learning by Example
MaloneHeuristics for interaction in games
Curiosity
Challenge
Fantasy
Control ** With Lepper
Section FEvocative Objects
Evocative objects
Are things we learn with.
Sherry Turkle
We think with the objects we think we love; we love the objects we think with
Seymour Papert
I fell in love with the gears.
Claude Levi-Strauss
Material things are goods to think with and good to think with.
Bricolage as a way of combining and recombining a closed set of materials to come up with new ideas
Examples
Video 1 - feeling
Video 2 - designing new boxes, cognitive
Thank you!