Readings Before September 9th

Forward:

Main idea/magic behind games is finding the hidden connections between things and exploring how the in-game world is constructed.

How do games fit into culture at large? What makes games, games? Games probably fit into culture at large because they provide a form of entertainment that so directly involves its audience.

Game designers are the architects of a playful new world.

Preface:

Game design is all around us and everyone is learning and doing it.   From Minecraft to Sim-City.  Games and systems change over time.

Intro:

Games are an integral part of human culture, with digital games just being the newest form of expression in a very old version of social interaction.  

Making good games are about solving problems.  Role of a game designer is to craft a set of rules within which there are means and motivation to play.

Game design is about creating a combination of challenge, competition, and interaction.

Digital games have been becoming massively popular with 97% of all teenagers in US playing some form of digital gaming.  As sales and cultural impact of games have increased, so too have game design as a career.

3 steps to approach game design:

1. Start with understanding of how games work.  What is a game, what makes it fun to play?

2. Conceptualize, prototype, and playtest your games.

3. Pursue specialized skills in the world of game design.

Chapter 1:

Playcentric approach to game design in which the game is designed for a player experience.

Game designer envisions how a game will work during play, he/she creates just about every aspect of the game, from the objectives to the premise for the game's existence and is responsible for planning everything to make sure the player enjoys their experience.

Game designer must be an advocate for the player, meaning that he/she must look at the world of games through the eyes of the player, this is harder than it seems since modern video games have several other aspects that can take precedence over the core gameplay (i.e: graphics, story, post-release features, etc.).  The most important aspect of making a game is the gameplay, and without it, most players will not stay long.  As a game designer, one must keep the concentration focused on player experience.  

One way to advocate for a player is to become a better game player yourself, play other games and get an idea for what good gameplay entails.

Steps for playcentric approach include:

Conceptualizing-Creating ideas for the game, set a player experience goal

Physical prototypes-Create a playable prototype using non-digital means

Presentation-Create a presentation to secure funds or hire a prototyping team or even to help you think through a game

Software Prototype-Create rough digital models of the core gameplay.

Design Documentation-Take notes on how the progress of the game is going and create ideas for the final product.

Production-Start making the game, make sure everything and everyone is on track when they're making the product and don't lose focus of the central goal.

Quality assurance-By this point, the gameplay should be solidified and very few tweaks should have to be made.  There should be playtests obviously and this is where the devs should make sure the game is accessible to the audience.

Chapter 2:

Even though various games are different and share different structures, there has to be something that causes people to recognize them as games.

For most games, the biggest similarity in games is that they are designed as player experiences.

Players are active participants in a game who must accept the rules and constraints of the game.

Games have specific objectives and goals that must be achieved. 

Games have rules and instructions on how players can achieve their goals and any constraints they have when it comes to that.

Resources are a key part of games, and they are made valuable by their scarcity and utility.

Conflict happens because some games require players to work against each other to accomplish their goals.

Boundaries: Rules only apply to game and not real life

For most games, despite all their rules and constraints, the outcome is uncertain for the game.

Games are systems given structure and boundaries.

Next generation of game designers is looking beyond traditional games. 

Chapter 3:

Players: Players are people who interact with the game, they must voluntarily accept the rules of said game to play it.

The main point of a player is to feed specific interactions, these interactions include:

Single player vs. Game-1 player competes against a game's system

Multiple individuals vs. Game-Multiple players compete against a game's system

Player vs. Player-Two players directly compete with each other to see who emerges victorious.

Unilateral competition-Two or more players compete against one player 

Multilateral competition-Three or more players directly compete

Cooperative Play-Two or more players cooperate agains the game system

Team Competition-Two or more groups compete for the same goal.

Objectives: Objectives give players something to strive for, they define what players are trying to accomplish within the rules of the game.

Some games are designed so that different players have different objectives, while others allow players to choose one of several possible objectives

Capture: Objective is to take or destroy something of the opponent's while avoiding being captured or killed.

Chase: Objective is to catch an opponent or elude one

Race: Reach a goal before other players

Alignment: Arrange the pieces of the game in a specific spatial configuration or create conceptual alignment between categories

Rescue or Escape: Get a defined unit or units to safety.

Forbidden act: Get competition to break rules by laughing, talking, letting go, making the wrong move or doing something they shouldn't

Construction: Build, maintain, or manage objects

Exploration: Explore game areas, usually combined with a more competitive objective

Solution: Solve a problem before the competition.

Outwit: Gain and use knowledge in a way that defeats other players

Formal elements such as goals, players, enemies, boundaries, conflicts, and mechanics all make what we recognize as a game

Chapter 4:

Games have systems with their formal elements, they also need to have dramatic elements such as compelling stories, clear goals, challenging activities that require skill, concentration on a task, and various levels of engagement

Character: Who is the player in the game.  The agents through whose actions a drama is told.

Story: A justification of the events that take place within the game, this is usually limited to backstory, which gives setting and context for a game's conflict and creates motivation for a character.

World Building: The intricate design of a fictional world, ranging from simple maps to massive cities, worlds, etc., with their own civilizations, languages, inhabitants, etc.

Dramatic arc: Conflict, there has to be a difference in ideologies or in people to propel the story forward.

Chapter 5:

Systems exist through natural and human-made world wherever there is complex behavior emerging from the interaction between discrete elements.

Games are systems, and at the heart of every game is a set of formal elements that, when set in motion, create a dynamic experience in which the players engage.

Objects: The building blocks of systems, a system is a group of interrelated objects, which can be physical, abstract, or both

Properties: Qualities or attributes that define physical or conceptual aspects of objects

Behaviors: Potential actions an object might perform in a given state.

Relationships: Each object has relationships among each other.  Without these, you have a collection, not a system.

Chapter 6:

Where do ideas come from, the come from input into mind and senses.  Stages of creativity are:

Preparation: Becoming immersed in a topic

Incubation: A period of time in which ideas "churn around" in consciousness

Insight: When the pieces of an idea fall into place

Evaluation: When a person decides whether or not the insight is valuable and worth pursuing

Elaboration: The longest part of the creative process.

Brainstorming is when you have a system of idea generation.

Good practices for brainstorming:

State a challenge

No criticism

Vary the method

Playful environment

Put it on the wall

Go for lots of ideas

Don't go too long

Alternate methods include:

List creation

Index cards

Mind map

Stream of consciousness

Shout it out

Cut it up

Surrealist games

Research

Chapter 7:

Creating a physical prototype is a critical step in designing a game concept because it will save the team a lot of time because all people involved will have a clear understanding of the game being made.  In addition, a physical prototype will allow the developer(s) to focus their time on the gameplay rather than on the production and programming processes. 

Chapter 8:

Prototyping digitally allows people to actually develop the aesthetics and feel of games.

Chapter 9:

Playtesting allows people to figure out how the game plays and what aspects of the actual game work and do not work.

Some forms include:

Self-testing: The developer tests the game themselves

Confidant playtesting: Playtesting with people you know so that they can get a fresh perspective

Playtesting with those you don't know: This will help get fresh perspective from those who you don't know.

Playtesting with target audience: Ideal playtester is one who represents the demographic that you are attempting to sell to.  You want play testers who spend their money on games like yours.

Conducting a playtest session goes as follows:

Introduction: Welcome playtesters, thank them for participating and explain what is going on

Warm up discussion: Ask questions to find out what games your playtesters play that are similar to your game, ask questions like:

What kind of games do you play?

What do you like the most about these games?

Where do you go to play/find out about these new games? Why?

What was the last game you bought?

Play session: This is where the playtesters play the game.  The main goal is to get their feedback on the experience.  They have to understand that the game is still in DEVELOPMENT and that their skill is not being assessed.

Discussion of Game Experience: After the game has been played, you want a set of questions that probe people in regards for overall appeal, some questions could be:

Overall, what were your thoughts on the game?

Thoughts on gameplay?

Were you able to play quickly?

What was the objective?

How would you describe this game to someone who hasn't played it before?

Now that you've played the game, is there any info that would have been useful to you before the session?

Is there anything that you didn't like about the game?

Was anything confusing?

Wrap up: Thank the playtesters, if you can, get their contact info so they know when the game is finished and give them any merchandise associated with the game.

Forms of playtesting include:

One on one testing

Group testing

Feedback forms

Interviews

Open discussion

Metrics

Chapter 10:

When playtesting for a game, you test for...

Foundation: Is the game fun with it's core mechanic

Structure: If the game's foundation is good, add structure to make the prototype functional for playtesters

Formal Details: What are specifics that need to be answered

Refinement: How can your game be improved, what rough edges can be smoothed out.

Chapter 11:

How do you know if the game is fun: Ask the playtesters...although they might not know what fun necessarily is, so it'd be better to ask if the game is emotionally investing.  Some ways to test how to keep players emotionally invested are challenge, play and story.

Challenge includes:

Reaching & Exceeding Goals

Competing against others

Reaching personal limits

Exercising difficult skills

Making interesting choices

Play includes:

Living out fantasies

Social interaction

Exploration and discovery

Collection

Stimulation

Self-Expression and Performance

Construction/Deconstruction

Story includes decision making and involving players choices:

Dilemmas: Forcing players to choose between various options with different outcome

Puzzles: These are important because they have a right answer

Rewards and punishment: How do certain actions affect the player

Progress: Is the player getting anywhere when they play.

Chapter 12:

Team Structure is extremely important

Publisher and Developer relationship is critical.

A developer's main task is to deliver a product, while the publisher's main task is to finance and distribute the product.

Dev teams include:

Game Designers: These are the people who are responsible for the play experience, it is their job to make sure gameplay works at all levels

Producer: The producer is the leader of the project.  The producer is responsible to make sure that a game is developed & delivered to the publisher as promised, and the producer needs to create a plan for said delivery.  There is a producer on both the publisher's team as well as the developer's team.

Programmers: The people involved in technically implementing the game.  Includes coders, system engineers, database programmers, hardware support, etc.

Programming teams responsibilities include:

Drafting technical specs

Implementing software prototypes, tools, game modules and engines, structuring data, communication management, code documentation and coordinating with Q&A engineers to resolve bugs.

Visual artists: These are the people who are tasked with developing any of the visual aspects of the game.

QA engineers: These are bug testers who make sure that the game is working as it should

Specialized media: People who have very specific roles that sometimes aren't directly related to the game at all (i.e: Sound designers, musicians, mocap operators, stunt instructors, etc.)

Level Designer: This is the person who implements the concepts of levels into levels and sometime comes up with concepts themselves.

Publisher Teams include:

Producer: Leader for publisher's team, communication link between publisher and developer, responsible for budget and schedule on publisher's side, responsible for resource allocation, approval of work accomplished by devs so they can be paid, and coordinating management

Marketing Team: The people who are responsible for selling the game to buyers

Executives: Include CEOs, presidents, CFOs, COOs, VPs and directors of the publishing company.  These are the people in charge of the entire company at large.

Quality Assurance: These people function the same as QA's in the Dev team.

Usability specialists: They make sure that the game is accessible and intuitive for the target market.

User research and metrics: They analyze metrics related to gameplay and can see how the game is being used by players.