Space of Possibility and Pacing in Casual Game Design

For this week we read an article about PopCap games. This article referenced the Spacing and Pacing within designing a casual game.

First of all I thought I would define what the article believes a 'casual game' is. "Casual Game = games that generally involve less complicated game controls and overall complexity in terms of game play or investment required to get through the game."
Because of this definition I can see that casual games are not necessarily of smaller complexity.

PopCap games are very popular due to their pick up and play appeal. The majority of their games make it possible for any player of any level of skill to compete when playing. The complexity of the games is often hidden from the players. The popularity of the games is also affected by the accessibility being very easy and varied.

Pacing: 
Crafting the players experience.

• Relaxation
• Tension
• Repetition

- Movement Impetuous:

This is and aspect that pushes the player to move on in a level rather than waiting around.

- Tension:

This refers to perceived danger.  It creates illusions for the player without changing the basic mechanics of the game.

- Threat: 

This is where the design has actual power and changes the mechanics of the game to create real danger.

- Tempo
This refers to the time that is taken between each significant decision that the player makes.

Spacing:

• If the spacing in game is limited then the choices a player can make are limited. Due to this the game can become prone to being easily solvable and this can induce boredom.
• However if the spacing is too large then the game play will be slowed. Therefore the game may become boring. With too many choices for the player then there is not enough movement impetuous.

Layering mechanics:

When a new mechanic is shown to the player, they use the new mechanic to progress, rather than continuing with the old mechanics. For example new upgrades, weapons, enemies, maps.

From doing this reading I know have a better understanding of the way designers can affect the players movement within the game by restricting their choices as well as increasing the number of decisions. I have also gained a better understanding in the way designers can directly and indirectly affect the mechanics of the game to put pressure on the player. 

Chance and skill

Last friday we read an article about chance and skill in games. We then discussed what each of the these do to the game experience for a player.

Why chance?:

• Chance offers opportunities for people of different skill levels to win.
• Chance offers more ways to win.
• Chance prevents absolute mastery.
• Chance is very good for adding drama.
• Chance means you cant always rely on the same strategy to mean the same outcome.
• Chance increases the replayability
• Chance makes the game more competetive.

Enhancing decision making:
The essence of most games is the decisions players make. Players of a game with no chance mean they know all the information and know the exact outcome of every decision they make. Therefore some of these decisions are not exciting.

Mechanics of chance:

• Dice
• Cards
• Random number genration
• Fog of War
• Hidden information

Elements of skill:
A good game is a series of interesting decisions. The success of decisions - whether mental or physical reaction- is a measure of skill.
good games also reward them with  immediate and obvious feedback for the decisions they make.

If a game is pure skill it can become boring and doesnt reward those players who are more skilled than others. They can sometimes be seen as unfair.

Blind decisions:
this is where you are asked to make a decision without you having any information on it. This will mean you are unaware of the consequences and also eliminates control.

Obvious decisions:
These are mostly things that should be automated as they are pointless options that dont need to be provided to the player.

Tradeoffs:
This is where there is no right or wrong answer. Just tactics.

-Tradeoff mechanics:

• Auctions - makes a fair way for players to gain an advantage.

Tools for Creating Dramatic Game Ideas

As games designers we must assure that our game will be dramatic, even when we don't have direct control over the narrative, a narrative that isn't scripted in advance, but emerges from the events of the game.

All drama originates from conflict and this conflict comes from contest.
We can only guide players towards this drama due to the lack of control we have. We have to make the players makes the decisions we want so they feel in control but the tension is still arisen.
To help enhance the drama within games, we have to add elements of uncertainty.

Uncertainty:
Making sure the outcome is unknown
- Force : Actually manipulating the game state directly.

• Positive feedback loops: A denoument --> reward to the reader.
• Negative feedback: Draws players together.

-Illusion : manipulating the player perception of the game state without actually changing it.

• Hidden energy: deceiving the player by thinking they're ahead when both players have the same bonus.
• Fog of war: You can only strategise over what you can actually see.
• Escalation: Increasing the drama coming to a climax towards the end.
• Declaration: Making competition to look closer than it actually is.
• Cashing out: A way to level out the competition by reducing the lead. 

Inevitability:
the sense that the contest is moving forward toward resolution.
This is used to show the game is drawing to a close.

Creating Bibliography

The task set was for us to experiment with 'Zotero' by creating a bibliography. I didn't have any luck with Zotero because the computer I was using was not very good and is just odd. However I had a look at the Harvard Referencing System to help me with typing up. So technically I haven't completed the task but I did the best that was available to me at the time.
Here is my attempt at doing so:


-Rosenweig, G. (2011) ActionScript 3.0, Game Programming University, 2nd Ed., Que.


-Koster, R. (2005) Theory of Fun for Game Design., Paraglyph Press.






-Salen, K. Zimmerman, E. (2006) The games design reader: A Rules of Play Anthology. MIT Press


-Peters, J. & Miller, B., 2011. Common Sense Game Design: Steal These Ideas 1st ed., A K Peters/CRC Press.






-Knowledge Quest. (2011) USING VIDEO GAMES TO EMBRACE INQUIRY: learning for life through fun. 40 (1): 66-69


-Turner, M.C., 2006. GAMES PEOPLE PLAY. Black Enterprise, 36(10), p.53.

Individual Game: Post 1

For my game I have decided to create a simple but effective 'Stay Alive' game. I will create a character that is restricted to left and right movements, and is confined to one stage space. Objects will be bouncing from left to right and my character will have to avoid being hit. The objects will be randomly generated and for each one that's goes off the right hand side of the stage will count as a point to the player.
Each player has 8 lives and each time they are hit by an object, they lose a life. The idea is to stay alive as long as possible to achieve the highest score.

Theme ideas:
I have decided to stick with an underwater theme. This was mainly because I had a think about what character I could use to go left and right, my first thoughts were a crab, so now they have stuck. I have started create an underwater background, then I will move onto the character art and the objects, which I have decided to use coins for.

This is my stage design. This is an incomplete version of my background.
I'm pleased as to how the progress of this design is coming along and once i have completed this I will finish my character and object design.

Once this is completed I will then move onto the code for the animations for the movement of the gold coins and the crab character.

MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design

One of our readings had a look into the MDA framework (standing for mechanics, dynamics and aesthetics) and how it is applied to making games.
The note I have taken from the reading are as follows:

Introduction:
Specifically, iterative, qualitative and quantitative analyses support the designer in two important ways. They help analyze the end result to refine implementation, and analyze the implementation to refine the result. By approaching a task from both perspectives, we can consider a wide range of possibilities and Independence's.

MDA is a formal approach to understanding games - one which attempts to bridge the gap between game design and development, game criticism, and technical game research.

The MDA framework formalizes the consumption of games breaking them into their distinct components:

RULES ---> SYSTEM ---> "FUN"

... and then establishes their design counterparts:

MECHANICS ---> DYNAMICS ---> AESTHETICS

Mechanics:
Describes the particular components of the game, at the level of data and algorithms

Dynamics:
Describes the run-time behaviour of the mechanics acting on player inputs and each others outputs over time.

Aesthetics:
Describes the desirable emotional response evoked in the player when they interact with the game.

What I have learnt from this reading is that when working with games it is helpful to consider both the designer and the player perspectives. This framework sets out a good way to view each section of creating games.

Games Brittania - 'Dicing with Destiny'

During Eddie's lesson we watched part one of a series from BBC4 called Games Brittania. The series is presented by Benjamin Wooley, who takes a look at popular games in Britain from the Iron Age to the Information Age. During part one Wooley investigates how peoples instinct to play games is just as universal and elemental as communication.

During an archaeological dig in 1996, a board game was discovered. This showed evidence of games existing in ancient Britain.

Games offer players abilities that would not normally be possible and this was the same idea in the past. Games would be created for an escapism element.

The very popular games Chess, Draughts and Backgammon are believed to have originated from India during the 6th century. These have now had a large influence throughout Europe.

Naughts and Crosses has been heavily influenced by a game called 9 Men's Morris. This is a game people used to play when waiting for the Bishop. As no board had been created, the playing area was often carved into stone.

Games that included gambling, rather than just leisurely fun, were condemned by the church. Games such as Hazard were seen as evil.

Another game that was influenced by subjects from the past is Snakes and Ladders. This is a simplified version of a game called Guan Chopper which follows a playing piece through its journey to enlightenment As shown in the episode, this didn't appear to be a very fun game and could take a long time to finish.

From watching the first episode of the series, I have come to realise how much of an influence older games have had on games that are created today. Also I realised how early people starting creating games for escapism and to pass the time  .