Transcript Chapter 9 - Gameplay - McMaster University

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Gameplay: Consists of the challenges and
actions that a game offers. Challenges for the
player to overcome and actions that let her
overcome them
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The primary goal of a game designer is to
provide entertainment
Gameplay is the primary means of
entertainment
Without gameplay, an activity may be fun, but
it is not a game
“Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety nine
percent perspiration”
-Thomas Edison
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Most of what makes a game fun has nothing
to do with imagination or creativity
The vast majority of things that make a game
not fun result from bad execution rather than
a bad idea.
Avoid elementary errors:
Bad programming,
bad music and
sound, bad art,
bad user interfaces,
and bad game
design all ruin the
players funs
(1)
(2) Tuning and Polishing:
-This means paying attention to detail,
getting everything perfect.
-This is the difference between a good
game and a mediocre one.
(3) Imaginative variations on the games
premise:
-Take the basic elements of the game and
construct and enjoyable experience out of them
-Level designers
do most of this
work
(4) True design innovation:
Encompasses the games original idea and
subsequent decisions that you make
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Innovation by the game designer contributes
only a small part of the fun of the game.
This may make it sound like there is not a lot
of point in game design…
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There is no formula for making your game
fun
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There are a set of principles to keep in mind
as your design and build your game:
Gameplay comes first: Create your game to give
people fun things to do
Get a feature right or leave it out: It is far worse
to ship a game with a broken feature than it is
to with a missing feature
Design around the player: Examine every
decision from the players point of view. Games
that lose sight of the player, lose sight of fun
Know your target audience: Different groups of
players want different things, know what they
want and what they think is fun, and then
provide it
Abstract or automate parts of the simulation
that aren’t fun: If you model your game on the
real world, leave out the parts that aren’t fun
Be true to your vision: Don’t add unnecessary
features that will distract you from your original
vision.
Strive for harmony, elegance, and beauty: A lack
of aesthetic perfection doesn’t take all the fun
out of a game, but the absence of these
qualities appreciably diminishes it
“When you’re up to your ass in alligators, it’s
hard to remember that your original objective
was to drain the swamp”
-Unattributed
Explicit Challenges: Challenges that are told
directly to the player i.e “save the princess”
-Typically the topmost
and the bottom most
challenges are explicit
challenges
Implicit Challenges: Challenges that the player
discovers on their own
-
Most intermediate challenges are implicit
If there are no implicit challenges, it doesn’t
feel like a game
Reward victory no matter how the players
achieve it
Intrinsic skill: The level of skill needed to
surmount the challenge if you give the player an
unlimited amount of time in which to do it.
Stress: Measures how a player perceives the
effect of time pressure on his ability to meet a
challenge requiring a given level of intrinsic
skill.
Absolute Difficulty: Refers to the intrinsic skill
required and stressfulness put together
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Tests the players physical abilities – most
commonly hand-eye coordination
There are different types of
physical coordination
challenges…
Speed and Reaction time:
 Speed challenges test the players ability to
make rapid inputs on the controls
 Reaction time challenges test the players
ability to react quickly to events
 Example: Tetris
Accuracy and Precision:
 Accuracy and Precision challenges need not
to take place in a time limit
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Example: Wii Sports Archery
Intuitive understanding of physics
 In a racing game, players must learn through
experience a cars breaking distance,
acceleration rate, etc.
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Example: Portal
Timing and Rhythm:
 Timing and Rhythm challenges test the
players ability to press the right button at the
right time
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Example – Guitar Hero
Combination moves:
 Many fighting games require complex
combinations of button presses in order to
do a cool move
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Example – Street Fighter
Formal logic puzzles:
 The definition of the puzzle contains, or
explains everything the player needs to solve
to puzzle
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Example –
Minesweeper
Avoid trial and error
solutions
Mathematical challenges:
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Include an element of chance
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Example - Hearts
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Discourages careful strategic thought and
instead encourages direct brute-force
solution
Increases the stress on a player and changes
the feeling of the gameplay considerably
Example - Frogger
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Direct test of players knowledge of factual
information
Usually occurs in trivia and quiz games
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Example – Trivial Pursuit
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Design Rule:
Make it clear when factual
knowledge is required
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Tests the players ability to recall things the
she has seen or heard in the game
Action and adventure games get you to
remember things that will be needed later on
Example -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2kZQMtifOE