Flash Game Progression

Here is the progress on my individual flash game, currently I have the menu animated and linking to the main game scene:

And concept art for the enemies, quite possibly massively exaggerated...

Casual Game Design

 For week 7 we were given two articles about casual game design, heavily referencing the success of a company called Popcap Games. The reading was entitled Space of Possibility and Pacing in Casual Game Design, both by Marcos Venturelli.

The definition of a Casual Game is quite simple - a game that can be given to any person, of any skill, and that can be played without any need for a specific skill (or even previous knowledge of the game); resulting in short bursts of play and enjoyment from the game.

These particular articles adressed how readily available casual games have become. With the advancement of portable devices and wireless internet there is a wealth of casual games easily available in pretty much any location. These casual games are available to such a large audience that game designers have began to make this their main goal - A casual game that appeals to ALL. Simple, but effective!

One of the reasons for Popcap's immense success is their ability to create games that focus on pacing the players effectively; pacing results in the creation of complex interactions between the player and the game.


Pacing
There are a few elements that build up to create the games Pace:

• Tension: The perceived danger that the user may be much weaker than the opposing forces. 
• Threat: Generated using the games Mechanics, the power struggle can slowly drift in favour of the opponents.
• Tempo: The intensity of play - basically the time taken between player's reactions to the game (time between clicks, dice rolls etc.)
• Movement Impetus: The desire of the player to make their way through the game.

Space of Possibility

Game designers are who bring about a Space of Possibility, this is the area that can be limited to result in a desired effect upon the player. 

"The destiny of games is to become boring, not fun."

                                                                                         - Raph Koster [2005]

Koster is essentially stating that we are 'programmed' to enjoy working out and solving patterns in things, especially games. We constantly strive to achieve personally set goals and achievements trying to master the game. However, it is inevitable that these patterns will run out and boredom will ensue. As a games designer it is important to find a good balance between the restricted space and the patterns within, casual games - even more so! A casual game must have a restricted space of possibility so that the game is easily accessible to everyone, but not a large space so that there are too many patters and the game becomes too hard to pick up and play without the required knowledge or skill. Balance is one of the most important key aspects of game design, and can influence who plays your game and how.

In order to keep a players Movement Impetus in full glorious flow, the game must be interesting, keeping the player from becoming disinterested and bored. Popcap have successfully achieved this balance by adding certain mechanics after a few levels of play. Bejeweled is an incredible game  by Popcap that I have spent many a joyful hour playing. The Movement Impetus in this is achieved by introducing a new rule (for example a new Jewel with special effects), giving the player a new Mechanic to begin to get their heads around. Whilst these Mechanics are being implemented slowly, the pace of the game is also increasing (often not enough to notice the difference, until it's too late!). After each level the difficulty is increased and after approximately 5 levels a new Mechanic is introduced. By constantly adding to the background Mechanics of the game the player's Movement Impetus continues to stay in full flow.

This is just one reason for Popcaps success and credibility. They focus on feeding the players tiny pieces of gaming pie, and with each bite further the taste intensifies and it becomes harder to resist eating. The thrill is then created in short bursts, influencing the Movement Impetus. Popcap seem to have found a perfect balance in most of their casual games resulting in endless hours of trying to beat your high score or unlock new Mechanics.

That's all for now folks, check back soon!

Chance vs Skill (The Ultimate Standoff!)

The week 6 readings (Brenda Braithwaite & Ian Schreiber (2008) Challenges for Games Designers, Chapters 5 & 6) present us with an age old (game design) question: Do we want to create a game that is skill-based, chance-based or a mixture of the two? The outcome and success of this game will greatly be affected by the choice made from these three, the target audience is drastically influenced by this decision. So lets take a look into both Chance and Skill and see how they really affect games, whilst considering the following questions:

Why is chance an important component in games and what tools does the designer have at their disposal to deploy this element?


Why is skill an important component in games and what tools does the designer have at their disposal to deploy this element? 

Chance is an important core element in many games, it allows the game to receive a much wider audience than that of Skill-based games and can help to make a lot of games much more fun! Chance pops its ugly head up in many places that we would not expect; making boring, monotonous decisions more much more interesting to the players!

Chance appears in many roles in games, examples of which are:

• Delaying Solvability - Solvability influences how compelling a game can be. When a game is easily solvable players can see the outcome, so if a player can see that they are going to lose down te line they will simply walk away.

• Making Play Competitive for All Players - Many games need to be made 'fair' or equal for the players, by adding an element of Chance into the game it has now become less about skill and gives the weaker players a better chance of winning (or at least not feeling 'cheated' by the game mechanics).

• Increasing Variety - When an element of Chance is introduced, a large number of situations that can emerge at any time come into play. This will aid in re-playability.

• Creating Dynamic Moments - Waiting to see whether a plan has succeeded or failed can create huge amounts of tension. Even without strategy random events playing out can be just as interesting.

• Enhancing Decision Making - When there is a random aspect within a game, there is never a tactic that will always prevail. Some moves in games like Chess are minor but safe, whereas others can be incredibly risky but reward massively.

There are also many different Mechanics of Chance such as:

• Dice - Rolling a die is about as random as you can get. However, when a second die is brought into play, the outcome is not nearly as random. The more dice rolled at once, the less random the outcome.

• Cards - Cards are an incredibly versatile game element. They can be shuffled, played face-down or even be used to track game information.

• Hidden Information - When non-random information is hidden, it's still random from the perspective of the player. In games such as Go Fish, each player knows what cards they have obtained, but the opponents begin by making wild guesses as they have no clue to the cards you are holding.

• Other Game Bits - Lots of other forms of randomness are simply adaptations of the Mechanics above. Spinners for example are very similar to dice, flipping a coin is like a two sided die, and Scrabble tiles are like a deck of cards.

Skill is also a core element in many games. It enhances the choice the player has allowing them to know whats going to happen when they make a move. Chance can make a game feel unfair and frustrating, or even boring! The player has literally no control over what happens during the game. Chance has no interesting decision making, it's purely left up to 'the dice'.

Decision Making is a crucial aspect of skill, allowing the player to choose his or her own 'destiny' as it were - the right decision leads to a reward, the wrong decision leads to punishment, but it's not as simple as that...

• Obvious Decisions - If a decision has an obvious positive outcome without any need for thought, this sort of decision should be automatic as to not distract the player from more interesting and much larger decisions.

• Blind Decision - A decision which has not given any information, so no matter what the choice there is no control over the outcome by the player. A completely random decision.

• Meaningless Decision - A decision with no correct or false outcome, it does not affect the game in any way. Whichever decision is made the outcome will be the same.

• Trade-Offs - These decisions are when you pick one path, but whatever was involved in choosing another path is no longer achievable. For example during Call Of Duty you can choose to bring a riot shield (melee) or a gun (ranged), there is no right or wrong answer in this decision, just tactics. There are also Risk vs Reward Trade-Offs which involve higher risk for a higher reward, lower risk for a lower reward.

Decisions are crucial to keeping a player locked into the game. By causing them to constantly make new and risky decisions they will not get bored with the game quickly; however throwing too many confusing and unrelated decisions at the player may cause confusion and frustration leading to boredom. 

The key mechanics of skill are:

• Auctions - Auctions allow players a brief window of opportunity  to get something for cheap, at a bargain price! But it also creates tension in the player, making them believe that they may have to spend more for an item in the future. Auctions allow you to freely change supply and demand items. Closed Auctions are when different players take turns to bid on an item, whoever gives the final bid and others refuse to call is the winner. Open Auctions are when anyone can bid on the item, allowing people to drop in and leave a bid for an item at any time and for any amount. Both of these types of Auctions create tension because players have different reasons for bidding on that specific item, for example one player may bid a ridiculously high price because if they receive that item they will 'win' the game - should you still go against them in the bid? (Skill)

• Abilities - Objects which can give you limited opportunities so they must be used wisely and with the right timing.

After reading these chapters I realise the huge amount of influence Skill and Chance have on the success and overall fun of a game. As a Games Designer it is crucial to decide from the beginning whether your game will be skill-based, chance-based or a mixture of the two! It affects the gameplay in a way that your target audience could drastically change based on this decision.

There are many ways to utilise Skill and Chance when designing a game, but it seems incredibly hard to find a perfect balance between the two. When we were iterating a skill game it was hard to introduce a chance aspect without making the game to easy; and similarly when trying to apply skill to a game of chance it became much too hard! Very challenging to get a good balance. 

After these readings I feel that I have received a better understanding of the roles of Chance and Skill, as well as some mechanics that can be used to achieve them effectively.

Dramatic Game Mechanics Tools

 The concepts behind these tools are based upon Mark LeBlanc's contribution from Salen and Zimmerman's The Game Design Reader (p438 - p459). This blog post continues on from the previous post entitled Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics (MDA), as Mark LeBlanc explains that he has studied games using this specific framework and bases his work around MDA.

So, the mechanics of a game are what the game designer has full control over. Mechanics influence Dynamics and how the game is ultimately played out, these Dynamics then influence the player (hopefully) resulting in an emotional response. In order to create an emotional response from the player, we must focus on Mechanics that will create this response.

"We cannot create drama; we can only create the circumstances from which the drama will emerge."

- Marc LeBlanc, Tools for Creating Dramatic Game Dynamics 

This quote embodies the strongest message that must be taken from this reading; a games designer cannot directly 'create' drama, the Mechanics give birth to the circumstances required to create the intended drama. It is important to remember that the emotional response is left to the player to understand, and as a designer it is hard to create something that will cause the same emotional response in every single player (People feel differently y'know!). In order to construct these circumstances LeBlanc proposes the use of a tool called the Dramatic Arc...

Using this graph makes it much easier to understand the Dramatic Arc. After the exposition, action begins to rise absorbing the player into the story as it progresses. This creates increased tension and helps to prompt emotional responses before it reaches its peak, the climax. The game quickly shifts from its uncertainty and tension, to the action beginning to fall until it eventually achieves resolution. LeBlanc states that it is important to not reach the climax too early, otherwise risk the player feeling that the resolution was rushed, thus not enjoying the game.

The drama created using this Dramatic Arc plays on two main factors for games design: Inevitability and Uncertainty. These can be controlled separately by using individual game Mechanics. The Mechanics must be balanced in order to create the intended emotional response. Using Chess as an example for Inevitability, we can see that it is represented by a ticking clock. The ticking clock is simply represented by the amount of pieces the game has, as the game progresses and pieces are destroyed there are less and less on the board. This creates a similar effect to a timer, counting down to the inevitable demise of your opponent (or yourself).

Drama cannot be achieved unless Uncertainty is also used in the correct circumstances (alongside Inevitability). Uncertainty prevents players from immediately seeing the outcome of the game, thus removing any tension that may have been created. A prime example of this is the Fog of War used in many RTS games such as Starcraft, Warcraft, Battle for Middle Earth etc. The Fog of War creates a type of 'veil' over enemy bases and troops, obscuring the player's view of what the enemy is up to. This creates a great deal of tension and Uncertainty as the player has no clue as to what the enemy is building/collecting/planning...

It must be noted that if Uncertainty is used without Inevitability it is hard to sustain the drama that has been created, you have been warned!


Uncertainty and Inevitability are not the only tools in our arsenal to prompt emotional responses. Force and Illusion can be used to invoke strong emotions within the player. We can Force the player to change the game state in order to change their perception of the situation. Using this Force we can cause the game dynamics to change and make the player feel strong dramatic tension. Illusion can create tension by changing the game state, as previously mentioned with Fog of War - the player can be lulled into a false sense of security and feel as though they are about to win the game, when really they could be minutes from losing.

LeBlanc also makes mention of positive and negative feedback systems. These Mechanics manipulate the game, changing the way a player reacts to that game:

• Positive Feedback - The 'leader' of the game is granted a large advantage over the other players, creating tension. For example, when playing Liar's Dice the leader has more dice than their opponents, giving them a distinct advantage over the other players.

• Negative Feedback - The losing player receives a hidden boost, or handicap on the leader(s). This then reduces the distance between the opponents, creating uncertainty and thus dramatic tension. A prime example of this would be any of the Mario Kart series, the player in last place is granted much more powerful item pickups allowing them to quickly work up to first place!

I have learned a lot about how to create dramatic tension (indirectly) within a game from this article, along with how important it is! There are very few games that do not create some kind of emotional response within the player, without dramatic tension (of all kinds!) the game would not be entertaining, and re-playability would dwindle.

 And i shall sign off with the immortal words of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2: Judgement Day - 

"I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle."

                                              -  Arnie            

Wait, was that right?

Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics (MDA)

 Hello again folks! Our week four readings were, once again, aimed at widening my game design vocabulary and understanding. "MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research" (Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, Robert Zubek) was the title of this weeks article, it mostly focuses on a framework called MDA (Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics).

MDA is described as a framework put together for game designers that illustrate the way in which the process of games design is planned out. There are three main stages which describe the development phase, of which only one is controlled by the designer. The other two stages rely solely on these changes and their effects on one another. The stages are called:

Mechanics

Dynamics

Aesthetics

The article explains that the Mechanics are the base of the game, the Dynamics then rely on how the Mechanics interact. The Aesthetics are the feelings that affect the player whilst playing the game, influenced by both the Mechanics and the Aesthetics phases.

The game designer only has full control over one aspect of this: Mechanics. The Mechanics are the core of the game, this includes things such as: rules, player's movements, 'game bits', and all the core Mechanics required for the game to be played.

The Dynamics are the next stage, during this stage it is possible for the designer to see the way in which all the rules and mechanics interact with each other. A designer cannot change the Dynamics directly at this stage, however by observing the behavior of the Dynamics it can be seen if small changes are required in order to refine it. At this point changes to Mechanics can be implemented in order to improve the way they interact.


Aesthetics are possibly the most important stage to a game designer, however it is also the hardest to achieve and manage accurately. This stage is where the game presents the intended emotions for the player, the feelings they experience when playing the game. This is controlled by all the previous elements combined to create the final, beautiful product. The designer no longer has control over the game, because the game has in fact been published and is far into production. A game designer cannot directly know that the player will experience the intended feelings, and in games such as RPGs it is not unheard of for the player to decide how they feel when playing.

The only fully accessible stage to the designer is the Mechanics, however their target is to achieve the final Aesthetics stage and the Core Mechanics directly affect this. It is important for a game designer to look at game design from a different angle, instead of creating Mechanics that make the game function soullessly it is possible to use some that create a specific emotion within the user. For example a horror game may wish to use claustrophobia, hindered movement, small hallways, darkness and atmospheric music as Mechanics.

This article has presented me with a new way of designing a game by looking through the player's eyes and working backwards to the core. When designing a game it is important to consider the player before the designer; after all, that's who we're doing this all for.

Until next post...

           "Run! You fools!"
                            - Gandalf

Games Britannia - Dicing with Destiny (Part 1 of 3)

 During last weeks lecture, we were all exposed to the wonders of historical gaming! A great way to introduce myself to this was to watch Games Britannia - Dicing with Destiny, a three part series presented by Benjamin Woolley about popular games played in the Iron Age to the Information Age. Woolley shows us how the instinct to play games is as universal as language itself, taking us from 1st - century Britain to the Victorian Era.

Ancient and medieval games weren't just played for fun, they were fundamental! Often providing some sort of prophetic significance, a guide through life and beyond. Chess for example would have been used to represent forces on the battlefield, often governing how a battle was fought! By the late middle ages games became less and less associated with prophecies and religion, and became more associated with gambling...

Dice and card games started popping up, in Victorian times a moral backlash occurred causing people to associate games with loss and hardship. Games had become a form of moral education tools, with each aspect of gambling being associated with 'evil'. For example Dice are refered to as the instrument of the Devil, with so many ways to trick and cheat people (like shaving the corners of the dice for favoured rolls). In 1784 a pamphlet appeare in London telling readers to "STOP GAMBLING!", as it had supposedly been the cause of all the losses of the country, ofcourse this was a pointless blame. During these times most gambling games had a pure 50/50 chance, compared to todays gambling games, and this lead to people often losing fortunes overnight! Charles James Fox was bankrupted twice at the table, and was famously quoted saying "Winning is the greatest pleasure in life, and losing is the second." Previously, dice had been used to work out your fate (or the will of god) by Druids, as opposed to working out the fate of your wallet.

The Victorian era was also around the time that Britain established the worlds first games industry, with games such as Snakes and Ladders, Ludo, and the Staunten Chess Set leading the way - all of which were adaptations of games from other countries. Snakes and Ladders was once a Hindu game that represented a journey of enlightenment , now 'tainted' by commercialisation. Woolley uses this as one example as to how the 'power' that games once had has been slowly drained by commercialisation.

 I thoroughly enjoyed learning about games from the past! My favourite game that was shown in Games Britannia has to be the original Hindu version of Snakes and Ladders; from what was shown during the documentary it looked like a very 'enlightening' and fun game to play! I will delve further into some of these games in future posts, hoping to better understand how gaming in history was used as a tool rather than entertainment.

So long, and keep watching the stars!

Game Design Tools and Vocabulary

 During the third week of lectures we were given readings to better understand and analyse - Extracts from a Doug Church article as well as a chapter to read from the course text - Challenges for Game Designers by Brenda Brathwaite and Ian Schreiber. This chapter shows how a game can be broken up into many tiny areas, hence the simple title: Atoms.

"In short, we need a shared language of game design."

- Doug Church (1999:1)

So let me begin by stating that Doug Church really emphasises the lack of technical and precise language used within the games industry, specifically in the design of objects and assets areas. Church expresses his desire for a for a structured framework for a vocabulary around the basis of designing games. Assets of games design are constantly analysed, however there is very little information for a designer to realise what they have done wrong and how to rectify it. Of course a very basic idea of the problem is presented when people say a game is "cool" or "fun", but what exactly constitute 'cool' or 'fun'? There is not a strong enough amount of detail for the designer to set it straight - which is where Church's proposed system comes in:

Church developed a framework called Formal Abstract Design Tools (FADT). In simple terms:

Formal 

- Criticise and define items and be able to explain them to others.

Abstract 

- To explain new and fresh ideas around the entire subject.

Design 

- We are Games Designers, so design is rather a large aspect...

Tools 

- Involved in the very framework we want to create.

The first tools that Church explains in depth are intention and perceivable consequence:


Intention - "Making an implementable plan of one's own creation in response to the current situation in the game world and one's understanding of the game play options." 

- (Doug Church 1999:4)

Perceivable Consequence -  "A clear reaction from the game world to the action of the player."

                                                                                  - (Doug Church 1999:4)

Put simply, intention helps the player to feel as though they are progressing by acting on their own plans as they see fit inside the game world. Perceivable consequences allow the player to assess the situation they are in, ensuring they learn from their mistakes and never feel 'cheated' by the game.


Reading this article has further proven that using a clear design vocabulary is as important as breathing. Church's tools and vocabulary accurately reflect my feelings (from a user's point of view), no one wants to feel 'cheated' by any game - if you die from choosing to go down one path instead of the other, you don't expect to succeed by repeating the process. You can clearly see the wrong choice that was made, and learn to avoid it.


The chapters from Challenges for Games Designers broke down game design tools and vocabulary into even smaller 'atoms'! However, this chapter creates many more small design tools that are crucial to design, aspects involved in intention and perceivable consequence perhaps? Let's take a look at these tools:

Game State

- One large collection of all the relevant game data that could change during play. This extract gives Poker as an example; the game state would be each of the player's hands and chips, the pot size, who's turn it is, who has folded on the current hand, which cards are in the deck and in what order. Put simply this is every aspect the game requires to operate smoothly and as desired.

Game View 

- The areas of the game that the user can see and interact with. For example in a game of chess, the game view would be the board, the pieces, and that is all! None of the information is concealed from the user. However in a game like Battleships, the game view is rather different.

Game Space 

- This is the whole area of the game in general. 

Avatar

- This is the digital projection of the player.

Game Bits 

- This involves all the game pieces - such as cards, dice, counters etc. All the physical objects that must be included to make up the finished game.

Game Mechanics 

- In order for the game to operate smoothly, game mechanics are required. The game rules and how the player interacts with those rules to fulfill the objective. For example during snakes and ladders when you land on a snake, you must go to the bottom of the snake, with no exceptions.

Game Dynamics 

- This is the pattern of play that occurs after the game mechanics have been implemented. For example, a game such as Risk is highly involved with territorial acquisition.

Goals 

- A lot of games have one, ultimate goal (to win!). However some games have multiple smaller goals used to immerse the player into the game world (e.g kill X of this creature, run from here to there etc.), often resulting in rewards.

Theme

- This is a massively general definition for 'What is the game about?' For example: Chess is about you, the commander of an army, destroying enemy armies. Snakes and Ladders is about who can reach square one hundred first.

Both of these articles are an in depth attempt at creating a more structured game design vocabulary, something that everyone can use and understand universally. Church, Braithwaite and Schreiber have all attempted to create this new vocabulary, but only one can reign supreme. In my own opinion I believe that, when compared to Doug Church, Braithwaite and Schreiber have created something much closer to a consistant and correct vocabulary for games design. They are both straight to the point, easy to read and understand, and have covered each aspect of games design in a precise and in depth analysis providing us with a much more versatile vocabulary towards games design.


Live long, and play games.