1. Session 4 David Mullich Game Design 1 The Los Angeles Film School

2. Designer Perspective: Shigeru Miyamoto G4 Icons Episode #6: Shigeru Miyamoto 3. How To Start Your Game Narrative Extra Credits: How To Start Your Game Narrative 4. Take-Away Dont start planning designing a new game by creating the games story. Start with defining the experience you want the player to have, and then create a story that will provide that experience. 5. PLAY 6. Play Play can be thought of the freedom of movement within a more rigid structure. In the case of games, the constraints of the rules and procedures are the rigid structure, and the play within that structure is the freedom of players to act within those rules the opportunity for emergent experience and personal expression. 7. The Nature of Play It helps us learn skills and acquire knowledge It lets us socialize It assists us in problem solving It allows us to relax It makes us see things differently If induces laughter and fun, which is good for our health But it can also be serious a process of experimentation, pushing boundaries and learning new things. 8. Fundamental Types of Play Free-form play Rule-based play Competitive play Unregulated Athletics (foot racing, wrestling) Boxing, billiards, football, chess Chance-based play Counting-out rhymes Betting, roulette, lotteries Make-believe play Childrens initiations, masks, disguises Theater, spectacles in general Vertigo play Children whirling, horseback riding, waltzing Skiing, mountain climbing, tightrope walking 9. Types of Players The Competitor: Plays to best other players The Explorer: Curious about the world; loves to go adventuring; seeks outside boundaries The Collector: Acquires items, trophies, or knowledge; likes to create sets, organize, etc. The Achiever: Plays for varying levels of achievement The Joker: Doesnt take the game seriously; plays for the fun of playing. 10. Types of Players (contd) The Artist: Driven by creativity, creation, design The Director: Loves to be in charge The Storyteller: Loves to create or live in worlds of fantasy and imagination The Performer Loves to put on a show for others The Craftsman: Wants to build, craft, engineer or puzzle things out 11. Levels of Engagement Spectator Play: Risk is minimal Participant Play: Active and involved, and the most directly rewarding Transformational Play: A deep level of play that actually shapes and alters the players life. 12. The Role of the Player Extra Credits: The Role of the Player 13. The Lens of Pleasure What pleasures does your game give to players? Can these be improved? What pleasures are missing from your experience? Why? Can they be added? Jesse Schell, Lens #17 14. CHALLENGE 15. Challenge Most people would agree that the one thing that engages them in a game is challenge. Challenge is very individualized and is determined by the abilities of the specific player in relationship to the game. Challenge is also dynamic. A player might find one task challenging, but after becoming accomplished in the task, theyll find it no longer challenging. 16. The Experience of Enjoyment Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi found that certain conditions made activities enjoyable: A challenging activity that requires skill The merging of actions and awareness Clear goals and feedback Concentration on the task at hand The paradox of control The loss of self consciousness The transformation of time Experience becomes and end in itself 17. Flow Csikzentmihalyi created a theory called flow, the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. 18. Flow If a challenge exceeds the abilities of the current skill level, it can lead to frustration If the skill level is increasing faster than the challenge, it leads to boredom Both of these will normally end with the player leaving the game 19. The Lens of Flow Does my game have clear goals? If not, how can I fix that? Are the goals of the player the same goals I intended? Are there parts of the game that distract players to the point they forget their goal? If so, can these distractions be reduced, or tied into the game goals? Does my game provide a steady stream of not-too- easy, not too-hard challenges, taking into account the fact that the players skills may be gradually improving? Are the players skills improving at the rate I had hoped? If not, how can I change that? Jesse Schell, Lens 18 20. PREMISE 21. Premise Premise establishes the action of games within a setting or metaphor. Without dramatic premise, many games would be too abstract to become emotionally invested in their outcome. Game Premise Space Invaders Defend the planet from invaders Pitfall Harry Explore the jungle and find hidden treasures Diablo Defend the town from Diablo and his undead army Myst Unravel the puzzles of a deserted island 22. Tasks of the Premise Make a games formal system playable for the user Makes the experience richer for the player Unifies the games formal and dramatic elements 23. The Lens of Unification What is my theme (or premise)? Am I doing everything possible to support that theme? Jesse Schell, Lens #9 24. CHARACTER 25. Character Characters are the agents through whose actions a drama is told. By identifying with a character and the outcome of their goals, the audience internalizes the storys events and empathizes with its movement toward the resolution. 26. Type of Characters Protagonist: The main character, whose engagement with the problem creates the conflict that drives the story Antagonist: A person or some other force that works against the Protagonist Major Characters: Have a significant impact on the storys outcome Minor Characters: Have a minor impact on the storys outcome 27. Understanding Characters in Stories Psychological: A mirror for the audiences fears and hopes Symbolic: Standing for larger ideas such as the American Dream or for a group such as an ethnic group 28. Four Key Questions Whether for a story or a game, ask yourself these questions to make sure you have really thought through your characters presence in a story: What does the character want? (Their goal) What does the character need? (Tools or resources required to achieve their goals) What does the audience/player hope? What does the audience/player fear? 29. Myers Briggs and Character Creation Myers Briggs and Character Creation 30. Methods of Characterization Characters are defined by: What they do What they say What others say about them Round Characters: A character with well-defined traits and a realistic personality or undergoes a significant change of personality during the story Flat Characters: Show little or no change in personality, and they are often used as foils to show off elements of another character 31. Agency vs. Empathy What is unique to game characters: Agency: The practical function of a character to serve as a representation of the player in a game Empathy: The potential for players to develop an emotional attachment to the character, to identify with their goals, and consequently, with the games objectives. 32. Characters vs. Avatars Predesigned Characters: Backstories, motivations Player-Created Characters (Avatars): Role- playing, growth, customization Both have potential for empathy; the question is which is best for the games design and player experience goals. 33. Free Will vs. Player Control AI-Controlled Characters: Characters exhibiting free will by having their own personality and inner thought process Player-Controlled Characters: Player assumes agency for the characters actions Mixture: Player-controlled characters with elements of simulation that provide character (such as Sonic the Hedgehog tapping his toe) 34. The Lens of the Avatar Is my avatar an ideal form likely to appeal to my players? Does my avatar have iconic qualities that let a player project themselves onto the character? Jesse Schell, Lens #75 35. The Lens of Character Function What are the roles I need to have the characters fill? What characters have I already imagined? What characters map well to which roles? Can any characters fill more than one role? Do I need to change the characters to better fit the roles? Do I need new characters? Jesse Schell, Lens #76 36. The Lens of Character Transformation How does each of my characters change throughout the game? How am I communicating those changes to the player? Can I communicate them more clearly, or more strongly? Is there enough change? Are the changes surprising and interesting? Are the changes believable? Jesse Schell, Lens #81 37. The Lens of Character Traits What traits define my character? How do these traits manifest themselves in the words, actions, and appearance of my character? Jesse Schell, Lens #77 38. STORY 39. Backstory In many games, story is limited to backstory, an elaborate version of the premise. The backstory gives a setting and context for the games conflict, and it can create motivation for the character, but its progression is not affected by gameplay. 40. Amnesia and Story Structure Extra Credits: Amnesia and Story Structure 41. Standard Story Structure 42. Pacing in Star Wars 43. The Heros Journey Extra Credits: The Hero's Journey (part 1) Extra Credits: The Hero's Journey (part 2) 44. The Heros Journey From the 1949 Joseph Campbell book, The Hero With A Thousand Faces: Jesse Schell 1. The Ordinary World 2. The Call to Adventure 3. Refusal of the Call 4. Meeting with the Mentor 5. Crossing the Threshold 6. Tests, Allies, Enemies 7. Approaching The Cave (setbacks) 8. The Ordeal 9. The Reward 10. The Road Back 11. Resurrection (greater crisis) 12. Returning with the Elixir 45. The Lens of the Heros Journey Does my story have elements that qualify it as a heroic story? If so, does it match up with the structure of the Heros Journey? Would my story be improved by including more archetypical elements? Does my story match this form so closely that it feels backward? Jesse Schell, Lens #68 46. The Lens of the Story Does my game really need a story? Why? Why will players be interested in this story? How does my story support the aesthetics, technology, gameplay? Can it do a better job? How do the aesthetics, technology and gameplay support the story? How can they do a better job? How can my story be better? Jesse Schell, Lens #70 47. Exposition Extra Credits: More Than Exposition 48. Outcome The outcome of a game must be uncertain. The same is true of a story. However, the outcome of a story is resolved by the author, while the outcome of a game is resolved by the player. Because of this, it is difficult to integrate traditional storytelling methods into games. 49. Branching Storylines The problem with branching storylines is that they have limited scope. 50. Emergent Storylines The story emerges from gameplay rather than from a predetermined structure. The Sims: Players can take snapshots of gameplay and arrange them in a captioned scrapbook Black & White: Combines elements of simulation with strategy and gameplay Half-Life: Story sequences are triggered by character actions 51. World Building 52. World Building World building is the deep and intricate design of a fictional world, often beginning with maps and histories, but potentially including languages, governments, politics, economics, etc. Examples: Dune Lord of the Rings Star Wars World of Warcraft 53. The Lens of the World Think about the space in which your game really takes place when all the surface elements are stripped away. How is my world better than the real world? Can there be multiple gateways to my world? How do they differ? How do they support each other? Is my world centered on a single story? Or are there many stories happening here?Jesse Schell, Lens #74 54. Extra Credits: Design Analysis Design Club - Super Mario Bros: Level 1-1 55. 1. Download GM Tutorial - Platform Games.zip from the LAFS GD1 website Resources page 2. Create a Platform game