Stout does an analyses of the original SNES game 'Legend of Zelda and explains to the reader what a a good level design should have to be successful
-Level flow
how the level 'fits' together e.g the layout of the rooms
In Zelda the dungeons are carefully planned into a 'critical path' which means that its the original path that the designer has laid out for the player to take The player doesn't have to explore the whole dungeon to complete the stage, just room that are mandatory. The optional rooms and the shortcuts in the game makes the game feel less linear.
'...From analysesing the flow that the level design has, it strike's an excellent balance between giving the player the feeling of exploration and keeping them from getting lost'
-Intensity Ramping
Do monsters get more difficult as you move on in the game, does the player get to learn how the enemy work?
In general, no encounters should appear twice. In the dungeons each room should have a different enemy or layout form the one before, this keeps the player constantly being introduced to new things.
-Variety
Is there enough variety in the game so the player wont get board or feel like the game is repeating on itself ?
Stout says that there might be a bit too much variety in the game with the enemies, i disagree with this completely, yes, there is a lot of different monsters, and each of them require a certain way to kill them, as a player I think that it makes the game less boring.
-Training
does the game 'train' the player to get better at the game?
In the SNES Legend of Zelda they used to have a 'black room' where it was meant to give the player hints and train them. In the Japanese version it gave specific hints to the player, yet when it was translated into american the hints became pretty useless to the player, and so over time the developers got rid of the room.
Sunday, 22 January 2012
Royal Game of Ur essay
In critical game studies of Computer games design we were introduced to an ancient board game called ‘The Royal Game of Ur. After playing the game and getting to know the rules of it, we were set a task to iterate the game rules.
The ‘Royal Game of Ur’ board consists of twenty squares in a rectangular shape. The right side consists of 2 x 3 squares, and the left consisting of 4 x 3 squares both sides are connected by a row of two squares. Sir Leonard Woolley excavated the Royal Game of Ur between 1926 and 1930. According to Andrea Becker ( Becker, 1990:p11) the game is thought to be dated from 3000B.C
Figure 1
Though the exact rules are still unknown, nonetheless analysis has produced these rules:
- Each player has 7 counters
- Four sided dice or a ‘stick’ numbered 1-4 where used
- Rosetta spaces have a significant meaning, which affect the player
- The aim of the game is to get all the pieces on and off the board.
R.C. Bell suggested these game rules players must first agree to the sum of the pool. (This suggests that the royal game of Ur was suitable for both adults and children). To decide who goes first, what colour will correspond to which player and which side they want to play on (Bell, 1979:p24-25). A player would throw a single die (a D4) and the other player would have to guess if the die would land on a tipped or un-tipped corner. Both teams start where it says enter (see above diagram) and the starting player would throw the dice. The next move is dependent upon these rules:
Three tipped corners up … move 5 and another throw
Three plain corners up … move 4 and another throw
Two plain corners up … move 0 and the turn finishes
One plan corner up … move 1 and another throw
Throwing a 5 is the only way to get on the board, if a player lands on a rosette space they will have to add to the pool. The feeling of competitiveness occurs when both player enter the single row. If a black counter was in the middle and the other player had thrown a number that meant it would land on top of the black, the white would be sent off and they would have to start again with a throw of 5. The players are not restricted to the number of counter on the board, but are only allowed one counter on a single space. An exact number is needed to be able to remove a piece off the board.
Bell’s rules on how to play the game it the general idea of what historians would agree on how it would have been played (Bell, 1979:p24-25). Only changing minor rules like how many die is used or what the meanings of the rosette squares represent.
Through time however, the board underwent a change in layout. Still with twenty squares, the single two squares row was replaced with long a single row of eight squares, with the rosettes still in place. This modification not only changed the aesthetics of the game but it also gave the game a more competitive nature to it, through adding a skill attribute. “…the new format would suggest a change in play, in that the pieces would remain ‘at war’ all the way to the end of the track” (Finkel 1990:p18)
Figure 2
Finkel stated that this change may have occurred in the second or first millennia B.C (Finkel 1990:p18). The change in the board does not affect the way it is played, or what ‘game bits’ (Braithewate and Schriebier 2008:p14) are needed; it simply improved the dynamics of the game. The new format made the game more tense and somewhat more of a serious game; increasing the row of squares the players can battle each other to the very end (see Figure 2). Leblanc (2006) states with the change in the dynamics ‘We can only create the circumstances from which drama will emerge’ (Leblanc.2006: p440)
Bell (1979 p 23) also stated that the number of counters on the board at one time is unlimited. Before the change of the board, one would assume it would be safe to put at least four counters on at the same time, as the probability of having a counter sent off is low. The new format of the board requires players to think more carefully about how many counters they are willing to put on the board. Battling each other for the majority of the game creates constant tension and drama through the uncertainty of losing a counter. If a player chooses to load 4 counters on the board, the risk of getting three sent off would be higher then having two counters on the board.
For our iteration of the game, we used the second form of the board. The rules were the same as Bell’s (1979 p23), but this time, pieces can double up and move together, the rosettes mean you get another go and you cannot be knocked off.
After playing the game I discovered some problems, initially I thought that the game was too long and got quite boring. Instead of taking away the amount of counters used, I replaced one of the rosette squares and changed it to a heaven square. If you landed on a heaven square the counter that landed on it would instantly cross the board, but that would also mean that the player would miss a go. The addition of the heaven square made the game more interesting as both players wanted to land on it. Though I said that I wanted the game to speed up, I included a miss a go turn because I wanted an ‘illusion’ technique to be included in the game which Leblanc states ‘…manipulate a player’s perspective in a game’ (Leblanc. 2006:p440)
With the addition of the heaven square it meant the possibility of increasing the number of counters on the other side of the board much faster. This made players more hopeful of winning, but with the miss a go effect after it, it lessened the chances of getting another piece off or on the board.
Now that I had introduced an illusion factor, I still had the problem of how to make the game run faster. To solve this, I replaced the second furthest rosette square with a chance square. With this iteration, if you land on it, the players would have to play rock, paper, scissors, if the player who landed on the chance square won and they had a counter anywhere behind them, that counter could double up with the one on the chance square, as well as that, that player would get 3 extra goes. However if that player loses the rock, paper, scissors round, the only benefit is that, if they had a counter behind them, they could double up. This iteration defiantly made the game run faster. Adding the rock, paper, scissors to the iteration still made the square have an uncertainty element. The appeal of doubling up as well as getting three extra goes makes the player more interested in the game as they would feel like they have gained the most out of landing on that square. Consequently if they lose the rock, paper, scissors the feeling of not being able to obtain the maximum usage of the square would affect them, thus making the player have emotion in the game.
My final interaction had nothing to do with changing anything on the board, since I thought that the amount of squares was just right, and changing anymore squares would make the board look too crowded. I introduced a ‘Fog of War’ tactic; I made it essential that the players need to hide how many counters have been though the board and have yet to go on. Unless each player keeps count on the other player, the uncertainty of how far along each player is in the game keeps the tension up throughout the game.
Playing with all three of my iterations The Royal Game of Ur became much more interesting, before it was long winded, and I felt that the rosette squares had of nothing of importance. With the changes made, I have achieved player game interaction, though not a major interaction, but enough to get the players to have emotions towards the game. The chance square made the most difference, as it removed my initial problem of the game being too long winded. Before I iterated the game I thought that the game was too straight forward, with no element of surprise. The majority of my iteration ideas came from Marc Leblanc’s (2006) article on how to create dramatic tension, because of his ideas, my iterated version of Ur now has extra features which draws the player’s attention to the game for longer and in my opinion has made the game more entertaining.
Before I played the game I thought that The Royal game of Ur in its original board form had its problems, where the competiveness was almost non-existent and it didn’t have any elements of modern fun. ‘The royal game of Ur served as the play station of its day’ ( Green/ London 2008) When reading from the summer journey (2008), Finkel’s quote about the game of Ur being the Playstation of its day changed my view on the game. I believe that the modern games have made us lazy in the way that we do not appreciate the minor details anymore. I noticed that every Ur board game excavated had different designs and detail on the, as we’ll as different counters. In conclusions I believe that the Royal Game of Ur would have been a fantastic game to play in the millennia B.C, as the aesthetics of the boards and the rules were simple and fun enough for all to play, but compared to modern board games, iterations to the game is greatly needed to match the attributes of a ‘fun’ modern board game.
Bibliography:
Beaker A. (1990) Ancient board games in perspective in Finkel, ed.1990
Bell, R. C. Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations. Revised edition. (1979)
Challenges for games designers, Braitewaite and Schriber, Charles River Media 2008
Finkel I, Ancient Board Games in Perspective in Finkel (1990)
Green, W. "Big Game Hunter". Time Magazine. (2008)
Leblanc M.The game Designer Reader, in Zimmerman and Salan MIT Press 2006
Friday, 20 January 2012
Building a simple Level
When building a level design in a game you have to have the Basic Elements which are
-Concept (consistency)
-Environment
-Beginng
-Ending
-Goal (the goal is always constant)
-Challenge to overcome (Between the player and the goal, immediately recognizable)
-Reward (progression is a reward in itself)
-Way of handling failure
if any of these elements are missing from a game than the level is incomplete. Games like tetris use all elements and also the Mario series.
At first, when reading, i thought story would be one of the basic elements, but in this Brynes article he says that story can enhance and give players information on what is expected to come in the game, but games like chess and sims don't have a story element to them.
Using Super Mario as an example, the concept is about 2 plumbers who travel across the world to save Princess Peach, with constant enemies. The environment depends on the enemy and stage. In the Gameboy version of Super Mario, you had different stages ranging from under the sea, inside a pyramid or floating just above sea. I am ashamed to admit that was never able to get past the fifth stage on the gameboy, but i can get a rough idea of what happens, and the same with the beginnings. In all Mario series the Begining will always have the same connection as the others. The challenge is overcoming the enemies that the game throws at you, whether by jumping on the grass hopper looking thing, jumping on turtles or walking pixelated mushrooms. I think in the game it has many mini rewards, collecting the coins to gain an extra life, finding secret tunnels, and at the end of each stage, the player has the option to try to get to the higher exit to have the chance of gaining something extra. Finally the way to deal with failure, with Mario once you have lost all your lives, you cannot start from the last stage you died at. To compensate for that, when you gain a special mushroom that lets you grow into a bigger Mario, when you get hit by an enemy, instead of dying, you just lose that certain ability.
Bryne says that the best type of gameplay mechanic is where no explanation is needed (in mario it is pretty obvious that collecting the star makes you invincible) with no explanation needed, it makes the player feel cleaver.
With these basic elements in your game, you have a perfectly working game, you can add other elements to it, like a story, or an uncertainty element to it, but as long as it has the foundations of the basic elements, the game will be a success.
-Concept (consistency)
-Environment
-Beginng
-Ending
-Goal (the goal is always constant)
-Challenge to overcome (Between the player and the goal, immediately recognizable)
-Reward (progression is a reward in itself)
-Way of handling failure
if any of these elements are missing from a game than the level is incomplete. Games like tetris use all elements and also the Mario series.
At first, when reading, i thought story would be one of the basic elements, but in this Brynes article he says that story can enhance and give players information on what is expected to come in the game, but games like chess and sims don't have a story element to them.
Using Super Mario as an example, the concept is about 2 plumbers who travel across the world to save Princess Peach, with constant enemies. The environment depends on the enemy and stage. In the Gameboy version of Super Mario, you had different stages ranging from under the sea, inside a pyramid or floating just above sea. I am ashamed to admit that was never able to get past the fifth stage on the gameboy, but i can get a rough idea of what happens, and the same with the beginnings. In all Mario series the Begining will always have the same connection as the others. The challenge is overcoming the enemies that the game throws at you, whether by jumping on the grass hopper looking thing, jumping on turtles or walking pixelated mushrooms. I think in the game it has many mini rewards, collecting the coins to gain an extra life, finding secret tunnels, and at the end of each stage, the player has the option to try to get to the higher exit to have the chance of gaining something extra. Finally the way to deal with failure, with Mario once you have lost all your lives, you cannot start from the last stage you died at. To compensate for that, when you gain a special mushroom that lets you grow into a bigger Mario, when you get hit by an enemy, instead of dying, you just lose that certain ability.
Bryne says that the best type of gameplay mechanic is where no explanation is needed (in mario it is pretty obvious that collecting the star makes you invincible) with no explanation needed, it makes the player feel cleaver.
With these basic elements in your game, you have a perfectly working game, you can add other elements to it, like a story, or an uncertainty element to it, but as long as it has the foundations of the basic elements, the game will be a success.
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Why rules are an important factor to a board game
à How to write rules without confusing people
-If rules are not understood in a board game the game is ultimately unplayable.
-Rules have to be clear and understandable, but brief as well
-When reading rule books for board games they usually follow the same setting
-Listing the materials in the box
-show how to set up the board (normally illustrations are used to not make the rule seem like an essay for the players)
-when you read the rules on how to play the game it starts off on how you win the game, so logically the next rules coming up will serve as a winning condition.
-Going from general examples and explanations to more specific rules
-And finally in the rules, what the player can do before telling them what they can’t do.
-Rules have to be clear and understandable, but brief as well
-When reading rule books for board games they usually follow the same setting
-Listing the materials in the box
-show how to set up the board (normally illustrations are used to not make the rule seem like an essay for the players)
-when you read the rules on how to play the game it starts off on how you win the game, so logically the next rules coming up will serve as a winning condition.
-Going from general examples and explanations to more specific rules
-And finally in the rules, what the player can do before telling them what they can’t do.
The next passage we had to read is by Jacob Davenport. His way of writing rules is pretty much like Seigal but he adds explanations. With electronic games you can easily play the game without reading the rules, but with board games, no matter how great the game, poorly written rules makes the game useless and confusing. Like Seigal you have to be clear and brief. Davenport recommends NOT to mix humour, history of the game and extra information.
When we play board games we designate one player to read the rules to us, but (obviously) if they read a section and have to pause to further give explanation to help them understand. Then you have failed to write a good set of rules.
finally and most importantly, you have to get a public opinion of your rules, because you have created the game, you feel that it is perfect, but unless you have the opinion of others you don’t know then your game is nowhere near complete
When we play board games we designate one player to read the rules to us, but (obviously) if they read a section and have to pause to further give explanation to help them understand. Then you have failed to write a good set of rules.
finally and most importantly, you have to get a public opinion of your rules, because you have created the game, you feel that it is perfect, but unless you have the opinion of others you don’t know then your game is nowhere near complete
Monday, 9 January 2012
Games Britannia Part 2
In this episode Wholly talks about the 'Golden Age of Modern Board Games'. Like in his ancient board game episode, he starts off with a 18th- 19th century board game called 'Mansion of Bliss' it was a simple game of chance (much like snakes and ladders) where the aim of the game was to * surprisingly* get to the mansion of bliss. It is a circular board shape and the mansion was situated in the center, with 50 squares, each one of the squares had an individual poem on them about a certain point in a persons life, each poem can hinder you, help you or could just be a nice poem to read out aloud. This game was played a lot in schools because it was a 'fun' way of showing the children how to live a good life, and that with hard work, you will eventually reach your goal.
'Popular games were morality based' Bruce Whitehall used the example game 'Rags to Riches' as a board game for Americans to try to achieve the *American dream*. Because Morality games were so popluar with both children and adults, it became one of the biggest industries during and after the world war.
Following the great success of Rags to riches, *Chequed Game of Life* was the modified version of teh British idea of a moral journey to american themes of opportunity and individualism, with the added twist that that player can choose where they want to go and how to achieve them (e.g they the could either take the chance of obtaining a lot of money, or settle down with a family)
The Britain's also used board games to promote their ideas and to create a political discussion within the families. Just like chequed game of life, 'Plank-a-Squith' held a massive political message, which was based on Emilie Pankhurst, and her campaign to get a woman into the parliament ( I thought that this game was a brilliant idea) Another popular political game made in britain was called Brerefox and Brere rabbit.
Monopoly:
The popular game was originated from the american board game called 'The Landlords Game' made by Elizebeth Philip. In her eyes the game was meant to educate the families about property values and be money cautious, but it had the very opposite effect, players played the game to bankrupt and smash the opponents down so that the winner owns majority of the properties and the riches. Monopoly is such a world renoued success and game that an annual competition is held every year in the Mayfair hotel, the final winner gets to go to Las Vegas to play in the final.
Why Monopoly is was a great success:
-The game creates communications between players e.g negotiation
- It is one of the few board games i have played in my life that has interesting games bits
- There are about 20 squares on the board, it came into light that more people remembered the position and name of the places on the board then the map. Monopoly was played around WW2. so the army devised a board game just like Monopoly, but instead of London places, they used other army camps and refugee places.
As time went on T.V game shows started to take over the board game industry, until Trivial Pursuit was introduced. Dubbed a the board game version of T.V game shows, but this game wasn't enough for board games to survive. In mid 80's electronics began to wipe out the board games.
Wholly then ask's the audience 'In games Britannia dead?' because most of the well known games were american based, until he introduced 'War of Terror' made by Terrorbull games.Each player has an empire, much like the board game "Risk" the aim of the game is to liberate the world. When Wholly introduces game to us I instantly gained an interest in it, because it was a game about the modern political setting of our time. When watching him play this it seemed enjoyable as you can communicate, either by helping them or using them for your own sadistic gain (and because you get a balaclava)
Watching games britania 2 was not as interesting as watching the first purely because of my gaming preferences, however I know now that games as great as monopoly are the result of many evolution from previous much simpler board games. Also i gained an understanding of how powerful board games were to the political understandings of their time. What intrigued me most about this episode was finding out the "war of terror" board game. It reminded me very much of settlers catan ( which over the christmas holiday i have yet to win) But i will definitively consider buying War Of Terror (if it is still legal)
'Popular games were morality based' Bruce Whitehall used the example game 'Rags to Riches' as a board game for Americans to try to achieve the *American dream*. Because Morality games were so popluar with both children and adults, it became one of the biggest industries during and after the world war.
Following the great success of Rags to riches, *Chequed Game of Life* was the modified version of teh British idea of a moral journey to american themes of opportunity and individualism, with the added twist that that player can choose where they want to go and how to achieve them (e.g they the could either take the chance of obtaining a lot of money, or settle down with a family)
The Britain's also used board games to promote their ideas and to create a political discussion within the families. Just like chequed game of life, 'Plank-a-Squith' held a massive political message, which was based on Emilie Pankhurst, and her campaign to get a woman into the parliament ( I thought that this game was a brilliant idea) Another popular political game made in britain was called Brerefox and Brere rabbit.
Monopoly:
The popular game was originated from the american board game called 'The Landlords Game' made by Elizebeth Philip. In her eyes the game was meant to educate the families about property values and be money cautious, but it had the very opposite effect, players played the game to bankrupt and smash the opponents down so that the winner owns majority of the properties and the riches. Monopoly is such a world renoued success and game that an annual competition is held every year in the Mayfair hotel, the final winner gets to go to Las Vegas to play in the final.
Why Monopoly is was a great success:
-The game creates communications between players e.g negotiation
- It is one of the few board games i have played in my life that has interesting games bits
- There are about 20 squares on the board, it came into light that more people remembered the position and name of the places on the board then the map. Monopoly was played around WW2. so the army devised a board game just like Monopoly, but instead of London places, they used other army camps and refugee places.
As time went on T.V game shows started to take over the board game industry, until Trivial Pursuit was introduced. Dubbed a the board game version of T.V game shows, but this game wasn't enough for board games to survive. In mid 80's electronics began to wipe out the board games.
Wholly then ask's the audience 'In games Britannia dead?' because most of the well known games were american based, until he introduced 'War of Terror' made by Terrorbull games.Each player has an empire, much like the board game "Risk" the aim of the game is to liberate the world. When Wholly introduces game to us I instantly gained an interest in it, because it was a game about the modern political setting of our time. When watching him play this it seemed enjoyable as you can communicate, either by helping them or using them for your own sadistic gain (and because you get a balaclava)
Watching games britania 2 was not as interesting as watching the first purely because of my gaming preferences, however I know now that games as great as monopoly are the result of many evolution from previous much simpler board games. Also i gained an understanding of how powerful board games were to the political understandings of their time. What intrigued me most about this episode was finding out the "war of terror" board game. It reminded me very much of settlers catan ( which over the christmas holiday i have yet to win) But i will definitively consider buying War Of Terror (if it is still legal)
Sunday, 1 January 2012
don't be a vidiot
Costikyan say's 'A persons's whose sole understanding derives from only video games'
When the question of weather i agree with the statement or not, i thought that it was obvious that you can only understand a game from other games, what else can relate to it?
In the Vidiot article Costikyan says that games are normally copied themes of other games. e.g command and conquer and World of Warcraft. He quotes Tom Disch, saying that the lack of knowledge in a certain field limits the person from creating something great, if you only play games within the last 5 years, your imagination is very restricted, and your 'pallet of techniques' will be limited and therefore making you a vidiot.
There are 3 main electronic games in this era, the game console, arcade and the PC, though electronic games are more popular, Costikyan says that non electrical games are also important, as humans learn from physical play.
In Games Brittania the ancient kings game was a military staratery game used for real life situations. In the late 19th century, board games like diplomacy created involuntary emotions, debate among players and communication is found from playing board games. Playing board games like snakes and ladders always bore me, but playing settlers catan, i found that the trading with other players made it more fun. I could guess that from board games, massive console companies invented online plays to attract more players.
Types of non electronic games.
Hobby games:
This is also known as miniature gaming e.g playing with toy soldiers. Like in Call of Duty you like to show off the skills you have gain from playing the game, with miniature gaming it is normally a kit based set up, so you have to paint each character, thus showing off your skills to other players.Hobby gaming is more serious then other non electronic games and is a 'treasure trove' of system designing. At first Hobby games were based on war, but over time science fiction out grew them. Costikyan says that SF took over because it lets players justify anything you want in the game and so it means that there are more complex rules.
Role -playing games:
With role-playing games the players have to cooperate with each other to get anything done, so with the communication with other players it also means that there are boundless ways to win a game. Like Hobby games, role-playing is more directed to the futuristic adventures, but unlike hobby gaming the rules of games are generally poor meaning it was open to creativity.
Role playing games lead to games with player interaction, to make the player emotional involved.
Card industry:
We all know that a 52 pack of playing cards is fun with the open end nature of games. Magic of Gathering was a massive success with the public, because it meant the player had the choice to assemble your own deck and (with personal experience) the excitement of buying an new booster pack and wondering what card you will receive. Out of the three examples i defiantly enjoy the card industry as it makes me as a player more 'protective' of my deck since it was me who brought it up.
Costikyan's article was an eye opener to how to design a good game. Look back at the game I used to play when i was a child and games now, i can see the resemblance. I do understand Costikyan's article and i think that it is something that every game designer should read if they want to really understand the industry.
When the question of weather i agree with the statement or not, i thought that it was obvious that you can only understand a game from other games, what else can relate to it?
In the Vidiot article Costikyan says that games are normally copied themes of other games. e.g command and conquer and World of Warcraft. He quotes Tom Disch, saying that the lack of knowledge in a certain field limits the person from creating something great, if you only play games within the last 5 years, your imagination is very restricted, and your 'pallet of techniques' will be limited and therefore making you a vidiot.
There are 3 main electronic games in this era, the game console, arcade and the PC, though electronic games are more popular, Costikyan says that non electrical games are also important, as humans learn from physical play.
In Games Brittania the ancient kings game was a military staratery game used for real life situations. In the late 19th century, board games like diplomacy created involuntary emotions, debate among players and communication is found from playing board games. Playing board games like snakes and ladders always bore me, but playing settlers catan, i found that the trading with other players made it more fun. I could guess that from board games, massive console companies invented online plays to attract more players.
Types of non electronic games.
Hobby games:
This is also known as miniature gaming e.g playing with toy soldiers. Like in Call of Duty you like to show off the skills you have gain from playing the game, with miniature gaming it is normally a kit based set up, so you have to paint each character, thus showing off your skills to other players.Hobby gaming is more serious then other non electronic games and is a 'treasure trove' of system designing. At first Hobby games were based on war, but over time science fiction out grew them. Costikyan says that SF took over because it lets players justify anything you want in the game and so it means that there are more complex rules.
Role -playing games:
With role-playing games the players have to cooperate with each other to get anything done, so with the communication with other players it also means that there are boundless ways to win a game. Like Hobby games, role-playing is more directed to the futuristic adventures, but unlike hobby gaming the rules of games are generally poor meaning it was open to creativity.
Role playing games lead to games with player interaction, to make the player emotional involved.
Card industry:
We all know that a 52 pack of playing cards is fun with the open end nature of games. Magic of Gathering was a massive success with the public, because it meant the player had the choice to assemble your own deck and (with personal experience) the excitement of buying an new booster pack and wondering what card you will receive. Out of the three examples i defiantly enjoy the card industry as it makes me as a player more 'protective' of my deck since it was me who brought it up.
Costikyan's article was an eye opener to how to design a good game. Look back at the game I used to play when i was a child and games now, i can see the resemblance. I do understand Costikyan's article and i think that it is something that every game designer should read if they want to really understand the industry.
Monday, 26 December 2011
Reading week 10
One of the articles we had to read for this week was from Bratiewaite and Schreiber. In the article they give us advice on how to integrate a story into a game.
At first they give us the STORY ACTS:
'3 act story act'
Act one - Starts off with an inciting moment, changes that effect the main character. (The game starts with the main character having a problem)
Act two - Dramatic reveal occurs. This reveal should be logical and shock the players to get the most impact
Act three- The goal is achieved (e.g End game)
The 3 story act is the classic act which outlines the basic structure of a story and the most commonally used act.
'5 PART HERO'S JOURNEY'
Part one- the journey begins
Part two - the hero passes a series of challenges
Part three - hero confronts final evil and goal is achieved
Part four- hero returns to every normal day
Part five - hero applies the lesson learned to the world.
The five part hero's journey was originally in a book written by Joesph Campbell who said that there really is only one hero and one path that can be written in a thousand different ways. I agree with the 5 part hero journey, from previous experience of playing games, Campbell's theory has been played out in one way or another in adventure games now a days.
After telling us about the acts they then both tell us what different types of stories can be played in games.
Linear stories
-Getting from A to B, they say that it can be emotionally powerful, to which a can agree to some extent, but i have found that linear games also have the risk of becoming boring, as they don't really give the player much freedom to do what they want.
Branching stories
-Presenting the player with multiple way though the story and obtaining multiple endings as well. The play path changes in response to the players choice. leaving the story line in the players hands give then more options to play the game in a style that suits them.
Open end stories
-The total opersite to Linear stories, the game starts at a spot and the games allows the player to go anywhere, as well as the freedom to do anything, they game dynamics change with the player decisions.
Instance
-Special case of open end stories. They are like mini tasks within the game, they can choose whether they do it or not. ( out of all the types of stories they tell us, i think this one has the most impact. i have played many games which i thought were too much to handle e.g final fantasy 7, and with instance i think it takes away the pressure of completing the game, while still playing the game )
Emergant stories
- Stories that are created by the players e.g sims, minecraft
Thematic stories
-AKA opening cut scenes. this shows the players what they have to do, instead of them playing the game to understand.
The second article we had to read was from Southland he argues 'The real substance of a story is conflict.'
Southland gives us the basic confilts that can feature in games.
The 3 gaps
-A gap opens up between the hero and the ordinary life
-second gap: the protagonist learns something that they didn't know before
-third gap: (after overcoming the second gap) the hero takes the biggest gamble to get the object they desire.
Reversal
-when the hero accomplish the ordeal before them, the reversal that occurs stops them from going forward.
-Reversal's can happen though actions ( like the shooting of a cops partner) or a reversal actions
-A good reversal is when everything you know is true, but there's more and the world is flipped on its head with new knowledge.
Other types of conflicts
-internal conflict which is novels
interpersonal conflict. e.g plays and t.vs
externals e.g games and movies
What are the basic conflicts in stories?
In what fundamental way dies game story development differ from storytelling in other forms of media?
Southland gives us the basic confilts that can feature in games.
The 3 gaps
-A gap opens up between the hero and the ordinary life
-second gap: the protagonist learns something that they didn't know before
-third gap: (after overcoming the second gap) the hero takes the biggest gamble to get the object they desire.
Reversal
-when the hero accomplish the ordeal before them, the reversal that occurs stops them from going forward.
-Reversal's can happen though actions ( like the shooting of a cops partner) or a reversal actions
-A good reversal is when everything you know is true, but there's more and the world is flipped on its head with new knowledge.
Other types of conflicts
-internal conflict which is novels
interpersonal conflict. e.g plays and t.vs
externals e.g games and movies
What are the basic conflicts in stories?
In what fundamental way dies game story development differ from storytelling in other forms of media?
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