Studio 7 - Exploring Playability

The 4 Fun Keys create games' four most important emotions:
1. Hard Fun: Fiero - in the moment personal triumph over adversity
2. Easy Fun: Curiosity
3. Serious Fun: Relaxation and excitement
4. People Fun: Amusement
From http://www.xeodesign.com/whyweplaygames.html

Game 1 - Spin the Black Circle

Aim: Get a ball from one location to another, by spinning a black circle to change the gravitational pull.

www.onemorelevel.com/game/spin_the_black_circle

Notes
Hard fun

Challenging
Game can be frustrating, but happy at the end of each level - sense of accomplishment.
User feels like they have achieved something when they complete a level.
User eventually become frustrated with a harder level and gave up
High learning curve, few tips.

Types of fun

This fits in with hard fun because the main sense of achievement came when the user completed the level.


This does not fit under, Easy fun because games that count as easy fun are usually relaxing and easy to play, with very little challenge


This does not fit under, Serious fun because it is not an exciting type of game, and the main enjoyment comes from completing levels.


This does not fit under, People fun because there are no other people to play with. There is nowhere to submit high scores and there is no multi-player option, so you can't compete or with work with anyone else.


This does not really fit under the flow theory because once you get to a certain point, you can become stuck easily, and with the lack of competition, there is no real reason to carry on. Once the main enjoyment factor of being able to complete levels is taken away, you are mainly left frustrated.
It is also, not engaging for a long time, there is a steep difficulty curve, which can make the game too hard, which is shown by the player getting stuck at certain points for a long time.

Game 2 - Blueprint

Aim: Use a range of devices to move a ball from one place to a target

http://www.teagames.com/games/blueprint/play.php


Notes
Hard fun
Serious fun
Flow Theory

Challenging
User looked frustrated at times, but looked like they were having fun at others.
Best part of the game appeared to be completing the level, which is when the best sense of achievement came.

Types of fun

This fits in with hard fun, because some levels can be frustrating while trying to figure out how to complete them, and the main enjoyment from the game comes from completing it.


This fits in with serious fun to a certain extent because it can be exciting to see how your designs play out. Parts of the game can be relaxing, but it wouldn't be a good work to describe the game with.


This fits in with the flow theory because you know what your goal is throughout the game, and there is a good balance of the difficulty, which is helped by being able to select which level to play.


This does not fit in with Easy fun, because the main aspect of easy fun is learning new things and exploring, which this game doesn't offer much of.


This does not fit in with People fun because you cannot talk to, play against or play with other people. There is no social interaction. The only part that comes close to this is a high scores table.

Studio 6 - Exploring Playability

Part 1 - Summary

• Every game development project is unique
• All games need new content and must focus on improvements
• The game development process consists of two main parts
• The first part is going from an idea to a plan, the plan will change as it moves into the production phase
• During preproduction, the team prepare all the elements that are involved in the main process
• The idea gets put into a design document, which is used as an outline throughout the development process
• Having the right development team is the most important ‘resource’ of game development
• Members of most teams are put into their positions during preproduction, and each team has a leader, and each group of teams will have a leader
• The project leader will be the one who produced the ‘high concept’
• Before anyone begins work, everyone must understand the main aims
• The design document is a blueprint for the game, it describes everything, including how the game will be played
• A design document should have a world diagram or mission flow chart, which maps out where the player should go. These will usually start out as a list of locations and objectives.
• Level designers use the design document as a guide to create a level diagram

Part 2 - Similarities

• Both readings state that the design document is extremely important
• Both think that the design document shapes the idea
• Both readings say that the design document includes everything about the game, including the characters, the controls, what you do and how the game is played
• The design document is where games designers get to ‘flesh out’ their ideas
• A design document requires input from the entire team, it is very hard to finish one(for a big project) on your own

Part 3 - Differences

• Bethke states that the design document should be used to answer further questions about the game.
• Bethke doesn’t mention mission flow charts
• Bethke does not go into as much detail about how all the members of each team have to communicate with there ‘leaders’, so that the design document can be continuously improved until everyone is ready to move forward with the development process.

Studio 3 - Use Cases

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Use Cases



This represents a use case for player input in Oblivion. This includes all the actions the player has to do to play the game, including turning on the system and using a control pad for the game.



This represents a use case for game object interactions in Oblivion. This covers anything the player will need to interact with in the game. This is also basically, what makes up the game, and covers the battle system, picking up objects, and collision detection, so you cannot walk through buildings, people or the landscape.



This represents a use case for the display system in Oblivion. This includes everything that the player can see. This is very hard to cover in a game like Oblivion, so this only covers the more important aspects of Oblivion. This use case covers everything from the tables, chairs and other items you can see, to the huge landscape that makes up Oblivion



This represents a use case for audio interaction in Oblivion. This includes all the sound in Oblivion. It includes things such as the background music, and how it changes when enemies are near, and also the sounds you hear during the game, that indicate things are happening. Such as grunts when you are hurt, or shouting when you swing your sword. It can also indicate going through doors, using magic and many more things.

Reading Week 2

Why Games Fail

1. Poor Planning

Without a plan, deadlines would be missed and people would not know when to do what

2. Very Few Games are Profitable

Working out how to generate a profit is not clear, and needs a lot of work. This involves working out sales volumes required, as well as issues including wages and royalties

3. Projects can go on too long

If a project goes on longer than expected, they are very likely to go over-budget. If a game takes longer in production than expected, gamers may lose interest in it. And if it takes longer to come out, it may be over hyped, not live up to the standards, and once word spreads, people would be unlikely to buy it.

4. No budget constraints

If there are no constraints there are a lot more possibilities. This means that a game could easily go off course, and take a lot longer to be released.

5. Weak Foundations

If a game doesn't have good foundations, a good story, good ideas to work with, etc, it would be had to make a good game.

6. No goals set out

If there are no clear goals set out, different sections of companies would all be at completely different stages. Everyone needs goals and strict deadlines to avoid the game taking longer than expected, and to make sure everyone is at the right place.

7. The Power of the console

The game you are making needs to be able to work on the console it is made for. No one wants to play a game with a lot of lag. And no one would want to play a game with an outdated graphics/physics engine, or gameplay.

Studio 2 - Exploring Games and Identifying Games Concepts

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

1. 3D Graphics

Character - Highly customisable character, looks are very customisable and there are a lot of armours available.

NPC's - Hundreds of other people, all designed in the same detail as you(the main character)

Worlds, Objects - Huge landscape, very detailed, filled with a lot thousands of things, such as tree's, buildings and other parts of the game that are interactive

2. Game Mechanics

Physics - Realistic physics engine. Objects on a slope will slide down the slope

Interaction - NPC's will stop and talk to you as you go past, you can pick objects up, move things around. You can't walk through object. Wildlife will react to your presence as well.


Jobs

Concept Artist (Character, environment concepts)
3D Modeller (The environment, world, etc.)
Character Modeller (All characters, wildlife, etc.)
AI Programmer (Interaction)
Game Mechanics Programmer (Physics, interaction)
Lead Programmers


Description

Oblivion can be played in a first or third person view, where the user controls there own character. The looks, race and class of the character is chosen by the user. Although the user can ultimately choose to ignore the story and do whatever they want, there main aim is always to save the lands from the creatures of Oblivion. The gameplay is action based, with strategic and roleplaying elements. but if the user wants, they can completely avoid battle altogether.


Oblivion, in more detail

Oblivion features a wide range or normal and bizarre creatures. For these we need concept art, and later on 3D modelling and animation. Depending on the type of creature, (humanoid, normal wild-life, fish, creatures from oblivion) different types of motion capture are needed.

Oblivion features a realistic physics engine, where objects will fall or react like normal objects. For this we need a Games Mechanics Programmer. The mechanics would need to be different and work realistically for different gradients.

There are a lot of objects and people to interact with in oblivion. For this we would need an AI Programmer. There are a lot of people to interact with, and they all follow a daily/weekly schedule. The AI programmer would need to make sure they interact in the appropriate ways at the appropriate times. For example, if you brake into someones house, they will run or call the guards.

Oblivion features a complex menu and inventory system, for this we would need a User Interface programmer. There are a lot of actions you can take in Oblivion. So the Programmer would need to make sure, it's easy to access magic, equip weapons and user potions.

There is a lot of dialogue in Oblivion, for this we would need an Audio Programmer and voice actors. The audio programmer would need to make sure that everyone says the right things at the right time, the voices match up with how people are talking and that the right people have the right voices.



Gears of War

1. Audio

Voiceover - Characters dialogue,(locusts and human)

Sound effects - Weapon sounds, effects, explosions, vehicles

Music - Background music sets the mood, can make parts more exciting/epic/tense. Indicates events(sound triggered by events)

Job - Audio Programmer(all above)



2. Art

characters/models -

Textures - Gives detail to everything, inc. characters, buildings, environment


Job - 3D Modeller (buildings, environment)
Job - Character Modeller(characters, enemies)
Job - Concept Artist(Concept)
Job - 2D Artist(textures)

Reading Week 1

Reasons for Making Games

• Creative people love to share their dreams, thoughts and worlds.
• Games are deeply rewarding because they appeal on so many different levels.
• Only in games, can players try different actions, experience different outcomes and explore different worlds.
• In history, games have taught people, by continuing this we are carrying on historic roles.
• So you can share all the epic and fun things that you can imagine.

Exploring games and identifying games concepts

Familiar games

1.Gears of War
2.Pro Evolution Soccer
3.The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
4.Devil May Cry 4
5.Battlefield 2142


Genre

1.Action/Adventure
2.Sport
3.RPG
4.Action/beat 'em up/hack n slash
5.FPS


Rating (1-good, 5-bad)

1. 2, the game has a good dialogue, explicit graphic that help set the mood of the game an has great gameplay.

2. 3, Pro Evolution Soccer has a good, exciting match engine, but there are many bugs and other issues, such as licensing that take away the enjoyment from the game. Simple things like set-pieces also need improving.

3. 1, Oblivion is a huge game, where you can do whatever you want(open-gameplay). It's wide choice of classes, racing and stat optimisation, allows for a lot of replay value, for an already long game. It also has impressive graphics and a good script.

4. 2, the games has exciting fast paced action, great graphics and is extremely enjoyable the first time through, and can be extremely challenging for expert players. But the game can feel a little repetitive after a while, and the story doesn't really pick up until towards the end.

5. 2, with a great online community, and a great range of different maps Battlefield has a lot of things to offer and good replay value. But without a storyline of campaign, single player has near to non-existent, which can make the game feel stale at times.


Games Concept

1.Action Adventure where you lead a group of elite humans through various missions against the locusts.

2.A fast paced football sim where you can control and compete with your favourite teams.

3.A free roaming game, set in a fantasy world, with endless possibilities of what to do.

4.Beat 'em up where you control two devil hunters and save the world from evil.

5.FPS where you battle with other people online, and gradually increase your rank and unlock new equipment.


How the concept affects the game

1.The game was implemented into a linear storyline, which can sometimes, give the game less replay value, but the story, gameplay and graphics more than make up for this.

2.With football sims there are always going to be limitations of what you can do. Unless they aim to bring in a spectacular new feature, the game will always be limited, and show little difference to it's predecessors.

3.One big complaint with a lot of good games is that they don't last long enough. Oblivion gives the user endless possibilities of what to do, this ensures that there is always something new to do, which keeps the game exciting and fresh.

4.The concept allows a larger arsenal of attacks and weapons by using multiple characters, but the basic concept doesn't create the most exciting storyline imaginable

5.The concept helps keep the user interesting because they can keep unlocking new equipment and because the game is mainly online, there will always be new content to play, but the concept also restricts the game, because a lack of single player is not appealing to some people.