Game flow and Interest Paul Taylor 2010

-:Difficulty Review Time:- We have three types of difficulty – Absolute – Relative – Perceived

Game Flow We typically want a nice sawtooth graph – Challenges followed by rewards – Whilst overall constantly increasing

Part 1:- Flow Put forward by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi do.com/generator/assets/mihaly2.jpg

Mental States

Applied to Games gorized/flow_channel_2.jpg

Conditions for flow A clear set of goals – To provide direction and structure Balance between perceived challenges and perceived skills Clear and immediate feedback

The Extended Criterions of Flow Clear goals (expectations and rules are discernible and goals are attainable and align appropriately with one’s skill set and abilities). Concentrating, a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it). A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness, the merging of action and awareness. Distorted sense of time, one’s subjective experience of time is altered. Direct and immediate feedback (successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that behaviour can be adjusted as needed). Balance between ability level and challenge (the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult). A sense of personal control over the situation or activity. The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so there is an effortlessness of action. People become absorbed in their activity, and focus of awareness is narrowed down to the activity itself, action awareness merging. Source: Note: M. C. “not all are needed for flow to be experienced.”

Is Flow Immersion? Clear goals (expectations and rules are discernible and goals are attainable and align appropriately with one’s skill set and abilities). Concentrating, a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it). A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness, the merging of action and awareness. Distorted sense of time, one’s subjective experience of time is altered. Direct and immediate feedback (successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that behaviour can be adjusted as needed). Balance between ability level and challenge (the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult). A sense of personal control over the situation or activity. The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so there is an effortlessness of action. People become absorbed in their activity, and focus of awareness is narrowed down to the activity itself, action awareness merging. Source: Note: M. C. “not all are needed for flow to be experienced.”

So how does one control flow?

Dynamic Difficulty – Flow Solved? No Dynamic Difficulty Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment User Controlled Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment

Are people able to control their own flow? x/a2600/berzerk.jpg

Mariokart

Flow

Play flOw NOW

FlOw - Penny Arcade

Some Controversy for you Flow makes life good, not happiness – Csikszentmihalyi

There is a relationship between Humour and Anxiety reduction Can humour be used to induce flow through anxiety reduction?

How do we maximise the player’s ability to control the level of flow in a game (potential thesis topic)

Part 2:- Interest Curves Put forward by Jesse Schell content/uploads/jesse3.jpg

Schell’s way of Creating a good Interest Curve Start with a bang! Then do something to let the player relax and get to know the characters Gradually build up to something better and better Then exceed their expectations!

Half Life Episode 1 Start with a bang! Then do something to let the player relax and get to know the characters Gradually build up to something better and better Then exceed their expectations!

Half Life Episode 2 p2_stats.php Start with a bang! Then do something to let the player relax and get to know the characters Gradually build up to something better and better Then exceed their expectations!

Interest Curves are Fractal That means curves in curves in curves This snowflake is a simple fractal rve.gif alsSSE/fractalsSSE1.png

The Fractals of Interest in Books Per Chapter Per Section Overall

The Fractals of Interest in Movies Per Scene Per Act Per Movie

The Fractals of Interest in Games Per Challenge Per Quest Per Level Per Game Per Series (Not typically successful)

Okay so it’s all done right? We just have to measure interest and we are finished

Defining Interest

Lets start with Google #1 “Interest is a fee paid on borrowed assets” Time for another shot

Wikipedia #1 “Interest is a fee paid on borrowed assets” Still failing #2 “Interest is a feeling or emotion that causes attention to focus on an object or an event or a process.”

Dictionary.reference.com “the feeling of a person whose attention, concern, or curiosity is particularly engaged by something” Not too bad....

We’ve established that Interest is complicated....

The Interest Book Silvia, Paul (2006) Exploring the Psychology of Interest. University of Oxford This seems to be everything you could ever want to know about interest. I’ve read a fair bit, it’s dry but informative

The Wundt Curve Dates back to around 1971 Difficult to prove Is it right? CAAJ

Exploring the Psychology of Interest Complexity Novelty Uncertainty Conflict Hebb vs Berlyne CAAJ

Jesse Schell’s approach 3 Factors that sum to give an overall interest factor

Interest Curves

Inherent Interest Some things are interesting – A flaming car with a cow stapled to the roof – Risk – Fancy Some things are not – A person drinking a coke – Safety – Plain

Poetry of Presentation This is basically how beautiful something is – In GOW the Ultra Violent kills are a form of this Much like real poetry it is subjective This is very similar to gestalt (or the same)

Projection This is the hardest to achieve – Yes even harder than gestalt and poetry This is how much you can compel the player into believing your world, using their imagination and empathising with the characters

Interest Curves

Projection Explored....

It starts with some Empathy “is the capability to share and understand another's emotions and feelings. It is often characterized as the ability to "put oneself into another's shoes” -wikipedia This is exactly what we are talking about

Projection Who is most important? Yourself Your Friends Strangers What if someone is critically hurt?

The Best Projection When players get so involved with the game they project their consciousness into the main character They are immersed and their suspension of disbelief is being sustained The second best is when they care about the characters, like they would their friends

Time to rate some examples Guy juggling chainsaws Boxing with Mike Tyson

Person Playing a Guitar Picking Wildflowers Cleaning Dishes

What is the Interest in... Pong Man fighting a spider with MacGyver’ed flamethrower rovised_flamethrower/ macgyver-july4th.jpg

Defining each type of interest can be difficult Do your best Know when someone else is right – Then admit you are wrong to yourself! Remember being a designer is about leading a team, not herding sheeps

Further Research TED talk on Flow: alyi_on_flow.html

Just because... Man sues Lineage 2 for life destruction and wins. age_ii_eula_defeat/ What will be the fallout?

Dammn! Time for a re-think?

References pdf pdf disciplinary.net/ati/education/cp/ce3/meany%20 paper.pdf disciplinary.net/ati/education/cp/ce3/meany%20 paper.pdf AJ AJ