SE320: Introduction to Computer Games Week 4 Gazihan Alankus 11/9/2018

Reminders Always look for assignments in the last slide! Website Google “Gazihan Alankus” http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~gazihan/teaching/11fall/se320/ Google group (e-mail list) 28 out of 30 people are registered Did you not confirm registration? 11/9/2018

We’ll Create Games This is the most important thing here! You presented your ideas Groups have been assigned ..\groupassgn.xlsx Figure out Çağrı’s situation 11/9/2018

Groups If you want to change, you have to figure out a solution Ask people to switch, ask people whether they want you, etc. If people withdraw the class, or things do not work out, we can figure out solutions. 11/9/2018

Projects (this week) Meet with your group this week! Let me know when. E-mail me after the meeting and tell me what happened. Talk about the game idea. Make any major change in direction you want Start small, decide on the minimum core mechanics Start paper prototyping (we’ll learn it today) 11/9/2018

Projects (rest of semester) Nobody is the team leader. I am your team leader. You are equals. Listen to each other. Take initiative and run with it. Avoid conflicts and respect each other. Resolve with voting + coin toss. E-mail me with issues. Set up a weekly meeting time and let me know when it is Every group member e-mail me a summary of what you did after every meeting (graded) Create Dropbox accounts. Create a shared folder with your game’s name. Share it with me. Use it to store everything about the game. (graded) 11/9/2018

Near Future This week: Lecture (Oct 18) Next week: Lecture (Oct 25) Paper prototyping and playtesting Next week: Lecture (Oct 25) Core mechanics and gameplay The week after: Group presentations! (Nov 1) A prototype of the core game mechanics 11/9/2018

Group Presentations: November 1st (Graded) A prototype of the core game mechanics (15 mins) I prefer paper We should understand how your game will be played Presentation You can use video of your users playing with prototype Or demonstrate it here live on camera Early implementations are also welcome (as addition) Work hard and nail down how the game will work 11/9/2018

TODO List for You Meet this week E-mail me afterwards and report (everyone individually, not 1 for group) Talk about the game idea, make any major changes Start working on your prototype. You’ll present on November 1 11/9/2018

Paper Prototyping and Playtesting Why prototype? Prototype how? Prototype when? Why playtest? Playtest how? Playtest when? 11/9/2018

Prototyping 11/9/2018

What is a Prototype? Remember playing with your toys when you were 6 years old? Toys + imagination = loads of fun! Let’s play cars! Shared imagination Make your friend experience a car race He can step into your imagination and contribute Any other board game Same idea Create a low-fidelity interactive experience that enables you to share imagination with others 11/9/2018

Why Prototype? Communicate Decide Demonstrate Make them experience rather than convince Decide You are stateful! Decisions about the game are better made when playing. Not when staring at Microsoft Word. 11/9/2018

Communicate “A picture is worth a thousand words” -Napoleon You are not a painter. You are designing interactive entertainment! “A one-minute user experience is worth a thousand pictures!” -Gazihan 11/9/2018

Decide: Humans are Stateful You are a completely different person when you are in different situations! Cool store with banging music Staring at your credit card bill Lying on the beach Having an exam In the new home you’ll buy Staring at your mortgage bill Understanding that certain states are better for certain decisions changes your life for the better! Playing your game Typing in Microsoft Word Leads to better decisions about your game 11/9/2018

Decide Play -> Better decisions How can you play with it before creating it? PROTOTYPE! Prototypes allow you to simulate playing the game you want to create, so that you can make better decisions without playing the actual game 11/9/2018

Examples http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iori3sjLBdU [local] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q10ZO-8ByAc 11/9/2018

Prototype how? Don’t worry about how it looks Not only paper. Can use plastic props, too. Create your main game elements Enough detail for core mechanics Enough detail for whatever you want to demonstrate 11/9/2018

Example 11/9/2018

Prototype how? Do not make it detailed (no menu bars, dialogs, etc.) Give a feel of the main experience Have a “monitor” frame that you can force focus and attach things to Can roll dice for success/failure or other decisions Can convert real-time to turn-based 11/9/2018

Using Prototypes Ask clear questions Forget Quality Is our core gameplay fun? How often should there be monsters? How high should it jump? What kind of power-up can we add? Forget Quality Do just enough work to get the idea across Quick and dirty 11/9/2018

Using Prototypes Don’t get attached Parallelize them Plan to throw one or two away Throwing away is not easy. Force yourself at least once. The whole point of prototypes is to feel free! Forget about it and create a new one with a different idea, rather than trying to force things to work together Parallelize them Keep more than one working prototype when you have multiple really good options 11/9/2018

When to Use Paper Prototypes Create them early on Keep them around Put them on the table when you are thinking, play with them Communicate with each other using the paper prototype Demonstrate with it in your presentation (video is OK, too) 11/9/2018

Waterfalls are Dangerous! 11/9/2018

Spirals Are Better 11/9/2018

Customer Development is Even Better 11/9/2018

Prototypes: Summary Give yourself the freedom to change Have your quick and dirty prototype iteratively evolve towards your final game Make sure your prototype is playable Think of code as a prototype, too Don’t strive for perfection, just make it work (for this class) 11/9/2018

Playtesting 11/9/2018

Playtesting Humans are stateful! Usually you may never switch to the state of your players… You know your game too well Maybe you are not in your target audience You need to try to look through the eyes of your potential users Observe them play 11/9/2018

Different Kinds of Testing Focus groups What target group thinks QA testing Finding bugs Usability testing Is it intuitive and easy to use Playtesting Is it creating the expected experience? 11/9/2018

Playtesting Is Not Easy! You are attached to what you create You are trying to see why it is bad You are getting other people to tell you why it is bad… Can be an awkward social situation Let go of your fears, focus on making your game better 11/9/2018

Playtesting Why Who Where What How 11/9/2018

Playtesting: Why? Answer a question Prepare other questions Main question: Is our game fun? Prepare other questions Are people ever bored, confused, frustrated? What strategies do people use? Is there an easy hack to beat the game? Which parts are the most/least fun? Is puzzle A too hard? 11/9/2018

Playtesting: Who? Need people! Developers Friends Expert gamers Tissue testers Find people that don’t care if they hurt your feelings! 11/9/2018

Playtesting: Where? Location matters Your turf Public place Their turf Internet Try to shoot for public/their turf and get them comfortable. No tests over the internet for this class. 11/9/2018

Playtesting: What? Design to answer the questions we had in “why?”. You will see many other surprises! Be ready Ask and try to understand why The best things usually come out as surprises during playtesting 11/9/2018

Playtesting: How? Should you be there? Yes for our project Sometimes no Spore Research_ Outtakes.mp4 Spore Research: Outtakes - YouTube 11/9/2018

Playtesting: How? What do you tell them? Introduce them to the game Try not to mislead “Your goal is this” – can be a bad idea Improve what you say after each test Turn it into a tutorial later! 11/9/2018

Playtesting: How? Where do you look? Other data Watch their faces to see emotions Invaluable data that you cannot get any other way! Multiple video cameras, split screen face/screen Other data Take notes of everything you think was important or out of ordinary 11/9/2018

Playtesting: How? Questions vs. Disturbing Delicate balance Sometimes you shouldn’t let go of the opportunity Try not to ruin the gameplay Think-aloud protocol Great way to know what they think Not for everyone, encourage but don’t push 11/9/2018

Playtesting: How? Collecting data afterwards Surveys Interviews Prepare some questions, have an open conversation Interview them privately Make it clear that they won’t hurt your feelings Don’t test their memory Don’t expect them to tell you what to do Ask more than you need Resist the urge to defend! 11/9/2018

Playtesting Summary Get prepared Find people Watch them play Ask questions or let them talk Interview later 11/9/2018

Assignments Due this Friday Oct 21: Due Nov 1: Set up weekly meeting time and let me know when it is Every group member e-mail me after the meeting Create Dropbox accounts. Share a folder with you game’s name with your friends and with me (gazihan.ieu@gmail.com) Due Nov 1: Create paper prototype Develop the idea enough for playtesting Playtest it with two people and videotape it Upload videos to Dropbox Improve the idea Create 15 min presentation, feel free to use parts of videos 11/9/2018