Game Mechanics and Theory STORYTELLING

Three act structure  Beginning (Act 1): Place the audience into the action or drama of the story. Introduce the problem.  2. Middle (Act II): Focus on the obstacles that stand in the way of solving the problem.  3. End (Act III): The problem introduced in Act I has been solved, and the obstacles have been removed.  EX: Fable 2

Hero’s Journey Structure  Ordinary World: The hero’s ordinary world is established.  Call to Adventure: The quest or journey is introduced.  Refusal of the Call: The hero refuses but is uncomfortable with the decision.  Meeting with the Mentor: The hero receives information relevant to the quest and needs to go on the journey.  Crossing the First Threshold: The hero abandons the refusal and embarks on the journey.

Hero’s Journey (continued)  Tests, Allies, and Enemies: The hero is tested and makes friends and enemies.  Approach to the Inmost Cave: The hero faces more tests and preparations  Ordeal: The hero must defeat the villain.  Reward: The hero gets the reward.  The Road Back: The hero has to choose the special world or ordinary world.  Resurrection: The hero must face death one more time.  Return with the Elixer: The hero finally returns but is changed forever.

Three act structure  First Act (introduction) – usually used to establish the main characters, their relationships, and the world they live in.  Near the end of the First Act, the main character ( protagonist ) has to deal with some problem that will change the world. This is the first Turning Point.  Second Act (confrontation) – longest section depicts the protagonist attempting to resolve the problem.

Vocabulary for Storytelling  Protagonist  Antagonist  Inciting Incident  Hook  Plot Point  Turning point  subplot

Game Mechanics and Theory CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Character Classes  Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) introduced character classes.  Common types of classes  Fighter- focused on combat abilities but usually lacks magical abilities  Thief/Rogue – focused on stealth and high-damage but usually lacks defense or armor rating  Mage – powerful magical abilities but physically weak  Cleric/Priest – healing and supportive magical abilites

Combined classes  There are variations of the 4 main class types though and can pretty much be combined in any way.  Thief + Fighter = Assassin  Cleric + Fighter = Paladin  Mage + Fighter = Battle Mage  Thief + Mage = Bard or Mesmer  Ranged Thief + Support = Engineer  Some can combine more than one class  Ex: Fighter + Mage + Cleric = Druid

Class trees  Class trees are used to add more variation to the classes

Warrior Characteristics  Heavy plate armor  Large or multiple weapons  Sometimes has a shield  Lots of health

Druid Characteristics  Nature spells  Lives in forest  Protects the forest and animals  Animal characteristics

Thief Characteristics  Hood or mask over face  Lots of daggers or weapons  Usually wears leather or cloth

Mage Characteristics  Magical auras  Staff, wand, or spellbook  Pointed hat or hood  Usually wears cloth robes

Paladin Characteristics  Heavy plate armor  Large or multiple weapons  Great amount of health  White/Gold/Blue armor  Shield with one-handed weapon

Game Mechanics and Theory GAMEPLAY

 What is the relationship between gameplay and game story?  Why is the experience of playing the game so important?  How should game rules be structured?

Vocabulary  Non-playable character (NPC) – a character that cannot be controlled by a real player  Avatar – the character that represents a player in the game  Allies – characters that are on the player’s side  Enemies – characters that are against the player

The relationship between gameplay and game story  Gameplay is “a set of instructions for the player”  Also known as “rules of play”  You can have a game without a story  Ex: Tetris  You cannot have a game without gameplay  Ex: ???

Gameplay types  Asymmetrical Gameplay – multiple player play the same game simultaneously in different ways.  Cooperative Gameplay – players work together to meet a goal  Deathmatch – players work alone and fight each other  Twitch Gameplay – tests a player’s reaction time

Gameplay Types (continued)  Hack and Slash – focuses on melee fighting  Leveled Gameplay – Game gradually increases in difficulty  Micromanagement – player manages several small groups of units and controls most if not all actions of those units  Nonlinear Gameplay – players face challenges that can be completed in a number of different sequences

 The key to a good game is getting the gameplay and the game story to be in harmony with each other.  Ex: Call of Duty game about saving whales  Good gameplay and a good story usually make for a good game.  Just because gameplay is bad doesn’t mean the game is bad

Victory and Lose conditions  Each gameplay type will have different win and lose conditions  Victory [“Win”] conditions are the conditions that must be met to win the game.  Lost [“Lose”] conditions are the conditions that must be met to lose the game.

Interactivity conflict  Player vs Player (PVP) – the player fights other real players  Player vs Environment (PVE) – the player fights AI controlled enemies  Can be played alone, with human companions, or AI companions

 Choose a game, and determine what the “win” and “loss” conditions are in relation to gameplay. Are they different from the story?

Balance of gameplay  A good game has to balance several factors  Obstacles and Aids  If the obstacles might be too much of a challenge, add aids to help the player figure it out.  Penalties and Rewards  If the player uses aids, add a penalty or reduce the reward

Design Principles

 Concept Art  Modeling  Texturing  Animation  Movement  Appearance  2-D  3-D

 Concept Art – rough draft of art  Usually has little detail and is designed to show an idea  Modeling -  Texturing  Animation

 Movement  Appearance  2-D – graphics consisting of 2 planes.  Usually includes the x and y planes  3-D – graphics consisting of 3 planes.  Usually includes the x, y, and z planes