02-DEVELOPING IDEAS 游戏 “ 创意 ” 形成与文档 潘茂林， 中山大学 · 软件学院 Ref cornellcornell

跳票 ，光荣《大航海时代》 2004, 进入 Beta 测试 2006 ，开始公测 2005 蜗牛《航海世纪》 快 ，《保卫钓鱼岛》

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN DEFINITIONS OF GAMES Adams: Fundamentals of Game Design A game is a form of interactive entertainment where players must overcome challenges, by taking actions that are governed by rules, in order to meet a victory condition. Salen & Zimmerman: Rules of Play A game is a system in which players engage in artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome.

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN DEFINITIONS OF GAMES Adams: Fundamentals of Game Design A game is a form of interactive entertainment where players must overcome challenges, by taking actions that are governed by rules, in order to meet a victory condition. Salen & Zimmerman: Rules of Play A game is a system in which players engage in artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome. Players Challenge s Rules Goals

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN GAME IDEAS TO DESIGN PROCESS Imagine the game Overall artistic vision Define the way it works The elements from previous slide Describe the elements of the game A gameplay specification Transmit that information Guidance for development team

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN DESIGN DECISIONS Players How many players are there at a time? Who or what is the player in the world? Challenges What obstacles must the player overcome? Is there more than one way to overcome them? These define the fundamental gameplay

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN DESIGN DECISIONS Rules How does the player effect the world? How does the player learn the rules? Define the boundaries of the game Goals What are the victory or termination conditions? Defined by the game or by the player?

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN (OTHER) DESIGN DECISIONS Game Modes How are the challenges put together? What is the interaction context? Setting What is the nature of the game world? How does the player see the game world? (e.g. top-down, side-scroller, 3D, etc.)

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN (OTHER) DESIGN DECISIONS Story What narrative will the player experience? Defined by the game or by the player? How is it connected to gameplay? Anything else?

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN WHAT ABOUT FUN ? But how do we create good game s ? Games are a creative medium Games are designed to entertain Question: What makes a game fun? Better: Why do people play games?

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN CASUAL VS. CORE Core gamers play lots of games Almost always to finish games they play Want hard games; will tolerate frustration Casual gamers play for enjoyment. Will stop when the game stops being fun Challenges must be reasonable Harder to distinguish than you think

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN BARTLE’S FOUR TYPES Theory of players in online games: Achiever : Overcome challenges, gather rewards Explorer : Discover, understand game world Socializer : Interact & role-play with others Griefer : Distress other players in the game Successful games appeal to multiple groups World of Warcraft designed for all four

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN PLAY LENGTH How short a game can I play and have fun? Least meaningful unit of play Console: 30 minutes+ is acceptable Mobile: No more than a minute Casual often means short play units But can have hardcore gameplay( 骨灰级的玩法 )! Example: Plants vs. Zombies But long play length is always core

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN DESIGN COMPONENTS Core Mechanics: Elements that provide the foundations of gameplay Includes the rules and challenges Interactivity: Mechanisms by which the player plays the game Covers the player aspects of the game Storytelling and Narrative: Source of ( dramatic ) tension compelling players to play Drives the goals or victory conditions in the game

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN APPROACH 1: GENRE-CENTRIC Use a genre to define your gameplay Advantages: Genres are a package of well-understood gameplay New game settings can make game seem very original Good for designing to a specific audience Disadvantages: Can get trapped into genre conventions Unfocused, overly complicated games

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN APPROACH 2: CORE GAMEPLAY Design focus is new challenges & mechanics Advantages: Mechanics, not setting, make games feel original Tends to lead to simplicity and elegance Very successful in casual game space Disadvantages: Can lead to trite or overly abstract settings Difficult to sell to publishers

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN APPROACH 2: EXAMPLES 无限回廊 Manifold

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN APPROACH 3: USER EXPERIENCE Design for user experience (e.g. see, hear, feel) Advantages: Gameplay fits together in a very coherent way Provides an excellent overall game vision Disadvantages: Hard to translate into concrete game mechanics Can devolve into giving a genre a new setting Often leads to very long development times Often dependence on new interactive technique

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN APPROACH 3: EXAMPLES You can play game on iPad like this

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN APPROACH & DESIGN COMPONENTS Approach 1: Genre-Centric Storytelling and Narrative Others are provided by genre Approach 2: Core Gameplay Core Mechanics Other elements often ignored Approach 3: User Experience Interactivity

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN TIPS FOR GAME DESIGNER Game are an interactive medium Players control the action in the game Focus on what the player does Relates to each of the design components Storytelling: How does player control the story? Interactivity: What can the player do? Core Mechanics: What challenges the player?

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN THE ADAMS APPROACH Games as wish-fulfillment I want to _________ Questions to answer: What dream are you satisfying? What goals does this dream create? What actions achieve those goals? What setting does this dream create? What is the appropriate interface?

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN THE ADAMS APPROACH Minimalistic variation of Approach 3 Just enough experience to give a theme Use this information to define gamplay What to do next? Focus on gameplay that supports theme Will expand on this next lecture

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN EXPLORING GAMEPLAY 开发你对 GAMEPLAY 的理解 To design games, you must play games! Experience many different types of gameplay Do not play the same type of game all the time Flash portals are fantastic! Games are small but focus entirely on gameplay Kongregate & Armor Games are some of the best Puzzle game? Look at Kongregate first

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN HAVE REALISTIC GOALS Goal: Size of a large, elaborate flash game Quality should be 3.5+ stars on Kongregate Can be played instantly with minimal tutorial Quality over quantity Five amazing levels > 30 poor levels Balance number of challenges with level size Avoid massive changes in gameplay (e.g. power ups)

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER GAME DESIGN SUMMARY Game design is Imagining & defining your game Describing it to your development team Adams: games as wish fulfillment What dream are you satisfying? What goals does this dream create? What actions achieve those goals? What setting does this dream create? What is the appropriate interface?