Analyses of 3 launcher games (Group Project Work)

High there, I have recently undertaken a task to research and review (play and analyse) a handful of "Launcher Games" so we can find ways in which to improve our group game overall but with particular attention to the sounds in the game. I thought I'd post my findings on here along with the links for you all to play the games too. see what you think.

Sound/Launcher Research

www.onemorelevel.com/game/reachin_pichin

First off take a look at this one’s pre-loader, it's a fun goo filled tube which is somthing we were going for in our game.

The opening game screen also has a lab feel to it so some possible inspiration in there too

The distance bar is interesting here too. Rather than just a score they have a ruler up the side, I thought this was nice (see the other games for distance/destination bar)

Sounds

·         Starting BGM is kind of slow and creepy but OK, nothing special, slight sci-fi tones in there too

·         The actual games BGM is much faster paced with kind of a Japanese “Chibi” feel to it, like Sonic the Hedgehog meets Nyan Cat… I like it :)

·         Launch Sound: I really liked this one, it’s a whoosh with the character squealing.

·         Bouncing spring boards: classic “BOING” sound but again very appropriate and fits well with ours too.

·         Character Bounce, there isn't actually any sound I could hear when the character hits the floor in this game

www.onemorelevel.com/game/pirate_launch

This pirate themed launch game uses some interesting things (although they are not one button so we can’t use them) such as using the arrow keys and WASD to control angle of the boat when launched. However their progression bar is a map with an implied ending to it signified with an “X-marks the spot” thing. This really got me hooked trying to reach it (I never did) but it did make the progression meaningful and far more interesting rather than just “beat my high score”

Also this game had a very good upgrade system that we could borrow from, points translated into gold to spend on upgrades to your launcher, boat, steering and bounce high. Essentially higher levels reduced slowly down on bounce, increased bounce height and launch distance.

Sounds

·         Games BGM I like a lot, it’s like pirate 8 bit dub step J

·         Launch sound isn't all that great, but it is a good explosion noise

·         Barrels explode with a satisfying bang. General explosion noise

·         Hitting the water’s surface makes a satisfying noise and I think water could be used in our game somehow too.

Over all I think this is a definite launch game to play as it does get you hooked. All give it a go J

www.onemorelevel.com/game/meateor_launch

This game wasn’t great but wasn’t bad either. The Pre-loader was interesting as it was a short animation telling a minor (tiny) back story of this guy finding a meatier and wanting to send it back to space (if I remember correctly)

The opening menu sucks and the general GUI isn’t all that intuitive. However the same as previous game, there is an actual end (that I came close to) which does massively add to that “just one my try” factor. The game has an excellent levelling up system to but the actual GUI again is a little flimsy. I think the pacing in this game isn’t all that god either due to the fact that you quickly gain all the upgrades that make a difference and are left with rubbish “unnecessary” upgrades such as flowers to attract more firefly’s (currency) of which you have no more need for.

Sounds

There wasn’t much in the way of sounds. A satisfying collection sound for fire flies and a good explosive/braking sound when you hit red fire flies but that’s about all mostly.

Other things to note in this game though is that the assets are introduced at different distances and the further you go the more there are. For example the first 100 meters it’s just collectables, then birds are added, then more birds, then booster fly’s and blocker fly’s which again become progressively more abundant as you gain altitude. It’s a good way of keeping on the pressure.

One last thing about this game. At the end of the level when you run out of momentum, the rock hurtles back down to the floor again, potentially picking up more fire flies on the way but towards the end this can take a long time. Designers added a “skip” button that appears once maximum height is achieved, trading off the possibility of collecting a few more flies for not having to wait until your next go. Food for thought.

Games Britannia: Part 2

Previous in part 1 I spoke about some of the fascinating stuff that I took away from Games Britannia. With part two I couldn't stop taking notes throughout and to summarise would be nearly impossible so this time around I will type up my notes for you to read.

Games Britannia: Part 2, Monopolies and Mergers

In Georgian times when school became compulsory the game 'Mansion of Bliss' was used to entice children under 9 to attend. It used mini stories rather than boring messages to reveal rewards and penalty's for landing on squares and depicted the path to bliss with the end being that of the perfect Georgian family living happily in the perfect mansion.

As the economy grew in the world it directly influenced games of the time and games such as 'The Game of Life' were introduced. This game added choice and strategy to previously 'dumb luck' based games.

In 1860 the first travel game was made for soldiers to take away with them to help keep morale high.

Milton Brady (MB) was considered the first commercial games developer. Their success is seems to be due to the fact they created games where the winner feels that they won due to skill whereas the loose felt that it was just a run of bad luck.

Briar Fox and Briar Rabbit was a political game basses around lad tax (land value tax) this was the introduction of taxing the land and not the wages people earned this idea was meant to redistribute the wealth in Britten.

A lot f political games were used to create household discussion on topics and to hopefully steer public opinion.

Monopoly - tokens from this game were reportedly trinkets taken from the creators wife's charm bracelet. Also Angel Islington is not a real street, its a tube station.

Common road names on the board enticed tourists as they play the UK edition all over the world. It educes a sense of familiarity when they visit from over seas.

Modern day iterations of this game use a speed die which speeds up a game of monopoly to an average of 45 minuets to an hour, putting the focus on trading and diplomacy.

During the war maps were produced on silk and then layered into monopoly boards to aid prisoners of way escape their captors. other implements were used such as compasses. these were identified by a dot in the corner of free parking.

(This is the part where I wrought something that may or may not be from the program. ill be honest I cant remember but it sounds like the sort of thing I'd come up with in my mind so ill put it in here anyway)

'We go through life and every opportunity is the result of luck. what we do with that opportunity is skill, even if we don't see the opportunity we are taking'

The episode then went on to talk about Cludo and scrabble but then TV came along and the TV game shows became a staple in British households.

Trivial Pursuit was the first to bridge the gap between TV and boardgames.

Hasbro = game monster, biggest manufacturer of games in the world (apparently)

Then there was a bit on the game Kensington, named after the place in which it was conceived by its creators. The game used geometric shapes and aside from my lack of grasp on the rules, I thought it looked interesting and I will at some point try and grab myself a copy of the game. The game itself was conceived when the creators were looking down at the paving slabs in Kensington.

The introduction of Space Invaders took the attention away from boardgames and turned them to video games.

Role Playing Games were introduced at a games fair in London in 1982. The origins of pen and paper RPG's were taken from military war games and scenarios used to see how certain events would play out if every they happened.

The episode ended with a look at a modern day game called 'war on terror' This was the first and only game ever reportedly seized by police as an offensive weapon because it came with a balaclava as a game piece. It was made to open peoples eyes to the war on terror and widen public opinion (I defiantly want to get this game!)

Games Britannia: Part 1

A while back now we were shown the first of three episodes by the BBC called Games Britannia. I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was so much fascinating information on ancient games such as Nine Men's Morris which can be found etched into ancient stonework all over the country.

The program then went on to talk about games such as Chess, Drafts, Backgammon and their origins. There was also a section on the origins of gambling and how it was not condoned by the church as it was considered the work of the devil. The church thought games should be played for fun and to pass the time (and possibly in some cases to convey ways of thinking to encourage followers but that's more my own opinion) Spinners were used to replace dice in the late 18th century due to their affiliation with the devil

The program also went over the origins of snakes and ladders. It was a game derived from the Hindi game of knowledge. This original was supposed to represent the quest for enlightenment. however in this version you could be removed from the competition all together by becoming trapped in the eternal loop of paradise. The 'Exact Roll' mechanic also comes from this part of the world but has since been removed from most modern western games because most of us find it tedious and frustrating. The reason for the initial implementation of this rule in the original is perhaps due to a difference in perceived time. We easily get bored quick and believe we have better things to do, we play games to win, for the competition, whereas the original was played to pass the time and to contemplate on life and its meaning.

I couldn't wait to be shown the next part of the series and reflecting back has brought back so much information that I hadn't taken in the first run through. I will be bogging about part 2 later on today.

My Notes on Luck and Skill

Hey so this week we were asked to read up on Brathwaite, B and Schreiber, I. (2008) Challenges for Games Designers. Boston: Charles River Media/ Cengage Technology. (like that Eddie?) So here are some of my notes and thoughts on the subjects:

Chapters 5 (Elements of Chance)

Luck enables the game to be easily accessible by a much wider audience. There are many other reasons for adding luck and chance:

Delaying or preventing solvabilaty
A game is 'solvable' if the entire possibility space is know ahead of time. Adding elements of chance such as dice rolls into a game prevents all the players from ever knowing exactly what is going to happen from one turn to the next.

Making play 'Competitive' for all players.
Using luck in this way will enable players who have mismatched skill levels to maintain a competitive game and therefore hopefully maintain interest.

Increasing variate.
Forcing situations where players must play 'innovatively' and prevents repetition within games (such as tic tac toe or book openings in chess)

Creating dramatic moments
this is the creation of tension at essential moments in the game, will the gamble pay off, will this roll let me land on the finishing square, will I deal enough damage to kill the orc? It's moments in games where you find yourself holding your breath in anticipation of the outcome.

Enhancing decision making
Eliminating 'obvious decisions' and adding a 'risk or reward' twist to a game.


As game designers there are many different tools in our arsenal that we can use to add elements of chance to a game:

Dice
This can add a completely random factor if one die is rolled or several dice that are not added together. however if you use multiply dice and add the number together probability comes into play. If a single d6 is rolled the chance that any number between 1 and 6 coming up is 1/6, but if you use two then the odds of rolling a 2 or 12 is 2/12 but rolling a 7 would be 6/12 (or at least that's how I think it works)

Cards
They can be shuffled, split, dealt face down or dealt so that only the player who has these cards can see them (this adds a 'fog of war' to the game, not knowing what the other players hold and therefore not being to see the entire game state at any one time) However as cards are finite, once one card is drawn that card can not be drawn again that turn and the odds of drawing any of the other cards go up and the odds of drawing that card become zero. This also applies to the start of a new turn, unless the cards are re-introduced into the deck and shuffled then the odds will shift even more as time passes.

Pseudo-random number generators.
It is extremely hard for most computers to ever come up with a completely random number, however there are a lot of algorithms out there that will generate a seemingly random number (random enough for most games) These can be used in a lot of ways but primarily its used for either random encounters, damage calculation and other 'non static' elements in games.

-Hidden information
information can be hidden from all players (Cludo) or just from other players or even individual players (Poker, Settlers of Catan) This also creates a 'fog of war' and can lead to some interesting game dynamics and ascetics.

There are many other ways to introduce elements of chance such as spinners, coin tosses, derides and randomised face down board tiles.

Scrabble uses a few of these mechanics such as hidden information (the player only know what tiles he or she has in her hand) and also the use of a bag to hide the remaining tiles so no one can see what is left and picking a tile is also completely random (even though the probability of any remaining tiles can be worked out from what is on the board, it appears to be random and therefore keeps the game interesting)

Very few games are truly random in their entirety. most will incorporate in some form elements of skill.

Children however lack the cognitive reasoning to play or enjoy more complete games such as room 25 or risk, so letting luck decide in games like snakes and ladders is a great way of providing an enjoyable experience and distraction as well as helping to teach them things like how to count (up to 6) and how to follow basic rules. I liken this use of luck to giving a child a game controller for an Xbox that isn't connected. the child feels involved and watch the game progress without ever having to do anything more than pretend.


Chapter 6 (Elements of "strategic" skill)

Raph Kister (A theory of fun for games design) "we play games and enjoy the process because we are seeking to master the pattern in the game"

A good game is a series of meaningful decisions. If a game is engaging enough in its decision making then the player soon falls through the monitor or TV and enters the game world, this is known as "entering the magic circle" (I'm sure I can think of a better term...........) Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls this state "flow" or "the optimal play state"


Decisions are widely know/referred to as 'skill'. A designer must put a lot of thought into the reasoning to a players decisions. if a player makes a choice that doesn't affect the game state, what is the point?

Here are a few different types of decisions.

Obvious Decisions
consider a game of highest number where one players says a number and the other must say a higher number, the choice is obvious. If the player says a number higher than his or her opponent then they will win but if they say one that is lower then they loose. This is usually tedious so most modern games automate these decisions such as auto reload when a gun is out of bullets or replenishing stamina over time rather than forcing a player to eat ever so often.

Meaningless decisions
These types of decisions are very frustrating however they can be 'hidden' from the player, wrapped up something that affects the immediate but not the over all game, such as changing dialogue or even appearing to react on what you chose despite both choices producing the same outcome. This is however lost after a quick replay of a level.

Blind decisions
These decisions are based on no facts or information. if you reach a nondescript fork in the road with no signs or makings and nobody has mentioned anything before about it, do you turn left or right? The fact is that whichever route you take is pretty much dumb luck, there is no way of knowing prior to this point what consequences will come to light due to your choice. Again this is lost on a replay due to already knowing the outcome of one of the routes.

Trade offs
This kind of decision is not a 'right or wrong' decision bus and 'or' decision. Assault rifle 'or' sniper rifle, armour 'or' weapon upgrade, build a farm 'or' barracks?

Dilemmas
When all choices are bad an will harm a player in some way, they are faced with a  dilemma. Does the player decide to pay a toll in coin or permanently loose a heart?

Risk vs reward trade offs
This is where each decision in the trade off has a different level of risk attached but a proportionate level of reward

Frequency or anticipation of a decision
The frequency of decision making can keep a player interested but anticipation of an impending decision can also have the same attention grabbing affect on a player.

Strategy and tactics
Grand-Strategy is the overall arching means in which to achieve an ultimate long term goal.
Tactics are a way of achieving a short term goal to aid in the progression to the ultimate goal.


There are many different types of trade off mechanics
-Auctions
-Purchases
-Limited use special ability's
-Dynamic limited use special ability's (power grows the longer you wait)
-Explicit choices
-Limited actions
-Trading and negotiating

There are also some questions you can ask yourself when evaluating the strategic components of a game:

"Do players care when other players are talking?"

"Are players making long term plans?"

"Are there multiple strategies for multiple games?"

All in all I think this reading was very informative and also really interesting. I will defiantly be using some of these tools in my future creations :)

Formal Abstract Design Tools (My Notes)

I just finished reading an article on Gamasutra on Formal Abstract Design Tools (FADT) and I have spent a little time writing up some notes on the subject. Again like previous notes these will be a direct copy of my hand written scribbles so please feel free to build off ideas (I hope to post my views more fully after my discussion about the article tomorrow)

Notes:-

All aspects of game development are improving exponentially without limits but game design is far slower.

Game Designers have no clear definitions to its vocabulary. Where doctors know the Latin names for different parts of the body, 'Fun' and 'Not Fun' can be discussed but never really go any further than that in terms of definition.

After new games are analysed by teams, things are taken away, stolen etc but overall remain mostly shallow and leaps forward in game design are few and far between.

Some definitions are described as concrete such as 'Jump', as this means pretty much one thing from one person to another. Others such as 'Cool' are much more open to interpretation from both the person using it and the person hearing or reading it.

Abstract words are tools, not building blocks. "You build a house out of bricks not tools" Using the right tools for the job are crucial as not every tools is required every time.

"Mario 64"

Mario 64 was picked apart to find its core and see what makes the game a success.

 Game Play - Open world exploration with a guided story (section by section)

The player spends most of his time deciding what to do rather than getting themselves unstuck. Levels are laid out in such a way that most of the area is seen on the first play through. Future goals and interactions are implied by the apparent hollow red squares and floating (currently inaccessible) platforms and even obvious additional stars on the initial route.

Simple controls = Solid game play

Power ups are slowly implemented and usually build on a pre existing idea or action in the game.
A constant game world means that when a player fails, they can see where they went wrong and act on the information the next time they attempt that task.

In RPG's such as Final Fantasy VII, you can be offered an decision such as "help the evil wizard" or "don't help the evil wizard" and then if you chose help him, the following negative consequences feel as though they are a direct reaction to the players action. however if a player is just told that he helped the wizard and bad things happened because of it, the player can feel cheated. This can be worked around by creating an illusion of choice or by moving the focus of player control (action/reaction) into another aspect of the game such as fighting.

FADT is a framework designed to help aid designers progress and develop better games. Knowing what game you want to build at first helps you chose the right tools for the job. FADT helps the designer craft the player experience they want.

My Notes On Costikyan

Last week I read a piece by Costikyan and here are a few of my notes (I'm still getting used to note taking but in the interest of transparency ill put what I've written down without modifying it):-

He first heard the term 'Game play' in 1982, he then goes on to state that "The term game play is nebulous, its like saying 'A good book'"

"The Game is Plastic" the term is used to explain that games can be used with any medium and fit any age etc.

"Interaction"
Games = Not Static, they change with players actions.
Puzzles = Static, stable logic structure to be solved with the help of clues.

Some games however are just a sequence of puzzles. Zork is "A game with strong puzzle elements"

"If its not interactive, its not a game!"

Snakes and ladders has no meaningful decisions, just dice rolls which = pure luck

Every game is an interactive game, otherwise its just a puzzle...

"Goals"

Interaction is a choice - Decision making is interaction with purpose.

At any point the game state is assessed, possible outcomes weighed up and a decision is made.

Willwright called Sim City a "Software Toy"
The game is not intrinsic in the toy. It is a set of player defined objectives overlay'd on the toy itself.

Sim City = Success because it had lots of goals
Sim Earth = Fail because it only had one goal

In games such as RPG's a goal is to get better and improve your character.

"Struggle"
Competition = Struggle, Without struggle the game gets boring fast.

"Plucky Lil England"

Ur-Story = Protagonist has a goal, Faces obstacles A, B, C, D. He struggles to overcome them in turn, growing as a person as he does so. These struggles do not need to be a villain.

"Structure"
E, Zimmerman "Games are structures of desire" "Makes games sound like a whore house"

Children often make up games, e.g. Cops and Robbers

Modern pen and paper RPG's and children's make believe are very similar, only major difference is that an RPG has more structure with the inclusion of a Game Master.

Rules are voluntary agreements you enter into willingly.
Small Changes (Iterations) can have a massive affect on player behaviour.

Paidea Vs Ludus

I recently had a lecture which covered the difference between Paidea and Ludus games. Paidea (literally play) are games which are played for the fun of it. They exist for no other reason than to entertain and give pleasure to those who play them.
They are less constrained by rules and usually the goals of playing such game (if any) are set by the player in their imagination. For instance bouncing a ball or playing catch with someone.

Ludus games are governed by rules and usually have a clear and decisive objective or goal. These can include competitive sports games such as tennis, rugby or football.

Looking at video games I find that a lot of games can laps into either category or even distinctly jump between the two. Sandbox games such as Grand Theft Auto, Just Cause and Saints Row have a clear and defined mission/challenge lay out with the true goal laying at the end of these missions.
This form of play in my eyes is defiantly ludus as it is governed by a clear set of rules and goal conditions. However all three allow you, at almost any time between missions, to explore the sandbox world around you and interact with it in any way you want (within the confines of the programming of course).
This type of play I be leave is firmly within the realms of paidea.

This also bring up the question of whether or not a video game can ever truly be paidea. I mean its all well and good giving the player a sandbox environment to play in but ultimately you are still a slave to the rules of the system. You can't do anything that the programmers have not pre determined possible unless you somehow manage to brake the game, in which case, you have a broken game, usually ending up rewarded with a frozen screen and an irritating buzzing sound!

There are also several different sub-category's for defining games that can be used. These are:

Agon: Short for Agony. This literally means the struggle of competition. An example of this would            be Team Fortress where two teams are constantly battling it out for supremacy.

Alea: Refers to games of chance or randomness such as card or dice games. Card games can also be           agon seeing as you are playing against either another player or the dealer to win.

Ilinx: Means movement or vertigo. These games are ones that involve getting from A-B such as          Mario and Sonic.

Mimicry: Is simulation, role-play or make-believe. Games such as the Sims and black and white fall                 into this category for me.

Also many games contain a mixture of these definitions. For example Minecraft is a sandbox game where you can make pretty much anything you can imagine (as long as its made of meter cubed blocks) This makes it a Padiea game, however you can travel in game to "The End" a different realm where a dragon lays in wait. To "complete" this game you can kill him which then make the game Ludus as you are playing towards a predefined goal.
The game itself also has elements of Mimicry as the game is ultimately a sandbox simulator where you play a guy cast into the wilderness with nothing but his hands to survive. From there you progress to collect materials for creating your house or shelter and tools for further gathering (I make it sound so boring but its easy to loose many hours this way without even realising)
Then when night falls monsters come out to hunt you. This then make the game more about survival then creating so it changes to include agon. I could include ilinx as the game involves a lot of movement and exploration and alea as the terrain and its available resources are randomly generated on creating the world but these are reaching a bit far :)

An Excerpt From The Art of Games Design, My Thoughts

I've just finished reading a chapter from Jesse Schell's The Art of Game Design: A Book of Tenses.

The chapter covered some of the key prerequisites and skills helpful to a game designer. I love reading this kind of writing, its really informative but charmingly witty and personal at the same time.

My favourite section was on listening. It was all about how we as game designers need to read between the lines, take into account what is not being said as well as what is, and not to block out criticism or negative feed back from players, team member or even yourself.

There is a quote from Herman Hesse which I particularly like:

"To listen with a silent heart, with a waiting, open soul. Without passion, without desire, without judgement, without rebuke."

 

I also enjoyed reading about the "gifts" which are referred to as minor (the natural born skill) and the major (the love and passion for the work). It helped inspire me by reminding us that even if you lack the skill, the passion will drive you to develop yourself to a point where you can surpass the naturally gifted.

 

" If you have the major gift, the love of designing games, you will design games using whatever limited skills you have. And you will keep doing it, And your love for the work will shine through, infusing your work with an indescribable glow that only comes from the love of doing it. And through practice, your game design skills, like muscles, will grow and become more powerful, until eventually your skills will be as great, or greater than, those of someone who only has the minor gift."



 

 

I AM A GAME DESIGNER!!!

Interview Time! (Some little bits about me)

Hi there!

So yesterday I was tasked with interviewing, and in turn being interviewed by, Mr Tom Kedik. Tom conducted himself, as usual, in full character for the entire task which is always fun :)

Here are my questions and answers, transcribed from Tom's notes which he passed on to me after the interview:

Tom:       What is the title of the book (fiction) you are currently reading?

Darren:   That would be 'Death Note Volume 1', which is a manga collection about a boy who finds a note book which kills anyone who's name is written inside. Its very Japanese in its craziness which is why I love it.

Tom:        What is the title and topic of the book (non-fiction) you are currently reading?

Darren:     The non-fiction book I'm currently reading is 'Challenges For Games Designers'. Great book with lots of information and non digital challenges that I can do either on my own or with others to improve many skills within Games Design. Glad I bought it!

Tom:         What was the last live performance you went to see?

Darren:     The last live performance I went to see was my 6 year old sisters dance recital. She got trapped on the wrong side of the curtains..... It was cute and I laughed..... (Sorry Emily)

Tom:         What was the title of the last film you saw at the cinema?

Darren:     I watched 'Pain and Gain' with Dwayne 'THE ROCK' Johnson and Mark Wahlberg. Great film, loved every second of it. Could not stop laughing!

Tom:         How often do you read the news paper?

Darren:     I hate world events and live in a bubble (not what I said but Tom saw fit to wright this instead..... Thanks Tom)

Tom:       Which art gallery / exhibition did you last visit?

Darren:   The last exhibition I visited was Eurogamer Expo but before that was the British Art Museum. I popped in to use the facility's while visiting London and ended up being drawn in for a few hours :)

Tom:      How many hours a week do you spend playing video games?

Darren: At the moment only about 5 or 6 hours a week due to starting university and being social for fresher's week. hopefully I'll be able to top that up soon with the new GTA and Legend of Zelda games on my shelf ready to suck hours of my life away in what will feel like a mere few minuets.

Tom:      And lastly how many hours a week do you spend playing other, non-digital, games

Darren:   Again currently only about 5 hours a week due to adjustments with uni life and that's mostly on pen and paper role playing games. Though again I would like to push this up a bit with more table top and board games.