Space of Possibility and Pacing in Casual Game Design – A

Second of Thursdays lessons was

 Space of Possibility and Pacing in Casual Game Design
A PopCap Case Study

Marcos Venturelli Kranio Studio

It is looking into aspects reverent to pacing, in casual games.

Pacing is connected to the rhythm of a game. The designer

Paces  the game so that the player experiences excitement

And pleasure all at the right levels.    

some of the elements connected to pacing are

Movement, impetus,Tension threat, and Tempo,

These four elements happen

Inside the Lower Arch of Pacing (that of a level or of a

Specific play session), and the Upper Arch of Pacing,

That represents the long-term relation between the

Player and the game, and how much time he is willing

to invest before becoming frustrated or bored and

Abandoning play.

Movement Impetus, is the will

or desire of a player to move forward through a game, as a designer we need to

keep  the player playing and wanting to come back for more. The paper uses the term “advancement decisions”,  if we do not put sufficient stimulus into our designs so  the player wants  to make “advancement decisions”, then as designers we have failed.  

Tension is a sense of danger; the player thinks he is in danger. Things like music,

sounds can make the player think he is about to be eaten by zombies. Threat is the zombies actually  trying to eat him.

Tempo is the “intensity” of play. It is the

time  between each significant decision made by the player.

You have to decide what type of game and who your target audience is to be to set the correct tempo. If your players have to think carefully about each move so playing too slow, but you have set the tempo of the game to high, then you will just have frustrated player. He will not make “advancement decisions” but will go and watch foot ball, or even worse play someone else’s game.

I like the term  “Space of Possibility”

It would be a good name for a game.

The patterns of a game and how the player sees them is very important, if there are too many and too hard then player has to slow down, so spoiling the tempo of the game. To easy and to obvious then he loses Impetus.

      

Gamasutra - Features - Formal Abstract Design Tools Doug Church.

 Thursday’s  reading.

Gamasutra - Features - Formal Abstract Design Tools Doug Church.

This was a very enlighting read for me; we must have a vocabulary for game design. You need one to make films, design cars, work as a doctor etc. If you need one for making films, then you defiantly need it for game design.  Game design has much more depth to it than film making, we don’t just make an actor stand on the x and say his lines; I know this is putting it a bit too simply, but for a game designer we have to think how that x is controlling our characters movement, decision making, and involvement with the storyline and other characters, not just now but in future events in the game play.

Doug Church has a technique called Abstract Design Tools.

Anyone interested in game deign needs tools like these, and most importantly to add to them.

I’m making what would be called in Cossacks a build path for Computer game design, tools like this are a big part of that build path.

FADT stands for Formal, Abstract Design Tools, some examples are:

INTENTION: Making an implementable plan of one's own creation in response to the current situation in the game world and one's understanding of the game play.

 Make players responsible for their actions, so when a particular game play doesn’t work they have a good idea of why it didn’t, and have more or a chance to work out what to do next time. Give them feedback if necessary.

PERCEIVABLE CONSEQUENCE: A clear reaction from the game world to the action of

The player.

Make sure the player knows why he has just died, or got stuck up a blind alley with no way-out. When you don’t understand why it happened it’s very frustrating. It might help the story line somehow, but as designers we must understand, if we need to get the players some were in the game for the storyline, we must make sure the player understands, and why the decisions he made have got him there.

STORY: The narrative thread, whether designer-driven or player-driven, that

binds events together and drives the player forward toward completion of the

game.

I can see making an enjoyable adventure game while keeping to the story line would be fun, but a very hard part of game designing. Keeping the plot advancing while setting goals for the player, without taking control away from him, and giving him freedom to explore and enjoy the world you have created, is not an easy thing to do. You need to know what tools to use and in what combination to use them. 

      

game Iteration

In critical game design we had to make a board game in 15 mins,

Using card, dice, counters etc, I made a track game called Motor cross,

It was the normal run of the mill game, if you landed in the waster square you went back two paces, that sort of thing. The idea wasn’t to make a fantastic unique game in 15 mins.

Thank god for that! It was partly to help us understand that it’s better to do something fast and get it done, rather than just sit there twiddling your thumbs thinking up ideas. Get an idea working fast then go back and look at it, using iteration.

We looked at the games and added changes one at a time, then played the game with the new idea, that way if it worked we could keep it, if it didn’t it was easy to remove and reset the game state.

First I added a chance card like monopoly some would make you go back, some forward.

Also, a take your opponents sparkplug card that you would keep until you landed on a square with another player on it, using the card would make him miss ago.

It worked a treat so it stayed in.

Second, was adding laps, the game was playing very fast so I added one lap. That also worked well so it stayed.

Last was a through the fence square, it was a second lane outside the main track it had twice the number of squares as the normal track so by the time you went down it and it  rejoined the main track you had lost some time. That also worked. So it stayed.     

The Iteration technique is one I use all the time, it’s the only way I can work with the rendering software I use, there are so many settings if it was done any other way you would be completely lost.

   

I had a very interesting week at uni

I had a very interesting week at uni, culminating in a informative class with Eddie in Critical games study. Covering ‘Defining video games’  is a mission in its self, when you consider that virtually every card game or board game you have ever played can now be played in a video game; almost every conflict between nations you can now be part of, makes for an interesting subject. It’s not enough to say it’s an adventure type game it could be a paidea; playing just for the fun of it, or a ludus one with set rules and goals type game, for example. I can see the course will help give me the tools necessary to pull apart each game into its core elements and define each one of them.

At the end of the class we watched a film ‘thumb candy’ all about the pioneers of the computer games industry, seeing how they had their Sparks of inspiration was wonderful!  

‘From Pizza to bread baking tins’ would have been a good title.  

The further I get into the course the more I realize what a fascinating subject computer games design is. We currently have 3 game projects on the go, one completely of choice, one for Ks1 National Curriculum, another for an online gambling company, this in itself shows the diversity in computer games deign. You close one folder and try to get out of the mindset of a 6 year old, straight into one of an adult online gambler.           

task we were set in our first lesson

This post covers a task we were set in our first lesson

In Critical games studies.

We were set some questions for an interview with a fellow student,

It’s a bit of an ice breaker and also gets our blogs going. Sorry if it’s not very stimulating

Hopefully future posts will be a bit more interesting, so please pop back from time to time. 

What is the title of the book (fiction) you are currently reading (or the last fiction book you read)?

Patrick O’Brian’s Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin novels, all 21 of them I am reading them for the 3^rd Time, they are set in the early 19^th century during the Napoleonic wars. His knowledge of the period is astonishing, partially the seafaring life. They are not just action adventure books, but novels covering all aspects of the period.

      

               

What is the title/topic of the book (non-fiction) you are currently reading (or the last non-fiction book you read)?

Kirk Douglas’ autobiography, The ragman’s son.

A very interesting read. sometimes it’s not good to read about,

Movie stars etc. But I have no regrets after reading this

Autobiography.

               

What is the last live performance (music, drama or dance) you attended?

The Russian ballet performing swan lake. We had seats very close to the stage.

It was amazing to see all the hand movement and gestures.

               

What is the title of the last film you saw at the cinema / online or watched on dvd?

Ronin starring Robert De Nero and Jean Reno. A nice bit of action adventure 

               

How often do you read a newspaper? (which one?)

Never I like fiction with a good story.

 

Which art gallery / museum / exhibition did you last visit?

National portrait gallery. we were there for hours, if you have never been

put it on your things to do list. There are some wonderful works of art there.

We also visited the Tate modem, we were there for minutes, the big box was an interesting experience, most of the rest I just didn't get.