A Design Approach to Game Research going beyond games for entertainment only
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Transcript of A Design Approach to Game Research going beyond games for entertainment only
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A Design Approach to Game Researchgoing beyond games for entertainment only
Staffan Björk
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Games have many potential uses
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Takeaway
• Knowing how to create games with specific attributes requires knowing how to create games
• Much of that knowledge is independent of the specific attributes
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Basic facts about IPerG
• Three and a half year duration
• Budget ~10 M Euro, 6 M€ contribution from commission
• Ten partners• Three phases• Started September 1st
2004
University of Nottingham, BlastTheory
Fraunhofer
Sony
University of Tampere, Nokia Research
SICS, Daydream, Interactive Institute, Gotland University
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IPerG’s objectives• Aims
– input to infrastructure standard for pervasive games, where the IPerG infrastructure forms the basis for a reference implementation.
– develop tools to support rapid and commercially viable development of pervasive games.
– develop pre-competitive demonstrations of innovative pervasive game concepts and genres.
– develop business models as well as a design and evaluation framework for pervasive games.
• Success Criteria– successful staging of a range
of pervasive game prototypes.– successful uptake of solution
packages for specific industrial segments, including software prototypes, design guidelines and suggestions for business approaches.
– Wide-spread awareness about IPerG’s activities in relevant European industry.
– The commercial exploitation of IPerG showcase games.
– The commercial exploitation of IPerG tools and other software components.
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Pervasive games
• Technology-based perspective– Position-based mobile games– Online-Onstreet Games– Games in an area with a
complete virtual / physical mapping
• Described through examples– Botfighters– Majestic– Can you see me now?
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Project structure• Four research themes
– Business Models– Design Methodology – Infrastructure– Tools
• Several showcases– Crossmedia Games– Socially Adaptable Games – Enhanced Reality Live Role
Playing– City as Theatre– Massive Multiplayer
Reaching Out• Learning by Experience
Research Theme
Activities
Evaluations,
Software Components
Guidelines
Tools
Infrastructure
Technology watch
Research awareness
Infrastructure
Tools
Methods
Game Designs
Genre Analyses
Showcase
Activities
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Commission ReviewCommission Review
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DELIVERABLES:
DELIVERABLES:
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Commission Review
TELLING PERVASIVE GAME
STORIES
TRANS-REALITY GAMING
CROSS MEDIA
CITY AS THEATER
MASSIVE MULTIPLAYER
LIVE ACTION ROLE PLAY
SOCIAL ADAPTABLE
CROSS MEDIA
CITY AS THEATER
MASSIVE MULTIPLAYER
SOCIAL ADAPTABLE
LIVE ACTION ROLE PLAY
DESIGN & EVAL. DESIGN & EVALUATIONDESIGN & EVALUATION
TOOLSTOOLSTOOLS
NEW BUSINESSNEW BUSINESSNEW BUSINESS
INFRASTRUCTURE INFRASTRUCTUREINFRASTRUCTURE
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Project Kick Off Project Re-planning
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-Game Prototypes-Play tests-Genre analysis
SELF-ASSESSMANT& RISK ANALYSIS
SELF-ASSESSMANT& RISK ANALYSIS
SELF-ASSESSMANT& RISK ANALYSIS
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Project Re-planning
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-Game Prototypes-Play tests-Genre design rec.
Project Wrap-up
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-Game Prototypes-Play tests-Final evaluation report.
-Social impact report-Solution Packages-Genre design requirements
-Second prototypes-Design framework
-Design guidelines-Tech. guidelines-First prototypes
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Iterative Processes
• Separates qualities as entertaining from other qualities
• Need to look at games with explicit design goals not related to entertainment
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Backgroundresearch
Researchquestion
Iterative Game Design Process
Iterative Game Design Research Process
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Types of research
• Focus on players– Understanding social interaction between
players– Study how players behave during gameplay– Study the meaning of games to players
• Focus on gameplay– Understanding game mechanics and player
interaction with these– Analyzing games both during gameplay and
purely analytically– Exploring new areas of the design space of
games
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Research issues and design concepts
• Identify research issues– Based upon earlier research– Based upon identified problems– Based upon user studies
• Identify potential design concepts– Based upon research issues– Based upon various design perspectives
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Case study – Socially Adaptable Games
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Social Adaptability
The ability of a game system to adjust, either actively or passively, to changes in the social environment so that negative effects on gameplay or activities overlapping the current game and play sessions are minimized.
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Rationale for the showcase
• Acknowledge that pervasive games are not played in environments set up for the purpose
• Similar problem to developing applications for mobile phones, PDAs, and other pervasive systems
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Board Games
• Augmenting existing board games– Hypothesis that they already have social
adaptability– Using existing game removes focus from
creating entertainment to maintaining it
• Creating original designs– Exploring new parts of the design space
of games
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Steps in Phase 1
• Complete outer loop– identify research
issues– create prototypes– evaluate research
results
• Multiple inner loops– iterative design of
prototypes– several prototypes
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Researchquestion
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Iterative Game Design Research Process
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Research issues• Identify core issues
– background survey• calm technology, social
weight, interruptability, seamfulness, design for ambiguity, player types,
– technology survey• atomic gameplay actions
– user studies (late)• Analyze core issues
– social interaction• functional roles, social roles,
modalities, player types, social groups
– changes in the magic circle– design experiments
• Systemize core issues– guidelines
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Research issues, cont.• Functional roles
– observational, basic, dedicated, unique, supporting, meta
• Social roles– banned, outcast, recluse,
motivator, negotiator, mediator, helper, violator, dominator, exhibitionist
• Atomic gameplay actions– Take OBJECT from POSITION,
Place OBJECTS on POSITION, Give OBJECT to PLAYER/NON-PLAYER, Find OBJECT, Perform SKILL BASED ACTION, Randomize, Compute EVALUATION FUNCTION, Select OPTION from SET OF OPTIONS, Order PLAYER to perform TASK
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Research issues, cont.
• Guidelines– support interruptability– allow multiple
communication channels
– consider ambiguity– design for external
events– allow modes of play
based on social roles– minimize social weight– analyze intended player
groups from several perspectives
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Design concepts
• Create design concepts– Using functional roles,
social roles, game design patterns,
• Analyze design concepts– Create design briefs
• Systemize design concepts– Create design
documents
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Design concepts, cont.
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Design concepts, cont.b c d ea
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Implementation
• 3 selected design concepts– 2 completed designs– 1 explored from a technology
infrastructure perspective
• Iterative design process– Low fidelity prototyping
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Implementation, cont.
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Implementation, cont.
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Implementation, cont.
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Feedback to IPerG
• Integration still in progress– evaluations, guidelines,
methods, design tools– but direct input to
terminology report
• Definition of a pervasive game– a game that is
ambiguous regarding the spatial, temporal, social or interaction aspects of the game.
Research Theme
Activities
Evaluations,
Software Components
Guidelines
Tools
Infrastructure
Technology watch
Research awareness
Infrastructure
Tools
Methods
Game Designs
Genre Analyses
Showcase
Activities
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Socially Adaptable Games: Next step
• Identify research issues for next step– User studies– Game concepts
• Social roles• Functional roles• Gameplay – Game Design
Patterns• Technology• Play modes due to
variable level of connectivity
• Play modes due to variable levels of gameplay immersion
• Sidekick play style• Different types of
ambiguity