Administrative: “Design New Game” Project

• Apply the principles of Iterative Design– First run of games in class: March 28th in class

• Short document describing: goal + operational rules (1-2 pages)

• Main point: bring a working prototype • Class will be given a questionnaire evaluating the

game• Answered questionnaire will be returned to game

designers (questions about meaningful play)• Game designers modify game as they see fit

Administrative: “Design New Game” Project (2)

• Apply the principles of Iterative Design– Final deadline: April 20th in class

• Short document describing: goal + operational rules (1-2 pages)

• Final working game • Class will be given a questionnaire evaluating the

game• Answered questionnaire will be returned to instructor

(questions about meaningful play)– Document deadline: April 24th in class (see next slide)– Announcement about final exam exemption: April 25th

(per e-mail)

Talking Points “Design New Game” Document

• Note: always justify your assertions by pointing to material from class/book

• Length: 7-10 pages• Describe the game: what it does (operational rules, idea)• Overall game: meaningful play?• Game as system:

– Explain the 4 elements (attributes, etc) for the game• Interactivity

– Map the anatomy of choice: answer the five questions for the game

• After thought: things you would have done differently

Final Thought “Design New Game”

• Avoid worst-case scenario: spending time on this project and still need to do Final Exam

• Start working on the two projects nowReward: one less exam to worry aboutAnd have fun creating your own game!

Complexity and Emergence in Games(Ch. 14)

Deterministic Games

•Every player’s action has a single pre-determined outcome?Yes: Deterministic game

Action One and only one outcome

Chance Games•Every player’s action has a single pre-determined outcome?

No: Chance game

A

B

Action: A cast a damage spell on B

Outcome:• B blocks spell with 20% chances• If B does not block spell, then damage dealt to B is randomly choose between 25%-40% of player’s B health points

Action

outcome1

outcome2

…

(We don’t know which until action is performed)

Perfect Information Games

•Does the player knows all information about the current state of the game?

Yes: perfect information game

Imperfect Information Games

•Does the player knows all information about the current state of the game?

No: imperfect information game

Categories of Digital Games (from “Artificial Intelligence” perspective)

Perfect information

Imperfect information

Deterministic Chance

Chess

FPS Civilization

Borderline games that could be classified either way?• It is going to happen unless we use math• As usual just provide a clear explanation

Chutes and Ladders

Systems and Complexity

• Reminder:– What is a system?– Why can game be viewed as systems?

• System’s Complexity: ways in which parts interact within a system

• Four categories of system’s complexity:– Fixed– Periodic– Complex– Chaotic

(this is not computational complexity, which studies how hard is for computers to solve a given problem)

Complexity and Meaningful Play

• Are these two related?– What happens if there is no relation between play

elements? • Example : Grid game

– Lets add complexity: relations between play elements• Does it achieves meaningful play?

Ways parts interact within a system

Discernable and integrated actions

Emergence

• Behavior of the overall system is greater than its parts

• Example: simple operational rules but vary and unpredictable results vary and unpredictable results

• Obvious example: complex operational rules and operational rules

•Pong•Warcraft (is it simple?)

Classes of Object Interactions• Coupled: objects are linked recursively

– Non-gaming Example: ant colony

– Game example?

• Context-dependent: changes are not the same over time

– Non-gaming example: behaviors of the colony under attack versus harvesting

– Game example?

• Emergent system: interactions are coupled and context-dependent

• To achieve emergent behavior in a game: Tuning (or iterative design) is needed