lecture 3 - cornell university · lecture 3: game design initiative ... today paper prototyping...
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gamedesigninitiativeat cornell university
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Paper Prototyping
Lecture 3:
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Updates
Assignment 2 is due TONIGHT at 11:59pm
Project pitches on Thursday
Described as “Assignment 3”
Paper Prototyping2
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Today
Paper prototyping
Will do this in class next Tuesday
Group meeting time
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Game Design is Hard
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So we need to test
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Full game requires a lot of effort
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STILL requires a lot of effort
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Paper prototype!
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Purpose of Paper Prototyping
Evaluate some part of the design
Not necessarily the whole design
Investigate central design questions
Simulate enough of the game to decide if it will work
Identify key problems quickly
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Paper prototyping is sometimes easy
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Less clear in other cases…
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What about…
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What about…
gamedesigninitiativeat cornell university
thegamedesigninitiative
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games are a series of
interesting decisions
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Sid Meier
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Should be able to simulate decisions
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What are the decisions?
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What are the decisions?
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What are the decisions?
gamedesigninitiativeat cornell university
thegamedesigninitiative
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Avoid Overly Aggressive Gandhi
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Modeling Gameplay
Key is discretization
Identify game variables and break them into decision-
significant pieces
Space
Time
Money
Health
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Discretizing Space
Prototyping
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Discretizing Space
Prototyping
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Discretizing Space
Prototyping
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Discretizing Space
Prototyping
gamedesigninitiativeat cornell university
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Turns!
Represent a unit of action
When done, game “at rest”
Turns can be multistep
Multiple actions in a turn
Environmental interactions
Turns can alternate
between other players
with a gamemaster
not at all (one player?)
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Discretizing Time
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Turns are the difference
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But you could introduce turns
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1. Fire Planning Phase
Choose units to attack
2. Firing Phase
Units fire one-by-one
Subtract hitpoints
3. Move Phase
Units move
4. Upkeep Phase
Units recharge / heal
5. Build Phase
Units build, finish, etc.
6. Mining Phase
We need more minerals
Gameplay Modeling29
Possible Starcraft Turn
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Allow opponent to interrupt
Action that reacts to yours
Played after you act, but
before action takes an effect
Core mechanic in Magic:TG
Make play asynchronous
Players still have turns
But take turns as fast as can
Conflicts resolved via speed
Often need a referee for aid
Gameplay Modeling30
Simulating Reaction Time
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Discretizing Resources
Gameplay Modeling31
Jetpack expends
oxygen (=health)
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Discretizing Resources
Gameplay Modeling32
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Questions to explore
Does the game “work”?
Is it fun?
Can someone learn how to play?
Is the interface usable?
Can the design scale to include multiple levels?
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Flow
Skill
Chal
lenge Anxiety
Boredom
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Easy
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Medium
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Hard
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Show difficulty curve
Easy Medium Hard
gamedesigninitiativeat cornell university
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Details are on the website
Listed as “Assignment 4”
Bring prototype to class next Tuesday
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Rest of class: structured group time
Come up with your designs!
Put your ideas into a Google doc that’s on the website
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Things to discuss
What type of game?
What is the “hook” – why will anyone play it?
What does the player do?
How will the player interact with the game?
How will the game get more difficult?
What are the key issues that need to be explored?
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