Download Operational Rules for Digital Games

Administrative
• This was the last homework for the semester (yay!)
• First run of games: October 16nd in class
– Short document describing: goal + operational rules
(1-2 pages)
– Main point: bring a working prototype
• Even rudimentary and short
• But needs to be interactive
– Class will be given a questionnaire for evaluating your
game
– Answered questionnaire will be returned to game
designers
– I’ll give pointed feedback of what needs to be done to
be exempt from the final
Rules for Digital Games and
Categorization of Games based on AI
(Ch. 13)
RECAP from previous class
• Characteristics of rules in games
Rules limit player action
Rules are explicit and unambiguous
Rule are shared by all players
Rules are fixed
Rules are binding
Rules are repeatable
• Rules in any game exists on 3 levels:
Constitutive rules
Operational rules
Implicit rules
Now we are going to look at these definitions in the context
of digital games
One Question
• Are the rules of a digital game the same as the program
that codes this game (because if so why bother with
rules levels and such…)?
Parts of the program that are unrelated to the rules of
the game:
• “allocate” more memory for program
• Load a software library to build complex
pieces of code
•“garbage collection”
•…
Example: Rules of Tetris
• Let us list the operational rules of Tetris
– For this version
•Keyboard action are
part of the game rules
•Randomness of next piece
is an integral part of the
rule design
Example: Rules versus Non rules in
Digital games
Examples of “non rules”
• Background in Tetris
• Are visuals part of the
operational rules of games?
 Example where the answer is “yes”:
 HW: Give an example of an element in the graphical
user interface of the game that is part of the game’s
rules
 Examples where the answer is “no”
 HW: Give an example of an element in the graphical
user interface that is not part of the game’s rules
 HW: Do they affect the experience?
Thief: Some Operational Rules
• Check the video
• Factors influencing NPCs detection:
– Lighting
• Your location
• Environment (torches)
– Proximity to NPC
– Line of view of NPC
– Your movement
Thus, visuals
are an integral part
of the operational
rules for this game
Constitutive Rules for Digital Games
• Lets think of the constitutive rules for a digital Chutes and
Ladders versus a non digital one. Any difference?
• Same constitutive rules as for non digital games
– Why?
 They concern with the game logic
 Internal events (how choice is processed)
 As opposed to external events (how
choice is represented)
Operational Rules for Digital Games
• Include input devices (keyboard, etc)
• Lets think of the operational rules for a digital Tic-TacToe (versus non-digital)
• Operational rules focuses on external events (how
choice is represented)
Implicit Rules for Digital Games
• Examples of implicit rules in digital games? (HW)
Move mouse  cursor moves
Playing the game won’t affect my computer!
…
Categories of Games from an Artificial
Intelligence (AI) Perspective
• Categories were, in part, the result of pursuing to apply
AI techniques to construct “better” computer-controlled
opponents
• Depending on the categories, building such AI turns out
to be easier or more difficult
• They provide game design options
– You can consider these options in the game you are
creating.
Deterministic Games
•Every player’s action results in a single pre-determined state?
Yes: Deterministic game
state
action
Chance Games
•Every player’s action results in a single pre-determined state?
No: Chance game
Action: A cast a
damage spell on B
A
B
Action
state1
state2
…
(We don’t know
apriori which
until action is
performed)
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
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)
Deterministic
Perfect
information
Chess
Imperfect
information
Starcraft (*)
Chance
Chutes and Ladders
Civilization
(*) assuming there is no hit/miss dice rolled when a unit shoots another unit