Download Slides - The collected game design rants of Marc LeBlanc

Is this thing on?
Game Design Workshop
Orientation
GDC 2008
About The Workshop
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Started in 2001
Hands-on
Focused on iteration
Grounded in a formal approach
Intended to be open-ended
What It’s NOT about…
• How to get a job as a game
designer
• How to write a design document
• Where game ideas “come from”
• How to get your game funded
• How to use a level editor
In Other Words...
• It’s not about the Business
(Getting a job, pitching a game,
getting funded)
• It’s not about the Profession
(Writing documents, tracking bugs,
using tools)
• It’s about the Craft
(Making games that are fun)
What You’ll be Doing
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Playing games
Analyzing games
Critiquing games
Modifying games
Refining games
The Faculty
• Jonathan Hamel
BreakAway Games
• Clint Hocking
Ubisoft
• Robin Hunicke
Electronic Arts (LA)
• Frank Lantz
Area/Code
• Marc LeBlanc
Mind Control Software
• Andrew Leker
Mind Control Software
• Steve Librande
Electronic Arts (Spore)
• Tim Stellmach
Vicarious Visions
A Few Ground Rules
• Please attend as much as you can
• Collaborate, Share, and Encourage
• Save the “meta-discussion” for the
very end
• Turn the laptop off
• Fail Early. Fail Often.
• Fail Sooner. Fail Faster.
Let the Games Begin!
Go to the room matching your poker
chip
• Blue: 3005
• Red: 3007
• White: 3020
SiSSYFiGHT 3000
Overview
SiSSYFiGHT simulates a playground
fight between little girls.
Overview
Each girl begins with 10 SelfEsteem chips
… and the goal of the game is to
reduce your opponents’ selfesteem to ZERO!
Overview
When there are only one or two
players left with any self-esteem,
they win the game!
Setup
Each player starts with:
1. Three “Action” cards
2. Six “Target” cards, 1 “No Target” card
3. Ten chips.
Each player plays a different color.
Choose a color and put it in your badge
holder.
Rules
Each Round:
• Choose an “Action” and “Target”
in secret.
• Reveal cards simultaneously
• Resolve actions
• All communication must be public.
• When you run out of chips, you’re out.
• When one or two people are left, they win.
Actions
• Solo:
 Target discards one chip.
• Team:
 If anyone else teams against this target,
she discards two chips per attacking player.
• Defend:
 Not an attack – choose “No Target” as your target.
 If no one targets you: lose one chip.
 Else, lose half the chips required (round down).
1  0, 2  1, 3  1, 4  2, etc.
Coffee at 11:00
• Play until then
• Come back here at 11:15
General Observations About
Sissyfight?
What’s fun about SiSSYFiGHT?
• What kinds of fun did you
experience?
• Can we get more specific than
“fun?”
What’s fun about SiSSYFiGHT?
• What kinds of fun did you
experience?
• Can we get more specific than
“fun?”
 Intrigue: Negotiation, Cooperation, Betrayal
 Challenge: Tactics, Problem Solving
 Drama
How do we get from…
• Cards
• Chips
• Rules
To…
• Cards
• Chips
• Rules
• Intrigue
• Challenge
• Drama
What’s missing?
“Rules”
“Fun”
The causal link…
“Rules”
“Behavior”
“Fun”
This is what sets games apart…
Games As Software
“Rules”
“Behavior”
“Fun”
Games As Software
“Rules”
“Behavior”
“Fun”
Code
Process
Requirements
A Design Vocabulary
“Behavior”
“Fun”
Process
Requirements
Mechanics
A Design Vocabulary
“Fun”
Mechanics
Dynamics
Requirements
A Design Vocabulary
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics
The MDA Framework
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics
Definitions
• Mechanics: The rules and concepts
that formally specify the game-assystem.
• Dynamics: The run-time behavior of
the game-as-system.
• Aesthetics: The desirable emotional
responses evoked by the game
dynamics.
The Designer/Player Relationship

Designer
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics

Player
The Player’s Perspective
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics

Player
The Designer’s Perspective

Designer
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics
MDA
• A “Taxonomy” of Design
Knowledge
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
Aesthetics
Dynamics
Mechanics
…and the interactions between them.
Aesthetics of SiSSYFiGHT
• Fellowship: Negotiation,
Cooperation, Betrayal
• Challenge: Tactics, Problem Solving
• Narrative: Drama
Dynamics of SiSSYFIGHT
Competition,
Random Attacks
Equality
Scourge
Cooperation,
Team Attacks
Mechanics of SiSSYFiGHT
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Turn-based
Hit Points
Public Communication
Simultaneous Action
SiSSYFiGHT Fiction
• Does SiSSYFiGHT do a good job of
conveying its subject matter?
• How can it do better?
SiSSYFiGHT Fiction
What other fictional genre or
subject matter could the
mechanics of SiSSYFiGHT simulate?
Exercise
• Choose a fictional genre and/or setting
that might fit this game.
• Adapt the game to your chosen subject
matter.
• Keep in mind the aesthetic qualities we
identified in the breakdown.
• How can the rules of the game be
changed to best support your fiction?
Brainstorming
• Everyone Grab a Sticky Pad
When I Say “Go…”
1. You will have 90 seconds.
2. Write down as many genre ideas
as you can.
3. One to a sticky note.
4. Keep it Short ( 5 words)
5. No idea is too dumb.
6. Work in silence.
Ready?
• Go!
Pens Down!
With your group:
• Get on your feet!
• Find some wall space
• Stick your ideas to the wall
• Put like ideas together
• Look for critical mass
• Narrow down a fiction to work on.
Exercise:
• You’ve chosen a setting or fiction for
SiSSYFiGHT.
• Adapt the game to your chosen subject
matter.
• Keep in mind the aesthetic qualities we
identified at the beginning.
• How can the rules of the game be
changed to best support your fiction?
Lunch at 12:30
• Work until then
• Sign up for Electives in 3005
• Come back here at 2:00
Welcome Back
• Continue working with your group
• Be ready to present at 3:00
Exercise:
• You’ve chosen a setting or fiction for
SiSSYFiGHT.
• Adapt the game to your chosen subject
matter.
• Keep in mind the aesthetic qualities we
identified at the beginning.
• How can the rules of the game be
changed to best support your fiction?
Be ready to present at 3:00!
Discussion
• Let’s compare solutions. What
different approaches did we take?
Discussion
How did the game dynamics support
your subject matter?
Were the game dynamics and the
subject matter ever in conflict?
How did your choice of subject
matter influence your process?
Any Final Observations?
The MDA Framework
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics
Understanding Aesthetics
• We need to get past words like
“fun” and “gameplay.”
• What kinds of “fun” are there?
• How will we know a particular kind
of “fun” when we see it?
Eight Kinds of “Fun”
• Sensation
Game as art object
Eight Kinds of “Fun”
• Sensation
• Fantasy
Game as make-believe
Eight Kinds of “Fun”
• Sensation
• Fantasy
• Narrative
Game as unfolding story
Eight Kinds of “Fun”
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Sensation
Fantasy
Narrative
Challenge
Game as obstacle course
Eight Kinds of “Fun”
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Sensation
Fantasy
Narrative
Challenge
Fellowship
Game as social framework
Eight Kinds of “Fun”
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Sensation
Fantasy
Narrative
Challenge
Fellowship
Discovery
Game as uncharted territory
Eight Kinds of “Fun”
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Sensation
Fantasy
Narrative
Challenge
Fellowship
Discovery
Expression
Game as soap box
Eight Kinds of “Fun”
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Sensation
Fantasy
Narrative
Challenge
Fellowship
Discovery
Expression
Submission
Game as mindless pastime
Clarifying Our Aesthetics
Charades is “fun”
Team Fortress is “fun”
Final Fantasy is “fun”
Clarifying Our Aesthetics
Charades is
Fellowship, Expression, Challenge
Team Fortress is
Competition, Schadenfreude, Challenge,
Sensation, Fantasy
Final Fantasy is
Fantasy, Narrative, Expression, Discovery,
Challenge, Masochism
Each game pursues multiple aesthetics.
Again, there is no Game Unified Theory.
Clarifying Our Goals
• As designers, we can choose
certain aesthetics as goals for our
game design.
• We need more than a one-word
definition of our goals.
Formulating an “Aesthetic
Model”
For each aesthetic goal:
• Write a formal definition
• List criteria for success
• List modes of failure
• Serves as an “aesthetic compass”
• These are often reusable
Some examples…
Goal: Competition
• Definition: A game is competitive if
players are emotionally invested in
defeating each other.
• Success:
 Players are adversaries.
 Players want to win.
• Failure:
 A player feels that he can’t win.
 A player can’t measure his progress.
Goal: Pirate Fantasy
• Definition: A pirate fantasy conforms to
the genre conventions of pirate movies,
and permits the player to engage in
certain kinds of anti-social pirate
behavior.
Goal: Pirate Fantasy
• Definition: A pirate fantasy conforms to
the genre conventions of pirate movies,
and permits the player to engage in
certain kinds of anti-social pirate
behavior.
• Failure:
• Success:
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Empowerment
Independence
Greed
Treachery
Prey upon Weak
 Vulnerability
 Compassion
 Generosity
Goal: Drama
Definition: A game is dramatic if:
• Its central conflict creates dramatic tension.
• The dramatic tension builds towards a climax.
Dramatic Tension
Clima x
Conflict
Resolution
Narrative Time
Goal: Drama
• Success:
 A sense of uncertainty
 A sense of inevitability
 Tension increases towards a climax
• Failure:
 The conflict’s outcome is obvious (no uncertainty)
 No sense of forward progress (no inevitability)
 Player doesn’t care how the conflict resolves.
Understanding Dynamics
• What about the game’s behavior
can we predict before we go to
playtest?
• How can we explain the behavior
that we observe?
Formalizing Game Dynamics
Input
(Player)
Rules
Output
State
(Graphics/
Sound)
The “State Machine” Model
Examples: Chess, Team Fortress
Models of Game Dynamics
• Again, no Grand Unified Theory
• Instead, a collection of many
Dynamic Models.
• Dynamics models are analytical in
nature.
Some examples…
Example: Random Variable
Chance in 36
• This is a model of 2d6:
2
3
4
5
6Die7roll8
9 10 11 12
Example: Feedback System
A feedback system monitors and regulates its own state.
Room
Thermometer
Heater
Too Cold
Too Hot
Cooler
Controller
An Ideal Thermostat
Example: Operant
Conditioning
• The player is part of the system,
too!
• Psychology gives us models to
explain and predict the player’s
behavior.
Example: Random Variable
Chance in 36
• This is a model of 2d6:
2
3
4
5
6Die7roll8
9 10 11 12
Where Models Come From
• Analysis of existing games
• Other Fields:
 Math, Psychology, Engineering…
• Our own experience
Understanding Mechanics
• There’s a vast library of common
game mechanics.
Examples
• Cards
 Shuffling, Trick-Taking, Bidding
• Shooters
 Ammunition, Spawn Points
• Golf
 Sand Traps, Water Hazards
Mechanics vs. Dynamics
• There’s a grey area
 Some behaviors are direct consequences of rules.
 Others are indirect.
 “Dynamics” usually means the latter.
• Dynamics and Mechanics are
different views of games.
• Dynamics emerge from Mechanics.
MDA
• A “Taxonomy” of Design
Knowledge




Aesthetics
Dynamics
Mechanics
…and the interactions between them.
MDA in SiSSYFiGHT
Simultaneous turns + attack actions 
MDA in SiSSYFiGHT
Simultaneous turns + attack actions 
Competition,
Random Attacks
Equality
Scourge
Cooperation,
Team Attacks
MDA in SiSSYFiGHT
Simultaneous turns + attack actions 
Competition,
Random Attacks
Equality
Scourge
Cooperation,
Team Attacks
 Betrayal!
Coffee at 4:00
• At 4:15, find your Elective A room:
 World of Rulecraft: 3005
 Seven Deadly Sins: 3007
 Coopetition: 3020