Hunicke et al (2004) describe games as 'systems that build behaviour via interaction'
From your reading of the article, how does this system work and what kinds of controls does the games designer have at their disposal?
MDA - Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics
iterative, qualitative, quantitative analyses support the designer in two ways: analyze the end result to refine implementation, analyze the implementation to refine the result -- approach from both perspectives, consider wide range of possibilities and interdependencies.
all desired user experience must bottom out somewhere in code. games continue to generate increasingly complex agent, object and system behaviour, AI and game design merge.
production and consumption of game artifacts
the designer and player each have a different perspective
games' consumption is relatively unpredictable.
MDA framework formalizes consumption of games - breaks into distinct components
establishes design counterparts
"mechanics" describes components of game at level of data representation and algorithms
"dynamics" run-time behaviour of the mechanics acting on player input
"aesthetics" desirable emotional response evoked in player
games more like artefacts than media - content of game is behaviour not media that streams out to player
think about games as designed artefacts help frame them as systems that build behaviour via interaction. support clear design choice
designer perspective > mechanics give rise to dynamic system behaviour - leads to particular aesthetic exp.
player perspective > aesthetics set tone, born out of observable dynamics and eventually operable mechanics
consider both designer and player perspectives
small changes can have rippling effect
sensation games as sense-pleasure
fantasy game as make-believe
narrative game as drama
challenge game as obstacle course
fellowship game as social framework
discovery game as uncharted territory
expression game as self-discovery
submission game as pastime
charades, quake, sims, final fantasy - fun in their own way.
charades - fellowship, expression, challenge
quake - challenge, sensation, competition, fantasy
sims - discovery, fantasy, expression, narrative
final fantasy - fantasy, narrative, expression, discovery, challenge, submission
develop models that predict and describe gameplay dynamics we avoid common design pitfalls
probabilistic distribution of the random variable 2 D6
eg 2 six-sided die helps determine avg. time takes a player to progress around board in monopoly
identify feedback systems within gameplay to determine how particular states or changes affect overall state of gameplay - monopoly: leader increases in wealth > penalise players with increasing effectiveness. poorer becomes poorer.
the feedback system in monopoly
as gap widens, only 1 player continues to be emotionally invested. others realise they won't win and don't care to play any longer.
to fix could reward players who are behind to keep them within reasonable distance - could impact game's ability to recreate reality of monopoly practices - reality isn't always fun
mechanics are actions, behaviours and control mechanisms afforded to player within game. along with game's content, mechanics support dynamics
iterative refinement important - see changes as they happen
moving between MDA's three levels of abstraction we can conceptualize the dynamic behaviour of game systems.
by breaking a game down and looking at its mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics, we can develop techniques for iterative design which gives us better control over our desired outcomes and behaviour
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