study of games design comparisons to traditional narrative forms, it's inevitable.
70s & 80s text adventures like zork gave new way to combine play with prose.
zelda & GTA possess sights, sounds, characters and plots that we can see in a feature film.
ancient egyptian game "senet" - one of the top contendors, along with Go, for "oldest game known to humanity" - tells the story of the passage through the underworld to the land of the dead. players believed that the game was an oracle for mystical divination. events of game foretold what the player might one day experience.
story doesnt necessarily rely on the metaphor of the game, but on the events of the game itself: the plans and gambits, the bluffs and stratagems, the reversals of fortune. game becomes climactic struggle to a satisfying conclusion. game is dramatic
drama = desirable quality in a game. as designers we strive to create games that are climactic struggles in their own right.
challenge of creating drama in a game is compounded by our limited control over games we create. don't know the details of how our game will play out each time.
we do not create drama, we create the circumstances from which drama will emerge.
how do we go about the task of creating dramatic games? what tools can we use to guarantee a climatic struggle?
MDA
exploration of drama guided by this core framework (mechanics, dynamics, aesthetics)
mechanics > necessary pieces that are needed to play the game. refers to the rules of the game - also to equipment, venue, anything necessary to play. e.g. chess > rules, how pieces move, dimensions of board, etc.
dynamics > "behaviour" of the game - actual events and phenomena that occur as it's played. in chess, tactical concepts like the knight fork or the discovered check as well as structural concepts like the opening and endgame. when we view a game's dynamics, we ask "what happens when the game is played?"
dynamics of game not mandated by its rules and not always easy to intuit from rules themselves.
dynamics emerge from game's mechanics
aesthetics > emotional content. game can challenge our intellect, foster social interaction, stimulate our imagination, provide us with a vehicle for self-expression. these properties are part of the aesthetics.
aesthetics emerge from its dynamics - how the game behaves determines how it makes the player feel.
one of the greatest challenges of games design is understanding how specific game dynamics evoke specific emotional responses.
mechanics of game always exist (e.g. chess board sitting on the shelf - thought of as box of mechanics waiting for us to set it in motion. dynamics however only manifest when the game is being played. reaping the aesthetics from the game depends on actually playing the game and bringing aesthetics to life.
playing a game = casual flow that starts with its mechanics, passes through dynamics, and ends with aesthetics - as a designer this is true, as a player I believe it to be the opposite (I just remembered after writing this that Hunicke actually covers this in his MDA article)
work backwards - what dynamics will accomplish our aesthetic objectives, from there design game mechanics that will create those dynamics. when designing a game, our experience begins with aesthetics, passes through dynamics, and ends with a set of mechanics.
how does drama function as an aesthetic of play?
what kinds of game dynamics can evoke drama?
from what kinds of mechanics do those dynamics emerge?
aesthetic models help us know when we have achieved them and if we're headed in the right direction.
drama is only one aesthetic among many. many reasons to play a game. they can challenge us, realise our fantasies, bring us into social contact, and many more. each experience is a separate aesthetic pleasure with its own aesthetic model. aesthetics can coexist. when designing a game we hope players have many kinds of fun, not a single kind.
tension = quantity that can accumulate and discharge, increase or decrease as time passes.
dramatic tension = level of emotional investment in the story's conflict. sense of concern, apprehension, urgency with which we await the outcome.
drama in games
in theatre authors have complete control over every moment of unfolding narrative. game designers have greater challenge - assure that game will be dramatic, even when we don't have direct control over the narrative, which isn't scripted in advance, but rather emerges from the events of the game.
conflict creates drama. conflict comes from contest around which the game is built. some contests challenge player's intellect, stamina, other players, single player challenges. all necessary for drama.
dramatic tension is product of two different factors
uncertainty: sense that the outcome of the contest is still unknown any player could win or lose.
inevitability: sense that the contest is moving forward toward resolution. outcome is imminent.
neither is sufficient by itself. without uncertainty game becomes a foregone conclusion. without inevitability outcome of conflict seems distant.
magic the gathering - game starts with full deck of cards and nothing in play. in first few turns the players' ability to affect outcome of game is limited by lack of mana resources. outcome is unknown. as play progresses, more cards come into play and game moves towards a conclusion. late in game, abundance of mana resources means player could change game drastically in a single move. outcome of game seems imminent. these mechanisms sculpt the game.
uncertainty and inevitability are evoked by different systems and dynamics. independent of each other. gives us finer control over dramatic arc of game. tune them separately.
to imbue games with dramatic uncertainty, we need to create ongoing sense that the game is close and that the contest is yet undecided.
force is approach of creating dramatic tension by manipulating the state of the contest itself. game close because we make it close, or limit how much of an advantage a player can get.
illusion is approach of manipulating the players' perceptions so that game seems closer than it is.
pure force (eg cybernetic feedback systems) pure illusion (eg fog of war) as well as techniques that combine the two (eg escalation)
ticking clock is sense of imminent resolution - gives a game its sense of momentum. constant reminder that game will end soon
feedback system might look like this
game state = all information that would be put in a safe file. FPS game state = name of current level, position of every object on level, player's health and inventory.
scoring function is the sensor of cybernetic feedback system. rule of game that gives numerical measurement of who is winning and by how much. measurement based on facts of the game
game mechanical bias is actuator of the cybernetic feedback system. rule of the game that gives one of the contestants an advantage over the other. in a DM game, giving one player twice as many points as other would give that player an advantage.
controller is comparator of the cybernetic feedback system. rule of the game that chooses which player receives the game mechanical bias. decision made based on scoring function.
handicap = aiding player who is behind. eg in racing game, player who falls behind gets max speed increased so he can catch up to leader. this is similar to feedback system. scoring function is the distance between the two racers. speed boost is the mechanical bias. controller is rule that says speed boost goes to losing racer.
that kind of feedback system keeps close - mario karts uses it - negative feedback system. opposite is positive feedback, striving to make the difference as large as possible.
dramatic uncertainty depends on player's perception that outcome of contest is unknown. if game is tied or close, it's inherently uncertain. this means negative feedback systems are powerful tool for creating dramatic tension. driving scoring function to zero creates dramatic uncertainty.
negative feedback systems can sometimes cause game to stagnate. positive feedback systems provide mechanism for breaking equilibrium and moving game forward.
other game mechanics create dramatic uncertainty. could be described as illusory - rather than altering the state of the game, they manipulate player's perceptions
pseudo-feedback
create game dynamics that appear as if the game were being driven by negative feedback system. however there is no cybernetic feedback system - just perception of one.
escalation
score changes faster and faster over course of game so more points are at stake near the end than the beginning. game show jeopardy is example of this. first round is worth $100, ends with $500. because of this system, player perceives game is progressing further than it actually has.
hidden energy
imagine a racing game not driven by a feedback system. player receives turbo fuel reservoir instead to use during the race. gives player a speed boost. however, reservoir only holds 30 seconds of fuel in a race that lasts few minutes. game designed so that effective use of the turbo is the key to success.
it's energy because it represents the potential to score. it's hidden because it is not part of the player's own appraisal of the game scoring function.
fog of war
creates dramatic uncertainty by limiting the information available to the players. players cannot predict outcome of contest because they aren't presented with enough information. as game progresses, more and more information becomes available.
decelerator
obstacle that slows the players down late in the game. makes it seem closer by changing scale and pace of game. american gladiators - one of late obstacles was a cargo net that contestants had to climb. climbing net was slow work, so trailing player would reach net before leading player had cleared it. net brought players into physical proximity without necessarily changing true score of game. decelerator creates dramatic uncertainty by creating illusion of a close game.
cashing out
score of game reset to zero. bomberman - game is played in rounds of a few minutes. each round is contest of serial elimination. first player to win three trophies from three separate rounds wins game. during game, players get powerups becoming more and more powerful until elimination becomes inevitable. nothing carried over except trophy awarded to winner.
ucnertainty alone is not sufficient to create dramatic tension - need dramatic inevitability. if contest appears as if it will never conclude (or no time soon) then it has no sense of urgency - tension dispelled.
uncertainty and inevitability aren't opposites. uncertainty - who will win? inevitability = when will we know?
dramatic inevitability comes from any game mechanic that functions as ticking clock - gives player measurement of their progress and how far away the end might be.
twenty-one
1956 saw debut of infamous game show twenty-one which became centerpiece of quiz show scandal. in 50s, dramatic tension converted directly into ratings and business. resorted to rigging results and recurring contestants. producers became authors, scripting its entirety.
rules of twenty-one
1. two players, each in isolation booth. cannot see or hear other player's play. neither knows each other's score.
2. players score points by answering questions, first to 21 win.
3. in first round, each player asked two questions. in subsequent rounds, each player is asked one question.
4. before being asked question, player must choose how many points to wager. any number from 1-11. must wager at least one, and must answer.
5. if player answers correctly, player gains wagered points, if not, player loses wagered points. players score cant drop below 0.
6. end of round, either player may choose to end the game and player with most points then wins.
played in a vacuum unaware of other player's choices. twenty-one viewed as two simultaneous solitaire games. player is free to play until dropping from exhaustion or until opponent chooses to end game.
game lacks any kind of ticking clock.
lack of ticking clock dispels any hope of creating dramatic arc.
first night of twenty-one was plagued with zero-zero ties. instead of rigging, how can we fix?
limit total time play? limit number of questions? number of wrong answers?
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