Gameplay

Mohammad Zikky, M.T

AbstractWhat makes a good game?

Success or failure of a product depends mainly on how well it satisfies customers’ preferences, needs and expectations.

When playing a game, players seek challenge, mastery and reward, all packed in entailing and motivating activities.

From this stems the importance of gameplay as a crucial game design cornerstone, and game mechanics as tools that the player has to interact with in order to carry out gameplay activities

Quality and digital games: importance of the player and the play experience

Interactive cycle in the play experience

The focus on gameplay Three key elements that can safely be

considered the key determinants of the quality of a game (Fabricatore, 1999; Fabricatore, Nussbaum and Rosas, 2002): the context of the game the storyline, the

setting of the game; the activities that must be carried out in order to

win the game ; how well the game allows understanding what

must be done, and to actually accomplish it.

What is Gameplay?When talking about gameplay and play experiences, players always refer to what can be done in the game, focusing on:- what the player can do;- what other entities can do, in response to

player’s actions (i.e. how the game responds to player’s decisions)

Hence, could be defined as: the set of activities that can be performed by the player during the ludic experience, and by other entities belonging to the virtual world, as a response to player’s actions and/or as autonomous courses of action that contribute to the liveliness of the virtual world

Game Play&Game Mechanics

Generally, the term "gameplay" in video game terminology is used to describe the overall experience of playing the game excluding the factors of graphics, sound, and the storyline. The term "game mechanics" refers to sub-elements of the gameplay, but particularly the primary control and movement features of the game (thus excluding things like level design or AI).

Game Mechanics The tools of game play

Interactivity and Activity 2 key concepts underlying the former definition of Gameplay

But, how do players interact with the game? In order to undertake any activity at all, players have to interact with toys. Some of these toys are called “game mechanics”

An Example: Player-centered model of game mechanics

Game mechanics as a proper tools for gameplay, atomic rule-based interactive subsystems capable of receiving an input and reacting by producing an output. Such output translates into a state change of the mechanics itself and/or into the triggering of new interactions with other game mechanics. A given game mechanics might be capable of receiving different inputs and reacting consequently. In terms of gameplay, this means to the player that the mechanics has features that allow triggering different interactions with it

Representations of Game Mechaniocs as a FSM (Finite State Machine)

Example of interaction amongst game mechanics

Game Mechanic, motivation and learning process Every game mechanics is characterized by its

semantics, which will inevitably determine a first-impact appeal, making the player like or dislike it.

As for game mechanics, challenge and reward come from three mechanics-related activities: learning the mechanics; using the mechanics as a tool for gameplay in

ordinary situations; using the mechanics as a tool for gameplay in extra-

ordinary situations, in presence of external factors that may alter the ordinary working of the mechanics.

Excample: Partial representation of Quake locomotion system

In order to control the “jump” feature of the locomotion game mechanics, the player will have to understand and learn all the aforementioned rules. This learning process will eventually lead to the mastery of three instances of the jump feature: vertical-jump; forward-jump; long forward-jump.

Learning how to jump is certainly challenging, and can be very rewarding if enough feedback is provided to the player, indicating his progress in the learning process (Cook, 2006; Crawford, 2003)

The player might imagine that the height of a jump can be enhanced through an external impulse, like a sort of catapult. Furthermore, he might discover (even accidentally) that such impulse can come from an explosion, triggered below the player-token right after it takes off in a jump

Such discovery could lead to the third game mechanics-related activity: using a mechanics as a tool for gameplay in extra-ordinary situations, exploiting external factors that can modify the outcomes of the mechanics

Guidelines to sustain and enhance motivation in learning and using mechanicsAll this leads to a set of simple but very relevant guidelines: 1. Estimate the learning time for each feature of a specific

mechanics, and make sure that the time to learn is proportional to player’s perceived complexity and relevance of the feature itself.

2. In order to avoid burnout, design the game to allow players using game mechanics as gameplay tools as soon as they feel they’ve learned them.

3. To further decrease the possibility of burnout, and increase the perceived appeal and relevance of the mechanics, ensure that players will have enough opportunities to use game mechanics’ features enhanced through the influence of external factors, achieving otherwise unattainable goals.

4. Always balance time invested in learning with time spent applying what has been learned (and hopefully harvesting well-deserved rewards)

Balancing learning and application processes

ARCHITECTING GAMEPLAY Once understood the importance of game

mechanics and how to deal with them in order to sustain players’ interest and motivation.

Are all game mechanics equally important to players? The answer is no.

Players implicitly expect to see some sort of hierarchy between game mechanics, based on their importance

It is important to understand this, in order to know where what to put the emphasis on, thus architecting gameplay and game mechanics properly

Core gameplay andcore game mechanics

Core gameplay as the set of activities that the player will undertake more frequently during the game experience, and which are required to win the game.

The game mechanics which allow carrying out the core gameplay activities are called “core game mechanics”, and are, consequently, the most important in the game, since players will have to deal with them during most of their play experience

Core gameplay andcore game mechanics

Example: Quake’s core gameplay encompasses all the activities aimed at killing enemies and avoiding being killed, whereas Tetris’ core gameplay encompasses activities aimed at fitting blocks into each other.

Quake’s core mechanics set encompasses the locomotion system, whereas Tetris’ core mechanics include the control system for blocks

Core meta-gameplay Core gameplay can be used to build the so-called

core meta-gameplay activities. To the player, these are “new” activities which share much with the core gameplay activities.

Exp: Super Mario Bros:its core gameplay is centered on avoiding enemies, and the locomotion system is the key core mechanics. The jump feature of Super Mario’s locomotion

system has an important role, since it is used for both avoiding enemies and reaching the end of each scenario.

However, Super Mario can actually jump on the heads of his enemies (most of them, at least) killing them

Core meta-gameplay So, killing enemies is perceived by the

player as another gameplay activity. However, thinking of it, “killing enemies” is nothing but a disguised version of “jumping”.

So,In Super Mario Bros killing enemies is a core meta-gameplay activity, since it can be performed by using a core game mechanics as it is, and gives a new semantics to the act of jumping (a core gameplay activity).

Core meta-gameplay activities are very powerful game design tools

Satellite game mechanics Introducing special kinds of mechanics, aimed

at enhancing already existing activities. There are three kinds of satellite mechanics:

enhancement, alternate and opposition mechanics.

Enhancement mechanics have the purpose of enhancing already-existing core game mechanics. This can be done in two ways: by adding new features to an existing

mechanics, or by modifying an existing feature

Enhancement In order to add new features to existing mechanics, it

is necessary to design what we call add on (or complementary) enhancement mechanics. For instance: in a war game shooting enemies could be the core gameplay activity, and a rifle could be one of the core mechanics

In order to enhance an already existing feature of game mechanics, it is necessary to design what we call power-up enhancement mechanics. These have the sole purpose of changing an existing feature, usually to empower the whole mechanics, exs: Quake’s rocket launcher (used in the game to enhance the jump feature of the locomotion system.)

Alternate The play experience can be further enriched

by offering to players different ways of doing the same things, giving to them the chance of carrying out the same activity using different mechanics

Their purpose is offering to the player alternatives to existing core mechanics

True alternate mechanics require new learning, a price that many players are willing to pay if that allows tackling activities in new ways

Opposition Mechanics

Opposition mechanics are a powerful means of enhancing the challenge in a game.

Their main purpose is hindering the player’s progress

An architectural model for game mechanics

Guidelines for gameplay design1. Minimize the learning time required to master core

mechanics’ features. 2. Minimize the number of core mechanics, and the amount of

features for each one of them. 3. Make sure that all core mechanics are relevant throughout

most of the game, and that there are no functional redundancies amongst them.

4. Exploit polyvalence in game mechanics design. 5. Exploit satellite mechanics in order to sustain and enhance

players’ motivation in using core mechanics. 6. Suspend temporarily the use of specific mechanics in order

to renew players’ interest in them. 7. Build the gameplay mostly based on core gameplay and

core meta-gameplay activities, providing through them the doses of challenge, mastership and reward that players seek.

8. Minimize the use of peripheral gameplay