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Who Am I?30 Commercially Published GamesOnline Games Since 1989First online game with 1m+ users
Journalist, Analyst & ConsultantFounder & Chief Design Officer, Unplugged GamesConsultant & Advisory Board Member, The Themis GroupSF Writer
What We’re Going to Do Today
10-11: Wireless Game Design
11:15-12:30: Game Design Theory
2-3: SMS & MMS Game Design
4:15-6: J2ME & BREW Game Design
3-4: WAP Game Design
Other StuffMainly Phones, Will Touch on PDAsShould Have Time for Discussion
Presentations at www.costik.com/presentations/I talk too fast, and too softlyStop me before I sin again.
What is a Mobile Phone?Device for Sending & Receiving DataPrimarily Geared for Voice
Can Send & Receive Other Data TypesA Small Computer some processing power local RAM typically 128-500k
Limited Media small form factor screen, often b&w input geared to voice calls with some additions sound handling limited
A Different Game PlatformLike Developing for 8-bit consoles or early micros
...with tiny screens
Networked from the start!
It’s a Social Device
A New Style of Game: Media Poor, Communication Rich
Design to the Medium’s Strengths
...instead of struggling with its limitsNetwork Access the Primary StrengthGameplay is not a function of whizz-bang graphics
It’s a function of quality of interaction.Nothing is as satisfying as interaction with other people
Other Strengths
Portabilitywhy was a primitive platform like Gameboy so successful?
It’s Always Thereplay anytime you have a moment free
Ubiquityyou take your cellphone everywhere
Aphorisms to Design By
“Nobody on their deathbed ever said I wish I had spent more time alone with my computer.”--Dani Bunten Berry
“It’s not the motion, it’s the meat.”--Greg Costikyan
“It’s the people, stupid.”--Dani Bunten Berry
“It’s a service, not a product.”--Gordon Walton
What do the Strengths Imply?
Short Play Timesit’s a “spare moment” platformpersistent, short session games as well as short completegames.
Play on Their Schedule, Not YoursMajestic is an example of what not to do
Persistence: a Key Component for Networked Play
Use the Network...even for soloplay games
Community is Vital for Networked Play
True Online Since the Earliest GamesMUD in 1979the COLS in the mid-80sboth light & hard-core games today
Current Technology Makes it Hard:no simultaneous voice-and-dataneither WAP nor J2ME provides intrinsic
messaginglatency makes multiplayer beyond head-to-head
a problem
How You CAN Support Community
Challenges
Leaderboards
In-Game Messaging
Diplomacy/Trading
Web Site
Buddy Lists/Presence
Clan Messaging (UPOC)
Design for the Hard CoreOn the wired Internet, two successful styles:
Hardcore games Free “light” games
When people paid by the hour, hardcore ruled (and even today, bring in more money)This is an early-adopter market
Fighting, combat, sf/fantasy—and sports
Stay away from “gameshows” and classic games
The Metagame“The Things Around a Game that Affect it”Community part of that...Deck building & card trading in CCGsThe baseball season
Metagames lead to obsessive, repeat play
...and your income derives from continued play, not a one-time saleLeaderboards are a start...
Ways to Create a Metagame
Persistence
Tournaments
Trading
Ways for Players to Reward Each OtherOffline Activities (deck construction)Stable Strategies (Chess, Diplomacy)
Obvious WeaknessesGraphics & sound will always lag other platforms
Small (and variable) form factor
Many manufacturers & carriers...and inconsistent implementation of standards
Inputs designed for non-game use...of course, that’s true of PCs, too...
Less Obvious WeaknessesLatency is High (1 sec+)
...and likely to remain so
Games were a second thought when standards were established
...but no longer are
...but they still don’t understand networked gamesNo support for simultaneous voice-and-data
...but has to happen ultimately
Avoid Games that Depend on Low Latency
Soloplay games (never hit the air network)
Turn-based games. Round-robin Simultaneous movement
“Act whenever” games. Limited by real time
“Slow update” games.
“Giants maneuvering in the mist.”
Dealing with the Form Factor
One, small window on world No StarCrafts or Civilizations Small board layouts fine (e.g, Chess, card
games) One “actor” works (e.g., RPGs, side-
scrollers)Games that don’t require a layout at all Mainly text, graphics “dress up” rather than
are core to gameplayZoom levels
Coping with UIAvoid Text Entry when feasible
Use Menus
Arrows plus “select”
Nethack/Ultima III keypresses
Design to the Business Model
Is it a service or a product?
What drives your revenue?
How can you maximize player satisfaction and minimize support cost?Does play style dovetail with business demands?
Design to the TechnologyExploit its strengths
Design around its weaknesses
Demonstrate what’s compelling
Don’t get stuck with the preconceived
What Makes this Fun?Nobody Knows what Works—You’re free to innovate!
Dev cycle (and costs) are low—You’ll see your work live within monthsSomeday, soon, a wireless game will blow us away...
Show us something we’ve never seen before
Demonstrate how this medium enables game styles we haven’t seen on consoles, PCs, or in the arcade
Innovate or Die99% of wireless games aren’t “designed” in any meaningful senseload of imitative craprock-paper-scissors, text adventures, fucking HUNT
THE WUMPUS, for god’s sake.Innovation is what blows markets open
Don’t be a VidiotDon’t Be Constrained by video and PC games of the last 5 years
“The game” is an amazingly plastic medium; software is infinitely plastic
Look to...Non-digital gameswargames, RPGs, CCGs, party games, trivia, German
boardgames, LARPs, miniatures, PBM, improvisational drama
The history of videogamespuzzle games, sidescrollers, “maze” games, Robotron
The history of computer gamesacademic games, Balance of Power, M.U.L.E.
The history of onlineMUD, multiplayer air sims, “game shows”, Bingo
Wonky little areas of innnovation todayRealArcade, the indy game movement, Sissyfight,
Cheapass
“I’m interested in all sorts of games.”
--Richard Garfield
designer of Magic: The Gathering
Innovation Doesn’t Mean Originality ab initio
“If I see farther, it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants who have come before me.”--Robert Burton
Steal a la carte, not whole cloth
If you can’t make yourself a Parker, Roberts, Gygax & Arneson, Garfield, Baer, Bartle, Miyamoto, Yeo, or Wright--at least innovate at the margins
You Have the Opportunity to Reinvent “The Game”
for this new medium.
Don’t blow it.
Beer or die.
URLS
Me:www.costik.comwww.ungames.comwww.themis-group.com
Wireless Gaming Review:www.wirelessgamingreview.com
