games as experience engines

SpilBar ShareplayAalborg08.11.2012

Games as Experience Engines

Nikolaj HyldigR&D Director

OpenStory Group

• MA Communication & Digital Media, AAU• ½ PhD Interaction Design & Games, AAU• Ericsson Research & Innovation Lab• OpenStory Group


• Evolutionary Psychology

• Survival necessitates expedient behaviour

Evolution: Expedient behaviour




– Goal & Resource oriented

– Learning from experience



• Games as models of the world

– Rules– Goals– Resources– Obstacles– Frame

Games as tools for learning expedient behaviour




– Goal & Resource oriented

– Learning from experience

– 3rd person perspective



• We automatically project ourselves into fictional worlds

Presence



• Requires optimal challenge

Presence



• Requires optimal challenge

– Game mechanics provideoptimal challenge

– Access to game mechanicsneed to be optimal

• Ie: challenge from the game,not from interacting with it

Presence


Qualities of good games


• Core Mechanics: the singular interactions with the game– ‘walk’, ‘pick up’, ‘aim’, ‘shoot’

• Core mechanics need to be fun!

• Corresponds to good Interaction Design!– Content of the game should challenge the player– It should not be challenging to interact with the content

• Example: walking– Realistic: tapping two buttons alternatively, one for each foot– Problem: effort without any meaningful impact on the game world– Bigger problem: it does not match the experience of walking – our

natural mental focus is on navigating environment, not on moving feet– Better solution (simpler): map walking to analogue stick, emphasizing

directional navigation of environment– Running however does take a bit of effort, implemented in GTA as the

need to tap a button in order to accelerate to maintain running speed

• Organisation of information



• Clear goals

– Specific

– Measurable

– Actionable

– Realistic

– Short & longterm



• Clear goal progress

– Present goal– Tell why it matters– Tell where to go (actionable next steps, to get the player going)– Tell how to achieve it (actionable next steps)– Give proof of completion [feedback]– Give reward



• Meaningful reward system

– Meaningful within thefictional world

– Comparable to thechallenge overcome



• Clear status

– Progress

– Spatial

– Skills

– Items



• Excessive feedback: instant, continuous, meaningful

– Numerical

– Graphical

– Auditory

• Procedural feedback



• Marc LeBlanc: Mechanics – Dynamics – Aesthetics

• 8 Qualities (8 kinds of fun)– Sensation: Game as sense-pleasure– Fantasy: Game as make-believe– Narrative: Game as unfolding story– Challenge: Game as obstacle course – Fellowship: Game as social framework– Discovery: Game as uncharted territory– Expression: Game as soap box– Submission: Game as mindless pastime



• World of Warcraft

– Sensation: Game as sense-pleasure

The graphics of WoW present the player with detailed exotic locations

– Fantasy: Game as make-believeWoW offers a rich alternative universe

to imagine walking around in and interacting with

– Narrative: Game as unfolding storyThe gameplay in WoW is placed in a

detailed narrative frame, giving deeper meaning to the actions of the player

– Challenge: Game as obstacle course

WoW is filled with challenges serving as opportunities for the player to exercise his creative problemsolving skills



• World of Warcraft

– Fellowship: Game as social frameworkThe Multiplayer aspect of WoW makes it a

highly social game, where the toughest challenges can only be overcome by teaming up with other players

– Discovery: Game as uncharted territory

The vast gameworld in WoW offers an abundance of opportunities for exploring diverse and exotic locations

– Expression: Game as soap boxThe possibility to endlessly customise the

player character forms the basis for expression of identity

– Submission: Game as mindless pastime

The repetition of “grind” and constant supply of new challenges makes WoW a game it is easy to lose oneself in



• Desirable states, Professor Steven Reiss – Acceptance, the need for approval– Curiosity, the need to learn– Eating, the need for food– Family, the need to raise children– Honor, loyalty to the traditional values of one's group– Idealism, the need for social justice– Independence, the need for individuality– Order, the need for organized, stable, predictable environments– Physical activity, the need for exercise– Power, the need for influence of will– Romance, the need for sex– Saving, the need to collect– Social contact, the need for friends (peer relationships)– Status, the need for social standing/importance– Tranquility, the need to be safe– Vengeance, the need to strike back/to win



• Aesthetic qualities, Abraham Maslow

– Wholeness (unity)– Perfection (balance and harmony)– Completion (ending)– Justice (fairness)– Richness (complexity)– Simplicity ( essence)– Liveliness (spontaneity)– Beauty (rightness of form)– Goodness (benevolence)– Uniqueness (individuality)– Playfulness (ease)– Truth (reality)– Autonomy (self-sufficiency)– Meaningfulness (values)



• Emotion/motivation system (EMS) guides behaviour:Joy Condition: reaching goal, Motivation: keep doing itAnger Condition: intentional hindrance, Motivation: remove

hindranceFear Condition: Goal threatened, Motivation: avoid threatSorrow Condition: loss of goal, Motivation: apathy

Emotional Experience




• Experience of emotion: 3 dimensions– The situation– Physical arousal– Urge to act





• Experience of emotion: 3 dimensions– The situation– Physical arousal– Urge to act

• Emotional intensity– Urgency– Difficulty– Seriousness



• Tool for learning through the experience of others

• Goal-oriented structure

Stories


• Stories are focused on people: breadth of emotion

• Games are personal: intensity of emotion

• Video games: merging stories and games, but…

Stories & Games


• Solution?

Stories & Games


• Game world of resources

• Goals, plans, actions

• Emotion process

• Scenarios enable personal influence

OpenStory Group


contact

[email protected]

OpenStory Group


games as experience engines

Documents

good interaction design

expedient behaviourevolution

experience evolution

meaningful impact

shootcore mechanics

game worldbigger problem

mechanics dynamics aesthetics

excessive feedback