Lajvdesignmönster

Staffan BjörkGöteborgs Universitet

Who am I?

Commercial Break! Metatekniker inom Lajv

Anna Westerling, fre 16:00 – 16:45   Spelledning och Metatekniker

Anna Westerling, sön 14:00 – 15:45  

4/58

Design is typically a Wicked Problem Characteristics of Wicked Problems

Not understood until after solutions are found Have no stopping rule Solutions are not right or wrong Every problem is essentially novel and unique Every solution is a 'one shot operation' Solutions have no given alternatives

How to Mitigate Wicked Problems? Methods Design language to discuss aspects or parts of the

problem

Design Languages Convey meaning

In design process In product

Components Collection of elements Principles of

organization Qualifying situations

6/58

Gameplay Design Patterns “Semiformal inter-dependent descriptions of

commonly reoccurring parts of the design of a game that concern gameplay.”

A way to describe reoccurring design choices Offers possible explanations to why these

design choices have been made Codify unintentional features so they can be

intentional choices in later designs A guide of how to make similar design

choices in game projects What is required to make a pattern emerge What consequences do a pattern have? Not only problem solving

Way to describe components on all levels within the design language

Gameplay Design Pattern Examples Power-Ups

Game elements that activate time-limited advantages when collected

First Person Views Players are shown the game world as if they were

inside it Aim & Shoot

The act of taking aim at something and then shooting at it

Cut Scenes Sequences of storytelling where players cannot act

Parallel Lives Game elements that when individually lost do not

interrupt gameplay, but do so when all are lost. High Score Lists

The storing of scores after games have finished so the they can be compared

Structure of a Gameplay Design Pattern Name Introduction

One line description Short stand-alone description

Examples Using the Pattern Consequences Relations

See http://virt10.itu.chalmers.se/index.php/Main_Page for 500+ examples

Gameplay Design Pattern Relations Small changes in a game can

have large effects on gameplay and overall game experience This due delicate balances,

risk/reward, meaningful choices, etc. Patterns related to each other

Explains effects of having a pattern Proposes possible causes for a pattern

to be in a design Provides alternatives how to make a

pattern emerge in a design Suggests ways of modifying patterns Alerts of possible incompatibilities

Relations between GDPs

Randomness Luck

Limited Foresight

Cards

Fixed Distributions

Drawing Stacks

Surprises

Analysis Paralysis

D6 D8D4 D10 D12 D20

Dice

LARP Design Patterns

Mixing Board of LARP

Don’t Rule The Don't Rule is a very simple meta-technique used to

indicate willingness to escalate (primarily, but not only) physical scenes.

Usage If used, the don't rule is a tool for players in, for example,

violent scenes. By vocally saying Don't followed by an action the player signals that that action (or similar action as that which has just been taken) is okay if the other player wants to perform it. For instance, if a player physically attacks another player, and that player says Please don't hurt me anymore!, it is made clear that further physical violence is okay. It can also be used to signify specific actions that the receiving player is okay with, as in please don't leave me here in the dark! or please don't tie me up.

The Doctor The Doctor was a technique used during the

larp OB7, in which most characters of the game had in-game play with some kind of spirit presence. The Doctor was a form of non-player character able to move freely within the physical setting of the game. Play with The Doctor focused on enhancing the game by evolving the story and plot of the game. The Doctor has similarities with techniques such as Shadows or guardian angels of Knappnålshuvudet and Phantom Players at The Monitor Celestra.

Structures

Simulation of SexArs AmandiFeather PlayPhallus

Simulation of ViolenceBlank-firing FirearmsBoffer

Relations between LARP patterns

Physical Enactment

Contextualization

Meta-Techniques

Temporal Consistency

Blank-Firing Firearms

Boffer

ScenesCharacters

Enactment

Meta-Postures

Substitute Actions

Prompting Techniques

Warming-Up Roleplaying Exercises

Workshopping

Internal Monologue

The Don’t Rule

The Doctor

The Liquor on the Table

Feather Play

Time Skips

Ars Amandi

Make a Speech Black Box

Thank you!

Questions?