Professional and ethical issues in game design

CDMM02 Lecture Week 4

Objectives of lecture

• Recap elements of good game design

• Understand research issues in video game design

• Appreciate good research methods

• Documenting the game design

Objective -- Describe the objective of the game.

If the objective is simply "get as many points as possible," then state it so. But if the objective is "rescue the princess," then that's another matter. In either case, give as much detail as possible to aid the reader in having some basis in understanding the rest of the design document as he reads on. What is the player's goal and why would they want to accomplish it?

Gameplay -- Describe the way the game works, from beginning to end.

After powering up (or booting), is there a title screen, what does it look like, is there an options screen, what are the choices, is there an animated sequence, can it be bypassed and how...

Background StoryIf applicable, tell the story of the game that leads into the beginning of the game, and tell the story that unfolds during gameplay, if any (in the case of a puzzle game like SHANGHAI, for instance, this is probably unnecessary -- but it would be necessary for something like ALIENS VS. PREDATOR).

What is the tone? What is the basic narrative? What is the "heart" of the story? Is it a linear story?

Then, when the game begins, we see our hero appear in a scene. Describe the scene and what happens next. If nothing happens until the user does something, describe what the user's options are and what happens as a result of all possible actions. Keep in mind that most games to some extent are controlled by the user. The hero doesn't automatically do anything; the user, when playing the game optimally, might cause the hero to do such-and-such an act, which would cause the computer-controlled enemy to do this, and the user's options are to do X and Y...

II. DETAILED GAME DESCRIPTION

Basic Concept -- What is the "high concept" of the game?

Describe the A.I. of the computerized opponent(s), if any. It is sometimes helpful to write a "walkthrough" of the game to further enhance the reader's ability to visualise the game.

What is the planned interface?

What is the planned perspective (1st person vs. 3rd person)?

What is the basic interactive structure? (e.g. Chapters vs. Great Middle Section, Levels, etc.).

What is the "heart" of the gameplay? (e.g. speed, actions, style, continuous, turnbased, etc.?

How does multi-player work?

How difficult is the game?

How long will it take the average player to complete?

III. OTHER ASPECTS OF THE PRODUCT DESIGN

•Characters -- List and describe the characters in the game, if any. Tell something about their personalities and capabilities, and how they act in the game. Who does the player play?

Single/multi player? Are there other key characters?

License Exploitation -- If the characters are based on a license (such as in ALIENS VS. PREDATOR), provide some discussion of how the licensed characters will exploit the popular features of the license.

World -- Describe the scene(s) in which the action takes place, if applicable. In the case of an adventure game (such as LEATHER GODDESSES OF PHOBOS 2), the design document should probably be organized primarily by location, showing all characters and objects there, and indicating what events occur there. If locations in the game can be visited in any order, then list them in either the optimum order or in the order one might visit them if traveling in the simplest path.

Controls -- Describe the user interface.

How does the user cause all game actions to occur?

• In the case of a cartridge game, describe all uses of the buttons on the controller. In the case of a computer game, describe which peripherals the game supports and how they are used to accomplish all game actions.

Describe the on-screen interface (if there is a score and a life gauge... if there is an inventory icon and dialogue choices...), and how it works.

Describe all menus in detail, and chart out the "shell" structure.

Onscreen text messages are also part of the interface -- if not detailing all onscreen messages in this document, describe in general terms what they will be like.

Graphics -- Describe the general style of the graphics.

In the case of a game with multiple graphics modes, tell which one will be used. Whenever there are other games or products to which the reader can refer for a feel of the graphics style, it's a good idea to mention it.

Research into video games and violence

• There is very little research on the positive aspects of video or computer games

• Why?

• The following study demonstrates some of the issues and also shows good research methodology

Richard Coyne Mindless repetition: Learning from computer games

Design Studies Volume 24, Issue 3 , May 2003, Pages 199-212

• Conservative moralists so often see this revisiting of ethical issues (about displays of violent and erotic imagery, or the amplification of materialism) as a progressive liberalisation, a loosening of standards.

• But on closer examination, insofar as there is a liberalisation it constitutes a developing recognition of the complex play between value systems, institutions, socio-political contexts, the roles of the mass media and the culture of the contemporary video game generation.

• It is also a recognition of the play element in human affairs, and in design

What makes video games effective?

• (1) a clear goal: almost all video games are goal-oriented; that is, they have a clear and specific goal that children must try to reach (e.g. capturing the princess, reaching a destination),

• (2) adequate level of complexity, not too low but not too high; well-designed games are highly challenging and are rarely totally mastered,

• (3) high speed: most video games have a much faster speed than traditional mechanical games,

Beyond Nintendo: design and assessment of educational video games

for first and second grade students

• Ricardo Rosas , , a, Miguel Nussbaumb, Patricio Cumsillea, Vladimir Marianovb, Mónica Correaa, Patricia Floresa, Valeska Graua, Francisca Lagosa, Ximena Lópeza, Verónica Lópeza, Patricio Rodriguezb and Marcela Salinasa

Computers & Education Volume 40, Issue 1 , January 2003, Pages 71-94

• The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the introduction of educational videogames into the classroom, on learning, motivation, and classroom dynamics. These effects were studied using a sample of 1274 students from economically disadvantaged schools in Chile

continued

• (4) incorporated instructions: in most video games, children understand instructions while playing the game and do not need to read instructions,

• (5) independence from physical laws: video games normally do not follow the physical laws of the universe; objects can fly, spin, change shape or color as they please, and

• (6) holding power: they capture players' attention and continue to do so as the game builds a microworld with its own rules and regulations (Malone; Provenzo and Turkle).

Motivation

• Students were more motivated to learn when using video games

• In general, children from all EG classes reported that the gaming time seemed for them too short. Teachers shared this opinion, and reported that the games turned out to be so motivating that students developed a greater interest in learning and even a higher motivation in attending school itself.

Conclusion to study• Table 5. Analysis of variance for posttest math, with pretest math as

a covariate •

** P<0.01. MATHPRE=Pretest Math; GROUP=Intervention Group; EG=Experimental group; IC=Internal control; EC=External control.

• the type of intervention had a significant effect on posttest Math scores, controlling for pretest ability.

• Planned comparisons showed there was a significant difference between means for children in the experimental schools (either experimental or internal control classes) and the external control group, but no mean differences were found between the experimental and internal control groups.

Role and impact of imagesresearch: Playing Doom

• The effects of exposure to violent video games on automatic associations with the self were investigated in a sample of 121 students. Playing the violent video game Doom led participants to associate themselves with aggressive traits and actions on the Implicit Association Test. In addition, self-reported prior exposure to violent video games predicted automatic aggressive self-concept, above and beyond self-reported aggression. Results suggest that playing violent video games can lead to the automatic learning of aggressive self-views.

• Journal of Adolescence Volume 27, Issue 1 , February 2004, Pages 41-52 Video Games and Public Health      Exposure to violent video games increases automatic aggressiveness

• Eric Uhlmann , , a and Jane Swansonb

Object –oriented approach to design

• UML (Unified Modelling Language) –general design method for all software projects

e.g. scenario thinking e.g. object-oriented methodology

• Information and Software Technology Volume 46, Issue 1 , 1 January 2004, Pages 17-33

• Implementing a community web site: a scenario-based methodology

• Choongseok Lee, Woojong Suh and Heeseok Lee

Doom-a violent game

• Doom, a popular 3D shoot-‘em-up game was selected as the violent game. Players manoeuvre through a maze battling soldier-zombies, demons and other monsters. Because pre-testing indicated that naïve participants could not master the controls or mazes in Doom without extensive practice, 5 new Doom levels that were designed to be easy to navigate were created specifically for this experiment. In addition, the controls were simplified so that participants could complete each level using only the mouse and arrow keys.

• This was compared with playing MahJong

Non-violent game

• The non-violent game selected was "Mahjongg: Clicks", an absorbing puzzle game. Participants attempt to clear their computer screen by clicking on adjacent tiles that match each other in colour and design.

Conclusions• Despite the misleading debate in the news media over whether

exposure to violent television, movies and video games leads to an increase in aggressive behaviour, the empirical evidence that it does so has become overwhelming. Decades of correlational, experimental, longitudinal and demographic studies converge in indicating that exposure to violent media is a cause of aggressive behaviour ([Bushman & Anderson (2001)]; [Singer & Singer (1983)]). The current task for researchers is to better understand the mechanisms via which violent media exert their effects. One important way is the deliberative learning of aggressive values ( [Bandura (1978)]). Another is the priming of aggressive thoughts and actions ( [Anderson & Dill (2000)]; [Berkowitz (1990)]; [Bushman (1998)]). The results of this study provide initial evidence that violent media may also exert their effects through changes in automatic associations with the self.

Object oriented programming and design

• The following notes introduce some common OO design concepts

• These may help with your game program design

What is a class?

• Like a recipe/ instructions how to bake a cake

• Gives the rules but is not an object in itself

Class responsibilities

Class name eg Student

Class attributes

Eg name

Address

Telephone no

Methods eg

Get module result

Class diagram

Customer

Name

address

creditRating():string

Quantity:Integer

Price:Money

isSatisfied:Boolean

Order line

Order

dateReceived

isPrepaid

Number:string

Price:money

Dispatch()

Close()

CRC cardsClass Responsibility Collaboration

Class name

Orderresponsibility

Check if items are in stock

collaboration

Order line

Customer

Determine price

Check for valid payment

Dispatch to delivery

address

Example of a crc card for a card game (called Pisti)

The main form