Interview

What is the title of the book you are currently reading?

I'm not currently reading any books and don't consider myself a reader, the last short story I remember reading though was "THE MACHINE STOPS by E.M. Forster (1909)" which is an interesting read about what E.M. Forster may have thought the future may have been like. Surprisingly similar to the world we live in today although not quite as extreme.

What is the title of the last non-fiction book you read?

The last non-fiction book I remember reading is probably Michael Owens Soccer Skills book when I was in primary school. I really don't read books very often and particularly not non-fiction. I think if I was going to read out of choice I would want to feel the emotional roller-coaster of a good novel.

What is the last live performance you attended?

Warwick Folk festival in the summer was really cool, I remember it rained on one of the days and we were trapped in a musical instrument store type tent where I was checking out what was around. In the wait for the rain to stop a few people started playing instruments. They were all amazing, I picked up a guitar and played along but I was very much just enjoying the atmosphere and music around me.

How often do you read the newspaper?

I haven't read a newspaper since I got the metro on the bus to college! You can find news online now and with me spending so much of my time at my computer I don't see any real reason for me to go out and buy a newspaper.

Which museum did you last visit?

The last museum I visited was the Coventry Transport Museum in Coventry, where I'm from. It's always good to just go in and walk around a bit. I'm pretty sure actually that my last visit to the Coventry Transport Museum was after lunch at a café called Buttons too so it must have been a good day! Cheesy chips and beans from Buttons are AMAZING!

How many hours do you spend a week playing video games?

I really don't play video games as often as a lot of people would assume. I maybe squeeze in a couple of hours a week. Never over 10 although a couple of years ago I would play Halo around 60 hours a week as I used to attend tournaments so I would always want to be playing at the top of my game all the time. 

How many hours a week do you spend playing games other than video games?

I don't really play non-digital games outside of University unless it's a drunken game of monopoly (which can get rather aggressive). We have a thing in our flat where if we get bored we'll find 2 objects, one which fits in the other and try to throw object 1 into object 2 but that's about it really!

MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research

MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research
 Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, and Robert Zubek

I read a paper written by Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, and Robert Zubek entitled " MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research" which presents a formal manner of understanding the principals of game design and game development. The purpose of the paper was to assist in the breakdown of games into portions to enhance the iterative process for developers. MDA stands for Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics. I'll break these down very quickly into bullet points and then expand.

- Mechanics are the rules, they are the constant things which never change and the player understands those rules.

- Dynamics are how the rules can be used and how they affect the players aesthetic experience, completely dictated by mechanics.

- Aesthetics evoke the emotional responses from players. Aesthetics are everything the player can actually see and interact with.

The different aesthetic components

1. Sensation - Game as sense-pleasure

2. Fantasy - Game as make-believe

3. Narrative - Game as drama

4. Challenge - Game as obstacle course

5. Fellowship - Game as social framework

6. Discovery - Game as uncharted territory

7. Expression - Game as self-discovery

8. Submission - Game as pastime

Example : Final Fantasy - Fantasy, Narrative, Expression, Discovery, Challenge, Submission.

Perspectives of MDA

Developers see the framework the opposite way a player would. A player would first see the aesthetics and experience those, as they play the game more they may begin to experiment with the dynamics of the game. In many games you can customize a lot, for example in a first person shooter game you may be able to change the mechanics slightly.

The way a developer will see MDA is exactly in that order. They will see the mechanics, then the dynamics those mechanics allow and then create aesthetics using what they already have. A player would experience the game before analyzing it and delving into the dynamics and mechanics too much.

How Changes Are Made

A key mechanical change made in 2011 to "Halo: Reach" was the 'no bloom setting' added by 343 Industries to answer the communities speculative complaints at the random bloom mechanic which forced players to fire shots in a more timely manner in order to hit accurate shots. Whether or not bloom was a good mechanic and worked well in the game is besides the point. What the release of a 'No Bloom Gametype' did was change the entire sandbox of the game. Weapons with faster fire rates were just as accurate and just as damaging as weapons with slower fire-rates because the sandbox was designed with bloom in mind.

Weapons such as the pistol which had a high fire rate but was balanced by the fact that you would need to pace your shots in order to stop the bloom from making your shots inaccurate became slightly imbalanced and could then kill much quicker if used by a more skilled player.

To Summarize

The point I'm trying to make with a rather simple to understand example is that any iterative change you make to a game needs to be thoroughly thought about. Any simple change can effect a players experience positively or negatively but with an understanding of the MDA Framework you're able to analyze how a change to the mechanics may affect the aesthetic experience of the game and not just that it will change the aesthetic experience. 

Formal Abstract Design Tools

Reading a very interesting article by Doug Church in which the vocabulary used within games design was explored. The exploration was to help understand how to properly identify mechanics and ways of interaction within a game to define the type of fun experienced by players.

Church discusses a few tools used in game design and explains how they can be used both independently and together. Not all tools need to be used, however. You don't need to use EVERY tool to make EVERY game in the same way you wouldn't need to use every tool in a toolbox to make a successful birdhouse. The tools discussed by Doug Church are:

Intention - "Making the implementable plan of ones own creation in response to the current situation in the world and ones understanding of the gameplay options."

Percievable Consequence - "A clear reaction from the game world to the action of the player."

Story - "The narrative thread, whether designer driven or player-driven, that binds events together and drives the player forward toward completion of the game."

All of the tools Doug discussed can be used together and link very well. Perceivable consequence and intention link well together. For example; in a platformer game where the player may see a high ledge in which there is a reward, the intention may be to reach the reward although if he fails the jump to reach it there may be a consequence of falling to his death or onto a ledge which is more difficult to progress through the level to.

The player needs to feel in control for percievable consequence to take place properly though, the rules for the game must be very clear. "What goes up, must come down." is a key saying when explaining this because the player must know exactly what will happen if he makes an action. The worst thing as a gamer, for me is when I fail at a part of a game and am left screaming and nerd raging because I have no idea what the hell just happened. Most of the time it's very clear. In Halo 4 multiplayer, to go on a tangent a little, with a weapon called the DMR it always takes 5 shots to kill an enemy if the last shot is a headshot. For the most part, on Halo 4 people know that and so they know that when they are killed by an enemy in a fight it's because they missed a shot and their enemy didn't. Something which frustrates players and makes them feel less in control and gives them a less enjoyable experience is that sometimes with online packet loss or latency issues due to ping over distances, a shot the player may hit might not register as a shot hit. This inconsistency is what leads to the feeling of control being lost.

Story is another important element of games, I recently played a really cool flash game which actually uses all 3 of the tools very nicely which I'll link at the bottom of this post. The intention is to imprison your zombie lover in a cage and survive. The rules are very simple to understand, if you touch a zombie you die and when you're near a zombie they will follow you. These rules act as all of the perceivable consequence within the game. You know you can't touch a zombie but you may try to jump over them in a risky way in order to reach a gun or to get to your zombie lover quicker. The story is paper thin but it's very nice and simple which is all that was needed for a flash game like it. You are the last human and are in love with a zombie girl. You need to try to cage your zombie girlfriend to keep her safe while trying to avoid other zombies.

I Saw Her Standing There game: http://www.newcave.com/game/i-saw-her-standing-there

Gamasutra - Doug Church: Formal Abstract Design tools:- http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131764/formal_abstract_design_tools.php?print=1