Game Design - Other viewpoints/links with chemistry and game design theory

Just been rereading some posts of the systemisation of game design methodology and practise.

Reading Stephane Bura's "Emotion Engineering: A Scientific Approach For Understanding Game Appeal" article, reminded me of Daniel Cook's "The Chemistry Of Game Design" piece published in 2007. Both further the cause for a common language and empirical reductionism to better codify games design into a system.

As a former scientist, I'm interested in the advanatages and disadvantages of that process. Working on a semi-educational 3D game with a 'chemical' game mechanism it's interesting to read not only about applying a chemical/biochemical template to game design, but looking at how chemical processes can be incorporated into novel gameplay mechanisms.

An important part of chemistry is change or transformation. I've been musing over how it could be linked to in-game transformation. Not only via transformation of objects - materials corroding, withering, decaying, etc, but how the character transforms through the game - which then links to story and emotion.

Stephane's article looks at the game mechanisms and the direct link with player emotions:

This article is not about creating emotions with the content, the subject matter, or the story, but through interactions with the game alone.

Since I'm churning through game choice and consequences at the moment, it's raised some interesting points.


Great table based on Will Wright's Dynamics For Designers lecture at GDC 2003:

Also quoted is Donald Norman's Emotional Design, describing three different levels of experience processing:

• visceral (how it makes the person having the experience feel)
• behavioral (how well it suits its purpose or function)
• reflective (how it affects the person’s self-image). Games can have a behavioral aspect, from being a learning tool to a systemic demonstration of a concept. This article focuses on the other two aspects: how games can have an emotional impact on their players.

Hopefully once the prototype is finished in a few weeks I can playtest it over the next months with schoolkids and teachers and chat with people at Futurelab about learning objectives, etc - which will give feedback on the game's behavioural experience as well as the others.

Camera and Controls - Heretic 2

Over the past few months I've been looking at different forms on game controls, since fluid controls will be a crucial aspect to my game. I've always thought TAcT would be a third person game, but I was always unsure how to maximise the aiming and immersion found in first-person games, since there is a FPS element to TAcT.

A few weeks ago I decided to impliment a 3rd person camera similar to that found in Heretic 2, and allow the player to choose between joypad or mouse, although for the prototype, joypad would be the prefered option for ease of use in Virtools.

Heretic II plays from a behind-the-back third-person perspective, with controls a lot like a first-person shooter, but it's different enough to look and feel not just like a any other shooter. The third-person perspective gives the game a more "adventure game" feel, rather than just a "shoot em up"" - which is the mix I want for TAcT.

Interface Design

Rereading Brent Fox's "Game Interface Design" since I'm musing over HUD design. Interesting info about complimentary colours and the difference between console and PC interfaces.

The title menu and cover art will be based on something akin to this image (I think):

But the atom will have an electron ring around it, and Doodle should be in there somewhere. In the title menu the pic will be off-centre and smaller.

TAcT - prototype update

Character Issues

I've spent alot of time trying to get the Sam character used in TAcT's prototype up and running - both the 'normal' and the meshbombed versions:The two meshes didn't work properly in Virtools so I tried countless variations of snapshotting, reset xforming, looking through controllers and mesh modifiying.

Eventually I tried with the stock characters we have been given to use that have been tested in Virtools. The meshbombed version didn't work here either, so there's some issue with a meshbombed mesh.


The basic workflow I used was:

• physique and reset xform mesh
• apply meshbomb to mesh
• take a snapshot of mesh at suitable point on timeline
• copy mesh
• select and save to new file
• reset xform
• collapse down to editable poly (or mesh)
• physique
  
  

The character behaved properly with an idle animation, but would jump back to it's starting spot when walking or running. Also it would turn around the initial starting point, rather than in reference to it's current position.

The most obvious issue was that the envelopes were not catching all of the deformed mesh. However even with the meshes grossly enlarged so that the character resembled a bloated michelin man, the same problem occurred.

After talking to Jon I spent one more day trying new fixes then decided to leave the effect for now!

The Island

The island has had a intial texture with basic UV mapping. Taking Sam into the world in Virtools helps me see where geometry needs to be modified and where texture joins appear too brutal.

I've spent last night looking at Vertex Painting to blend textures. Some textures, especially the path, look very artificial because they abut each other without feathering. I'd like to learn V.Paint to not only blend and feather textures, but also do the same with bump maps so different rock areas can have different bump mapping. E.g. higher rock is smoothed more because it would be more eroded, whilst rock lower down can have a more pronounced rough texture.

Couldn't work out how to use V.Paint successfully, or the 'Assign To' function when using it with multi/sub-object texturing in 3D Max. I felt I ALMOST got there, but I didn't want to waste too much time, so after a day of experimentation, I thought it best to leave it until I can find someone to demonstrate how to use it for my particular situation.

So here's the island unblended, with the new Sam character. The water texture seems to show white ATM unfortunately, so I need to check that again in Virtools:

Worklist
About a month to go before hand-in. The design document is going to be the toughie, because I still have questions about the story - a couple of ideas that I still can't answer when I ask myself 'WHY does that happen?" and some story progression.

I'm going to spend most of my non-GDD-writing time on Virtools, to sort out some or all of these issues:

• camera
• controls


• putting the multimap into the final prototype


• including the inventory


• creating the '2D' frame for the construct mode


• particles for energy transfer from Sam


• Atom design and movement


• Putting it all together


• Poster


• Box art

There might be time to make 'doodle', but I'd rather get the gameplay sorted ATM.

The Acid Test

Game Changes
Lots of developments. Have been putting the story into a more direct context, and have simplified some gameplay elements.

Story
After a rethink, the opening setting for The Acid Test (TAcT) is a school hall full of KeyStage 2 children taking their science exam. As before, the player can choose who the player character is going to be from a selection of the schoolchildren in the hall.

The selected child (called Sam) begins to clock watch and doodle on the edge of the exam paper, drawing a little character and a series of islands, obviously finding the exam difficult. As Sam daydreams s/he slips into the doodled world s/he has created. Sam is now on a small island which is connected to an archipelego of larger islands that stretch far into the distance by a series of bridges. As the doodle character tells Sam how happy they are to have Sam visit, things go awry - the ground shakes, the bridges break as the islands begin to seperate and move away from each other. Even worse, objects on the island begin to shimmer, break apart and wink out of existance. The sun above begins to dim. Sam him/herself begins to break apart. Doodle hurriedly detaches part of himself and places it in Sams hand. Sam's breakdown ceases, but at a cost - Doodle cannot effectively control atoms which has been his special power. Now that power has been passed to Sam. They are now effectively stranded on the small island with a cow and white objects that are floating above the island. Doodle say that the free atoms floating above them are highly dangerous, but Sam now has the power to collect them and convert them to useful energy to bring back the island and him/herself back to normal. After Sam has done so s/he is told by Doodle to collect the atoms (which are hydrogen atoms) and pass them to the cow which might help us get off the island (puzzle)


Prototype
In the prototype, Sam, a young black boy, has already been selected. We encounter him after he has landed on the second island, which is larger than the first one. The player can see rain falling on far mountains and the rain collecting and forming a river that flows down through the island to a lake surrounding an active geyser. At first Doodle is relieved that nothing seems to have go wrong on the island. But as he speaks, the water slows and stops, the rain remaining frozen in the sky, breaking apart and then disappearing, along with other objects around the island, Sam begins to break up again, but again Doodle's part he is holding prevents him from disappearing.

Doodle tells Sam that the only way to get of the island is to bring the water back and use the geyser to jump onto a passing cloud, but the island will need to be reenergised as well. Any water Sam makes will replenish the water, any other molecules made will be converted to energy and used to bring back the objects that have broken down.

Sam therefore collects atoms and bonds them together to form stable molecules - whilst trying to avoid being hit by the free-floating atoms. When he creates water molecules, the water streams out from the ball he's holding and fills the river and lake. When he creates other molecules, the ball is energised and when Sam is close to an object that has disappeared, energy disipates from the ball to the object, making the object appear.

When Sam has re-energised the objects on the island and replenished the water, the rain begins to fall, the clouds and river moves and the geyser becomes active once again. Sam can cross the lake to get to the geyser and if he is standing on the geyser when it erupts, he is flung high into the air. If he can land on a cloud that cluster above the geyser, it will take him across the island and on to the next island.



Yesterday I finished basic modelling of the island in the prototype, Island no. 2 (O2/water island) and have also made a working raincloud.

There are at least 5 textures for the island:

-hard to erode granitic-type rock for the upper island (greyish)

- softer, easily eroded sandstone-type rock for the lower island (tan-coloured)

- grass/scrub

worn path connecting the entrance and exit bridges

- riverbed texture

On top of that there will be shaders, water shaders for the water planes and of course, particles and a skybox.

Moving on to finish the player character, Sam and his exploded counterpart.

The Acid Test

Just been doing some blocking for the level I'm constructing for the TAcT demo. It's going to be pretty claustrophobic! It's going to be the alcohol level, in a bar, and an earlier, and easier level than the 'nicotine' level I was orignially thinking of.

Here's a pic of it shaping up:

Basic Level Play

The level is broken down into 2 or three sub-levels, the playing of which occurs in the same space. When Sam enters the level, it is a mental area wiped clean - a wide, expanse bounded by billowy soft walls. Atoms appear and fill the space. Dodging them, Sam must collect and bond them together to clear the space of the dangerous atoms. As molecules are constructed, Sam sees ghostly images of tables, chairs, etc appearing. Sam is creating the scene from the molecules s/he is constructing. Scene atmos sounds increase as the scene builds up. At this point I'm not sure what should happen. Either:

1. textures are also laid down, making the scene objects solid, one by one, or
2. when all the atoms are cleared from the scene, the level is fully populated with ghostly objects. A new load of atoms appear. This time as Sam creates molecules, the object become textured and become solid objects that now obstruct Sam.

When atoms are cleared, the scene is 'energised', maybe be people appearing in the scene. The final sub-level objective is given, possibly by Mr Chadwick's narration. Sam has to make 5 molecules of alcohol.

There are some visual rewards as each target molecule is created. When the 5 alcohol molecules are made, the other atoms disappear. and a portal opens for the player to exit the level.

I've been having some thoughts about the possibility of having characters in the level. who maybe 'solidify' and eventually can interact with Sam once one person has drunk enough of the alcohol being created by Sam. This links to an old idea of drunk people seeing into 'other places' - the alcohol acts as a bridge between the world of the imagination, of which TAcT is a part, and the real world.

When Sam interacts with the person s/he finds some info that helps the player to finish the level, or help with the end level.

Design challenges at the moment:

Virtools:

• how to make the atoms have a constant force, so they are not affected by friction
• how to constrain the solid and liquid atoms to the floor after they appear
• how to make an appropriate 3rd person camera
• change atom speed

Max:

• textures for ALL objects
• 'exploded' character

Game Design

• Use people in game?
• physicalise scene objects/ make them collision objects/ allow atoms to pass through them?
• how to create the mechanism of soldifying objects in scene whilst atoms are flying about

more to come.

Waste Paper Basket Game

Just a silly little idea, but a (I think a fun little game). You know the feeling you get when you set up a long throw into the wastepaper basket on the other side of the room - and it goes in? Well, that's the feeling this game should capture.

Starting with a scrunch mechanic (to scrunch the object in your hand to make it more dense and more aerodynamic), you throw the object into a relatively close wastepaper basket. As the basket is place further away, you experiment with different degrees of object 'scrunch' and throwing force.

As you progress, you have to throw off a wall, two walls, moving objects, etc.... Wind resistance, etc could come into play, or not.. The game should be fun really, rather than too challenging ... How about trying to 'skip' an object to be disposed of over a bit of water, and into a large bin on the other side? (ahem)

Bonding atoms gameplay

Over the past few months I've been looking at gameplay and core mechanics. I've been looking at games such as Cloud and flOw and other, smaller games (usually student-produced - the ones that crop up in game competitions, etc), to look at what makes them interesting, novel and accessible.

I also found a sentence .. lost the speaker now.. about learning in games. Something about twitch games helping you to learn how to utilize your finger. It made me think.

Apart from the usual - inherent learning in a videogame - learning a mechanic, overcoming challenges, etc, when one looks at games like, Re-Mission, you learn because of the content, but you are engaged because of the mechanic. I suppose there is also learning due to the mechanic - shooting cancer cells does tend to imply you want to get rid of the little buggers.

Then, taking a look at guitar hero - it's a weird thing ... all these people who are very good at pressing coloured plastic buttons. If there was a bridge,.. to get them to move on from the plastic buttons to making chords .. we'd have thousands of excellent guitarists. I'm not saying that's what the designers should have done. They wanted to make a fun, accesissible game, and thats what they did. I just woner if guitar hero, rock band, etc's popularity is going to mean an increased uptake of musical instruments by people, or whether the virtuosity stays just with the button pushing on a controller.

All that made me think of a bonding atoms mechanism. would there be any point if you had to be a chemist to play the game? Conversely, would it still be 'meaningful' if it was stripped of all it's chemical richness and turned into 'gameplay'? I don't know .... but I've been churning over the idea for the past few months ..... After working out a (relatively) simple bunch of mechanisms that reflect and utilize some key concepts in chemistry - valency, ionic and covalent bonding, period table, etc .. i've been wondering about context, and looking to create one for the chemical mechanisms.

I'll write up my contextual game design proposals, later.. but suffice to say, I have been working towards a metagame that is a natural extension of this mechanic. I haven't found it yet, but i believe there's a really nice, simple, clean and obvious game that could come about from the gameplay.

The Acid Test

The Acid Test - an idea developed from thinking about chemical/alchemical gameplay

The Acid Test is a single player action/puzzle game concerning a young man and his struggle to free his kidnapped wife and child from a professor. Forced to complete alchemical research on himself to guarantee the safety of the ones he loves, he needs to unravel the puzzle of the professor’s work in order to survive and thwart the man’s goal.

The Acid Test is a game with an emotive storyline and varied gameplay that does not require shooting and killing. It has a small cast of well-developed, emotive characters. The action alternates between a first person perspective on ordinary life and a third person perspective of alchemical 3D spaces.

After the hiatus

N othing posted on here since Maya was born in November. But lots happened since the last post, so I'll backtrack in the next feww posts, to bring my blog up to speed with game development so far.