Question:
Using the dimensions of Game Worlds, analyse how a game world of your choice immerses the player.
Physical Dimension
Skyrim is a 3D action role-playing open world game. The scale of the objects in the game in generally proportioned to in real life. The boundaries of the game within the fictional province of Skyrim, upon the continent of Tamriel.
Players can easily relate to the world of Skyrim as most features within the game is not unnaturally foreign. This includes the fictional features like the dragons which were often depicted as fearsome creatures in books and movies. Because of the large world space, players hardly notice the 'edge of the world' unless they intentionally seek for it.
Temporal Dimension
The time in Skyrim runs faster than real time, to be precise; every minute that passes in real life, twenty minutes pass in Skyrim. Time is skipped when the player does a fast travel, meaning to say time passes as per usual as though the player were to be manually walking to their destination.
This allows the player to experience both the day and night of Skyrim. It also creates a sense of reality especially through the interaction with NPCs. NPCs often go to bed in the evening and come out in the morning, thus it is almost impossible to interact with them in the night unless you were to break in their houses.
Environmental Dimension
The world of Skyrim is detailed, almost realistic. Visual style of the game is designed to look medieval and most parts of the world is mountainous or forested areas dotted with various landmarks.
I believe that the more realistic a game, the better players can relate to it. The medieval-look to the game makes it more believable to use less modern weapons like swords, bows and arrows, or such.
Question:
Given the 1 of the following game genres, trace the roots of the genres and plot a genre timeline, noting important games released in that genre as well as milestone achievements in the genre.
First-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre which consist of a gun and projectile weapon-based combat through a first-person perspective, which means that the player experiences the game through the eyes of the protagonist.
1973 - Development of Maze War, exact date of completion unknown.
1974 - Documented debut of Spasim at the University of Illinois.
1980 - Battlezone, a tank video game released in arcades.
1983 - Home computer version of Battlezone released, presented using vector graphics.
1987 - Maze-based gameplay, MIDI Maze released with character designs similar to Pac-Man, but displayed in a first-person perspective.
1988 - Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode released. One of the first video games to place importance on accurate shooting and incorporated a sniper rifle, a weapon later to become a mainstay of the FPS genre.
1991 - Id Software's Hovertank 3D pioneered ray casting technology to enable faster gameplay than previous vehicle simulators.
1992 - Instant success and credited with inventing the FPS genre proper, Wolfenstein 3D was released.
1993 - Having Wolfenstein 3D's template refined to depict a more believable 3D environment, Doom was released. Competitive matches, also known as "deathmatches" between players were introduced. The game was also responsible for the word's subsequent entry into the video gaming lexicon.
1994 - Bungie released Marathon on the Macintosh. Marathon and its subsequent sequels set the standard for FPS on that platform.
1995 - Star Wars: Dark Forces was released which several technical feature that Doom lacked, such as the ability to crouch or look up and down.
1996 - Quake, an influential and genre-defining is released. It was the first FPS game to have a player clan system, which inspired popular LAN parties such as QuakeCon.
1997 - Released in 1997 as the first landmark console FPS, GoldenEye 007 grew to become the bestselling Nintendo 64 game by 2004.
1998 - Featuring a team-based, counter-terrorism themed, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six was released. The game started a popular trend of tactical FPS.
1999 - Counter-Strike was released. The later version Counter-Strike: Source (2004) went on to become by far the most popular multiplayer FPS ever, with over 90,000 players competing online at any one time during its peak.
2004 - The sequel of Halo (1999), Halo 2 brought the popularity of online-gaming to the console market through the medium of Xbox Live, and maintained as the most played game for almost two years.
2006 - GamaSutra reported the FPS as one of the biggest and fastest growing video genres in terms of revenue for publishers.
2010 - Research shows that playing FPS video games is associated with superior mental flexibility.
Question:
Is Game Design, in itself, a form of "Play"?
Justify how Game Design is or is not a form of play.
As mentioned in class, there are several classification of games, and there are a few categories Game Design could fit in.
Agôn is competition, where players put against each other to get a better score, or a better achievement. In Game Design, the players could be the game designers of different game production companies, who pit against each other to produce the bestselling game.
Alea is chance, where there is an absence of prediction of the outcome in the game. In Game Design, the game designers could run out of ideas and create a shitty game, or they might have a brilliant idea and create something revolutionary.
Mimicry is imitation, where role-playing plays a huge part of the game. Game designers would sometimes make observations through the lens of a gamer, and from there, develop the game to suit potential players of their game.
Ilinx is basically vertigo, where players experience first hand motion through games. I would like to believe game designers go through or try out simulators before designing the games.
Paida is the absence of rules. But I guess game designers do have to work within a certain structure of rules, for example, the target audience. Which would be Ludus, which means the presence of rules.
Through all these, we can see that game design is, in fact, a form of play, although its purpose is more of the creation of play.
Question:
“A Thousand-Year Game” is a game that people would probably still be playing in a thousand years from now. Pick a game that you think deserves the title of “A Thousand Year Game”, and justify why.
Released on June 6, 1984, the game was available on almost every possible video game console, having won many awards, as well as dubbed one of the "greatest game of all time".
Why Tetris? I believe that it is of it's easily-understood game interface. Nobody ever really had to read the instructions on how to play Tetris. They just jump straight into the game, drop the blocks and almost instantly understood the mechanics and dynamics.
Also, as mentioned in my response regarding the topic of a "good" game, what I would consider a good game would be one with a series of choices given to the player. Players often like to be in control of the game. Without choices, it wears the player out, making him/her feel as though they're brought through a story instead. Compare Tetris with Snake & Ladders, you'll understand.
While many games are designed mainly for leisure, Tetris offers the player an experience where his/her spatial reasoning is tested. It is not as mind-taxing as games like chess, but it keeps one's brain thinking of possible spots to drop the block. Who knows, kindergarten teachers may even make their students play Tetris in future.
I am sure many would agree that a game like Tetris could be a thousand-year game, given the many variants released over the years.
Question:
Pick a “non-game” and analyse the Formal Elements of it. Suggest how you would modify the “non-game” into a “game” that fits into the definition we covered this week.
Sims is a strategic, life stimulation video game (or is it?) series developed by Maxis and later by The Sims Studio, and published by Electronic Arts. The player creates virtual people called "Sims", places them in houses, as well as helps direct their moods and satisfy their desires.
Let's analyse the formal elements of Sims:
Players - 1 player controls a household of Sims.
Objectives - No main objectives set for the player.
Procedures - The player follows the game's course of the day.
Rules - eg. Amount of Simoleons reduce when player buys something.
Resources - Simoleons is the in-game currency of Sims.
Conflict - Limited Simoleons restrict the player from buying items the Sims cannot afford.
Boundaries - Sims are bounded within the city.
Outcome - There is no outcome. When all members of the household dies, the player moves on to play another household.
To modify Sims to make it a game:
Setting of objectives
Players can choose a certain approach to fulfil the objective of a game. Say, by increasing the household's Lifetime Happiness to a higher score as compared to an AI household's.
Determining an outcome
Upon completing a household, if it's Lifetime Happiness score is higher than the opponent's, the player would 'win' the game.
Of course, a lot could be improved in terms of the other elements to form a good game out of Sims.
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