Yes, I make them blog for homework...

akan datang...

2006-07-31T21:17:00.000-07:00

NM4209 Game Design II will be starting in a couple of weeks. The powers that be have decided to support hosting of module blogs on campus, so I'm experimenting with using their service. The NM4209 module blog will be here, and the module wiki will be here.

Hurray for team B!

2006-04-16T18:27:00.000-07:00

07/04/2006 12:01pm, I received the following SMS: "Congratulations, you're on Team B! Team with the most people by the end of 3216 lecture wins. If you're currently on another team, why not join Team B?"

And the game was on...

Thanks to all of you for a meaningful semester, its been fun!

Beyond the game

2006-04-02T18:24:00.000-07:00

This is it, the final blog exercise for this semester! I'll try to keep it short...

Think back to the very start of the semester, when we talked about the concept of meaningful play, which occurs when "the relationships between actions and outcomes in a game are both discernable and integrated into the larger context of the game" (from Salen and Zimmerman, Rules of Play). When the game is an alternate reality game such as The Beast, where the game does not have any explicitly declared actions and outcomes, and in some cases does not even acknowledge its own existence, is it possible for there to be meaningful play? Does this type of "game" require us to rethink our definition of games?

Game systems

2006-03-26T17:28:00.000-08:00

This week we're looking at game systems - a collection of components or formal elements which can function together across multiple games. Game systems are very difficult to design, yet can afford the creation of many fascinating games. A deck of cards is probably the most commonly known game system.

Creating mods (modifications) to existing games is a common practice, not just for computer games, but for any form of games. Does this imply that any game can be considered a game system? Why/why not?
Consider a game which you feel could be successfully modified. How could this game be generalized into a game system? How much of the unique character/flavour of the game can be retained? How generic can you make the game system? How easy will it be to create new, unique games from the game system?
Describe one new game designed on top of the game system you proposed in question 2.

Flowing

2006-03-23T22:07:00.000-08:00

Just discovered a beautiful little game, Flowing, by the same students who did Cloud. This game investigates the concept of flow, which is very interesting in itself, but theory aside, its a wonderful demostration of an engaging, well-designed experience. Go and play it now!
(Thanks for the pointer, hazylium!)

Lets get digital!

2006-03-19T07:10:00.000-08:00

This week we're thinking about what makes digital (video, computer, arcade, etc.) games different from other non-digital games.

For your blog exercise this week:

Try to find an example of a digital game which truly takes advantage of the traits of the medium, and could not be successfully implemented in a non-digital form. In particular, think about the traits of digital/computer games as listed by Crawford. Describe the game, and identify the core gameplay mechanic. What is it about the core mechanic that makes the game truly a digital game?
The third and final assignment is to design a digital game. Blog about your initial ideas for the assignment, ready for discussion in the workshop this week.

Serious games

2006-03-10T20:53:00.000-08:00

After a somewhat serious lecture, its time for a somewhat serious topic: serious games. (Seriously.)

Choose a game which presents itself as a "serious" game, one which is not primarily (or solely) intended for entertainment. Using this game as an example, discuss whether it is possible for a game to be successful on two levels: both in terms of its goals as a game (creating meaningful play and engagement/flow), and as a serious game (achieving specific learning objectives, conveying a political message, or other non-entertainment objectives).

Suggested games to look at include

You don't have to limit yourself to digital games - any form of game is fine!

Social games...

2006-02-26T03:37:00.000-08:00

Ready or not, here are the next set of discussion questions!

In this week's workshop, we'll be playing 3 games which exhibit emergent social play: Little Max, Mafia, and Stand Up. Choose one of these games, and answer the following questions:

Describe the social interactions which you observed during play. In what way did these interactions emerge from within the formal elements of the game?

Using Sutton-Smith's categorization of social play roles, discuss how the players' roles changed during the course of the game.

Suggest a modification to the game which will alter the social dynamics that emerge during play.

You should also share your initial ideas for assignment 2 on your blog.

Field trip!

2006-02-23T07:45:00.000-08:00

The "field trip" to Settler's Cafe was a great success. In the end 16 of us turned up, and we stayed until 6pm. We ended up playing an epic 3-hour game of Settlers of Catan, which I almost won.

The Faculty Wars group managed to get through several fast games.

And I don't want to know what the Hey Mama! gang were up to outside... (Twister, so they claim). And at one point they had a very curious audience!

Assignment 1 playtesting, the final episode!

2006-02-18T22:52:00.000-08:00

Delayed by a few days (sorry), here's the images from the final round of playtesting on Thursday. A very nicely polished version of Attrition! and a very exciting session of Stoned! (why do all the games have exclamation points in their names?)... and a comment from Dennis, the USP technician, that my students are "very dedicated", working on their "homework" for many hours after class... (ie. playing games in the lab).

Day of the Tentacle vs. Escape from Monkey Island

2006-02-18T22:37:00.000-08:00

According to Chris Crawford, in the Art of Computer Game Design,
"Adventures are closer to puzzles than to games. As discussed in Chapter One, puzzles are distinguished from games by the static nature of the obstacles they present to the player. Adventures present intricate obstacles that, once cracked, no longer provide challenge to the player. It is true that some adventures push closer to being games by incorporating obstacles such as hungry dragons that in some way react to the player. Nevertheless, they remain primarily puzzles."

This relates to our discussion about games and narrative... there were two interesting, and opposing, responsed to my questions about this topic.

Kyrun looked at Day of the Tentacle, and felt that, although it has a highly linear structure, it is still engaging and allows for a certain amount of interactivity.

A highly unstable psychopath, on the other hand, felt, based on her frustration playing Escape from Monkey Island, that adventure games are "like a storybook, very linear, and the only way to flip to the next page and move the story forward is to do what is required in the game".

What do you all think? Swift, I'm sure you have an opinion about this... :P

And here's some more food for thought on adventure games, from Ernest Adams and Greg Costikyan.

You are not alone...

2006-02-15T07:45:00.000-08:00

Just came across this blog: artpractice. Look familiar? Its the course website for a game design class taught by Jane McGonigal. I guess nothing is original in this world... but its encouraging to know that I'm not the only one making students blog for homework for a game design class!

More playtesting, round 2 sesson 2

2006-02-15T06:41:00.000-08:00

More playtesting madness today: Hey Mama! with its innovative tile holders from IKEA; RPS which is turning out to be as intense as its Monday cousin (and would make a cool web-based multiplayer game); Cat and Mouse with a particularly hungry and aggressive cat, and the ongoing faculty wars with the curiously named super-unit...

And somehow people just can't resist playing with the Lego!

Playtesting, round 2...

2006-02-13T08:21:00.000-08:00

We had a very interesting playtesting session today... with a strong contrast between the noisy, rowdy bunch playing Carmakazi on the floor, versus the intense, deadly serious game of scissors/paper/stone on the table... later on, we had some in-depth discussions about cheating in Face-Off, and a complicated 8-way dating game which never got resolved due to lack of time... great fun!

Games telling stories?

2006-02-11T17:11:00.000-08:00

Here's the next discussion question:

Choose a game which you feel attempts to incorporate strong narrative elements.

Discuss the tension between agency and narrative structure within the game. Do you agree that narrative and interactivity can never co-exist? Why/why not?

How is time represented in the game? Is there a separation of story and discourse time? How does the game’s use of time allow for interactivity?

Remember, this is to be given lower priority than finishing assignment 1... :)

So what on earth is a FADT anyway?!?

2006-02-11T05:57:00.000-08:00

For those of you who may have found the Doug Church article a bit cheem, have a look at this site, which points out that really FADT is basically another way of saying Patterns. Thanks, Zhonghao!

First round of playtesting for assignment 1...

2006-02-06T21:46:00.000-08:00

Monday

Wednesday

Thursday

Who says there's no such thing as innovative gameplay?

2006-02-05T08:45:00.000-08:00

The Slamdance Guerilla Gamemaker Competition winners have been announced. This, together with the Independent Games Festival, gives me hope for innovative and original game designs. Now if only we could see a Singaporean entry in there next year!

I particularly like Cloud, feels like being inside a Miyazaki movie...

...and you thought 3 assignments per semester was tough!

2006-01-30T21:02:00.000-08:00

Think that's a lot of work? Try creating 50 games in one semester!

This is actually a very interesting concept, which started as the Experimental Gameplay Project, a student-initiated project at the Entertainment Technology Center at CMU. Hmm, perhaps something to try for Gaming Culture II? Now I just have to figure out how to do this without requiring everyone to know programming...

Bogged down with blogs...

2006-01-27T07:53:00.000-08:00

So sorry, I haven't managed to get through all the entries from last week... guess I only have myself to blame! I'll finish commenting on the Calvinball discussions and assignment 1 ideas over the next day or so...

Anyway, without further ado, here's the next set of blog questions:

For a game of your choice:

Describe the formal elements that make up the game. Be as clear and detailed as possible.

Does this description fully capture the requirements for playing the game? Are there any additional rules or assumptions that you may have left out? Do these need to be written down? Why/why not?

Following Doug Church’s approach, try to extract the abstract design concepts that constitute the gameplay. Can these be transferred to a different type of game? Why/why not?

There's always one who can't make it...

2006-01-20T02:32:00.000-08:00

Ok, despite the agony of trying to accomodate everyone's schedules with the workshop slots, I think I survived lecture 2...

So, without any further ado, here's the next blogging exercise:

Based on the definitions of a game and meaningful play as presented in class, discuss whether the game of Calvinball could be considered a game. Could meaningful play emerge from this game? Why/why not?

Begin developing your initial concept for assignment 1: design a traditional format game, and share your ideas on your blog. You can do this individually for now, and we'll form groups in the workshop next week.

Shouldn't you be playing a game right now?

2006-01-19T22:28:00.000-08:00

Lots of interesting responses to the first set of questions... I've tried to comment on most people's blogs. Here's a quick extract of some interesting points - but remember, if I didn't mention your blog here, doesn't mean it wasn't interesting!

Why do we play games?
http://immortalvampire.blogspot.com/: It is something that we, as people choose to indulge in for that brief moment of time, to detract our minds from reality for a moment, to follow the rules set to acheive a given goal state.
http://nm3216gamingblog.blogspot.com/: Often, a game is played because the player/s want/s to achieve some sort of goal, whether it's to de-stress, to socialise, to pass away the time, to be
challenged, to get rewards, to become famous, to be in control and feel good about oneself, to have fun, or to "escape" from the real world.
http://gameenough.blogspot.com/: Things which can be done in games may be impossible to achieve in the real world,thus humans tend to make use of games to let out their frustrations,
fulfill their dreams or even regain their confidence. Although all these may be virtual, at least it serves as a psychological consolation to the fragile human minds.

Do we need to be aware that we're playing a game?
http://ww3216.blogspot.com/: Does the toddler playing with some lego bricks have to understand that he's playing a game, before you can call it a game? In this case, the "goal" of the
game, in his case (he wouldn't know it anyway) is just to amuse himself - he doesn't see the building of some castle as the ultimate aim. If I went to the arcade, inserted a coin, started a game and just banged on all the buttons, would that still make it a game? Worse, if I didn't insert the coin, but still banged the buttons, does that make it any less a game either? As far as I have concerned, I have fulfilled the aim of amusing myself.

Value depends on context
http://littleblogadventure.blogspot.com/: I would argue that the value of a game can only be argued within the context of the culture that it was created in or that it is played in. And so the
value of a game, the measure of it's goodness or badness, can be considered to be a measurement of it's cultural value.

Realism/representation
http://mavericktalk.wordpress.com/: One of key aspects of a “good” game is the minimal level of realism for the player to accept the game reality presented. Although photorealism is one of
the hottest trends for achieving a sense of realism in the game like popular titles Halo, The Final Fantasy series, Doom 3, etc… Then there are also games that have just very minimal realistic graphics with very creative and imaginative game environment that captures the player’s imagination. Games like World of Warcraft, Katamari Ball (I think) and most Japanese games still use cartoonish looking graphics and is yet able to greatly engross the player
into the game.

Engagement and enjoyment
http://ahxgaming.blogspot.com/: Games at the most basic level are any activities, either physical or mental, that provides the players with joy or excitement. Unlike passive activities
like watching a movie or reading a novel, a game provides joy to the user by engaging him or her directly in the activity.

Meaning
http://gameenough.blogspot.com/: A good game should be something that has the ability to influence and become significant in it's players' lives.
http://peipei85.blogspot.com/: Good Game? The first thing that comes to my mind is what anonymous strangers say, whether they win/lose to you in Yahoo online games- gg.
The meaning of good game is socially constructed. If many people play it and it is popular, it has done its job of being a 'gg' that unites people.

Boundaries/audience
http://rescue-rangers.blogspot.com/: It's easier to understand that computer games immerse us in a seperate world of the game where all it matters is to win n get rid of all enemies... but
doesn't Survivor work the same way as well? players get thrown on an island n their goal is to get rid of all obstacles n competitors n finally win!

Story vs. game
http://littleblogadventure.blogspot.com/:a well-written videogame story need not be one that can be transplanted to another genre and be as effective there. That's one of the reasons why nobody has been able to make a good film adaptation of a videogame.

Unpredictability
http://kelvinkhemery.blogspot.com/: The process and the elements in the game should be something unpredictable. This is because most of the time if you can predict what is already in the game, the game would fade off very soon in the interest in the game. These elements include the way how the character can grow like how the online games base their character on. Sometimes the game plot can also be ever changing. They can be changing from this ending to another within seconds of desicion and this is the important part about gaming. You never know what is going to happen. When this happens, gaming would be enjoyable and anticipated. Rather
than "oh i knew this was going to happen!"

And so it starts...

2006-01-12T00:41:00.000-08:00

Another semester, another module. The endless cycle of life.

Lecture 1 has come and gone. Here's the first blogging exercise:

For your first blog entry, discuss:

What is a game?

What makes a “good” game?

Enjoy!

And don't forget about the talk on Friday:
http://synergy21.nus.edu.sg/alumni/cisaa/alumacts2.htm#act13