Choice In Video Games

1. Choice In Video Games Ricardo Iván Corral Terrazas (42406455) ricardo-ivan.corral-terraza@students.mq.edu.au Supervisor: Dr. Michael Hitchens June 13th, 2012

2. Agenda Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games • Project Introduction • Background • Video Game And Game Design Basics • About Ontologies • What Is Choice? Defining The Term • An Ontological Model For Choice • Findings And Usability Of The Model • Conclusions And Future Work

3. Agenda Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games • Project Introduction • Background • Video Game And Game Design Basics • About Ontologies • What Is Choice? Defining The Term • An Ontological Model For Choice • Findings And Usability Of The Model • Conclusions And Future Work

4. The Problem Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games • “Game design is about designing choices” - James Portnow, game designer • What is choice? • No universal definition • Lack of a framework to design choice • How well do we understand game design if we don’t understand choice completely?

5. Project Aims Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games • Develop an ontological model to represent the types and scopes of choices • Open-ended • Flexible • Unify the isolated notions of choice into an accurate, concise definition • Apply the model to existing games • Propose uses for the model

6. Agenda Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games • Project Introduction • Background • Video Game And Game Design Basics • About Ontologies • What Is Choice? Defining The Term • An Ontological Model For Choice • Findings And Usability Of The Model • Conclusions And Future Work

7. Background:Video Games Are Important • 72% of American households play computer games • Lots of money involved Source: The NPD Group/Games Industry: Total Consumer Spend Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games

8. Background:Video Game Concepts Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games • 4 elements define video games: • Play • Pretending • Goal • Rules • Play determines interactivity;rules define gameplay • Gameplay consists of challenges and actions

9. Background:Game Design 101 Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games • To create gameplay, designers outlinetwo components: • Core Mechanics • User Interface • Game design process: • Concept stage • Development stage • Tuning stage • Communication is vital

10. Agenda Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games • Project Introduction • Background • Video Game And Game Design Basics • About Ontologies • What Is Choice? Defining The Term • An Ontological Model For Choice • Findings And Usability Of The Model • Conclusions And Future Work

11. Background:About Ontologies Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games • An ontology is an explicit specification of a shared conceptualisation • Benefits of using ontologies: • Share common understanding of information • Enable reuse of knowledge • Make domain assumptions explicit • General steps to develop an ontology: • Define classes • Arrange classes in a taxonomic hierarchy • Define slots, describing their allowed values

12. Agenda Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games • Project Introduction • Background • Video Game And Game Design Basics • About Ontologies • What Is Choice? Defining The Term • An Ontological Model For Choice • Findings And Usability Of The Model • Conclusions And Future Work

13. Choice As Found In Literature Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games

14. Choice Defined Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games A choice is a possibility offered by the video game, which allows the player to perform actionsthat adhere to the rules as prescribed in the programmed code. To carry out such actions is the decision of the player, and the video game system should reflect them within the state of the virtual world

15. Agenda Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games • Project Introduction • Background • Video Game And Game Design Basics • About Ontologies • What Is Choice? Defining The Term • An Ontological Model For Choice • Findings And Usability Of The Model • Conclusions And Future Work

16. Model Overview (1/2) Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games • Ontological, open-ended model • Aimed for a systematic categorisation of choice • Model consist of: • 3 metacategories • 11 dimensions • 30+ classes • Black-box analysis • Used Grounded theory method

17. Model Overview (2/2) • Choice regarding other gameplay mechanics • Savability Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games Metacategories • Choice regarding player-controlled entities • Means for terrain exploration • Terrain alteration • Avatar appearance • Combat • Player controllable units • Choice regarding virtual world • Terrain exploration availability • Objects • Quests/Missions • Non-playable character interaction • Morality

18. Example: Terrain Exploration Availability Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games

19. Condensed Ontological Model Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games

20. Agenda Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games • Project Introduction • Background • Video Game And Game Design Basics • About Ontologies • What Is Choice? Defining The Term • An Ontological Model For Choice • Findings And Usability Of The Model • Conclusions And Future Work

21. Applicability Of The Model (1/2) Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games • Applied model to 7 different games, including: • Open-world game • Shooter game • Platformer/Action game • Different types of games present different types of choices to the player • Coincidences in the offered choices helps to identify when differences in a game are of a qualitative nature

22. Applicability Of The Model (2/2) • Platformer game (Mega Man X) Open-world game (GTA IV) Shooter game (Gears of War)

23. Usability Of The Model Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games • Look at choice and its design systematically • Understanding which choices are being offered to the player and how they interact • Providing the designer with a knowledge base • Communicate with precision (designer – programmer – artist) • Diagnosing game design problems • When game is failing to deliver meaningful play, it usually comes down to choice • Choice-based game classification

24. Agenda Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games • Project Introduction • Background • Video Game And Game Design Basics • About Ontologies • What Is Choice? Defining The Term • An Ontological Model For Choice • Findings And Usability Of The Model • Conclusions And Future Work

25. Conclusions And Future Work Ricardo I Corral Terrazas (42406455) | Choice In Video Games Although paramount for game design, choice has not been studied as it ought to An honest attempt to contribute to the largely neglected video game field was made The ontology could serve as the grammar that could make communication much easier Iterations of the refinement process will go on as long as games exist Include multiplayer and social choices in the model

26. Thank you.Questions ?