Introduction to Cognition and Gaming

Introduction to Cognition and Gaming • 11/13/02: Systemic Game Design

Systemic vs. Special Case Game Design • …or “Global vs. Local” • Systemic Design: • Consistency • Emergent Gameplay • Efficiency • Special Case Design: • Variety outside the game’s core mechanics • Unique moments • Story Advancement

Consistency • Players need to understand why things work and why they don’t • If there is little or no consistency between like objects, players will not make the necessary psychological associations, and will become frustrated • With systemic design, properties are universal, whereas special cases need to be handled one at a time, possibly causing player confusion

Emergent Gameplay • Establishing a set of rules on classes of objects, and complex behavior can emerge from their interaction • Deus Ex: • Resources are needed to open cabinets • MIBs explode when destroyed • -> Emergent Strategy: Use MIBs to open cabinets

Emergent Gameplay • Chron X • Transform: Upgrade organic unit to mech unit • Command Bolt: Steal enemy mech unit • -> Emergent Strategy: Upgrade an enemy unit to mech, then steal it • With special case design, rules are written for individual objects – very little emergence

Efficiency • Global bug fixes: If a property of an object is found to be detrimental to the gameplay, can change the property with one line of code instead of tweaking every instance of the object. • Deus Ex: • Originally, all proximity mines detonated when player approached • Made attaching own mines difficult – players complained in playtesting • ION Storm Austin was quickly able to change the properties of the prox mines so that your own mines would only detonate for others

Miguel • Deus Ex: • Scene where you break out of a jail cell, and find another prisoner in a different cell • Why not be able to break him out? • Build in a special case into the engine! • Well, there’s no “Squad Mate” AI, so we need to add in a ton of manual triggers • Don’t hand Miguel a modified weapon! It will instantly reference a generic base class

My Goodness, Should All Games be 100% Systemic? • Not quite • Shoehorning – Since pure systemic design doesn’t allow for exceptions, certain plot points and such must be twisted to fit the framework of the game engine • Consistency can work against the designer’s grand scheme

Not All Think Highly of Consistency • “Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”-Ralph Waldo Emerson (Poet, and advocate of Special Case Game Design) • “Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life.”-Aldous Huxley (Sci-Fi Writer, and advocate of Special Case Game Design)

Heart of Darkness • Almost pure special case design • Individual screens with different puzzles on each • Different animations and solutions depending on solution

Heart of Darkness • Lack of consistency frustrated many • For others, there was always something new that was deliberately designed • 5-7 years in the making!

Uncertainty • The dark side of emergent behavior • Not all emergent behaviors are good! • Deus Ex: (again!) • Players can attach/detach proximity mines to walls • Prox mines are physical objects • Players can interact with physical objects • Players don’t detonate their own prox mines • -> Emergent behavior – players can climb walls with prox mines! (Whoops)

“Play the Game, Not the Designer” – Doug Church • Playing the designer is frustrating • Designers imposing their own agenda is often a bad thing • Arbitrary forces can foil the player • Behaviors change from instance to instance • Environment is inconsistent or incomplete • Plans often fail for inexplicable reasons • Bad surprise – “What the $%&@?”

“Play the Game, Not the Designer” – Doug Church • Playing the game is satisfying • Fewer logical breaks in consistency • Environment feels rational • Players free to experiment • Player feels less manipulated • Plans fail or success comprehensibly • Good surprise – “Oh, of course!”

The Moral of the Story • Design object behaviors by type, not by instance • This is central to designing a behavior system, rather than a set of puzzles

GTA III • Describing the gameplay in Grand Theft Auto III is a bit difficult. Basically it's a criminal simulation that gives you free reign of Liberty City, a dark urban locale teaming with hoods, hookers, and gangland warriors. It's a hybrid game that combines a variety of different elements and genres including driving, high-intensity racing, shooting, item collection, mission-based gameplay, and open-ended exploring. This is one of the things that really sets GTA3 apart from your average game -- you can do almost anything. If you can think of it, chances are you can do it. You can ramp your car up on the elevated train rails and drive around town, take to the waters surrounding Liberty City in a speed boat, pick up a hooker in your swanky low-rider, go cruising for fares in a yellow cab, or hop in an ambulance for a little joy ride.

GTA III • Sand box freedom • Pedestrian Traffic • Vehicle Physics • Dynamic Missions • Damage Model • Goal Completion

GTA III • The methodology of completing a goal is inconsequential – the game system only cares that you get the job done • Take someone out – you can walk up and shoot them (good luck), or drive a car off a roof onto their head!

GTA III • Mostly systemic elements • Contains some special case scenarios • In GTA III, the special case missions highlight the inadequacies of special case design

GTA III • Cartel Mission • Protect 8-ball as he boards a ship to plant explosives • Kill off cartel members • Players would try to drive into cartel members or use grenades – MISSION FAILED • Have to use sniper rifle?!?

Too Controversial? • Now, what might that say about the game development community at large? I am sure many will look at that and say all developers are sexist males, promoting violence and stereotypes. However, it is very unlikely that developers are pointing to GTA3 for the sex and violence. Rather, they are pointing to its immersive world and open-ended missions and story, good graphics and well conceived audio. All around, GTA3 is a well crafted gaming experience, and fun to play -- regardless of its questionable content. At a recent industry event, there was a panel of respected developers discussing the future of games. Each one went to some length describing GTA3 as a step in the right direction. Yet, not one ever mentioned violence or sex. Rather, the spoke about immersion, non-linear narrative, world complexity, graphic richness and so on. So, while GTA3 generates negative media attention and puts into question the use of violence and sex, it is indeed a well executed game and worthy of nomination. -Jason Dell Rocca, IGDA editor

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GTAIII featured a massive, clockwork world that was really impressive to behold, and it refined its predecessors' free-roaming, nonlinear design and added a far more compelling story in the process. Those improvements, coupled with amazing vehicle physics, a surprising amount of variety in the gameplay, and a great sense of style, made GTAIII a runaway hit and one of the rare games that is accepted by both hard-core and casual game players alike

As open-ended as the game is, there is also a set track of missions you can follow to progress through the game, and there is a definitive beginning and ending to the game. Working for various underworld bosses around town, you'll be sent on assignments ranging from simple errands like carting an from point A to point B to disposing of bodies to running money for the mob to taking out rival gang leaders. And the various Dons and leaders aren't the ones who will give you jobs. There's a whole series of side-quests in the game that you may happen upon, whether it be through a tip given to you in a cutscene, by picking up a randomly ringing phone, or from your handy-dandy pager. There are over one hundred missions to complete and hundreds of miles of roads to explore, and you can play the game completely ordered and linearly or loose and random, and remain completely entertained while doing both.

What makes the game so entertaining to explore is the design and presentation of the entire package. GTA3 is just dripping with style, from the architecture of the different sections of the city to the characters you'll meet in said city to the dark humor that runs throughout the game. A huge part of this distinctive style comes from the soundwork. Developers are really starting to pay attention to game audio, and GTA3 is one of the best examples of a full-featured audio experience, and everything from the voice acting to the sound effects to the chatter of pedestrians to the music are implemented with a lot of thought and expertise

So what do we mean by a living, breathing city? Well, if you let your character just stand there, the world around you -- the civilians who walk by, the cops who stroll the streets, the traffic -- all exists around you. Just roaming the streets is an experience as you stand there, listening to the city around you. Voices from inside the hospital talk about spanking babies, old crouched women putt by mumbling to themselves, businessmen walk by complaining about needing a vacation, all while countless other folks around you go about their business in the city. And of course, as you would expect, everyone screams and runs when you shoot off your Uzi in the middle of the street.

Introduction to Cognition and Gaming