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Game Design Considerations for Alternate Controllers

Explore how Harmonix incorporates alternate controllers in game design, the importance of identifying player experiences, and evaluating unique control data for immersive gameplay. Learn about designing for non-traditional gaming inputs and creating engaging player interactions.

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Game Design Considerations for Alternate Controllers

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  1. Game Design Considerations for Alternate Controllers Greg LoPiccolo Ryan Lesser Harmonix Music Systems

  2. Who is Harmonix? • Spun out of MIT Media Lab in 1995 • Focused on Interactive Music Innovation • Our Mission: to bring the experience of musical performance to non-musicians • Led to video game development

  3. Why does Harmonix make games using alternate controllers? • By accident! • Mandate to pursue music software  • Frequency/Amplitude required  • Focus on design innovation • Led to . . .

  4. What is an alternate controller? • Dance pad • Eyetoy / camera • Microphone • Light gun • Drum, Guitar, etc • Steering wheel

  5. Why design games with alternate controllers? • Underappreciated area of game design • Controller has HUGE impact on • Mechanics of player abilities and constraints • Player role expectations • Provides access to new game experiences

  6. Why design games with alternate controllers? • Lowers barrier to entry – more potential players • Conventional controllers canbe intimidating • Physical interactioncontributes to immersive experience

  7. Harmonix Alternate Controller Design • Undertake two simple steps to figure out what game to make • Don’t pre-judge the process, but follow where it leads • Most importantly…

  8. Early prototyping and iterative refinement is CRUCIAL • Build • Test • Revise • Repeat • But that is a different talk . . .

  9. Designing for Alternate Controllers?Use These Two Easy Steps! • Step 1: Identify the desired player experience • Step 2: Evaluate and/or develop the controller

  10. Step 1: Identify the desired player experience • Prerequisite for an effective design • Isn’t this obvious? • Yes, but implicit for most genres

  11. Step 1: Identify the desired player experience • Alternate controllers imply fundamental shifts in player experience. • Think about the experience, NOT the game mechanic

  12. Step 1: Identify the desired player experience • Incomplete understanding of gameplay at beginning of process • Clear understanding of experiential goals helps to evaluate ideas effectively • Easier to identify and kill off dead ends • Provides space for good ideas to flourish

  13. Step 2: Controller Evaluation/Development • Needs to support play experience unachievable with a conventional controller • Alternate controller provides unique data • What opportunities does this data provide? • What limitations does it present?

  14. Sony PS2 Dual Shock Controller Data

  15. Three Game Examples

  16. Example 1:

  17. Step 1: What is the core Karaoke experience? • Singing (drunk) • Performing in front of an audience (drunk) • Singing with other (drunk) people

  18. Step 2: Evaluate Controller • Controller = Microphone • Everyone knows how to use one..which is a huge step forward! • What data does it provide for us to evaluate?

  19. Step 2: Evaluate Controller Good Bad

  20. Step 2: Evaluate Controller • Pitch • Volume • Lyrics (Phonemes)

  21. Karaoke Revolution Microphone Controller Data Raw Input

  22. Step 2: Evaluate Controller • Pitch detection – unique, intuitive, technically feasible • Volume detection ? – too variable to be useful • Phoneme detection? • Computationally expensive • Unforgiving • Time-consuming to develop

  23. Shipping mechanic • Player sings vocal part of familiar song • Game grades on pitch accuracy • No attempt at speech parsing

  24. Karaoke Revolution Microphone Controller Data Derived Input

  25. Graphic

  26. Conclusion: Karaoke Revolution • Desired player experience = Karaoke performance • Usable controller data = pitch analysis • Outcome: decent (4 sequels and counting)

  27. Example 2:

  28. Step 1: What is the player experience? • Tougher question than for Karaoke Revolution • Possible player experience limitedby (as yet) unknown capabilitiesof controller • On to step 2 --

  29. Step 2: Evaluate/develop controller • Controller system =body + camera + scene analysis code • Scene analysis is highly configurable: • Um, what do we want to accomplish? • Back to step 1!

  30. Step 2: Evaluate/develop controller • What have other Eyetoy games done?

  31. Back to Step 1: what is the player experience? • Mapping limb or body motions to character control could be immersive and intuitive • Control unmediated by handheld controller • Forward to Step 2!

  32. Step 2: Evaluate Controller • What control data can we get from Eyetoy? • 2D Face-tracking • (After lots of work) 2D Hand-tracking • Nothing from feet

  33. EyeToy AntiGrav Controller DataRaw Input

  34. Flash of Insight: • Head is firmly attached to body • If body moves, head moves with it • Head tracking = body tracking!

  35. Where does that lead? • Steering, jumping, ducking with head/body • Er, something with hands

  36. Snowboarding? • It’s been done • How about . . .

  37. Hoverboarding!

  38. EyeToy AntiGrav Controller DataDerived Input

  39. Control Set • Left-Right Steering • Jump/Duck • Accelerate/Brake • Target-smashing with hands • Trick system gestures

  40. AntiGrav Conclusions • Desired player experience: intuitive physical control of hoverboarding character • Useful controller data: head & hand positions, gestures • Outcome: mixed…works great in ideal setup,but fragile

  41. Example 3

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