Intriguing the Player

The best games tell a story. And the best stories are those that keep you asking for more, where you're desperate to find out what happens next and perhaps a little sad when you get to the end simply because the story's done and there's no more to read.

"And then Ron and Hermione just got married, what a crock."

This week we'll be intriguing and enticing, we'll be talking about games that hook the player in to their world. These are the games that succeed in bringing a world to life.

Capturing your player and drawing them into your world isn't an easy thing to teach. Many people already spend a great deal of their time trying to work out how to teach others how to write a good story. I'm not going to throw my hat into that ring just yet.

Start hard with stream-of-consciousness, then two
quick metaphors to the left and an irony uppercut.

What I can do is tell you why a good narrative is a pre-requisite for a great game and an excellent teaching tool. A good story makes your game memorable, dramatic and interesting without being repetitive and there's never the lack of momentum that haunts lesser games. Games with great stories never run out of steam.

But be careful! A great story alone will not save a game if the game doesn't know how to tell that story. There's been a number of games with great stories, and depending on who you ask this either made them fantastic or fantastically boring. Personally, I love a good story, and for that reason I've excused many games such as Alan Wake, Max Payne and Half-Life 2 when gameplay gets in the way of a good story.

And of course we can't talk about stories in games without looking at my personal favourite: the Metal Gear franchise, and particularly Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

The brainchild of video game wunderkind and wierdo Hideo Kojima, the Metal Gear series tells the story of rogue secret agent Solid Snake. I've picked MGS2 partly because it wasn't well received by fans when it attempted to take the franchise is a new direction and partly because I'll never forget the time when playing this game late one night, my character got a call on his military comm-phone from his Commanding Officer telling me to turn off my PlayStation and to stop playing the game. I'd gotten so into the story that it came as a shock when his commander called and literally told me to stop playing. It was a confronting moment, but that's what MGS is all about. And no, I'm not going to tell you why. You're just going to have to play the game yourself, but trust me it's worth it.

If you want moments where you're not sure if you're playing a game at all, all brilliantly written into an immersive story, I highly recommend Metal Gear Solid. If you want to come back next week we'll have another piping hot blog post. Next week's focus we're going to sneak a peek inside a real game designer as they work. Thanks for stopping by, see you all again next week.

Stay tuned!

Anthony.

Anne McLaren - Pennant Hills Public School

I'm a year 5 teacher who is currently acting as computer coordinator while our 'real' one is on leave.

I am not actively teaching Kahootz in the computer lab as we have a relieving computer teacher, but all the planning is being done in the classroom and the kids are loving the experience.

We have some fantastic game ideas under way and some of the children are now at the stage of putting some scenes together. All of Stage 3 are participating in the program and the teachers and students are starting to see some progress.

The Secret of the Paradigm Shift

Over the last few weeks, we took a look at what not to do when designing a game. The top ten most common mistakes made by game designers can be found here, here, here and here. Now we're going to do an about face. It's not fun looking at where games went wrong. This week we're going to recongnise the games that got it right, and maybe pick out a couple of hints to take away for our own games.

Fig 1: Nintendo employees still celebrating release of
Super Mario Bros, 25 years on.

Specifically, this week we'll be examining a technique called the 'paradigm shift'. It happens when the rules of your game are suddenly and massively changed. The world is reformed around new rules, everything old is new again, and your player basically has to relearn how to play your game. It's easiest to think of a paradigm shift as the twist ending in a movie.


For this reason, the paradigm shift is a rare occurence. There should be at the utmost one per game, and there has to be a good narrative reason for the rules as they once were to come crashing down on the player. But when done right, a paradigm shift breathes new life into a game right before the end, where it's often most needed.

Fig 2: Before the paradigm shift

So who does it right? Alien vs Predator and Rune get the idea of pumping up the player right before the end (sorry, spoilers), but the best example of a paradigm shift lies in the final chapter of BioShock. I'm not going to give away the ending but suffice to say that towards the end the game, and your role in it, is turned on its head. Suddenly enemies are friends and your own survival is no longer the only focus.

Rather than just arming the player with some mega-cannons for a spectacular final boss fight, BioShock basically throws a whole new way to play at the player right before the end, resulting in one of the most stressful and most enjoyable levels I've ever played. The paradigm shift turns BioShock from a basic yet dramatically beautiful shooter into something great.

Next week we'll be continuing this theme: looking at how games can intrigue and entice the player. Once again, thanks for dropping by, looking forward to seeing you next week.

Stay tuned!

Anthony

The 10 most common mistakes made by Game Designers - Part 4

Welcome back for this our last in a line of the top 10 most common mistakes made by Game Designers. Part 1, part 2 and part 3 can be found here, in which we detail the good and the bad. But this week, we're rounding up the list with the ugly. The top two most embarassing mistakes made by everyone, Game Designers included. This week we look at the silly mistakes, the ones that break a game, that seem so minor when you're making the game but stand out so obviously when your player gets their hands on the finished product. Let's roll up our sleeves and dive right in to:

2. Bugs, Glitches and Typos
The game starts. A man named 'Sir Charles the Nite' appears, instructing you to "hant down teh Goulden Mask fo Power". You hop on your trusty steed and head into the dark forest, where you encounter horrible Blood Spiders who aren't so horrible when they just stand there like that or bump into each other. You can just walk right past them! You find the Golden Mask of Power and return it Sir Charles, who takes it gladly then asks you to 'hant' it down again.

"Hant it down and brung it bak too me!"

High-profile sinners: Zero Wing, Max Payne

Why it happens:
Making a whole game takes a lot of time and effort and it's a nightmare working with a deadline looming and your publisher screaming for a finished product. It's amazing that through all this a game gets made at all, so you can forgive the little typos that manage to sneak their way in here and there, right? Of course, it's not only games that fall victim to this. I've submitted many a uni essay, last minute, without bothering to check for typos in the important things, like the heading.

You don't notice it, and frankly you're glad to see the end of it. But your player does (or in my case uni professor). They see these silly mistakes and it's all they can think about. The game itself could be amazing, but somehow your game Dwarf Spelling Forterss has lost some of its glamour. Or maybe it's not spelling, maybe the terrifying Nightmare Guards of the Beyond aren't quite so nightmarish considering they keep bumping into walls and keep getting stuck in invisible holes in the ground.

How to avoid it:
When it comes to avoiding spelling errors, bugs and glitches, the simplest and least helpful response is don't make them in the first place. But not only is that impossible, it ignores the important role of testing your game. Sure, you might be the only person designing or building your game, but you shouldn't ever be the only one testing it. Grab your friends, your parents, your neighbours. Show your game to everyone who will sit still in front of a computer screen long enough. Make them play your game again and again, until they're dead bored with it, and then make them play it again. This isn't about showing off, this is about ironing out the bugs and getting everything absolutely right. And to be honest, it's exactly what professional Video Game Testers get to look forward to every single day.

1. Hogging all the fun
You turn a corner in this dank cave. The sound of dripping water echoes unseen from deep within. Tiny yellow eyes watch your every move from the shadows. You push on, unafraid, towards the mysterious green glow that pulses and hums in the dark. You take one step, then another, and another. And then you might as well put the controller down and make a cup of tea because the next fifteen minutes are going to be dedicated to one long cutscene. Don't get me wrong, this is one incredible cut scene. There's explosions and magic whizzing through the air, and there's a dragon! But the question remains - if this is so cool, why can't we be playing this?

"Hey, I've got this awesome new game, it's called DVD!"

High-profile sinners: Bayonetta, Devil May Cry, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Why it happens:
What is a game if it's not letting you have any fun? It's not a game anymore, it's a movie that stops running if you stop moving your thumbs. Suddenly your player feels a bit like a mouse on a wheel, running round in circles, disconnected from the game. As a side note, these obtrusive cut scenes at their worst dump the player right into the middle of some huge boss fight and expect you to sit through the whole overblown, dramatic fifteen minutes again when you lose - which you will, again and again.

How to avoid it:
Less is more when it comes to cut scenes. There should always be an initial cut scene to quickly introduce the main characters and show off the world. After that cut scenes are handy to show emotional interactions between the heroes and the villains, and that's it. Anything more exciting should be gameplay. It's more engaging and more rewarding and your player will end up caring more about the story when it is shown (through gameplay) and not told (forced down their throat by awkward cut scenes).

And there we have it, the top 10 most common mistakes made by Game Designers. I hope you've enjoyed it, and maybe even learnt something. Next week we'll be looking at how to turn a good game into a great one. Looking forward to seeing you all again next week.

Stay tuned!

Anthony

Year 5 Designing Games linked to Literature

I have been working with four classes of Year 5 students who have recently completed their training in the use of Kahootz. Over the last couple of weeks, they have all been busily designing games linked to the books they have been reading and studying in class. The books include: Rowan of Rin, Finders Keepers and The  Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

The students were asked to identify three exciting events in the books that could be turned into a level in a game. They were then asked to identify a challenge or obstacle that the player would have to overcome, what was happening in the scene when they came across the obstacle/challenge, and what would the player have to do to get past the obstacle. This was all part of the design document students filled out in preparation for building their games. Most of the students are now currently completing storyboards for their games.

It was exciting to see the conversations that occured between students when discussing ideas for their games. It was also interesting to see the level of synthesis that was required for students to turn events from a book into a game idea. This generated some very creative ideas!

The 10 most common mistakes made by Game Designers - Part 3

Welcome back as we chart the plight of our poor player through the 10 most common mistakes made by Game Designers. Part 1 and part 2 have set the ground work, here in part 3 we take a look at games that ask too much or to little of the player.

4. Expecting too much of the player
Your player has a quest to find the magical garden, a place of wonder and mystery. Everywhere they travel they find stories about the garden's beauty and its power, and of the incredible beasts that lurk within it. The only thing they can't find is that stupid garden.

But they've only got themselves to blame, because everyone knows the garden can only be found at full moon while holding a rose. Don't they? That old farmer said it way back at the beginning of the game. I mean, come on!

He knew the secret all along.

Unfortunately for many game designers, players just aren't that good at mind reading. What might be a glaringly obvious hint to you could be just a little too vague for your frustrated player. Our fourth most common mistake is forgetting that your players don't have a direct line into your head and may need little reminders sometimes.

High-profile sinners: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, The Secret of Monkey Island

Why it happens:
It happens when a game designer gets too caught up in the fun of playing their own game that they can't take that step back to see their game with fresh eyes. You might get so fixated on creating the perfect maze to hide a magical star in that you forget to tell your player that they're even hunting for a star in the first place. Or worse, the instructions you give just aren't very good, and as a result your player finds a 'star' but it's the wrong one and nothing happens. It's always better to break down your instructions into smaller tasks. Step 1: find the maze near the Snowfall Mountains, step 2: find the star hidden in the maze. This way your game is constantly, but unobtrusively, guiding the player. If they still get lost after all that, don't worry - your player's probably just a little slow.

How to avoid it:What do your friends think of your game? What about your parents or your teachers? What do your neighbours think? If you ever want to find out whether your game makes sense to a new player, your first step should always be getting new people to play it. It's called 'beta-testing', when your game is largely completed and you are running through chasing down the bugs. You need people who have never seen your game before. Just remember, when they break your game (and they will always break your game), don't get angry - they're giving you important feedback!
3. Challenging the player (too little)
Your player is a clever person. They're learning all the time. Learning to use the tools in your game, learning to apply them in different sequences, learning to be better at your game. Game designers have to stay one step ahead. You need to make sure that as your player gets better, the game gets tougher. There's an important phrase that game designers like to throw around. It's called the 'Difficulty Curve'. Simply put, the Difficulty Curve charts how difficult your game is from start to finish.

Fig 1. From Scruffy Moisture Farmer to Jedi Master

Your game should always start out easy, with tutorial levels and simple challenges. It's only sensible, otherwise your game will seem overwhelming, or impossible. The start is the easy part, the hard part is ramping up the difficulty in the later levels. The third most common mistake happens when a game flops right before the end. Whether the player suddenly becomes too powerful or the game designer has run out of ideas, the last few levels are just too easy.

High-profile sinners: Red Faction: Guerilla, Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

Why it happens:
There's a number of reasons for a game to run out of steam. The publishing deadline might be approaching or the game's funding might have run out. Maybe all this effort designing the game has gotten boring.

How to avoid it:
One person can only come up with so many ideas before they hit a wall. It's more efficient, and often more fun, to work in a team. This is especially true in game design. Working together, game designers can discuss new ideas and challenge each other.

Stay tuned next week when we round up the top ten mistakes made by game designers!

Looking forward to seeing you again next week

Anthony

Kahootz in High School

Hi, my name is Simone Polly and I am currently using Kahootz as part of a PDHPE unit of work for year 8 students at North Sydney Girls High School. I have found this software an exciting and dynamic medium for my students to engage with and one which lends itself to their love of technology and computer games. My own experience with computer and video games has been extensive which I feel has aided me in both understanding and enhancing my use of Kahootz.
The key strength of Kahootz in my classroom has been its inherent ability to foster a collaborative and supportive approach to school work.