Fundamentals of Game Design - Assignment Example

Learning Journal Name Course Instructor Institution Date Learning Journal Part 1: Discuss how your involvement in the online discussions contributed to your learning (500-1000 words) about the following topics: Influential Games My involvement in discussion about various games helped me learn that the level of influence that a game has depends on designer’s ability to create a user interface that does not limit the user in terms of interactivity. Limiting the freedom of the user in order to implement a predefined narrative structure is seen as unnatural and patronizing counterforce from traditional media theory limiting the interactive features and specifics for video games. Thus, the main idea behind influential video games lies on the element of interaction. According to Salen and Zimmerman (2004), an influential game is a series of interesting choices; and to keep this interest alive, video games can interconnect the choices and weave a net of relations among them, thus creating a context for each single interaction (Salen and Zimmerman, 2004). Goals, Challenges and Actions From this discussion, I was able to learn that video games are rule-based, goal-oriented activities, where a player derives enjoyment in taking actions aimed at attaining the goal of the game. A good gameplay of video game contain contains four major aspects: goals, challenges, actions, and rules. The rules specify what action a player may take to overcome the challenges and achieve the goal of the game. A challenge is any task set for the player that is nontrivial to accomplish. Overcoming a challenge usually requires some physical or mental effort or both. In a game, challenges are obstacles to achieving the game goal, although some games might incorporate some optional challenges as well. Optional challenges are normally meant to assist the player practice best actions to overcome core challenges. High Concept Statement My involvement in the online discussion enabled to understand what high concept statement is, and how to create it. I learned that a high concept statement is a short statement, usually two or three sentences, that describes the main idea of the game. The high concept statement should be directly graspable to the prospective player because time is a precious commodity for everyone. If the producer of the game does not get the game idea in a sentence or two, he or she is going to worry that the publisher’s sales personnel, the bulk purchasers, and, most important, the retail customers will not get the idea either (Adams, 2010). Therefore, if you are going to propose something really strange for a game, you need to be perfect at presenting it in your high concept statement. Story Telling On the aspect of story telling, the discussion enabled me learn that the elements of story telling encourage game players to project meaning onto events, spaces, and objects in game worlds. They help to infuse significance. Their significance is not conspicuous on the level of element itself but in a manner in which players read and connect them. By forming these connections, players can form stories that refer to the game world. Interface Mockups My involvement in the discussions on interface mockups has benefited me a lot. First of all, the discussion enabled learn the general principles of user interface design and the process of designing the game interface, along with some aspects regarding how to manage the complexity of user interfaces. I was able to learn that that user interface is a framework that lies between the player and the internals of the game and knows all regarding any supported input and output hardware. Part 2: Discuss and examine elements of the game (omaha beach) design decisions that were and were not included in or changed for the game concept and game script reports. Discuss the design decisions in relation to the concepts, theory and terminology from the textbook There are various elements of the game design decisions that were taken into consideration in the Omaha Beach game concept. The first aspect that was taken into consideration in the game design of this game was outlining the role of the player. This was clearly explained to ensure that the player understands the game fully. If you provide a clear explanation of the role of a player, then the player will be able to understand what he or she is trying to achieve and what rules govern the game (Salen and Zimmerman, 2004). In this particular game, the player would take the role of a real-world soldier. Real soldiers cannot just shoot anything that moves; they have to obey the rules of engagement. By informing the player that the role is based on a real historical event rather than fantasy, it was ensured that the player knows his actions would have to be more cautious than in the usual frantic shooter. The second aspect that was considered in the design of the game was the look and feel. It was ensured that the user interface matched the look and feel of the game. The most relevant information was provided to the player with as few button presses as possible. This is because if the interface is too complicated, it can clutter up the playing field and cause frustrations to the player. In his book “Fundamentals of Game Design”, Adams (2010) states, “nothing is more annoying than being involved in a big battle and not being able to find the right button to push to complete the action”. The game combined elements that are part of the game world as they suit the needs of the game. The main objective was to keep the user interface simple, yet matched the look and feel of the world while also being functional. According to Adams and Rollings (2007), a game designer should not have buttons on the interface just because they look cool; if they do not have any function, you should not clutter real estate with them (Adams and Rollings, 2007). In this particular game, therefore, it was ensured that all interfaces would be on the screen during game play. This is important as it would ensure that players interact with the game, access other features such as the Options menu, or exit. Game world is another area that that was given much attention when designing the game. According to Salen and Zimmerman, (2004), a game world is an artificial universe, an imaginary place in which the events of the game occur. When a player enters the magic circle and pretends to be somewhere else, the game world is the place where he or she pretends to be. The game world for this particular game was the beach; the Omaha Beach. It was ensured that the game world supported and work with the core mechanics and gameplay of the game. To make the game world serve the game well, it was designed carefully, making sure that important issues were not forgotten until late in the game building process, when it would be expensive to make changes. On the other hand, there were a few elements of the game (Omaha Beach) design decisions that were not included in or changed for the game concept. First is the concept of pace setting; the pace of the game was not set, meaning that even the timer was not included in the design. The pace of the game is an important element in game design because it shows the rate at which the events as required by the rules of the game take place. Nonetheless, Omaha Beach game adopted a mechanism used by some of the conventional games that do not use timer. In this case, either the players or an independent referee sets the game. In effect, it is up to the players to make the game go (Adams, 2010). The Second element is the concept of gameplay; there are a few elements that were not clear in this area. For instance, the goals, challenges, actions, and rules of the game were not clearly outlined. A good gameplay of video game contain contains four major aspects: goals, challenges, actions, and rules. The rules specify what action a player may take to overcome the challenges and achieve the goal of the game. A challenge is any task set for the player that is nontrivial to accomplish. Overcoming a challenge usually requires some physical or mental effort or both. In a game, challenges are obstacles to achieving the game goal, although some games might incorporate some optional challenges as well. References: Adams, E. (2010). Fundamentals of Game Design (2nd Ed.).Berkeley: Pearson Education. Catherine, B., &  Joanne, O.(2010). Computer Games-Pushing at the Boundaries of Literacy, Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 33(1), pp.67-78. Macedonia, H.J., & Michael, R. (2002).Computer Games and the Military: Two Views, Defense Horizon, 11(3); p.11-19. Ola, A.(2011).  Converging Themes in Cartographyand Computer Games, Cartography and Geographic Information Science 38(3); pp.45-56. Salen, K., and Zimmerman, E. (2004). Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. Chicago: MIT Press. Read More