Level Design & Game Industry landscape

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2 Level Design & Game Industry landscape

3 Level design Level design Gaming Landscape Indie games Course Recap

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5 Level design Game designer Level designer Making the rules Applying the rules Overall Environments Level Design deals with those game rules which are manifested as spaces.

6 In the past Level Designers didn't really exist Many technical limitations; smaller games Usually the programmer or the game designer makes the levels Designing in the code

7 Now Games are BIG Level Design is a science Multiple level designers Many tools available

8 Games that are ABOUT making levels

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17 Game Design

18 Game Design

19 Game Design

20 Game Design

21 Game Design

22 Make a fun game

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24 Level design Dependent on the genre, different aspects RTSs Action games RPGs Platformers FPSs.

25 RTS Level Design

26 Action Adventure

27 FPS SP

28 FPS MP

29 Platformers

30 Puzzle

31 Level design Level design is nearly all game design in some genres Puzzle games Platformers

32 Level design Different ways to approach level design Level design to teach the player Tutorials Introducing new mechanics Balancing the level design online multiplayer FPS games SP experiences Composition of the level design Can support the narrative

33 Balancing multiplayer games Balancing through the level design

34 Balancing single player games Balancing moments. Connect New area s New challenges Encounters

35 Composition Use the level design composition (for the narrative & experience) Draw attention using color and light Play with perspective Looking upwards makes the player feel small

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37 Fun vs competition Fun in games is mostly about practice and learning, not about executing knowledge.

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39 Learning in games: Cognition A game is fun when you can be the expert You have to learn a lot in little time If learning is what makes a game fun, you have to learn throughout the whole game. Cognition The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.

40 Instructional level design Humans are animals Our brain works efficient, predictable Let s look at the psychology behind games

41 Instructional level design Object to learn: Platform

42 Enemy placement Enemies keep their distance. Learning in a safe environment.

43 Natural encouragement Coins give bonus and therefore encourage to investigate.

44 Natural encouragement Starbit reward to make sure the player experiences the effect when the platform is down completely

45 Learning Safe environment Encourage Communicate Reward

46 Instructional level design: cueing Exclamation mark draws attention (signposting)

47 Instructional level design: cognitive guidance Coins guide the player to go somewhere (cognitive guidance)

48 Instructional level design: color coding Important surfaces have a different color than unimportant surfaces.

49 Instructional level design: color coding Color coding consistent throughout entire level.

50 Science behind level design Fysiologie / neurologie Cognitive psychology How to draw attention to certain objects. How people process information. Pedagogy Motivational science Where to place enemies. What gives satisfaction

51 How do players learn? Working memory Long term Memory limited unlimited Information

52 How do players learn? Color coding works as a retrieval cue. It activates knowledge from the LTM.. Information Working memory Long term memory

53 Game time Remember the numbers No cheating! 5 seconds

54 Remember

55 Remember?

56 Remember

57 Remember?

58 Remember

59 Remember?

60 Working memory Magic number of seven plus/minus 2 Miller s law Our working memory is limited to how much information we can process at a time

61 Prevent cognitive overload Problems with overload: Unable to distinguish important from unimportant things or not able to see relations between actors. Irrelevant information kan also be more noticeable

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64 Cueing Cues are important when a player needs to process too much information at once. (Cognitive overload)

65 Center of attention

66 Center of attention

67 Center of attention

68 Attention cues Old games had natural attention cues (Level of Detail / drawing distance)

69 Attention cues in HD games Now more power therefore more in background No more natural attention cueing

70 Guidance cues Use of cues to guide the player

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73 Indoor guidance Eyes automatically focus on high contrast

74 Guidance in open world

75 Guidance in open world

76 Background waypoints

77 Foreshadowing Foreshadowing can be used to help the player figure out a problem. NPC giving hints or taking lead so you know what to do.

78 Backtracking Constantly updating the mental model of the world

79 Compartmentalize Compartmentalize the game world to balance the learning curve.

80 Predictability Games should be a bit predictable. If you know how the game will behave, you learn best and make good decisions.

81 Summary Games are about learning People learn in specific ways (science) Brain can handle only so much Signposting Cognitive Guidance Cueing (attention / guidance) Center of attention Foreshadowing Help the player to learn Backtracking Compartmentalize Predictable

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83 Gaming Landscape Level design Gaming Landscape Indie games Course Recap

84 Overview Publishers Middleware Support indie Game research AAA Game developers Journalism core Gamers casual

85 The Netherlands Many serious game studios Almost 50% of all jobs! Not well known to the public

86 The Netherlands Only a few larger studios

87 The Netherlands Many indie studios Many more than on this slide Several successful studios are founded by HKU/UU alumni

88 Dutch Game Garden Important hub for small game companies Started in Utrecht Now also in Hilversum and Breda Provides meeting opportunities Incubator program Houses many game studios

89 Level design applications Cognitive level design Indie games Gaming Landscape Indie games Course Recap

90 Indie games What is an indie game? Short for independent video game So indie games are independent from publishers? Let s look at some developers who call themselves indie

91 Indie game developers Vlambeer Indie duo from Utrecht

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93 Indie game developers Abbey Games Small team founded by (former) UU students

94 Indie game developers Mojang Company behind Minecraft Founded by Markus Persson Until it was bought by Microsoft

95 Indie game developers Crytek Calls itself independent Employs ~800 people But started to publish games itself

96 Indie game developers EA publishes indie games What?

97 Indie games Independent from publishers doesn t seem to be such a great criterion The idea behind independent : Retaining freedom Which should result in more creativity So indie games are highly creative games?

98 Indie game developers Thatgamecompany Creates very unique games Was funded by Sony Does not call itself indie

99 Indie games Other terms associated with indie games: Personal Experimental Low budget Intellectual Artistic Pretentious Weird No profit Cheap Niche Untechnical Work of love Small teams Small games

100 History Let s look at the history of the term indie game Indie games (developers) have always been there The term indie was not used a lot until ~2008

101 History A few major successes started the indie boom Braid (2008) World of Goo (2008) Minecraft (2009) Audiosurf (2008) Machinarium (2009) Crayon Physics Deluxe (2009) Flower (2009) The Path (2009)

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103 Indie game The first boom of indie games Creativity was a key part of their success So, what is an indie game? Started out as a name for creativity/uniqueness But the broad term independent allowed everyone to join in

104 Indiepocalipse? More supply of indie games: Average number of sales per game drops

105 Indiepocalipse? Does this mean that indies are doomed? Well not really, the total sales are stable It just becomes harder to make money Compare it to the music and film industry: a lot of hobbyists and small earners The game industry is continuously transforming If you want to make money, stay ahead of the curve

106 Level design Course Recap Gaming Landscape Indie games Course Recap

107 Recap Intro to game-design & A history of games The game-designers role Crash Course Unity Design Process Agile Development Fundamental theory MDA Framework Analysis Challenge Balance Narrative VR for the masses Game Studies 101 & Societal Context Playtesting Serious / Applied Games

108 History of games

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110 Role of Game Designer

111 Responsibility

112 Vision Statement

113 Importance of communication

114 Crash course Unity

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116 Agile Development Plan Create Analyze Test

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119 Scrum

120 Fundamental theory

121 Magic circle

122 Types of experience

123 MDA

124 Aesthetics Sensation Fantasy Narrative Challenge Fellowship Discovery Expression Submission Collection Competition

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127 Challenge

128 Flow theory High Difficulty Anxiety w o Fl Boredom Low High Skill

129 Goals & Rewards

130 Balance

131 (In)transitive relations

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133 Narrative

134 Branching Narrative

135 Conflict of play

136 Story structure Setup Confrontation Resolution

137 VR for the masses

138 Game Studies 101 & Societal Context

139 Playtesting

140 Playtesting

141 Serious / Applied Games

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143 What s left? Final practicum on Friday April 7th P2.5 (evaluation playtesting) deadline also Friday 7th Deadline Second Analyse deadline Sunday April 9th Exam on Wednesday April 12th

144 Grading 10% Assignment 1 30% Assignment 2 30% Assignment 3 20% Exam 10% Mini-tests

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