Game Design 1. Week 1: September 6, Beginnings. Fall 2016 Tuesdays & Thursdays 9:30 AM-12:15 PM

Transcription

1 Week 1: September 6, 2016 Game Design 1 Beginnings Fall 2016 Tuesdays & Thursdays 9:30 AM-12:15 PM Instructor: Naomi Clark nmc5@nyu.edu / naomi@halfrobot.com Teaching Assistant: Zach Barash zb450@nyu.edu

2 Week 1: September 6, 2016 Game Design 1 Beginnings Fall 2016 Tuesdays & Thursdays 9:30 AM-12:15 PM Instructor: Naomi Clark nmc5@nyu.edu / naomi@halfrobot.com Teaching Assistant: Hannah Monck hnm247@nyu.edu

3 Welcome! This is: Game Design 1 Today s Class Quick design exercise Introductions Design and Game Design Course Overview Another starting point: modifying games

4 Let s see what you got: make something right now Material Game Design Your group will receive an envelope You will use the materials within to make a game There are several types of object inside (not including packaging) Use every type; you don t have to use every single item You may also use: scissors and pens/pencils However, no written words or numbers allowed You may use features of the game s environment Within these constraints, any kind of game is fine You have 15 minutes to create something playable

5 Introductions Now, who are you? Please share with us: Your Name Your preferred gender pronouns ( I go by she and her ) In under 10 seconds, describe an emotional experience you had while playing a game (recent is better, long ago is fine)

6 Introductions Hi, I m Naomi I games design. produce. write for. write about. play.. teach..

7 Naomi Clark (made some games)

8 Naomi Clark (made some games) A game for American Girl about economics & Spanish vocab

9 Naomi Clark (made some games) Facebook game about upcycling consumer waste

10 Naomi Clark (made some games) Superheroine storygame about choosing which values are important

11 Naomi Clark (made some games) ios game that teaches how electricity works

12 Naomi Clark (made some games) A card game of intimacy, communication & consent

13 Naomi Clark (made some games) Concept art for an online fantasy RPG that s in early planning stages

14 The educational philosophy slide NOT

15 The educational philosophy slide To teach is not to transfer knowledge but to create the possibilities for the production or construction of knowledge Whoever teaches learns in the act of teaching, and whoever learns teaches in the act of learning. Paulo Freire The Pedagogy of Freedom

16 Why are we here?

17 Designing

18 Break

19 Game Design 1: what we do each week Course Structure: Inside a Week Tuesdays: discussion, explanations, and exercises - Readings will usually be discussed on Tuesdays: please come with questions, challenges, etc. - Most of class: illustrating what we re reading/thinking about through play, modification, and design of simple example games Thursdays: lab for group collaboration Starting this Thursday, lab time will be devoted working on your projects, getting feedback, and playtesting your games. Some labs will start with an exercise. Keep in mind: you must work on your projects outside of class too! It s unlikely you ll have enough time in lab sessions alone.

20 Game Design 1: what we ll do this semester Course Structure: Across the Weeks PART 1: GAMES AS FORMAL SYSTEMS PART 2: GAMES AS EXPERIENCES PART 3: GAMES AS CULTURE

21 Game Design 1: the projects The Things You ll Make Project I: GAME MODIFICATION (starts today!) Change an existing game until it s unrecognizable Project II: ABSTRACTION A game of rules, dice, cards, chips, boards Project III: SOCIAL A game of alliances, emotion, betrayal, bargaining Project V: INTERVENTION In and for a real-world setting Project VI & VII: PITCH Sell us on your videogame idea Project VIII: FINAL PROJECT Extend one of the other projects Project IV: NARRATIVE Create a game that expresses a provided story

22 Game Design 1: grading breakdown Bureaucracy: Grades & Attendance Attendance & Participation 20 Modification Game 5 Abstract Game 10 Social Game 10 Narrative Game 15 Intervention / Big Game 5 Digital Game Pitch 5 Digital Game Concept Doc 5 Final Project 25 Attendance You get two free absences. Your third absence lowers your grade by 1 full letter. Excuses are accepted for circumstances beyond your control see me if one of these occurs! Being more than a couple minutes late: 1/3 absence Being really late (30 minutes+): 2/3 absence

23 Game Design 1: what we ll do this semester Course Structure: Across the Weeks PART 1: GAMES AS FORMAL SYSTEMS PART 2: GAMES AS EXPERIENCES PART 3: GAMES AS CULTURE

24 Game Design 1: Rules What are rules? Why are they considered important for games?

25 Game Design 1: Rules What are the rules of Tic-Tac-Toe?

26 Rules: changing it up Modifying Tic-Tac-Toe Turn to the person next to you Talk about how to improve (or just mutate) Tic-Tac-Toe You may change 1, 2, or 3 rules Things you could change: the board, the turn sequence, the number of players, the number and type of marks, how to win/lose/tie

27 Rules: changing it up One particular modification Change the grid size: how about 7x6 Change the win condition: three is too small, how about four? Gravity: what if anytime you placed an X or an O, it moves ( falls ) to the bottom empty space in its column?

28 Howard Wexler & Ned Strongin take it vertical

29 Big Assignment #1: Modify a Game Game Modification In your Material Game Design groups: you ll get an envelope with a game inside it Your job is to alter this game until it s no longer recognizable as the same game much like Connect Four Do try to improve the game in the process, in your own estimation; you may find that the game in your envelope is very simple, familiar, or broken. But you may like things about it too! Take inspiration, don t scrap 100% of it.

30 Tips for Working in Groups Exchange contact info. It ll come in handy. Determine common principles. But you don t all have to agree just agree on something to try out, and the broad strokes of what you ll go for. Be considerate of individual needs & circumstances. Not everyone s dealing with the same stuff! Make sure someone is taking notes. Rotate unless it s that person s favorite job! Interrupting does not save time. There s no sense in saving time (a few seconds) by cutting off. This is not a game with a win condition. Goal is to express & discuss ideas; your ideas cannot win. WAIT: Why Am I Talking? It s not wrong to talk, of course. But you should know why what your purpose is in taking up time & oxygen when you talk. Don t talk just to hear your voice! Beware of tangents. It s easy to get distracted. See if the tangent can connect back, though! Praise each other, build on ideas. Even the weirdest idea often has something interesting lurking in it. Assign tasks to people. If there s stuff that needs to get done, put names on it, share equally. Be open and honest. Talk with group members about problems, or talk to Naomi or Hannah. Move up, move back. Be aware of how present or not present you are in the conversation!

31 Tips for Working in Groups Can t decide? Try it out. In prototyping, the best way to resolve a disagreement about what direction to go is to pick the one that s quickest to assemble and try it out by playing it, then evaluate. This also means it s good to advocate for simple ideas, or one chunk of an idea! Mitigate conflict when possible. This is everyone s job: pay attention to if conflict is breaking out (someone s upset, has hurt feelings, is getting a little too loud or forceful) and suggest taking a break. Talk to each other, be the one to apologize whenever you can. The goal should be to resolve conflict and keep moving forward, not to win an argument. Phrase alternatives as questions. What if we tried A first, then B if A doesn t work? rather than I think we should do A and not B. Also useful: I statements as in I m not really feeling idea B rather than Idea B is just terrible. This is not your last game. It s OK if some of your ideas don t make it in; the process of design is like pruning a bonsai tree, with lots of clippings on the ground. Those ideas aren t lost and forgotten: they re fertilizer for a future game, especially if you write them down.

32 Reminder: What you need to turn in 1. Overview: name of the game, creators, word description 2. Elevator Pitch: 10-second description that you d use to convince people to play. It s underwater Boggle where you must make words to fend off sea zombies! 3. Rules: Complete rules needed to play, list of materials or components needed. 4. Visual Documentation: photos of the game being played, especially of any custom materials (cards, board, etc) 5. Design Process Statement: where you started (your original pre-mod game), what you changed, tricky decisions or challenges, what worked and didn t, etc. 1 paragraph.

33 Readings and textbook, cont. PDFs available this week! Get your own copy of Rules of Play soon, please! See me if you think you may not be able to purchase this book for any reason.