Level Design & Game Industry landscape

Level design Level design Gaming Landscape Indie games Course Recap

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.

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

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

Games that are ABOUT making levels

Game Design

Make a fun game

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

RTS Level Design

Action Adventure

FPS SP

FPS MP

Platformers

Puzzle

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

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

Balancing multiplayer games Balancing through the level design

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

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

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

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.

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

Instructional level design Object to learn: Platform

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

Natural encouragement Coins give bonus and therefore encourage to investigate.

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

Learning Safe environment Encourage Communicate Reward

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Game time Remember the numbers No cheating! 5 seconds

Remember 8-53 - 4

Remember?

Remember 8-5-2-0-9-1

Remember?

Remember 10-8 - 13-3 - 4-1 - 5-11 - 2

Remember?

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

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

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

Center of attention

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

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

Guidance cues Use of cues to guide the player

Indoor guidance Eyes automatically focus on high contrast

Guidance in open world

Background waypoints

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.

Backtracking Constantly updating the mental model of the world

Compartmentalize Compartmentalize the game world to balance the learning curve.

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

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

Gaming Landscape Level design Gaming Landscape Indie games Course Recap

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

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

The Netherlands Only a few larger studios

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

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

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

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

Indie game developers Vlambeer Indie duo from Utrecht

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

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

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

Indie game developers EA publishes indie games What?

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?

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

Level design Course Recap Gaming Landscape Indie games Course Recap

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

History of games

Role of Game Designer

Responsibility

Vision Statement

Importance of communication

Crash course Unity

Agile Development Plan Create Analyze Test

Scrum

Fundamental theory

Magic circle

Types of experience

MDA

Aesthetics Sensation Fantasy Narrative Challenge Fellowship Discovery Expression Submission Collection Competition

Challenge

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

Goals & Rewards

Balance

(In)transitive relations

Narrative

Branching Narrative

Conflict of play

Story structure Setup Confrontation Resolution

VR for the masses

Game Studies 101 & Societal Context

Playtesting

Serious / Applied Games

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

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