Mind Map

Game Rules

Red Dead Redemption 2:

The player must consume a healthy amount of food, preferably hunted animals i.e. deer, buffalo, boar etc. in order to maintain their health core to a considerable amount. If the player fails to do so, they will their health will go down much faster if they are injured in some way as well as to prevent the players from being obese and malnourished. The player can see their health if they go to the pause menu and scroll down to the “Player” section, from here players can see if their health and stamina will go down quicker.

Red dead redemption 2 is known for its immersion, and obesity and malnourishment is small but a significant part of the game’s realism but also for players to interact with the game’s survival elements. To improve this rule, players should be reminded that they need supplementing; to imply that the character is hungry through audio cuess or change in body language i.e. rubbing their stomach or growling stomach to signify that the player should eat.

Some players find eating meals in an open world game such as this can be inconvenient, a reminder that the player should eat something will allow them to not forget to eat without eliminating any immersion and realism. In fact, it will increase the immersion further; cues within the game signifying hunger is very much a real-life scenario, implementing this in the game will gain more benefits in terms of realism.

NFS Heat:

Police chases are an important part of any street racing games, like this game, NFS Heat. During night time, when the player gets busted by the police, they will only get a fine, as well as losing all their experience points in order to level up. This is enforced by starting illegal street races, destroying police billboards, going above the speed limit when going through a speed camera and successfully completing stunt jumps.

NFS Heat is known for its aggressive police interceptors, a significant change from EA’s previous Need For Speed titles. To improve this rule, not only the player will lose XP and money, they will potentially lose their car as well. The police will impound the car for a certain amount time until it is completely destroyed, the only way to get retrieve the impounded vehicle is to pay a significantly large fine to the police.

This will improve the game by signifying to the players that the police in this game will show no mercy towards street racers, in hindsight, it increases the challenge and difficulty when playing the game. This could also possibly affect the player’s interaction with the police, being that their merciless and corrupted behaviour will make the players avoid them at any given cost.

Forza Horizon 4

For the game’s rules, there are a significant but specifically, every type of race within the game has checkpoints players must hit in order to progress. This is enforced by missing checkpoints will result in the player being penalised and teleported behind the checkpoint so the players can pass through it once more.

This rule can be improved – instead of the player being teleported behind the checkpoint, players can continue driving, but penalised by being moved down several places within the race. For example, if the player is currently in 1st place, if however, they miss a checkpoint, they will be moved 3 places down meaning that they will now be in 4th. They can still move up places by hitting a certain number of checkpoints.

This can improve the game by allowing a constant flow of gameplay, instead of halting the player from doing what needs to be done in order to progress. This way, players get to keep playing further engaging them and avoid any inkling of frustration when playing the game. This improvement is also similar to real life Motorsports rules, where increased lap times instead of checkpoints are implemented to penalise the drivers of their current position, not only will it improve the constant gameplay, but increased immersion as well.

Reference(s):

Rockstar Studios (2018) Red Dead Redemption 2 [Video Game]. Rockstar Games (Accessed: 25 November 2019).

Ghost Games (2019) Need for Speed Heat [Video Game]. Electronic Arts (Accessed: 25 November 2019).

Playground Games (2018) Forza Horizon 4 [Video Game]. Microsoft Studios (Accessed: 23 October 2019)

Koster, R. (2014) A Theory of Fun for Game Design. O'Reilly. 2nd Edition.

Rogers, S. (2014) Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design. Wiley. 2nd Edition.

Crystall, A. (2019) 'Game Narratives and the History of Play: 'Game Rules'. AD40216E. University of West London. Unpublished.

Fallout 4

To introduce Fallout 4, it is an RPG set in a post-apocalyptic America – more specifically, Massachusetts, now known as the Commonwealth. Players take control of either the war veteran husband or the recently graduated law student wife. Both are referred to as the ‘Sole Survivor’. The sole survivor was cryogenically frozen for over 200 years only to wake up and find out their spouse murdered and their infant son, Shaun, kidnapped by an unknown entity, the Sole Survivor must journey throughout the Commonwealth to find answers on who took their infant son and where.

Fallout 4 has story elements; factions are present within the game, A faction called the Brotherhood of Steel (BoS) must destroy and eliminate an opposing faction called the Railroad (RR) and its leaders, there is no compromise. The game enforces this with the BoS convincing the players that the institute has the means and capability of starting a second nuclear holocaust with their advanced technology, more specifically the Synths being physically identical to every human being. BoS sees this as a threat not only to them, but for the fate of humanity, therefore the only way is through violence.

As with every faction, it has its disadvantages, the railroad tends to prioritise only Synths and not humans in perile, BoS uses extremist and violent tactics to deal with problems, and The Institute uses unethical methods for “saving humanity”, kidnappings, experimentation on humans etc.

In Fallout 4, players can play alongside the tutorial. Pop-ups are present when players enters the settlement building for the very first time; when players build an object that needs power, a pop-up message will display that this object “requires power” and the players must have the relevant resources to build a generator, this tutorial style is known as Background Rules.

Semiotics are also a substantial part of the game’s rules; through visual communication between the game and the player. An example of this would be yellow barrels labelled with radioactive waste signs. This will indicate that the player will be affected by radiation and should avoid interactions. In hindsight, Semiotics within Fallout 4 will trigger “common sense” in players.

In terms of the overall aesthetic of the game, it is very noticeable that the game has implemented a retro look into the world’s alternate future. During 1945, America detonated the first atomic bombs, introducing the world into the “Atomic Era”. During this era, nuclear and fusion technology had began innovating. According to the Fallout lore, instead of using atomic energy for a full-on nuclear war, society “harnessed” this technology for an alternate power source.

Enter the 1950’s; defined as the Golden Age of modern America – the commercial and economic growth for citizens and workers alike. In terms of semiotics, the 50's aesthetic works for the game due to the fact that America is still living in the very same "Golden Age" within the Fallout universe, where economy is stable and an abundance of opportunities - perfectly describing the American Dream. This continues until October 2077; when the nuclear bombs fell, this perspective was approached satirically as the "Golden Age" came to an abrupt and sudden end.

Mechanics in Fallout 4 vary, from a simple jump with the press of a button, to firing weapon by pulling the RT button on the controller. Fallout 4 gives the players the option become a “Raider” character with the addition of the Nuka World DLC. With this expansion, players can now raid base game settlements in two ways; from a simple dialogue persuasion to make the settlers leave – which requires a certain level of “Charisma” to receive a high probability of passing the speech checks, or a full on raid which requires the player to eliminate all the settlers.

Eliminating the settlers can be done in certain ways: the player can simply lead a team of 2 – 3 raiders with them and charge the settlement, players can talk to the person in charge and let them know that they will be evicted or eliminated; failing a speech check which will trigger the settlers to defend themselves and their home. The option to become a Raider character will also affect the player’s companions; Preston Garvey for example. He will refuse to travel (if the player has earned him as a companion) with you if he has learned information that the player is a raider. The player can “set things right” by stopping any raider behaviour or threaten him with violence, showing authority that the player is not afraid to retaliate.

Like many RPGs, Fallout 4 has its balance model, at times it has some fair gameplay, but does stray away from the overall balance, especially the more the player levels up. For example, when the player lands to Level 300 and above, the player will have a significantly higher Hit Points (HP) and Action Points (AP), essentially rendering the player indestructible. Weapon damage will increase and can “One shot” most enemies, in layman’s terms an overpowered player.

When the player reaches between level 25 –100; far from being nuanced when it comes to 300, the game is at its “perfect state”. The player will dish out an even distribution of damage, mobs will more likely overpower the player even when they are several levels below and enemies that have late game weaponry will most likely defeat the player. Players will strategically rely on damage outputs rather than inputs to defeat mobs.

The game environment is very important in all games, without it, the game will obviously cease to exist. Intimacy within the game’s space is generally important for the player to avoid stress; take Diamond City for example. This is where the player can interact with traders and townspeople as well as investing in property. In the town centre, there is a noodle stand where players can relax and purchase the city's ever so popular noodles.

Players are also expected to explore dungeons where mobs of enemies are located. An example of this is Federal Ration Stockpile. The exterior is surrounded by guards of raiders, alongside them are several guard dogs and turrets, cover is placed within the surroundings of the bunker, from concrete slabs and metal containers. All these lead to a suggestion that they are closely guarding valuables. Inside the bunker are raiders with a variety of weaponry, from melee to firearms.

Upon entry, a narrow dark corridor with enemies are guarding with a single turret at the ready. The darkness of the area is an advantage for stealth kill opportunities, but once the player has been identified, there are small crates where players can crouch behind to use as cover. At the end of the corridor is a locked door with no handle; suggesting it can only be opened via terminal. It is well lit and open (intimate space); this room contains the supplies and rations. The player must go around and find an alternative route to the terminal to open the locked door. Along the way, players will come across more dark, narrow corridors and enemies –they must fight their way around to get to the supplies.

The player can take advantage of their surroundings; because this game allows the player to create and find opportunity, an intimate space will give the player the chance not only to settle down and relax from the violence of the Commonwealth, but find quests, build relationships and to partake in various activities i.e. finding collectibles. Dungeons where enemies are located will build the player up towards their combat experience, will it be better implementing a stealth run? Or go with a “guns blazing” option? It is up to the player to find the perfect opportunity.

To conclude this analysis, Fallout 4 has the basic structure found in similar games, from rules, mechanics and semiotics as well as spatial designs. The interactivity in the game was not placed there for its own sake, they are there to convey a disconnection from reality; depicting what is represented to us in the real world – described as a simulation, players expect escapism. These interactive features “enhances” that escapism, rules delivered by this game may not apply to the real world; environments that are completely out of reach, Fallout 4 provides an experience for players who choose to exist outside the norm to become who they are, and what they will be.

Reference(s):

Bethesda Softworks LLC (2015) Fallout 4 - Game of the Year Edition [Video Game]. Bethesda Game Studios. (Accessed: 1 December 2019).

Williams, D. (2013) 'De-signing the Design: The Semiotics of Choice', Gamasutra, 30 October. Available at: https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DaveWilliams/20131030/202147/Designing_the_Design_the_Semiotics_of_Choice.php

Faillaci, D.G. (2017) 'Videogame Semiotics', Medium, 27 October. Available at: https://medium.com/@DuilioGF/videogames-semioticsuuuugh-what-a-horrible-title-69c21dbdf086

Burgun, K. (2011) 'Understanding Balance in Video Games', Gamasutra, 8 June. Available at: https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/134768/understanding_balance_in_video_.php

Billings, L. (2017) 'An Alternate History of the Atomic Age', Scientific American, 13 May. Available at: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/an-alternate-history-of-the-atomic-age/

Buck, S. (2017) 'Fear of nuclear annihilation scarred children growing up in the Cold War, studies later showed', Timeline, 29 August. Available at: https://timeline.com/nuclear-war-child-psychology-d1ff491b5fe0

Pemberton, T. (2015) 'Why Fallout 4’s 1950s Satire Falls Flat', The Atlantic, 8 December. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/12/why-fallout-4s-1950s-satire-falls-flat/418665/

Marczewski, A. (2013) 'Game Mechanics in Gamification', Gamified UK, 14 January . Available at: https://www.gamified.uk/2013/01/14/game-mechanics-in-gamification/

Cook, D. (2006) 'What are game mechanics?', Lostgarden, 24 October. Available at: https://lostgarden.home.blog/2006/10/24/what-are-game-mechanics/

Koster, R. (2014) A Theory of Fun for Game Design. O'Reilly. 2nd Edition.

Rogers, S. (2014) Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design. Wiley. 2nd Edition

Crystall, A. (2019) 'Game Narratives and the History of Play: 'Game Rules'. AD40216E. University of West London. Unpublished.

Crystall, A. (2019) 'Game Narratives and the History of Play: 'Game Interactions I'. AD40216E. University of West London. Unpublished.

Crystall, A. (2019) 'Game Narratives and the History of Play: 'Game Interactions II'. AD40216E. University of West London. Unpublished.

Crystall, A. (2019) 'Game Narratives and the History of Play: 'Game Mechanics'. AD40216E. University of West London. Unpublished.

Crystall, A. (2019) 'Game Narratives and the History of Play: 'Storytelling I'. AD40216E. University of West London. Unpublished.

Crystall, A. (2019) 'Game Narratives and the History of Play: 'Storytelling I'I. AD40216E. University of West London. Unpublished.

GDD Analysis

GDD Analysis:

Race n Chase is the is the Game Design Document I will be analysing. To begin this brief analysis, the GDD itself has the appropriate contents: the index, page numbers and other miscellaneous properties such as the use of different fonts that identify the agreements between the people’s involvement with the game.

At the very beginning of the GDD, it has undergone through 5 changes, from version 1.00 through 1.05. This suggests that the people’s involvement with the game was discussed and went through other priorities. Other important priorities whee represented at the introduction of the GDD, such as the scope of the document saying that it is intended to be read by “programmers, artists and producers”. The author of the GDD has specified the purpose of the document that is it for these individuals’ priority to read through.

It very possible to create a game with this GDD, since it has similar mechanics that of a street racing game, I would change the game to have the structure of this genre. Another change I would implement to the game is instead using a top down view, I would simply apply a third-person view. Having a top down perspective can be disorienting and could take some time to get used to for some players.

The GDD goes detail when it comes to the game structure, it does state that the player is able to progress through the game when they move to another city; each city has a variety of missions the player can partake. However, it does not state if the cities have certain traits i.e. harder difficulty. Another disadvantage of the GDD is that it lacks the readability, the GDD has no diagrams to present to the readers, making it a less compelling read. The GDD itself; however, is very descriptive but some readers may stray away without any visual representation.

In some instances, the GDD lacks the detail, for example the weather system in the game, it describes how it is shown, but it doesn’t let the readers know what will happen if these different types of weather will affect the gameplay. Snow – in some games – make vehicles barely drivable, in this GDD, it does not describe the effects of gameplay.

According to a Gamespot review from 1998, there are noticeable changes from the GTA and Race n Chase - the game modes. Race n Chase has four separate modes: Cannonball Run, Demolition Derby, Bank Robbery (Robbery) and Bank Robbery (Cops), whereas GTA replaces these with drug running and contract killing, the only formula that remain between the two games is vehicle theft. Another difference as mentioned in the review is that the final product has access to a variety weaponry. In GTA, there are four different types of weapons to acquire: pistol, machine gun, flamethrower, and rocket launcher; race n Chase lacks the use of these.

Reference(s)

Mac Donald, R. (1998) 'Grand Theft Auto Review', Gamespot, 6 May. Available at: https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/grand-theft-auto-review/1900-2547751/#comments-block-32375774

Rogers, S. (2014) Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design. Wiley. 2nd Edition.

DMA Design and Tarantula Studios (1997) Grand Theft Auto [Video Game]. BMG Interactive and ASC Games, (Accessed: 2 January)

Crystall, A. (2019) 'Game Narratives and the History of Play: 'Design and Control'. AD40216E. University of West London. Unpublished.

Interaction Diagram - Boxhead: The Rooms

The main rule of this game, Boxhead: The Rooms, is to survive as long as possible without dying. The player can choose a map to play in, depending on the location, it will be easier or harder to stack points and combos as well as surviving. The smaller the map, the harder it will be and vice versa. A variety of weapons can be unlocked if the player reaches a certain number of combos, this motivates players to dispatch enemies much faster, and think of creative ways to quickly increase it.

Enemies like the Devils are much harder to kill than their zombie counterparts, they also shoot fireballs if the player is a high enough level. It is not just the Devils that make it difficult, there are other interactions that the game makes that will make it harder for the players. As the game progresses, hordes of zombies will get much larger, this will make it more difficult for players to move around. Loot/Ammo Boxes will be either scarce or harder obtain due to the zombies blocking the path, players will have no choice but to rely on weaker weapons they have unlocked previously.

As this suggests, the game completely has a dynamic difficulty implemented into it. Enemies will differ in behaviour that will not benefit the player’s survivability, i.e. Higher enemy count and new attacks. Players can also share their points online, meaning that there is a competitive element to it as well.

According to the interaction diagram shown above, there aren’t too many interactions within the game. The reason being that Boxhead: The Rooms is completely an arcade experience where players merely kill the zombies and Devils rather than relying on a story, there is no progression whatsoever, the game will go on an infinite loop of dispatching enemies.

Reference(s):

A Sean Cooper Game (2007) Boxhead: The Rooms [Video Game], Available at: https://www.crazymonkeygames.com/Boxhead-The-Rooms.html

Adams, E. (2008) 'The Designer's Notebook: Difficulty Modes and Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment', Gamasutra, 14 May. Available at: https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132061/the_designers_notebook_.php

Crystall, A. (2019) 'Game Narratives and the History of Play: 'Design and Control'. AD40216E. University of West London. Unpublished.

Vision Document for The Damager Duo: Attack of the AI

Link for the Vision Document

2 Page Pitch for The Damager Duo: Attack of the AI

Link for the Project Pitch