Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Physical Coordination Challenges ○ Accuracy and Precision ■ Tests abilities to navigate (Motor/Combat Skills) ■ Challenge can be, but not always time related ■ Increasing accuracy required increases difficulty
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Physical Coordination Challenges ○ Intuitive Understanding of Physics ■ Tests abilities to learn virtual response to physical input without understanding of advanced calculus (Projectile Motion in Golf) ■ First, virtual physics needs to be consistent (Distance/Height of Player’s Jump) ■ Second, simplify physical model of world (Realistic Inertia/Motion in Sports Games)
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Physical Coordination Challenges ○ Intuitive Understanding of Physics
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Physical Coordination Challenges ○ Timing and Rhythm ■ Tests abilities to perform actions at the right time (Dodgeball/dodging vs DDR/dancing)
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Physical Coordination Challenges ○ Combination Moves ■ Tests abilities to remember action sequence with perfect timing (SS Bros) ■ Decreasing actions required decreases difficulty
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Logic and Mathematical Challenges ○ Logic test abilities to solve puzzles with precise deduction from reliable data (basis for strategy thinking) ○ Mathematics test abilities to reason from probability from non-reliable data (chance/explicit vs numeric relations/implicit) ○ Two Subcategories ■ Formal Logic Puzzles ■ Mathematical Challenges
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Logic and Mathematical Challenges ○ Formal Logic Puzzles ■ Contains/explains everything needed to solve the puzzle ■ Presents objects that have specific configuration ■ Increasing number of objects increases difficulty ■ Increasing number of solutions decreases difficulty ■ Logical abilities vary between players, avoid time limits because they may make challenge impossible for certain players ■ Design Rule: Avoid Trial-and-Error Solutions
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Logic and Mathematical Challenges ○ Formal Logic Puzzles
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Logic and Mathematical Challenges ○ Mathematical Challenges ■ Contains elements of chance or require educated guesses from situations with imperfect knowledge ■ Make clever mathematics-based puzzles, avoid disguised math drills
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Races and Time Pressure ○ Tests abilities to accomplish the challenge before someone else does (Car Race/Building Race) ○ Can be combined with fighting and many other challenges ○ Time pressure discourages strategy, encourages direct solutions ○ Time pressure increases stress, situationally for better or worse ○ When adjusting time pressure, balancing absolute difficulty requires also adjusting intrinsic skill
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Races and Time Pressure
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Factual Knowledge Challenges ○ Tests knowledge of factual information from real world (Trivia/Quiz) ○ The actual knowledge is the solution to the challenge ○ Avoid small obscure facts that few would know, it’s not fair and detracts from full immersion ○ Design Rule: Make it clear when Factual Knowledge is required
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Memory Challenges ○ Tests abilities to recall past objects/events seen or heard in the game ○ Implementing time limits discourages player from taking notes ○ Increasing time limits decreases difficulty
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Pattern Recognition Challenges ○ Tests abilities to spot visible or audible patterns, or patterns of change and behaviour (Object Layout/Enemy AI) ○ Increasing complexity (length/simplicity/obviousness) of pattern, increases difficulty (Boss AI)
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Exploration Challenges ○ Tests ability to search and explore unknown areas of the game ○ Avoid exploration without challenging (Sightseeing) ○ Six Subcategories ■ Spatial Awareness Challenges ■ Locked Doors ■ Traps ■ Mazes and Illogical Spaces ■ Teleporters ■ Finding Hidden Objects
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Exploration Challenges ○ Spatial Awareness Challenges ■ Requires player to learn way around unfamiliar, complicated spaces ■ Visual aesthetics, unfamiliar architecture and ambiguity of navigational orientation influence difficulty (007 Goldeneye) ■ Giving access to a map decreases difficulty, while not including the players real-time location increases difficulty
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Exploration Challenges ○ Spatial Awareness Challenges
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Exploration Challenges ○ Locked Doors ■ Generic term for any obstacle preventing progression in game ■ Challenge is the method required to disable obstacle, be creative ■ Avoid using unmarked, random switches and/or placing them far from the door (Doom)
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Exploration Challenges ○ Traps ■ Device that harms player’s avatar when triggered, discouraging previous action that triggered the trap (Possible Damage/Death) ■ Can appear in a variety of forms ● Can only be triggered once, harmless after ● Can be triggered multiple times (requires certain rearming time) ● Can be triggered by different conditions (metal detector) ■ Can be disarmed or avoided ■ Becomes trial and error if too many hidden or unavoidable traps
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Exploration Challenges ○ Traps
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Exploration Challenges ○ Mazes and Illogical Spaces ■ Mazes are areas in which every place looks alike (Mostly) ● Challenge is solving the organization of the maze using clues with logic and/or pattern-recognition ● Becomes trial and error without sufficient clues ■ Illogical spaces are areas in which places do not have reasonable relations to other places (North of A is B, but South of B is C) ● Requires map versus common sense ● Difficult to implement in 3D engines, requires detailed explanation
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Exploration Challenges ○ Mazes and Illogical Spaces
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Exploration Challenges ○ Teleporters ■ Mechanism that suddenly transports the player to someplace else (Portal) ■ Hidden or One-Way teleporters make exploration difficult ■ Making teleporters predictable and reversible decreases difficulty ■ Can also be used as the challenge and/or visible, optional feature
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Exploration Challenges ○ Teleporters
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Exploration Challenges ○ Finding Hidden Objects ■ Finding the hidden object, either requiring exploration of less obvious and/or dangerous areas ■ 2-Dimensional, point and click versions may require time limit ■ Easter eggs are specialized variants, can be items or hidden regions/game features, which are not necessary to win the game ● Avoid easter eggs that oppose the game’s rating, results in legal actions
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Exploration Challenges ○ Finding Hidden Objects
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Conflict ○ Tests ability to overcome direct opposition of forces (Human/AI) ○ Three adjustable factors ■ Scale of Action (Individuals/Armies) ■ Speed of Conflict (Turn Based/Real-Time Action) ■ Complexity of Victory Conditions (Survival/Goals and Subgoals)
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Conflict ○ Six Subcategories ■ Strategy ■ Tactics ■ Logistics ■ Survival and Reduction of Enemy Forces ■ Defending Vulnerable Items or Units ■ Stealth
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Conflict ○ Strategy ■ Requires player to situationally analyze the game and devise a plan of action (Chess) ■ Pure Strategy has perfect information which contains no element of chance or hidden information, requires systematic reasoning ■ Applied Strategy hides information and includes elements of chance, requires guesswork and weighing probabilities ■ Applied Strategy is less difficult than Pure Strategy, attracts broader audience
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Conflict ○ Strategy
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Conflict ○ Tactics ■ Involves executing a plan, accomplishing goals, or responding to unexpected events/conditions (New Information/Bad Luck) ■ Can be purely tactical without strategy (Hidden Surroundings)
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Conflict ○ Logistics ■ Involves the choices regarding building, replenishing and supporting resources (Factories/Ammunition/Inventory) ■ Seen as a boring distraction versus combat gameplay ■ Important to balance difficulty of player’s logistical choices, difficulty effects time devoted to logistical choice
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Conflict ○ Logistics
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Conflict ○ Survival and Reduction of Enemy Forces ■ Survival requires the player to preserve the effective life/lives of the player/controlled units (Health) ■ Does not have to be victory condition, but is necessary to win ■ Sometimes implies reduction of enemy forces
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Conflict ○ Survival and Reduction of Enemy Forces
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Conflict ○ Defending Vulnerable Items or Units ■ Involves defending other units or items that are incapable of defending themselves. (King in Chess) ■ Must know capabilities and vulnerabilities of the entity ■ Must be prepared to sacrifice for the entity
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Conflict ○ Defending Vulnerable Items or Units
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Conflict ○ Stealth ■ Involves moving undetected and avoiding discovery or combat (Mario Party) ■ Difficult to implement, AI has access to complete state of game world, must restrict and limit AI’s knowledge and attention
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Conflict ○ Stealth
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Economic Challenges ○ Tests abilities to manage own economy, where resources move either physically from place to place or conceptually from owner to owner ○ Resources can be any quantifiable substance that can be created, moved, stored, earned, exchanged or destroyed (Health/Ammo) ○ Decreasing availability of resource, increasing difficulty ○ Atomic challenges appear similar to overall goal of game ○ Three Subcategories ■ Accumulating Resources ■ Achieving Balance ■ Caring for Living Things
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Economic Challenges ○ Accumulating Resources ■ Challenges player to accumulate something: wealth, points or anything deemed valuable (Money in Monopoly)
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Economic Challenges ○ Achieving Balance ■ Challenges player to manage all resources (The Settlers)
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Economic Challenges ○ Caring for Living Things ■ Challenges player to meet the needs and possibly improve the development of a certain person/creature using limited resources (The Sims)
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Conceptual Reasoning and Lateral Thinking Puzzles ○ Tests ability to solve puzzles that require extrinsic knowledge, which is knowledge from outside the domain of the challenge itself ○ Different from Formal Logic Puzzles, yet may still require the use of logical thinking ○ Two Subcategories ■ Conceptual Reasoning ■ Lateral Thinking
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Conceptual Reasoning and Lateral Thinking Puzzles ○ Conceptual Reasoning ■ Requires player to use reasoning power and knowledge of the puzzle’s subject matter (LA Noire/Human Motivations) ■ Designing offers a lot of scope, hard work creating challenges
Commonly Used Challenges ‒ Conceptual Reasoning and Lateral Thinking Puzzles ○ Lateral Thinking ■ Challenges player to think of alternative solutions ■ Similar to Conceptual Reasoning puzzles, but the most obvious/probable solution is incorrect/unavailable ■ Unexpected solutions by relying on real-world experience ■ Avoid making solution too obscure or relying on information that goes beyond common knowledge ■ Increasing the amount of hints/clues, decreases difficulty ■ @0:00 - 1:14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ag0PtH3g-s
Saving the Game ‒ Takes a snapshot of a game world and all it’s important particulars at a given instant and stores them away so the player can load the same data later, return to that instant, and play the game from that point ‒ Technologically easy, essential for testing/debugging ‒ Past hardware limited capabilities of content saved
Saving the Game ‒ Reasons for Saving a Game ○ Allowing the player to leave the game and return to it later ■ 40+ hours of content with no break ○ Letting the player recover from disastrous mistakes ■ Avatar dies or impossible to win ○ Encouraging the player to explore alternate strategies ■ Learning results of different approaches
Saving the Game ‒ Consequences for Immersion and Storytelling ○ The act of saving takes place outside the game world ○ Repeating the past, ruins illusion of permanent death, acknowledges the unreality of the game world ○ Altering the future, loses the consequences of actions, reduces or destroys dramatic tension, ruins branching storylines
Saving the Game ‒ Ways of Saving a Game ○ Level Access Codes (Passwords) ■ Allows player to enter a code in the main menu to restart the corresponding level ■ Advantageous for devices with no memory ○ Save to a File or Save Slot ■ Allows player to interrupt play and save the current state to one of a series of save slots/files ■ Most harmful to immersion, UI looks like OS file management tool
Saving the Game ‒ Ways of Saving a Game ○ Quick-Save ■ Allows player to press a single button to save mid gameplay ■ Sacrifices flexibility to retain immersion and speed ○ Automatic Save and Checkpoints ■ Allows player to automatically save when exiting or reaching a checkpoint ■ Least harmful to immersion, sacrifices control of saving, relies on frequency of previous exit/checkpoint
Saving the Game ‒ Ways of Saving a Game ○ Mistakes of Quick-Save and Automatic Saving/Checkpoints ■ Allow player to save after tuning features ■ Allow player to choose from multiple save points or make sure last save point is safe and still has chance of success ■ Allow player to save before critical moments (Big Decisions/Boss) ■ Allow player to save after long non interactive content (Dialogue)
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