Week 5 Reading Notes - Tools for Creating Dramatic Game Dynamics (WIP)

• Games getting better stories, similar to those of feature films.

• Game designers are always looking for ways to incorporate the tools and techniques of storytelling into their games.

• Games have always told stories, even in ancient Egyptian times, they had a game called 'Senet', which told the story of the passage through the underworld to the land of the dead.

• Other works of fictional media use games as the narrative device (eg boxing, bike races), in which case the story no longer relies on the metaphor of the game, but on the events of the game itself. The game becomes dramatic.

• This also works the other way, games which are dramatic tend to be more fun and immersive. The problem is Game Designers can't create drama, they can only create the circumstances which lead to drama.

• To create certain elements of a game like drama, we have to use the MDA framework. We want to control how the player feels (aesthetics) by changing what happens in the game (dynamics), which is done by creating our game world and how it works (mechanics).

• Our task as game designers is to work backwards by deciding how we want a player to feel, then working backwards through dynamics and then creating the game mechanics.

• To create drama, we need to ask the following questions:
• How does drama function as an aesthetic of play?
• What kind of game dynamics can evoke drama?
• From what kinds of mechanics do those dynamics emerge?

• First you must see what drama is, will you know it when you see it?

• Drama is only one aesthetic of the game, there are many elements which all give different kinds of fun.

• The picture below visualises the dramatic arc, the rising and falling action of a well-told story. We can't actually measure how dramatic a game is and plot it on this charge, there is no concrete method to do this. Dramatic tension, however, is our level of emotional investment in the story's conflict. Dramatic tension can increase and decrease, which is the main reason this diagram works.

• The dramatic arc is not something which is instantly noticeable to the audience, you cant say "Wow, what a nice dramatic arc this film has!", but instead the individual moments and the emotions they provoke stay with us.

• In theatres or in books, the creator had complete control over the narrative so they can hand-craft the narrative arc; it becomes a lot more challenging for a Game Designer as the narrative emerges from events in the game, and isn't scripted fully by us.

• Dramatic tension all comes from comes from conflict, but in a game the conflict comes from the contest which the game is built around. There are many sorts of contests which challenge the player in different ways.

• Tension emerges from contest through uncertainty and inevitability, it relies on these two factors in combination, neither is sufficient by itself.

• Magic: The Gathering is a good example of this, it begins with neither player knowing who will win, and as more resources are limited and more cards come into play, it means either player can drastically change the outcome in one move. By the end of it, a player will have a power play, where they will come out with a clear advantage and rush to win, or die trying. The climax of the game is when the outcome of the contest becomes known, we can think of the time between the climax and the end f the game as denouement, the recess of resolving tension created within the game.

• To make our games dramatically uncertain, we need to make sure the outcome of the contest remains unknown. Force allows us to manipulate the tension in the game, and illusion allows us to manipulate the players perception to make the outcome look closer than it is.

• The game state the complete status of the game at a particular moment

• The scoring function is the sensor of the cybernetic feedback system

• Negative feedback is a source of dramatic uncertainty when the scores are tied or very close, as the player is uncertain of the outcome. This means negative feedback systems are a powerful tool for creating dramatic tension

• Positive feedback systems are useful for eliminating uncertainty towards the end of a game, ringing about the climax and creating a sense of finality and closure. Negative feedback can make the game move very slowly, so positive feedback can then be used to break the equilibrium and move the game forwards.

• Pseudo-feedback is a type of mechanism that creates game dynamics that appear as if the game were being driven by a negative feedback system, but there is no actual cybernetic feedback system present, just the perception of one.

• Escalation describes a game mechanic in which the score changes faster and faster over the course of the game, so there are more points at stake at the end of the game than at the start of the game.

• Hidden energy in a game is something that makes sure the result of the game isn't actually clear until its used up by every player. A good example would be a 'turbo boost' in a racing game, which only allows each player a certain amount throughout the whole race. Player 1 could use his all up at the start and create the illusion of positive feedback, but then Player 2 may use all of his at the end and close the gap between the two racers.