Saturday Discussion Week 10/26-11/2 & Stuffz

Hello all! This week I talked about the Golden Ratio, Fibonacci Sequence, Game sociology and Bartle's Player types. Today, I will try to discuss further into these topics. 

You can find the articles here:

Golden Ratio & Fibonacci Sequence
Game sociology & Bartle's Player types

Random Fact: Giacomo Casanova was a librarian.

Grab a cup of tea and let's get started!

Golden Ratio, Fibonacci Sequence & Applications to Game Design.

The Golden Ratio is a good guideline when making interfaces. Twitter's interface is based on the fibonacci spiral, which is based on the golden ratio.

You can flip it to any side you want, but it's genuinely better to follow the way people from your side of the hemisphere see things.

In the western hemisphere, people see pictures from left to right, top to bottom. This is why you always see the company logo in an ad, bottom right.

One other big application the fibonacci numbers have in games is in pacing. You can create a virtual scale for your game, using the fibonacci numbers. For example. you have a scale of 1,2,3,5,8.

When creating pace in a level you can use these to determine it's intencity, time and type.

This is gonna get complicated, but bear with me:

In a platformer game for example:

Intencity (int): Number of monsters the player faces in an area, or risks he has to take.

Time (s): The expected time the area would need for the player to finish it.

Type (t): Killing monsters (mon) or doing parkour over hot lava (par).

A good level would be:

1. int: 5 s: 3 t: par
2. int: 1 s: 1 t: mon
3. int: 2 s: 3 t: mon
4. int: 8 s: 5 t: par
5. int: 5 s: 8 t: mon

And so on.

As you might have noticed, this level would be made for a seasoned gamer. It always comes down to your target audience, so try to decide on it first thing on the drawing board.

This blog encourages personal research. Find a good game that you are playing/played and a bad one. Then, try to determine the types and combinations of types of gameplay both games have, and how much time it takes to switch between these types. You might find out that the good game's times are very close to the fibonacci numbers while the bad game's aren't.

Let's try it out.

Ill do a good game for the purpose of explanation.

League of Legends.

Depending on the role of your team, you get different types of gameplay. For the purpose of this example let's pick the top-laner, as it's the most unsubtle one. A typical gamer's experience would be:

1. 00-02: Get to lane/Leash blue/red for jungler
2. 02-04: Farm minions and try to get advantage over opponent
3. 04-05: Rechieve gank from his or opposite team
4. 05-06: Go back to fountain after dying or killing opponent to get items
5. 06-12: Try to expand or minimize advantage/disadvantage
6. 12-20: Protect or engage on objectives (Towers, Dragon)
7. 20-30: Join up with your team to engage or protect more objectives
8. 30-45: Engage on teamfights and end-game objectives.

As you can see, the diffrences in minutes between types of gameplay are really close to the fibonacci numbers. This is a macroview of a typical game, ofcourse. The game itself is much more complex in pacing as there is a great amount of variables to consider.

Multiplayer Game Types and Player Types

Game types:

• Competitive
• Cooperative
• Conjugate of both

Player types:

• Killers
• Achievers
• Socializers
• Explorers

You can find more information about these in this post.

A proper commercial game, would want to make a game that has mechanics that all player types would enjoy. But what if there are mechanics made for player types that make people detest each other? (looking at tnt in minecraft) Absolutely good things. There is no thing as negative conflict between players in a multiplayer game. Conflicts provide an activation of social interaction which is the basis of a social experience.

So which game type is the best?

Competitive? Cooperative? No. Game history has showed us that a balance of both is the best to include all 4 types of players.

Competitive games would create an audience for:

• Achievers
• Killers

Cooperative games would create an audience for:

• Socializers
• Explorers

Conjugate of both games would create an audience for:

• Killers
• Achievers
• Socializers
• Explorers

That means it creates space for the players to:

• Act on their own
• Interact with each other
• Act in the gamespace
• Interact with the gamespace

whereas competitive games mostly support the first two and cooperative games the last three.

But why are there still competitive and cooperative games? They tend to do one thing well, but the audience is limited. It's not a dealbreaker, though. Counter-Strike for example. The typical player would simply run around and shoot people. It's one thing, and it's being executed by the game well. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Phantoms on the other hand, does a lot of things well and supports all player types.

This is all for this week. I hope you guys enjoyed. I am currently trying to get better at writing so if you guys find any problems or care for some constructive criticism, comment below.

Bonus

This week I've been watching this anime called Sora no Otoshimono. It is enlisted as an ecchi or harem anime, but I thought it was pretty plot-based. Any nudity (even though there was non) that might have occured served the plot well. It is a lovely love-story that I won't talk about further as there is a great amount of good reviews of it.

See you next week, all! ☺

Game Sociology, Bartle's Player Types & Stuffz

Hello all! It has come to my notice that my target audience was quite off, hence the "unproffesional" or even "childish" writing I was using. I have reconsidered, and while I still want this blog to be a fun read, I will change the format, writing and will include more descriptive content from now on.

Random Fact: 80% of all animal species have six or more legs.

Grab a cup of tea and let's get started!

Game Sociology

There are lots of games that are based on "social ties" between players, more so, with the rise of social networks and mobile platforms. Social games have taken over the market. It is vital that game designers see the changes in the industry and adjust to them. So how can you apply social mechanics in your game?

What needs to be considered first is activating the player's social network. That means finding reasons for the player to engage in social contact.

ie:

• Leaderboards (passive)
• Gifting (active)
• Character Costumization for Appeal (passive/active)
• Chatting (active)
• Trading (active)

People will feel the need to engage to one of these because of something called "Fear of missing out".

Which game types do these allow though?

Competitive Games: Players have the same objective but have to work against each other to achieve it.

Cooperative games: Players have the same objective but they have to work together to achieve it.

Conjugate Gameplay of the other types: Players share the same space but not the same objectives. (mmo)

It all comes down to the target audience. Designers have to look into their preferences and adjust their mechanics and general approach.

But how do you make an approach for everyone?

Bartle's Player Types

Richard Bartle, the co-creator of MUD, attempted to classify the variety of player behavior and separated them into four player-types.

Killers have fun from destroying his co-players fun. In minecraft, tnt has made sure these types of players are satisfied.

Achievers focus on winning the game or sub-game (achievments for example).

Socializers play games for the purpose of interacting with other players.

Explorers like to experience the full picture of a game.

If you have read all the books in Skyrim then you know what you are.

So, if you want to expand your audience, you should create opportunities for all four types of players in your game.

I will talk about how Game types and player types connect this Saturday.

Bonus

This Tuesday, I posted a photo I took of my hometown. Now I'll show you the other side of the coin.

The Golden Ratio, Fibonacci Sequence & Stuffz

BAM! Pants in da house yallll.

K, maybe not.

Im Pants, greek programming student living in Serres, Greece, yoroshiku (nice to meet you in japanese).

This blog will be about entertaining mys- *cough* Talking about game design, with some additional content, ofcourse. Blogs will rain upon thee every Monday, Thursday, Saturday-SO- Grab a cup of tea and let's get started!

Ever wondered why three is better then four? 

I'll tell you now.

The Golden Ratio

mfkin buttaflies

Imma start off by saying YES, I CAN MAKE A TRIFORCE.

▲

▲ ▲

Now that that's taken care of, let's talk about numbers:

 (a+b)/a=a/b=φ where a>b

Confused? Good.

Ill just tell you φ=1.61803398875, it's the golden ratio, it's what makes the world go round, it's what FKIN RUNS YOUR SOUL!

Kay maybe I got too far. Golden ratio is all about proportions.

Ancient greeks used it, age of englightenment artists used it, HECK, nature is based on it!

But what use does a game designer have with it?


Using the golden ratio, the designer can provide pleasing proportions for any game item, interface. Anything made, consulting it, would look natural. The opposite ofcourse would make the player uneasy, creating a feel of discomfort. That way, the designer can control the atmosphere of the game.


How to use it though?

Take the example of a simple rectangle. Decide the size of the small side, then multiply that number with 1.6. You get the rest.


What's more in the golden ratio?

It's what the Fibonacci numbers are based on, that's what's more.

The Fibonacci numbers?

Why yes, these: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34...

The simple sequence of 0+1=1, 1+1=2, 1+2=3, 2+3=5 and so on.

You can rely ANYTHING on these numbers. Bach even used them to arrange the verses of his notes.

A level designer would use them to control a monster wave.. or balance character progression.

There's really no end to what they can be used for.


So why is three better than four? Yep you guessed it.

Imagine 3 fish.

Now imagine 4 of the same fish.

Which fish are better?
☺



Lastly I'll show you a couple of pictures I had made using an online comic maker.

I'm a true artist, I know.

Also, Here's a picture of the town I was raised in:

Thessaloniki, Greece

Random Fact of the day: George Washington was bled to death by his doctors, who were treating him for a cold.