Geimzain (Designing games. A guide to engineering experiences) - Part II
This post continues the review of the book **Geimzain (Designing games)**that I yesterday. We'll talk about the second part.The art of making a game", where the author immediately puts forward two theses: game design is impossible to learn from books and that experience is needed, and experience is best obtained by observing individual small changes. (So that the results can be easily interpreted.).
2. Elegance The author says that unpredictability is the basis of elegantness. The point is that simple mechanics can create complex situations.. You can remember here. John Conway's "Life"which many people remember from computer science and which is Turing automatonSo you can simulate any computation. The rules of this game are as simple as possible. The ability to feel elegance comes with experience, but there are a few simple rules and reduces them to smells. (smells). Interestingly, there is a strong expression about bad smells in code, and here we use the same approach to describe the smells of good mechanics, which give elegance: Mechanics that interact with other mechanics (It fits well into the system and takes its place.)
- simple mechanics. (KISS) Mechanics that can be used in several ways (variability) Mechanics that do not coincide with the role of other mechanics (A role is a way of using mechanics.) It reminds me of the SRP principle. Mechanics that use existing architectures and interfaces because they are based on knowledge that players already have. (consistency) Mechanics that work like existing mechanics (reuse of player knowledge) Mechanics that are reused (reuse) Mechanics that do not limit the content of the game Mechanics in which the available interface is used at full capacity
3. Player skills Here it all starts with the thesis that the perception of the game depends on the skill of the player. Conventionally, what is too simple for one person to another may be too complicated. And game designers often try to push the boundaries so that players with different experiences are fun to play. Different concepts are used for this.
- Skill ceiling. A level above which you cannot jump.
- The depth of the game How much information you need to play the game well. The depth and ceiling can be judged by the difference between the ideal theorist and the ideal practitioner. If there is no difference between their results, then there is a skill ceiling in the game. Depth can be perceived as the maximum level of skill of the player, at which it is still interesting to play the game.
- Accessibility The minimum skill level at which the game becomes suitable for players. Interestingly, the command line in Linux has a lot of depth, but not a lot of accessibility. For UI MacOs, the opposite is true:)
- Skills range If the range is wide, it means that both beginners and experts can enjoy the game. To expand the range of players, it is worth developing simple and elegant schemes. By squeezing the most out of mechanics, we make them easy to learn, but difficult to master perfectly. And this is the main reason to strive for elegant design. Different approaches can be used: new discoveries (novelty), flexible calls (variability)Learning, emotional support, changing the complexity of the game. Finally, the author talks about the losers in the game and how to avoid the traps of defeat, where the player is long in a situation that is doomed to defeat. Continuation in next post.
P.S. In these chapters, the elegance of the system to strive for and how this elegance allows you to expand the range of skills players can enjoy using the system. These are cool concepts that help design games and design complex information systems:)
#Design #GameDesign #SystemDesign #SystemThinking #Management #SelfDevelopment