Game Elements

 Game Tools and Vocabulary

This week for the reading task, I read Formal Abstract Design Tools by Doug Church. In this article there are discussions of 'game vocabulary' and how game analysis and creation can go beyond 'fun or not fun'. I.E talk about the underlying components of a game instead of just saying "that was fun!" We should dissect a game into its components, and attempt to understand how these parts balance and fit together.  

perceivable consequence

For me the information about perceivable consequence was most interesting. It makes so much sense yet would be an easy concept to miss when planning/ designing a game. This allows the player to not get frustrated as the consequence of an action was perceived. eg. "Rarely do players following a path through the game suddenly find themselves in a situation where the game basically says, "Ha ha, you had no way of knowing, but you should have gone left," or "Dead end! Now you get crushed." Instead, they see they can try a dangerous jump or a long roundabout path or maybe a fight. And if it goes wrong, they understand why." This article also suggests having a focus on perceivable consequences rather than story. 

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Prototyping 

Prototyping is a very important part of any creative design. Product design thrives off the prototyping step of a project. For gaming however it can be a little different as there is coding involved. Making an entire game with graphics, story, characters etc. can be a waste of time when you just want to see the logistics of the game. Here we see game developers making physical prototypes of their game idea using paper/drawing out the game elements, moving the paper around imitating what the game experience might be like without having to start any coding. I think this could be really useful when making my game.