Transcript Slides - The collected game design rants of Marc LeBlanc

The MDA Framework
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics
Some Common Themes
Here are some themes we examined.
Theme: Dynamics and
Fantasy
• Our game dynamics have meaning
within our game’s core fantasy.
• That meaning may or may not be
compatible.
• In order to remain faithful to our
subject matter, dynamics and
fantasy must be in alignment.
© Steve Jackson Games
www.sjgames.com
Theme: State Space and
Design Flexibility
• The state space of a game is the
set of possible states the system
can be in.
• The larger the state space, the
easier it is to make changes.
• As we modify our design, we can
expect the state space to grow.
Theme: Aesthetic Breadth
• Games are not aesthetic laser
beams.
• Neither are players, neither are
designers.
• As professionals, we need to be
able to match the player’s values
as well as our own.
Two Final Thoughts
“The intellect is a Bailey bridge built
between islands of inspiration.”
- Mike Myers
“MDA is like an autopsy. It’s not
something you do to your lover. It’s
something you do to your ex-lover to
find out what went wrong.”
- Frank Lantz
Shameless Plugs
• Intution and Intellect: Decontructing
the Design of Oasis (thurs, 9am)
• Experimental Gameplay Workshop
(thurs, 4pm)
Links
www.8kindsoffun.com
Marc LeBlanc
[email protected]
Andrew Leker
[email protected]
Rob Fermier
[email protected]
Frank Lantz
[email protected]
Jonathan Hamel
[email protected]
Steve Librande
[email protected]
Art Min
[email protected]
Randy Smith
RoninGameDeveloper.com
Tim Stellmach
[email protected]
Robin Hunicke
hunicke
@cs.northwestern.edu
Choices
Theme: “Possibilty Space”
and Drama
Time
Probability is a Valuable
Model
Chance in 36
This is a model of 2d6:
2
3
4
5
6 7 8
Die roll
9 10 11 12
Game Design and Tuning
Workshop
Orientation
Marc “MAHK” LeBlanc
GDC 2003
Orientation Overview
Part I: Workshop Format
Part II: Outline Our Formal Approach
Part III: Formal Approach in Detail
Part IV: Tuning
Part I: Introduction
In this part we will:
• Explain the workshop high
concept.
• Describe the format.
• Introduce the faculty.
This Workshop Is:
•
•
•
•
In its third year
Designed to be hands-on.
Focused on the tuning process.
Grounded in a formal approach to
game design.
• Intended to be open-ended.
This Workshop Isn’t:
• About the game “industry.”
• About the game design
“profession.”
• Concerned with the early stages of
game design.
• A one-way street.
What You’ll be Doing
•
•
•
•
•
Playing games.
Analyzing games.
Critiquing games.
Modifying games.
Refining games.
A Few Ground Rules
• Please attend the whole thing.
• Collaborate, Share, and Encourage.
• Save the “meta-discussion” for the
very end.
Workshop Format
• Small-group activities.
 Main Exercises (3)
 Electives (choose 1 from 3 each day)
Introducing the Faculty
• Myself
• Rob Fermier
• Austin
Grossman
• Frank Lantz
• Andrew Leker
• Steve Librande
• Katie Salen
• Tim Stellmach
Also Helping Out:
• Art Min
• Robin Hunicke
Part II: A Formal Approach
In this section, we present
• A formal framework for game
design.
• A view of the designer-player
relationship
Game Design “Frameworks”
• Paradigms for organizing our
understanding.
Game Design “Frameworks”
• Paradigms for organizing our
understanding.
• Example Frameworks:
 The 400 Project
 Design Patterns
Game Design “Frameworks”
• Paradigms for organizing our
understanding.
• Example Frameworks:
 The 400 Project
 Design Patterns
• Separate from the process.
Our Framework
• Organized around the designerplayer relationship.
• Grounded in a formal approach.
The Designer-Player
Relationship


Designer
Player
The Designer-Player
Relationship

Designer
Game

Player
The Designer-Player
Relationship

Designer
Creates
Game
Consumes

Player
The Designer-Player
Relationship

Designer
Creates
Game
Book
Consumes

Player
The Designer-Player
Relationship

Designer
Creates
Game
Book
Movie
Consumes

Player
The Designer-Player
Relationship

Designer
Creates
Game
Book
Movie
Painting
Consumes

Player
The Designer-Player
Relationship

Designer
Creates
Game
Book
Movie
Painting
Chair
Consumes

Player
The Designer-Player
Relationship

Designer
Creates
Game
Book
Movie
Painting
Chair
Car
Consumes

Player
The Designer-Player
Relationship

Designer
Creates
Game
Book
Movie
Painting
Chair
Car
Steak Dinner
Consumes

Player
The Designer-Player
Relationship

Creates
Game
Consumes
Designer

Player
The difference is the way that
games are consumed.
An Extreme Opposite
Example:
A Theatrical Play
The “design team” knows:
• Script
• Lighting
• Acoustics
• Seating
• Intermissions
Games, on the Contrary
The designer doesn’t know:
• When will the player play? How
often? For how long?
• Where? With Whom?
And most importantly...
• What will happen during the game?
Obligatory Editorial
This lack of predictability is the
essence of play. It should be
embraced, not eschewed.
A Formal Model of
“Game Consumption”
Rules
System
Behavior
“Fun”
The Player-Designer
Relationship, Revisited

Designer
Rules
System
Behavior
“Fun”

Player
The MDA Framework
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics
Definitions
• Mechanics: The rules and concepts
that formally specify the game-assystem.
Definitions
• Mechanics: The rules and concepts
that formally specify the game-assystem.
• Dynamics: The run-time behavior
of the game-as-system.
Definitions
• Mechanics: The rules and concepts
that formally specify the game-assystem.
• Dynamics: The run-time behavior
of the game-as-system.
• Aesthetics: The desirable
emotional responses evoked by the
game dynamics.
The Building Blocks: Formal Models
• No Grand Unified Theory
• Instead, lots of little models
• Models can be formulas or
abstractions.
• We can think of models as
“lenses.”
• Discovering new models is an
ongoing process.
MDA is a “Taxonomy” for
Models
•
•
•
•
Knowledge of Aesthetics
Knowledge of Dynamics
Knowledge of Mechanics
Knowledge of the interactions
between them.
Properties of Good Models
We want our models to be:
• Formal (i.e. well-defined).
• Abstract (i.e. widely applicable).
• Proven (i.e. known to work).
On any given game, we expect to
use several different abstractions,
not one big one.
Part III: MDA in detail
In this part, we discuss Aesthetics,
Dynamics and Mechanics in detail.
The Player’s Perspective
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics
The Designer’s Perspective
Mechanics
Dynamics
Aesthetics
Understanding Aesthetics
We need to get past words like “fun”
and “gameplay.”
• What kinds of “fun” are there?
• How will we know a particular kind of
“fun” when we see it?
Eight Kinds of “Fun”
Eight Kinds of "Fun"
1. Sensation
Game as sense-pleasure
Eight Kinds of "Fun"
1. Sensation
Game as sense-pleasure
2. Fantasy
Game as make-believe
Eight Kinds of "Fun"
1. Sensation
Game as sense-pleasure
2. Fantasy
Game as make-believe
3. Narrative
Game as drama
Eight Kinds of "Fun"
1. Sensation
Game as sense-pleasure
2. Fantasy
Game as make-believe
3. Narrative
Game as drama
4. Challenge
Game as obstacle course
Eight Kinds of "Fun"
1. Sensation
Game as sense-pleasure
2. Fantasy
Game as make-believe
3. Narrative
Game as drama
4. Challenge
Game as obstacle course
5. Fellowship
Game as social framework
Eight Kinds of "Fun"
1. Sensation
Game as sense-pleasure
2. Fantasy
Game as make-believe
3. Narrative
Game as drama
4. Challenge
Game as obstacle course
5. Fellowship
Game as social framework
6. Discovery
Game as uncharted territory
Eight Kinds of "Fun"
1. Sensation
Game as sense-pleasure
2. Fantasy
Game as make-believe
3. Narrative
Game as drama
4. Challenge
Game as obstacle course
5. Fellowship
Game as social framework
6. Discovery
Game as uncharted territory
7. Expression
Game as self-discovery
Eight Kinds of "Fun"
1. Sensation
Game as sense-pleasure
2. Fantasy
Game as make-believe
3. Narrative
Game as drama
4. Challenge
Game as obstacle course
5. Fellowship
Game as social framework
6. Discovery
Game as uncharted territory
7. Expression
Game as self-discovery
8. Masochism
Game as submission
Clarifying Our Aesthetics
• Charades is “fun.”
• Quake is “fun.”
• Final Fantasy is “fun.”
Clarifying Our Aesthetics
• Charades: Fellowship, Expression,
Challenge
• Quake: Challenge, Sensation,
Competition, Fantasy
• Final Fantasy: Fantasy, Narrative,
Expression, Discovery, Challenge,
Masochism
• Each game pursues multiple
Clarifying Our Goals
• As designers, we can choose
certain aesthetics as goals for our
game design.
• We need more than a one-word
definition of our goals.
What is an “Aesthetic
Model?”
• A rigorous definition of an
aesthetic goal.
• Serves as an “aesthetic compass.”
• States criteria for success as well
as possible modes of failure.
Some examples…
Goal: Competition
Model: A game is competitive if:
• Players are adversaries.
• Players have an ongoing emotional
investment in defeating each other.
Some Failure Modes:
• A player feels that he can’t win.
• A player can’t measure his progress.
Goal: Realistic Flight
Simulation
Possible Models: Our flight dynamics
are realistic if:
• They match a mathematical formula, or,
• They pass our “realism checklist,”
Failure Modes:
• Counter-intuitive system behavior.
Goal: Drama
Model: A game is dramatic if:
• Its central conflict creates dramatic tension.
• The dramatic tension builds towards a climax.
Dramatic Tension
Clima x
Conflict
Resolution
Narrative Time
Goal: Drama
Failure Modes:
• Lack of conflict.
• Lack of tension.
 The conflict’s outcome is obvious (no uncertainty).
 No sense of forward progress (no inevitability).
• Tension does not increase towards a
climax.
On to Dynamics...
Understanding Dynamics
• How can we predict and explain
the behavior of the game-assystem?
Formalizing Game Dynamics
Input
Rules
(Player)
Output
State
(Graphics/
Sound)
The “State Machine” Model
Examples: Chess, Quake
Models of Game Dynamics
• Again, no Grand Unified Theory
• Instead, a collection of many
Dynamic Models.
• Dynamics models are analytical in
nature.
Some examples…
Example: Random Variable
Chance in 36
This is a model of 2d6:
2
3
4
5
6 7 8
Die roll
9 10 11 12
Example: Feedback System
A feedback system monitors and regulates its own
state.
Room
Thermometer
Heater
Too Cold
Too Hot
Cooler
Controller
An Ideal Thermostat
Example: Operant
Conditioning
• The player is part of the system,
too!
• Psychology gives us models to
explain and predict the player’s
behavior.
Where Models Come From
• Analysis of existing games.
• Other Fields: Math, Psychology,
Engineering…
• Our own experience.
On to Mechanics...
Understanding Mechanics
• There’s a vast library of common
game mechanics.
Examples
• Cards: Shuffling, Trick-Taking,
Bidding
• Shooters: Ammunition, Spawn
Points
• Golf: Sand Traps, Water Hazards
Mechanics vs. Dynamics
We need to acknowledge mechanics
and dynamics as distinct concepts.
Dynamics emerge from Mechanics.
Interaction Models
• How do specific dynamics emerge
from specific mechanics?
• How do specific dynamics evoke
specific aesthetics?
Example: Time Pressure
• “Time pressure” is a dynamic.
• It can create dramatic tension.
• Various mechanics create time
pressure:
 Simple time limit
 “Pace” monster
 Depleting resource
Moving Forward…
Let’s hope the future brings us:
• A rich aesthetic vocabulary.
• A eclectic library of game mechanics.
• A catalog of formal models: Aesthetic,
Dynamic, Interaction
In other words,
“Formal Abstract Design Tools.”
Part IV: Tuning
In this part we will:
• Define tuning.
• Present a formal approach.
What we mean by “Tuning:”
Analyze
Test
Revise
Tuning is an iterative process.
We’re not limited to:
• Parameter tweaking
• “Fiddling with knobs”
MDA in the Tuning Process
Aesthetic Models help us:
• Articulate our goals.
• Point out our game’s flaws.
• Measure our progress.
Dynamic Models help us:
• Pinpoint our problems.
Both kinds help us:
• Evaluate possible revisions.
Learning From the Tuning
Process
Between iterations, we re-evaluate:
• Our goals.
• Our models
• Our assumptions.
Sometimes we need to revise our
own thinking as well.
The Tuning Process
Before we start:
• Know our aesthetic goals.
While we iterate:
• Aesthetic and dynamics models
guide our way.
Between Iterations
• Learn from the process.
Time for Coffee...
After the break, go to the classroom
that matches the color of your
poker chip:
Blue
Red
White
C1
C2
C3