Week 3 - Formal abstract design tools

"Games are not books, games are not movies. In those media, the tools used......are used to manipulate the viewers or readers, to make them feel or react exactly the way the director or author wants them to.  I believe the challenge of computer games design is that our most important tools are the ones that empower players to make their own decisions"


- The industry and all designers need a universal language that everyone can understand. Having a definitive vocabulary makes it easier to critique games and improve them.
- Don't be naive and think that you have to use every tool available to create a great game, some only need a few.
- Use the mistakes you know about games you love so you can use them to make your game better.
- When critiquing games, find the 'concrete aspects' so you can look into the 'Formal Abstract Design Tools'.


Tools


Intention
"Making an implementable plan of one's own creation in response to the current situation in the game world and one's understanding of the game play options"
- This tool links in to last week's reading, by the player looking at the current game state and devising a plan whether it be on the spot within the space of a second, to having all the time in the world to make a choice.


Perceivable Consequence
"A clear reaction from the game world to the action of a player."
- Linking back to the point above, in the game stated in the article "Mario 64", after the player making a plan of what to do to reach the end of the level, there is input into the playing device and "Mario" responds. 


Story
"The narrative thread, whether designer driven or player-driven, that binds events together and drives the player forward toward completion of the game."
- The article explains how stories are important and so different in games. There can be an adventure-style story where the player has choices to make to reach the end of the scripted game, but on the other hand there are stories in sports games such as said in the article. Imagine playing a basketball game on "NBA Live", you could send the game to overtime or you could be 100points up by half-time, everything links back into perceivable consequence and intention by the game creating a story using interactivity and planning.