Lecture 3 - Formal Elements | Games Engineering

# Lecture 3 - Formal Elements of Games
### SET09121 - Games Engineering

<br /><br />
Babis Koniaris
<br />

School of Computing. Edinburgh Napier University

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# Recommended Reading

Game Design Workshop. 4th Edition. Tracy Fullerton (2019).

- Read Chapter 3 on Formal Elements.
- Digital copies are available in the library.

![GameDesignWorkshopBook](assets/images/gdw_book.jpg)

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# What are the Formal Elements of Games?

- Structure of the game. Without them, the game is not a game anymore.
- Fullerton defines eight elements:
    -  Players
    -  Objectives
    -  Procedures
    -  Rules
    -  Resources
    -  Conflict
    -  Boundaries
    -  Outcome
- The Formal Elements help us define games from a design perspective
- ** We can also use these elements to scope the technical features**

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# Players

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# Players: who plays and why?

- Games are designed for the players.
    - You must consider your game genre and target audience.
- A game should start with an invitation to play. You want to entice the player.
    - Cinemas dim their lights. 
    - A book uses a cover. 
    - A game has a title screen or introduction video.

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# Multiplayer games

- The invitation to play can become quite complicated in multiplayer games.
- Can you name unique challenges when inviting players to a multiplayer online game?
    - You need to check how many players want to join and how many are needed. 
    - Are all of them ready? 
    - Which role is assigned to which player? 
    - Are there any teams?

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# Player Interaction Patterns

- A **Player Interaction Pattern** helps us define how players play the games.
- There are seven key types:
    - Single-player versus the game.
    - Multiple individual players versus the game.
    - Player versus player.
    - Unilateral competition.
    - Multilateral competition.
    - Cooperative play.
    - Team competition.

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# Single-player versus the game

- A single player competes against the game system.

![SinglePlayerVersusGame](assets/images/SinglePlayerVersusGame.png)

(Image source: T.Fullerton. Game Design Workshop. 4th Edition, 2019.)

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# Multiple individual players versus the game

- Multiple players competes against the game system.
- They do not compete against each other and the action is not directed at other players.

![MultipleIndividualsVsGame](assets/images/MultipleIndividualsVsGame.png)

(Image source: T.Fullerton. Game Design Workshop. 4th Edition, 2019.)

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# Player versus player

- Two players directly compete.
- Within games, the term "Player versus Player" might be used differently.

![PlayerVsPlayer](assets/images/PlayerVsPlayer.png)

(Image source: T.Fullerton. Game Design Workshop. 4th Edition, 2019.)

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# Unilateral competition

- Two or more players compete against one single player.

![UnilateralCompetition](assets/images/UnilateralCompetition.png)

(Image source: T.Fullerton. Game Design Workshop. 4th Edition, 2019.)

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# Multilateral competition

- Three or more players compete against each other.

![MultilateralCompetition](assets/images/MultilateralCompetition.png)

(Image source: T.Fullerton. Game Design Workshop. 4th Edition, 2019.)

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# Cooperative play.

- Two or more players cooperate against the game system.

![CooperativePlay](assets/images/CooperativePlay.png)

(Image source: T.Fullerton. Game Design Workshop. 4th Edition, 2019.)

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# Team competition.

- Two or more groups compete against each other.

![TeamCompetition](assets/images/TeamCompetition.png)

(Image source: T.Fullerton. Game Design Workshop. 4th Edition, 2019.)

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# Example: Witcher 3

- What is the Player Interaction Pattern?

![Wither3](assets/images/witcher3.jpg)

- Single-player versus the game

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# Example: World of Warcraft

- What is the Player Interaction Pattern?

![WorldOfWarcraft](assets/images/wow.jpg)

- Multiple individual players versus the game. 
- Player versus player. 
- Cooperative play. 
- Team competition.

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# Example: Fortnite

- What is the Player Interaction Pattern?

![Fortnite](assets/images/fortnite_win.jpg)

- Multilateral competition 
- Team competition

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# Player Roles

- You need to define what the player's task is in the game. 
- Some games offer different roles for the player to choose from. 
    - A Game Master in Dungeons and Dragons has a different role than the other players. 
    - One team member might be the party leader. 
- Different roles might have different rules associated with them.

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# Objectives

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# Objectives: providing drive and challenge to the player

- Players are the heart of the game experience, objectives drive the experience. 
- Objectives provide a challenge to the player that should be achievable. 
- Objectives also set the overall feel of the game: 
    - FPS: killing and survival. 
    - The Sims: Manage the lives of simulated people. 
- Objectives may also be made up of sub-objectives. 
    - Side quests are similar, but normally distinct.

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# Common Objective Types

- Capture  
    - Take or destroy something from the opponent.  
- Chase  
    - Catch an opponent or elude one.  
- Race 
    - Reach the goal before all other players. 
- Alignment 
    - Arrange pieces in certain configurations or categories. 
- Rescue / escape 
    - Get a designated unit to safety. 
- Forbidden act 
    - Try to make other players perform a forbidden action (laughing, say a word, etc.).

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# Common Objective Types (cont.)

- Construction 
    - Build, maintain, and manage objects. 
- Exploration 
    - Explore different game areas. 
- Solution 
    - Solve a problem or puzzle. 
- Outwit 
    - Gain and use knowledge to defeat the other players.

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# Exercise

- What is the objective in Super Mario Bros?

![SuperMarioBros](assets/images/mario.jpg)

- Saving the princess?
- Reaching the end of the level?
- Jumping on enemies?

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# Procedures

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# Procedures: How we Interact with and Control the Game

- **Procedures** describe how we interact with the game world and how we can act within the game world.
- Video games typically define procedures via the input control mechanisms.
- Procedures can be broadly broken down into four categories:
    - Starting actions.
    - Progression of action.
    - Special actions.
    - Resolving actions.

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# Example: Mario's Jump

- Mario's jump is one of the best examples of a 'simple' procedure 
- But it gives a huge amount of freedom and flexibility

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7daTGyVZ60I" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>

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# System Procedures

- Video games are complex systems.
- Numerous procedures are running behind the scenes to respond to player actions.
    - Compare Dungeons and Dragons to a video game RPG.
- Example: Calculating the damage based on attributes and random rolls.

![image](assets/images/dnd.jpg) 
![image](assets/images/neverwinter.jpg)

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# Rules

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# Rules: Defining Objects and Restrict Actions

- **Rules** define the objects and restrict actions in the game.
- In chess, the rules define different objects: 
    - King: Can only move one tile in any direction. 
    - Bishop: Can only move diagonal. 
- In a RTS game, rules define different unit types: 
    - A tank might have more HP than infantry. 
    - The type and amount of damage might be different. 
- A rule can restrict what you can do in a city builder: 
    - You can only build a building if you have enough money. 
    - You can only build an airport when you reached a population of 100 000.

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# Example: Rules Defining a shotgun

- Consider a shotgun in a FPS:
    - Cost: $500, Damage: 20 
    - Spread: 10, Range: 5 
    - Ammo: 2, Magazine: 12 
- We can also use rules to restrict certain actions for progression purposes. 
    - Special items in Legend of Zelda series
- Providing all capabilities at once can confuse and frustrate the player. 
    - Same applies with tutorials, and any form of learning

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# Rules Determining Effects

- Rules that trigger events or effects are very useful when considering the procedures of our game.
- We can boil down such rules to a collection of `if` statements:
    - `if player’s health == 0 then player dies.`
    - `if player picks up apple then health += 10.`
    - etc.

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# Resources

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# Resources: providing in-game assets

A **resource** is an asset that provides the player with an advantage, allows the player to reach certain objectives, or allows the player to perform certain procedures.

- Resources are ubiquitous in games:
    - Monopoly has money and property.
    - Command & Conquer has Tiberium.
    - Halo has health, ammunition, and shields.

![BorderlandsLootBox](http://lootmaster.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/1/3/38139257/7052736.jpg) 
 ![UThealthPack](assets/images/uthealthpack.jpg)

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# Examples of Resource Types

Try to name some examples of resources.

- Lives 
- Units 
- Health 
- Currency 
- Inventory 
- Special terrain 
- Actions 
- Power-ups 
- Time

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# Conflict

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# Conflict: Clash between Objectives, Procedures, Rules, and Resources

- **Conflict** occurs due to a clash between the objectives, the procedures, the rules, and the resources.
- A great example is golf. 
    - The objective is simple: put the ball in the hole ... 
    - ...but the hole and ball are small ... 
    - ...and you can only move the ball with a little stick ... 
    - ...and the hole is away over there! 
- Conflict increases the challenge, which increases the fun. 
- Some Conflict examples: 
    - Obstacles: physical or conceptual.
    - Opponents: NPCs or other players.
    - Dilemmas: putting real choice in a game.

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# Example: Starcraft 2

- What is the conflict here?

![Starcraft2](assets/images/Starcraf2.png)

- Obstacles: Limits on how many units you can build. 
 - Opponents: AI or other players. 
 - Dilemmas: On what unit or tech should I spend my resources?

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# Boundaries

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# Boundaries

- **Boundaries** define where the game is taking place.
- Games exist in a world where the formal elements exist. 
    - Sometimes called the magic circle.
- Boundaries can be physical. 
    - The normal approach in video games.
    - Screen boundaries, 3D world boundaries, etc. are all examples of this.
- Boundaries can be conceptual. 
    - The players make an agreement to stay within the rules of the game.

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# Outcome

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# Outcome

- The **outcome** is the expected payoff from playing the game.
- How do we resolve the objectives that the game sets out?
- What, if any, is the end state of the game?
- Winning is a traditional end point.
    - The game state where one of the winning conditions (objectives) has been met.
- Some games continue without end points.
    - Sim City, Factorio (if you ignore the rocket), The Sims

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# Summary

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# Try Describing a Game Using the Formal Elements

- After the class, try and describe a game (board, video, or social) using the vocabulary of formal elements.
- Try to go into some real depth: it will help you understand games more.
- Think about the formal elements whenever you play a game. Try and pick apart the individual elements of the game to get a better understanding of how it is put together.

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# Summary

- **Players**: Who is playing our game?
- **Objectives**: What is the goal of playing the game?
- **Procedures**: How is the game played?
- **Rules**: What are the restrictions on how the game is played?
- **Resources**: What assets are available in the game?
- **Conflict**: How do the objectives, procedures, rules, and resources constrain each other?
- **Boundaries**: Where is the game played?
- **Outcome**: How is the game resolved?