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WEEK TWO (Part 1)

Researching and gathering data on the game using a Data-Driven Approach

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The game that we wish to study will be called prime comp short for prime comparison. The team needs to know their prime comp inside out and must research on it as much as they can before they enter production to be able to determine what makes it successful.

 

Here is a step by step process to play the game like a Game Designer:

 

  1. Choose two people on your team to analyse the game (I am going to call this the prime comp) you wish to research with one of them preferably being someone who hasn’t played it before. Let’s call them person A and person B where person B is completely new to this prime comp.

  2. If both A and B have played the prime comp before, this method will still work but you might not be able to gather data on first impressions of the prime comp. We can still work with this.

  3. Person B is responsible for playing the prime comp and narrating what they see, how they feel,  what do they like, what do they not like, when they encounter game over, when they win a level within the game, what are they confused about, what are they frustrated about etc. This list is in no way exhaustive. Every game will have it’s own new little addition to the list. Person B has to speak their thoughts out loud and express what they feel as much as they can while playing the prime comp.

  4. Person A is responsible for recording this. Now there are ways to go about recording this:

  • You can have a stopwatch and lap it every time an event occurs that you wish to record. Example: You want to time how often a player dies within a level.

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Died 4 times within 6.29 seconds. You can come to the conclusion that dying so often can be frustrating for the player and the game is way too challenging.

  • You can record their voice. This is really helpful when there is a lot of data to gather along with timing information. Once recorded, you can play the recording multiple times to write down your analysis. This way, you can stop worrying about missing something when you take notes.

This is an example of information received from a voice recording. Helps you keep track of which event occurred when. The above gathered data tells you that the main gameplay begins after 12 seconds of opening the application. It also gives you information about which obstacle arrives when and the time intervals between them. Make sure to start recording exactly when they start playing the game to avoid heavy calculations.

  • The final approach is to do a video recording of player B. This one has plenty of advantages as you can keep track of timing information, player B’s narration and also capture their emotions.

  • The final approach is to do a video recording of player B. This one has plenty of advantages as you can keep track of timing information, player B’s narration and also capture their emotions.

You’re encouraged to use any of the three approaches depending on the type of data you wish to collect. Sometimes, taking notes based on your observations alongside these approaches can also prove to be beneficial. You just need to identify which approach works best for you and roll with it.

 

For example, in my case, I also kept track of emotions, interest curve and level of difficulty for the game.

Emotions: How they felt during the mentioned events. What is the sequence of emotions the game is trying to elicit from the player?

Difficulty: What bits of the game were challenging. I can draw a graph based on this information and see if it leads to a curve. This can then be used in the process of curve fitting to identify a healthy distribution of difficulty over time.

Interest Curve: Player’s interest in a game over time. Gives a good sense of distribution of tense and release for the game.

5. If a team of two is not possible, you can record yourself playing the prime comp. This might be a little hard to balance as you cannot take immediate notes but have to recollect your entire experience when you start documenting it. This might be hard to do and takes experience and practice to master.

While two members of the team focus on collecting the above data, other members can start analysing the prime comp. ​
 

Team members should identify the following and document it(Example: Super Sonic Surge 2 Cube Runner):

  1. Genre:

Identify the mechanics of the genre.

Example: Cube Runner

  • Endless running forwards (z-axis)

    • Cube runners especially tend to emphasize extreme speed

  • Simple left/right movement

    • With a flight-like physics on the player

  • Obstacles, static and animated

    • Impact = death

  • Milestones: levels, sectors, etc.

  • High score in distance and/or points, player best

  • Usually floating/flying objects

    • That motion feels “right”, satisfying

   2. Basic game/fun:

 

Identify the fun factor of the game.

Example: Cube Runner

What makes this game such a good endless “cube” runner.

  • Perceived high speed, large space between obstacles

    • Flying “speed” lines

  • Perceived massive scale of objects

    • Atmospheric perspective

    • Slow and dramatic animations (see: end of sector… 2?)

  • Flying feels “right”

    • Drag and drift

    • Smooth controls, not clunky or jarring

  • Nice variation of content/obstacles

    • Introduction of different series of objects/terrains

      • Maze

      • Corridor

      • Sets of small towers

      • Random cones/triangles

    • Different animations

      • Mostly falling

  • Satisfaction upon sector completion

   3. +1’s:

+1’s or additional mechanics existing in the prime comp that make it more successful than other similar games from the same genre.

Example: Cube Runner

  • New sectors introduce new obstacles/art styles

    • Moving/rotating obstacles

  • Power-ups:

    • Boost

      • You go faster, but makes it harder to dodge obstacles

    • Invincibility

      • Gives you a moment of peace, but also takes you out of the flow of the game if you let your guard down

    • Magnet

      • Collecting bonus coins

  • Shooting

    • Automatic within centered crosshairs

    • Moving “mission” enemies to chase down

  • Trails to follow

    • Best run

    • Last run

  • Portals

    • These portals launch you across the field at a rapid rate and make it so you get through the first sector a lot quicker.

   4. What does the prime comp lack?

According to you, what addition to the existing comp can make it more fun to play or evoke the emotion you’re going for?

Example: Cube Runner

  • Not much to do along the y-axis.

  • Instantaneous death. Maybe use a health bar that regenerates or vehicle slows down after bumping.

  • No change in SFX when collecting the orbs. Race the Sun does a pretty good job. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxRdM4-mmEw 0:55)

  • More Noticeable near misses.

  • Orbs too small to collect?

  • Lack of audio feedback when speeding up.

  • Powers collected along the way cannot be stored for later use. Might have to consider UI interaction if abilities need to be activated whenever desired.

  • Flying ability with smooth take off and landing?

   6. VFX/SFX Analysis:

Does VFX play a vital role in the game? What sort of SFX and soundtrack does the game have and what does it convey?

In Sonic Surge 2 there is simple VFX but the VFX are a crucial part of crashing and also collectables. When you encounter a Portal you get speed lines and camera shake as well as particles that help with the immersion of the game.  

Some VFX examples include the collectables, some of them when you collect them contain alphas that are animated to create simple VFX work to JUICE up the game.

 

SHIP/ PLAYER

  • The VFX of the ship include the throbbing of the exhaust, and the particle of the throttle and also the trail effect of the ship.

 

Death of Player

  • Fire effect / Explosion

   7. Downloads from reflection.io or similar sites:

Identify its popularity and revenue around the world.

This is not an exhaustive list and the content of the document may vary depending on what type of game your prime comp is.

<< WEEK ONE

WEEK TWO (PART 2) >>

MORE PROJECTS.

   5. Target audience and emotions:  

Who are you making this game for? What kind of emotions are you trying to elicit?

  • Anger and frustration is a key emotion.

    • Almost reaching a milestone- either sectors or personal best

  • Urgency/stress

  • Meditative / “Flow”

    • Pulls you in, less conscious thoughts, more instinct

    • Games as meditation

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