Game Procedures Who does what, where, when, and how?

Types of Game Procedures Starting Action: How to put the game into play. Progression of Action: Ongoing procedures after starting the game. Special Actions: Conditional to other elements or game state. Resolving Actions: Bring gameplay to a close.

Examples of Game Procedures Connect Four 1.Choose a player to go first. 2.Each player in his turn drops one of his color checkers down any of the slots in the top of the grid. 3.The play alternates until one of the players gets four checkers of his color in a row.

Examples of Game Procedures Connect Four 1.Choose a player to go first. – Starting Action 2.Each player in his turn drops one of his color checkers down any of the slots in the top of the grid. – Progression of Action 3.The play alternates until one of the players gets four checkers of his color in a row. – Resolving Action

Examples of Game Procedures Super Mario Brothers 1.Select Button: Use this button to select the type of game you wish to play. 2.Start Button: Press this button to start the game. 3.Left Arrow: Walk to the left. 4.Right Arrow: Walk to the right.

Examples of Game Procedures Super Mario Brothers 1.Select Button: Use this button to select the type of game you wish to play. – Starting Action 2.Start Button: Press this button to start the game. – Starting Action 3.Left Arrow: Walk to the left. – Progression of Action 4.Right Arrow: Walk to the right. Progression of Action 5.NO Resolving Action – The resolution is adjudicated by the system, not the players.

System Procedures Digital games can have more complex game procedures than non-digital. Digital game procedures often work behind the scene, responding to situations and player actions. In RPG games, character and weapon attributes are used as part of a system of calculation determining when a player wins or how much damage is caused. In board games, system procedures need to be calculated by the players who may use dice (as an example) to generate random numbers. In digital games, these procedures are calculated by the program.

System Procedures Because digital game procedures are calculated by the program: – They can involve more sophisticated system procedures. – Process procedures more quickly. Digital game procedures are not necessarily more complex than non-digital game procedures. The procedures of Chess are very detailed and complex.

Defining Your Procedures It is important to keep in mind the limitations of the environment in which your game will be played when defining your game procedures. Non-digital games – Make sure the procedures are easy to remember and follow. Digital games – Consider what type of input/output devices will be used. Will players have a keyboard and mouse?

Game Procedures Procedures in digital games are, by nature, affected by the physical constraints of the program. Procedures in non-digital games are affected by the mental limitations of the players and the limitations of using objects like dice. As a game designer, you need to be sensitive to procedural limitations and find creative solutions: Procedures should be intuitive to access and easy to remember.

Game Rules Rules define game objects and define allowable actions by the players

Game Rules Consider these questions: – How do players learn the rules? – How are the rules enforced? – What kinds of rules work best in certain situations? – Are there patterns to rule sets? What can we learn from these patterns?

Game Rules Rules are generally laid out in the rules document of board and card games. The players must remember and adjudicate the rules. Rules in digital games may be explained in the manual, or they may be designed into the program. The program adjudicates the rules and prevents breaking the rules.

Game Rules Rules may close loopholes in a game’s system. Consider the game of Monopoly: – “Do not pass go, do not collect $200”. This rule is applied when a player is sent to jail from any spot on the board. – The rule is important because a player could make the argument that moving past “Go” entitles him to collect $200, turning a punishment into a reward.

Game Rules Too many rules may make your game unplayable. Too few rules may make your game so simple as to be unchallenging. Poorly communicated rules may confuse or alienate players. Even in digital games, where the rules are kept by the program, players need to clearly understand the rules so they do not feel cheated.

Examples of Game Rules Poker: A straight is five consecutively ranked cards; a straight flush is five consecutively ranked cards of the same suit. Chess: A player cannot move her king into check. Go: A player cannot make a move that recreates a previous situation on the board. WarCraft II: In order to create knight units, a player must have upgraded to keep and build a stable. You Don’t Know Jack: If a player answers a question incorrectly, the other players get a chance to answer.

Rules Define Objects & Concepts Games do not inherit objects from the real world; rather, they create their own objects and concepts, usually as part of the rule set. Even if the objects or concepts are familiar, they still need to be defined by the rules. Consider the Poker rule regarding the concept of a “Straight” or a Straight Flush”: – There is no “Straight” outside the realm of poker. – When you learn the rules of poker, one of the key concepts is to learn the make-up and values of certain hands.

Poker Hands A STRAIGHT refers to five cards in numerical order (3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 7, 8, 9, 10, J, for example), with the cards belonging to various suits.

Poker Hands FOUR OF A KIND refers to four cards of matching numerical value and one extra card

Poker Hands A STRAIGHT FLUSH is a straight with all cards belonging to the same suit

Poker Hands A ROYAL FLUSH contains the 10, jack, queen, king and ace of a single suit

Royal Flush Straight Flush Four of a Kind Full House Flush Straight Three of a Kind Two Pair Pair High Card LOW HAND HIGH HAND

Chess uses objects that relate to the real world, but chess simply uses the notion of King, Queen, etc. to give context to the behavior and value of the pieces. – King – Queen – Rook – Bishop – Knight – Pawn

The game pieces of Monopoly do not have separate values or inherit unique powers. The rule concerning these pieces is that they represent a single player and locate the player’s position on the game board. Players often argue over who gets what piece, but in terms of gameplay rules, it doesn’t make any difference. That’s the rule as spelled out in Monopoly.

Game Rules

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