Gameplay: the first and last 10%

1. Gameplay: the first and last 10% Paul Taylor 2010

2. The First 10% Game Tutorials Based on: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6160/tutorials_learning_to_play.php

3. Why do they suck? http://freeverse.com/assets/games/9002/screenshots/448/game_tutorial.png

4. To teach a player well, we need to know:How the players learn.....

5. Visual Learners • People who learn through seeing stuff(NOT READING) http://www.dlsweb.rmit.edu.au/lsu/content/1_StudySkills/study_tuts/learning%20styles/graphics/visual.gif

6. http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:67k2o-2UEcsgRM:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v387/alien_1155/fuglicorn.png&t=1http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:67k2o-2UEcsgRM:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v387/alien_1155/fuglicorn.png&t=1 Teaching Visual Learners • Use colours to highlight important text, they will miss a LOT of the text displayed • Icons work far better than names • Allow them to go over instructions at their own pace. • Red Dead Redemption kept a log book that provided this http://www.bionicturtle.com/images/uploads/WindowsLiveWriterWhywebelieveinvisuallearning_8806brainTalking37.png

7. http://www.chemistryland.com/CHM130W/02-MMM/Math/lecture.gif Aural Learners • This is how University typically teaches • Blah BlahBlahBlah

8. Teaching Aural Learners • Just give them heaps of text and speech. • The only thing to avoid is forcing them through parts they’d rather skip http://needle-exchange.ca/images/boring_lecture.jpg

9. http://www.visual-learners.com/image-files/models.gif Aural vs Visual Learners

10. Kinetic Learners • Learn by Moving • Not to be confused with • Learn by doing

12. http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/natural-selection.jpg

13. So we know how people like to learn, but how do they acquire their knowledge?Knowledge acquisition styles are complimentary to learning styles

14. Explorative Acquisition • People who do stuff ‘just to see what happens’ • Risk Takers • They WILL push the red button

15. Modelling Acquisition • People who don’t just jump into things • They want to know what the red button will do, BEFORE they will push it. • Ideally they’d like to see someone perform the required action, before they do. • Players may like to repeat an action until they are satisfied that they understand it properly.

16. http://www.gamasutra.com/db_area/images/feature/6160/image001.jpghttp://www.gamasutra.com/db_area/images/feature/6160/image001.jpg A Tutorial for Explorative Learners:

17. http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/games/beargunner Example Time

18. http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/games/run Absent of Tutorials:

19. The Tutorial is more fun than the game:

20. A pretty, yet still explorative tutorial:

21. Can you figure out how the game works just from this:

22. What about the Interface? • It’s supposed to be transparent to the player • This infers they must understand it well

23. Explorative vs Modelling • A tutorial for Exp. players will be too quick and uncertain for Mod. players. • A tutorial for Mod. players will be very dull to an Exp. player. • How can you combine these together?

24. Combining Modelling and Explorative approaches: • We must allow player repetition, without forcing it • We must allow explorers to skip through everything, perhaps even the whole tutorial

25. http://ggeek.net/en/video-game/uncharted-2-among-thieves-2009/http://ggeek.net/en/video-game/uncharted-2-among-thieves-2009/

26. Uncharted as an Example • Uncharted does a good job at appeasing both the exp and the mod players • Naughty Dog uses a combination of time and increasingly obvious hints • In addition the ‘Notebook’ is always available to cheat assist in tasks.

27. http://ggeek.net/en/video-game/uncharted-2-among-thieves-2009/http://ggeek.net/en/video-game/uncharted-2-among-thieves-2009/

28. Easy Joe Graphically soooo basic, yet really pretty! • http://www.gameshot.org/?id=4996

29. http://www.moneyisjustanidea.com/wp-content/themes/tma/images/latest/motivation2.jpghttp://www.moneyisjustanidea.com/wp-content/themes/tma/images/latest/motivation2.jpg The Last 10% Continued Player Motivation and Engagement Based on: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/30884/GDC_Online_Player_Retention_Requires_Real_Motivation_Engagement.php

30. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ItpRFly7FFs/TAz9QV0x_HI/AAAAAAAAAv8/7egMokjx3eo/s1600/motivation2.jpghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ItpRFly7FFs/TAz9QV0x_HI/AAAAAAAAAv8/7egMokjx3eo/s1600/motivation2.jpg

31. Mastery • Most commonly represented as ‘levelling up’ • A players long term satisfaction is tied with meaningful growth. • Levelling up only provides this if the player gains something meaningful when they level.

32. Autonomy • Making the player feel in control... • This can be as simple as giving them multiple tasks to choose from (such as sim city) • Or more complicated, such as making their crops die if they don’t tend to these.

33. Relatedness / Interdependence • Making Players feel like they are contributing in a meaningful way. • It could be as simple as giving different players different roles. TF2, America’s Army • It could be as complex as WoW, allowing each player to feel unique.

34. Rewards aren’t Rewarding! • Over-rewarding can shift the focus from playing the game, to getting the reward • Much like a friendship forged on throwing money at each other, it will become empty if the money ever stops (or even stops increasing)

35. http://bp2.blogger.com/_BInidS3BYa8/SG_xPJmxQKI/AAAAAAAABBM/7q2gFoqiRiE/s400/motivation,+duct+tape.jpghttp://bp2.blogger.com/_BInidS3BYa8/SG_xPJmxQKI/AAAAAAAABBM/7q2gFoqiRiE/s400/motivation,+duct+tape.jpg

36. References • http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6160/tutorials_learning_to_play.php • http://www.dlsweb.rmit.edu.au/lsu/content/1_StudySkills/study_tuts/learning%20styles/visual.html