Solving the Design Puzzle From Management to Execution

1. Solving the Design PuzzleFrom Management to Execution AlexandreMandryka gamewhispering.com

2. Who’s this guy? Born in Paris Trained in biology Worked for 5 years in France Moved to Canada in 2005 Studio level positions at Ubisoft and Relic

3. The Thesis We are playing a huge stakes game without mastering one of its core pillars

4. Design? Vision Creative direction • Each discipline executes on the vision • Design is just one of them ... • Different roles can be held by same people • But beware! Coding Art Design Features Features Features Design (different types) Game

6. Invention of Cinema Sons of a photographic plate maker Inventors and engineers Inspired by Thomas Edison Created a camera/projector “Le cinematographe” (1894) Louis and AugusteLumiere

7. Film continuity First celluloid film (1888) Gradually developing a vocabulary and a grammar Scope effect About 25 years to get there Reverse angle shots (1911)

8. Media evolution ? The essence of the video game medium is still being to be explored

9. How did Movies gained specificity? • Shared expertise with literature and theater • But also specific technical area • Lighting • Photography • Cinematography • Academic study • Only a mastered technique can be expressive

10. What is the path for games? • Shared expertise with literature cinema and digital arts • But also specific technical area • 3D • Engineering • Programming • Design • Academic study for most • Except design ...

12. “Every story has been told” Stanley Kubrick Joseph Campbell

13. Tristan and Isolde XIIth century  Lancelot and Guinevere

15. In games • No unnecessary risk Different consideration in stories

16. Four core game pleasure types Agon Confrontation Be the best Be in control Seek challenge Victory Alea Accept fate Relinquish control Embrace chance Passivity Hope Roger Caillois Ilinx Destroy the stability of perception Vertigo On the brink of loosing control Explore your limits Mimicry Imagination Play a role Explore a consistent invention Make believe All of these require action

17. Movies-Games comparison Movies Video games Technical birth Ultra quick growth Limited academic support Singular medium Interactivity is the vector • Technical birth • Slow maturation • Allowed theorization • Close from literature • Empathy is the vector EnPathos In Feeling Passive medium Active medium

18. Motivation Career Progression Creative Management Managing Designers

19. My understanding of management Intrinsic needs • Evaluate • Train • Motivate • Assign tasks • Teamwork Creative work • Need to feel safe to take risks Competency About skills Autonomy Purpose (Works for games too)

20. Competency What are the skills of a designer? • No shared understanding • No one gets it • Not your family • Not your boss • Not yourself, at least not me

21. What academia offers

23. You enjoy driving cars? Become a mechanical engineer and do what you love!

24. Design skills – Game Design • System design: AI, economy, game rules • Logic, mathematics, probabilities • Interaction design: Controls, interfaces, feedback • Ergonomics, biomechanics, cybernetics • Motivation design: Learning, reward, difficulty • Psychology, learning theory, motivation theory

25. Design skills – Level Design • Gameplay implementation: Challenge creation, obstacles meet abilities • Analysis of game’s core challenge • Environment creation: Building spaces to naturally draw the player through • 3D engines and tools, architecture, landscaping • Theatrics: Environmental storytelling, mood setting • Staging, cinematography techniques

26. Design skills – Narrative Design • Writing: Dialogue/screenplay, prose • Literature, creative writing • Narrative Interface Design: Designing methods to convey story to the player • Media studies, media psychology, communication • Player-Centric Plotting: Engaging the player as protagonist - Don’t tell, don’t show, let me play it! • Psychology? Literature theory? + Method Acting

27. How to select schools Be wary of making full games • Focus on theoretical training Vision Coding Art Design • Media and their users • Communication, design and aesthetic • Interfaces and scriptwriting • Architecture and urbanism • ... design Game Not design Production focus or implementation Pr. Moriarty and his Perlenspiel

28. Academic background in games • Free to play monetisation – Analysts & Economists • Establishing a better metric that “Fun” Amy Jo Kim behavioral neuroscience Ph.D. Dr EyjolfurGudmundsson Lead Economist at CCP Ph.D. combinatorial mathematics

29. Autonomy Creativity • Being creative? NOT • Artists • Programmers • Designers • Managers Creativity is aimed downwards Find the most adapted solution to problems

30. Tale of a micromanaging structure • “Why do you like him as a lead designer?” • “Because he’s fast” • “But would you want your lead programmer to be fast?” • “Hmmmmm …” • Design was considered as implementation only Lead Game Designer 

31. Creative Process • Needed for each discipline • Different steps require different skills and level of experience • You want expertise at each level • Respect each level as a black box • Autonomy black box Intention Functionalrequirement Function Function Function Analysis Solution Implementation Feature

32. Purpose A mix of things • Required for Creativity • Self-esteem • Respect of others • Respect from other • Establish the design specialties • Establish the related skills • Responsibilities / Black box • Ensure proper processes and collaboration Malsow’s hierarchy of needs

33. Last word on creative management • “Think out of the box” • So go watch: David Rock

34. Eradicate the Fun Understanding Design

35. The ‘fun’ • This is design’s metric • It’s totally broken • It doesn’t fly with other disciplines • We’re confused between the fun of playing and the fun of creating games • It is vague, inefficient and so risky to use!

36. Designing with the ‘coolness’ principle Cool Cool Cool Idea Idea Idea Idea Cool Cool Cool We have it! Idea Idea

37. LOL Swell Cool Backlog Fun LOL LOL LOL U MAD BRO?

38. Make the game more exciting for fans Functionalrequirement More goals More speed Maintain skill

39. Game VS Toy Rules, what you can, or can’t do Winning/Loosing conditions Nothing is forbidden Everything is allowed • Investigate the relationship between rules and player strategies

40. Rules VS Player strategies

41. No Rules  Dominant strategies Knock out punch Ground pound Submission

42. Limit player efficiency to allow different styles to be viable The intention: Boxing is “the noble art”

43. 2 kinds of rules Direct rules – How to win (Optimal strategy) Indirect rules – Limit unwanted dominant strategies Touchdown: When any part of the ball, legally in possession of a player inbounds, breaks the plane of the opponent’s goal line, provided it is not a touchback. Rested XP Upkeep system

44. What if there’s no offside? What is the effect on optimal strategy?

45. Offside Because we want midfield play to be relevant

46. What is the effect of Offside? • Makes Hockey a contact sport

47. Intended experience Precision The most regular wins Controlled risk Sum of 4 runs

48. Intended experience Fearless The most outrageous wins Best of 2 runs

50. Halo’s 30 seconds of fun accuracy good Engagement Enemy killed average Out of ammo Player Choice Reload Melee Grenade