Attempting to define our

2. Attempting to define our

3. + [VIRTUAL] The term has been defined in philosophy as "that which is not real" but may display the salient qualities of the real [WORLD] an orderly system subject to certain laws. A realm considered as a complete environment.

4. An idealvirtual world would need to cover multiple types of actions/interactions, for us to experience it as a “fully simulated environment” – Let’s see what this could mean:

5. CHOOSE, PICK AND/or COMBINE!

6. A short and sweet of Virtual Words…

7. RTFM! Pliny the Elder, with the NaturalisHistoria(77-79 CE) basically wrote the manual by layering our knowledge of the worldStage set: shape of the world, scientific laws Actors: Anthropology and zoology; Performance: Botany, Mining, etc With its own languages, flora, detailed geography, distinct cultures and self referencing Lore and Legends, J.RR Tolkien’s Middle Earth (1949) laid the foundations for modern “Fantasy” Virtual Worlds.

8. The grand daddy, 1962 Morton Heilig’sSENSORAMA provided stereoscopic 3D images in a wide-angle view, body tilting, and stereo sound, and also had tracks for wind and aromas that triggered during the film.

9. The next significant attempt at immersing players in a virtual environment on a computer came with the Multi Users Dungeons (MUDs). First, through purely textual descriptions, followed quickly by the use of back-up graphics, often in ASCII.

10. As computer systems grew more powerful, games became more complex every year. The rise in the number of people connected online boosted the popularity of Virtual Worlds, allowing multitudes of users to share the same graphic environment, such as in Habitat (1986), WorldsAway (1995), Meridian 59 (1996), Ultima Online (1997), or Lineage (1998)

11. Virtual Worlds are now a main actor in some booming sections of the industry: MMORPGs, Sandbox games, Social games…

12. Turn-key solutions(such as a Flash friendlysocket server, as providedby Electrotank) allow people toeasily create browser based Virtual Worlds that are compatible with socialnetworks for a minimalbusiness risk.

13. Brands see Virtual Worlds as a way to talk to consumers where they are active, and create a consumer-and-brand communion

14. In September 2009, Zynga announced that it served over 129 million users monthly. Having reported only 30 million active users monthly in April of 2009, the company remarkably gained nearly 100 million new monthly active users within a mere six months. Population of Canada: 33,311,389 (http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=wb-wdi&met=sp_pop_totl&idim=country:CAN&dl=en&hl=en&q=population+of+canada) US number of Farms: 2,200,000(http://www.ers.usda.gov/StateFacts/US.htm) Population of Farmville: 50,000,000+ Farmville number of Farms: 40,000,000+ VS Farmville Wins!

17. ( may contain elements of Game Design )

18. Give consistency and character to your world • Design a style and a palette for each zone of your world (shape and color coding) • Color coding will allow you to easily and seamlessly use and re-use assets!

19. Nature hates Emptiness (and players too!) • Being aware of players’pathing, tend to overdesignyour areas so that yourenvironments look lush and complex. • Sprinkle your bland areas with little details that will catch the players’ eye and break the monotony. • Adopt the “one screenshotanywhere” rule!

20. This ain’t a clone army! • Diversity is Key!Give your players enough choicesandmeans to customize “their experience”.Even simple color variations of the same asset go a long way to make the whole experience “personal” • User Generated Content, or “how to let players design for you”!Supporting UGC is a great wayto involve emotionally the player with your world and provide a rich and rewarding experience.

21. Assets have a price: make sure the players see/use them! • Design quests around them • Focus on your Master-assets • Avoid single-use assets • Refocus players on them Help some very happy NPCs to finish their hut (crafting mini-game) Talk to the NPCnext to the hut Go inspect the hut, then report to NPC Kill mammoth, loot the bones “We need more bones to finish building the hut!” “Ah, Bones? Take a sample!”

22. ( The serious stuff )

23. Preserving World coherency while allowing players fast-access to your most remote locations • A virtual World is often by essence large, and this is exactly how you want your players to see it • In the meantime, you want to avoid unproductive time-sinks. • Think about relevant transportation that doesn’t break your world unity, and design ways to have your players “reveal” these “Fast Travel” shortcuts by themselves first.

24. CASE STUDY: NEW CLOTHES MAKE PeasANTS HAPPY! Build your game around simple concentric game loops Simple independent, yet connected game loops will help grow the addictive factor of your game.

25. Favor social play…. • Multiply occasions for the playersto Interact with their peers in-game • Build clear game mechanics thatfavor players exchange, collaboration or competition.-Always reward players for beingsocially active in your environment. …But don’t force it down players’ throats • Don’t rely exclusively on Social Play-Always plan for non-social alternatives

26. BUILD YOUR GAMEPLAY Around Microtransactions • Micro transactions are a quickly rising financial model for games and are in high demand from publishers-Plan your gameplay balance to allow for the introduction of additional items, world areas, etc.MTs should never be game breaking. • By multiplying opportunities forMTs, you will diversify your potential income: for example, plan for Downloadable content + vanity items + pets + “send a gift” to another player, etc…

27. ( The rising trends, the exciting part! )

28. BE “SOCIAL NETWORKS” FRIENDLY • There are great chances that your players are on a social network, and their friends too: • - Capitalize on your players’ networks to promote your game. • Design elements of gameplaythat will harness players’ networks: • For example, give players with a big friends list a “morale support buff”, allow people to share goods through the network or just pre-fill in game friends list from friends list sharing the same network. • Use Achievements to create the buzz on social networks (but let players be in control of what’s being posted). • Be imaginative in your use of networks, rely on User Generated content to create a sentiment of ownership for the players • Make the players the stars, discuss walkthroughs, strategies, feature users achievements on the game blog, etc

29. You can call me anytime! Smart phones open new doors to spread gameplayoutside of the virtual and anchor it in the “real”. -Use the smart phones’ constantconnectivity to keep your player informed of what’s going on in the virtual world. -Design two-way communication systems between “reality” and “virtuality”: -Allow text messaging to your virtual world (and vice-versa) -Create mobile applications and mini-games that impact positively players’ experience back in the virtual world.

30. EAGLE EYE The expansion in the number of GPS equipped phones is favoring the rise of Geo-caching games. These “position sensitive” games can naturally be coupled with virtual worlds to blend further the frontier between virtual and real. Geosocial Networking, as seen in “Foursquare”, or “Turf War”, or “Parallel Kingdom” is most likely to be the next gaming “gold rush”, especiallyif paired with Social Networks and nextgeneration game engines.

31. And all that’s yet to come… A lot of emerging technologies haven’t been tapped yet by gaming, but there’s no doubt it will happen. As world builders, artists and game designers, be curious, be crazy, imagine the wildest combinations of devices and gameplay, and you might get lucky and own the next Farmville, Second Life or Club Penguin.

32. As technology expands and connect us even more, the frontier between virtual worlds and our own reality will blend. From Virtual World designers, you will evolve into “World Experience designers”!

33. This presentation will be available shortly for Download at: http://www.luxgames.net/blog