Hidetaka "Swery" Suehiro (AccessGames Inc)
Deadly Premonition
Wildly off beast storytelling.
Deadly Premonition, absurdly weird game:
Deadly Points
1. Make games think about your game when not playing it.
- eg. York smokes in the game, players smoke in front of the TV. Gamers who smoke say it makes the player wants to smoke more too. Cause and effect.
- Eating, sleeping and shaving in the game reminds player outside of the game. Reminders in life go into a special part of your brain that remembers and links to the game.
- Daily needs and physological desires are added with playful elements, such as 'fortune telling coffee' and 'conversations about old movies'. These are fun and help make players remember the game.
- These little moments linger in your mind, so it helps with the lingering effect after oyu finish the game.
2. Being forced to play through a tightly bound storyline is a chore.
- how to make gamers actively WANT to play thorugh a meticulously scripted story?
- Pre existing methods exist to create a sense of freedom.
- multiple endings (players intend expressed with story branches)
- side quests (players intent expressed with 'side trips'
- Deadly promotion used a 3rd method
- Freedom of timing - Allow for a 'change of heart'. This was experimental. It created illusion of freedom. Standard quest flow has a start, a challenge and then a judgement. The DP's quest flow was a bit different. it had a start, then the challenge, but then you had the option to have a change of heart and veer off to free play. If you follow storyline, get judgement and fail, a hint structure will allow you to have a change of heard, then go into freeplay.
- this allowed players to feel better about taking a break from the game, made them more comfortable and then willing to cooperate with the story. This mitigates the sense of being forced to do something against your will. When you do go into freeplay, the character will agree with you. In some other games, the character will be saying 'oh the mission has been compromised!" or question your choice.
- speed is not important. Timing is what is important. Timing. Story then follows up and confirms this, then the player's desire is fullfilled.
- Earn the players cooperation wit the story and suspension of disbelief.
- allow for a retry at any time, support the player's actions 100%, then modify story to allow for it too.
- not being forced feels like you have freedom, allow and approve player's actions, and player feels empowered due to the decisions of simply being allowed. This relaxes the players mind to ease into the story and get them immersed into the world you created, and suspend their disbelief. Once this is done, player is more likely to cooperate with the story you want them to follow.
3. Obscure and vague characters, universe and environments won't find a home in anyone's heart.
- Create a storyline for a free raoming open world game
- single path storyline usually follows a synopsis, plot, character list, script. DP's storyline will follow:
Synopsis, then map, detailed map.
Or Synopsis, character details, character 24 hour action gable.
Then follows through to plot and script.
- the environment, universe nad characters are just as important as the storyline for a free roaming open world game.
4. Any game that prioritizes getting player to finish the game over getting the player to want to learn more of the story is already dead.
- prevent players from quititing game at the result screen
- Normally game storylines do this - challenge, hint, clear, reward, result, then desire to quit/ finish.
- For DP, they did this - challenge, hint, clear, then reward or next challenge, then result. Then desire to continue, going back to hint. They intentionally divulge bits of the next challenge before the result screen and generates the desire to find out what happens next.
5. If you can't remember any of the names of the characters, then you have a crappy game.
Tips for making appealing characters:
- memo everything about the character and generate a resume. (mind map). Spend a lot of time making deep characters.
Showing posts with label GDC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GDC. Show all posts
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
GDC11 - Panel: 120 Connected Users And Counting
- Of broadband consumers, over 20% already connecting their device to computer. Of type, gaming is 4th.
- by 2014 expect over 120 million connected tv units sold.
- Is this de-ja vu? It seems that every 20 years or so creators think interactive TV is going to work, and every time consumers think not.
1. Lance Koenders - Intel Digital Home Group
- Dept. coined the term 'smart tv' - category of products like smartphone, etc. It means unlimited access to content (eg browser, flash, html5), it has open app platform, has an immersive experience).
- TV market is in 3-400 mill units range, so 120 mill is not that big yet.
- seeing this transition happen quickly. Happening for much same reasons that it did for smartphone.
- platform must be open for people to participate. Beginnings of open OS are starting to appear. eg. Google TV was the first. Boxee, Meego, Win 7 embedded are starting to pop up.
- starting to have GPUs that rival Wii, and good performance to do Wii calibre shading.
- Intel has big investment in this tech. Fundamentally about driving PERFORMANCE.
- starting to talk in the playstation3 range on TVs in the not too distant future.
2. Gabriel, founder of Transgaming.
- Transgaming started as an end-user operated platform.
- One of the companies driving mac gaming today. Have also worked with Intel.
- cross platform is hard for developers. Even if you know what you're doing.
- created technology that takes existing windows based game technology, wrap it in their GameTree portability that allows PC based DirectC content to be easily run on TV.
- ANGLE provides OpenGL ES 2.0 on Windows. GameTreeTV allows GL passthrough to HW.
3. GameTree dude
- GameTreeTV - blend of digital distribution platform for Connected TV.
- Why not an app store? They look at the TV marketplace as a place for video on demand, on demand channels. GameTree allows on demand gaming platform.
- Categorizes and filters in the way that a cable channel like HBO On Demand does.
- has a rental or purchase model.
- GameTree TV has a developer Program.
- currently a developer competition with a prize of $50K
4. Legacy Interactive
- focused on random content. Mostly TV shows. First to take a drama (law and order) and turn it into a game.
- They 'gamify' tv properties.
- Release games on DS, PC, Mac etc.
Why processors on the TV Box and not the Cloud?
- Intel dude thinks there will be a place for both models.
- User experience shows users like to have a lot of personalization. When you take this flexibility (ownership pieces) away, desire goes away. If something is local, people know it persists.
- he is personally not convinced that streaming services will last long term. eg. not as accesible in rural markets.
- transgaming as something to get to more quickly.
Innovation?
- iphone changed the way people interact with content, will this happen with SmartTV?
- impressed at how many multi device games are appearing - used Scrabble as an exmaple. Play on your tablet, but the TV is a social device.
- "tablet is a personal device, TV is a social device" - how to make that work with dual device gaming.
- one thing they hope happens is to find a way to integrate live video streams into games (eg fantasy sports with live sports gaming).
Does an App Store work on a TV?
- No one truly knows if this will work or not. People are gravitating to TV in the expectation it will entertain them. Interactive like HBO, NETFLIX create a new experience with the same old premise - it's content that entertains.
- To do gaming in TV space, it's about presenting content, and present opportunity to jump in to that experience for 10 or 15 minutes as opposed to linear for 2 hours.
OS and Smart TV
- Wide range of different OS that are coming out. Fair diversity in cable operatives building on that also.
- Really try and isolate gaming app developers to bring a consistent user development environment.
ARE NETWORKS EMBRACING THIS TECHNOLOGY
- reality is that TV studios are making $$$ from broadcast of their shows across channels. When you go to them with a related game, they don't really care or bother as it's small change.
- when it comes to talking to studios about making a TV property related game to connected tv, it's a hard conversation.
- Also legal license issues - games can be seen as different to 'interactive tv' in how it relates to a TV property.
- don't want a TV game to compete with the viewers time with their tv channel.
- now, there's more discussion now than there used to be (even pre-CES 2011!)
GDC11 - Keynote Address: Satoru Iwata, President, Nintendo Corp.
Video Games Turn 25: A Historical Perspective and Vision for the Future"
About the speech:
For a quarter of a century, the engine of video games has been "must have"—the viral communication of what a gamer simply can't do without. Sometimes it's hardware, sometimes software, sometimes an accessory, but "must have" always describes an experience that can't be missed—the next big thing.
Along the way, innovation has continuously reinvented the game experience in terms of graphics, player control and pure game design. But in the process, part of the magic of those early days of game creation has been lost.
As a leading player during all 25 years of the modern video gaming era, Nintendo has a unique perspective on what makes gamers grin, what defines the term "gamer" and what is essential to ensuring industry growth.
Comments from bloggers:
CVG: Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has criticised 'quantity-obsessed' social and mobile creators, questioning whether developers in this model will be able to make a living in the future.
Speaking during his GDC keynote speech, Iwata argued that the video game business is splintering into two sides; one focused on quality, the other quantity.
About the speech:
For a quarter of a century, the engine of video games has been "must have"—the viral communication of what a gamer simply can't do without. Sometimes it's hardware, sometimes software, sometimes an accessory, but "must have" always describes an experience that can't be missed—the next big thing.
Along the way, innovation has continuously reinvented the game experience in terms of graphics, player control and pure game design. But in the process, part of the magic of those early days of game creation has been lost.
As a leading player during all 25 years of the modern video gaming era, Nintendo has a unique perspective on what makes gamers grin, what defines the term "gamer" and what is essential to ensuring industry growth.
Comments from bloggers:
CVG: Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has criticised 'quantity-obsessed' social and mobile creators, questioning whether developers in this model will be able to make a living in the future.
Speaking during his GDC keynote speech, Iwata argued that the video game business is splintering into two sides; one focused on quality, the other quantity.
One of the most important lessons of Iwata's career came early on, he said, when he expected his technically superior games to sell better than those of Mario and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto.
“Mr. Miyamoto taught me a painful lesson: Content really is king,” Iwata said. “His games outsold mine by a huge margin. I found out then that engineering is not quite as important as imagination. To be honest, I was ashamed.”
Over the years, Iwata says he's learned “must have” universally appealing games tend to be the ones that challenge existing notions of what a game is and how it should play. The most successful games exploit the power of social connections and target audiences that don't traditionally play games, as well, he said.
Wired (blog):
At Nintendo’s keynote presentation Wednesday morning at Game Developers Conference, the company said the streaming movie service would be available on its new handheld game system by late summer. But perhaps more pertinent to the gamers in attendance was news that the team behind the stellar Super Mario Galaxy is creating a new game in the series for the glasses-free 3-D handheld.
The keynote, presented by Nintendo President Satoru Iwata with a brief appearance from Nintendo of America chief Reggie Fils-Aime, was otherwise light on substance. Iwata discussed his views on what makes a gaming experience a “must-have” phenomenon, and Fils-Aime said that 10,000 AT&T Wi-Fi hot spots in the United States would let 3DS owners log in and play games for free starting in late May.
“Mr. Miyamoto taught me a painful lesson: Content really is king,” Iwata said. “His games outsold mine by a huge margin. I found out then that engineering is not quite as important as imagination. To be honest, I was ashamed.”
Over the years, Iwata says he's learned “must have” universally appealing games tend to be the ones that challenge existing notions of what a game is and how it should play. The most successful games exploit the power of social connections and target audiences that don't traditionally play games, as well, he said.
Wired (blog):
At Nintendo’s keynote presentation Wednesday morning at Game Developers Conference, the company said the streaming movie service would be available on its new handheld game system by late summer. But perhaps more pertinent to the gamers in attendance was news that the team behind the stellar Super Mario Galaxy is creating a new game in the series for the glasses-free 3-D handheld.
The keynote, presented by Nintendo President Satoru Iwata with a brief appearance from Nintendo of America chief Reggie Fils-Aime, was otherwise light on substance. Iwata discussed his views on what makes a gaming experience a “must-have” phenomenon, and Fils-Aime said that 10,000 AT&T Wi-Fi hot spots in the United States would let 3DS owners log in and play games for free starting in late May.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
GDC 2010: Communication scaling – how to keep people talking to each other
View powerpoint presentation: http://www.gdcvault.com/free/category/
This talk was an overview of rapid team growth from a producer's perspective. Gave example of organizing bigger teams over various projects. Used Fear 2 project as the example project. Overnight, it went from a team of 22 to a team of about 60.
Having middle producers in a large team "can create a bad Chinese whispers-style communication line".
Core rule set for effective communication
· Know your subject
· Being efficient
Example of team; "Fear 2"
- identify features (audience ambience, weaponry etc)
- identify strike teams (and each strike team lead)
What did they learn?
This talk was an overview of rapid team growth from a producer's perspective. Gave example of organizing bigger teams over various projects. Used Fear 2 project as the example project. Overnight, it went from a team of 22 to a team of about 60.
Having middle producers in a large team "can create a bad Chinese whispers-style communication line".
Core rule set for effective communication
· Know your subject
o Don’t bullshit
o Facilitate the people who know the subject to communicate with each other
· Trusto No trust, no listening, break down in communication
o Build trust by being honest. Even the painful stuff.
o Be as transparent as possible. News filters very quickly – let people understand how you got from point A to point B.
o Treating everyone with respect.
o Follow up – make sure if you task someone to do something, that it’s followed up.
· Consistency o Getting communicators on the same page.
o Be consistent with communication and be on message.
o If there are disagreements make sure you come to consensus and then run with that.
o When there is huge dissent make sure you talk through it and come through to some sort of understanding.
o Inconsistency is one of the easiest ways to break trust.
· Up & Down communicationo You need people in the trenches moving forward at all times, so you need to make sure they are in the information loop.
o You need upper management in the loop so they don’t keep messing with you at the last minute.
- Forgetting to effectively communicate upwards is the #1 issue many producers screw up.-
- A friend described working with upper management as trying to "Avoid the Eye of Sauran" In other words this guy’s management group wasn’t effectively managing upwards.
· Core RulesAdapt – as a producer you are dealing with lots of different types of people. For example. People who don’t open emails – if you know he doesn’t have email open you need to find another way to adapt and communicate to the people you have.
o Get to the point as quickly as possible
o Summarize at the start when presenting or in meetings, move on to the meat later.
- This is important when managing down since you don’t want to waste the time of the doers in your team.
- Equally important is communicating upwards, as the amount of data grows hierarchically when moving up the ladder. Sumarize!
· Full team involvemento Make sure your team know why descisions are being made
o Include many people in the descision process where possible.
- Doesn’t mean giant meetings.
· Targets?o Identify core communicators in your team.
- These are the conduits for communication to flow up and down. Use this to your advantage. People who have trust with team.
o Communication must start and end with the people who are getting the work done. These are the ones you really need to ensure are being communicated with.
· Classifying Communicationo Active vs passive (push) communication.
- Active is when the user is pulling data and getting data for themselves.
- Push is when data is getting sent to you (eg. IM, email). Push becomes noise super fast (eg.email)
· Types of Communicationo Face to face
o Larger meetings
- Ensure they are goal oriented
- Send out agenda first
- Keep them short. Anything over an hour is painful!
- http://tobytripp.github.com/meeting-ticker/
- Must ensure there is FOLLOW UP
o IM
- All external IM clients are not secure.
- This speaker uses ‘spark’ – internal IM client.
o Prioritized hit lists
- This project created a bunch of strike teams – figure out what you need to do for that day or week and will post it to the wiki. So everyone at a glance can see what everyone across the department is working on.
o Game play throughs
- Goal oriented
- Send out agenda first
· What are we playing?
· What are we evaluating?
· What type of feedback is required?
· keep them as short as possible.
· Documentation o Everything they do is on their Wiki. Great way to communicate to those outside the strike teams.
o They use ‘CONFLUENCE’ which works well with JIRA
- Forums
- Push notification
- Can embed and edit excel and word documents.
· Status updates (weekly)o It can be really long, but keep simple and break it down. Mostly combine all related updates from teams.
* Executive summary
· Key personnel
· Key dates
· Upcoming dates
* Updates
· Main things changed from past week
* Issues and risks
* Key Dates
· Milestones etc.
* Discipline updates
· Updates divided by physical groups
* Strike team updates
* Fully fleshed out risk list
· Go into much further depth for risks
* Deliverables
Example of team; "Fear 2"
- identify features (audience ambience, weaponry etc)
- identify strike teams (and each strike team lead)
o strike teams take full ownership of feature
o smaller more manageable teams
o decisions were not bottle necked with a few key individuals
o not everyone created equal – there was an approval process.
- Main push o 4 level strike teams
o floating content strike team to supported other teams. Acted as consultants.
o Also acted as ‘contractors’.
o A good mix of junior and senior folks. Had to be self sufficient and self motivated. One person who knows the technology and also understand how the team works.
o Approvals process
* Play throughs of level at predetermined intervals or when the team asked him.
* One on ones with principal designers if issues popped up
* Each week a level was singled out for the team to play.
· There is no stronger motivation than peer disappointment! (peer accountability)
· Empower people to push their peers into a better place
· Anything that could be broken down into functional group we broke it down
o Weapons
o Characters
o UI
o Core Combat etc.
· Had owners called Strike Team leads
o Had a face to face each morning with each other to triage bugs and issues across all of the strike teams.
o Figured out who was finished and what was needed.
· End Game
o Still level based
o Polish team
o Performance
o Memory certification
o End of game had DAILY PLAY THROUGHS from 4-5
What did they learn?
· Empowerment!
o Give people tools and support they need to make cool shit.
o Identify core individuals as shit filters and course correctors.
· Identify and rely on key individuals
o Trusted by rest of team
o Small leadership roles
o “Pony express”
· Trenches-style camaraderie and ownership = high moral on a project that could have been painful.
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