Playing Was Not Enough

Video Game Hand Behavior and Activity

2010-12-27T13:56:00.000-08:00

I had an impulsive idea the other day: video record roughly 5 minutes of my hands using the PS3 controller when playing through four different PS3 games. I wanted to capture the activity/ inactivity of the hands as well as their behavior needed to operate each game.

The video begins after New Game is selected and the opening game options are finalized.

Some general rules I set out for myself:

• Play through each game as linearly as possible
• Do not skip cutscenes
• Do not press any dead buttons
• Do not press any buttons during an inactive part of the game

These rules allow the footage to be as clean as possible by showing the true hand behavior as well compare the periods of hand activity/ inactivity.

Some interesting thoughts after viewing the footage:

• Watching the hands operate the game via the controller is memorizing at times
• No matter how well we designers try to map mechanics to the controller, there is still that level of arbitrariness due to the physical disconnection of the controller and tv as well as the action on screen

I was going to quantify the actual times of hand activity/inactivity as well as the # of buttons pressed and used, but the video speaks for itself. You can see from the video some games go long periods of time before player control is initially allowed.

I chose four recent (2009-2010) AAA PS3 games for my little experiment. Can you identify which games they are by just looking at the hands operating the controller?

Uncharted 2
God of War 3
Batman Arkham Asylum
Heavy Rain

Conversation: What is a Game Designer?

2010-07-22T00:44:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was randomly thinking back to my time at GDC 2010. I'd see a lot of people with the "Game Designer" title on their badges. Every time I saw that it had me thinking, "OK, what exactly do you do?" I mean, I've been in the industry for a decent amount of time and it's still a guess as to what a "Game Designer" actually does from developer to developer. So imagine what an Outsider, someone not in the industry, thinks when you tell him you're a Game Designer.

Below is just me basically talking to myself. The conversation doesn't really have a structure to it and it kind of just ends. I just went with the flow.

Outsider: So what do you do for a living?

Game Designer: I’m a game designer.

Outsider: Oh, cool. You design board games?

Game Designer: No, video games.

Outsider: Ahh. So you program them?

Game Designer: No, not really.

Outsider: Oh! You must draw them then.

Game Designer: Uhh, not really. I kind of make rules. I mean there’s some “programming” involved but I don’t “code” you know?

Outsider: Oh.

Outsider: I don't think I can ever be a game designer. I suck at drawing.

Game Designer: You don't really need to know how to draw. Can you draw stick figures?

Outsider: Yeah.

Game Designer: If you can communicate your idea to someone using just stick figure drawings, then you have done part of your job as a game designer.

Outsider: Do you have to be good in math?

Game Designer: Did you take any kind of math in high school?

Outsider: Yeah.

Game Designer: Then that's a good start. Any other math you may need can be found on the internet.

Outsider: Oh.

Outsider: So you must play a lot of video games then.

Game Designer: I do sometimes. I mean, I used to. But now as I've been in the industry longer, I'm trying to become more balanced in how I spend my time: movies, books, travel, random road trips, driving schools, people watching. Anything to broaden my mind and my experience with the world. Sometimes I feel playing video games stunts my growth as a game designer. Does that make any sense?

Outsider: Kind of.

Game Designer: Does any of this interest you?

Outsider: Yes, very much so.

Outsider: Hmm, what about writing? Do you have to be a good writer?

Game Designer: Well...

Resident Evil 4: One-Page Analysis Exercise

2010-04-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

When I'm motivated, I sometimes create random game design exercises in order to try to keep my mind sharp. Below I tried to boil down the fundamentals of Resident Evil 4 into a one-page analysis. Admittedly, I didn't do that great of a job. I relied more on analytical feel and instinct, although I didn't have a goal other than to "feel" what the underlying elements were keeping me immersed. I might try to do another iteration on this analysis and stay more focused on moment-to-moment player actions / mechanics.

SUMMARY:

Genre: Survival Horror

Number of Players: 1

Story and level progression: Linear

PRIMARY GENRE SUPPORT: The story, visual art, music, sound effects and writing provide the primary support and feeling of Survival Horror”

SECONDARY GENRE SUPPORT: The controls and camera serve to enhance the Survival Horror feeling without becoming an annoyance or a distraction

FAT FREE: Every element serves a specific purpose to the primary element / driving force which is Survival Horror

SPECIFICS:

CONTROLS AND CAMERA: The controls and camera are precisely and purposely designed to enhance the scary factor. Primary examples include the following:

· Navigation is limited to walking or running forward and only walking backwards; NOTE: Walking backwards speed is faster than walking forward speed

· Fast turning allowed, but only in a 180 degree motion

· ALL control (player and camera) removed during reloading

· Player is not allowed to adjust the turning speed of the camera / gun aiming

· Camera is positioned over the right shoulder or in the “something is behind me” angle

SCARY FACTORS:

Deafening Silence – This ever-present element greatly enhances the introduction of specific enemy and environment sounds; by default, the hero’s own footsteps are the primary sounds when traversing through an area

Enemy Animations – The detail in these deliver a large amount of scary factor; for example, after executing a headshot on an enemy, the enemy continues to walk forward for a few moments with interruption; another example: when an enemy decides to turn around, he waits a few beats and then turns around

Foreshadowing – Different levels of foreshadowing of future scary events done via Notes, story cutscenes

Level design flexibility – Level design allows for enemies to spawn seemingly out of nowhere or from pre-determined areas

Enemy Spawning - Usually enemies are spawned when a mini-objective is completed or a new area is reached. Keyword: Usually; consequently, the scary factor is increased even when enemies are NOT spawned.

Kid Dhalsim

2009-12-06T20:03:00.000-08:00

Today, I impulsively drove down to Nucleus Art Gallery in Alhambra, CA and picked up "Kid Dhalsim." The first time I noticed this Rhode Montijo Dhalsim piece was when the JAB STRONG FIERCE (Street Fighter Tribute Show) was announced. But only when a friend of mine mentioned this very same piece a few days ago did I actually start to think about what this image may represent to me.

First, (old) Dhalsim was the primary character I used during my heyday of placing in Street Fighter World and U.S. championships. So this serves as a cute reminder for all the time I spent trying to perfect my style with (old) Dhalsim.

Second, you can logically infer from this image that 1) Kid Dhalsim is having trouble learning how to control and master his abilities or 2) he's given up on something and went to drown his sorrows in the corner or 3) he's just plain sad, so at this point he's not concerned with focusing on controlling his powers or 4) he's just plain pooped and defeated.

So when I was reminded for this image again, I realized, ok, I think I'm Kid Dhalsim right now.

I've experienced these emotional spikes working on God of War 3. There are days I feel like Kid Dhalsim. But on the other hand, there are days where I feel like (old) Dhalsim: confident, focused, in control.

It's funny how we can find ways to relate to an image of a character. Anyways, this is my first ever purchase of an Art piece. I made sure there was something in or about the image I can relate to before I bought it.

Anthony Burch Destructoid Rant On How Games should be Artistically Relevant

2009-08-01T21:22:00.000-07:00

I usually don’t blog about industry topics / news, because 1) I like to focus on game design issues, solutions, experience, etc and 2) well, I’m just a small cog (right now) in our very young game industry. But after reading the “95% of games are juvenile, etc, etc” video rant by Anthony Burch of Destructoid, I felt I had to at the very least give my simple minded perspective on what games have meant and mean to me and also just to simply state that his rant is factually inaccurate.

You can find his rant here:

Just a warning: Yes, I’m going to ramble and be all over the place; I’m not really trying to write an academic paper, although I could, I’m not. I’m just shooting from the hip here.

Games are More than Art or Entertainment

I think those that are lobbying for that one game to “legitimize” video games as an “art” form are missing the entire point of what video games are: they are more than entertainment or art (although they can obviously function as both); they are immersive physical, conscious and subconscious interaction reality replacements. Although I agree with Anthony Burch’s conclusion that games can be about anything, why stop at trying to be a legitimate artistic medium? But if you must place the art label within this medium, I think video games have already established themselves as a legitimate art form. We just don’t know it yet. We’re too busy trying to compare video games to all these other mediums like movies, books, drawings, music, etc. instead of celebrating what video games have already accomplished in comparison to the other mediums. This is where we are being blinded. We are searching for something artistically relevant? But relevant to whom? Games are relevant to many groups of people from 12-year-old boys to housewives to teenagers to Grandma Hardcore. They are relevant because of the investment required to play them. You simply cannot “watch” a videogame. You actually have to put forth all types of effort (physical, psychological, emotional) to experience their…experience.

Games are their Own Relevance

Games have created their own type of relevance. Something that was not possible before with movies. Sure, video games right now may still be niche and carry a sub-culture stigma to it, but nevertheless, video games have created their own sub-cultures. A brand new method of escapism. I for one am not waiting around for our video game equivalent to Citizen Kane; we’ve already got Super Mario Bros, Street Fighter, Metal Gear Solid, ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, the list goes on and on. This is something movies or any other medium can’t match in terms of immersion and interaction, balance of visual stimulation through color, mood, pacing, dialogue, story, music, etc. Video games have taken all of the elements of the other mediums and created something beyond labels such as art or entertainment.

So you might be asking what is the human relevance to these games? What are they doing for humanity’s advancement? In my best simple minded response: they are making us forget about all of the real life nonsense we have to deal with in the real world. And they did a better job than movies, books, music, drawing, etc., well at least for me. Call it what you want: diversionary, mindless, juvenile…it doesn’t matter. For example, some of us 80s kids, these games were instrumental in guiding us through our childhood. The wonderful worlds we got to INTERACT with was just enough for us at that time. Those games were able to take my mind, body and spirit to that so-called zone and make me forget everything around me that I needed to forget. It wasn’t even an effort on my part to forget my real world troubles, daily routines. I forgot them instantly because these games were firing on all cylinders. These games, and many more that I haven’t listed, in my opinion, pushed the envelope on what the medium can do WITHOUT actually telling you they were making you feel happiness, carefree, lonely, worried, scared, etc. They did this through the careful balance of gameplay, setting, camera, pacing, sound, color, shapes and every other element and technique needed to draw you in into their world. And they didn’t even do this with real world graphics, settings or openly and overtly talking about the real life issues. These games were multi-faceted: they allowed the player to make his own interpretation on what issues are being represented in these games, but they also were just simply fun “games”. Years later you can still come back to these games with a more educated and intellectual mind and break down the psychology and the subconscious lessons being taught through the game. That’s not art or entertainment; it’s something beyond those labels, something that speaks to the player directly and puts you in the zone of immersion. This is the true power of the medium…and it’s been doing this on and off for 20+ years.

And now I’m a grown adult, a professional I guess. And games are still doing for me now what they did for me when I was 4-years-old or a teenager: creating not just a diversion from “real life” stuff, but creating a “real” world for me where I can lose myself and forget the real world stuff I want and sometimes need to forget. Sure, books and movies can somewhat accomplish that, but video games take it to a whole another level.

Inaccuracies and Hyperbole

Anthony Burch is just inaccurate when he states, and I’m paraphrasing, “95% of games are mindless, juvenile, violent, etc…” I mean have you even walked into a GameStop lately? Off the top of my head, I can think of a cornucopia of non-violent mainstream games like Nintendogs, Wii Sports, Madden, Mario Kart, Mirror’s Edge, Broken Sword that evoke a certain type of emotion however shallow. I mean have you played Nintendogs? Nurturing and parental emotion evoking going on there. No violence. Mirror’s Edge? This game gets the adrenaline pumping without directly being related to violence. Broken Sword? This point-and-click fuses the slow and deliberate pacing of a book with interactive bits. Only real life violence represented here. Maybe Anthony Burch is just upset that many derivative games are violent and are commercially successful at the same time and that innovation has taken a back seat to the company’s bottom line. Yeah, that sucks, but there are so many different games out there that try to have different approaches and try to reach different audiences. A lot of mainstream games serve their purpose very well. The proof is in the communities that sprout up and the following they foster. I just don’t understand some of the statistics he’s throwing out there. His rant just seems filled with so many absolutes, hyperbole and a touch of elitism.

Hypocritical?

Anthony Burch talks about how mainstream games right now are “primarily about one thing: mindless violence.” Then he goes on to talk about how, yeah, a lot of crappy movies may get released every year but there’s always like “12 or so really good movies or movies that attempt some kind of artistic statement.” Can’t you say the same thing about video games? There's always a handful of games each year (Braid, Flower, for example) that attempt to bring something new to the table and push the medium in a different direction than what is considering the current trend, like WWII shooter derivative or zombies or whatnot.

Street Fighter Transcended The Medium

I come from the Street Fighter competitive scene. This is pretty much how I came to be introduced to the video game industry. What Street Fighter has contributed to the so-called “art form” that is video games are immense and amazing and probably unexpected…which makes it even more magical. It has created its own sub-culture within a sub culture. This “mindless” violent and silly game had the power to create a competitive “sport” where players from all around the world travel thousands of miles to compete against each other to see who the best is. This mindless and irrelevant game has brought people from all over the world together to celebrate and showcase the talents and abilities of real people, in real world situations. These players have trained and studied to become the best they can be. Street Fighter has given them an outlet to feel good about themselves. Street Fighter has given them a sense of belonging and pride and confidence they were possibly lacking in "real life." Lifelong friendships have been formed…because of Street Fighter. Entire communities have been formed because of Street Fighter. Elements of other video games have been improved because of Street Fighter. See, when I hear Anthony Burch rant about how 95% of games are juvenile and irrelevant, it kind of hits a nerve because it’s an indirect attack on a game like Street Fighter that has actually improved the human spirit of a small chunk of society. Street Fighter has brought together people that probably would have never interacted with each other. Street Fighter transcended video games and the medium along with it, with these group of people. A video game did this. This is more than art or entertainment.

Tip of the Gaming Iceberg

Why stop at trying to legitimize games as an art? Games can be so much more than just art or entertainment. What about Wii Fit? Nintendo is actually trying (directly, indirectly, pseudo, it doesn’t really matter) to save lives (maybe a bit of hyperbole on my part) through video games. I think trying to legitimize games as Art is only the tip of the iceberg in a sea of thousands of icebergs. Games are so much more powerful than that.

Game Director Description

2009-06-15T22:41:00.000-07:00

Descriptions of a game director:

Spontaneous ideas led to action (prototyping), not discussion
He trusted his team to come through; didn’t micro or over manage
No such thing as “impossible”; he expected his team member’s to at least try to prototype
He carried a singular vision
Encouraged team member’s to find better solutions not by overly criticizing, but by presenting alternative solutions
He recognized it took a team of specialists to see his vision through fruition; he knew he couldn’t do it by himself
If one of his team member’s had an issue that affected his productivity and efficiency, he made sure to rectify that problem as quickly as possible so the team member could continue to create
The layout of the space was iterated on 100+ times before the final layout was achieved
He brought out the supreme best in his team members; better is the enemy of amazing
Overall, his team trusted his decisions and direction
Curiosity was his driving force
Supremely optimistic
He would recognize team members hidden talents before they even knew of them
He was fascinated with every aspect of development and wanted (and did) learn many different elements in order to assist team members directly
Knew exactly what he wanted
Infectious enthusiasm

These are just some of the daily philosophies and attributes that described...Walt Disney. It's not a stretch to think Walt Disney himself could have been an amazing video game designer. You could read more about this here.

E3 2009: Back to the Old School (hopefully)

2009-05-09T15:45:00.000-07:00

Square, Square, Square, Square, Square, Square Combo Cancelled

2009-01-21T23:20:00.000-08:00

Combat canceling has already been discussed in a very comprehensive and technical length here so I'm not going rehash any of that wisdom. I needed an excuse to mess around with my amateur hour video editing "skills", so I wanted to visually demonstrate (through actual human finger input and the resulting player avatar output) some of the methods of canceling (instant, buffer) Eric Williams talks about in his article.
As an example, I chose Kratos' combo. Although at first glance, this appears to be an ultra button mashable combo (it is), there's a deeper layer of responsiveness that gives different types of players the ability to express themselves according to their skill level.

This brief video demonstrates the extremes in the physical input boundaries of the player. The first example is the classic button masher player where attack timing is thrown out the window. The second example shows the extreme case where the player can choose with precision when to advance the combo.

So how it is possible that the same combo can be performed with such drastically different input timings? Here's the non-technical answer via my amateur illustration:

In short, the player has a huge chunk of time to press the appropriate button in order to combo into the next attack. This is only made possible through the beauty of canceling.

NOTE: The goal of this post is to demonstrate through video and illustration the methods for canceling (Instant, Buffer) that Eric talks about in his article .

Street Fighter DNA

2008-12-08T01:33:00.000-08:00

The Street Fighter franchise is seemingly enjoying an emergence of sorts with its arcade-first release of Street Fighter IV and its impending console release as well as the better-late-than-never Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix version featuring updated graphics and a new mode containing various command and move tweaks. Moreover, Street Fighter IV plays more like a tribute to yesterday's Street Fighter ( with no air blocking, guard meters, parrying or any other advanced and layered mechanics you'd find in more recent iterations of Street Fighter like Third Strike or Alpha 3. In light of the current SF hype, I'd like to briefly talk about how some game developers have been subconsciously (and consciously) been showing tribute to Street Fighter ever since they first started their first job as a game developer.

Inspirational Assets

And there are a few reasons why Street Fighter is a major influence among some of today’s game designers. On the surface, Street Fighter is all about their iconic characters such as Guile and Chun-Li, memorable moves like Ryu’s fireball to Blanka’s ball projectile as well as the ability to string together attacks more commonly referred to as a “combo.” Sound familiar? Many of today’s action adventure games contain these fighting game elements.

On a deeper level, SF was a revolutionary game that introduced an unmatched level of player control, immersion, game feel, depth and instant gratification via responsive controls, clear and concise actions and reactions and unique special move control inputs.

Some additional inspirational elements: constant risk/reward feedback loop depending on strength or type of attack; different types of normal attacks: jab, strong, fierce, short, middle, roundhouse; blocking; throws.

The Catalyst for Inspiration

So it’s hard to imagine what many of today's action adventure video games would be like without the existence of Street Fighter. Without Street Fighter you probably would never have two-in-ones, special moves and super moves. Without Street Fighter you probably wouldn't have Devil May Cry or God of War in their current and memorable states. Most importantly, you never would have had the arcade explosion that resulted in the U.S. Street Fighter competitive scene that brought together some of the top Street Fighter players in the country to show off their skills and strategies.

And here's where the Street Fighter DNA was copied and transferred. The genetic makeup of Street Fighter--its essence and feel--was completely dissected, analyzed and permanently mapped onto some of these player's instincts where eventually this DNA will provide inspiration behind many of today's game developers.

Exposure either through local SF gatherings or regional tournaments allowed these future game developers to witness these game systems pushed to their limits. From here, they had the extreme starting point in which to go backwards and breakdown how these strategies are executed and how each system, individual mechanic and their respective properties work together to deliver the maximum feeling and amount of expressiveness to the SF player.

Street Fighter Playing Skill Not Necessary

Now as I mentioned many of the top Street Fighter players gathered at these national tournaments to show off their skills and compete against new players. Interestingly, many of those players that went on to become game developers weren’t necessarily the “top” SF players. In other words, being a high level game player wasn’t a prerequisite for becoming a game developer that used SF as an inspirational and research tool. Although it didn’t hurt to have the ability to be to able execute these expert strategies, the factors that contributed to becoming instinctively one with Street Fighter had more to do with the amount exposure to the high level strategies, passion for seeking out competition as well as the ability to meticulously breakdown, compare, contrast and analyze the game systems that allowed for the highest level of gameplay skill and flash.

Fighting Game Community Babies

In summary, the creation of Street Fighter would be the first step that would eventually inspire these players to become game designers. The second step was the creation of a more official gathering and showcase of talents: the Evolution Fighting Game Championships. Interestingly, many of today’s game designers have these two characteristics in common. Below is a list of just some of today’s game designers that have been birthed from the Evolution Fighting Game Championships or another portion of the fighting game community:

Derek Daniels - Xmen, Backyard Wrestling, God of War franchise
Eric Williams - Xmen, Backyard Wrestling, God of War franchise
Mark Acero - Backyard Wrestling, The Incredibles, Golden Axe
David Sirlin - Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix
Seth killian - Capcom Community Manager/SFIV Influence
Jason de heras - God of War 3
Adam Puhl - Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks, God of War franchise
Ben Cureton - Xmen, Wu-Tang
Jason Cole - Backyard Wrestling, TNA Impact!
Omar Kendall - Backyard Wrestling, Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks, GUN, Tony Hawk

Game Designer Reel

2008-11-11T23:43:00.000-08:00

I was asked an interesting question today by an Art Institute of California – San Francisco student: “Do you have a [designer} reel?” The student wanted to get an idea of my involvement in the games I’ve worked on. At first I was a bit taken aback by the question because I never really thought much about having a “reel.” What actual material would I put in this reel? Design documents? Level walkthrough? Emails? Notes? Transcripts of conversations? Of course when you think of traditional game industry reels you think of animation or art reels. In an animation reel, you see, well, animations. In a concept art reel, for example, you obviously see concept art.

But what should be the contents of a game designer reel? Do designers even need to create a reel to remain a competitive commodity? Will future employers, the gaming public or even fellow co-workers know exactly what you had a hand in creating if you don’t have a designer reel? Is it enough to be credited on a game as a “designer?” How does a designer “prove” he spearheaded/owned a certain game mechanic or created and maintained certain game systems?

Unless you are Miyamoto, Molyneux, Jaffe, CliffyB, Kojima, etc, many game designers aren’t a well known commodity outside their current employer, even though many of them are instrumental in executing the vision of these high profile names. So, are designer reels necessary to further establish yourself as a game designer if you haven’t reached a certain level of high profile and reputation?

I’m not sure if they are necessary per se, but I don’t see how they would hurt. It seems logical if other game disciplines have reels, why not design? So, if I was to create a designer reel, I would essentially create a personal post mortem with the following:

List of all of the game elements I was responsible for concepting/brainstorming/designing/testing/implementing/tweaking
Video walkthrough/deconstruction of the final product showing the examples of the elements detailing your design intentions (yes, this will be time consuming)
What went wrong/hurdles
What went right
Details: Did I design and implement?; day-to-day duties

Basically, this reel is a resume on steroids that would hopefully give the person(s) watching a better understanding of your worth to the game you had a hand in developing.

Street Fighter Lessons: Throw Range

2008-11-05T00:59:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the first installment of Street Fighter Lessons! Each lesson will briefly explain one particular element or nuance from the classic fighting game series Street Fighter and then explain how implementing that element into a 3D action-adventure game may improve the overall fun and feel of the player character.

One of the most satisfying moves you can perform on your opponent is the throw. The throw can be used to interrupt combos, setup combos, distance yourself from your opponent or just plain humiliate your opponent. In many Street Fighter games, the throw input command requires the player to press only one button; meaning, the Risk/Reward ratio is Low/High. In addition, you can perform a throw even when your opponent is blocking. (Back in the early days of competitive Street Fighter, throwing an opponent while blocking was considered "cheap." Quite honestly, the best feeling you can have in SF besides beating your opponent is throwing your opponent while he's blocking.)

In early SF games from SF2: World Warrior to Super SF2 Turbo, the throw range distance was significantly big for many characters. The result: you can throw your opponent from a very far distance even though your character's sprite is nowhere near your opponent's sprite.

Street Fighter Lesson:

In general, the more throw range your character has the more powerful and in control you feel during the fight.

So what does a significant throw range mean for a 3D action-adventure beat-em up? Many gamers still have issues with judging depth correctly. If your player character doesn't have an exaggerated throw range, the player is forced to analyze his surroundings and find the right camera angle to ensure he's next to the enemy, potentially breaking the combat flow. The increased throw range ensures the player doesn't have to consciously recognize if he's in the correct range of the actual character and enemy's geometry.

Below is a screenshot of Kratos about to throw an enemy. Notice the distance from Kratos and the enemy. At this point, the enemy is already in the process of being thrown even though Kratos is not physically near him. If you ever played Dhalsim in Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, then you know exactly the feeling you have when you perform a throw with this much range.

Thanks to Eric Williams for providing the inspiration to write this post!

Brief Notes on my Defintion of a "Game Designer"

2008-11-05T00:33:00.000-08:00

In my experiences, being a designer is akin to building jigsaw puzzles (not sure about this analogy, but I'm super tired right now so bear with me). You have all of these different pieces that are scattered about and it is your job to make them fit together into one cohesive and recognizable entity. Each piece enhances the overall entity. Without each individual piece, the overall presentation suffers.

For instance, let's say your a combat designer and it is your job to build enemies that follow the vision of the game. To do this, you'll need the following: brainstorm, direction, model, animations, vfx, sfx, level scenarios ideas (to give the enemy some world relevance), AI building, etc. Obviously, without any of these elements, you won't have any kind of enemy creature. In this case, it is the combat designer's role to ensure that each element associated with this creature adheres to the overall vision of the game the micro vision of the creature itself.

So what does the designer actually do day-to-day in this case? Usually, the elements I listed above are done by an animator, vfx artist, sound designer, etc. So, again, what does the actual designer do? First and foremost, he will possibly use some kind of scripting/pseudo-code program that allows him to manipulate all of these elements in some fashion and “program” the enemy AI to behave according to what is fun and falls under the micro-vision. So, let use this information and create a checklist as to what the designer actually does:

• Uses scripting/pseudo-code program to tell the enemies how to behave (technical skill/aptitude needed here) If you have the ability to master/exploit a tool that has been created specifically for your design role and show that you can “design” or create situations that the programmer never thought possible or intended, then you will be on the right track.

On a side note: Most companies I’ve seen, robust and powerful end-user tools have been created for designers where programming knowledge isn’t necessary. It seems more and more gameplay systems that were once under the realm of the “programmer” are being driven by the non-programmer. In short, the designer becomes the “programmer.” In the end, what does it matter how a gameplay system is maintained, tuned for fun, whether it be through C++ or through some proprietary in-house tool. The results are the same, but some would argue the drive to push control of gameplay systems into non-programmers' hands is much more efficient as it removes the technical barricade and allows those with the creative expertise to make the magic happen.

Is this all the designer does? No. Simply changing a few variables and testing them out to see what is more fun is just part of the role.

Who is making sure that each element falls under the micro vision? Obviously, today’s games are massive so, in this case, it is up to the designer to ensure all of the assembly line elements fit into the micro vision. This requires a basic understanding of each discipline (animation, art, etc.) but more importantly the ability to communicate what is wrong with the individual element and providing possible solutions based on the vision.

• Communication skills and the ability to problem solve and offer solutions that adhere to scope and vision (soft/hard skill)

Knowledge should your weapon of choice for most designers. This can be said for any role in game development, but since the contemporary game designer is usually labeled as possessing only soft skills, then the knowledge you possess as it relates to your specific system or entity can be invaluable. In this case, being able to deconstruct an action adventure combat game and ascertain/extract the systems that make the game fun but also frustrating will help you out tremendously.

• Expertise/insight based on research and/or experience

I think of designers as mini-creative directors responsible for their individual level or system. It is their job to ensure the macro vision is translated correctly into the micro/mid-level elements. Designers are creative and technical problem solvers. The modern designer role is there for a reason. Without designers you would have a bunch of amazing elements but no cohesive presentation and experience.

NOTE: Nowadays, there are many types of designers such as combat, level, sound, camera, mission, story, dialogue, technical, etc...the list goes on and on. The need for specialists within the design discipline is becoming more apparent as games grow larger and larger. If you have a design "skill" and preference, more likely than not there will be a job for you if you dedicate yourself and work hard.

Should Reviewers Care About the Details?

2008-11-05T00:15:00.000-08:00

Below are my thoughts after reading Ben Fritz's article in Variety regarding reviewers obsession with the game details and downplaying the game's overall "big picture.":

Video games are unique because they combine other classical forms of entertainment and allow the player to move through these mediums literally and figuratively through gameplay. Gameplay is the driving force because gameplay is what separates video games from other mediums such as television, paintings, books, etc. (Sorry for the Captain Obvious statements.)

Books can make us laugh. Movies too. So can T.V. Video games make us laugh as well, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. If our interactive medium, video games, has done its' job, we were made to laugh because we caused it to make us laugh. Our inputs resulted in an output that caused us to evoke a type of emotion. That's pretty powerful. Instead of passively watching a movie, we were in control and actually physically invested (albeit only with our hands and fingers mostly) into the outcome of our inputs. It took some effort to reach that emotional outburst.

The point I'm trying to make is that gameplay, controls, input/output feedback, AI...the combination of these systems unique only to video games need to, at the very least, collectively be equal in quality to the theme, the art style, the story, the writing, and whatever borrowed mediums are used in shaping the game's vision. They need to be equal because the combination of these systems enhance (or detract) from the game's artistic expression/goal. If anyone of these systems isn't up to par to current systems, the suspension of disbelief will be broken. Flow is broken. Many gamers have been conditioned to sort of recognize what is established quality of any video game system. If any system is out of whack, the artistic goal of the game could be quickly dismissed by the player.

I do agree that there are way too many great scores nowadays. I attribute that to sequelitis as well as "groupthink" as one journalist mentioned in one of her blog posts. At the same time, however, I believe mechanical problems and concerns should be at the forefront of the review as well as the game's "big picture" and the developer's attempt to push the medium into a more well rounded direction. Like you mentioned, there doesn't seem to be a good balance of this as big games don't get called out for obvious, obvious sub-par systems. For example, GTA is notorious for horrible combat systems, gun or melee, but yet inundated with 9s and 9.5s.

Video games are the art of electronic interacting and without the solid mechanical/gameplay/control foundation to drive the intuitive feel of the player, I believe the game's vision is already at a disadvantage of being realized.

Kids Deserve Better

2008-11-03T02:32:00.000-08:00

I played Wall-E this weekend for the following reasons:

I briefly, briefly worked (2 months) on the pre-production prototyping basic environmental interactions
I heard from around the way that there were many, ahem, odd decisions made during the development of this game
I still had hope the game would turn out ok because I somewhat enjoy playing movie licensed kids games
If it did turn out bad, playing a “bad” game is good design exercise…and I haven’t played a really bad game in a while

When I think of the type of consumer that will most likely purchase this game, I think of my aunt and my nephew. My aunt is pretty much one of the best aunts on the planet as she is pretty much an acting mother to my nephews as well to me back in the day. She gives the kids as much love as possible and makes them smile and spoils them in a good way. My aunt will take my nephews to see the latest kids’ movie during the movie’s first week release. And she loves buying the kids the most popular toy characters out there namely anything with the Pixar brand name on it: Cars, Ratatouille, Wall-E.

And if my nephews were a bit older and had the latest and greatest video game consoles, I know for a fact she would buy them the latest and greatest video games based on the kids’ movie they just watched. She would buy the video game because she would think it’s cute because she thought the movie was cute. She’d buy the video game based on the movie of the same name because she wants to bring a smile to the kids’ faces. She would buy this game because she thinks the game would evoke the same type of smiley, wonder, charm, fun and warm fuzzy feeling the movie just gave them. She would buy them the game out of love.

So is it too much to ask for the game developers making these types of licensed kids’ games to reciprocate the love and inject the same type of tender loving care into the quality of the product they release?

I’m not going to go into detail about what’s wrong with this game. There’s simply too much to say in that regard. The point is: Is there anyone thinking of the kids and the mothers (or aunts) when these types of games are being developed? Sadly, the answer is usually no.

The Little Things Add Up And Begin To Detract From The Overall Experience Rant (Yes, when I spend $60, I have every right to nitpick)

2008-10-06T00:40:00.000-07:00

I want to experience many things in my day besides playing video games all day. I spend most of my video game $$$ on experience-based games as opposed to skill-type or mechanic based games. I want my experience to go as smoothly as possible while providing me some kind of flowing challenge. As I get older, my playing patience and tolerance starts to dwindle to the point where every little thing affects the overall experience. Below are just some nitpicky ranting items that I have started to have a more keen sense for as I get older. I'm not saying it's good or bad design to have have/not have these elements. And, yes, I know this has been written about ad nauseam on the interwebs, but I don't care. Anyways, I'll probably just keep adding to this list

Save spots: I pay $60 for a survival horror experience. Please allow me to save more often. I have other things to do in my day than to spend time reaching a save point
Health pacing: Before an encounter, put some health in easy-to-find spots
Health Cheat: Starting a save with very little health makes for one night of shirt ripping and controller throwing. Throw the player a little bone by giving him just a tad of pity health when he restarts. Just a tad. A teeny weeny tad.
Skipping previously viewed cutscenes: I saw it once; I don’t need to see it again
Combat Camera Zoom: Bringing the camera in closer when a monster appears works in a fairly open space, but not in a room with two monsters
Cheap Hits: It's no fun getting hit during reaction
Camera Connected To Character's Turn Speed: The camera rotation isn't independent of the character makes for one slow rotating camera. Adds to the fear as well as the frustration
Suspension of Disbelief 1: The main character just came face-to-face with a zombie and then the next cutscene he’s calm and wondering where his brother is…and doesn’t mention that fact he just tangled with the undead? This happens numerous times where he’s oblivious to what just happened.
Suspension of Disbelief 2: He goes home to his mom’s house (pre-zombie encounter) but he opens some doors by shoulder ramming them and some by turning the knob? I want my player character’s demeanor and movement and actions to reflect his current knowledge of his surroundings and past
Suspension of Disbelief 3: Pre-zombie encounter, I cannot un-equip his knife..and I’m in his mom’s house
Huh? Started off in a nightmare, but still can keep my weapons I found in the nightmare?
Is this next-gen?: The path is blocked…by a teeny weeny pile of debris but I can't climb over. Classic gameism. (I’m not for or against this, just stating it)
Argh! In this day and age, there is no invert camera option?????????????????
Menu Combat: Weapon selection: instead of holding left or right to rotate the weapon stash, I have to aim and then hold a precise analog direction towards the weapon to highlight...Many times, I miss selecting the weapon of my choice
Visiting Menus: Can’t seem to quick select a weapon (w/out going into a menu). Not a big fan of constant menu visiting
Why? I can't cancel into map select during gun aim mode

Licensed Movie Games: The Silver Platter Phenomenon

2008-07-16T02:24:00.000-07:00

Licensed Movie Games Lesson 1: Resist The Urge to Use Band-Aids

2008-07-16T01:53:00.001-07:00

Cliffs Notes On Licensed Movie Games: COMING SOON!

2008-07-16T01:17:00.000-07:00

Video Game "Nutrition" Facts

2008-06-25T02:08:00.000-07:00

Around 20 years ago, The FDA mandated that most food products be labeled with a nutritional label listing various elements such as fat, cholesterol and protein along with their measurement per serving. This informational addition to the food product spawned a new sector in the food industry that marketed their food products as low-fat, low-calorie foods. Suffice to say, the nutrition label has had a major impact on food companies and consumers alike by creating certain groups of consumers that would only buy a food product based solely on the contents of the nutrition label.

So what if video games had a similar "nutrition" label based on the core elements of that video game? For instance, would consumers be less inclined to purchase the next best 3D action-adventure combat game based on more core system-specific hard data such as the inclusion/frequency/exclusion of individual combat system elements?

This was one of the random thoughts that popped into my head when I was thinking of a clever way to list the core ingredients of an accessible combat system. By no means is this particular "nutrition" list comprehensive or even weighted correctly. In the future, I'll be going into more detail for each of these accessible combat system elements and also regurgitating some of the topics written about by these guys.

Carrying The Torch

2008-03-11T23:41:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been reading Manwatching: A Field Guide to Human Behavior by Desmond Morris where Morris attempts to categorize human actions, gestures, body language, verbal, nonverbal communication, etc, into a sort of human gesticulative glossary...

In particular, he writes about Relic Gestures which he defines as: "...a gesture that has outlived its original situation...gestures that have survived long after their primary contexts have vanished." He goes on to give the example of the telephone gesture where the person would act out the posture of holding the receiver to his ear and cranking it. Even today, this gesture is used in some parts of the world by people "who may never even have heard of a cranked telephone and who do not understand where the action stems from."

As a Combat Designer on God of War III, an inherent part of my job is to adhere to the groundwork laid out before me by the original God of War I and II combat designers and ensure the original contexts and philosophies survive and are translated into the God of War III combat/enemies. Although some of the core developers have left the God of War franchise, Adam Puhl and Jason McDonald remain as the surviving primary contextual guides for God of War combat.

Part One: Ratatouille to God of War 3? Say What!?!

2008-01-25T00:46:00.000-08:00

I’ve been at SCEA Studios Santa Monica for roughly 5 months now learning my role as a Combat Designer. I say “learning” because that’s exactly what I’ve been given the opportunity to do. Before I get into this a bit more, let me briefly detail what my previous and first design position entailed at Heavy Iron Studios, a division of THQ Inc:

SpongeBob Squarepants The Movie:

· Placing breakables
· Creation of breakable/crate puzzles

Joel Goodsell, the Lead Designer of SpongeBob Squarepants The Movie, is an established game design veteran who gave me my first “shot” at a design role. Currently, he’s one of the heavy hitters at Insomniac Games. Thanks, Joel.

Incredibles 2: Rise of the Underminer

· Responsible for scripting and progression of the enemy “waves” for three arena levels

This was my first game in a full time designer role. No actual “combat” design here. Just pure wave behavior and some dabbling into level design by introducing some interactive set pieces that enhanced the battles.

Ratatouille

Tons of pre-production mechanics test level building
Tons of pre-production mini-game building
Prototyped a chase level ala Crash Bandicoot chase levels
Production: Responsible for creating missions within one of the worlds

No geometry building; just layering missions onto already designed environments (platforming missions no less, so you could imagine retrofitting these kinds of missions into already designed environments. Yikes! But I digress.)

As you can see, no combat design experience whatsoever. So how do I currently find myself in such a specialized role as a Combat Designer on God of War 3? Two words: Street Fighter.

Part 2 coming soon.

Partial Game Analysis: Mike Tyson's Punch-Out

2007-10-03T23:44:00.000-07:00

This partial game analysis isn’t necessarily trying to pinpoint and explain what actually makes Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out so much darn fun to play. The actual goal is to expose the core elements that seem to virtually eliminate player frustration. I’ve never once felt frustrated by this game even when I have to replay the same opponent multiple times because I keep getting KO’d.

This is the problem with many combat games: the enemies and, consequently, the game, become increasingly frustrating because the player is not able to instantly recognize enemy weaknesses and then counter attack accordingly. Instead of game difficulty being determined using different combinations of enemies (as well as environmental scenarios), the game becomes difficult (read: frustrating and un-fun) because the player has not been given a strategic foundation.

The player becomes lost.

Reducing the player and enemy interaction down to its core, Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out gives the player the most important, and consequently, the most memorable elements of player and enemy interaction:

· Attack Tells

· Over-the-top/Exaggerated Anticipation Poses

· Over-the-top/Exaggerated Recovery Poses

In most combat games, an Attack Tell is integrated into the attack itself via an Anticipation Pose. MTPO takes Attack Tells another step further by sometimes using multiple Attack Tells in succession. For example:

Subtle Body Tell (eyebrow movement)==>VFX Tell (entire body flashes red)==>Connection Pose (actual collision between player and enemy)

Easy to counter attack, right? Sure. But as the player progresses, the game removes some of these Secondary Attack Tells and only gives the player one Attack Tell in the form of the Anticipation Pose. From the very beginning, the game gave the player a combination of obvious and subtle clues on how to defeat an opponent. Even as the game progresses and becomes more challenging, the player still has an idea (read: split-second visual recognition) when a specific attack will occur without necessarily having to remember a specific attack pattern. Although, pattern recognition is a big part of this game, but I digress.

The Anticipation Pose is the most obvious and important Attack Tell in the player and enemy interaction. If shown correctly, it allows the player to make split-second choices like blocking, dodging or counter attacking. Without an obvious Anticipation Pose, the player will be instantly clueless on how to attack an enemy.

The Recovery Pose’s main purpose should be to instantly tell the player the enemy is vulnerable and open to counter attack or at a certain point in its attack pattern. The Anticipation Pose is useless if the player doesn’t know when to attack. Furthermore, in MTPO, the player knows exactly when it’s safe to counter attack for one reason and one reason only: instant over-the-top and extremely exaggerated recovery poses. The Recovery Pose in MPTO is almost synonymous with the Connection Pose (the actual hit between the enemy and player). As a result of this caveat, the player can recognize enemy vulnerability instantly and counter attack accordingly. Sure, the recovery window for each attack becomes smaller and smaller as you progress through the game, but it’s expected the player has reached some kind of mastery at this point in the game.

The End of an Era

2007-07-02T00:10:00.001-07:00

I recently heard the sad news that Tips and Tricks magazine has finally gone to that big magazine rack in the sky. For a few years, I had the pleasure of being a Contributing/Freelance editor for them. In my opinion, arguably the best strategy guide writers in the biz.

What an upbeat way to start up my blog, eh? Well, my blog is intended to discuss mostly game design issues, but considering Tips and Tricks played an indirect role in guiding me toward my current path in the video game industry, I felt this was the least I could do.

On the other hand, the least Hideo Kojima could do for Tips and Tricks was actually place a copy of the magazine into Metal Gear 3: Snake Eater. How cool is that? Check it out if you haven’t.

On that note, I want to leave you with the best strategy guide I ever wrote for Tips and Tricks. *Tooting my own horn ALERT* I took a lot of pride in writing this strategy because at the time I held the official Arcade Daytona USA world record in the Beginner and Advanced tracks. Enjoy.