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Game Design Methods: A 2003 Survey The Lexicon Approach Rules, patterns and FADT require definitions - a vocabulary. Without definitions specific to game design, statements about game design are restricted to terms not specific to game design. In other words, in the absence of a game design vocabulary, rules and patterns will describe games using terminology borrowed from other media. "SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF" [2] is a good example of this. Patterns, rules and FADT alike exhibit in varying degrees the capacity to bundle a name, definition, and implementation description. Consequently these forms could be specific even in the absence of a shared vocabulary. The risk, however, is a growing set of increasingly disconnected rules, patterns or FADT that establish different and even contradictory definitions within each individual scope. Thus patterns, rules etc. cannot replace definitions, even if they could theoretically serve as a means of definition. The problem is that patterns, rules and FADT themselves are not by default definitions, and that the attempt to use them as such biases the designer to create, say, a pattern where just a simple definition is needed [17]. Methods are no replacement for a shared vocabulary. Every pattern or rule can define a part of a vocabulary, but not every vocabulary term is a pattern, or warrants its own rule. The earliest demands (e.g. [4,5]) for improvements in game design called for a shared vocabulary - a dictionary of game design terms. The game design community is taking the first steps taken to names concepts and mechanisms. Collecting these terms and organizing them into a coherent whole is the objective of the recently begun "Game Design Lexicon" project [26]. The collaboration between multiple institutions is hosted by IC² and headed by Patrick Burkat, currently affiliated with the University of Texas in Austin. The lexicon project will deliver an HTML thesaurus and an XML compatible lexicon of a polyhierarchical vocabulary, distinguishing three user groups: video game production, game designers and developers, and players. The project relies on local focus groups and surveys, and ethnographic methods, taking another step towards a more commonly shared language of design. Efforts like the "Game Lexicon Project" close the circle: while a lexicon on its own will never suffice as a tool, it is the indispensable complement to any conceptual tool or method. Open Questions How do these three examples of game design methods -- FADTs, 400 Rules, and Patterns -- relate to each other? To what extent are they similar? The use of examples -- instances found in published games -- is the common denominator. However, our goal is to abstract from individual examples. We need a representation of knowledge that, to paraphrase, is "as abstract as necessary, but not more abstract". Taking abstraction too far simply deprives it of meaning. Examples are the empirical foundation, and relevant data is not just found in published games, but can also be drawn from usability testing, behavioral psychology, and the research literature on human-computer interaction. Game design is an iterative process. Consequently, any structured query as exemplified by game design documents constitutes only the very first step. Each specific game design decision, each project-specific design statement is implicitly a challenge: Is this the best choice? What are the alternatives? Why is this solution preferred? The same principle of iterative refinement applies on the level on which we discuss design itself. By describing a mechanism (e.g., FILTER), by stating a requirement (PREDICTABLE CONSEQUENCE, SHORT-TERM GOALS), by defining a term (STORY), questions about limitations, consequences and alternatives are raised. Even the methods themselves should be questioned and refined. Is the pattern format adequate for instruction? Can rules be observational? How do we address purpose within a problem-oriented representation? Can trumping capture scope or purpose? Can rules be conditional? Can design insights be derived from first principles, and can these also be represented as patterns, rules, FADT? What is the proper level of abstraction, and how do we maintain it? Do we need a method to identify building blocks? Do we need the top-down approach of unified design documents? How well does trumping scale with larger numbers of rules? Do patterns really accommodate detailed descriptions? These questions, and countless others, will have to be addressed as our methods progress and our ability to employ them improves. The "Game Design Methods" roundtable at the Game Developers Conference this week [20] will offer us another chance to advance towards better answers. References [1] Hal Barwood. "Four of the Four Hundred". (GDC lecture, 2001.) [2] Hal Barwood and Noah Falstein. "More of the 400: Discovering Design Rules" (GDC 2002 lecture) http://www.gdconf.com/archives/2002/hal_barwood.ppt [3] Mark Cerny. "Method" GDCE 2002 Web Lecture http://www.gamasutra.com/features/slides/cerny/index.htm, also http://www.gamasutra.com/gdce/2002/mark_cerny.zip [4] Doug Church. "Formal Abstract Design Tools." (Gamasutra, 1999. Originally Game Developer magazine, Vol 3, Issue 28, July 1999.) http://www.gamasutra.com/features/19990716/design_tools_01.htm [5] Greg Costikyan. "I Have No Words & I Must Design". Originally published Interactive Fantasy #2, 1994. See http://www.costik.com/nowords.html [6] Chris Crawford. The Art of Computer Game Design, Chapter 6: "Design Techniques and Ideals." 1984. http://www.erasmatazz.com/free/AoCGD.pdf [7] Troy Dunniway. "Using the Hero's Journey in Games." Gamasutra, 1999. See http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20001127/dunniway_pfv.htm [8] Troy Dunniway. Professional Game Design. Originally scheduled to be published June 2002. [9] Noah Falstein. "Interactive 'Show, Don't Tell': Fundamental Principles of Interactive Entertainment", 1996. See http://www.theinspiracy.com/ArShowDT.htm [10] Noah Falstein. "Better By Design: The 400 Project". (Game Developer magazine, Vol. 9, Issue 3, March 2002, p. 26.) [11] Noah Falstein. June 2002, "Better By Design: Game Design at GDC 2002" (Game Developer magazine, Vol. 9, Issue 6, June 2002, p. 30.) [12] Noah Falstein. July 2002, "Better By Design: Turn-Offs", (Game Developer magazine, Vol. 9, Issue 7, July 2002, p. 24.) [13] Noah Falstein, September 2002, "Better By Design: The Story So Far" (Game Developer magazine, Vol. 9, Issue 9, June 2002, p. 28.) [14] Falstein, "The 400 Project" website. See http://www.theinspiracy.com/400_project.htm. [15] David Freeman, "22 Secrets of Dialogue and Scene Flow". Proceedings CD ROM, GDC 2002. [16] Georges Polti. "The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations" (translation). The Writer, Inc., Boston, 1916, 1917, 1921, 1931, 1940. See http://harris-donahue.tripod.com/harrisdonahue/id15.html [17] Jussi Holopainen and Staffan Bjork "Computer Game Design Patterns", workshop at Computer Games and Digital Cultures Conference, June 6-8, Tampere, Finland. http://www.gamesconference.org/pf_workshop.html [18] Jussi Holopainen and Staffan Bjork", "Game Design Patterns", upcoming GDC 2003 lecture with Bernd Kreimeier, See https://www.cmpevents.com/GDx/a.asp?option=3&V=11&SessID=796 [19] Bernd Kreimeier, "The Case for Game Design Patterns" See http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20020313/kreimeier_pfv.htm [20] Bernd Kreimeier (moderator): IGDA Roundtable on "Game Design methods", GDC 2003. Thursday https://www.cmpevents.com/GDx/a.asp?option=3&V=11&SessID=489 and Saturday https://www.cmpevents.com/GDx/a.asp?option=3&V=11&SessID=910 [21] Francoise Dominic Larame's (ed), Game Design Perspectives, ISBN 1-58450-090-5, Charles River Media 2002. [22] Andrew Rollings and Dave Morris. Game Architecture and Design. (The Coriolis Group, 2000.) ISBN 1-57610-425-7 [23] Marc Saltzman (ed), Game Design - Secrets of the Sages, 2nd edition., ISBN 1-56686-987-0, Brady Publishing, Macmillan 2002. [24] Harvey Smith, "Systemic Level Design", GDC 2002. http://www.gdconf.com/archives/2002/harvey_smith.ppt [25] Randy Smith, "Design Fundamentals of Stealth Gameplay in the Thief Series", GDC 2002. http://www.gdconf.com/archives/2002/randy_smith.ppt [26]
Warren Spector, Patrik Burkat, Aaron Thibault, private communications,
2003. [27] J. Von Neumann and O. Morgenstern, Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, Princeton Univ. Press, 1944. [28] "Game Design Lexicon", Forum at Gamasutra.com, 1999-2002, defunct. [29] Richard Rouse. Game Design: Theory & Practice. (Wordware, Inc., 2000) ISBN 1-55622-735-3 [30]
Ernest Adams, "A Symmetry Lesson". Gamasutra, October
1998.
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