Critical-Glossary
Some gameplay mechanics are completely artificial, meaning they do not make logical sense based on the form of the game. When such mechanics are privileged within a game's design, we tend to label these games as being "arcade" like. I describe these gameplay mechanics as being abstract.
Folded level design that folds back and forth at multiple creases that creates a pattern either in the types of creaes or a patten of some concerte nature.
It is a design innovation that applies to games that are played in real time. By taking the progression of real time and breaking it down in specific contextual ways, a new level of game design can be reached. This is the essence of asynchronous time, or async.
Design elements/choices that create more negative space than actual space. Also, design elements that ignore form fits function.
In music, Counterpoint is the writing of musical lines that sound different on their own, but harmonize when played together. How the melody of a song interacts with the other lines is the focus of Counterpoint.
Counterpoint, in gaming, is a word for the way gameplay develops past optimization by layering interactive elements into a single gameplay experience. When each layer influcences, interacts, and enhances the functions/gameplay of each other layer the gameplay emerges into a medium of expression that reflects the individuality of a player and the dynamics that reflect the complexity of the world we live in.
A diminishing trend is one where game elements are either added or subtracted that reduce the amount of consequences and allow for mechanics to be executed less precisely.
A measure of how the changes in the method of input are paralleled with the action in the game according to the form of the mechanic. If you quickly press the green button on your controller, does the game quickly press the button on the screen? If you hold the button on your controller, is the button on the screen held down as well?
When a section contains an individual gameplay idea that isn't significantly and directly related to another section, then that section is considered a distinct section.
An measure of how the game world responds to the action. According to the form of the game world and the mechanic, does the world react realistically? What is the extent of the properties of the mechanic? Are the reactions to the mechanic special cases or can the resulting actions continue to effect the game world?
Any variable element in a videogame.
* player: character(s), cursor, avatar, HUD
* level: non aggressive interactive (physical) pieces
* enemy: hostile/aggressive forces
* audio: sound effects, music
* visual: non-interactive on screen elements
* rumble: force feedback
In counterpoint, If the player must combine secondary functions with primary functions to progress, then the game idea is considered to be expanded.
Like Marxist criticism, the most successful Feminist critique of a game involves analyzing how the range of player functions that affect female characters directly or indirectly reveal the operations of patriarchy. When the player is encouraged or forced to play in a way that depicts men as strong, rational, protective and women as weak, emotional, submissive, and nurturing, then the game can be said to support and reinforce patriarchal genders roles and ideologies. Patriarchal values work to oppress women, and all feminist theory and criticism works to promote women‘s equality. A Feminist analysis can become more complex when finding examples of actions toward women if a game doesn’t feature any women or the game allows for limited interaction with women. Writing essays about such games often leads to finding evidence by absence. In other words, a Feminist critic’s central piece of evidence may be what can’t be done to women instead of what can.
How a game accelerates or creates forward momentum. This factor of gameplay isn't necessarily about speed. More specifically, it looks at how a game's interactions feed back into the player's options/experience like a snowball rolling down hill.
Level design that resuses a space with the second use containing an extra layer to the gameplay that builds on the knowledge and experiences established on the first layer.
Form fits function is a powerful game design principle that has powered many of Nintendo's greatest games. Using familiar visuals, games can use their form to communicate to the player. If there is a ball resting on a tee and the player avatar has a golf club in their hands, they better be able to swing the club and hit the ball. Otherwise, why put such things in front of the player in the first place? Keeping the form true to the functions and limits of a game creates the cleanest most easily enjoyable experiences.
When a game's mechanics inspire, shape, and define the creation of ancillary parts of a game. ie. story, setting, premise, characters, music, audio
A sometimes hidden innovation intended to attract attention and increase the unique value of a product or work. dictionary.com
A quality of a mechanic. Does the input yield the same action every time? Or can the input result in a variety of different actions?
Interplay is the back and forth encouragement of player mechanics between any two elements in a game. Put simply, interplay is where actions and elements in a game aren't means to an end, but fluid opportunities that invite the player to play around with the changing situation.
A measure of the degree to which input method matches the form of the game. If there's a green button on the screen, and a green button on your game controller, the form of the game is liked to the input of pressing the green button on the controller.
Like Psychoanalytic criticism, Marxist criticism can seemingly critique a game by looking solely at a its fiction. However, both of these critical modes, in relation to videogames, achieve a deeper, more profound level of analysis when the elements of interactivity between the game and player are taken into consideration. Many Marxist critics of literature believe that film, literature, art, music, and other forms of entertainment such as videogames are the primary bearers of cultural ideologies. While we’re being entertaining by these medias, our defenses are lowered making us all the more susceptible to ideological programming. A Marxist critic of videogames looks for how a game supports or condems capitalist, imperialist, or classist values. Perhaps the best and most obvious place to look toward in games is the role and function of money. Some games represent money with actual U.S. dollars or some other form of real world currency. Others use fictional currency from bell, to gil, to star bits, or even points. What the player can purchase, how these items or services function, and how the money circulates within the game world all become important areas of analysis.
The smallest degree of change needed for a change to be significant for a particular mechanic. (minimum degree of difference)
is created when player mechanics layer and/or link into resulting states that create opportunities with a higher amount of risk/reward
"New Classical criticism focuses on identifying a game's primary function/action that sums up all of the player's actions, functions, and abilities into a single expression. This expression can be thought of as the interpretation of the game or what the gamer is actually doing when he/she plays. Sometimes the primary function can be encapsulated in a single word. For example, the primary function of the Super Mario platforming series is "jump". After the primary function is identified, the New Classical critic then looks at a game's formal elements to analyze how they promote the primary function. The formal elements include Sound, Music, Art style, Story, Graphics, level design, enemies, etc. Because the New Classical critic privileges interactivity over passivity (especially when focused into a limited number of rules and actions), such a critic is only concerned with how these elements shape the gameplay experience, and assumes that any formal element in a game is only meaningful when it supports the primary function and exists in a lower state of priority to that function. In other words, elements like story can't be more stressed and more important to a game than the gameplay. Even if a game is designed according to the conventions and assumptions of Western game design, it can still be critiqued in the Classical mode."
Doesn't look at examples from the game, rather it focuses on arrangements and groupings that the researcher creates. Such an approach looks at possible scenarios than existing ones.
A type of multi-fold level design where the creases and layers are so flexible and/or dynamic that considering the possibilities within a single level are interconnected and complex. Considering the shape created from a multi-fold level is similar to observing an origami figure.
Whether a game is defined by an action or a group of actions, a small set of mechanics rests at the core of every game. This mechanic is the primary function.
For those who aren’t careful, a Psychoanalytic critique of a game appears to only be concerned with the fiction of a game and the relationship of the characters. Unless the game is Psychonauts, most games seem to have little to nothing to do with the human psyche. Neglecting how the game fiction and the gameplay (or game rules) come together to create the Psychological work in a game is a common pitfall. Another easy pitfall is to get wrapped up in Psychoanalyzing the developers of the game, or what may be infinitely more embarrassing, accidentally analyzing one’s own psychological state while trying to pass it off as an analysis of the game. Though it is true that the fiction of a game is an important part of any Psychoanalytic analysis, the gameplay is where the most profound sources of material because the interactivity of the game can influence and transform the player in more powerfully subtle ways than a passive medium.
Breaking down the range of possibilites for a game mechanic into distinct parts for the purpose of analysis.
And finally, the refining trend is one that increases consequences that force the use of mechanics in a more precise manner by adding or subtracting game elements.
The set of mechanics that do not make up the set of primary mechanics. These mechanics usually aid and help shape the primary mechanic.
All games can be broken down into sub-sections or sections. Whether a game is broken down by rooms, loading sections, cut scenes, stages, levels, rounds, or turns, if a game has a mechanic that is repeated, then it can be divided into sections.
The static distance between player and objective. Can occur when a strategy is repeated without escalation.
A static trend is where there is no change between sections, or when the changes are inconsequential because they fall short of meeting the minimum requirement for the quantified mechanic.
Structures are probably the most recognizable feature of videogames. Because structures create the foundation for the game rules and player to learn these rules, analyzing structure develops a clearer insight into how a game works at its core. We're all familiar with the structures of genre. Any gamer can instantly recognize a first person shooter like Halo from a puzzle game like Tetris. Each gaming genre has a certain look to it that is the result of the gameplay structures. Like with any genre, the degree to which the conventions are followed or deviated from varies greatly from game to game. Recognizing a game's structure is an acute way of talking about how a game works in or outside of its genre.
In counterpoint, when a game element or game idea is offset form the established pattern of game ideas to create scenarios where the element/idea can carry over and influence other game ideas.
how a game's elements influence the use of game mechanics over increasingly larger segments of the game
4 comments:
I downloaded Neo RPG. It was fun and relatively intuitive. I tried to do the levels like you suggested and not shoot any rocks, and it turned out quite challenging even with throwing rocks. The only problem I had was reading the text in the tutorial or on the sides of the level. Otherwise I don't see any holes or problems in the gameplay. The different types of enemies made each level a unique experience, and the boss stages make you think on the fly to defeat all the enemies as they chase you relentlessly.
In regards to the combination of FPS and Sports games I immediately thought of something like the Twisted Metal series. Even though it isn't really a sport, the cars could be easily changed to bikes or skateboards. I think even just Halo alone does this sort of thing, in some respect, with games like odd ball or the soccer mods some people have made using forge. It really makes the players use strategy asking themselves, "Should I kill that guy and then go for the ball or just make a dash for it and hope my team covers me." However I think this combination would be a little more natural than that of Breakris. Though fun, when I played that I felt like I was really just playing two games at once instead of one cohesive gaming experience. More like multitasking than crossgaming.
Looking forward to the next podcast!
good podcast.
I really enjoyed the idea of a Charlie Wilson's War to be incorporated into a game like Advance Wars. If we were able to decide on where to send our units and funds after each match it would change the outcome of the game drastically. But eventually I think it would make the challenge of the game to dull down because we are able to start the battles of each game on a more even playing field.
But whose to say we always win right? What if we lose, should we start over? I think so. I think we should go back to the previous level and try to hold off from the opponent because in real life wouldn't there also be a high chance of invasion from the opponent?
If that concept were added, it would be like adding some parts of the board game Risk because it would become a constant defending and conquering of the map. This would no doubt add another dimension to game play as well. And who doesn't want to defeat evil and rule the world? lol
Combining tricks and gunplay?
Sounds kind of like The Club.
As far as neorpg goes, I thoroughly enjoyed it when you first showed it to me last year, though I agree with your assessment of the multiplayer...it does kinda break down when you have two people.
Having not seen Charlie Wilson's war, I can't really comment on that part.
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