Game Development in Networks of the Future
Craig Lindley
[email protected]
Game Design, Cognition and
Artificial Intelligence Research Group
Department of Game Design, Narrative
and Time-Based Media
Gotland University College
and Blekinge Technical College, Sweden
©Craig Lindley, 2006
1. Scope of Games and Game Systems
2. Evolution of Current Game Designs
3. New Game Forms Utilising New and
Emerging Technical Media
4. Future of the Game Development,
Distribution and Play Infrastructure
©Craig Lindley, 2006
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1. Scope of Games and Game Systems
©Craig Lindley, 2006
Simulation
- time of a frame
- abstraction and replication of system functions
- modelling generative principles
- outcomes are unpredictable
- functionally oriented: system analysis and
behavioural understanding
’Pure’ Game
- time of a move
- abstract board/puzzle games
- competitive
- search and combinatorics
- goal oriented: problem solving and
optimisation (IPD, maximisation)
Narrative
- time of a ’total’ experience
- myth, literature, cinema
- structural analysis
- semiotically oriented:
meaning and function
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Computer Game Classification Space
Simulation
Avatar Worlds
Simulation Games
Strategy Games
Role-Playing Games
Action Games
Hypertext Adventures
Pac Man
Tetris
Computer Chess
’Pure’ Game
Multipath Movies
DVD Movies
Narrative
Virtuality vs physicality =
The degree to which the game space and game
objects are represented by and interacted via
computational media.
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model
model
virtual
physical
game
game
narrative
narrative
model
model
military vehicle
simulators
virtual
computer
games
location-based
technology
assisted games
game
shows
game
narrative
game
LARPs
team
sports
physical
adventure
sports
narrative
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Fiction vs non-fiction =
The degree to which the game space, game objects
and game mechanics correspond to imaginary versus
physical phenomena.
model
model
non-fiction
fiction
game
game
narrative
narrative
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model
model
military vehicle
simulators
fabrications
fiction
LARPs
simulations
location-based
technology
assisted games
game
team
sports
game
game
shows
non-fiction
adventure
sports
narrative
narrative
Game design research:
- understanding and mapping out game space
- defining languages for design :
- greater selfconsiousness
- critical design practices
- design patterns, ontologies, taxonomies, principles
- scientific design foundations
- deriving new designs from technical innovations
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GOAL:
Develop a Nomological Network for Game
Research
= laws correlating player features, processes and effects with
game play patterns in relation to game design features
⇒ Validated mappings from observations to the theoretical
distinctions of an explanatory feature space
Feature Spaces of Game Research
= nomology for game research
Descriptive and Explanatory Languages /
Constructs
Feature Space of
Game Design
Feature Space of
Gameplay/Interaction
Feature Space of
The Player
Feature Space of
The Context
Observation
Methods
Specific
Game Design
Interaction
Pattern
Specific
Player
Specific
Context
Observable Phenomena
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Game design research = a new and (rapidly)
developing field
=> Credibility with industry will emerge as an
increasing body of strong empirical results is
gathered
Game design researchers must not be frustrated
Game designers!
Side note re games as education:
- students are losing interest in reading
- computer games attract large amounts of voluntary
and intensive time
- games are the original learning system
⇒ how to reinvent pedagogy within game media?
This is not about ’how to use games for education’,
but about how to reinvent education in the age of a
radically different (non-textual) medium.
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2. Evolution of Current Game Designs
=> existing media infrastructure
©Craig Lindley, 2006
E.g. Areas of high innovation potential within current game designs:
- deeper game characters
- new methods for emergent story construction
- better dialog and conversation by NPCs
- generative media and player-created content
- deeper scientific understanding of the nature of game play
and its effects (e.g. cognitive sciences of game play, FUGA)
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Relevance to existing game industries is obvious …
BUT
Progress may be slow due to difficulty of required innovations
and no established market credibility.
=> Industry ’wait and see’ approach
3. New Game Forms
Utilising New and Emerging
Technical Media
©Craig Lindley, 2006
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?
ubiquitous
pervasive
?
locationbased
mobile
?
ambient
?
new game media
forms
augmented
reality
mixed
reality
?
?
virtual
reality
transreality
?
©Craig Lindley, 2006
Augmented and Mixed
Reality Games
Mixed Reality
physically
augmented
virtuality
virtually
augmented
physicality
VR Games
Physical Games
©Craig Lindley, 2006
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Mobile Games
- mobile delivery of games
(not really mobile games)
- games of relative location
- games of absolute location
©Craig Lindley, 2006
Location-Based Games
Games of relative location:
- setting is not important
- relative positions of players matter
- relative position may be static or dynamic
©Craig Lindley, 2006
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Location-Based Games
Games of relative location:
E.g.
- Traditional sports and board games
- ’Botfighters’ by the Swedish company It’s Alive!
©Craig Lindley, 2006
Location-Based Games
Botfighters
- action game
- objective: track down and defeat other players
- battles staged in the real world
- position yourself close to opponent to score a hit.
- your mobile phone is given a set of weapons + radar system to
locate opponents
- opponents can choose to attack you at any time!
- play by text message commands from mobile phone.
©Craig Lindley, 2006
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Location-Based Games
Games of absolute location:
- setting is crucial
- ’absolute’ positions of players matter
- absolute position may be static or dynamic
=> may involve mobility or not
©Craig Lindley, 2006
Location-Based Games
Games of absolute location:
E.g.
- ’I Spy’
- hide-and-seek and treasure hunts
- “Uncle Roy All Around You”, Nottingham University and Blast
Theory
- “Visby Under” Game studio of the Interactive Institute in Sweden
©Craig Lindley, 2006
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Ubiquitous, Pervasive and
Ambient Games
Ubiquitous => anywhere, any time
Pervasive => pervade everyday experience
(weak in game/out of game boundary)
Ambient => intelligent interfaces and
background/‘peripheral’ technology
- related but not dependent concepts
©Craig Lindley, 2006
VR Games
Pervasive Games
= escape physical reality
= staged in
physical reality
= 1980’s cyberspace
= 1990’s pervasive
computing
©Craig Lindley, 2006
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VR Games
Mixed Reality
Pervasive Games
Games
©Craig Lindley, 2006
VR Games
Mixed Reality
Pervasive Games
Games
= games based upon a single game world
©Craig Lindley, 2006
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Trans-Reality Games
Trans-reality games
- games that may simultaneously include physical, virtual and mixed
reality game staging spaces
©Craig Lindley, 2006
Trans-Reality Games
A trans-reality game may be: Diegetically monolithic
= > game space is a single world, game play is staged in multiple
worlds
VR Mode
Mixed Reality
Mode
Pervasive Mode
©Craig Lindley, 2006
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Trans-Reality Games
A trans-reality game may be: Diegetically polymorphous
= > game space contains multiple worlds
VR Mode
Trans-Reality
Pervasive Mode
Games
Trans-World
Game Interaction
©Craig Lindley, 2006
E.g. Areas of high innovation potential based upon new and
emerging game media:
- completely new game experiences (e.g. Trans-reality interaction)
- integration of sensors, actuators, robotics, displays, audio, etc.
- needs deeper scientific and sociological understanding of the
nature of game play and its effects (motivating new design
principles)
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Relevance to existing game industries is mostly apparent for
mobile/location-based game developers, and extension of interface
technologies from existing games/consoles (e.g. Nintendo Revolution) …
BUT
- mostly a new, currently niche market area
- mass market currently reached via Mobile telecomms infrastructure
- bootstrapping problem (e.g. use of GPS in IPerG)
=> High potential / high risk
4. Future of the Game Development,
Distribution and Play Infrastructure
©Craig Lindley, 2006
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Current computer game industry
- engine and middleware developers
(rendering, physics, AI, network comms.)
- still a lot of DIY engine development
- ongoing rapid increase in graphics, CPU, memory,
network bandwidth capacities
=> increasing demand on media asset production
©Craig Lindley, 2006
Current computer game industry – some Negative Aspects
- very limited reuse of software and media
- increasing project size (300+ pp) => increasing budgets
=> larger publisher (mostly USA) investment
=> large publisher domination
=> conservatism in:
- game form and media
- cultural content
- consolidation of business
AND blocked opportunities for new companies
- no European console manufacturers
©Craig Lindley, 2006
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Implied needs from European Perspective:
- reduced production costs
- deeper and more diverse themes and cultural level
=> more niche products
=> technologies to counter publisher dominance of economics
E.g. Collada versus EA’s EAGL
- standardisation and open source methods to promote reuse,
broader dissemination and niche companiew
- incremental, industry-focussed evolution
©Craig Lindley, 2006
Overview of Some R&D Themes
-S- standardisation of game elements / interfaces for interoperability
and reuse
- distributed game processing infrastructure
- localised/adaptive game logic
- transferable game characters and items
- abstraction of characterisation, dramatic and
narrative structures
- standardised metadata for dynamic reuse of game assets
(meshes, motion sequences, AI, game systems, procedural graphics)
©Craig Lindley, 2006
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Standardised / reference production process model???
(analogy with relational database systems). Eg.
Graphical
Specification
Standard
S/W Specification:
ip-1
A
ip-2
B
ip-3
C
ip-7
ip-4
ip-6
D
E
ip-5
Generation std.
generate std. state transition rules
Design Rule
Representation
Standard
Design:
If A & ip-1 then op(_attack) assert B
If A & ip-2 then op(_flee) assert C
If B & ip-3 then op(_patrol) assert A
... Etc.
Compilation std.
Implementation:
generate std. optimised virtual machine code
Portable
Implementation
Machine Code Standard
0101 0101 0001 1001 0001 0110
0101 0101 0010 1010 1001 0111
0101 0110 0011 1011 0010 0101
... Etc.
VE Engines
©Craig Lindley, 2006
Standardised/Reference Game Architecture Models???
Multi-Agent VE/Game Engine
Initialisation
and agent
instantiation
User
interface
Agent 1
Multi-user
server
Client
Message
router
Agent 2
Agent n
controller
user/game
database
Event
Trigger
system
Animation and
Player API
animation
system
Narrative
manager
©Craig Lindley, 2006
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Dynamic, Distributed Game Networks
Experience delivery layer: PCs, consoled, mobile
devices, ITV, interaction technologies, etc.:
Client software components and hardware platforms
streaming media specification and protocols
Distributed interactive media production layer: templates,
game/story logic, dynamic media engine components, ontologies
media asset metadata, object specifications and
protocols
Dynamic distributed media content repositories and
generative components
©Craig Lindley, 2006
Relevance to existing game industries :
- relevant now, relevance will increase
- European strategic issue
BUT requires :
- strategic view
- industry + public investment
- close industry / research collaboration
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fin!
©Craig Lindley, 2006
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