MIT OpenCourseWarehttp://ocw.mit.edu CMS.608 / CMS.864 Game DesignSpring 2008 For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use, visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/terms.CMS.608 – 17 April 2008 Notes by Clara Rhee Simulation and Abstraction- what do you want to abstract in a game? - complex maneuvers – physical stunts - different characters - health - “world” – limits and characteristics - what do you get for free? - say you’re playing a LARP - playspace - character movement, traits - physics - complex metaphors can be made with visual representation - see the movement of the character in Passage - time becomes horizontal movement - is there a game that abstracts celebration? - 52-card pick up! - probably a good representation, bad game - every time you abstract something, you’re limiting the player’s understanding - do simulations need to be numerical? - without abstraction, you don’t know what’s allowed in the game - abstractions define possibilities - allows you to skip over the boring stuff, or make the boring stuff more interesting, or make hard things easy - abstractions also make certain things morally acceptable – destruction of cities, war - things that should be simulated - conflict – economical, territorial, knowledge - puzzle games are hard to fit in the simulation model - what is Bejeweled simulating/abstracting??? - what is the collection of mechanics that makes a system behave the way it does? - some games can try to make you forget it’s a game…but that’s not really the point – not necessarily engaging - Milgram experiment - was more about submitting to authority - real as simulated pain and punishment - feasibility - what’s practical? What needs to be abstracted? - it’s just more practical to abstract - Philip’s Theory on Game Design Concerns - separation - taking out the boring/awkward bits - information - having/lacking game knowledge - competition/conflict- verisimilitude - immersion, the appearance of reality - verisimilitude is completely at odds with
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