Week 2

1. discussion 

2. scrum: review of last week's learning journal - finetuning definition of MDA and the level of analysis recommended 

3. intro to brief 4 

4. randomness 

   • what is probability - snakes & ladders vs chess

• what is chaos - e.g. drawing an ace from a deck of cards is random, but having rules on how drawing an ace helps you win is chaos 

• "Chaos can be controlled and manipulated in some way. Encourages skill. Deterministic" - the ability to influence our state within the game 

5. discussing chaos v randomness in games - XCOM, Hearthstone, Monopoly, Spelunky, poker (all chaos)

6. Genre, MDA and Randomness 

• in groups, we chose and analyzed a game according to genre, MDA and randomness- Stellaris (strategy, ... , random spawn but chaos because you choose how you manage resources and interaction e.g going to war with other empires or teaming up) 

7. Input and Output Randomness 

• procedurally generated worlds are input e.g. Minecraft 

• chance of critical hit after attack initiated

8. Emergent Gameplay occurs when the chaotic nature of a game creates a unique gameplay experience

9. Interesting point: in a game of drawing something specific from a number of others (e.g. aces from a deck of cards), it is always beneficial to go last because the odds are better - 4/52; 4/51; 4/50 etc. 

• [Pre-class video] 

• What do I want to learn/think about going forward? [referencing]

  • how prevalent is randomness in games? chaos? 

  • which types of games tend toward one or the other - which genres use randomness the most, and which ones use chaos 

  • is chaos better than true randomness? 

NOTES: 

• all trimester to work on Brief 4 - research assignment on math behind particular mechanic - Individual assessment

  • • • • • • • • e.g. research the physics behind projectile weaponry/guns; drop chance/probability; level up systems  

                • take a mechanic example from any game, and then go "if I were to put this in a game of my own, how would it work?" 

                • less about the game it was taken from, more about how the specific mechanic works 

• IDEA: probability determined by proximity 

• XCOM hit chance calculation:

   aim (unit stat + modifiers) - defence (unit stat + modifiers)

= total (minimum 1% chance) + range modifier 

= final chance calculation 

• Random Number Generators (RNG's) are essentially dice rolls of a number of x and y 

e.g. rolling two 6-sided dice is running two RNGs of 1-6 and adding values