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Learning Journal:
In today's class, we started off with an MDA analysis of Harvest Moon, a 1996 agriculture-sim.
M - planting and harvesting resources, auto-locking camera, progression of time
D - trade with NPC's for other resources/currency, allows the player to always see what they're are doing, seasonal changes
A - serene, ease/simplification of play, little pressure to be productive
I tried to reference the Youtube clip we watched for this analysis, but I couldn't find the exact one. Instead, I've attached a slightly different review of the same game (ClassicGamespotRevs, 2013). Diegetic elements in a game are things that the character can interact with, but really serve the purpose of being an interface for the player. It is generally in the form of something that exists in the world (CodeChangers, 2020). The most obvious example in Harvest Moon is the character's backpack to illustrate the player's inventory.
After this, we learned about game testing. This is how we establish and test our intended functionality; to make sure that our game is working the way we want it to, and creating the experience we want players to have. In addition to the functionality, we also check the prerequisites for running the test and whether or not the intended result is achieved. It is also a good way to find out the best way to test the game.
I was a little confused about the difference between 'functionality testing' and 'play testing'. The former can be explained as "does the game work?" whilst the latter is "how is it to play?" Functionality testing is usually what developers use to catch any oversights they may have had, or unintended biases that may have snuck in.
ClassicGamespotRevs. (2013, February 21). GameSpot - Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life Video Review (GameCube) [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiUepF9D2l4&ab_channel=ClassicGamespotRevs
CodeChangers. (2020). User Interface Elements in Video Games Part 3—Diegetic UI. Retrieved July 26, 2022 from https://codechangers.com/blog/User-Interface-Elements-in-video-games-part-3-diegetic-ui/#:~:text=It%20is%20something%20that%20the,UI%20(Andrews%2C%202010).
We also went over balancing games. There are several things that developers have to keep in mind while testing;
win vs lose rates,
what is actually considered 'balanced' in the game's context,
the intended duration of the game vs the actual duration, and
does the balance support the core design pillars/designed experience?
All of these combined set a good framework for making sure that a game is balanced properly, without being too unfair or too bland. A game can be over-balanced just as easily as it can be under-balanced. If this happens, some mechanics may lose relevance as they no longer have any impact on play.
We finished the lesson's content and broke off into our groups to begin play-testing our assignments. I volunteered to keep track of the data we collect, and wrote up a list:
number of play-through's,
which cards won the most frequently,
number of players during each test,
average percentage of votes for winning card,
frequency of special cards being drawn,
the ideal number of response cards per hand, and
average round play-time, in addition to average match play-time.
We're having lots of fun testing our game, although I realised that trying to get the frequency of cards being drawn wasn't going to work. It was going to take up far too much time and wasn't worth the effort, because we wouldn't be able to do much with that information. We also decided that the right number of cards per hand was five, which settled the debate we'd been having over it. I also scrapped the percentage of votes to win, as it was also extremely difficult to manage and took up too much time. I wasn't massively concerned about out-of-class time, but it threw out the duration of play to figure out percentages on the fly.
As for deliberate practice, I think it would be beneficial for me to learn a bit more about firearms as I barely know anything. I end up feeling a little left behind in discussions where guns come up, and it's difficult to absorb any information about them. I heard of a Youtuber called @mikeburnfire who does good, informative reviews about different types of guns. I'm not aiming to know lots or be an expert of any kind, but knowing a little might help me to participate more during these discussions.
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