Quantum Superconductor Race Track

The Cool Gadgets - Wipeout 2048 PS Vita Game: Quantum Superconductor Race Track

If only I had this technology at my fingertips!

Additional Kit

I've brought in a few more bits and pieces for my next track design iteration. I now have:

• A second (duplicate) polystyrene ball ready for some head to head Player vs Player action!
• Loo Roll tube for making a tunnel section
• Some decent tape so I can stick the board tiles together and/or to a table so it remains nice and flat
• Two cut lengths of wood which have the perfect curved bevel dimensions for the ball to use as a rail and -with player care- will travel all the way along it. I am hoping to mix up the track layout a bit more this time round by altering variables such height/size and type of obstacle/challenge I pose to the player.
• Some ready-made "Flickies" - It may be a bit of a whim but I have a hair-brained idea in mind for these little chicks. All will hopefully be revealed later on!

Evaluation

Here is a summary of my observations and findings so far: -

• The small polystyrene ball works best in terms of speed and amount of effort expended by the player to make it move.
• The raised wall buffers adequately and effectively prevent the ball from falling off the track.
• Sonic Wings appears to be accessible and appealing to different player types. It is easy to pick up and play immediately (instant entertainment) regardless of age or skill set.
• A mix of obstacles make gameplay more challenging, varied and interesting without becoming frustrating or impossible to pass.

"Most people would agree that one thing that engages them in a game is challenge. What do they really mean by challenge, though? They don’t simply mean that they want to be faced with a task that is hard to accomplish. If that were true, the challenge of games would hold little difference from the challenges of everyday life. When players talk of challenge in games, they’re speaking of tasks that are satisfying to complete, that require just the right amount of work to create a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment." (Fullerton, 2008. p86)

• Players seem to prefer (and enjoy) the physical interactivity of manipulating the ball with a straw, as it gives them better control in terms of speed and direction.
• Spectators like to gather round and watch other people play...

"In addition to thinking about categories of play and types of players, the level of engagement can also vary; not all players need to participate at the same level to find the same enjoyment. For example, spectators might find watching sports, games, or other events more satisfying than playing them. We don’t tend to think of designing games for spectators, but the truth is, many people enjoy games in this way. How many times have you sat and watched a friend make their way through the level of a console game, waiting for your turn at the controls? Is there a way as a designer to take this spectator mode into account when designing the play?" (Fullerton, 2008. p93)

• The game requires concentration - players appear to automatically 'get in the zone' and stay focused, eyes fixed on the ball.
• Sonic Wings does work as a Single Player game. However, the experience is totally different without an audience - it lacks the feeling of pleasure and achievement derived from showing off in front of your friends and the banter it generates.

Track Design Notes

• Track Width

...making the road wider will make corners easier as it creates a more obtuse angle for the clipping points and also provides some forgiveness in the track design.

...each lane should be 1.6 car widths wide, allowing three cars to be side by side in two lanes with a very minimal distance separating them... This makes the player take a risk by taking this strategically powerful position -- especially around corners where the lateral force will be trying to pull the vehicle's mass against the player's will. Having a wider section of track used for a corner will allow for more margin for error. Wider corners also give experienced players more ability to apply longitudinal force as the race line can become far more smooth.

• Camber

...on-camber turns allow for impossible corner entry and exit speeds, designed to empower and reward [players] for little input.
...off-camber corners ultimately require more from the player in terms of practice and hence is not suited to an arcade environment.
Ideally, all corners will be on-camber, as this allows for some bold and empowering cornering.

• Height Variation

...a purely emotional component of both track design and level design in general. Limited line of sight will result in the player being anxious, as they are less able to plan ahead. When the player has increased line of sight, they feel empowered, as they are able to easily plan their moves several steps in advance.

From an emotional perspective, height variation makes tracks interesting.

• Needle Threading

...a needle threading corner is one which provides a very wide corner entry point, an ideal clipping point (just one) and then the perception of a very narrow corner exit.

Needle threading corners have significant emotional value, and often give the perception of mastery for the players who are able to achieve them. Just like anything in game design, it is all about making the player look better than they actually are.

In Figure 21, you can see how the corner exit becomes noticeably wider than the entry, meaning that the ideal clipping point can be much earlier in the corner designs. The addition of the barricade is the illusion that the player needs to embellish their actions and make them feel empowered.

...creating an empowering experience with a set of design heuristics, based on the five metrics of track design:

• The use of straightaways needs to be implemented in such a way that the player is never able to significantly overshoot the ideal corner entry speed.
• Corners need to be progressively tighter to ensure that players are able to have close to ideal corner entries.
• The standard deviation in speed should be quite narrow, ideally within a plus or minus 30 percent region.
• track markings are essential to creating a sense of speed.
• Needle threading corners should be used to provide a sense of awe for the player and embellish their skills.
• All corners should be on-camber.
• Height variations should always be used in track design to create emotional diversity. Rapid changes in height should be avoided though.
• Use straights to create "punctuation" for the player. Separate corners using landmarks or iconic features to aid this.

McMillan, L. (2011) A Rational Approach To Racing Game Track Design. [Online] Gamasutra: Available at:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/134845/a_rational_approach_to_racing_game_.php
(Accessed 28/02/12)

Reading Excerpts

I thought I'd post a selection of useful quotes taken from some of the module readings that were suggested to us. I am trying to keep in mind the advice given here throughout the course of the project.

"Games are always just systems waiting to be understood. Fun is in the learning, and the payoff is in our influence over these systems. But a player wields influence only through game mechanics. Anyone would agree that by adding mechanics we inevitably complicate the player's influence over their world. But while game mechanics always add complexity to player input, they rarely alter game output."

"Players simply don't enjoy a game about everything. High mechanic counts dilute a title's identity and possibility for engagement."

"It's important to settle on the game's overall feel before deciding on any game mechanics. It's not acceptable to add features and make sure the resulting play aesthetic is okay. Instead, we must engineer the correct mechanics to fit a certain feel. As long as the game has this good overall thrust, no errant mechanics can steer the vision from the goal."

"For a mechanic to be completely successful, a game should fully exhaust its possibilities for fun. Players feel clever when they learn to use one mechanic for multiple purposes. They get a better handle on the game system, and gain a better appreciation for its consistency. They'll feel satisfied only when they've exhausted several well-designed mechanics."

Rose, J. (2008) Fewer Mechanics, Better Game. [Online] Gamasutra: Available at:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3621/fewer_mechanics_better_game.php

(Accessed 23/11/11)

"Level design is the meat and potatoes of game design, where the designer crafts
the moment-to-moment user experience. In level design, the game designer finally
starts using all of the knobs and variables they asked the programmers to build.
Tweaking these variables in different combinations, the game designer hopes to
make a fun experience with just the right amount of challenge. The game designer
must be willing to make levels with only a partial set of tools while waiting for the
game to be fleshed out. Often these levels must be trashed later as new features
become available. But constantly exploring the potential and limitations of the game
system as it is built will help keep the game on track and focused on the most
important features—those that actually make the game fun." (p.41)

"Here are some general guidelines and approaches for designing levels:

• Be empathetic 
• If you can’t beat your level, then it’s waaaaaaaay too hard 
• Design for the general audience, not the hardcore 
• Ease players into the game 
• Don’t forget to challenge players 
• Build levels around a central concept 
• Teach players to play the level 
• Give players room to explore 
• Occasionally break your own rules (carefully) 
• Create a plan 
• Vary your levels 
• Refine, play and refine 
• Playtest" (p.42)

Trefry, G. (2010) Casual Game Design: Designing Play For The Gamer In All Of Us. Burlington: Elsevier.

"If players feel that an individual game mechanic 'isn't giving them a good enough challenge,' or feel that 'the mechanic is fun at first but gets old quickly,' you need to add depth to your mechanics.

• Buzzwords to watch for: A given game mechanic is 'too shallow,' 'too easy,' or 'flat.' Often players will say the mechanic started out fun, but that it quickly got repetitive or boring.
• It's a good idea to pump up the theatrics when you get feedback like this, but while it might help players tolerate a mechanic for longer, it will only go so far. When theatrics fail, it's time to knuckle down, roll up your sleeves, and get to work on making your game mechanic deeper."

"[Depth] To me, it describes a sweet spot -- that point during a game where the player can repeatedly display his mastery of a game mechanic. Challenges never stay the same long enough to be boring and yet they also don't change so fast that the player can't enjoy his mastery over the game...In my experience, in order for a game mechanic to be deep it needs two very important things:

• It needs clear objectives, so the player knows what he has to do to succeed. Confusion and obfuscation tend to make players feel like a mechanic is LESS deep once they find themselves needing to experiment randomly to win.
• It needs a variety of Meaningful Skills that you, as a game designer, can use to create good challenges for the player and that the player in turn can use to achieve mastery over the game."

Stout, M. (2010) Evaluating Game Mechanics For Depth. [Online] Gamasutra: Available at:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/134273/evaluating_game_mechanics_for_depth.php

(Accessed 29/11/11)

"Many games are directly focused on use of tools... It can even be argued that all video games that use standard console controllers or PC keyboard and mouse are building our hand/eye coordination and tool use skills. New interface devices are expanding the possibilities even further beyond hand tools. It's interesting to note that so much of Physical Fun is tied in some way to our upright posture that freed the use of hands millions of years ago... These interface devices also make real-world interaction between players at the same console more dynamic, a factor that is very relevant to social survival skills."

"[On the appeal of a racing game] ...we can see that the basic physical appeal of learning to move as quickly as possible, the social appeal of competing with our peers and gaining status and recognition, and the mental appeal of perceiving constantly changing patterns in the midst of a race and acting on them instantly and correctly all connect back to our prehistory."

Falstein, N. (2004) Natural Funativity. [Online] Gamasutra: Available at:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/130573/natural_funativity.php?page=3
(Accessed 28/02/12)