Aquariyum! Designing an organic asynchronous gameplay experience

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Content AQUARIYUM! DESIGNING AN ORGANIC ASYNCHRONOUS GAMEPLAY EXPERIENCE by Albert Chung-Pu Yang A Thesis Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree MASTER OF FINE ARTS (INTERACTIVE MEDIA) August 2009 Copyright 2009 Albert Chung-Pu Yang ii Table of Contents List of Tables iii List of Figures iv Abbreviations v Abstract vi Philosophy of Progressive Design 1 Designing an Organic Asynchronous Gameplay Experience 3 Core Issues with RTS Games for New Players 8 AquariYum! Game Design Philosophy 10 Goal and Target Demographic of AquariYum! 13 Art Design 15 Sound and Music Design 18 Core Mechanics 19 Directed Asynchronous Gameplay Design 26 Previous Iterations and the Evolutions on the way to AquariYum! 31 Conclusion and Lessons Learned 35 References and Researched Art 40 Appendix A: AquariYum! Team Members 44 iii List of Tables Sample Stage Mood Adjectives 18 Puzzle Creation Stage Core Mechanics 19 Tower Defense Stage Core Mechanics 23 iv List of Figures Fig 0 Peter Steiner’s Comic "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog 7 Fig 1 Core RTS issues displayed in Starcraft II 9 Fig 2 Core RTS issues displayed in Pixeljunk Monsters. 9 Fig 3 Mood board used for the initial concept drafts on the feel of AquariYum! 16 Fig 4 Concept art from the initial mood boards for AquariYum! 17 Fig 5 Early interface concept of the Defender Unit Foresight Feature. 20 Fig 6 Early interface concept of the Line Draw Feature 21 Fig 7 Early interface concept for the fish and poison selection feature. 22 Fig 8 Early interface concept for the line reveal mechanic. 24 Fig 9 Tap upgrade mechanic using the Jellyfish 25 Fig 10 Desktop Desktop Defense! Mood Board 33 v Abbreviations RTS Real Time Strategy WoW World of Warcraft CCG Collectible Card Game MMO Massively Multiplayer Online MMORPG Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game RPG Role-Playing Game UI User Interface FPS First Person Shooter 3D Desktop Desktop Defense RFID Radio Frequency Identification XBLA Xbox Live Arcade PSN Playstation Network vi Abstract AquariYum! Is a fun and accessible RTS game for players of all skill levels played across the iPhone asynchronously, much like Scrabble for Facebook. AquariYum! is best described as a mix between Battleship and a Tower Defense game. This project consists of an iPhone application that is networked through an external server that allows players to create unique user generated puzzles to share and challenge each other with. This paper will examine the process behind AquariYum! through progressive design, covering issues from aesthetic choice and mechanics to the iterations that led to the final version of AquariYum! Keywords: AquariYum!, Accessibility, Asynchronous, Real Time Strategy, RTS, Video Game, Multiplayer, iPhone, Facebook, Casual, Casual Gamers, Portable, User-Generated Content, Fish, Tower Defense, Drawing, Line, Networked, Progressive Design. 1 Progressive Design: From Warhol to Warcraft Before going into AquariYum, I’d like to talk a little about the philosophy I strongly adhere to when I approach innovation in game design. I like to call this idea, “Progressive Design”. Imagine a pyramid where the base has already been laid out for us and the top is nowhere in sight. Instead of starting a new pyramid, the idea is to build on top of the existing structure, but to improve the base as you build upwards. Much like the idea of the seven original plots in literature, I believe that a similar device also exists for interactivity, limited only by technology at the current time. Instead of attempting to create a “new” interactive device and defining it wholesale as “art” and “original”, I think that the idea of convergence is the key to creating unique and most importantly, fun interactive experiences. Two of the most popular game genres followed this idea, the CCG trend combined collectibles and card games and RTS was a blend of turn based strategy games and action. These can even be taken one step further with introduction of the CCG RTS in games such as Sangokushi Taisen and Battleforge. Much like the music remix culture of DJ’s and the films of auteurs such as Quentin Tarantino, their originality stems from the creativity of the artists as they appropriate old media and reshape their stories from their own unique viewpoints. 2 While some people argue that this idea limits originality and restrains the art and ideal behind a commercial sheen, I believe that an excellent game will let its artistry shine through naturally. The commercial and pop culture nature of Andy Warhol’s art rebuked the idea of “originality” on multiple levels, but it was able to create a strong reach and introduce the notion of fine art to people who would never have been interested beforehand. Walk through any college dormitory and you’re bound to spot some derivative of the infamous Campbell’s soup can print. In most cases, the owner will have no idea of the message, but their appreciation for the art already has a deep impact on their understanding of fine art and pop culture, even as it blurs the line between. In the game world, the legacy of Warhol already thrives as there are technically no original copies of games released into the world. From the pop culture standpoint, I believe the modern counterpart to this ideal is World of Warcraft. Although highly commercial, its accessibility has brought the notion of the MMO to countless players that would have passed before. And yet, the traditional notion of “innovation” and “originality” is far and few between in WoW, but who is to say that the World of Warcraft is not truly the Warhol of its time? While it is certainly not even close to what World of Warcraft has accomplished, through the idea of progressive design, I only hope that I am able to accomplish a fraction of what WoW has done for the MMO genre for the RTS genre. 3 Designing an Organic Asynchronous Gameplay Experience In discussing the creation of organic asynchronous gameplay, I would like to first define the characteristics of asynchronous gameplay first. Ian Bogost lists four core characteristics: “1. Asynchronous play supports multiple players playing in sequence, not in tandem 2. Asynchronous play requires some kind of persistent state which all players affect, and which in turn affects all players 3. Breaks between players are the organizing principle of asynchronous play 4. Asynchronous play need not be the defining characteristic of a game” (Bogost 2) In addition to this, I would like to implement four characteristics for creating organic asynchronous play: 1. Successful asynchronous play must eliminate the barrier of time in between turns. 2. Mechanics for asynchronous play must be designed as to give instant recognition 3. The illusion of another player must always be present in each state. 4. Base mechanical interaction must be limited, yet allow for a variety of options. 4 In creating a rich organic asynchronous experience for players, the first thing to look towards are design elements for synchronous online game. Below are several design elements laid out through the years that cover this spectrum in a brief but detailed spread, as Raph Koster elegantly puts it in his book, A Theory of Fun for Game Design; “Successful (online) games tend to incorporate the following elements: …Preparation…A sense of space…A solid core mechanic…A range of challenges…A range of abilities required to solve the encounter…Skill required in using the abilities…A variable feedback system…The Mastery Problem must be dealt with…Failure must have a cost…” (Koster 120-122) These rules outline everything from traditional games like Chess, to simple games like Pong, to the most fleshed out virtual world. AquariYum! has the items listed above covered in the mechanics section of the paper. For the rest of this section, we will focus on creating an organic asynchronous game experience, with specifics from AquariYum! detailed later in the paper. First off, the goal when creating a disconnected experience is to keep the feeling or persistence, that the player is actively engaging another real person. Whether the time between gameplay sessions is 10 seconds or 10 hours, that persistent feeling must be preserved. Some early examples of this stem from traditions such as play by mail chess, stretching into the digital domain through experiences such as Dungeons and Dragons via bulletin boards and forums. In fact, the notion of a bulletin board, or forum itself is 5 the essence of a persistent organic asynchronous world itself. Conversations, running the entire intellectual and emotion gamut are concisely distilled and presented as if the conversation was taking place in real-time. This is the goal that asynchronous gameplay needs to achieve in order to keep players engaged. In a forum, the conversation itself is the space and medium that relays this message to participants, however, in a game world, the virtual space where the player enters and interacts with must relay this same message, many times without words; “…the video game player has a stake in the navigation of space…” (Wolf 53). Really, what this comes down to is building mechanics and an interface that will effectively relay this information. Unfortunately for many genres of games, this makes designing asynchronous play extremely difficult, or impossible to preserve the original intent behind the genre, such as fighting or action heavy games. “The digital can’t exert control with architecture, so it does so with information.” (Galloway 94). However, that being said, the flow of information being presented to players in a asynchronous game must also be as short and concise as possible, as the last move in the game could have taken place in any indeterminate amount of time, and the mechanics must be able to convey an instant sense of familiarity and allow the player to fully exert their own control over the game instantly. It won’t do to have a game that a player must continually relearn as they play. Two good examples of this are Battleship and Scrabble. 6 In Battleship, the information being conveyed to the player is simple; the position of their ships, where their opponent attempted to guess their ships location (including both hits and misses), and vice versa. The way this game is represented on a simple X/Y axis is visually represented via the placement of pegs and ships on the board that a casual glance would be able to provide all this information to the player. The same is for Scrabble, with the information merely consisting of the current placement of letters on the board and the players own letters. In this case, the mechanic design of Scrabble reinforces the actions that the players must carry out, even if the actual core of the gameplay is incredibly complex and draws heavily from outside knowledge of the game. The key to Scrabble is the type of information that the visual design of the game reinforces to the player, in this case, personal vocabulary. One of the key things that should be mentioned here is that while AquariYum! is designed for a mobile device, in this case, the iPhone, these base rules still apply to creating a diverse and varied asynchronous experience. However, the unique things about this is that while the asynchronous gameplay sessions should generally be kept short and enjoyable, the fact that it is being built on a mobile device, reinforces the design of this statement hundredfold. Players do not have the luxury of a half an hour gameplay session, as they are always on the move and the diversion that is being provided by their gameplay experience must match the platform that it is being built on, dictating the framework of the design mechanics long before they were even conceived. 7 At the end of this discussion, the key takeaway here when designing an organic asynchronous game experience simply comes down to the four characteristics mentioned at the beginning of this chapter; elimination of the time barrier, instant mechanic recognition, the illusion of a real player, and interactions that can be carried out swiftly but not without meaning. Moving on, the rest of this paper will focus on these principles in relation to AquariYum! and we will explore how these options, in relation to the key design principles for online synchronous games helped to shape the game experience of AquariYum! In ending, this famous comic from the New Yorker best sums up the goal of all asynchronous games, the illusion of the constant presence of another player. Fig 0 Peter Steiner’s Comic "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog 8 Core Issues with Real Time Strategy (RTS) Games for New Players Real time strategy games have been one of the most popular game genres since it’s inception with Westwood Studios’ Dune, however, it is also considered on of the most unapproachable and core game genres. This hardcore nature about it has prevented the spread of RTS games beyond the core crowd that it garners. I believe that this inaccessibility can be narrowed down to three core issues. 1. Complex and Arcane UI and Control Scheme. • Players unfamiliar with the RTS genre are intimidated by the myriad of buttons and icons needed just for basic unit control. 2. Multiple Levels of Management. • Multiple resources, micro and macromangement, events happening simultaneously off-screen, etc. Too much expertise is needed for players to feel that they are "doing well". 3. Extreme Time Pressure. • Multiple sources of time pressure add constantly ticking clocks that intimidates new players. 9 Fig 1 A screenshot depicting these issues from Starcraft II. Fig 2 While much less pronounced, these issues also exist in Pixeljunk Monsters. 10 AquariYum! Game Design Philosophy While many genres have an “introductory” level of games, such as Puzzle Quest for RPGs, Tetris for puzzle games, and even Super Mario for platformers. However, the games most relative for the RTS genre is the Tower Defense category of games, which eschews as many key RTS elements as it borrows, most notably, the idea of playing against other players, not the computer. AquariYum! is intended to be the lowest tier in the RTS archetype of games. For instance, using a tiered system, the evolution of an RPG could be perceived as such below. It should be noted that this should not be taken as a literal comparison of base complexity in games as the easiest to play games are most often the hardest to design for. Rather, this is an example of what players perceive in terms of complexity when looking at games in brief. Entry Tier - Bejeweled • The introduction of a singular core gameplay mechanic, with the possible addition of mechanics closely tied to the core mechanic. Casual Tier - Puzzle Quest • Retaining the core mechanic introduced previously, mechanics easily relatable but wholly different are introduced, such as levels and statistics, spells, story, etc. 11 Core Tier - Standard RPG (Final Fantasy Series) • Most, if not all of the core mechanic is removed as it relates to the previous games. The mechanic is retained through mini-games and other types of visual puzzles. The tertiary mechanics introduced through the previous iteration is brought to the forefront and become the core of the gameplay. This idea, another example of convergent and progressive design, are called “cross genre” games. These games have been in practice ever since the inception of the industry and can felt strongly today from games of diverse genres like Madden (Sports) and Army of Two (FPS) to No More Heroes (Action) and Rock Band (Music). It is extremely common and almost a mainstay in the current generation of games to see cross-genre elements represented. While the goal with AquariYum! is not to introduce players to a genre through a mechanic that is relegated to the backseat, it does much the same as the previous example, but retaining every mechanic it teaches. AquariYum! can then be seen to fill the entry-tier spot in the RTS genre. Furthermore, one of the core concepts of the RTS is to have an abundance of options of the player to explore, how AquariYum! deals with this concept is to allow these options, but to keep them wholly optional and not detrimental to the player experience. The tiered chart for RTS games including AquariYum! follows. 12 Entry Tier - AquariYum! • One core mechanic and two related mechanics per turn. One resource, with micromanagement and macromangement separated, and only a perceived real time pressure. The presence of a human opponent is strongly felt. Casual Tier - Pixeljunk Monsters/ Tower Defense Genre • Two resources, with control of up to two characters, and multiple related mechanics and abilities. Simultaneous macro and micromanagement, with forking time pressure and no presence of a human opponent. Core Tier - Starcraft, etc. • Three or more resources, with control of multiple units with many different abilities and mechanics. Heavy simultaneous macro and micromanagement, with multiple sources of time pressure and a strong human opponent presence. By reducing the number of resources and splitting up the types of management, yet retaining a feeling that the user is playing against another real person, the feeling and illusion of the real-time strategy genre is preserved in a smaller bite-sized piece that is easier to digest for both the first-time player and for users unable to commit the time to learning the complex mechanics of a standard RTS game. 13 Goal and Target Demographic The overarching goal of AquariYum! is simply to create a fun and engaging entry-tier real-time strategy (RTS) game that is accessible to players of all skills and commitments. AquariYum! achieves this by being a game that separates the "Real Time" and "Strategy" of RTS games. The most important part of AquariYum!, past the innovation and re- imagining of the RTS genre, is that the game must remain fun to players. The lofty initial target goal of AquariYum! is all users of the iPhone/iPod Touch, hopefully extending platforms if successful when launched in the Apple Application Store. The two groups perceived that will initially play AquariYum! are as follow. 1. Players not aware that AquariYum! is a RTS game being drawn in by the friendly visual aesthetics, extremely approachable gameplay mechanics, and innovative multiplayer design. Targeting of the entry and casual tier. 2. Core RTS players that see Aquarius as an interesting twist on traditional RTS and tower defense mechanics. These players will most likely be the initial viral advocates of AquariYum! Targeting of the core tier. 14 Through the social viral nature of mobile devices and Facebook, more players will be drawn to AquariYum! as their friends enjoy the game, as the passive multiplayer encourages friendly competition among friends. If successful, the game has the ability to be easily ported to both Console DLC (Wii, XBLA, PSN) and especially the Nintendo DS. Also for users of Mobile Devices, as expansions come out, they would be able to use the new mechanics introduced(new fish, etc.) but still be able to play against their friend with the base install game. This would not only encourage new players but also their entry and casual tier friends to upgrade at a low cost thanks to the viral player versus player nature of AquariYum! 15 Art Design AquariYum! draws its art style heavily from the 2-D underwater aesthetic style of Feeding Frenzy, but combined with the globally friendly and culturally appealing cartoon style fish designs from Disney Pixar’s Finding Nemo. The game consists of high- resolution 2-D art, reminiscent of the old colorful 16 bit Super Nintendo games. The aesthetic choice art style was chosen so that it is cartoony enough to pique the interest in casual players, but not enough to deter from drawing in more core players thanks to being already placed in popular culture thanks to films such as A Shark's Tale and Finding Nemo. The art assets themselves are placed in three categories as follows. The three main art asset categories of AquariYum! 1. Backgrounds, consisting of a variety of underwater themed areas, including reefs, caves, shipwrecks, etc. for players to navigate their fish through. 2. Fish, consisting of a variety of underwater creatures (not just fish) including clownfish, turtles, jellyfish, eels, etc. for players to select and place. 3. UI and Menus, consisting of a variety of buttons and menus that convey information to the player without obstructing the flow of gameplay or theme. 16 Fig 3 An example of a mood board used for the initial concept drafts on the look and feel of AquariYum! 17 Fig 4 An example of some of the concept art from the three main categories derived from the initial mood boards for AquariYum! 18 AquariYum! Music and Sound Design When designing the music and sound direction, adjectives and examples of prior art were given to the musicians in order for them to better create suitable and thematically correct music and sounds for the game. This is a listing of the stages and the media that inspiration was drawn from when designing not only background music, but also sound effects for the fish. A great deal of leeway was given on keeping realism, especially for the sound effects, in order to keep the whimsical and fantastic feeling of the game. For example, two stage mood adjective lists are as follows. The Coral Reef 1. Curious 2. Refined 3. Deliberate 4. Whimsical 5. Steady Previous Art: The Little Mermaid, Aquanaut’s Holiday (PS3 Underwater Exploration Game) The Underwater City of Atlantis 1. Mysterious 2. Curious 3. Grand 4. Discovering 5. Surprising Previous Art: Endless Ocean (Video Game for the Wii), Whale Songs (in general, that mysterious yet elegant, but with a touch of danger for this one) 19 Core Mechanics of AquariYum! Mechanically, AquariYum! is divided into two phases with as few core actions as possible to ensure that certain focus is placed on each phase that informs part of the core RTS experience without eschewing any of the key features that define the genre. Each action has been optimized so that they can all be operated with just a finger on the iPhone screen or the mouse. Each phase has also been designed to take anywhere from 30 seconds for a seasoned player to 2 minutes for a new player, creating a friendly and compact user experience. This was done to create a very brief, yet enjoyable session that the user would be able to access at anytime. The iPhone was chosen as the primary platform because of its advantageous independent publishing, but mainly since this experience was suited to small sessions, and with users ideally always carrying their phone with them, they would have access to AquariYum! during any period of downtime during the day. The actions that comprise each phase of AquariYum! Puzzle Creation - Challenger (STRATEGY PHASE): 1. Defender Unit Foresight 2. Drawing a Line (Path for Fish) 3. Collecting Starfish (By Drawing a Line Through Them) 4. Optional Mechanic - Deciding on the Order of the Fish 5. Optional Mechanic - Selecting Fish to Poison 20 1. Defender Unit Foresight - Observing what the defender will have at their disposal. • The units that the defender will have will be randomly selected at the start of a new game, allowing the challenger to tailor their line more strategically. The key point of an RTS is to for players to learn hidden information from the other player and to use this strategically to their advantage. Because AquariYum! is asynchronous, the solution to this challenge is to allow the challenger to access some key information from the defender. The strategy then comes into play on how the player uses this information. Fig 5 An example of an early interface concept of the Defender Unit Foresight Feature 21 2 and 3. Drawing a line of designated length from a goal point on the border of the screen, collecting at least one starfish along the way. • After drawing the line, the challenger will send their custom puzzle to a chosen friend. The starfish mechanic is explained in the Defender Feature – Revealing the Fog of War. Fig 6 An example of an early interface concept of the Line Draw Feature As mentioned before, many of the advanced mechanics of AquariYum! were left so that they were optional to the player in order to slowly ease the player from just using the core mechanic to also including the related mechanics. This is the first of these mechanics. 22 4. Optional Mechanic - Choosing the order of the fish. • By clicking on the fish icon in the lower right hand corner, the player will be able to choose the order their fish in the line from a set number that is randomly generated out of 20. If the player does not choose this option, the order will be randomly generated for them. Fig 7 An example of an early interface concept for the fish and poison selection feature 5. Optional Mechanic - Selecting poison fish. • By clicking on the poison icon in the fish selection menu, then clicking on a specific fish in the order, that fish will be turned into a poison fish that will stun predator fish when eaten. The defending player must then shake the iPhone to wake up their predators. If the player does not choose this option, the poison fish will be randomly selected for them. 23 Feeding Time - Defender (REAL-TIME PHASE): 1. Revealing the Fog of War 2. Placing Fish (Micromanagement is done for the player through leashing of units) 3. REAL-TIME ACTIONS: 1. Optional - Tap Units to Upgrade 1. Select areas to reveal the "fog of war" on the stage. • The player attempts to guess and reveal where the first player drew their line. By making passing through a starfish part of the challenger requirement, it informs the 2 nd player to where to search on the stage. Even if they don’t find any portion of the path, they are able to make an informed judgment on where the path drawn by the first player may or may not be. This line drawing and reveal is part of the key design of AquariYum! as this simple act reflects the fact that there is very organic and real person that the player is challenging. There is no AI currently, and most likely will never be, that can emulate the human thought pattern, with all its small unique facets, especially the flaws. Adding the simple rule of having to intersect with at least one starfish adds a primal understanding to AquariYum!, drawn from the simple connect the dot exercises that we all grew up with to looking up to the night sky and viewing constellations. Drawing a line from one waypoint to another, whether it be in dot or starfish form is something that we as humans are able to grasp instinctively. 24 Fig 8 An example of an early interface concept for the line reveal mechanic 2. Placing of Predator Fish (Towers) • Players will simply touch the screen in this phase in order to place the locations of the predator fish. These fish act in theory and practice like the towers in standard tower defense games. The number of predator fish will be randomly generated at the start of the challenger's turn and will be sent as embedded data along with the map to the defender. 3, Optional Real-Time Mechanic - The defender taps a predator fish to upgrade it. • Players will simply tap the predator fish that they wish to temporarily upgrade a 25 certain number of times in order to activate this mechanic. These upgrades are unique to each predator, from increasing attack speed, to allowing fish replacement. The design behind this is twofold. First off, tower defense games involve a great deal of waiting and watching during the defense session, effectively turning the game into a cut scene that the player views passively. By engaging the player actively throughout the session, gameplay integrity is maintained. Secondly, the standard design behind a tower defense game is permanent upgrades for towers. While this is certainly fine for a game that lasts multiple waves (stages) each play session, the play session for AquariYum! lasts only a single wave. What the temporary upgrade allows is both an opportunity of the user to be engaged continually by controlling the amount of time that their towers are upgraded. Fig 9 An example of an upgraded predator ability, the Jellyfish is able to be moved for a short amount of time 26 Directed Asynchronous Gameplay Design As AquariYum! is meant to a beginning step in the RTS genre, the gameplay is specifically designed to direct the player to focus and iterative on mechanics in their own separate phases. By restricting player actions and directing them to only a few core mechanics, familiarity is achieved with each phase faster, rather than as a whole. Much like when playing a difficult piano piece, musicians will rehearse the notation separately for the left and the right hand before attempting to play them simultaneously. There are two distinct types of interconnected asynchronous gameplay in AquariYum!, challenging other players (via line drawing) and defending (via placing fish). For the iPhone release candidate, there are two distinct play modes: 1. One on One Versus over the iPhone network • Players compete with each other across the internet asynchronously, either pulling maps from a random selection of user generated and moderated content, or issuing directed challenges. 2. One on One Versus on the same iPhone (Hot-Potato) • Players compete with each other on the same phone by one player completing the puzzle creation phase before handing off the phone to challenge their friend. 27 The core gameplay of AquariYum! is divided between the two players, challenger and defender, into the two separate sections of the classic RTS game. By separating the real- time (action) and strategy portions of AquariYum!, the player has less to concentrate on, and therefore is able to focus on the core game mechanics that make each section important to the overall composition of the classical RTS. By teaching these mechanics in small controlled sections, the player is given two extra steps towards feeling comfortable in a standard RTS setting. The thought process behind this is much like how Civilization “…transposes the many-layered quality of social life to an inflexible, reductive algorithm for “civilization…”” (Galloway 98). However, in this case we are maintaining the flexibility and core features of the RTS genre, but dividing them up in a way the maps better to a simpler and less involved user experience. Simply put in the mechanical narrative of AquariYum!, the challenger prepares the line and order of fish on the strategy portion, and the defender will place and regulate the predator fish as the wave begins. Again, this simple splitting up of mechanics allows the players to each focus on their core responsibilities. I will now briefly cover the asynchronous elements that were each of the core mechanics were designed for in mind specifically for AquariYum! The design of each section themselves strongly echo the tenets of organic asynchronous design discussed at the beginning of this paper. Starting first with the challenger phase, again the core mechanics present here are: defender unit foresight, drawing a path, collecting starfish, order of the fish, poison fish. 28 fish, and selecting poison fish. The drawing of the line allows for a distinctly similar, yet different experience for each playthrough, whether the involved parties have player before together or not. The choice of giving the challenging player the option to both choose the waves and select the sick fish that are to be sent over to the defending player also triply reinforces this design structure, as each of these three mechanics could be exactly the same for a stage, but if even one is changed without touching the other two, the user experience for the defending player changes drastically in an instant. This adds three layers of user controlled interactivity and allows for a factor of three when looking at creating a new and organic gameplay experience. Add to this the fact that there are two mechanics that add an additional factor of two in terms of organic feel and variety to this phase alone. Starting with the defender unit foresight feature, even though a defending player has not yet received this map, there is a sense that there is a face behind the interface as the challenger player already has insight to the tactics and resources of the second player, so they are designing their custom stages with a goal in mind. Even though the challenging player may not have a designated recipient in mind, they are still creating and interacting with the game space with the intent of outsmarting another player. While it may be minor, the psychological presences of this kind of intent is all that is needed to allow the illusion of passive multiplayer even before a target is chosen. The second item is quite simply, the placement and types of starfish that are randomly generated. This directly affects the way that players will tactically draw their paths and what types of waves they 29 will send over to the other player. At the end of this phase, there are a total of five interconnected mechanics that allow for an incredibly rich variety of gameplay in a simple to digest chunk of gameplay. Next, let’s move on to the defender phase, as with before, the core mechanics of this phase are: revealing the fog of war, placing fish, and tapping units to upgrade them. While there are only three core mechanics in this phase, the extremely variable and organic nature of the challenger phase already reinforces the fact that this player is competing against a human, not a computer. Because of this, the mechanics in this phase are mostly reactive, or giving this player an interesting and varied toolbox to deal with the situation that the first player has created. The first of these tools is fog of war mechanic, as the player must first discern the path of the first player. Already, the factors associated with creating this path are incredibly varied, but the tool to deal with them is simple and an effective counter to the mechanic of the starfish from the puzzle creation phase. Since the player must pass through at least one starfish to finish their path, and there are starfish with a multitude of abilities, the defending player already has insight into where and what to search for, a simple, yet effective deduction tool for an incredibly varied machine the first player has built. 30 The second of these tools comes into play in the placing of the defending players towers, as the information from the fog of war mechanic and the pre-chosen resources this player has will determine this, based on the variables of the line creation, the available units, and also what information was uncovered by the player. Here, the concept of organic play comes back into the forefront of the picture, as the first player already had access to the available units of the second player, and thus used this information to craft a custom experience for them. What this player is experiencing in this entire phase is a custom map that is created for them even before their presence was announced or even anticipated. And finally, the last of these tools is the simple tap to upgrade feature. What this tool does more than anything else, is to infuse a sense of action and real-time into this section as this mechanic keeps the player busy, but not frantic as they move at their own pace from predator fish to predator fish, imbuing them with action and creating a variable landscape of their own decision to counteract the “virtual” reality that was created for them by the first player. Psychologically, as the waves appear from beyond the visible screen of the player, the very real presence of the first player is strongly felt; “…off- screen space was not actively used…its presence was implied…” (Wolf 56). In this case, the presence of another player is strongly implied as this players actions are wholly dictated by the first player, and while they may not be, in a sense, physically inhabiting the space at the same time as this player, their creation, and thus, their presence is strongly present. And at the core of asynchronous design, this is the most important design, the inclusion of the aura and presence of the player at all times. 31 Previous Iterations and Evolutions on the way to AquariYum! AquariYum! started out life as Desktop Desktop Defense!, a standard tower defense game for the PC that used the visual metaphor of desktop icons defending against an intrusion of viruses, spam, and other pc-centric threats. While the core concept of the game remains today in AquariYum!, the visual metaphor has since been discarded for something more friendly after lengthy discussions with a variety of advisors and peers. The idea of an asynchronous tower defense player versus player game has also since been introduced since then. During this phase, a variety of paper prototypes in both hex and grid were conceived. But eventually, after switching to a fish theme, was the idea of the line introduced after studying the Line Rider game for a length of time. This paper prototype was also fueled by the idea of user generated content, and to that end, invisible ink markers, paper, and a simple compass were all that was used to prototype the core concept that eventually became AquariYum! To look more closely at the early prototypes, because of the nature of the project, I developed two paper prototypes before proceeding with a digital prototype. They were both grid and distance based systems based on a Player versus Environment (Viruses and other harmful computer applications) and a Player versus Player archetype. Previously, several core features were attempted, some of the more notable of these included: 32 RFID based action figure game. • This would further expand on the works of previous works such as Sangokushi Taisen and Quest of D, using convergent design with games such as Heroclix to create a collectible and accessible strategy game. Artists and Programmers were initially recruited, but most of the team dropped out after announcement of Desktop Desktop Defense. Extensive research was done in the Collectible Card Game (Magic the Gathering, etc.), Figure (Chainmail, etc.), and RFID (Hyperscan, etc.) field, but after initial research was compiled, it was determined that the scope was too large and the technology too costly and hard to engineer to proceed further with this as a small scale project. The "Critical Mass" System This core feature was developed earlier in the year and was initially intended for class balancing problems in groups when playing in Massively Multiplayer Online Role- playing Games (MMORPGS). This mechanic was based on group makeup and would dynamically change to add some balance and increase the "fun to time" value of the genre. A prototype and theme was created in the form of Earthbound Online. However, after looking at previous MMORPG engines such as XW, Metaverse, and even RPGMaker, this was deemed too small of a task to be intended for a thesis. However, the Critical Mass system was intriguing enough that I wanted to continue with it. 33 This later became part of 3D by replacing the idea of balancing through groups with the idea of balancing by distance. Because of the spatial nature of RTS games, this would allow for an even deeper level of strategy for advanced players without being too abstract to new players. The idea of only positive benefits that arise from Critical Mass helps to balance the idea. A digital prototype was done in Flash and was prepared with the Critical Mass system. A great deal was learned in design from both these aborted attempts, as they both tried to address the issue of core issue of accessibility in vastly different ways. Fig 10 One of the original Desktop Desktop Defense! mood boards 34 To describe the original concept of Desktop Desktop Defense!; Desktop Desktop Defense (3D) is an entry level Real Time Strategy (RTS) game designed and built around the basic principles of real world operating systems such as Apple OSX and Microsoft Windows. This includes visual, tactile, functionality design as any user who is familiar at all with personal computers will have an immediate grasp of how the basic game control system operates. 3D is built for one main reason: To create an introductory, familiar, but most importantly, accessible and fun player versus environment (passive) RTS game for entry level players or players who may not be interested in RTS games. The goal is that Desktop Desktop Defense! is that it can later become a "gateway" RTS game with multiplayer co-operative and versus modes (aggressive). The familiarity and accessibility comes from previous knowledge about computer operating systems through experience, from user workflow, visuals, to basic controls. 35 Conclusion and Lessons Learned I believe that in designing new and exciting games that mass audiences will enjoy, the key is to not do something completely different, but to take a well known and existing concept, but to carefully examine the constraints and problems it has in it's current state and to improve upon that. I believe that highly commercialized products have a higher cultural value than high art through mass penetration. It's our duty as artists and designers to make sure that these items both entertain but educate on what popular media can be. For instance, art films versus highly commercialized films such as "The Dark Knight"; who is to say that the commercial film does not only entertain but also enlighten the audience on what good filmmaking is. This film was seen by millions, who now have a new notion on what good filmmaking is, whereas the art film might have inspired the commercial one, the message is passed on to the masses by the commercialized film. This is what I intend to do with AquariYum!, create an amazingly fun and entertaining commercial game, but one that will challenge the notion of what an RTS is, and how player versus player gameplay is perceived in the current game clime. The process in designing AquariYum! has been an interesting journey for me from a player to a designer of RTS games. I had initially conceived the concept as a quirky and fun way to introduce the genre to players that may be intimidated by the genre or lacking the skill to jump straight in to a real RTS. In essence, I was building an RTS for a player like myself. One of the main conceptions I had about game design was addressed 36 strongly by this project, and that was casual games are easier to design for. Not so in this case, in thinking about giving players a well designed and strong experience for as few mechanics as possible, the difficulty came out. Games like Bejeweled and Peggle amaze me with the elegant simplicity, yet robust gameplay experience and I have nothing but the utmost respect for the designers behind these games. One of the main things that is a danger to designers is the promise that more mechanics will make the game more fun to play. I found myself traveling down this road, but thanks to constant user feedback and testing, another hallmark of good design, I was able to avoid this shaky road. One of my professors gave me a quote once that I carry with me to this day; An artist creates something and shows someone and asks “What do you think?”. The person replies, “Well, I like this and this, but I don’t like this and this.”. The artist looks at his work again and says, “Well, I like it, and it’ll stay that way.”. However, a designer creates something and shows someone and asks, “What do you think?”. The person replies, “Well, I like this and this, but I don’t like this and this.”. The designer looks at his work again and says, “Wait wait wait, what didn’t you like and why don’t you like it? What would you like to see there instead?”. I believe that this is one of the most important part of designing games, especially if you fancy yourself a master of a genre, as that can dangerously blindside you to current events and considerations that are pushing the ever changing game landscape forward. However, it is important not to take blind feedback, but to parse it through your own 37 knowledge base and disseminate the information that is useful for you. This was especially the case for AquariYum! as I had a variety of feedback from sources that had never played an RTS before, all the way up to the defining authorities on RTS design in the game industry. That being said, I believe that game literacy, and a keen eye for observation is an equally important tool, as the more games that one has experienced, the more diverse the portfolio of experiences that you can draw upon when designing an experience. And we’re not just talking a singular genre, but to draw from all sorts of experiences, not just games. Anything can be game design, from a hike in the mountains, a bus ride, all the way up to an intense multiplayer match of Call of Duty. The user experience is present in all of these experiences, and that is what games must truly capture. Designers should diversify their life experiences as well as their game experiences, what may work in one game may be awful in another, but the key thing is the understanding on why that is. As I look through the design documents and revisions over the course of the project, I am amazed by how much the project has changed, evolved over the course of its life. Many of the designs that were scrapped I was immensely proud of for the innovative contributions to the field of game design, but they just didn’t fit within the scope of the ever-changing beast that was AquariYum! Looking back, I fondly recall these designs, but I understand that there is a time and place for each one of them, perhaps in a future game as I hold many quite dear to my heart, but I understand that I want them to shine in the best and most appropriate place possible, so I put them away and wait patiently. 38 AquariYum! was also the first time that I was able to lead a fairly large sized team for such a project. I had always wondered why it was so easy for me to get along with the entire team on such a wide scale as this was also my first experience as both the producer and designer for a project simultaneously. I must have been doing something right, as this was reflected in the general personality of the team and the excellent work and dedication that was poured out on a daily basis. When I asked one of my engineers why he enjoyed the project so much, his reply was that as the team leader and designer, I took feedback from them constantly without instantly dismissing it, from design to art to the way that code would have to be implemented. When I liked something, I would explain why I liked it and how it would work in context to AquariYum! and also vice versa for feedback I deemed was irrelevant for the project. This lesson would simply be titled, listen to those around you, because they probably know a lot more than you about a lot of stuff. In ending, I would like to list out what I believe every designer should know, asynchronous game design or not. Or as my experiences directly reflect, my journey from a game player to a game designer. 1. First and foremost, be able to separate your own subjectivity and objectivity for games and just be able to “take a step back and observe”. 2. Pursue as much feedback as you possible can, but use your own judgment and instincts 39 to distill the meaningful from the irrelevant. 3. Be prepared to change your design, don’t get stuck on something you love, just for the sake of it. Be flexible for the game, if not for yourself. 4. Be literate about games, if you want to be a film director, watch a lot of films, immerse yourself in all areas of your field, even if you don’t personally enjoy them. 5. Listen to your team, be a team player, but above all, be humble. Everyone is an expert at something, know how to focus their knowledge to help your project. 6. Love and Passion for games. 7. Never give up on your dreams. 40 References and Researched Art Apple OS X. Computer software. Cupertino: Apple Inc., 2001. Aquanaut's Holiday : Memories of Summer. Computer software. Tokyo: Artdink, 1996. Aquanaut's Holiday. Computer software. Tokyo: Artdink, 1995. Aquanaut's Holiday 3: Hidden Memories. Computer software. Tokyo: Artdink, 2008. Aquanaut's Holiday 2. Computer software. Tokyo: Artdink, 1999. Bartle, Richard, and Roy Trubshaw. Multi-User Dungeon. Computer software. Colchester: Essex University, 1979. Battleforge. Computer software. Ingelheim: EA Phenomic, 2009. Bejeweled. Computer software. Seattle: PopCap Games, 2001. Bogost, Ian. Asynchronous Multiplay. Futures for Casual Multiplayer Experience. Georgia Institute of Technology. 29 Mar. 2009 <http://www.bogost.com/downloads/ I.%20Bogost%20%20Asynchronous%20Multiplay.pdf>. Chainmail. Seattle: Wizards of the Coast, 2002. Chess with Friends. Computer software. Dallas: Newtoy Inc, 2008. Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3. Computer software. Los Angeles: Westwood Studios/Electronic Arts, 2008. Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun. Computer software. Los Angeles: Westwood Studios/Electronic Arts, 1999. The Creeps. Computer software. IPhone App Store: Super Squawk Software, 2008. Crystal Defenders. Computer software. Tokyo: Square-Enix, 2008. Desktop Tower Defense. Computer software. Desktop Tower Defense. <http://www.handdrawngames.com/DesktopTD/Game.asp>. 41 Endless Ocean. Computer software. Tokyo: Arika/Nintendo, 2007. Everblue. Computer software. Tokyo: Arika/Capcom, 2001. Everblue 2. Computer software. Tokyo: Arika/Capcom, 2002. Eye of Judgment. Computer software. Tokyo: SEC Japan Studio, 2007. Feeding Frenzy. Computer software. Seattle: PopCap Games, 2004. Feeding Frenzy 2. Computer software. Seattle: PopCap Games, 2006. Field Runners. Computer software. Oregon: Subatomic Studios, 2008. Final Fantasy 12. Computer software. Tokyo: Square-Enix, 2006. Galcon. Computer software. IPhone App Store: Imitation Pickles, 2008. Galloway, Alexander R. Gaming Essays On Algorithmic Culture (Electronic Mediations). New York: Univ Of Minnesota P, 2006. Garden Defense. Computer software. San Francisco: Division 90/iWin, 2007. Heroclix. Seattle: Wizkids, 2002. Hyperscan. Computer software. El Segundo: Mattel, 2006. IDefend. Computer software. IPhone App Store: Landolphia.com, 2008. ITower Defense. Computer software. Boulder: Team Phobic, 2008. Kingdom of Loathing. Computer software. Kingdom of Loathing. 11 Feb. 2003. 29 Mar. 2009 <www.kingdomofloathing.com>. Koivisto, Elina M.I., and Christian Wenninger. Enhancing Player Experience in MMORPGs with Mobile Features. Enhancing Player Experience in MMORPGs with Mobile Features. Nokia Research Center & SonyNetservices GmbH. 29 Mar. 2009 <http://www.digra.org/dl/db/06278.00110.pdf>. 42 Koster, Raph. Theory of Fun for Game Design. Paraglyph, 2004. Line Rider. Computer software. Newport Beach: Bostjan Cadez/inXile, 2006. Line Rider 2. Computer software. Newport Beach: Bostjan Cadez/inXile, 2008. Mobile Suit Gundam: Bonds of the Battlefield. Computer software. Tokyo: Bandai Namco, 2006. Pictochat. Computer software. Kyoto: Nintendo, 2004. Pixeljunk Monsters. Computer software. Kyoto: Q-Games/Sony, 2007. Plants vs Zombies. Computer software. Seattle: PopCap Games, N/A. Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. Computer software. Raleigh: Vicious Cycle/D3 Publisher, 2007. Quest of D. Computer software. Tokyo: SEGA, 2004. Retro Defense. Computer software. New York: Larva Labs, 2008. Sangokushi Taisen. Computer software. Tokyo: SEGA, 2005. Scrabble. Computer software. SCRABBLE for Facebook and iPhone. 2008. 29 Mar. 2009 <http://www.eamobile.com/Web/mobile-game/lp/scrabble?cid=sc1>. 7 Cities. Computer software. IPhone App Store: Neptune Studios, 2008. Spore. Computer software. Emeryville: Maxis/Electronic Arts, 2008. Starcraft. Computer software. Irvine, California: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998. Steiner, Peter. "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog." Comic strip. New Yorker 5 July 1993. Supreme Commander. Computer software. Redmond: Gas Powered Games/THQ, 2007. Tap Defense. Computer software. IPhone App Store: LLGroup, Inc./MJG Consultants, LLC, 2008. 43 Taylor, T. L. Play between worlds online multiplayer games and contemporary play. Cambridge, Mass: MIT P, 2006. Trace. Computer software. IPhone App Store: Kevin and Taylor Calderone, 2008. Vib Ribbon. Computer software. Tokyo: NanaOn-Sha/SCEI, 1999. Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. Computer software. Irvine, California: Blizzard Entertainment, 1995. Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. Computer software. Irvine, California: Blizzard Entertainment, 2002. Warcraft: Orcs and Humans. Computer software. Irvine, California: Blizzard, 1994. Windows XP. Computer software. Redmond: Microsoft, 2001. Wolf, Mark J.P. Medium of the video game. Austin: University of Texas P, 2002. 44 Appendix A: AquariYum! Team Members Development Team by Alphabetical First Name: Al Yang Design and Production Aminish Wagh Engineer – UI and Backend Andrea Chang Music Composition Apar Suri Engineer – UI and Gameplay Ashok Meena Engineer – Gameplay and Features Dave Cory Lead Artist and Animator David Herman Engineer – Concept and Prototype John Guernsey Sound Design Jon Driegert Engineer – UI Keyur Bhulani Lead Engineer – Gameplay and Features Shridhar Ravikumar Engineer – Gameplay and Features Varun Sharma Engineer - Network 45 Advisors by Alphabetical First Name: Chris Swain Professor; USC Interactive Media Department Primary Internal Advisor Rob Pardo Creative Director; Blizzard Entertainment Primary External Advisor Special Thanks by Alphabetical First Name: Ed Zobrist Louis Castle Mark Bolas Peter Brinson Scott Fisher Tracy Fullerton

Abstract (if available)

Abstract AquariYum! Is a fun and accessible RTS game for players of all skill levels played across the iPhone asynchronously, much like Scrabble for Facebook. AquariYum! is best described as a mix between Battleship and a Tower Defense game. This project consists of an iPhone application that is networked through an external server that allows players to create unique user generated puzzles to share and challenge each other with. This paper will examine the process behind AquariYum! through progressive design, covering issues from aesthetic choice and mechanics to the iterations that led to the final version of AquariYum!

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Asset Metadata

Creator Yang, Albert Chung-Pu (author)

Core Title Aquariyum! Designing an organic asynchronous gameplay experience

School School of Cinematic Arts

Degree Master of Fine Arts

Degree Program Interactive Media

Publication Date 08/11/2009

Defense Date 05/09/2009

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag accessibility,AquariYum!,asynchronous,casual,casual gamers,drawing,facebook,fish,iPhone,line,multiplayer,networked,OAI-PMH Harvest,portable,progressive design,real time strategy,RTS,Tower Defense,user-denerated content,video game

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Swain, Christopher (committee chair), Pardo, Rob (committee member)

Creator Email albertya@usc.edu,thecrimeminister@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m2564

Unique identifier UC1191710

Identifier etd-Yang-2883 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-251606 (legacy record id),usctheses-m2564 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Yang-2883.pdf

Dmrecord 251606

Document Type Thesis

Rights Yang, Albert Chung-Pu

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu