MDA a formal approach to games design and games research

Hunicke et al (2004) describe games as 'systems that build behaviour via interaction'
How does the system work and what kinds of control does the games designer have at their disposal?

Mechanics > Dynamics > Aesthetics 

Mechanics- As a designer we only have control over this.

The mechanics is made up of the structure of the game, player location, rules of the game and of course for board games mostly dice. The mechanics is used to support the overall game play dynamics.

Dynamics- What happens when a player/you interact with the game, Choices- how rules might interact with each other also how the board interacts with the player - Tactical choices. 

Aesthetics- How the player feels - This is the key factor in making a game because player feedback is the most important thing to a designer, then they know what they have to do to change/iterate to make players feel better about playing.

In the article Hunicke et al describe a wider vocabulary of Aesthetics:

1. Sensation- Game as sense pleasure 

2. Fantasy- Game as make believe

3. Narrative- Game as drama

4. Challenge- Games as obstacle course

5. Fellowship- Game as social framework

6. Discovery- Game as uncharted territory

7. Expression- Game as self-discovery

8. Submission- Game as pastime 

This quote for me helps understand the system: 'MDA supports a formal, iterative approach to design and tuning. It allows us to reason explicitly about particular design goals, and to anticipate how changes will impact each aspect of the framework and the resulting designs/implementations.'

Hunicke et al was a very interesting article and was written in a way which helps understand also making sure it sticks in your mind. Before reading this I didn't know a few of the things they have mentioned but now it helps and has cleared a few things up for me.

Art

I have been looking into how to draw two-point perspective drawings and found some useful clips on YouTube which explain it for you in quite a lot of  detail.

Here is one link for pencil and paper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=felys-u4nfk

And another to use in Photoshop
Part 1  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0iKgq9uUaQ&feature=related
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFCL3P1Rlac&feature=related

Thought these are useful and are helping me to understand it better.

Reading Costikyan - I have no words & I must design: Toward a critical vocabulary for games.

‘A game is an interactive structure of endogenous meaning that requires players to struggle towards goals’ (2004:24)

Costikyan puts these into sections to explain them.

Interaction – Games need to have interaction to change the state of a game and for certain elements to be interactive so the player feels involved and gets sucked into the game.

Structure – Games need challenges and rules so the player feels like playing the game and they keep coming back to play the game, otherwise the game will not be interesting and unique and make the player not recommend or play the game. For example certain games have challenges where the player only has a certain amount of equipment allowed that they have to get to the next level. Structure is also used to shape a way the player then behaves and not determine it.

Endogenous meaning – Games need to have a range of items/concepts that is only significant within the game and explains to player what each is for. For example Sims, you need simpoints to then buy items so that you can build and expand the game making it your own.

Struggle – Within a game there needs to be different obstacles so that the player can then defeat/overcome these. For example puzzles to test the player, other players in the game or even the difficulty getting harder throughout the game.

Goals – Games need objectives and goals to then draw a player in to then achieve them, making sure the goal/objective is important so the player is motivated to achieve this. In certain games the player can make their own goals which is the case in simcity.

Reading Jesse Schell

In the Beginning, There is the Designer. 
What advice does Schell offer to the would be games designer?


Schell offers these words to you "I am a game designer". Asking you to repeat and say them out loud to yourself, and doing so every time you need to hear it. Throughout reading the article you also read that he is saying you don't have to be amazing at something to be a games designer, which is true we all have different styles of art or experience in coding and have all ranges of ideas for games which will be different from others. Also one key skill He says you need is Listening be it to your team members, target audience or even to testers so either way you will develop more listening skills or you already have them but you are already on track. He also quotes Herman Hesse who describes listening in Siddharta: "To listen with a silent heart, with a waiting, open soul. Without passion, without desire, without judgement, without rebuke".  Be confident and don't let failures grind you down as you will make mistakes etc. but you can improve, modify or start again and learn from them. 


This reading was really interesting and does explain your fears to you as everyone at first goes can I do this or even this is hard but reading from this we are going to make mistakes but as always you will learn from them and in the end get there and like Schell says I am a games designer.