Know your player - Optimizing the player experience
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The document focuses on optimizing player experience in video games, outlining various challenges and strategies in game design, including user experience, onboarding, and player feedback. It discusses methods such as heuristic evaluation, playtesting, and the importance of understanding the target audience to enhance gameplay and engagement. Key considerations include game mechanics, usability, and creating a fun, immersive experience for players of all types.
Know your player - Optimizing the player experience
- 1. J P I R K E R @ M I T. E D U S C I E N C E * PA S S I O N * T E C H N O L O G Y K N O W Y O U R P L AY E R – O P T I M I Z I N G T H E P L AY E R E X P E R I E N C E J O H A N N A P I R K E R
- 2. J O H A N N A P I R K E R • Computer Scientist & Software Engineering @Graz University of Technology • Virtual Worlds @Massachusetts Institute of Technology • Researcher at Institute for Information Systems & Computer Media, TU Graz • Games Research, Design, & Development, Gamification • Virtual, Immersive Worlds & Realities • HCI, E-Learning, UX • Website: www.jpirker.com @ J O E Y P R I N K
- 3. G A M E D E V E L O P M E N T P R O C E S S
- 4. – A F R I E N D . “Oh wow - I love your game! The art is so nice! The controls are a bit complicated, but it’s ok! It’s awesome! I love the story!” “WOW! You did this all by yourself? This is so amazing! ” – M O M .
- 5. IT’S A LOCAL MULTIPLAYER GAME WITH PLACEHOLDER GRAPHICS!?!?
- 6. T H E M A I N C H A L L E N G E …
- 7. P H I L T O L E D A N O - H T T P : / / W W W. M R T O L E D A N O . C O M / G A M E R S R E A L & H O N E S T E M O T I O N S
- 8. Immersion Audio Animation Graphics / Objects Character (1st / 3rd) Interactivity Interface Challenges Quests, Puzzles,… D I F F E R E N T U S E R E X P E R I E N C E S
- 9. U X I N G A M E S ( V S I N W E B S I T E S / S O F T WA R E ) • Playing games is voluntary • Games are all about fun & experiences • Games industry is extremely competitive
- 10. U X I N G A M E S : M A I N C H A L L E N G E S • Modern games are large & complex (e.g. GTA, AC,..) • Fluent gaming experience • Fun first: everything should be intuitive and easy to learn • Onboarding strategies and tutorial research • Challenge: Onboarding for newcomers and not boring for “experts”
- 11. G A M E S U S E R E X P E R I E N C E • Quality Assurance • “Can this tree fly?” • Game Usability • How usable is my game? (Interface, controls,..) • Games User Research (GUR) and Games UX Research • Who is my player? What are the created emotions?
- 12. G A M E S U S E R E X P E R I E N C E
- 14. M D A F R A M E W O R K ( H U N I C K E , L E B L A N C , Z U B E K ) • Mechanics - the rules or ‘verbs’ of the game • spawn points / ammo / weapons • Dynamics - how players use those rules • camping, sniping • Aesthetics - how the game makes the player feel • challenge / tension / zen http://www.cs.northwestern.edu/~hunicke/MDA.pdf
- 15. I T E R AT I V E D E V E L O P M E N T + M D A
- 16. M E T H O D S + D ATA • Expert Evaluations / Heuristic Evaluation (HE) • Playtesting • Surveys, Interviews, Game Logs • Think Aloud Protocol (TA) & Retrospective Testing • Notes, Audio, Video, .. • Biometrics • Biodata, Eye tracking, physical states, emotions • Focus Groups / Interviews with target groups • Game Analytics / Data logging • Quantitative data e.g. engagement, maps, progress details: gamesuserresearchsig.org
- 17. E X P E RT E VA L U AT I O N … H O N E S T & B R U TA L F E E D B A C K
- 18. U S A B I L I T Y H E U R I S T I C S F O R V I D E O G A M E D E S I G N ( E . G . ) • 1. Provide consistent responses to the user’s actions. • 2. Allow users to customize video and audio settings, difficulty and game speed. • 3. Provide predictable and reasonable behavior for computer controlled units. • 4. Provide unobstructed views that are appropriate for the user’s current actions • 5. Allow users to skip non-playable and frequently repeated content. 6. Provide intuitive and customizable input mappings. • 7. Provide controls that are easy to manage, and that have an appropriate level of sensitivity and responsiveness. • 8. Provide users with information on game status. • 9. Provide instructions, training, and help. • 10. Provide visual representations that are easy to interpret and that minimize the need for micromanagement. Pinelle, D., Wong, N., & Stach, T. (2008, April). Heuristic evaluation for games: usability principles for video game design. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1453-1462). ACM. KNOW YOUR QUESTIONS!
- 19. • Who is my target player? • Does the player understand my story? • Does the player know how to play? • Does the player know the way? • Is the learning process balanced? • Does the player have freedom to play? • How does the player feel? • What emotions does the game create? • Who is the real player (playing the shipped game)? K N O W Y O U R Q U E S T I O N S !
- 20. … W H O I S T H E P L AY E R ? T H E P L AY E R
- 21. – J A S O N A L L A I R E ( H T T P : / / T H E E S A . C O M / FA C T S / P D F S / E S A _ E F _ 2 0 1 4 . P D F ) “People of all ages play video games. There is no longer a ‘stereotype game player,’ but instead a game player could be your grandparent, your boss, or even your professor.”
- 23. B A R T L E ’ S G A M E R T Y P E S http://www.gamerdna.com/quizzes/bartle-test-of-gamer-psychology
- 24. … H O W W O U L D A P L AY E R R E T E L L T H I S S T O RY ? T H E S T O RY
- 25. G A M E C O N C E P T S A yellow creature eats dots while being chased by ghost monsters… A plumber jumps on the heads of mushrooms to find his girlfriend… Birds use physics to take vengeance on pigs… Own everything (Monopoly) AT THE HEART OF EACH GAME THERE IS A SOLID CONCEPT.
- 26. G A M E C O N C E P T S Formalize the concept of your game - your story - in one sentence … Ask your players/testers after playtesting to formalize the main story in one sentence … compare …
- 27. … I S T H E U S E R A B L E T O P L AY Y O U R G A M E ? F R E E D O M , I N T E R FA C E , & F E E D B A C K
- 28. P L AY E R F E E D B A C K http://bethsoft.com/en-gb/games/fallout_shelter Give appropriate feedback
- 29. F U L L C O N T R O L Add controls requested by players/testers
- 30. C O N S I S T E N T I N T E R FA C E D E S I G N Nice game from Zambia: http://www.scndgen.com/ Button Text
- 31. L E A R N I N G T H E G A M E … H O W W O U L D A P L AY E R L E A R N Y O U R M E C H A N I C S ?
- 35. G A M E O N H O W T O C R E AT E A F L U E N T G A M I N G E X P E R I E N C E ?
- 36. F L O W ( M I H A LY C S I K S Z E N T M I H A LY I ) ("The Art of Game Design" book by Jesse Schell)
- 37. G A M E S A R E M A D E F O R T H E P L AY E R S Nice article: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/168114/understanding_user_research_its_.php G A M E S U S E R R E S E A R C H = F E E D B A C K F O R G A M E D E S I G N E R S H O W P L AY E R S W O U L D E X P E R I E N C E T H E I R G A M E S
- 38. P L AY T E S T I N G … WAT C H O T H E R S P L AY Y O U R G A M E
- 39. T H I N K I N G A L O U D
- 40. T H I N K I N G A L O U D P R O T O C O L S . .
- 41. E Y E - T R A C K I N G • User’s gaze while playing the game is recorded • What does the user see? • What does the user miss?
- 42. Thanks to Sony London
- 43. Thanks to Sony London
- 44. P L AY E R A N A LY S I S
- 45. H O W T O M E A S U R E F U N ?
- 46. Jeanne H. Brockmyer, Christine M. Fox, Kathleen A. Curtiss, Evan McBroom, Kimberly M. Burkhart, Jacquelyn N. Pidruzny. (2009). The development of the Game Engagement Questionaire: A measure of engagement in video game playing. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Vol. 45, pp. 624-634.
- 47. Jeanne H. Brockmyer, Christine M. Fox, Kathleen A. Curtiss, Evan McBroom, Kimberly M. Burkhart, Jacquelyn N. Pidruzny. (2009). The development of the Game Engagement Questionaire: A measure of engagement in video game playing. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Vol. 45, pp. 624-634.
- 48. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6 Level 7 Level 8 Avg Player Experience Fun Difficulty Frustra<on
- 49. B I G P L AY E R D ATA
- 50. P L AY E R H A B I T ( P L AY E R F I N G E R P R I N T ) 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Player Type 1 Player Type 2 Player Type 3 Player Type 4 Player Type 5 Time spent Game Mode A Game Mode B Game Mode C Game Mode D Game Mode E 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Story Enjoyer Party Player Killer Online Hero Allrounder Time spent Story Campaign Arena Online MulAplayer Local MulAplayer
- 51. 4 P L AY E R T Y P E S N P L AY E R T Y P E S Story Story Enjoyer Party Player Killer Online Hero Allrounder Story Story Enjoyer Party Player Killer Online Hero Allrounder Explorer
- 52. C O L L E C T D ATA F O R Y O U R E N V I R O N M E N T
- 53. C O N T E X T U A L F E E D B A C K awesome! confused /lost frustrated
- 54. D E S I G N Y O U R T E S T L I K E Y O U ’ V E D E S I G N E D Y O U R G A M E . . H O N E S T & A S S O O N A S P O S S I B L E
- 55. C R E AT E Y O U R O W N N E T W O R K O F E X P E R T S . . B E H O N E S T
- 56. P L AY G A M E S . . . . L E A R N F R O M G O O D & F R O M B A D T H I N G S
- 57. T H A N K Y O U F O R Y O U R AT T E N T I O N . J O H A N N A P I R K E R , J P I R K E R @ M I T. E D U , W W W. J P I R K E R . C O M , @ J O E Y P R I N K This is how others play your game!