This document outlines the key aspects of game design that must be understood for an assessment on game design, including core mechanics like luck, strategy, diplomacy, resource management, and territory control; interactivity in both traditional and video games; aspects of narrative like structure, point of view, setting, and characters; and audio-visual components of traditional and video games and how they have developed over time. Students must complete analysis tasks on traditional and video games for each of these aspects to demonstrate their understanding of game design fundamentals.
The document proposes enhancing traditional board games with handheld augmented reality. This allows retaining social and tangible gameplay while automating tasks like scorekeeping. Examples given are a dungeon crawler where the handheld simulates the game master, Settlers of Catan where resources are digitally managed, and Magic: The Gathering where decks are built digitally but played with physical proxies. The goal is more portable yet complex board gaming experiences.
This is the 7th of an 8 lecture series that I presented at University of Strathclyde in 2011/2012 as part of the final year AI course.
This lecture covers ways that we can use AI to manage the experience that the player receives. Topics include Immersive Worlds, Player/Game Interactions, Interactive Fiction and "AI Directors" such as that found in Left4Dead
This is the 5th of an 8 lecture series that I presented at University of Strathclyde in 2011/2012 as part of the final year AI course.
In this lecture I outline some approaches that use AI techniques to automate the creation of content within game world. I make specific reference to assets such as rocks and plants, to interaction mechanisms such as weapons and to quest generating systems, in particular Skyrim's Radiant engine.
This document provides guidance on completing AO2, which asks students to create an initial game concept. It outlines the elements that should be included in the concept such as a 25-word summary, genre, setting, story, characters, structure, gameplay, perspective, design, success/failure conditions, and multiplayer potential. Students are advised to apply what they learned in AO1 and develop their own original game idea. The work will be posted to the student's blog and assessed for completion, competence, creativity, and originality.
This document provides guidance for developing the story and characters for a game (AO4). It outlines topics to address for both the story and characters, including appearance, backstory, role, abilities, weaknesses, and behaviors. For each topic, it describes what to include in a summary table and additional details. The goal is to create imaginative, structured stories and characters that fit together cohesively and drive the gameplay. Completing all aspects to a high standard would merit a distinction grade for the assignment.
The document discusses the author's reasons for going to the gym and their experiences there over the past two years. The author goes to Muscle Masters gym to focus on strength training in order to improve their physique. Going to the gym has become a routine part of their lifestyle and has positively impacted their self-esteem. They were initially unsure if they would continue going after the first few weeks, but are now glad they stuck with the routine.
The document discusses inspirational Black female role models and harmful stereotypes of Black women. It provides quotes from successful Black women who have inspired the author, including Oprah Winfrey and Rosa Parks. It then examines common negative stereotypes of Black women such as "Mammy", "Jezebel", and "Sapphire" and how media perpetuates them. The author wants to block out these stereotypes and accept more positive portrayals, essentially "gatekeeping" information that influences perceptions.
The document proposes enhancing traditional board games with handheld augmented reality. This allows retaining social and tangible gameplay while automating tasks like scorekeeping. Examples given are a dungeon crawler where the handheld simulates the game master, Settlers of Catan where resources are digitally managed, and Magic: The Gathering where decks are built digitally but played with physical proxies. The goal is more portable yet complex board gaming experiences.
This is the 7th of an 8 lecture series that I presented at University of Strathclyde in 2011/2012 as part of the final year AI course.
This lecture covers ways that we can use AI to manage the experience that the player receives. Topics include Immersive Worlds, Player/Game Interactions, Interactive Fiction and "AI Directors" such as that found in Left4Dead
This is the 5th of an 8 lecture series that I presented at University of Strathclyde in 2011/2012 as part of the final year AI course.
In this lecture I outline some approaches that use AI techniques to automate the creation of content within game world. I make specific reference to assets such as rocks and plants, to interaction mechanisms such as weapons and to quest generating systems, in particular Skyrim's Radiant engine.
This document provides guidance on completing AO2, which asks students to create an initial game concept. It outlines the elements that should be included in the concept such as a 25-word summary, genre, setting, story, characters, structure, gameplay, perspective, design, success/failure conditions, and multiplayer potential. Students are advised to apply what they learned in AO1 and develop their own original game idea. The work will be posted to the student's blog and assessed for completion, competence, creativity, and originality.
This document provides guidance for developing the story and characters for a game (AO4). It outlines topics to address for both the story and characters, including appearance, backstory, role, abilities, weaknesses, and behaviors. For each topic, it describes what to include in a summary table and additional details. The goal is to create imaginative, structured stories and characters that fit together cohesively and drive the gameplay. Completing all aspects to a high standard would merit a distinction grade for the assignment.
The document discusses the author's reasons for going to the gym and their experiences there over the past two years. The author goes to Muscle Masters gym to focus on strength training in order to improve their physique. Going to the gym has become a routine part of their lifestyle and has positively impacted their self-esteem. They were initially unsure if they would continue going after the first few weeks, but are now glad they stuck with the routine.
The document discusses inspirational Black female role models and harmful stereotypes of Black women. It provides quotes from successful Black women who have inspired the author, including Oprah Winfrey and Rosa Parks. It then examines common negative stereotypes of Black women such as "Mammy", "Jezebel", and "Sapphire" and how media perpetuates them. The author wants to block out these stereotypes and accept more positive portrayals, essentially "gatekeeping" information that influences perceptions.
The document discusses various aspects of nurturing the creative process for game design. It recommends broadening one's reading on diverse topics to generate new associations and ideas. Game designers should play a wide variety of games to learn different mechanics and genres. Sources of inspiration can come from unexpected areas beyond just games or movies. Brainstorming and letting ideas develop over time are important parts of the creative process. Well-designed games involve a series of interesting choices for players with meaningful tradeoffs rather than obvious or dominant strategies.
This document provides information about a game design merit badge presentation. It outlines expectations for participation, prerequisites for requirements, and limits for designed games. It discusses analyzing different games, types of play value, intellectual property, modifying game rules, designing an original game, testing prototypes, and careers in game development. Players are expected to actively participate, ask questions, and experiment. Designed games must not require more than 5 players or be overly complex.
This document discusses narrative and objective design in video game development. It defines narrative as the overall story experience created through plot, gameplay, music, and player choices. Objective design focuses on the goals of the game, such as capturing territory, collecting items, solving puzzles, or building resources. Several examples are provided to illustrate strong narrative games like The Last of Us and The Wolf Among Us, as well as common objective-based goals such as territorial control, collection, and chase/race scenarios.
Iistec 2013 game_design for id_m_broyles_id13333Marie Broyles
This document provides an overview of game/simulation development and instructional design. It discusses key differences between the two fields and how they can work together. The document outlines various processes used in both game/simulation design and instructional design, including concept, analysis, design, development, and evaluation phases. It also covers important elements for creating compelling stories, characters, and believable game worlds to engage players.
A semester postmortem on the mindful xp project at the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon. Over the spring 2012 semester our project team developed 10 games with a focus on meaning and expression.
In this presentation we discuss the origins of our project, the 10 games we developed, and what we learned from our experiences about creating meaningful, expressive games.
Visit our website at mindfulxp.com!
Rules of Play: Design Elements of Addictive Online Learning GamesDave Schaller
The document discusses designing addictive gameplay for online learning. It summarizes that games are designed to be compelling experiences where players must learn the rules to play. It then discusses key elements of game design including core dynamics, space, components, rules, actions, skills, and chance. Game design should balance these elements, such as balancing skill and chance, to create interesting choices for players with meaningful consequences. The document provides examples and recommendations for designing skill-based and choice-based gameplay.
The document provides an analysis of several existing video game products. It summarizes key aspects of Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Dungeon Defenders 2, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Some common features identified across the games include 2D graphics, third-person perspectives, combat systems, special effects, fantasy settings, and unique creatures. The analysis notes that aspects like an interesting combat system utilizing abilities and unique enemies will be drawn upon for the researcher's own work.
The document provides an analysis of existing video game products including Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Dungeon Defenders 2, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon - Blue Rescue Team, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. It summarizes key aspects of each game such as the art style, combat systems, settings, and target audiences. The analysis identifies common features across the games such as 2D graphics, third-person perspectives, enemy combat systems, and effects. It concludes by stating which aspects the researcher plans to incorporate into their own work, such as an interesting combat system using abilities, unique enemies, and a forest terrain inspired by Zelda.
The document discusses the stages of game design documentation, including design treatments, summaries, specifications, and production documents. It provides examples of content that may be included in each type of document, such as game story, gameplay, development specifications, level details, and character profiles. The purpose of design documents is to plan and communicate the design of a game to ensure consistent development.
This document provides an overview of what constitutes a video game and considerations for designing good games. It defines key elements of games as active participation, goals to achieve, and dynamic decision-making. Common game genres like arcade, puzzle, role-playing, and strategy games are described. Characteristics of good games are identified as challenging goals, interesting decisions with consequences, balanced gameplay, and rewarding players. Additional factors that enhance games are immersive storytelling, balanced characters, and appropriate music and effects.
- The document outlines research conducted for an action role playing game (RPG), including surveys of preferences. Exaggerated art style, knight/archer/mage character classes, and environments across varied terrains were most popular.
- Three games - Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, and Skyrim - were researched that use exaggerated style in an RPG genre. Evaluations found this style suits games' dark, unforgiving themes through oversized weapons and monsters.
- Images from the games show how exaggeration could inform concept art development, like overly large swords. Reviews state research can aid designing environments and presenting artistic interpretations for the RPG concept.
My TGC 2018's presentation about Roguelike game design which talks about design aspects of this genre and how we can utilize some of them to our (not necessarily Roguelike) games.
JTEL2012 emotion and games in technology-enhanced learningKostas Karpouzis
"Emotion and games in technology-enhanced learning" presentation at the 2012 Joint European Summer School on Technology Enhanced Learning in Estoril, Portugal
Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a role-playing game where players assume the roles of characters in a fictional world. It promotes skills like teamwork, problem-solving, and discussion of social issues. To play, you need the core rulebooks, dice, 4-6 players including a Dungeon Master who knows the rules. Libraries can run regular or one-off D&D games, painting sessions, or pair it with a fantasy book club. Local game stores and university clubs provide experienced players to help newcomers learn.
This document summarizes initial discussions around designing a board game with Celtic themes. It describes brainstorming different mechanics inspired by games like Age of Empires and Risk. The game would involve players managing Celtic civilizations and resources over multiple eras. Players would collect resources, build structures, and deal with random event cards. Early playtests focused on balancing resources, progression costs, and game length. The designers considered different board designs before deciding to remove the board entirely.
This document provides an overview of action and adventure game design. It discusses key genres like shooters and non-shooters. It also examines important design elements for these types of games like rules, setting, victory conditions, interaction models, and perspective. Shooter games are divided into first-person shooters and 2D shooters. Examples are provided for different genres and how some games have been updated while maintaining core mechanics. Overall the document analyzes the characteristics of action and adventure games.
The document provides guidance on conceptualizing a game, including identifying motivation and target audiences, selecting genres and types, and developing key elements of the concept such as the mission statement, storyline, gameplay, and mechanics. The concept development process involves understanding player psychology, defining objectives and challenges, and creating interactive elements that engage the intended audience.
A game designer is someone who can translate real and fictional experiences into engaging gameplay experiences and predict how valuable those gameplay experiences will be for players. They must understand game genres, systems, and mechanics. To become a good game designer, one should study experiences that interest them, play many different types and genres of games, and understand every aspect of game development. Divorcing emotion from design, never stopping playing games, understanding your role, and being open to ideas are important for becoming a truly excellent game designer.
Presented at 2013 Wayne County Public Schools Summer Institute. How board games and video games can be used as effective tools for engaging students, specific games for math and science to encourage critical thinking, research and social interaction.
This document outlines classification guidelines for films, videos, and other media content in the UK. It discusses:
- The different classification categories used and factors considered in classification decisions like context, theme, tone, and portrayal of dangerous behavior.
- General classification considerations like the overall impact of a work and how multiple issues cumulatively affect the classification.
- The goal of protecting children and empowering consumers while classifying works for their widest appropriate audience.
This document contains trivia questions and answers about events that occurred in 2011, including questions about newspapers, sports matches, countries, social networks, politicians, royal weddings, space missions, film awards, athletic championships, new words added to the Oxford English Dictionary, natural disasters, songs, quotes from public figures, and film posters. It provides brief multiple choice answers to identify redtop newspapers, countries involved in sporting events, new nations and defunct social networks, those involved in political incidents, locations of significant events, final space missions, film award winners, reasons for disqualifications, new words added to dictionaries, locations of disasters, song titles and artists, people and what they said or about whom they said it, and examples
The document discusses various aspects of nurturing the creative process for game design. It recommends broadening one's reading on diverse topics to generate new associations and ideas. Game designers should play a wide variety of games to learn different mechanics and genres. Sources of inspiration can come from unexpected areas beyond just games or movies. Brainstorming and letting ideas develop over time are important parts of the creative process. Well-designed games involve a series of interesting choices for players with meaningful tradeoffs rather than obvious or dominant strategies.
This document provides information about a game design merit badge presentation. It outlines expectations for participation, prerequisites for requirements, and limits for designed games. It discusses analyzing different games, types of play value, intellectual property, modifying game rules, designing an original game, testing prototypes, and careers in game development. Players are expected to actively participate, ask questions, and experiment. Designed games must not require more than 5 players or be overly complex.
This document discusses narrative and objective design in video game development. It defines narrative as the overall story experience created through plot, gameplay, music, and player choices. Objective design focuses on the goals of the game, such as capturing territory, collecting items, solving puzzles, or building resources. Several examples are provided to illustrate strong narrative games like The Last of Us and The Wolf Among Us, as well as common objective-based goals such as territorial control, collection, and chase/race scenarios.
Iistec 2013 game_design for id_m_broyles_id13333Marie Broyles
This document provides an overview of game/simulation development and instructional design. It discusses key differences between the two fields and how they can work together. The document outlines various processes used in both game/simulation design and instructional design, including concept, analysis, design, development, and evaluation phases. It also covers important elements for creating compelling stories, characters, and believable game worlds to engage players.
A semester postmortem on the mindful xp project at the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon. Over the spring 2012 semester our project team developed 10 games with a focus on meaning and expression.
In this presentation we discuss the origins of our project, the 10 games we developed, and what we learned from our experiences about creating meaningful, expressive games.
Visit our website at mindfulxp.com!
Rules of Play: Design Elements of Addictive Online Learning GamesDave Schaller
The document discusses designing addictive gameplay for online learning. It summarizes that games are designed to be compelling experiences where players must learn the rules to play. It then discusses key elements of game design including core dynamics, space, components, rules, actions, skills, and chance. Game design should balance these elements, such as balancing skill and chance, to create interesting choices for players with meaningful consequences. The document provides examples and recommendations for designing skill-based and choice-based gameplay.
The document provides an analysis of several existing video game products. It summarizes key aspects of Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Dungeon Defenders 2, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Some common features identified across the games include 2D graphics, third-person perspectives, combat systems, special effects, fantasy settings, and unique creatures. The analysis notes that aspects like an interesting combat system utilizing abilities and unique enemies will be drawn upon for the researcher's own work.
The document provides an analysis of existing video game products including Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Dungeon Defenders 2, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon - Blue Rescue Team, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. It summarizes key aspects of each game such as the art style, combat systems, settings, and target audiences. The analysis identifies common features across the games such as 2D graphics, third-person perspectives, enemy combat systems, and effects. It concludes by stating which aspects the researcher plans to incorporate into their own work, such as an interesting combat system using abilities, unique enemies, and a forest terrain inspired by Zelda.
The document discusses the stages of game design documentation, including design treatments, summaries, specifications, and production documents. It provides examples of content that may be included in each type of document, such as game story, gameplay, development specifications, level details, and character profiles. The purpose of design documents is to plan and communicate the design of a game to ensure consistent development.
This document provides an overview of what constitutes a video game and considerations for designing good games. It defines key elements of games as active participation, goals to achieve, and dynamic decision-making. Common game genres like arcade, puzzle, role-playing, and strategy games are described. Characteristics of good games are identified as challenging goals, interesting decisions with consequences, balanced gameplay, and rewarding players. Additional factors that enhance games are immersive storytelling, balanced characters, and appropriate music and effects.
- The document outlines research conducted for an action role playing game (RPG), including surveys of preferences. Exaggerated art style, knight/archer/mage character classes, and environments across varied terrains were most popular.
- Three games - Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, and Skyrim - were researched that use exaggerated style in an RPG genre. Evaluations found this style suits games' dark, unforgiving themes through oversized weapons and monsters.
- Images from the games show how exaggeration could inform concept art development, like overly large swords. Reviews state research can aid designing environments and presenting artistic interpretations for the RPG concept.
My TGC 2018's presentation about Roguelike game design which talks about design aspects of this genre and how we can utilize some of them to our (not necessarily Roguelike) games.
JTEL2012 emotion and games in technology-enhanced learningKostas Karpouzis
"Emotion and games in technology-enhanced learning" presentation at the 2012 Joint European Summer School on Technology Enhanced Learning in Estoril, Portugal
Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a role-playing game where players assume the roles of characters in a fictional world. It promotes skills like teamwork, problem-solving, and discussion of social issues. To play, you need the core rulebooks, dice, 4-6 players including a Dungeon Master who knows the rules. Libraries can run regular or one-off D&D games, painting sessions, or pair it with a fantasy book club. Local game stores and university clubs provide experienced players to help newcomers learn.
This document summarizes initial discussions around designing a board game with Celtic themes. It describes brainstorming different mechanics inspired by games like Age of Empires and Risk. The game would involve players managing Celtic civilizations and resources over multiple eras. Players would collect resources, build structures, and deal with random event cards. Early playtests focused on balancing resources, progression costs, and game length. The designers considered different board designs before deciding to remove the board entirely.
This document provides an overview of action and adventure game design. It discusses key genres like shooters and non-shooters. It also examines important design elements for these types of games like rules, setting, victory conditions, interaction models, and perspective. Shooter games are divided into first-person shooters and 2D shooters. Examples are provided for different genres and how some games have been updated while maintaining core mechanics. Overall the document analyzes the characteristics of action and adventure games.
The document provides guidance on conceptualizing a game, including identifying motivation and target audiences, selecting genres and types, and developing key elements of the concept such as the mission statement, storyline, gameplay, and mechanics. The concept development process involves understanding player psychology, defining objectives and challenges, and creating interactive elements that engage the intended audience.
A game designer is someone who can translate real and fictional experiences into engaging gameplay experiences and predict how valuable those gameplay experiences will be for players. They must understand game genres, systems, and mechanics. To become a good game designer, one should study experiences that interest them, play many different types and genres of games, and understand every aspect of game development. Divorcing emotion from design, never stopping playing games, understanding your role, and being open to ideas are important for becoming a truly excellent game designer.
Presented at 2013 Wayne County Public Schools Summer Institute. How board games and video games can be used as effective tools for engaging students, specific games for math and science to encourage critical thinking, research and social interaction.
This document outlines classification guidelines for films, videos, and other media content in the UK. It discusses:
- The different classification categories used and factors considered in classification decisions like context, theme, tone, and portrayal of dangerous behavior.
- General classification considerations like the overall impact of a work and how multiple issues cumulatively affect the classification.
- The goal of protecting children and empowering consumers while classifying works for their widest appropriate audience.
This document contains trivia questions and answers about events that occurred in 2011, including questions about newspapers, sports matches, countries, social networks, politicians, royal weddings, space missions, film awards, athletic championships, new words added to the Oxford English Dictionary, natural disasters, songs, quotes from public figures, and film posters. It provides brief multiple choice answers to identify redtop newspapers, countries involved in sporting events, new nations and defunct social networks, those involved in political incidents, locations of significant events, final space missions, film award winners, reasons for disqualifications, new words added to dictionaries, locations of disasters, song titles and artists, people and what they said or about whom they said it, and examples
This document provides radio and television audience data from two sources, RAJAR and BARB. RAJAR data from May 2017 shows that all radio weekly reach was 89.3% of people and digital radio listening increased year-over-year. BARB data from the week ending April 30, 2017 lists the top 10 most watched shows on ITV1, dominated by soap operas and talent shows, and the top 10 on BBC2, led by baking and snooker competitions.
The document provides guidance on marking answers to a question about media effects and outlines four levels of response from 1-5 marks (Level 1) to 16-20 marks (Level 4). It includes sample answers at the low and medium levels to demonstrate what is required to meet each level. A high-scoring answer would comprehensively discuss both positive and negative effects of a specific media product on its target audience by using relevant media effects theories and examples from the product.
The document provides guidance for answering an essay question about either censorship/classification/regulation or media effects in relation to the film 'Us'.
For censorship/classification, it discusses the different film rating systems in the UK and US and how they relate to scenes in 'Us'. For media effects, it outlines the hypodermic needle and uses and gratifications theories and discusses how scenes in 'Us' could relate to debates around imitative behavior and the effects of violent media. It provides potential discussion points about various scenes and issues raised in the film.
The document provides mise en scene notes for the opening ten seconds of a film titled "I Am A Crisis". It summarizes:
- The opening shot is a wide landscape showing a dark hooded figure silhouetted against electricity pylons, setting a mood of threat, danger and anxiety.
- A close-up shows the figure is accompanied by an intimidating dog, adding to the sense of menace.
- It's revealed the figure is a young woman who directly addresses the camera, subverting expectations set by the threatening stereotype.
- Shots of her walking through woods and along a foggy canal towpath continue visual metaphors of danger, worry and anxiety through use
1) Mulvey analyzes how cinema provides visual pleasure through scopophilia, or the pleasure of looking, which stems from psychological processes like Jacques Lacan's concept of the "Mirror Phase" of development.
2) Cinema reinforces traditional gender stereotypes by giving men narrative agency and positioning women as objects to be looked at, reinforcing the "male gaze."
3) The "male gaze" refers to how women are looked at in film for both the pleasure of male characters and the audience, asserting power and control through sight as stereotypically masculine traits.
This document provides a summary and analysis of the 1948 essay "The Gangster as Tragic Hero" by Robert Warshow. It summarizes that the gangster film genre fulfills a need in American culture to express a sense of desperation and failure that is suppressed by societal demands for optimism. The gangster represents aspects of the modern psyche that reject modern life and American values. While real gangsters only exist in cities, the imaginary gangster depicted in films represents what people want and fear they could become. The gangster's rise and violent activities symbolize both the rational pursuit of success and the irrationality of modern life, ultimately ending in failure and death.
This document discusses the concept of genre in media. It defines genre as a style or category of art/literature with socially agreed upon conventions that have developed over time. Examples of broad genres include films, plays, graphic novels, and video games, with more specific subgenres within those. Mainstream Hollywood cinema relies heavily on genre conventions to deliver familiar content with new twists. Financial reasons also contribute to genres, as studios can maximize profits by reusing sets, crews, and talent specialized in particular genres. The document outlines common conventions for narrative, mise-en-scene, sound, cinematography, and editing that define different genres like westerns, romcoms, horror films, sci-fi, and
This document analyzes how the film "Us" by Jordan Peele delivers what its audiences want. It has two main audience segments - horror fans and black women. Horror fans want to feel scared, and the film achieves this through jump scares, tension, and creating a sense of worry. It uses scenes like a young girl encountering strange occurrences in a hall of mirrors and a family suddenly being violently attacked at home to startle viewers and increase their anxiety. Black women do not often see themselves as central characters in mainstream films. "Us" focuses on a black female protagonist, Addie, from the beginning of the film through to the climax, showing her ordinary life and role as a mother and wife,
This document outlines a lesson plan on revising ideas about audience for a media exam. It includes learning objectives, success criteria, and a series of tasks to help students understand key concepts like demographics, psychographics, and how to analyze a film's audience. It provides examples analyzing the audiences of the film "Us" and discusses how large media conglomerates differ from independent producers in meeting audience wants and needs. Students are prompted to reflect on how the lesson fits with their other learning.
Warp Films has produced documentaries focused on music such as Arctic Monkeys at the Apollo and The Stone Roses: Made of Stone. They have also produced films in the genres of horror, including Ghost Stories and Kill List, comedies like Bunny and the Bull and Submarine, and crime/thriller films such as '71, Yardie, Four Lions, and Dead Man's Shoes.
1. This document outlines an examination unit on understanding the ownership models of media institutions, including cross-media conglomerate production companies and public service companies.
2. It provides learning objectives and success criteria for the unit and examples to consider, including Disney as an illustrative example of a conglomerate company.
3. The document guides the reader through tasks to demonstrate their understanding of independent media companies, cross-media conglomerates like Disney, and features of public service media companies.
The document provides a detailed analysis of the opening scene of the TV show Utopia, focusing on its cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing, sound, and narrative/genre elements. It describes the bright, colorful visual style and how specific camera techniques like pull focus are used. It also analyzes how the editing, sound design, and juxtaposition of calm/violent elements establish an unsettling tone and set up the quest narrative. The scene introduces the main characters seeking something called the Utopia manuscript and kills multiple people in the comic book shop in a violent yet subtle manner.
This document provides guidance for students on developing skills in analyzing media texts. It introduces key concepts and terminology related to editing, cinematography, mise en scene, sound, iconography, denotation and connotation. The learning objective is for students to analyze scenes from a media text of their choice by discussing how technical elements are used to construct meaning for the audience. Students are instructed to choose episode 1 of a TV show and analyze selected scenes focusing on cinematography, editing, sound, and mise en scene.
This document provides an overview of a lesson on understanding the ownership models of media institutions. It discusses key features of independent media production companies, using Warp Films as an example. The lesson explains that independent producers typically have smaller budgets, engage in co-productions for funding, and work with public or state-funded agencies. It provides tasks for students to research Warp Film's productions and crossover with television, as well as common job roles in media production. The document also provides an example exam question asking students to identify an independent media company, one of its successful products, and how that product found success with its audience.
This document discusses representations of gender in video games. It provides learning objectives around developing skills in reading media texts and analyzing positive and negative gender representations in games. It prompts students to think about gender, race, and disability representations in games they play and examples of stereotypes. Students are instructed to consider character roles, narrative agency, and power dynamics to analyze how characters are represented, not just visually.
This document discusses representations of gender in video games. It aims to develop skills in analyzing media texts and identifying positive and negative portrayals of gender, specifically focusing on issues like abusive, exploitative, misogynistic or stereotypical representations as well as the objectification of and "male gaze" towards women. The learning objectives are met by creating a PowerPoint presentation analyzing gender representations in two games.
This document outlines a 14-week medium term plan for a Y12 OCR media studies unit. It includes introducing core concepts like genre, representations, and regulation through film analysis. Students will learn about topics such as distribution, marketing, ownership models, and audience behaviors. They will practice answering exam questions related to these topics to prepare for their mock and final exams.
A summary, with some overview questions, of Laure Mulvey's article 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema' and it's uses in thinking about gender representations.
1. Unit 30 – Design for Games
AO1
Understanding Aspects of
Game Design
2. AO1 asks you to demonstrate your understanding
of the fundamentals of Game Design. You are
going to do this by analysing traditional games
and video games.
You need to be writing about:-
Core Mechanics
Interactivity
Storytelling and Narrative
Audio-Visual Components
What do these things mean?
3. Core Mechanics
The fundamental structures, practices and rules
that allow you to get on with playing the game.
●Luck
●Strategy and Skill
●Diplomacy
●Resource Management
●Territory Control
4. Core Mechanics - Luck
● Random occurrence
– often a planned
random
occurrence
● Traditional game –
the roll of a dice or
the turn of a card
● Videogame – a
'virtual' dice roll –
does the creature
appear? Does the
shot hit you?
5. Luck – Traditional Games
Poker
● What cards are you
and your
opponents dealt?
● What cards are dealt
Some traditional in the flop, turn
games involve and river?
nothing but luck –
Snakes and
● How do your
Ladders is all opponents react?
about the dice.
6. Core Mechanics - Skill and Strategy
● Planning and planned
occurrences.
● Based on your knowledge
and understanding of the
game and the playing
contexts
● Reading and understanding
your opponent
● Planning for the short,
medium and long term in
the game
7. Skill and Stragegy – Traditional Games
● When to play and when to
fold
● When to raise, how much to
bet
● Knowing the odds for your
hand and what you need
● Knowing and understanding
likely odds on opponents
hands
● Reading bluffs
● Bluffing
8. Core Mechanics - Diplomacy
● Player interaction
● Cooperation,
colaboration and
competition
● Short term and long
term diplomacy
● 'Capture' games –
Sorry or
Frustration
● Role Playing Games
9. Diplomacy – Traditional Games
Poker
● Cooperation –
Building a pot
● Collaboration –
eliminating players
● Competition –
raising, bluffing
and betting against
opponents
10. Core Mechanics – Resource Management
● Different 'assets' for
different players and
characters
● Use now or save for later?
● High value assets
● Money, or the things
money can buy?
● Attack or defence?
● Knowledge of the game
leads to informed
choices
11. Resource Management – Traditional Games
Poker
● Using your chips
● When to punt on a
chance
● When to go with a raise
and when to raise
● Draw Poker – keeping or
exchanging cards
12. Core Mechanics – Territory Control
● Controlling game space
● Defensive lines –
defending key spaces,
players or pieces
● Games about territory
control – Risk,
Diplomacy
● Wargames
13. Territory Control – Traditional Games
Chess
● Offensive and defensive
lines
● Protecting the back rank
● Protecting the king
● Protecting high value
pieces
● Balancing offense and
defence.
● Using familiar patterns.
14. AO1 Task 1
Using the following subheadings, analyse the Core
Mechanics of:-
a) A traditional game and
b) A video game
* Luck
* Strategy and Skill
* Diplomacy
* Resource Management
* Territory Control
You can use different games to illustrate different concepts –
you don't have to stick to one traditional game and one video
game for all of them
15. Interactivity
Interactive texts do not follow a linear
course but are shaped by your
decisions and actions. You decide
where the text goes – within certain
limits.
16. Interactivity – Traditional Games
Some traditional games
are models for
interactive video
games
● 'Choose your own
adventure' books
● Territory games like
'Carcassonne'
17. Interactivity – Video Games
Videogames now are
fundamentally
interactive – your
decisions and actions
shape the future course
of the game
● SIMS – when does
'interactivity' become
'creation'
● How interactive were
early video games?
18. AO1 Task 2
Analyse with specific examples the uses and
effects of Interactivity
i) In a traditional game and
ii) In a video game
19. Storytelling and Narrative
You need to demonstrate your understanding of
a wide range of aspects of narrative in a game...
●Three Act Structure
●Plot
●
Point of View - 1st Person -v- 3rd Person
●Setting (in time and place)
●Linear Narrative -v- Disrupted Narrative
●Characters – Stereotypes and Archetypes
●Representations, messages and values, themes
20. The Three Act Structure
Situation / Complication / Resolution
Introduction / Crisis / Resolution
Act 1 – Introduction – The farmer lives a peaceful life
Act 2 – Crisis – The family and farm are destroyed by bad
guys
Act 3 – Resolution – The farmer gains vengeance on the
bad guys
21. More on Three Act Structure
Each Act will also have 'acts' or 'scenes' within it
following similar structures. So – end of Act 2
might be...
Situation – The farmer has no fighting skills
Crisis – He is tutored by a Martial Arts expert
Resolution – He becomes a Kung Fu master
ready to whup some bad guys.
22. Point of View
This can literally mean the view we have of the game –
through one character's eyes. Obvious example – a First
Person Shooter
It also means which character we follow. Doesn't have to be
a first person view, there can still be a viewpoint character.
Traditional games – Chess or Draughts– black or white- you
only see the board from your side. 'Cat and Mouse' board
games – one is trying to escape, one to capture – very
different perspectives on the game.
23. Setting (in time and space)
How 'real' is the world of the game compared to
our world?
How do we learn its rules? – anything can
happen (flying in Second Life, for example) as
long as the game is internally consistent
What signs show us when and where we are?
Why are so many fantasy games set in the past?
24. Linear Narrative -v- Disrupted Narrative
Is there one route through the game that you
have to take (Simple board games have one
track you go round. Race games take you
around one track at a time) or can things happen
in any different order and still get you to the end
(Sandbox games).
25. Characters: Archetypes and Stereotypes
Archetype – the model example of a particular
type of person – the original. Video games are
often built around mythic structures using
archetypes.
Stereotype – A personality type observed
repeatedly and summed up in an individual – an
oversimplification of what a 'type' of person is like
Heroes and villains – helpers and messengers –
experts and teachers...
26. Representations
What is your game about?
What does it have to say about the world? (This
world, not the world of the game)
What ideas does it have about good and evil?
About gender or race?
About leadership?
27. AO1 Task 3
Using the headings in Aspects of Narrative,
analyse how narrative and storytelling work in
i) a traditional game and
ii) a video game
28. Audio Visual Elements
Traditional games still work on being audio-
visually and visually interesting.
Black and White in Chess/Draughts
Visual design of board games
Audio suspense from the noise of shaking and
rolling dice
Audio stimulus in Crossfire and Kerplunk
29. Audio Visuals in traditional games
● The traditional look
of the table –
green baize,
traditional cards
● The sound of cards
shuffling and being
turned
● The look of players
bluffing
30. Audio Visuals in Video Games
● Simple visuals in
early video games
– Pong – Space
Invaders
● Developments in
displays –
Defender – Elite
● Hardware/Software
development and
improved AV
31. AO1 Task 4
i) Analyse the Audio Visual appeal of a
traditional game
ii) Analyse the developing Audio Visual appeal of
one game or one game genre as it has
developed through successive generations of
hardware and/or software
32. Assessment
All of the above work is required to complete
AO1.
Pass – Limited and superficial understanding
Merit – Broad and sound understanding
Distinction – Comprehensive and detailed
understanding
These tasks are designed so that if you complete
them in full you should be working to Distinction.