Digital Games People who play video games are called gamers An - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

27/04/18 What are Digital Games? Commonly referred to as video games Digital Games People who play video games are called gamers An Introduction Rapidly growing industry • Generated close to USD 100 billion in revenue in 2015 https://newzoo.com/insights/articles/digital-games-market-worth-83-2-billion-2016/ 25/04/18 COMPSCI 111 - Lecture 17 2 First Games? But, play is older than games - First suspect: Sport • Playing done in many animal • Ritualized forms of other species activities (hunting) • Training • Running • Spear throwing • Passing knowledge • Determining social rank • Archery • Possible between species • Gameplay features • Communication non-verbal • Produce a measure of physical skill by competition against other person 1

27/04/18 First Games? First Organized Games - Second suspect: Divination • Randomizers • Funerals • Objects used for divination • Gladiators • Religious festivals • Evidence • Olympic Games, 776 BC • Staves found in Tutankhamen ’ s tomb • Judges (~1323 BC) together with gameboard • Truces between countries, • Similar staves found in the royal tombs at Ur together with another gameboard • Participants status as religious pilgrims • Mentioned in the Rig Veda (~1500 BC) • Gladiator Games • Celebrate battles at funeral • Gameplay features • Changed when Julius Caesar organized • Produce a random outcome within well- one in honor of his dead daughter Source: defined limits and clear states Parlett, David, The Oxford History of Board Games , Oxford University Press, 1999 Dice Games Board Games • Inventors • Origins • Lydians of Asia according to Herodotus • traced to keeping track of • Predecessors player ’ s scores in dice games • Binary Lots • Gameplay features • Astragals • Depicted ~800 BC • Introduced game token to • Gameplay features maintain game state • Provide variety of ranges for • Linked series of actions to randomizers and tie results to abstract randomized values to measures – numbers manipulate game state • Meta game – betting on outcome (but equally possible from sports) • Will of the gods - not taxed! 2

27/04/18 Racing games Perfect Information Games • Interpreting movement on board as physical • Removal of randomness from board movement games • Ludo (from Pachisi, ~700 BC) • Chess (referred ~600 AD) • Backgammon (from Senet & Mehen, 2650+ • Go (from Wei-qi, 2000 BC) BC) • Gameplay features • Gameplay features • 2D game world • Introduction of the concept of a game world • Focus on mental skills • Introduction of several game tokens • Actions defined by tokens controlled by one player introduced choice • Context-dependent actions • Capturing other tokens meant that effects of • Functionally different tokens changing one part of the game state by have • Possible to predict opponent additional effects – abstract events • Additional goals based on space control , space filling , connection , and collection Imperfect Information Games Skill Games • Making part of the game state • Board games where movement is determined by successful action or unknown to players performance • Stratego • Scrabble • Battleship • Trivial Pursuit • Blind Chess | Kriegspiel • Pictionary • Gameplay features • “ Normality Game ” • Balderdash (Rappakalja) • Hidden game state • Apples to Apples • Heterogeneous information availability • Gameplay features • Need of umpire for gameplay to • Introduction of variety of skills – commerce social, artistic, intellectual 3

27/04/18 Tabletop or Miniature Games Card Games • Origins in forms of kriegspiel • Background intertwined with Dominoes & Mah-Jong tiles • Similar to board games but use graphically depicted miniatures • Modern variants probably Persian origin • Brought to Europe by Arabs 13th • Warhammer century • Warhammer 40K • Specialized decks quite late • Gameplay features • Gameplay features • Continuous game world • Game systems • Players own game tokens they use • Bipartisan • Requires players to do extra-game • Random but fixed distribution activities • Define Game Space Collectable Card Games Roleplaying Games • Expansion from miniature games • Combines card games with idol cards • Dungeons & Dragons, 1974 • Magic: the gathering • The Basic Roleplaying System • Illuminati: new world order • Gameplay features • Gameplay features • Unclear winning conditions • Cards have self-contained rules within a • Unclear end conditions rule framework • campaigns • Physical rarity affects value of game • Game master token • Unequal power structure • Open-ended rule set • Time-limited functionality of cards • Mediates the Game World • Character development • Roleplaying • Novel narrative structure – adventure modules • D&D 3 rd edition introduced Open Gaming License and id20 Trademark License • D&D 4 th edition will include online support 4

27/04/18 Live-Action Roleplaying Games Novelty Games • Arose from roleplaying games, • Machines that provide improvisational theatre and re-enactment gameplay or lets players test societies skills • Earlier similar activities • re-enactments of battles between Osiris and • Gameplay features Seth in ancient Egypt • ‘ carrousel ’ games at European courts during • Coin-op the 17th and 18th centuries • Machine controls game flow • psychoanalytic methods in the 1920s • Gameplay features • Players represent their characters • Players physically act out what they do in the game • Extra-game activities may take a majority of time spent What do you need to play a Pinball digital game? • Reaction to games being 1. An input device banned due to being used for gambling 2. An output, typically video, device • Gameplay features • Flippers • Electro-mechanical game system 25/04/18 COMPSCI 111 - Lecture 17 20 5

27/04/18 Input Devices Output Devices Commonly used input devices: Screens • Keyboard and mouse • Gamepad Speakers • Touchscreen • Motion controllers Controllers Other input devices include steering wheels, joysticks, • Haptic feedback light guns, and rhythm game controllers 25/04/18 COMPSCI 111 - Lecture 17 21 25/04/18 COMPSCI 111 - Lecture 17 22 Platforms Media Cartridges Personal computers Optical discs Consoles • CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, Proprietary • Home and handheld User-writable media • Floppy discs, cassettes, memory cards Mobile devices Digital downloads • Steam, GOG, XBL, PSN Arcade machines h t t p : / / w w w . p c w o r l d . c o m / a r t i c l e / 1 9 7 4 2 9 / evolution_of_game_media.html 25/04/18 COMPSCI 111 - Lecture 17 23 25/04/18 COMPSCI 111 - Lecture 17 24 6

27/04/18 A.S. Douglas - 1952 1948 – Alan Turing • Part of Ph.D. thesis in Human- • Wrote a program to play chess Computer Interaction • The algorithm looked 2 moves ahead • Tic-Tac-Toe (noughts & crosses) • Doesn’t play chess very well • Play by dialing numbers • Computer opponent • Emulator • http://www.dcs.warwick.ac.uk/ ~edsac/ 25/04/18 COMPSCI 111 - Lecture 17 25 Tennis for Two - 1958 Spacewar! - 1962 • William Higinbotham • Stephen "Slug" Russell, MIT • DEC PDP-1 assembler in 1962 • Demonstrate system • Demonstrate the Type 30 Precision CRT Display • Analog computer • “ It should demonstrate as many of the • Real-time game computer's resources as possible, and tax those resources to the limit; • Within a consistent framework, it should be interesting, which means every run should be different; • It should involve the onlooker in a pleasurable and active way -- in short, it should be a game. ” 7

27/04/18 Computer Space – 1970 Ralph Baer - 1951 Back to Spacewar • Asked to Build the best television set • Nolan Bushnell decided to in the world . commercialize Spacewar • Built in several prototypes between 1966-1968 • Stand-alone arcade machine • Hand controller and light gun • Use of sensor • Magnavox signed an agreement in 1971 and the first video game system got released in May 1972: Odyssey Nolan Bushell - 1972 Genres – Platform Games • Atari Primarily involve navigation through environments • syzygy • 2D or 3D • Pong • Traversal from one platform to the next (Donkey Kong) • Arcade version, 1972 • TV-console, 1975 • Difficulties getting bank loans due to association with arcades and mafia 25/04/18 COMPSCI 111 - Lecture 17 32 8

27/04/18 Genres - Shooters Genres – Fighting Games Combat oriented using ranged weapons Focus on close combat • First-person • 2D or 3D • Third-person • Light gun • Shoot ‘em ups Usually involves 2 combatants • Player vs. Player • Player vs. AI • AI vs. AI 25/04/18 COMPSCI 111 - Lecture 17 33 25/04/18 COMPSCI 111 - Lecture 17 34 Genres – Role Playing Games Genres – Sports Games Play the role of one or more characters immersed in a well-defined world Emulate real-world sports • Detailed lore • Degree of realism varies widely • Focus on narrative, exploration, and quest completion • Realistic titles are referred to as sims • Usually competitive – against AI or other gamers 25/04/18 COMPSCI 111 - Lecture 17 35 25/04/18 COMPSCI 111 - Lecture 17 36 9