DE4106: Expanded Practitioner Research - Game Designer Questionnaire: Peter Field

Peter Field is quickly becoming a veteran Game Design of the modern Industry. Having first worked at Ninja Theory on 'Enslaved' he then moved to Naughty Dog where he worked as a Level Designer on 'Uncharted 3' and 'The Last of Us'. Currently he is designing games at Media Molecule. Peter has provided a few guest lectures at UCLan and Futureworks respectively and I was pleased when he agreed to help me out by providing his own responses to my Game Designer Questionnaire. He is certainly the Game Designer who has helped to develop the most high profile AAA games that has participated so far and I believe his wealth of experience will greatly help to enhance and inform the project as it develops.


Reflective thoughts:

Peter believes that "it is difficult to know what constitutes as an exploration game as exploration is a core mechanic in a lot of traditional games..." (Field, 2014). He goes on to suggest that I should refine my terminology to suggest that Exploration games do not employ traditional skill-based challenges (Field, 2014). I believe this is a good suggestion and more clearly defines the type of traditional challenges I am referring to in my practice. Peter also reflects the thoughts of the other practitioners I have interviewed when he states that a clear narrative and  context for the actions is important when creating atmosphere. (Field, 2014).

Peter and I disagree somewhat when he states that designers should "design a game before assigning it a genre" (Field, 2014). While I understand and accept the merits of this approach, I believe that a guided genre-defining design model will help to set out either rigid or flexible constraints that will promote creativity, rather than hinder it. This belief was echoed by Arthur Parsons of TT Games when he delivered a lecture on working within established IPs. (Parsons, 2013).

Finally Peter states that while almost all games have a win-state, the most widely recognised Exploration game, Minecraft originally didn't have a win-state, and that it worked perfectly well without one. This is interesting, and I believe is something I can explore within the prototypes that are eventually designed using the guidelines of the model.

Questionnaire for Game Designers

Considering a new Design Model for the ‘Exploration’ Game Genre

Joe Shorrocks

MA Game Design

UCLan

Rationale of study: To design a completely new design model for the emerging genre of video game experience currently known as an “Exploration” game. This is a game that is centred on the emotional experiences of the player, rather than necessarily presenting the player with challenges to overcome. Recognisable titles that have been loosely included in this emerging genre are Journey, and Flower (ThatGameCompany), and The Unfinished Swan (Giant Sparrow). Other titles that explore this genre to a lesser extent are Katamari Damacy (Namco) and the upcoming title The Witness (Number None, Inc.). Journey, Flower and The Unfinished Swan have all received critical acclaim and have all sold well upon commercial release. This supports the claim that there is a demand for this type of game. However, despite their success, each game experienced unique development challenges and problems due to the nature of what they were trying to achieve. I believe that this is because the developers were constrained to traditional game design fundamentals – specifically challenge-driven designs- which are not completely appropriate for, or perhaps even compatible with, this genre. This suggests that a new design model is required, that will help future developers fulfill the potential of this genre without the difficulties experienced by the developers mentioned above.

The following questions are designed to help shape the development of this model.

Q1.  Have you played any existing titles that you would consider to be within the Exploration genre?

A1. Yes, I have played all the games mentioned above. Also Dear Esther & Minecraft might be included in this list.

Its hard to know what constitutes as an exploration game as exploration is a core mechanic in a lot of traditional games such as Metroid & Castlevania, but I think you are specifically looking at games that don’t have traditional skill based challenges. Some games like Dear Esther & the Stanley Parrable don’t have skill based challenges and are entirely narrative focused but don’t encourage exploration as they are so linear and there are no rewards for deviating from the main path.

Q2.  If yes, what were your opinions on those titles in regards to what you believe the designers were trying to achieve? Were they successful?

A2. I think designers (whether mechanics, level designers or script writers) are always trying to create a specific feeling. I think games that were particularly successful in this regard include Flower, Journey and Minecraft. Journey is probably the most traditional of these three and possibly employs the most traditional methods to create the atmosphere it wanted to. It has the clearest narrative and context for the action (super important when creating atmosphere) but it did have a very unconventional multiplayer component which definitely elevated the playing experience above that of a more traditional adventure game.

Q3.  What aspects do you believe are important when designing an Exploration title?

A3. A reason to explore is very important. Ether One rewards exploration with narrative snippets which works super well. Minecraft rewards exploration with rare recorcess which works exceptionally well.

I think the other important thing is to create believable environments that are enjoyable to explore. Side paths that loop back on themselves to reduce backtracking and frustrating dead ends, visible goals like the mountain in Journey.

Q4.  Do you believe there are any fundamental constraints when designing games within this genre?

A4. No, It is probably better to design a game before assigning it a genre. Mixing aspects from other genres can be super successful (RPG levelling in CoD 4 Modern warfare revolutionised FPS multiplayer)

Just go with your gut and do whatever feels good to you. Then prototype it, try it out and be very honest with yourself when it doesn’t work, then fix it. There isn’t really a rulebook. J

Q5.  Do you believe the Exploration genre is limited in terms of a particular demographic, or is this genre potentially universally appealing?

A5. I think exploration is used in almost every existing genre; even racing games have hidden shortcuts and secret paths. I’m not sure if it’s universally appealing but I don’t think it will alienate people.

The problem this kind of game faces is telling the player what the point of the game is. Dear Esther wants to tell a story, Flower wants to make you feel like you are flying and Minecraft wants you to explore and build stuff. Exploration is an ingredient in all of these games but it is not always the reason for playing them. Only Minecraft asks you to explore as the main reason for playing the game.

Q6.  How important do you believe traditional fundamentals such as providing challenges to the player are for an experience of this nature? Are there any alternative approaches, or goals that you could present to the player instead?

A6. Providing a challenge is definitely a sure fire way of keeping a player engaged but I think this is partially to do with that path being so well trodden. We have been making games in that way for a long time and there are a lot of strong examples to copy and learn from. But I don’t think it is the only way, in fact I don’t think there are rules when designing a game.

Nearly all games in the list above have a win state, even things like The Stanley Parrable and Dear Esther have a win state even if it is walk through this door. Minecraft doesn’t have a win state (well it does now but it worked perfectly well before that was added J) and I think it is also the purest example of exploration in a game which is probably no coincidence.