Design Principles Flashcards
How many levels of functionality are there? Which ones are these?
There are 4. From closest-to-hardware to furthest-from-hardware: - Driver - Mudlib - World Definition - Instantiation
Describe the Driver functionality.
- Most basic part of the virtual world software
- Consists of Operating Systems Interfaces
- Also of Interpreter Components
- Makes two foundation concepts available to higher levels (objects and players)
- Handle Load Balancing, instancing, phasing, …
Describe the Mudlib functionality.
- Handles the physics of the virtual world
- Term not used at today’s MMOs
- Handles some higher, game-specific concepts (magic system, combat system and economic system)
Describe the world definition functionality.
- This (plus driver and mudlib) is what’s needed to start running the game.
- Known as world model or static database.
- Fully descriptive of the virtual world
- Defines new functionality consequent on the physics
- Acts as a template for creating instantiations of the virtual world.
- Implicitly describes all game states that can occur
Describe the instantiation functionality.
- It’s each running instance of a virtual world.
- Data values that make worlds different between each other.
- Only real-time component of a virtual world
- Most of it is to do with player activity.
Define the three levels of Data Definition.
- Hard-coded (C, C++, Java,…) -> Game Engine
- Soft-coded (scripting language interpreted by the hard code)
- Explicit data (values that can’t be executed)
What are the codebase differences between Virtual Worlds?
Mushes and Moos -> Game engine is just the Driver;
LPMUDS -> Driver + Mudlib
DikuMUDS -> Driver + Mudlib + World Definition
What are the advantages of the DIKUMUD and MUSH/MOO approaches?
DIKUMUD:
- Ease to use
- Run-time efficiency
- Fewer bugs
MUSH/MOO:
- Flexibility
- Expressiveness
- Variety
What’s the difference between virtual worlds and web pages in their client/server connection?
Virtual Worlds are asynchronous:
- Client sends request to server, server updates its database and server sends a request to client, then client updates the screen.
Describe how the data flow works.
- User types something
- Client packages it and sends it to server
- Server receives it and figures what it means
- Server processes it as a command.
- Server packages results & sends to clients
- Client receives the results as instructions
- Client processes its instructions
- User decides what to do next
Define inheritance.
Offspring objects get all their parents characteristics.
They can also have new ones or override these.
Objects at the top are more abstract.
Define the 2 types of inheritance.
Single: Form of a tree; Runs fast; Fairly Simple.
Multiple: Form of directed graph; Doesn’t run fast; Very expensive.
How are maps usually defined?
Areas concern content.
Regions concern geography (sometimes ownership).
Zones are collections of 1+ regions.
How do Virtual World stop players from walking off the edge of the world?
- Wrap-around
- Physical boundary
- Emotional boundary
- Big Stick (swimming fatigue).
- Notice
- Invisible Wall
- No boundary
Describe the level of detail of today’s MMOs. Explain why this happens.
They are superficial. Reality works at a greater level of detail than MMOs.
Graphics cover for lack of immersiveness; players are expecting things as they are used to them and breaking expectation breaks immersion.
How is time defined in Virtual Worlds?
Most of the times it’s linearly compressed.
It’s also the fashion in mmos to have inworld events that coincide with real-world events.
Night and day are usually cosmetic.
Define a quest.
A quest is a stand-alone piece of goal-oriented content:
– If doing it is required to win the game, it’s a story quest
– If not, it’s a side quest
What are the three classes if quests in MMOs?
– Hand-crafted
– Auto-generated
– Emergent
What is the economy in Virtual Worlds?
The economy is the means by which objects are introduced into, moved within and removed from the MMO.
Which types are there in the economy?
• Self-contained
– New bears appear when old bears are killed
• Faucet/drain
– Objects introduced at a steady (mean) rate
– objects destroyed at the same (mean) rate
• Limited resources
– Resources are finite and will run out
How do characters and players advance in a virtual world?
Players advance intangibly and characters advance tangibly. This is done by levels and stats.
Describe the main features of characters advancement.
Characters have attributes with which are associated values; they may have secondary attributes which derive from these; they can also do ‘things’ (eg quests) and gain experience which allows them to reach different levels and alter these attributes.
How does the ability system work?
Experience points are cashed in for new functionality.
Abilities system can be either one-off or on demand
– On demand: Every time you use a summon spell it will cost you XP
How can the characters attributes change? What is the downside to this?
By using Gear (this can be worn out or stolen sometimes).
This equates advancement with acquisition of material goods, not personal development.
What are skills? How do you develop them?
The basic idea is that you define your character in terms of what it can do - this is its skill set.
They have to be learned before they are available and then trained (through a specific action or spun off from an XP/Level system.
What are the four kinds of skills?
– Binary - either you can speak elvish or you can’t
– Discrete - You can speak elvish in one of these ways: not at all (0), a few words (1), conversational (2), fluently (3)
– Continuous - people can SPEAK ELVISH with a wide range of ability, from none at all to complete competence.
– Binary-continuous - either you can’t speak it, or you can with a wide range of competence.
How do players identify with their characters?
By creating them and giving them stats + costemics. Almost all MMOs require gender and avatar look (race and class are popular too).
Describe some methods for setting starting attributes/skills.
Fixed – The same for everyone of that race/class.
Random – Server rolls dice.
Pick points – You get points to allocate where you want them.
Kits – Choose a pre-balanced initialisation.
Questionnaires – From hypothetical questions about what you would do, your character details are divined.
Observation – Computer watches what you do then proposes your initial class/skills.
Tabula rasa – You Construct your character’s past, from which the computer constructs your character’s present.
Essay – Once used for textual role-playing worlds.
Describe the combat system in virtual worlds.
Combat is an important feature.
It has conflict, drama, risk, bravery, friendship, honour, glory – something for everyone.
The basic form that combat takes hasn’t really changed since MUD1.
What is the MUD1 combat paradigm?
– The attacker initiates combat
– An automated sequence of blow exchanges begins (melee)
– While this is going on, players can take other actions to affect the outcome
– Chance to hit is based on dexterity/agility
– Damage dealt is based on strength
– Damage taken comes off stamina/health
– When stamina falls below 1, fight ends.
Describe some combat problems.
– Equaliser weapons – six-guns
– Weapon mismatch – sword versus musket
– Over-robust defence – newbie versus sleeping old-timer
– Concurrency – how many creatures can you fight at once?
– Targeting – aim at individuals or points?
– Area effects – grenades that miss your team
– Twitch – latency too much of a factor
– Disengagement – end fight without death?
What is permadeath?
When a character dies it is obliterated from the database.
What are the pros and cons of having or not permadeath?
Having permadeath: People really do not like it when it happens to their character.
Not having permadeath:
• Players who are first into positions of power remain there
• Characters bunch up at the end – And “the end” has to have new content added to it all the time
• It undermines achievement
• You only experience content once
• It (usually but not always) breaks the fiction
• Players can’t handle griefers themselves
What are companions?
Companions are NPCs belonging to the player but under AI control. Pets do not count they are cosmetic usually.
How do companions affect immersion?
They can help immersion up to a point, but then they rapidly work against it.
Companions are basically unimmersive - Players buy into the fiction that their own character is a real person but companions as drones.
Who wrote “Ambiguity of Play”?
Brian Sutton-Smith.
How many common ways did Sutton-Smith identified for framing games? Identify these.
7 (called rhetorics). – Play as progress – Play as fate – Play as power – Play as identity – Play as the imaginary – Play as self – Play as frivolous
What is immersion?
It’s the feeling that you are in a virtual world. It involves cutting off the external world – Concentration, Physical separation.
Why are virtual worlds immersive?
Virtual worlds are immersive because of presence. This is the perceptual illusion that a mediated experience is not mediated ( you’re not typing at a keyboard, you’re talking to someone )
Besides immersion what other reason makes players choose virtual worlds?
Community. This is the sense players have of collective belonging.
What are the five main dimensions of groups?
– Single or multiple? – Formal or informal? – Temporary or persistent? – Flat or hierarchical? – Hardwired or softwired?
Which group types occur often enough that have names?
• Party
– temporary, formal, softwired, usually flat casual adventuring band
– Also group, team, fellowship, …
• Guild
– persistent, formal, softwired, hierarchical social network of disparate players
– Also kinship, clan, corporation, cabal, …
• Alliance
– temporary, usually informal, softwired collections of guilds acting as if they were one
• Faction
– persistent, hardwired separation of players and NPCs, typically for pvp purposes
What are the different types of community in terms of strength?
– Communication – Get this by default in vws
– Community of interest – People with same goals/interests group
– Community of practice – Share knowledge and pool resources
– Community of commitment – Members work together on projects important to the community, not individuals
– Spiritual community – Individual members know and trust each other implicitly
