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PROFESSOR 1: So, yeah.

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So the publisher can
demand, you know,

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I want to see this feature.

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EA demands that this
game works with Origin.

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Ubisoft demands that U--

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is it Uplay?

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Is that what-- that their
universal sign-up system gets

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added on.

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Things like that, right?

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00:00:41,370 --> 00:00:43,470
That happens all the time.

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00:00:43,470 --> 00:00:47,280
Other stuff that's
maybe money-related or

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market-related?

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Sometimes expectations just--

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AUDIENCE: This feature in the
past didn't sell very well,

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so you should add it to every--

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PROFESSOR 1: Yeah.

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That usually is similar
to the publisher thing.

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Someone's trying to push that.

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But somebody could come
internally from the development

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team, right?

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00:01:05,985 --> 00:01:08,318
They look at competing products
and say, hey, this thing

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seems to be doing well.

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00:01:11,210 --> 00:01:12,460
You know, let's add hacks.

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00:01:12,460 --> 00:01:14,590
Because hacks seem to be
doing well for some games.

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00:01:14,590 --> 00:01:16,950
So we can add hacks to our game.

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It's not going to
necessarily change

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00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:21,940
the way how the game functions,
but it's still a new feature.

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00:01:21,940 --> 00:01:23,140
It's still a new--

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00:01:23,140 --> 00:01:25,820
you've still got to come up with
mechanics to unlock new hacks,

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and equip new hacks, and make
sure they animate correctly,

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and things like that.

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Even if necessarily the
gameplay decision making you

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00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:33,760
make in the game doesn't change.

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00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:38,800
Of course, hacks actually do
change the way some games work.

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00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,680
The changes in
marketplace in general.

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And sometimes they're
making a sequel to a game,

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or sometimes you're adding
number two, or number three,

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00:01:48,100 --> 00:01:49,100
at the end of the title.

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And your players are going
to expect something new.

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00:01:51,970 --> 00:01:53,710
And so there's some
pressure for you

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to sort of add new
mechanics instead of simply,

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00:01:57,370 --> 00:01:58,960
say, iterating on the old ones.

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00:02:01,570 --> 00:02:03,486
Why would you cut mechanics?

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00:02:03,486 --> 00:02:05,360
Not necessarily cutting
features, but cutting

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00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:07,020
mechanics-- game mechanics.

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There's one good reason
I've been drilling in

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to you all semester long.

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Yeah.

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AUDIENCE: Simplify gameplay and
decrease the learning curve?

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Or decrease whatever--

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PROFESSOR 1: Decrease
learning curve

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is a little bit separate
from simplify gameplay.

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Both good points.

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Decreasing the learning
curve is like--

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testers just don't get
how this game functions.

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We've got too much stuff
going on simultaneously.

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You could try to tune
those mechanics to make

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it a little bit more
legible, or you could just

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try taking the mechanics
completely out so that people

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can actually learn it.

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Simplifying the
game-- could be that,

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but it also could be just
trying to make what's core

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about the game more obvious.

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You know, this game is
really about generations

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and generations of
heroes, you know?

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That is a game, right?

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Hero Generations?

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Yeah.

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AUDIENCE: Yeah.

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PROFESSOR 1: Yeah.

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And you've got, say, some
sort of very elaborate weapons

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crafting mechanic or
something in there.

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Well, the weapons
crafting mechanic

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may not be really what
your game's about.

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So you might want
to take that out

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because people sort of forget
about what the core experience

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of the game is supposed to be.

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So focusing back on
the core of the game.

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What else?

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Say your game-- oh, yeah.

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AUDIENCE: New
technologies come out?

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PROFESSOR 1: Oh.

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New technologies come out--

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like what, physics?

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00:03:33,450 --> 00:03:34,280
You know-- maybe?

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AUDIENCE: Yeah.

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00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:38,780
Or has something to do
with things like-- well,

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they mentioned--
well, I don't know.

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3D, for example.

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3D comes out it changed--

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PROFESSOR 1: Well,
that's true, right?

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00:03:48,490 --> 00:03:51,040
I'm trying to think
of a game where that's

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00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:52,390
a really obvious example.

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00:03:52,390 --> 00:03:55,300
Can of think of a game mechanic
that substantially changed

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00:03:55,300 --> 00:03:56,780
when it went from 2D to 3D?

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00:03:56,780 --> 00:03:58,178
I'm thinking Mario, but--

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00:03:58,178 --> 00:03:59,365
AUDIENCE: Mario--

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AUDIENCE: Movement, because now,
instead of moving left, right,

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up, down--

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PROFESSOR 1: Just
straight-up movement.

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Well, the way how the camera
responds to movement as well--

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00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:08,920
that's a big one, right?

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00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:11,800
In a 2D game, say a
side-scrolling game,

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00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:13,900
like Metroid or
something like that,

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00:04:13,900 --> 00:04:15,940
you don't have this
situation where

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the place where
you're trying to go to

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00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:20,529
is obscured, unless
it's actually physically

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00:04:20,529 --> 00:04:23,770
blocked by something that you
have to destroy or open up

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00:04:23,770 --> 00:04:25,240
or something.

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00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:27,700
But in a 3D space, that
happens all the time.

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00:04:27,700 --> 00:04:31,270
You know, you've just got bits
of background scenery getting

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00:04:31,270 --> 00:04:34,300
in the way of the camera.

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00:04:34,300 --> 00:04:37,300
Mario just changed the
way jumps work entirely,

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00:04:37,300 --> 00:04:41,710
when it went from the 2D
Marios to Super Mario 64.

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00:04:41,710 --> 00:04:43,870
And every iteration
on top of that has

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00:04:43,870 --> 00:04:46,470
added new ways to jump--

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00:04:46,470 --> 00:04:48,970
double jumps, triple jumps,
jumping off the wall,

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00:04:48,970 --> 00:04:51,770
and stuff like that-- now,
the latest Mario games expect

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00:04:51,770 --> 00:04:52,930
that you know all of that.

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00:04:52,930 --> 00:04:54,596
Which is why I can't
play Mario anymore,

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00:04:54,596 --> 00:04:57,779
because I didn't go
through that process.

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00:04:57,779 --> 00:04:59,320
Although the games
are not that hard,

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00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:03,460
at least the first couple
of levels are not that hard.

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00:05:03,460 --> 00:05:04,930
Let's see.

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00:05:04,930 --> 00:05:07,180
What else?

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00:05:07,180 --> 00:05:09,745
There's one that I've
been always mentioning,

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00:05:09,745 --> 00:05:11,605
this entire semester.

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00:05:14,265 --> 00:05:15,215
It-- hmm?

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00:05:15,215 --> 00:05:16,962
AUDIENCE: Maybe just
to try something.

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00:05:16,962 --> 00:05:18,420
PROFESSOR 1: Just
to try something?

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00:05:18,420 --> 00:05:18,843
AUDIENCE: Yeah.

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00:05:18,843 --> 00:05:19,759
PROFESSOR 1: Oh, yeah.

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00:05:19,759 --> 00:05:22,200
Yeah, just to see how
it's going to change

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00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:23,450
how the gameplay works, right?

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00:05:23,450 --> 00:05:25,680
You know, let's
take something out

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00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:27,320
and see whether
that was actually

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00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:29,212
essential to the
experience or maybe getting

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00:05:29,212 --> 00:05:30,420
in the way of the experience.

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00:05:30,420 --> 00:05:31,390
You don't know.

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00:05:31,390 --> 00:05:32,850
You know, and the
emergent results

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00:05:32,850 --> 00:05:34,620
of taking out a
mechanic might actually

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00:05:34,620 --> 00:05:38,990
end up as a more
interesting experience.

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00:05:38,990 --> 00:05:41,220
One thing that the
book does mention

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00:05:41,220 --> 00:05:45,210
is to take stuff out that
might actually change the ESRB

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00:05:45,210 --> 00:05:47,350
rating of the game, or
the PEGI rating if you're

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00:05:47,350 --> 00:05:52,950
selling something in
the UK or in Europe.

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00:05:52,950 --> 00:05:56,520
So for instance,
if you're building

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00:05:56,520 --> 00:06:00,240
on top of a game engine
like Unreal or something

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00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:04,200
like that, which has
body location damage--

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and then you shoot
a head, the game

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00:06:06,780 --> 00:06:09,130
knows that you shot the head.

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00:06:09,130 --> 00:06:12,126
But maybe you don't want your
game to be that specific.

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Maybe you're designing a
game for kids or something

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00:06:14,250 --> 00:06:16,743
like that, and it's
like, well, rewarding

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00:06:16,743 --> 00:06:20,100
kids for head-shotting each
other is maybe not the feel

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00:06:20,100 --> 00:06:21,080
that we want to go for.

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00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,370
It might actually push us
out of the E for everyone

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00:06:24,370 --> 00:06:26,520
and into the--

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00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:28,090
what's the next rating, T?

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00:06:28,090 --> 00:06:29,431
AUDIENCE: And E--

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00:06:29,431 --> 00:06:30,180
PROFESSOR 1: Yeah.

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00:06:30,180 --> 00:06:32,750
There's like an E-10 rating.

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00:06:32,750 --> 00:06:34,700
At least there used to be.

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00:06:34,700 --> 00:06:36,930
OK.

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00:06:36,930 --> 00:06:39,480
And sometimes, you've just got
to cut mechanics because you

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don't have time to do them.

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00:06:41,270 --> 00:06:42,120
They're great ideas.

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00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:43,950
They would actually
make your game better,

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00:06:43,950 --> 00:06:46,402
if you had time to be able
to polish them and make them

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00:06:46,402 --> 00:06:48,110
understandable and
smooth and everything.

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00:06:48,110 --> 00:06:49,693
You just ran out of
time, and you just

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00:06:49,693 --> 00:06:51,280
want to be able to ship.

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00:06:51,280 --> 00:06:54,676
So that's a perfectly
legitimate consideration.

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00:06:57,650 --> 00:07:01,520
So that's this process of,
like, generating ideas.

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00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:04,650
Say, this is like an x or
something, the number of ideas

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00:07:04,650 --> 00:07:06,300
that you've got in your game.

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00:07:06,300 --> 00:07:11,770
And mechanics in terms of either
rules, and in a computer game,

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00:07:11,770 --> 00:07:13,866
there'll be code.

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00:07:13,866 --> 00:07:16,815
In these games, that's just
the rules, it's pieces,

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00:07:16,815 --> 00:07:20,550
it's boards, it's
everything that you actually

188
00:07:20,550 --> 00:07:22,650
have to make your game work.

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00:07:22,650 --> 00:07:25,050
And you kind of go through
this brainstorming phase

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00:07:25,050 --> 00:07:27,320
where you get a ton
of ideas, right?

191
00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:29,010
You've got some
good ones up here.

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00:07:29,010 --> 00:07:31,780
You've got some crappy
ones down there.

193
00:07:31,780 --> 00:07:36,200
Actually, it's probably
more like that.

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00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:38,160
A whole bunch of crappy ideas.

195
00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:40,605
And you've got a
couple of good ideas.

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00:07:40,605 --> 00:07:41,980
But yeah, there's
a big explosion

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00:07:41,980 --> 00:07:47,260
of ideas, where ideas
turn into experiments.

198
00:07:47,260 --> 00:07:48,960
Some of them are
thought experiments,

199
00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:50,775
that you're thinking--
just discussing them

200
00:07:50,775 --> 00:07:53,400
among your team-- what if we did
this, what if we did that, how

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00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:55,580
would you solve that problem.

202
00:07:55,580 --> 00:07:59,300
They may be real,
testable experiments where

203
00:07:59,300 --> 00:08:01,340
it's something
that you can play,

204
00:08:01,340 --> 00:08:04,784
something that you whip up
within an hour or half an hour,

205
00:08:04,784 --> 00:08:06,450
and you actually put
it in front-- we've

206
00:08:06,450 --> 00:08:09,609
been doing that all semester.

207
00:08:09,609 --> 00:08:11,025
Some of the ideas
may just come up

208
00:08:11,025 --> 00:08:14,250
off different ideas
interacting-- and just, what

209
00:08:14,250 --> 00:08:17,550
if we had dogs in our game?

210
00:08:17,550 --> 00:08:19,289
What if we had solar
power in the game?

211
00:08:19,289 --> 00:08:21,205
What if we had solar-powered
dogs in our game?

212
00:08:21,205 --> 00:08:22,580
And things like that.

213
00:08:22,580 --> 00:08:26,320
You know, and then
ideas just happen.

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00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:31,530
However, it's important-- so
far I've sort of been describing

215
00:08:31,530 --> 00:08:34,169
the brainstorming process
that you've all been through

216
00:08:34,169 --> 00:08:34,950
already.

217
00:08:34,950 --> 00:08:37,559
But one thing that we
haven't necessarily

218
00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:39,929
asked you to do
nearly as much is

219
00:08:39,929 --> 00:08:44,460
to come up with actual
discrete experiments.

220
00:08:44,460 --> 00:08:46,620
You know, it's like,
here's an idea.

221
00:08:46,620 --> 00:08:50,610
Actually come up with
a criteria of success

222
00:08:50,610 --> 00:08:52,200
that you're looking for.

223
00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:54,580
How do we know whether
this particular idea,

224
00:08:54,580 --> 00:08:57,030
this particular experiment
version of the idea

225
00:08:57,030 --> 00:08:59,650
is succeeding or not.

226
00:08:59,650 --> 00:09:01,170
And you're going to need that.

227
00:09:01,170 --> 00:09:03,160
Because you're going
to need to cull.

228
00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:06,330
You're going to need to
like reduce this back down,

229
00:09:06,330 --> 00:09:08,924
try to keep this, or maybe even
build this up a little bit.

230
00:09:08,924 --> 00:09:10,340
Actually, it's
probably more like,

231
00:09:10,340 --> 00:09:12,585
you're going to
cull a little bit.

232
00:09:12,585 --> 00:09:15,554
Then you want to
bring this up again.

233
00:09:15,554 --> 00:09:20,610
And then each time
this goes, you

234
00:09:20,610 --> 00:09:23,200
have kind of an
increase in that you'll

235
00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:25,780
have an increase in bad ideas,
but a decrease of bad ideas.

236
00:09:25,780 --> 00:09:31,570
But your total number of good
ideas just keeps going up.

237
00:09:31,570 --> 00:09:34,420
And by good, I'm using
a very vague term.

238
00:09:34,420 --> 00:09:35,910
It could mean polished.

239
00:09:35,910 --> 00:09:39,030
It could mean actually
good for game play.

240
00:09:39,030 --> 00:09:41,120
It could mean something
that's been proven

241
00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:43,290
in a marketplace, something
desirable that you

242
00:09:43,290 --> 00:09:44,422
want to keep in your game.

243
00:09:44,422 --> 00:09:46,130
PROFESSOR 2: Things
that could be-- like,

244
00:09:46,130 --> 00:09:48,330
it should be good for
the core experience,

245
00:09:48,330 --> 00:09:50,650
but one of the problems
could be, they are just--

246
00:09:50,650 --> 00:09:53,848
they're good working
mechanics, but actually don't

247
00:09:53,848 --> 00:09:55,712
help the core
experience, or detract

248
00:09:55,712 --> 00:09:56,872
from the core experience.

249
00:09:56,872 --> 00:09:57,705
PROFESSOR 1: Mm-hmm.

250
00:09:57,705 --> 00:09:59,660
Yep.

251
00:09:59,660 --> 00:10:02,990
Let's see.

252
00:10:02,990 --> 00:10:04,920
There are a couple
of dangers, even

253
00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:06,495
in this early
brainstorming process.

254
00:10:06,495 --> 00:10:13,490
So I'm just looking at
this whole part here.

255
00:10:13,490 --> 00:10:16,800
One is that you pretty
much already think

256
00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:19,380
you already know what
game you're going to make.

257
00:10:19,380 --> 00:10:22,800
You've got a single solution.

258
00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:25,530
Say you're taking the computer
game version of this class

259
00:10:25,530 --> 00:10:27,670
and you decide that you're
going to make an RPG.

260
00:10:27,670 --> 00:10:31,500
And your model is
Final Fantasy 6.

261
00:10:31,500 --> 00:10:34,080
OK, so everything is
going to basically follow

262
00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:35,550
the Final Fantasy 6 template.

263
00:10:35,550 --> 00:10:39,410
So you're basically pursuing
one single solution.

264
00:10:42,100 --> 00:10:45,960
And the problem with that
is that your implementation

265
00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:48,870
ability of actually
making all of those things

266
00:10:48,870 --> 00:10:52,800
fit that template is already--

267
00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:53,841
you are not Square.

268
00:10:53,841 --> 00:10:54,340
Right?

269
00:10:54,340 --> 00:10:56,640
You don't have all
of the resources

270
00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:59,760
that Square had, even back
when Final Fantasy 6 came out.

271
00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:01,942
How old is Final Fantasy 6?

272
00:11:01,942 --> 00:11:05,430
1994?

273
00:11:05,430 --> 00:11:05,980
2?

274
00:11:05,980 --> 00:11:07,310
AUDIENCE: I don't know.

275
00:11:07,310 --> 00:11:08,700
PROFESSOR 1:
Something like that.

276
00:11:08,700 --> 00:11:11,520
I mean, even then, they were
a large team with many years

277
00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:13,020
to work on--

278
00:11:13,020 --> 00:11:15,420
at least a year to
work on that game.

279
00:11:15,420 --> 00:11:18,750
I don't know how long they
actually worked on that game.

280
00:11:18,750 --> 00:11:21,930
There's a very, very good
chance that your ability

281
00:11:21,930 --> 00:11:24,060
to actually even
implement something

282
00:11:24,060 --> 00:11:26,250
that you know how
it already works

283
00:11:26,250 --> 00:11:28,240
may not be able to meet that.

284
00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:30,025
So you will have a
failed experiment

285
00:11:30,025 --> 00:11:32,440
and then you're kind of stuck.

286
00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:33,570
You don't know what to do.

287
00:11:33,570 --> 00:11:37,050
So you're going to have to do
lots and lots of experiments.

288
00:11:37,050 --> 00:11:39,700
But experiments are expensive.

289
00:11:39,700 --> 00:11:41,320
Everything takes time.

290
00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:44,920
Everything is going to need
culling at some point in time.

291
00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:47,430
But you need a
certain amount of time

292
00:11:47,430 --> 00:11:51,620
that isn't going to end up going
into the game-- this chunk.

293
00:11:51,620 --> 00:11:55,130
Actually, it's agood chunk.

294
00:11:55,130 --> 00:11:57,630
Which is why we've been trying
to teach you how to prototype

295
00:11:57,630 --> 00:11:58,900
really, really quickly.

296
00:11:58,900 --> 00:12:00,480
It's a little bit
of [INAUDIBLE].

297
00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:03,687
Because we want you to try to be
able to get on to experiments,

298
00:12:03,687 --> 00:12:05,520
come to a conclusion
about whether that idea

299
00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:08,430
was good or not as
fast as possible,

300
00:12:08,430 --> 00:12:10,710
so that you kind
of reduce the cost

301
00:12:10,710 --> 00:12:12,510
of doing a single experiment.

302
00:12:12,510 --> 00:12:13,070
And yes.

303
00:12:13,070 --> 00:12:14,160
It's true that you're
not going to be

304
00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:16,410
able to conduct an experiment
on every single idea

305
00:12:16,410 --> 00:12:17,760
that you've got.

306
00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:25,345
So you have to kind of pick and
choose a select number of ideas

307
00:12:25,345 --> 00:12:26,720
to be able to take
the experiment

308
00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:29,479
to the experimental stage.

309
00:12:29,479 --> 00:12:31,770
Now, there are a couple of
things that you can look out

310
00:12:31,770 --> 00:12:34,200
for to say, maybe we don't
want to conduct an experiment

311
00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:35,040
on something.

312
00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:36,780
One is a brittle idea.

313
00:12:36,780 --> 00:12:40,470
And a brittle idea
is that you kind of

314
00:12:40,470 --> 00:12:43,890
have to kind of twist it
really, really, really hard

315
00:12:43,890 --> 00:12:46,010
to be able to make
it fit with any idea

316
00:12:46,010 --> 00:12:47,010
that you've already got.

317
00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:51,436
I'm assuming that
you've already got

318
00:12:51,436 --> 00:12:53,310
a concept that your team
was kind of building

319
00:12:53,310 --> 00:12:54,240
around this concept.

320
00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:56,880
Somebody comes up with
an idea and a huge amount

321
00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:00,180
of twisting and turning to be
able to even make it fit close,

322
00:13:00,180 --> 00:13:01,770
even though you think
that on its own,

323
00:13:01,770 --> 00:13:05,100
this idea is a really good idea.

324
00:13:05,100 --> 00:13:09,810
You might actually want to see
how many different ways could

325
00:13:09,810 --> 00:13:13,620
this particular idea be
executed before you actually

326
00:13:13,620 --> 00:13:15,390
decide on the way--
on an experiment

327
00:13:15,390 --> 00:13:17,840
to conduct on that idea.

328
00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:19,890
Two ways that you can do that.

329
00:13:19,890 --> 00:13:27,300
One is that you
just specify, what

330
00:13:27,300 --> 00:13:31,020
is the goal of this
possibly brittle idea?

331
00:13:31,020 --> 00:13:32,370
It takes a lot of twisting.

332
00:13:32,370 --> 00:13:34,590
Why do we need this
idea in the first place?

333
00:13:34,590 --> 00:13:37,042
Is it because the challenge
in the game is too low?

334
00:13:37,042 --> 00:13:39,000
Is it because players
have too much information

335
00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:43,230
or not enough information about
what they're supposed to do?

336
00:13:43,230 --> 00:13:44,760
Is it because you
want to introduce

337
00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:48,940
a little element of
chance or maybe give

338
00:13:48,940 --> 00:13:51,780
some sort of strategic
decision making?

339
00:13:51,780 --> 00:13:54,000
Try to identify,
what is this problem

340
00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:55,980
that you're trying to
solve in the first place

341
00:13:55,980 --> 00:13:59,230
with this kind of unwieldy idea?

342
00:13:59,230 --> 00:13:59,730
All right?

343
00:13:59,730 --> 00:14:01,710
And once you've been
able to identify that,

344
00:14:01,710 --> 00:14:04,000
then you come up
with, all right,

345
00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:05,730
what are all the
different ways that we

346
00:14:05,730 --> 00:14:08,220
could address that problem.

347
00:14:08,220 --> 00:14:10,430
As opposed to, here's
this one solution that's

348
00:14:10,430 --> 00:14:13,620
kind of unwieldy, that might
very well solve that problem,

349
00:14:13,620 --> 00:14:15,930
but maybe there
are alternatives.

350
00:14:15,930 --> 00:14:18,300
Has anyone encountered this
in your own prototyping?

351
00:14:18,300 --> 00:14:20,970
Maybe in this assignment,
maybe in a previous assignment.

352
00:14:20,970 --> 00:14:23,970
Like, somebody had an idea that
was just kind of hard to use,

353
00:14:23,970 --> 00:14:26,330
but then what the idea
was trying to solve

354
00:14:26,330 --> 00:14:27,985
was actually a good
problem to solve?

355
00:14:30,620 --> 00:14:31,120
No?

356
00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:31,812
Not yet?

357
00:14:31,812 --> 00:14:34,660
I thought I saw some nods.

358
00:14:34,660 --> 00:14:36,220
If you've encountered
it, I'd love

359
00:14:36,220 --> 00:14:38,059
to get an example
from one of you.

360
00:14:38,059 --> 00:14:39,100
I can throw out examples.

361
00:14:39,100 --> 00:14:43,838
But I'd love to be able to
hear examples from one of you.

362
00:14:43,838 --> 00:14:44,338
No?

363
00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:53,620
AUDIENCE: I guess
in our first game,

364
00:14:53,620 --> 00:14:55,617
we realized a couple
problems with the game.

365
00:14:55,617 --> 00:14:57,950
So we came up with various
ways of trying to resolve it,

366
00:14:57,950 --> 00:15:00,700
that didn't really work
for the game itself,

367
00:15:00,700 --> 00:15:04,050
but solved the smaller problem.

368
00:15:04,050 --> 00:15:06,050
PROFESSOR 1: Can you be
more specific about what

369
00:15:06,050 --> 00:15:06,790
the problem was?

370
00:15:06,790 --> 00:15:09,206
AUDIENCE: Yeah, I'm trying to
think back to specific ones.

371
00:15:09,206 --> 00:15:13,500
One of them was that
the way our game

372
00:15:13,500 --> 00:15:16,250
was with the set
of the tic tac toe,

373
00:15:16,250 --> 00:15:20,060
it was really hard
to see what sets

374
00:15:20,060 --> 00:15:21,280
were available on the board.

375
00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:21,580
PROFESSOR 1: Right.

376
00:15:21,580 --> 00:15:22,760
This was the set assembly game.

377
00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:23,050
Sure.

378
00:15:23,050 --> 00:15:23,674
AUDIENCE: Yeah.

379
00:15:23,674 --> 00:15:25,370
And so one of the
things we tried to do

380
00:15:25,370 --> 00:15:27,935
was removing the
center tile altogether,

381
00:15:27,935 --> 00:15:29,810
so that you could only
play around the edges.

382
00:15:29,810 --> 00:15:32,480
Which did solve the
problem of, now you

383
00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:34,370
could really see
what everything was,

384
00:15:34,370 --> 00:15:36,080
so it was a lot
easier in that sense.

385
00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:39,260
Except it was just a lot
less interesting of a game,

386
00:15:39,260 --> 00:15:42,175
because there was a lot
less strategy to it.

387
00:15:42,175 --> 00:15:44,300
PROFESSOR 1: So you had a
version of the game where

388
00:15:44,300 --> 00:15:47,090
all the squares were in play,
including the center tile,

389
00:15:47,090 --> 00:15:49,049
and it just made it
confusing for your players.

390
00:15:49,049 --> 00:15:51,506
And then you have a version of
the game where there's just,

391
00:15:51,506 --> 00:15:52,450
like--

392
00:15:52,450 --> 00:15:55,130
this one possible
solution to this problem

393
00:15:55,130 --> 00:15:57,135
is just take the
center tile out.

394
00:15:57,135 --> 00:16:00,350
But that made it trivial, or--

395
00:16:00,350 --> 00:16:01,040
yeah.

396
00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:02,956
AUDIENCE: So we tried
to find a middle ground.

397
00:16:02,956 --> 00:16:04,760
And that's how we
ended up with the idea

398
00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:06,755
where we had one single
card in the middle.

399
00:16:06,755 --> 00:16:08,450
Because you could
still use it, but you

400
00:16:08,450 --> 00:16:10,485
didn't have to worry
about the lines of play

401
00:16:10,485 --> 00:16:13,090
going through the middle,
and how incredibly complex

402
00:16:13,090 --> 00:16:15,284
it is to try and
reason about that.

403
00:16:15,284 --> 00:16:15,950
PROFESSOR 1: OK.

404
00:16:15,950 --> 00:16:18,170
So it sounds like,
instead of a brittle idea,

405
00:16:18,170 --> 00:16:19,940
you actually had a
good, robust idea.

406
00:16:19,940 --> 00:16:24,390
Which is, that center square
is really problematic.

407
00:16:24,390 --> 00:16:26,299
It has hope-- it
has possibilities.

408
00:16:26,299 --> 00:16:28,340
It has really interesting
gameplay possibilities.

409
00:16:28,340 --> 00:16:31,210
But for learning the game
and starting up the game,

410
00:16:31,210 --> 00:16:33,890
it's problematic.

411
00:16:33,890 --> 00:16:36,140
So you found a way
to say, all right.

412
00:16:36,140 --> 00:16:38,210
How do we deal with
the center square,

413
00:16:38,210 --> 00:16:41,680
instead of the solution of
just delete the center square.

414
00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:45,320
You know, let's find a different
way to work it in the game.

415
00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:50,150
And your final game
actually does that.

416
00:16:50,150 --> 00:16:52,265
Something else
that you can do is,

417
00:16:52,265 --> 00:16:54,970
if you've got an idea for your
game that's kind of unwieldy,

418
00:16:54,970 --> 00:16:57,386
and you're not quite sure what
to do about it-- discuss it

419
00:16:57,386 --> 00:17:00,110
among your team, but
don't experiment on it.

420
00:17:00,110 --> 00:17:02,150
Don't work it into your rules.

421
00:17:02,150 --> 00:17:03,380
Don't try to implement it.

422
00:17:03,380 --> 00:17:05,390
Just get into everybody's heads.

423
00:17:05,390 --> 00:17:08,839
Because that idea may
come bubbling up later.

424
00:17:08,839 --> 00:17:12,950
And little bits of it might be
applicable and slightly easier

425
00:17:12,950 --> 00:17:14,916
to implement as you make
progress in your game.

426
00:17:14,916 --> 00:17:16,790
So in other words, put
it on the back burner.

427
00:17:16,790 --> 00:17:19,248
But make sure you have actually
had a chance to discuss it,

428
00:17:19,248 --> 00:17:21,709
so that everyone's kind
of thinking about it,

429
00:17:21,709 --> 00:17:24,000
even if it's not something
that you've decided that you

430
00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:25,640
actually want to do right away.

431
00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:27,258
It might be a lot
faster to just have

432
00:17:27,258 --> 00:17:29,882
a quick discussion in that case
than to conduct the experiment.

433
00:17:33,140 --> 00:17:33,640
Yep.

434
00:17:36,300 --> 00:17:38,910
So those are a
couple of strategies

435
00:17:38,910 --> 00:17:41,460
on how do you sort of focus
your experimenting time.

436
00:17:41,460 --> 00:17:42,960
And this is probably
not going to be

437
00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:44,543
very useful for
assignment two, but it

438
00:17:44,543 --> 00:17:47,820
is going to be useful
for assignment three.

439
00:17:47,820 --> 00:17:50,100
Because in assignment
two, hopefully you're

440
00:17:50,100 --> 00:17:53,640
well past the creating and
adding new features part

441
00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:55,890
and now you're just
trying to get this out

442
00:17:55,890 --> 00:17:59,230
of the door for Wednesday.

443
00:17:59,230 --> 00:18:02,440
So let's talk about
this stage now.

444
00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:04,314
Well, yeah.

445
00:18:04,314 --> 00:18:07,176
In fact, I'm going to
focus on this one instead.

446
00:18:07,176 --> 00:18:08,550
The sort of, like,
cutting phase.

447
00:18:08,550 --> 00:18:10,980
Where you're both cutting
good stuff and bad stuff.

448
00:18:10,980 --> 00:18:14,580
But you're cutting stuff in
general, because you have to.

449
00:18:14,580 --> 00:18:16,680
Maybe because you're
running out of time.

450
00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:23,130
Maybe because you are trying
to get rid of the bad stuff.

451
00:18:23,130 --> 00:18:25,500
So, things that you need to do--

452
00:18:25,500 --> 00:18:27,840
and this is something that
I'd like you to do today,

453
00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:30,105
when you meet up
in your teams-- is

454
00:18:30,105 --> 00:18:33,360
to determine what is the
criteria for which you're

455
00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:35,880
going to cut a feature.

456
00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:39,739
For instance, come up
with a quick description

457
00:18:39,739 --> 00:18:41,780
about what your game is
supposed to be all about.

458
00:18:41,780 --> 00:18:43,470
You may have already
written this in your rules.

459
00:18:43,470 --> 00:18:46,011
It might be in the very first
paragraph of your rules, saying

460
00:18:46,011 --> 00:18:52,290
that our game is about getting
entangled with other people,

461
00:18:52,290 --> 00:18:56,805
you know, or pushing
them over, for instance.

462
00:18:56,805 --> 00:18:58,230
Which is it?

463
00:18:58,230 --> 00:19:00,150
And being able to identify it.

464
00:19:00,150 --> 00:19:03,120
And then, when you look at all
of your rules in your game,

465
00:19:03,120 --> 00:19:07,920
you can actually determine, OK,
which chunks of our mechanics

466
00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:10,790
actually serve that goal,
and which ones don't.

467
00:19:10,790 --> 00:19:13,440
You know, there are
things that are there just

468
00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:14,810
to keep your game going.

469
00:19:14,810 --> 00:19:17,130
Those may be fine to keep,
but those aren't directly

470
00:19:17,130 --> 00:19:19,200
contributing to how
good your game is.

471
00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:23,134
Those are just basically there
to keep the thing working.

472
00:19:23,134 --> 00:19:25,300
And maybe they can take a
little bit of improvement,

473
00:19:25,300 --> 00:19:27,550
but they're kind of suspect.

474
00:19:27,550 --> 00:19:29,100
And there's things
that'll directly

475
00:19:29,100 --> 00:19:33,120
contribute to your core
gameplay that you're trying

476
00:19:33,120 --> 00:19:34,472
to achieve with your game.

477
00:19:34,472 --> 00:19:36,180
And those are probably
things that you'll

478
00:19:36,180 --> 00:19:37,920
want to spend a lot
more time making sure

479
00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:39,420
that the rules are
absolutely clear,

480
00:19:39,420 --> 00:19:41,920
and your players
understand what they mean,

481
00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:45,660
that if there's any other
mechanics in your game,

482
00:19:45,660 --> 00:19:46,770
they're supporting that--

483
00:19:46,770 --> 00:19:52,230
you know, that those meet
your criteria for what

484
00:19:52,230 --> 00:19:53,471
should stay in your game.

485
00:19:58,842 --> 00:20:00,675
Because once you know
what your criteria is,

486
00:20:00,675 --> 00:20:03,270
it becomes a lot easier to be
able to just look at everything

487
00:20:03,270 --> 00:20:05,311
that you've got, deciding
what to keep and invest

488
00:20:05,311 --> 00:20:07,622
more time in, and what to cut.

489
00:20:07,622 --> 00:20:09,630
Now, there's a
couple of problems

490
00:20:09,630 --> 00:20:12,090
that people typically
run into when

491
00:20:12,090 --> 00:20:14,670
it comes to cutting stuff out.

492
00:20:14,670 --> 00:20:18,000
A couple of game developers
refer to this as culling.

493
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:20,530
If you come from 3D
graphics, culling

494
00:20:20,530 --> 00:20:23,220
is a very common way just to be
able to just cut all the stuff

495
00:20:23,220 --> 00:20:26,509
out that you don't need.

496
00:20:26,509 --> 00:20:28,800
So, for instance, if you
don't have an explicit culling

497
00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:32,670
criteria, then
you don't actually

498
00:20:32,670 --> 00:20:38,280
know why a certain
mechanic exists,

499
00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:40,560
and you don't actually know
whether you should keep it

500
00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:41,490
or not.

501
00:20:41,490 --> 00:20:46,230
So that discussion should be
something that happens today.

502
00:20:46,230 --> 00:20:49,680
In the end, what is your game
about, and does your game

503
00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:52,190
actually meet that?

504
00:20:52,190 --> 00:20:55,140
You might have other culling
criteria that aren't that.

505
00:20:55,140 --> 00:20:56,867
Does this game run
in five minutes.

506
00:20:56,867 --> 00:20:58,200
What was the limit for this one?

507
00:20:58,200 --> 00:20:59,605
10 minutes, I believe?

508
00:20:59,605 --> 00:21:00,291
PROFESSOR 2: 20.

509
00:21:00,291 --> 00:21:01,290
PROFESSOR 1: 20 minutes?

510
00:21:01,290 --> 00:21:01,800
OK.

511
00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:04,920
So if the game needs
to run in 20 minutes,

512
00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:07,650
because we as instructors
gave you that limitation,

513
00:21:07,650 --> 00:21:11,146
then that's probably a perfectly
reasonable culling criteria

514
00:21:11,146 --> 00:21:11,770
for you to use.

515
00:21:11,770 --> 00:21:15,603
What in our game is sort of
contributing towards this,

516
00:21:15,603 --> 00:21:18,186
and what's actually getting in
our way of hitting that target.

517
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:24,255
Let's see.

518
00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:30,310
Something else that comes into
play, and that affects culling,

519
00:21:30,310 --> 00:21:33,817
that affects this phase, is when
you conduct experiments here,

520
00:21:33,817 --> 00:21:36,270
but your experiments
are not very tangible.

521
00:21:36,270 --> 00:21:39,600
They're kind of floaty and wavy.

522
00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:41,970
This usually happens
in teams that

523
00:21:41,970 --> 00:21:43,637
like to talk out
all of the ideas,

524
00:21:43,637 --> 00:21:46,095
but don't actually like to do
a lot of hardcore prototyping

525
00:21:46,095 --> 00:21:47,750
and playtesting.

526
00:21:47,750 --> 00:21:50,610
I hope that that's not so
much of a problem for anyone

527
00:21:50,610 --> 00:21:51,690
in this class by now.

528
00:21:51,690 --> 00:21:53,970
You've got in a lot
of practice in that.

529
00:21:53,970 --> 00:21:57,120
But you may have a couple
of rules and mechanics

530
00:21:57,120 --> 00:22:00,689
that have ended up in your
game, that you never actually

531
00:22:00,689 --> 00:22:02,730
prototyped, that you've
never actually tested out

532
00:22:02,730 --> 00:22:03,510
with real people.

533
00:22:03,510 --> 00:22:07,770
Make sure that whatever
actually ends up in the version

534
00:22:07,770 --> 00:22:09,690
that you hand in on
Wednesday is something

535
00:22:09,690 --> 00:22:10,910
that you've actually tested--

536
00:22:10,910 --> 00:22:12,284
is something that
you've actually

537
00:22:12,284 --> 00:22:14,860
gotten some real data about
whether it's working or not.

538
00:22:20,370 --> 00:22:24,700
This one happens with
every student project.

539
00:22:24,700 --> 00:22:27,420
Students-- game
developers in general

540
00:22:27,420 --> 00:22:29,820
always assume that adding
more stuff is better.

541
00:22:29,820 --> 00:22:32,400
It takes a very, very,
very seasoned game designer

542
00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:36,540
to realize that sometimes
simplicity is good.

543
00:22:36,540 --> 00:22:40,020
And again, I hope this is
not a terribly new revelation

544
00:22:40,020 --> 00:22:41,250
to the people in this class.

545
00:22:41,250 --> 00:22:43,980
But I see it in student
projects all the time.

546
00:22:43,980 --> 00:22:45,720
I see in student
projects where they

547
00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:49,450
assume that more features
and more complexity

548
00:22:49,450 --> 00:22:50,517
is going to be better.

549
00:22:50,517 --> 00:22:52,600
And in fact, I saw some
of them in assignment one.

550
00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:54,849
And we're going to be talking
a little bit about that.

551
00:22:54,849 --> 00:22:56,942
More complexity doesn't
necessarily always

552
00:22:56,942 --> 00:22:57,900
make for a better game.

553
00:22:57,900 --> 00:22:59,880
It may make it a
more interesting

554
00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:01,580
intellectual problem.

555
00:23:01,580 --> 00:23:04,050
It doesn't necessarily
always make it

556
00:23:04,050 --> 00:23:07,030
into a more entertaining game.

557
00:23:07,030 --> 00:23:10,170
Let's see.

558
00:23:10,170 --> 00:23:12,780
One thing about culling
is that cutting features

559
00:23:12,780 --> 00:23:16,020
and cutting stuff out
kind of takes practice.

560
00:23:16,020 --> 00:23:20,100
You've got to do it
fairly regularly.

561
00:23:20,100 --> 00:23:22,790
For assignment three, which
is going to be starting

562
00:23:22,790 --> 00:23:24,540
on Wednesday, right--
we actually cut that

563
00:23:24,540 --> 00:23:25,770
on Wednesday--

564
00:23:25,770 --> 00:23:27,780
what I'm going to
ask you to do is try

565
00:23:27,780 --> 00:23:30,600
cutting a feature every week.

566
00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:34,530
You know, just say, what's on
the chopping block this week?

567
00:23:34,530 --> 00:23:36,660
Every Monday, or
every Wednesday,

568
00:23:36,660 --> 00:23:38,880
or if you have a regular
meeting time on Saturday

569
00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:40,110
or something like that--

570
00:23:40,110 --> 00:23:45,150
just, like, what is the
least useful thing that we've

571
00:23:45,150 --> 00:23:46,920
got in our game right now.

572
00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:48,600
And just try that.

573
00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:52,420
Because you can always
add stuff in later.

574
00:23:52,420 --> 00:23:55,731
Remember, this is
a cyclical thing.

575
00:23:55,731 --> 00:23:58,230
You're going to be adding, then
cutting, adding and cutting,

576
00:23:58,230 --> 00:24:00,830
adding and cutting.

577
00:24:00,830 --> 00:24:04,480
I think you've got in a lot of
practice on the adding part.

578
00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:06,420
But you've got to
practice a little bit more

579
00:24:06,420 --> 00:24:07,770
on the cutting part now.

580
00:24:07,770 --> 00:24:09,270
And you've got time
to be able to do

581
00:24:09,270 --> 00:24:10,040
this for assignment three.

582
00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:11,470
You've got a little bit more
time on assignment three

583
00:24:11,470 --> 00:24:13,320
than you had on assignment two.

584
00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:16,814
So, start setting yourself
a schedule, of all right,

585
00:24:16,814 --> 00:24:18,480
we're definitely going
to cut something.

586
00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:19,420
I don't know what
it is, but we're

587
00:24:19,420 --> 00:24:21,837
going to meet up as a team and
we're going to decide that.

588
00:24:21,837 --> 00:24:24,128
And if it turns out that it
was the wrong thing to cut,

589
00:24:24,128 --> 00:24:25,260
you can add it back later.

590
00:24:25,260 --> 00:24:28,170
But that allows you to focus
your efforts on the things

591
00:24:28,170 --> 00:24:30,448
that you've deemed
as more important

592
00:24:30,448 --> 00:24:31,572
for a short amount of time.

593
00:24:36,350 --> 00:24:40,500
It can be hard to be
objective about this process.

594
00:24:40,500 --> 00:24:41,780
Something that we've done--

595
00:24:41,780 --> 00:24:46,550
in mostly our video game
development, but you

596
00:24:46,550 --> 00:24:48,500
can do this in
paper prototypes--

597
00:24:48,500 --> 00:24:50,630
is to hand people very,
very simple survey

598
00:24:50,630 --> 00:24:55,340
forms that basically say,
how fun did you find this?

599
00:24:55,340 --> 00:24:57,150
How fun did you find that?

600
00:24:57,150 --> 00:24:59,600
Say your game has
different roles.

601
00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:02,630
You have a tinker,
tailor, soldier, spy.

602
00:25:02,630 --> 00:25:04,935
These are your four
roles in your game.

603
00:25:04,935 --> 00:25:06,560
And you just hand
out the survey form--

604
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:08,400
how fun did you
find being a tinker?

605
00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:10,670
How fun do you find
being a tailor?

606
00:25:10,670 --> 00:25:13,820
Just one to five.

607
00:25:13,820 --> 00:25:18,334
And that isn't terribly
much information,

608
00:25:18,334 --> 00:25:20,000
but it gives you just
enough information

609
00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,760
to help you concentrate
your efforts on what's

610
00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:25,946
the most problematic thing
in our game right now.

611
00:25:25,946 --> 00:25:28,010
You can go into greater
details, like do

612
00:25:28,010 --> 00:25:34,040
you think that the game was
too long, too short, too

613
00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:39,260
challenging, too
easy, too luck-based,

614
00:25:39,260 --> 00:25:41,570
required too much thought.

615
00:25:41,570 --> 00:25:43,760
You can put these things
on these five-point scales

616
00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:45,759
to be able to give you a
little bit of feedback.

617
00:25:45,759 --> 00:25:48,020
They don't necessarily tell
you what the problem is.

618
00:25:48,020 --> 00:25:50,750
But it tells you where
the problem might lie.

619
00:25:50,750 --> 00:25:52,521
And that will help
focus your discussion

620
00:25:52,521 --> 00:25:53,770
and your efforts a little bit.

621
00:25:56,940 --> 00:25:57,440
Yeah.

622
00:25:57,440 --> 00:25:59,589
And finally, the
most important thing

623
00:25:59,589 --> 00:26:01,130
is that you've got
to keep doing this

624
00:26:01,130 --> 00:26:02,890
over and over and over again.

625
00:26:02,890 --> 00:26:06,300
If you just do this
once, you kind of end up

626
00:26:06,300 --> 00:26:08,810
in this situation where you've
got a bunch of good ideas

627
00:26:08,810 --> 00:26:11,990
but the bad ideas
are still there.

628
00:26:11,990 --> 00:26:15,710
I'm going to expand
this for you.

629
00:26:15,710 --> 00:26:17,170
What you eventually
want to get to

630
00:26:17,170 --> 00:26:20,420
is a situation where the only
stuff that's left in your game

631
00:26:20,420 --> 00:26:25,557
is the stuff that is worth
keeping and that works well.

632
00:26:25,557 --> 00:26:27,890
And all the stuff that was
bad, you've either completely

633
00:26:27,890 --> 00:26:30,740
cut it out or you've improved
it to the point where it is

634
00:26:30,740 --> 00:26:32,024
actually a desirable feature.

635
00:26:32,024 --> 00:26:34,190
And you're only going to
be able to get through that

636
00:26:34,190 --> 00:26:35,145
through multiple iterations.

637
00:26:35,145 --> 00:26:36,950
You're not going to
get through that just

638
00:26:36,950 --> 00:26:39,560
by introducing something
at the last minute

639
00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:41,087
and hoping that it works.

640
00:26:41,087 --> 00:26:43,670
Because you haven't had time to
actually improve it and polish

641
00:26:43,670 --> 00:26:44,560
it yet.

642
00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:51,410
Now something that's less
of a problem for this class,

643
00:26:51,410 --> 00:26:54,879
but may be a problem in your
other game design experiments

644
00:26:54,879 --> 00:26:56,420
outside of class,
is that you may not

645
00:26:56,420 --> 00:26:59,990
know when to call it a day.

646
00:26:59,990 --> 00:27:02,384
You can repeat this
process forever.

647
00:27:02,384 --> 00:27:04,550
And you've heard about games
that have been going on

648
00:27:04,550 --> 00:27:06,760
for four or five years.

649
00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:09,320
How long was Duke Nukem
Forever in production for--

650
00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:10,970
15?

651
00:27:10,970 --> 00:27:13,160
At least 10.

652
00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:16,160
And that was
actually one example

653
00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:20,319
of where new technology
just ended up

654
00:27:20,319 --> 00:27:22,610
changing the foundation of
which the game was built on,

655
00:27:22,610 --> 00:27:24,640
over and over and over again.

656
00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:27,034
It just kept resetting the
game engine development

657
00:27:27,034 --> 00:27:27,950
and just took forever.

658
00:27:30,580 --> 00:27:34,460
One thing that that game
could probably have used

659
00:27:34,460 --> 00:27:37,790
is just some sort of
standard criteria of saying,

660
00:27:37,790 --> 00:27:41,210
once we hit this criteria,
we're shipping this game.

661
00:27:41,210 --> 00:27:43,550
It could be, once we've
spent x amount of money.

662
00:27:43,550 --> 00:27:47,540
That probably should've been the
case for that particular game.

663
00:27:47,540 --> 00:27:52,150
But it could have been, once our
informal internal surveys hit

664
00:27:52,150 --> 00:27:55,940
a rating of four out of five.

665
00:27:55,940 --> 00:27:58,190
You know, that might
have been good enough.

666
00:27:58,190 --> 00:27:59,840
Some companies don't
settle for that.

667
00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:01,298
There are companies
that say, we're

668
00:28:01,298 --> 00:28:03,470
only going to release
the absolute best games

669
00:28:03,470 --> 00:28:06,020
that we absolutely can.

670
00:28:06,020 --> 00:28:07,610
But, don't kid yourself.

671
00:28:07,610 --> 00:28:09,419
Internally, they do
have criteria on when

672
00:28:09,419 --> 00:28:10,460
these games have to ship.

673
00:28:10,460 --> 00:28:11,750
Even Nintendo does.

674
00:28:11,750 --> 00:28:15,587
And Nintendo's notorious
for shipping late games.

675
00:28:15,587 --> 00:28:17,420
Because they have this
mantra that a game is

676
00:28:17,420 --> 00:28:23,270
late for a short while and
a bad game is bad forever.

677
00:28:23,270 --> 00:28:25,000
So that's what they
say to the public.

678
00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:26,810
Internally, they
ship by Christmas.

679
00:28:26,810 --> 00:28:29,540
They get those games
out to the market.

680
00:28:29,540 --> 00:28:31,010
Because they have a time box.

681
00:28:31,010 --> 00:28:32,760
That's the other way to do it.

682
00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:35,000
And so it's like,
well, we have to be

683
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:37,430
able to get into the
manufacturing process

684
00:28:37,430 --> 00:28:38,766
to print those discs--

685
00:28:38,766 --> 00:28:40,220
less of an issue nowadays.

686
00:28:40,220 --> 00:28:43,730
But Nintendo still
operates in disc fashion

687
00:28:43,730 --> 00:28:46,676
because they grew up as
cartridge manufacturers.

688
00:28:46,676 --> 00:28:48,050
So they actually
had to print it.

689
00:28:48,050 --> 00:28:51,874
Now when it comes to
publishing a paper game,

690
00:28:51,874 --> 00:28:53,540
that timeline can be
even longer, right?

691
00:28:53,540 --> 00:28:57,290
Because you have to
put ink on paper,

692
00:28:57,290 --> 00:29:00,190
you have to have it folded,
you have to get all the plastic

693
00:29:00,190 --> 00:29:03,560
and stuff put in plastic
bags, and put it into the box,

694
00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:06,380
and then put into pallets,
and then shipped from China,

695
00:29:06,380 --> 00:29:09,970
usually, over to stores
all over the United States

696
00:29:09,970 --> 00:29:11,970
so that they're in stores
in time for Christmas.

697
00:29:11,970 --> 00:29:14,440
And that's, like,
a huge timeline.

698
00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:17,470
So that became the time limit.

699
00:29:17,470 --> 00:29:19,400
Sometimes you just
set the time limit

700
00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:24,320
because you have to be
able to meet ship dates.

701
00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:25,775
It's not very complicated.

702
00:29:25,775 --> 00:29:28,460
Now, when you're working on
your own internal Kickstarter

703
00:29:28,460 --> 00:29:30,434
project or something,
where you already

704
00:29:30,434 --> 00:29:31,850
know who's going
to buy your game,

705
00:29:31,850 --> 00:29:33,500
because they paid
for it upfront,

706
00:29:33,500 --> 00:29:38,470
before you even
started manufacturing--

707
00:29:38,470 --> 00:29:41,695
I think we'll hear more about
that maybe in about two weeks,

708
00:29:41,695 --> 00:29:43,045
or about one week.

709
00:29:43,045 --> 00:29:44,173
April 9?

710
00:29:44,173 --> 00:29:45,670
PROFESSOR 2: 9th.

711
00:29:45,670 --> 00:29:46,420
PROFESSOR 1: Yeah.

712
00:29:46,420 --> 00:29:52,390
We'll have a couple of folks who
actually work in the board game

713
00:29:52,390 --> 00:29:55,970
publishing industry talk a
little bit about how they set

714
00:29:55,970 --> 00:29:59,140
goalposts and deadlines
for themselves, what are

715
00:29:59,140 --> 00:30:00,890
the considerations for that.

716
00:30:00,890 --> 00:30:03,760
But in the end, it's just--
they had to set a goal, somehow.

717
00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:06,850
Either it's a quality
goal or it's a time goal.

718
00:30:06,850 --> 00:30:08,970
And once you hit that,
you have to ship.

719
00:30:08,970 --> 00:30:10,462
Because you can always do--

720
00:30:10,462 --> 00:30:11,920
if you have set a
quality goal, you

721
00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:13,810
can always do better than that.

722
00:30:13,810 --> 00:30:17,045
The more time that you
spend, theoretically,

723
00:30:17,045 --> 00:30:19,420
if you are sticking to this,
the higher quality your game

724
00:30:19,420 --> 00:30:20,086
is going to get.

725
00:30:20,086 --> 00:30:21,520
But then you don't ship.

726
00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:23,930
You just have
diminishing returns.

727
00:30:23,930 --> 00:30:26,460
You'll never be able to move
on to your next project.

728
00:30:26,460 --> 00:30:31,820
You're never going to get
revenue from the project

729
00:30:31,820 --> 00:30:32,880
that you started.

730
00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:36,280
And your game may not be
improved by that much more,

731
00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:38,210
just by spending
extra time on it.

732
00:30:41,100 --> 00:30:42,370
OK.

733
00:30:42,370 --> 00:30:46,870
So again, we're going to talk
a little bit about things

734
00:30:46,870 --> 00:30:50,290
that are relevant to
this from what we've

735
00:30:50,290 --> 00:30:52,372
observed from assignment one.

736
00:30:52,372 --> 00:30:56,470
And then for your
team time today, start

737
00:30:56,470 --> 00:31:00,010
talking about, what is
your culling criteria.

738
00:31:00,010 --> 00:31:02,159
What are you trying to achieve--

739
00:31:02,159 --> 00:31:03,700
what's the simplest
thing that you're

740
00:31:03,700 --> 00:31:06,820
trying to achieve with this
game, and the simplest way

741
00:31:06,820 --> 00:31:07,900
to describe it.

742
00:31:07,900 --> 00:31:10,090
And then look at all
the things in your game

743
00:31:10,090 --> 00:31:11,910
based on that criteria.

744
00:31:11,910 --> 00:31:14,044
And whatever doesn't meet
that might be something

745
00:31:14,044 --> 00:31:16,210
that you want to cut out,
especially if it's already

746
00:31:16,210 --> 00:31:18,580
causing you problems.

747
00:31:18,580 --> 00:31:21,060
And maybe you'll
just save some time--

748
00:31:21,060 --> 00:31:22,690
free up a little bit
more time to work

749
00:31:22,690 --> 00:31:24,210
on the stuff that's
already working,

750
00:31:24,210 --> 00:31:26,001
and you can polish it
up a little bit more.

751
00:31:29,230 --> 00:31:32,430
So any questions about
adding and cutting features?

752
00:31:37,230 --> 00:31:39,565
OK.

753
00:31:39,565 --> 00:31:42,900
PROFESSOR 2: So, taking all this
and relating it to assignment

754
00:31:42,900 --> 00:31:45,120
one-- and then going
into assignment two--

755
00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:48,460
also starting with when
you cut in assignment one.

756
00:31:48,460 --> 00:31:54,200
So, when it comes to advanced
rules and basics rules,

757
00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:56,940
if you're going to do an
advance and a basic rule set,

758
00:31:56,940 --> 00:31:58,892
make sure your basic
rule set matches

759
00:31:58,892 --> 00:32:01,225
the core experience you're
trying to make with the game.

760
00:32:01,225 --> 00:32:03,367
It's really, really
important for assignment two,

761
00:32:03,367 --> 00:32:04,450
for this third assignment.

762
00:32:04,450 --> 00:32:06,158
Because that's what
we said when set out,

763
00:32:06,158 --> 00:32:08,687
right, is we said, come
up with something that's

764
00:32:08,687 --> 00:32:11,020
going to have a very particular
experience that you want

765
00:32:11,020 --> 00:32:12,186
the players have at the end.

766
00:32:12,186 --> 00:32:15,190
So if you're going to do
advanced rules and basic rules,

767
00:32:15,190 --> 00:32:18,040
that criteria should be part
of what your basic rules are.

768
00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:22,230
The advanced rules, as
Philip mentioned yesterday,

769
00:32:22,230 --> 00:32:24,630
for some of them, it
could add more interest.

770
00:32:24,630 --> 00:32:27,220
It could be more
intellectually stimulating.

771
00:32:27,220 --> 00:32:29,360
But really, the basic
rules should support

772
00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:30,460
everything the game has.

773
00:32:30,460 --> 00:32:34,500
The advanced rules are
just add-ons, actually.

774
00:32:34,500 --> 00:32:36,670
If you don't want to
send us advanced rules,

775
00:32:36,670 --> 00:32:38,230
don't just cut it completely.

776
00:32:38,230 --> 00:32:41,987
Say, we're not going to use the
advanced rules because we just

777
00:32:41,987 --> 00:32:43,445
could not get them
to work in time.

778
00:32:43,445 --> 00:32:45,190
And that's absolutely,
perfectly fine,

779
00:32:45,190 --> 00:32:48,315
so long as the basic rules
still match the core experience

780
00:32:48,315 --> 00:32:50,070
you're trying to get across.

781
00:32:50,070 --> 00:32:52,720
PROFESSOR 1: I
think one thing I do

782
00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:55,370
want to add to that is
that for the most part,

783
00:32:55,370 --> 00:32:58,130
your basic rules are
pretty darn good.

784
00:32:58,130 --> 00:33:01,800
Much better than a lot
of the advanced rules.

785
00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:04,815
Maybe because the wording
in the basic rules

786
00:33:04,815 --> 00:33:06,150
had a little bit more care.

787
00:33:06,150 --> 00:33:08,054
Maybe you tested it.

788
00:33:08,054 --> 00:33:14,490
We found the basic games very
playable and pretty enjoyable,

789
00:33:14,490 --> 00:33:17,726
was probably just
fine for what we were

790
00:33:17,726 --> 00:33:19,375
expecting from assignment one.

791
00:33:19,375 --> 00:33:21,640
So a lot of the stuff that
you had in advanced rules,

792
00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:24,437
I do realize, some of those
were things that came up

793
00:33:24,437 --> 00:33:26,520
in the testing process,
and you thought, you know,

794
00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:30,010
this is a game that our
game has evolved into.

795
00:33:30,010 --> 00:33:34,920
But once you realize that there
is a core, basic game that

796
00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:38,170
works, and then that this
sounds like a slightly more

797
00:33:38,170 --> 00:33:41,880
complicated version of the game,
that slightly more complicated

798
00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:45,797
stuff is all
candidates for cutting.

799
00:33:45,797 --> 00:33:47,380
Because you've already
identified what

800
00:33:47,380 --> 00:33:50,000
the important part
of this [INAUDIBLE].

801
00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:52,250
PROFESSOR 2: When it comes
to time and your deadlines,

802
00:33:52,250 --> 00:33:55,980
of course, adopt a common lingo.

803
00:33:55,980 --> 00:33:57,270
Adopt a common language.

804
00:33:57,270 --> 00:33:58,560
Stick with it.

805
00:33:58,560 --> 00:33:59,867
Proofread your rules.

806
00:33:59,867 --> 00:34:01,950
I think I have it written
down in the very bottom.

807
00:34:01,950 --> 00:34:02,880
Proofread your rules.

808
00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:04,904
So I'll say that a
third time later on.

809
00:34:04,904 --> 00:34:06,570
And that means, like,
naming conventions

810
00:34:06,570 --> 00:34:08,153
for the pieces, for
what you've chosen

811
00:34:08,153 --> 00:34:09,914
to call things in your game.

812
00:34:09,914 --> 00:34:12,080
That could be naming
conventions based on the rules,

813
00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:13,949
but also proofreading
your cards, too.

814
00:34:13,949 --> 00:34:18,840
Making sure all your pieces
are using the same language.

815
00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:21,546
When it comes to talking
about what the player does,

816
00:34:21,546 --> 00:34:26,610
we did notice some should
versus may versus must, kind

817
00:34:26,610 --> 00:34:28,080
of getting mixed up.

818
00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:29,760
So when we're playing
the game, we're

819
00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:32,670
not quite sure, well,
if I should do this,

820
00:34:32,670 --> 00:34:36,350
if I may do this, why--

821
00:34:36,350 --> 00:34:38,800
if it's may here, is
it also may over here,

822
00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:40,100
or is it should over here?

823
00:34:40,100 --> 00:34:41,909
Just wasn't quite sure.

824
00:34:41,909 --> 00:34:44,070
Wasn't quite clear.

825
00:34:44,070 --> 00:34:46,075
So I definitely
recommend spending today

826
00:34:46,075 --> 00:34:47,070
working on your rules.

827
00:34:47,070 --> 00:34:51,330
Spend today having us play your
game using your current rules,

828
00:34:51,330 --> 00:34:54,420
and then taking our feedback
and then working on it

829
00:34:54,420 --> 00:34:57,800
for turning it in on Wednesday.

830
00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:01,260
And again, when it comes
to cutting things--

831
00:35:01,260 --> 00:35:04,440
when you are cutting,
making sure that you

832
00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:05,940
are filling in the gaps.

833
00:35:05,940 --> 00:35:09,109
So if you cut something out,
there might be a system,

834
00:35:09,109 --> 00:35:10,650
there might be a
rule-- in this case,

835
00:35:10,650 --> 00:35:12,390
it generally was polish issues.

836
00:35:12,390 --> 00:35:16,980
So if something was removed
from one of the rule sets,

837
00:35:16,980 --> 00:35:19,420
we saw a little bit of--

838
00:35:19,420 --> 00:35:20,520
PROFESSOR 1: Remnants.

839
00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:22,960
PROFESSOR 2: --remnants of
it, spread in the rules.

840
00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:24,810
PROFESSOR 1: So
for instance, say

841
00:35:24,810 --> 00:35:26,310
you are one of those
groups that had

842
00:35:26,310 --> 00:35:28,092
basic rules and advanced rules.

843
00:35:28,092 --> 00:35:29,800
And you took a chunk
of the game that you

844
00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:31,729
moved into advanced
rules because you

845
00:35:31,729 --> 00:35:33,270
realized that the
core-based game was

846
00:35:33,270 --> 00:35:34,580
more playable without that.

847
00:35:34,580 --> 00:35:37,675
But your basic rules still refer
to bits of the advanced rules.

848
00:35:37,675 --> 00:35:39,386
And that gets really confusing.

849
00:35:39,386 --> 00:35:41,760
Because advanced rules are a
completely different section

850
00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:43,884
of your rules that we
haven't even gotten into yet.

851
00:35:43,884 --> 00:35:44,511
But we will.

852
00:35:44,511 --> 00:35:48,820
So do that cleanup work.

853
00:35:48,820 --> 00:35:50,340
PROFESSOR 2: For setup--

854
00:35:50,340 --> 00:35:51,870
so if you're going
to have a setup

855
00:35:51,870 --> 00:35:53,280
section before your rules--

856
00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:54,696
it's actually
highly recommended--

857
00:35:54,696 --> 00:35:56,290
have a setup section
that is split out

858
00:35:56,290 --> 00:35:58,040
that is different from
your rules section,

859
00:35:58,040 --> 00:35:59,869
so we know exactly how
to set up the game.

860
00:35:59,869 --> 00:36:01,035
Include diagrams and photos.

861
00:36:03,940 --> 00:36:05,700
Where do players sit?

862
00:36:05,700 --> 00:36:07,190
What is the
orientation of cards?

863
00:36:10,219 --> 00:36:12,510
If you have a card that has
all this information on it,

864
00:36:12,510 --> 00:36:15,454
what is that common
information across all cards?

865
00:36:15,454 --> 00:36:17,370
If you think about a
Magic the Gathering card,

866
00:36:17,370 --> 00:36:18,630
and all the different icons--

867
00:36:18,630 --> 00:36:20,760
hopefully your cards
aren't as complex--

868
00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:23,730
but you'll have the same
thing in the same place

869
00:36:23,730 --> 00:36:25,470
on all the cards, so
you can then tell us

870
00:36:25,470 --> 00:36:27,240
what that thing is,
and why it's useful,

871
00:36:27,240 --> 00:36:31,570
and how to use it as
you're playing the game.

872
00:36:31,570 --> 00:36:35,250
And in particular, let your
game teach us how to play,

873
00:36:35,250 --> 00:36:35,813
if possible.

874
00:36:35,813 --> 00:36:37,300
If you've got time.

875
00:36:37,300 --> 00:36:39,715
If not, it should
still be in the rules.

876
00:36:39,715 --> 00:36:41,507
What I mean by let
your game teach us is,

877
00:36:41,507 --> 00:36:43,590
if you're going to have a
board, and the board has

878
00:36:43,590 --> 00:36:45,970
a lot of empty space on it,
you can put some your rules

879
00:36:45,970 --> 00:36:47,040
into the board.

880
00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:49,872
You can put some of the setup
features into the board,

881
00:36:49,872 --> 00:36:51,080
if you've got time right now.

882
00:36:54,330 --> 00:36:55,620
Proofread your rules.

883
00:36:55,620 --> 00:36:58,120
And turn in as many
copies of your rules

884
00:36:58,120 --> 00:36:59,760
as you have players
in your game.

885
00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:03,660
So, the assignment did say,
it's a set number of two, three,

886
00:37:03,660 --> 00:37:05,460
or four players for your game.

887
00:37:05,460 --> 00:37:10,370
If it's a four-player game, give
us four copies of your rules.

888
00:37:10,370 --> 00:37:13,420
That's all the basic stuff.

889
00:37:13,420 --> 00:37:13,960
Yeah.

890
00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:17,050
And then we'll be
getting your feedback,

891
00:37:17,050 --> 00:37:21,930
specific feedback for each
individual game, tomorrow.

892
00:37:21,930 --> 00:37:22,510
Yeah.

893
00:37:22,510 --> 00:37:22,885
Yeah.

894
00:37:22,885 --> 00:37:23,260
Tomorrow.

895
00:37:23,260 --> 00:37:24,593
I'm not sure what time tomorrow.

896
00:37:24,593 --> 00:37:28,490
But we'll get you that before
you're actually turning in.

897
00:37:28,490 --> 00:37:29,460
That's it for me.

898
00:37:29,460 --> 00:37:30,676
PROFESSOR 1: I just want
to clarify one thing

899
00:37:30,676 --> 00:37:31,676
about should, may, must.

900
00:37:34,770 --> 00:37:36,880
I'm not sure, because
I'm trying to think

901
00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:38,900
of a more concrete example.

902
00:37:38,900 --> 00:37:42,900
So it's like, if in
your rules, you say,

903
00:37:42,900 --> 00:37:48,940
the player should move his
or her piece from one square

904
00:37:48,940 --> 00:37:51,560
to another, we're not quite
sure whether you're describing

905
00:37:51,560 --> 00:37:53,670
this as a good strategy--

906
00:37:53,670 --> 00:37:57,490
as something that the
player should generally

907
00:37:57,490 --> 00:38:00,070
be doing because it's going
to put the player ahead--

908
00:38:00,070 --> 00:38:03,250
or something that the player
must be doing because the rules

909
00:38:03,250 --> 00:38:06,140
require the player
to do this thing.

910
00:38:06,140 --> 00:38:11,300
Should is a very, very difficult
word to figure out for us.

911
00:38:11,300 --> 00:38:12,650
And if you're to begin--

912
00:38:12,650 --> 00:38:15,795
AUDIENCE: Would you suggest
not using the word should?

913
00:38:15,795 --> 00:38:17,195
PROFESSOR 1: It's possible.

914
00:38:17,195 --> 00:38:19,270
Sometimes context
explains it for you.

915
00:38:19,270 --> 00:38:23,810
But it does muddy things
more often than it helps.

916
00:38:23,810 --> 00:38:25,870
I find should
makes perfect sense

917
00:38:25,870 --> 00:38:27,493
if you're going to
give an example.

918
00:38:27,493 --> 00:38:30,650
If you're going to give an
example, make it [INAUDIBLE].

919
00:38:30,650 --> 00:38:31,370
Make it obvious.

920
00:38:31,370 --> 00:38:32,147
Or even, like--

921
00:38:32,147 --> 00:38:33,730
PROFESSOR 2: Put it
in a sidebar, or--

922
00:38:33,730 --> 00:38:34,521
PROFESSOR 1: Right.

923
00:38:34,521 --> 00:38:36,270
Do indents, or a
sidebar, or something,

924
00:38:36,270 --> 00:38:38,811
to make it clear that this is
not actually part of the rules.

925
00:38:38,811 --> 00:38:41,296
This is an example of how this
set of the rules plays out.

926
00:38:41,296 --> 00:38:42,920
And then you can use
words like should.

927
00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:43,300
Right?

928
00:38:43,300 --> 00:38:44,890
You know, player
one should do this.

929
00:38:44,890 --> 00:38:47,310
Because you're
describing a strategy.

930
00:38:47,310 --> 00:38:51,250
You're not saying that the
rules require this to happen.

931
00:38:51,250 --> 00:38:56,290
Must-- say must when it's must,
if a player must do something.

932
00:38:56,290 --> 00:38:59,530
And when you say a player
may, be very, very clear

933
00:38:59,530 --> 00:39:01,870
of what else the player may do.

934
00:39:01,870 --> 00:39:06,510
Say, for instance, it's one
out of five different options.

935
00:39:06,510 --> 00:39:11,494
You say, the player may do
one of these five options--

936
00:39:11,494 --> 00:39:13,785
bullet point, bullet point,
bullet point, bullet point.

937
00:39:13,785 --> 00:39:18,610
And the last bullet point is
probably, like, do nothing.

938
00:39:18,610 --> 00:39:19,894
If a game allows something.

939
00:39:19,894 --> 00:39:22,060
PROFESSOR 2: Bullet points
are really, really useful

940
00:39:22,060 --> 00:39:24,190
if there's any kind of option.

941
00:39:24,190 --> 00:39:28,150
Even if it's just, like, a
player may do this or this,

942
00:39:28,150 --> 00:39:31,410
break up the or in its own line.

943
00:39:31,410 --> 00:39:32,380
Give it bold.

944
00:39:32,380 --> 00:39:34,190
Put a couple lines around it.

945
00:39:34,190 --> 00:39:35,900
Put the next thing
that they can do--

946
00:39:35,900 --> 00:39:37,525
the other thing they
can do-- after it.

947
00:39:37,525 --> 00:39:40,030
Make it really, really
clear it's one or the other,

948
00:39:40,030 --> 00:39:40,900
not both.

949
00:39:40,900 --> 00:39:41,650
PROFESSOR 1: Yeah.

950
00:39:41,650 --> 00:39:43,660
Yeah.

951
00:39:43,660 --> 00:39:48,340
Yeah, that goes the same for not
just your printed rule sheet,

952
00:39:48,340 --> 00:39:51,670
but also cards,
stuff on the board.

953
00:39:51,670 --> 00:39:53,260
Because sometimes
there are games

954
00:39:53,260 --> 00:39:55,160
where you have options
on the card, right?

955
00:39:55,160 --> 00:39:58,330
And you may do this
or you may do that.

956
00:39:58,330 --> 00:40:00,010
It's not entirely
obvious if, say,

957
00:40:00,010 --> 00:40:01,850
the card does both
of those things,

958
00:40:01,850 --> 00:40:03,810
or you get to choose
from one of those things,

959
00:40:03,810 --> 00:40:06,160
and who gets to choose
one of those two things.

960
00:40:06,160 --> 00:40:11,050
So that's something
to keep in mind.

961
00:40:11,050 --> 00:40:13,480
You only use numbered
bullet points--

962
00:40:13,480 --> 00:40:15,490
1, 2, 3, 4--

963
00:40:15,490 --> 00:40:17,830
if something's going
to be sequential.

964
00:40:17,830 --> 00:40:19,990
It's good for things
like, here are the steps

965
00:40:19,990 --> 00:40:21,940
of a round of game play--

966
00:40:21,940 --> 00:40:25,237
first you do this, then you
do this, then do-- do, do, do.

967
00:40:25,237 --> 00:40:27,320
Don't say the player may
do one of the following--

968
00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:29,850
1, dot, 2, dot, 3,
dot-- it's like, uh,

969
00:40:29,850 --> 00:40:33,350
now I'm not quite
sure what's going on.

970
00:40:33,350 --> 00:40:33,960
OK?

971
00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:34,710
PROFESSOR 2: Yeah.

972
00:40:34,710 --> 00:40:38,196
Yeah, and actually, this brought
up rounds, stages, phases,

973
00:40:38,196 --> 00:40:38,900
turns.

974
00:40:38,900 --> 00:40:40,390
PROFESSOR 1: That's the
vocabulary thing again.

975
00:40:40,390 --> 00:40:41,050
Yeah.

976
00:40:41,050 --> 00:40:42,250
PROFESSOR 2: Choose one.

977
00:40:42,250 --> 00:40:43,719
Stick with it.

978
00:40:43,719 --> 00:40:44,260
Proofread it.

979
00:40:44,260 --> 00:40:45,280
Make sure you chose it.

980
00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:47,020
Make sure it works.

981
00:40:47,020 --> 00:40:49,230
Especially if you're going
to make any changes today,

982
00:40:49,230 --> 00:40:51,640
and you're turning
it in in two days,

983
00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:53,680
have somebody who is
not you proofread it

984
00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:56,740
and make sure you're using
the same language throughout.

985
00:40:56,740 --> 00:40:59,680
PROFESSOR 1: Rounds
usually involves everybody

986
00:40:59,680 --> 00:41:03,086
around the table doing one
thing in sequence, the same sort

987
00:41:03,086 --> 00:41:04,520
of thing, in sequence.

988
00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:07,330
Steps are really big.

989
00:41:07,330 --> 00:41:16,320
Phases-- it's usually
describing large chunks of game.

990
00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:21,300
you know, things like
opening [INAUDIBLE],

991
00:41:21,300 --> 00:41:25,870
mid-game, end-game phases,
and usually not used in rules.

992
00:41:25,870 --> 00:41:27,530
But I know that some games--

993
00:41:27,530 --> 00:41:28,905
PROFESSOR 2:
Connect those games.

994
00:41:28,905 --> 00:41:29,850
PROFESSOR 1: Yeah.

995
00:41:29,850 --> 00:41:30,595
Use those.

996
00:41:30,595 --> 00:41:33,400
AUDIENCE: Sometimes
they use other terms.

997
00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:35,570
PROFESSOR 1: I know This
is why it's maddening.

998
00:41:35,570 --> 00:41:39,159
Because it gets used
in both contexts.

999
00:41:39,159 --> 00:41:40,950
AUDIENCE: So what would
you use to describe

1000
00:41:40,950 --> 00:41:43,300
the individual pieces of a turn?

1001
00:41:43,300 --> 00:41:44,790
PROFESSOR 1: Steps.

1002
00:41:44,790 --> 00:41:47,190
Especially if it's a
sequential sequence of things.

1003
00:41:47,190 --> 00:41:50,180
Like, this is my
turn, in a round,

1004
00:41:50,180 --> 00:41:54,770
and here are the three
steps I get to do.

1005
00:41:54,770 --> 00:41:56,130
Step 1-- draw a card.

1006
00:41:56,130 --> 00:41:58,720
Step 2-- choose a
card from my hand.

1007
00:41:58,720 --> 00:41:59,640
Step 3-- play it.

1008
00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:00,140
Right?

1009
00:42:00,140 --> 00:42:01,790
You know, things like that.

1010
00:42:01,790 --> 00:42:03,540
That sort of works.

1011
00:42:03,540 --> 00:42:07,715
Phases-- I've also heard it
described in things like there

1012
00:42:07,715 --> 00:42:12,929
is round one is
one kind of action,

1013
00:42:12,929 --> 00:42:14,970
and round two is like a
completely different kind

1014
00:42:14,970 --> 00:42:17,476
of action, and round three
is [INAUDIBLE] like phases.

1015
00:42:17,476 --> 00:42:18,600
And it was like, oh my god.

1016
00:42:18,600 --> 00:42:21,260
That's-- [INAUDIBLE]
that, actually.

1017
00:42:21,260 --> 00:42:23,633
Yeah.

1018
00:42:23,633 --> 00:42:25,091
AUDIENCE: In
[INAUDIBLE], there are

1019
00:42:25,091 --> 00:42:30,740
turns in phases within
rounds in phases.

1020
00:42:30,740 --> 00:42:31,572
PROFESSOR 1: Yes.

1021
00:42:31,572 --> 00:42:33,530
This is why the game is
actually so much harder

1022
00:42:33,530 --> 00:42:35,010
to learn than it
is actually play.

1023
00:42:35,010 --> 00:42:36,650
To play is actually
not that hard.

1024
00:42:36,650 --> 00:42:37,050
But when they desc--

1025
00:42:37,050 --> 00:42:38,466
AUDIENCE: The
phases don't matter,

1026
00:42:38,466 --> 00:42:40,203
but the turns and
everything else

1027
00:42:40,203 --> 00:42:41,880
was actually
really, really good.

1028
00:42:41,880 --> 00:42:42,630
PROFESSOR 1: Yeah.

1029
00:42:42,630 --> 00:42:47,162
So that's why phases
complicate things.

1030
00:42:47,162 --> 00:42:48,870
Sometimes it is, in
fact, the right word,

1031
00:42:48,870 --> 00:42:52,039
but it's just hard
to be able to expect

1032
00:42:52,039 --> 00:42:53,955
that every single player
is going to interpret

1033
00:42:53,955 --> 00:42:57,700
that word the same way.

1034
00:42:57,700 --> 00:42:59,629
OK.

1035
00:42:59,629 --> 00:43:01,670
PROFESSOR 2: So you can
break up into your teams,

1036
00:43:01,670 --> 00:43:03,400
continue working on your games.

1037
00:43:03,400 --> 00:43:05,060
This is playtest time.

1038
00:43:05,060 --> 00:43:07,490
So, in particular,
playtest your rules.

1039
00:43:07,490 --> 00:43:09,027
If you want us to
play your rules

1040
00:43:09,027 --> 00:43:10,860
and give you feedback
before you turn it in,

1041
00:43:10,860 --> 00:43:12,310
today's the day to do it.

1042
00:43:12,310 --> 00:43:13,842
PROFESSOR 1: And
attendance sheet--

1043
00:43:13,842 --> 00:43:15,675
PROFESSOR 2: Attendance
sheet's right there.

1044
00:43:15,675 --> 00:43:17,466
PROFESSOR 1: Attendance
sheet's over there.

1045
00:43:17,466 --> 00:43:19,860
[SIDE CONVERSATIONS]