Interaction Model & Difficulty & Player Action

Interaction model is the part of the game in which the designers and creators have to think about how much control they would want to give to there target audience and how much there audience will be represented in the game. There are two different types of interaction models which are Avatar Interaction Model and Omnipresence Interactive Model.

Avatar Interactive Model  

Avatar Interactive Model is when the player is represented by an avatar within the game world and the only control the player has in the game is over the avatar. An example of a game that uses avatar interactive model are Assassin Creed and Grand Theft Auto. People prefer to play this type of interactive model is because they do not like to control a lot of people and things and would rather control one avatar. Also having to only control an avatar, it will allow you to go through a story line and also connect with the character, making the player more immersed to the game world.

Omnipresence Interactive Model 

Omnipresence Interactive Model is when the player has control of more than one characters within the game and also some games allows the player to control and change the game world itself. Examples of games that use Omnipresence Interactive Model are My Sims, Theme Park, Age of Empire. People prefer to play this type of interactive models because it allows players to be creative and make the game there own and also the world will be unique to the player only. Also they will have more characters to connect to.

Difficulty 

Game balance is linked to difficulty as getting the balance of the difficulty right is really important. So game designers have to make sure they do not make the game to easy or to hard for the player. This is because making the game to easy may make the player bored so they will no want to play any more as there is no challenge and they have no drive to carry on. Also if the game is too easy then the player will finish the game really quickly and may not have as much fun as they should. On the other hand, making the game to hard may again make the player bored as they will struggle passing a certain mission and get bored of playing it over and over again, so they may give up and stop playing. Game designers can do two things to try and prevent that from happening and try balance the game. One thing they can do is that they could make the start of the game easy so that the player can get used to the controls and the gameplay and eventually start to get harder and harder. This is also good as it allows the player to be more immersed to the game. Another thing the game designer can do is that they could provide the player with the difficulty setting. This is really helpful as if the player is getting bored of the game because it is too easy or hard, they can manually change the difficulty up or down. Also this is good because people that have played the game before can have a a choice of starting hard to challenge themselves. An example of a game that uses difficulty setting is FIFA 15, where the player has a choice of how hard they want the CPU to be depending on how good the player is as well, Another example is Call of Duty, as they can increase the difficulty during the campaign as it will make the game more challenging. A player may increase the difficulty of the game because they are finding it too esy and want to challenge themselves and also improve there own skill at the game.

Player Action

There are two different types of player actions in video games. One of them are the main actions where the character can do in the game world such as run, jump, crouch and many more. For example, if you analyse two different games such as FIFA 15 and Super Mario, you will see that one has many different main actions where as the other only has some simple main actions. On Super Mario, there are only a certain things you can do with the character such as jump, run and punch. However, on FIFA 15 you can do many things including the simple actions as well such as, shoot, slide tackle, sprint, pass, through ball and many more.



The other type of player action is how the gamer controls the main character. For example a gamer can control a character using a controller, mouse, keyboard or even motion sensors. A controller is one of the most used devises in video games. It is a usually connected to the game console, either wireless or wired, and it allows the player to control the character by pressing on different buttons that do different actions. A console that uses a controller is PS4, where it provides a controller that has a d-pad, four main buttons, two analog stick, two bumpers and a touch screen. Motion sensor is a device which is connected by a wire to the game console and it detects the movement of the player by a small camera. This allows the player to control the character to mave they character using there body movements. An example of a devise that uses motion sensors is the Xbox Connect, which has three cameras and a microphone.

Game World

Game world is the virtual version of the place it is set within, either an imaginary place or a real life

place. There can be many different game world within one game as it may have different places the player could go to for example, Borderlands 2 have many different planets that the player could travel to so it will have a certain game world for each planet. Designers have to make sure they get the game world right as the game world allows the player to adapt to the time it is set in thus making the player feel more attached and immersed to the game. Also if the designer gets the game world wrong then the whole game will not make sense for example, if Assassin Creed game world was set in the future, this will confuse the player as the characters will be dressed in the 1800’s while the surrounding will be all futuristic. As you can see from the images below, you can clearly see the difference in the quality of the game world and the graphics used have increased dramatically as the recent one has a much more lifelike look to it, making it more appealing to the gamer and allows them to be more immersed to it, rather than having simple and boring graphics like before.   

Terrain

Terrain is the surface in which the game world is played on so it is the ground the player is on. The terrain can change from grass to water to sand and many more. Usually the terrain does not affect the game play so will not play a part in the game as it is just a surface in which the characters walk upon. But not all games have terrain that change so will be the same throughout the whole game. Grand Theft Auto 5 is an example of a game that has a terrain that changes as there are many different locations that will need a different surface so one minute you could be walking on concrete and the next minute you could be on the beach walking on sand. This links to most adventure games as they are usually always moving to new places to explore and are normally open world games. An example of a terrain that stays the same is NBA 2K15, which has a surface of a pitch that is made out of wood, so there will be no need to change the terrain. This links to most sport games as they usually place on the same surface. 

Architecture 

Architecture is the buildings, structure and any monuments that are surrounding the game world. Architecture is based upon where and when the game is set so different games will have different types of architecture designs. For example Madden NFL 15 has a simple amount of architecture as the designers will only need to create the stadiums because it is set in the modern time in a rugby pitch. On the other hand, Grand Theft Auto 5 has a much more advanced types of architecture as it is an open world game that is mostly based in a city which requires a vast majority of buildings. designers have to have a precise and detailed architecture as it allows the game to look realistic which also allows the player to feel like they are actually in the game. Also it will allow players to appreciate the amount of work put into the game which will increase the popularity of the game and thus increase sales. Architecture has changed dramatically overtime. This is because pc's and consoles have improved as well allowing them to run games in very high quality. Here is an image of the same game but with a 14 year gap between them and you can clearly see how different they look because of the buildings, even though it is the same game.

  

Objects

Objects are things in the game which make enhances the game world so that it would look more realistic and lifelike. Objects can be used by the players within the game to help assist the players for example on Minecraft, there are beds which allow the player to sleep so that they could pass through the day and go back to morning faster. Other objects can be put into the game world to make the world look more realistic such as chairs and tables. Designers have the task to make high quality objects as it will make the game look more lifelike, making the game more popular for players. Also a high quality object can make the player feel more into the game and may think they are in the game and actually moving around in the game world. In the past few years, objects have improved greatly. Before objects looked fake and sometimes hard to identify what the object actually wad meant to be but because of better graphics and designers, objects now look more lifelike which improves the experience of the players. Also, only a few object could be used by players but over the past few years, there are many objects that can be used for many different purposes for example in Dead rising three, you can pick up random objects and combine them together to make a weapon to defeat the zombies.        

Feedback Interface

Feedback interface is something that gives information to the player about how they are doing, there progress and what is happening around them throughout the game. There are two types of interfaces, one of them is a simple interface and the other an advanced interface. Simple interface give people simple information like health, score and time all displayed on the screen. Most games have simple interface such as Sonic, Mario carts and FIFA. On the other hand, advanced interface provides players with more advanced information such as a Map or Radar. Examples of advanced interface are Grand Theft Auto 5, FIFA 15 and many more.

Feedback interface is really important as if there wasn’t any feedback interface, the player will have no idea about the progress of the game and what’s going on around them. For example, if Call of Duty: Black ops 2 didn’t have an interface, then the player will not know how many bullets they have left in the magazine or how many spare they have, so they will have to guess. Also there will be no map or radar so the player will not know which one the enemies are and which ones are friends. This all means that the player will have to guess the whole time and also will not know how well their team is doing or opponent.  

Single-player vs Multi-player

Single-player

Single-player is a mode where only one player is needed to play the game while they play against or with the computer or artificial intelligence (AI). The player will have to be able to play on there own and complete missions and goals themselves. 

Single-player mode was a huge success in the early stages of video games as they were easy to design and create. Also most games will have the choice to play single player mode and is highly unlikely that there will be a game without it. 

Examples of a single-player mode video game are Grand Theft Auto 5, Assassin creed, Candy Crush and many more. Candy crush is a single player mode game as you will not require anyone else to achieve the objective. 

There are many advantages and disadvantages to single-player mode. An advantage is that you will be able to go through the whole journey of the game by yourself without having to wait for someone to come and play. Also completing the game will feel like a bigger achievement as the player did not have any assistant from anyone else. The disadvantage is that if the player gets stuck on a certain mission, they will not be able to ask for help from someone else so they may never pass that mission and end up giving up. 

Multi-player 

Multi-player is a mode where one player can play the game with one or more other players to complete missions and goals together. There are three types of multi-player games which are Co-Op games, Competitive games and Massive Multi-player Online (MMO).

Co-Operative games is a video game which is designed to be played with another player that is with you so you will not require access to internet or have to be online. games that implement Co-Op mode are Call of Duty, Battlefield and WWE 2K15. These games tend to be played on the same console and screen so they will have to play on split screens which divides the screen so that each

player has there own view of there character. There are again advantages and disadvantages to Co-Op games. An Advantage is that you can play with someone else so you will have someone to go through the experience with. Also you can use another player to help assist you to complete the mission if you are struggling. A disadvantage is that having a split screen can get annoying especially if you have a small screen. Also there may be some arguments with players looking at the other players screen to see where they are, which again can get annoying.

Competitive games is a video game which is designed to make two players play against each other to defeat the opponent and win. An example of games that implement competitive modes are FIFA 15, NBA 2K15 and Madden NFL 15. These games are popular with the players because it allows players to compete with other people including friend and family, and see who's the best player. An advantage of competitive game is that it allows people to play with random opponents every time so will have to adapt and change there game style to win and may make new friends. A disadvantage is that it requires access to the internet to play with people that are not playing on the same console and screen so if the connections goes off, the match may end in a loss even though you were winning. Another disadvantage us that the game may get repetitive and start to get boring so the player will stop playing. 

Massive Multi-player Online (MMO) games is a game which is designed to be played online only with a numerous amount of players on one server. most of the popular MMO's are Role Playing Games (RPG) which require a fee sometimes and in-game purchases. Examples of MMO games are League of Legend, Final Fantasy and Dungeons and Dragons. These games are really popular with players as it allows many people to play together as a community. Also it can allow you to meet new people and make new friends. An advantage of MMO games are that it could boost peoples confidence as a lot of communication is required to complete missions and to win. A disadvantage is that it again requires access to the internet to keep you online so if the internet goes, the player will be offline and also internet may be costly to certain people.        

Video Game Character Report

Characters are a person, animal or an object which are in the game for the player to control or use and even some characters are in the game to make the game look and feel more realistic.

The character that a player can control are usually the main character in the game. Main characters are vital in a game and having a good main character can make the game really popular. This is because players often connect to the main character and create an emotional link with them as they will probably be using them throughout the whole game so if the main character isn't good, then the player will not connect to the character and will not want to use it, so the game will not be so popular. An example of main characters are Mario, Ratchet, Master Chef and many more. One of the main characters, that is one of my favourite, are Alex Mason form Call of Duty Black ops. He is a great main character as I was able to connect with him and he made me feel more immures to the game. So every mission and kills I had to go through, I had Mason to control and made me feel stronger as Mason was really strong. 

Some games will have more than one main character that the player could control such as Grand Theft Auto 5, Tetras, Clash on clans and many more. One of my favourite game with more than one main character is Ratchet & Clank. This game has two main characters, ‘Ratchet’ and ‘Clank’, and this gives the player two different perspectives view of the world from each characters point. Ratchet is an animal that does most of the fighting and moving but when Ratchet gets stuck or trapped, the player will have to switch to Clank, who is a really small robot, and rely on him to get Ratchet out as he can do things that Ratchet cannot. Having more than character means more missions and more characters to attach to.

The other types of characters are NPC’s, also known as Non Playable Characters, and they are placed in the game for three purposes.

One type of NPC’s are the enemy. These type of NPC’s are put in the game to stop or slow down the player from achieving their goal or completing their mission. These types of NPC’s are important as without them, the game will be too easy and provide no challenge to the player so the player will achieve their goals or complete their missions quickly and end the game. An example of an enemy NPC’s are the opponent that you are playing on FIFA 15 as they are there from stopping you from achieving your goal which is to score more goals than them. 

Another type of NPC’s are the friends. These type of NPC’s are put in the game to help the player to achieve their goal or completing their mission. These types of NPC’s are also important as without them, the player may not have the skills to achieve the goal or complete the mission so they will get frustrated and probably stop playing that game. An example of a friendly NPC’s are the other character on your team on FIFA 15 that the player is not controlling as they are there to assist the player from achieving their goal which is to score more goals than the opponent. 

The last type of NPC’s are the characters that are in the game that do not aid or prevent the player from completing the mission or achieving their goals. These types of NPC’s are important as without them, the game may not work or may not look good and also they are there to make it look more realistic. An example of these type of NPC’s are the referee in FIFA 15 as he is there to allow the game to work and be more realistic without assisting or preventing the player from achieving their goal.