Game Interface Design

I've got a friend who's planning to do his dissertation on Game Interface Design. He's looking for sources
(web, magazine, journal, book, anything) to do some initial reading. I've given him a few suggestions
(Gamasutra, GameDev, and a couple of other links I had sitting around) but thought you guys might be able to
suggest some other useful resources. I think his focus is primarily going to be on the visual aspects of
interface design but material on control methods, use of sound in interfaces, etc. is welcome as well.

Matt.

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Persistency and PvP

Sleepless night, so I thought I'd blather on this otherwise dead mailing list.

Every successful persistent on-line game effectively sits on a player-vs-environment (PvE) model with
additional, optional player-vs-player (PvP).  Ultima On-line is the closest I can think of where there's
prevalent PvP, however it can be ignored if you choose (aside from the occasional PK) -- you don't have to
engage in PvP in order to advance, you can still advance in other axes of gameplay (trade skills,
socializing, PvE).

The popular games that provide PvP as their main source of entertainment are not persistent.  Game play is
limited to a session, a level, or until some end-game scenario is reached.  This is true whether we're
talking about a shooter with 10 minute levels or a turn based play-by-mail strategy game that spans 30
days.  The point remains the same -- players are competing until some fixed, known limit is reached and a
winner is declared.

This differentiation never dawned on me until very recently, primarily because I never put much thought
into it.

The reason for this is obvious now that I think about it -- persistent games that stress PvP will tend to favor
players that have been playing longer.  This is true in a PvE level treadmill as well, but the difference is
that in a PvP environment stronger players are actually detrimental to the newer players instead of
somewhere between neutral and beneficial as you find in PvE oriented games.

In a PvE game, with or without minor elements of PvP, the player has one key ability going for them at all times
-- the ability to avoid conflict with other players.  They can do this by pursuing the PvE aspect and, when
necessary, logging out to avoid the PvP elements.  When you're logged out of a PvE game, you're not put in a
position of "losing".

Contrast this with a persistent PvP game.  Either there is a winning scenario, at which point your absence
will be detrimental to you or your team's chances, or there is no winning scenario, at which point the PvP
element feels rather, well, pointless.  Do you artificially constrain things so that all out victory is

RE: Persistency and PvP

> For individual competition (i.e. not team based), this is even worse --
> what happens when you join the game late?  Do you rely on social
> engineering such as guilds (effectively informal teams) to protect you
> while you gain power?  Or are you just screwed?

The problem seems to be time vs experience.  It would be the same whether you joined the game later than other
players or whether you are unable to play the game as much as other players.

In most of the current games you really spend 'time' to gain 'experience'.  Unfortunately the time you spend
is real-world time (the time in which you physically allocate to playing the game).

Even a player that does not spend every second of online time improving his stats can still quickly out-rank
a player that does if the first player is online much more than the second player.

So:

-> We spend real-world time to gain in-game experience.

-> There is an imbalance in the amount of time various players have to spend in game.

-> An imbalance in in-game experience is an imbalance in character-capability.

This means that there is an imbalance (across time) in the ability of players to gain in-game experience
which leads to an imbalance (across time) in character-capabilities.  (Thus, the effect is continuous).

If real-world time is the resource, then those of us with less real-world time to spend are 'just screwed'. :P

An interesting comparison to make would be this:

Imagine a game where, instead, you spend real-world money to gain in-game experience.  In this case, the

Re: Game Interface Design

I may be biased, but there's some pretty cool visual themes going on in the
"Clive Barker's Undying" shell.

Richard Benson
Software Engineer
Electronic Arts Los Angeles

----- Original Message -----
From: "Matt Newport" <matt.newport <at> nicelycrafted.com>
To: <gamedevlists-design <at> lists.sourceforge.net>
Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2003 5:06 AM
Subject: [GD-Design] Game Interface Design

I've got a friend who's planning to do his dissertation on Game Interface
Design. He's looking for sources (web, magazine, journal, book, anything) to
do some initial reading. I've given him a few suggestions (Gamasutra,
GameDev, and a couple of other links I had sitting around) but thought you
guys might be able to suggest some other useful resources. I think his focus
is primarily going to be on the visual aspects of interface design but
material on control methods, use of sound in interfaces, etc. is welcome as
well.

Matt.

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.435 / Virus Database: 244 - Release Date: 30/12/2002

-------------------------------------------------------

RE: Persistency and PvP

of course you can throw in various caps on abilities, which means eventually
even the players with less time can catch up.

my main concern with mmorpgs is that they seem to have an emphasis on graft
rather than fun.

j

-----Original Message-----
From: gamedevlists-design-admin <at> lists.sourceforge.net
[mailto:gamedevlists-design-admin <at> lists.sourceforge.net]On Behalf Of
Jaek Smith
Sent: 18 January 2003 10:14
To: gamedevlists-design <at> lists.sourceforge.net
Subject: RE: [GD-Design] Persistency and PvP

> For individual competition (i.e. not team based), this is even worse --
> what happens when you join the game late?  Do you rely on social
> engineering such as guilds (effectively informal teams) to protect you
> while you gain power?  Or are you just screwed?

The problem seems to be time vs experience.  It would be the same whether
you joined the game later than other players or whether you are unable to
play the game as much as other players.

In most of the current games you really spend 'time' to gain 'experience'.
Unfortunately the time you spend is real-world time (the time in which you
physically allocate to playing the game).

Even a player that does not spend every second of online time improving his

mesh design issues