Notes from Riot Games guy, 22316

Notes from Riot Games guy, 2/23/16 Look at it from the audience back. Focus on the experience. What feeling do you want your player to have?

  1. The world is re-enchanted by technology over which we have lost control.      Maybe you ARE a composition of technology?

  2. The story world and the game world overlap.

  3. Every challenge requires a balance of reframing the challenge and brute-force.

  4. Myths are true in ways we never expected. (Technological development uncovers mythological truths)

  5. Children struggle to keep a world of imagination alive against the erosive force of adulthood. 

  6. Matrix managers: Most people are passive drones living in virtual reality. You struggle with others to control the game world. 

  7. Poetry as a game. Through gentle interaction, you unlock different facets of meaning in poetic language. The entire world is a sonnet.      -> Myst-like. The more insights you have into the language, the more you can          discover.

  8. (Kinect) You are a smart chicken in a factory farm; you need to gesturally      “pass” as a normal chicken until you can escape. 

  9. Let’s make a hit at GMS. Low-engagement riff on school. 3D mario mechanics      (run & jump), but with graphics that look like Glider.         -> VR exaggeration. Small hop = huge jump

  10. VR: You are a giant King Kong creature, destroying a city. Stomp and swat      your way through. Find your true love.

  11. Multiplayer sardines. The “It” wanders around a boring, procedurally-generated world, and becomes a mushroom, or an egg in a nest, or a parked bicycle. As others find “It,” they become adjacent mushrooms, eggs, or bicycles.      -> What do you do once you’ve found it? How do you recreate the suspense of          almost being discovered?

Day 1: Focus on doing something well.      Idea and concept     Mechanics Day 2: Which technologies are most relevant?     What helps?     What is a distraction?

Decide what you want to do well     Forcing function.          Organize your thoughts         Organize your group         Manage scope and priorities.

Build concept foundation     What is compelling?     Describe the player experience.     What will players say?     Where is the fun?      Why is this awesome?

It’s a tempering process     Brainstorming     Bubble up     Develop, expand     Repeat

Formats?     Sandbox     Platformer     Story-driven     Empire     Survival     RPG     Action     Cooperative     FPS     Simulation

Main Mechanic     What is the goal?     What tool will the player use?

Core game loop: Describe the typical session (state machine)     Are the products cohesive?     Do the parts create an ideal experience?     Does it all add up to something?

The concise pitch     This is what’s awesome: value-add; mission statement     Necessary for all audiences     Academic papers     Products     Start-ups

Key game elements     Game world     Camera     Input     Player Feedback     AI/Pathfinding

VR/AR: what are the pain points? Humans are terrible judges of absolute value; we are good at judging diffs.     Players need highs and lows to feel anything.     Fatigue: If you don’t have something else you’re trying for, you do not          engage with life.  Use constraints to your advantage. How to receive feedback

13/44 F/(M+F)