scholarly journals Application of Pattern Language for Game Design in Pedagogy and Design Practice

Information ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 393
Author(s):  
Christopher Aaron Barney
Keyword(s):  
Game Design ◽  
Design Patterns ◽  
Design Education ◽  
Design Theory ◽  
Pattern Language ◽  
Pattern Languages ◽  
Pattern Theory ◽  
Development Tool ◽  
Pattern Production ◽  
Game Design Patterns

Existing implementations of game design patterns have largely been confined to theoretical or research settings. Weaknesses in these implementations have prevented game design patterns from being properly evaluated as an educational and practical development tool. This paper examines these weaknesses, describes a method of developing and applying patterns that overcome the weaknesses, and evaluates use of the method for game design education and practice. Weaknesses in existing pattern implementations are: the omission of design problems, presumption of functional completeness at the level of pattern languages, narrow topical focus, and lack of a concise, repeatable method for pattern production. Several features of the proposed method were specifically built to address these weaknesses, namely the pattern template, the process for connecting patterns into a language and assessing the language’s scope, a rubric for assessing pattern confidence and interconnectivity confidence, and pattern-building exercises. This method was applied in a classroom setting. Results as assessed by the evaluation of student work suggest that creating patterns/pattern languages is an effective pedagogical approach. Designs produced using designer-created patterns closely align with existing design theory and are clearly understood by students. The above results may indicate that the path to gaining wider acceptance of pattern theory as a design framework within game design is not to produce a universal pattern language, but to facilitate the creation of case-specific languages by students and professional designers that use a shared ontology, and thus can be combined easily to solve the diverse sets of problems faced by these groups.

scholarly journals Application of Pattern Language for Game Design in Pedagogy and Design Practice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Aaron Barney
Keyword(s):  
Game Design ◽  
Design Patterns ◽  
Design Education ◽  
Design Theory ◽  
Pattern Language ◽  
Pattern Languages ◽  
Pattern Theory ◽  
Development Tool ◽  
Pattern Production ◽  
Game Design Patterns

Existing implementations of game design patterns have largely been confined to theoretical or research settings. Weaknesses in these implementations have prevented game design patterns from being properly evaluated as an educational and practical development tool. This paper examines these weaknesses, describes a method of developing and applying patterns that overcome the weaknesses, and evaluates use of the method for game design education and practice. Weaknesses in existing pattern implementations are: omission of design problems, presumption of functional completeness at the level of pattern languages, narrow topical focus, and lack of a concise, repeatable method for pattern production. Several features of the proposed method were specifically built to address these weaknesses, namely the pattern template, the process for connecting patterns into a language and assessing the language’s scope, a rubric for assessing pattern confidence and interconnectivity confidence, and pattern-building exercises. This method was applied in a classroom setting. Results, as assessed by the evaluation of student work, suggest that creating patterns/pattern languages is an effective pedagogical approach. De-signs produced using designer-created patterns closely align with existing design theory and are clearly understood by students. The above results may indicate that the path to gaining wider acceptance of pattern theory as a design framework within game design is not to produce a universal pattern language but to facilitate the creation of case-specific languages, by students and professional designers, that use a shared ontology and thus can be combined easily to solve the diverse sets of problems faced by these groups.

scholarly journals Pegasus: A Simulation Tool to Support Design of Progression Games

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Marcelo Arêas R. da Silva ◽  
Geraldo Bonorino Xexéo
Keyword(s):  
Game Design ◽  
Design Patterns ◽  
Discrete Event ◽  
Simulation Tool ◽  
Support Design ◽  
Simple Task ◽  
Event Simulation ◽  
Game Designer ◽  
Game Elements ◽  
Game Design Patterns

The process of designing a game involves many phases. We can summarize the work of the game designer as satisfactorily converting the idea in their mind to a digital game, which is not a simple task. Therefore, game designers should have a variety of tools to assist them. However, there are not that many specialized tools to support the game design process. Herein, we describe the experience of using Pegasus to design a part of a game. We propose an environment to simulate progression games based on game design patterns. Thus, we described the interaction of the game designer with Pegasus in such an environment, in order to support the process of creating, testing, and refining game elements before proceeding to the programming phase. Each configuration of the game elements corresponded to a simulation that could be performed multiple times, like in discrete event simulation. The results showed that Pegasus has the potential to support game design. Additionally, we presented some support components that were created to facilitate the use of the tool.

Once More With Feeling: Game Design Patterns for Learning in the Affective Domain

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 215-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Dormann ◽  
J. R. Whitson ◽  
M. Neuvians
Keyword(s):  
Game Design ◽  
Design Patterns ◽  
Affective Domain ◽  
Game Design Patterns

scholarly journals Story beats in videogames as value-driven choice-based unit operations

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (38) ◽  
pp. 5-31
Author(s):  
Michał Mochocki ◽  
Raine Koskimaa
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Design Patterns ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
Unit Operation ◽  
Action Unit ◽  
Unit Operations ◽  
Cognitive Narratology ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
Game Design Patterns

We present a framework of story beats, defined as microunits of dramatic action, as a tool for the ludonarrative analysis of videogames. First, we explain the Goal - Action - Reaction - Outcome model of the story beat. Then, we present six types of story beats, Action, Interaction, Inaction, Mental, Emotion, and Sensory, providing videogame examples for each category. In the second half of the paper, we contextualise this framework in the classic game studies theory of videogame narrative and player action: unit operations, gamic action, anatomy of choice, and game design patterns, wrapping it up in the most recent trends in cognitive narratology. Ultimately, we present the story beat as a ludonarrative unit, working simultaneously as a ‘unit operation’ in the study of games as systems, and as a microunit of character action in narrative analysis. The conclusion outlines prospective directions for using story beats in formal, experiential, and cultural game research.

scholarly journals A Game of COVID. Ludification as a Way to Make Sense of a Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Hans Raab ◽  
Claus Christian Carbon ◽  
Niklas Döbler
Keyword(s):  
Game Design ◽  
Design Patterns ◽  
Spatial Awareness ◽  
Economic Crises ◽  
Catastrophic Events ◽  
Complex Situation ◽  
Cooperative Effort ◽  
Western Countries ◽  
Cognitive Scripts ◽  
Game Design Patterns

Many aspects of handling the COVID-19 pandemic in Western countries bear resemblance to game-design patterns like point displays and leader boards, the visible assumption of roles, classic archetypes, collection and hoarding of resources, and spatial awareness. We argue that these patterns emerge as people lack cultural and individual norms and cognitive scripts to handle a pandemic, in contrast to other catastrophic events like wars and major economic crises. Understanding this spontaneous ludification of a serious and complex situation in terms of Johan Huizinga's homo ludens can raise awareness for possible failings in dealing with COVID-19. It also has the potential to strengthen people's motivation for cooperative effort.

scholarly journals Teaching Software Engineering Topics Through Pedagogical Game Design Patterns: An Empirical Study

Information ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 153
Author(s):  
Nuno Flores ◽  
Ana C. R. Paiva ◽  
Nuno Cruz
Keyword(s):  
Software Engineering ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
Design Patterns ◽  
Educational Games ◽  
Traditional Teaching ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Software Engineering Education ◽  
Software Estimation ◽  
Game Design Patterns

Teaching software engineering in its many different forms using traditional teaching methods is difficult. Serious games can help overcome these challenges because they allow real situations to be simulated. However, the development of serious games is not easy and, although there are good practices for relating game design patterns to teaching techniques, there is no methodology to support its use in a specific context such as software engineering. This article presents a case study to validate a methodology that links the Learning and Teaching Functions (LTF) to the Game Design Patterns (PIB) in the context of Software Engineering Education. A serious game was developed from scratch using this methodology to teach software estimation (a specific topic of software engineering). An experiment was carried out to validate the effectiveness of the game by comparing the results of two different groups of students. The results indicate that the methodology can help to develop effective educational games on specific learning topics.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document