Welcome to game design!

So I got moved into game design from a cddn class. I'm super excited and am really looking forward to this paper. However, because it took a while for me to get in due to wait listing, I've missed the first week of classes  :(  So I'm desperately trying to catch up and just thought I'd take some important notes on game mechanics for myself. A class mate forwarded me this video, super helpful.



Notes I took from this video ~

Mechanics - Rules and systems that create the game play we experience
eg - the math for how shooting works (in a shooter game)

Dynamics - The actual experimental play that those mechanics come together to create
eg, the running and gunning game play

Aesthetics - The reason we actually go to the game
eg, The fantasy world

Core Aesthetics of game play

• Sense Pleasure - music, visuals ect.
• Fantasy - A life you can't experience otherwise
• Narrative - The drama you witness eg, The Sims
• Challenge - Overcoming obstacles
• Fellowship - Working in a group of characters
• Competition - To get better than others
• Discovery - eg, discovering new territory in Skyrim
• Expression - Clothing, art
• Abnegation - Game as pass time, zoning out. 

Narrative Mechanics

Notes from the reading http://gamestudies.org/0802/articles/sicart

"A game mechanic, then, is the action invoked by an agent to interact with the game world, as constrained by the game rules."

For example, in Shadow of the Colossus we find the following mechanics: to climb, ride (the horse), stab, jump, shoot (arrows), whistle, grab, run (and variations like swim or dive). In Gears of War, a non-comprehensive list would be: cover, shoot, reload, throw (grenade), look (at a point of interest), use, give orders, switch weapons[2]. All of these are methods for agency within the game world, actions the player can take within the space of possibility created by the rules.

Contextual mechanics are analytical concepts that can be used to understand how players decode the information in a level - how a player perceives certain structures and how those structures are used to communicate intended uses or behaviors.

Game mechanics are concerned with the actual interaction with the game state, while rules provide the possibility space where that interaction is possible, regulating as well the transition between states. In this sense, rules are modeled after agency, while mechanics are modeled for agency.

Järvinen defined core mechanics as "the possible or preferred or encouraged means with which the player can interact with game elements as she is trying to influence the game state at hand towards the attainment of a goal" 

that it is possible and useful to understand game mechanics as different from game rules, and in that understanding, we can more clearly describe how games can be designed to affect players in unprecedented ways. 

Notes from http://www.cs.northwestern.edu/~hunicke/MDA.pdf

Mechanics describes the particular components of the 
game, at the level of data representation and algorithms. 

Dynamics describes the run-time behavior of the 
mechanics acting on player inputs and each othersí 
outputs over time. 

Aesthetics describes the desirable emotional responses 
evoked in the player, when she interacts with the game 
system. 

1. Sensation
 Game as sense-pleasure 
2. Fantasy
 Game as make-believe
3. Narrative 
 Game as drama
4. Challenge
 Game as obstacle course
5. Fellowship
 Game as social framework
6. Discovery
 Game as uncharted territory 
7. Expression
 Game as self-discovery 
8. Submission

 Game as pastime

The Sims: Discovery, Fantasy, Expression, Narrative. 

Final Fantasy: Fantasy, Narrative, Expression, 

Discovery, Challenge, Submission. 

Mechanics 
Mechanics are the various actions, behaviors and control 
mechanisms afforded to the player within a game context. 
Together with the gameís content (levels, assets and so on) 

the mechanics support overall gameplay dynamics. 

For example, the mechanics of card games include 
shuffling, trick-taking and betting ñ from which dynamics 
like bluffing can emerge. The mechanics of shooters 
include weapons, ammunition and spawn points ñ which 
sometimes produce things like camping and sniping. The 
mechanics of golf include balls, clubs, sand traps and 
water hazards ñ which sometimes produce broken or 

drowned clubs

Just took some notes from the readings for myself to look back on, very helpful in understanding this assignment. 
"Mechanics are tools that the game provides for players to overcome a situation presented to them. For instance in Super Mario - Mario's core mechanic is his jump. This provides him with the ability to traverse obstacles, kill enemies and break/open boxes. Another mechanic for Super Mario would be his growth. When he eats a mushroom he grows right? So it gives him more or less a moving checkpoint/life system."

My tutor emailed me this. This will be helpful to reflect back on as I'm choosing the game mechanics.