Pattern Language for Game Design

1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-0-367-63395-0
Verlag: CRC Press

Buch, Englisch, 502 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 916 g

Chris Barney’s Pattern Language for Game Design builds on the revolutionary work of architect Christopher Alexander to show students, teachers, and game development professionals how to derive best practices in all aspects of game design. Using a series of practical, rigorous exercises, designers can observe and analyze the failures and successes of the games they know and love to find the deep patterns that underlie good design. From an in-depth look at Alexander’s work, to a critique of pattern theory in various fields, to a new approach that will challenge your knowledge and put it to work, this book seeks to transform how we look at building the interactive experiences that shape us.

Key Features:

- Background on the architectural concepts of patterns and a Pattern Language as defined in the work of Christopher Alexander, including his later work on the Fifteen Properties of Wholeness and Generative Codes.

- Analysis of other uses of Alexander’s work in computer science and game design, and the limitations of those efforts.

- A comprehensive set of example exercises to help the reader develop their own patterns that can be used in practical day-to-day game design tasks.

- Exercises that are useful to designers at all levels of experience and can be completed in any order, allowing students to select exercises that match their coursework and allowing professionals to select exercises that address their real-world challenges.

- Discussion of common pitfalls and difficulties with the pattern derivation process.

- A guide for game design teachers, studio leaders, and university departments for curating and maintaining institutional Pattern Languages.

- An Interactive Pattern Language website where you can share patterns with developers throughout the world (patternlanguageforgamedesign.com).

- Comprehensive games reference for all games discussed in this book.





Author

Chris Barney is an industry veteran with more than a decade of experience designing and engineering games such as Poptropica and teaching at Northeastern University. He has spoken at conferences, including GDC, DevCom, and PAX, on topics from core game design to social justice. Seeking degrees in game design before formal game design programs existed, Barney built his own undergraduate and graduate curricula out of offerings in sociology, computer science, and independent study. In pursuit of a broad understanding of games, he has worked on projects spanning interactive theater, live-action role-playing game (LARP) design, board games, and tabletop role-playing games (RPGs). An extensive collection of his essays of game design topics can be found on his development blog at perspectivesingamedesign.com.

Zielgruppe

Professional Practice & Development

Autoren/Hrsg.

Barney, Christopher

Fachgebiete

• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Informatik Künstliche Intelligenz Spracherkennung, Sprachverarbeitung
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Programmierung | Softwareentwicklung Spiele-Programmierung, Rendering, Animation

Inhaltsverzeichnis

SECTION I: INTRODUCTION

Introduction xx
What is this book for? xx
Why is this book for you? xx
Why am I the person writing this book? xx
Patterns, Creativity, and Art xx
Why are there patterns? xx
Back to Art xx
Is there room for creativity and innovation? xx
Different Designers, Different Patterns xx
Forming Patterns vs. Accepting Tropes and Stereotypes xx


SECTION II: BACKGROUND

Background on A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander xx
Pattern Theory xx
Criticisms xx
Implications for Games xx
Background on the use of pattern languages in other fields xx
Computer Science xx
Social and Behavioral Science xx
Background on the use of patterns in game design xx
Books xx
Patterns in Game Design xx
Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design xx
Scholarly Articles xx
The Case For Game Design Patterns xx
Developing a pattern language for flow experiences in video games xx
Design Patterns in Games: the case for Sound Design xx
Patterns and Computer Game Design Innovation xx
Other Game Design Pattern Projects xx
LARP Pattern Language xx
Kind Fortress xx
Swedish ICT Interactive Institute xx


SECTION III: AN INTRODUCTION TO PATTERNS IN GAME DESIGN
An Introduction to Patterns in Game Design xx
The Pattern Template and an Example Pattern xx
Pattern Template xx
Pattern Confidence xx
Example pattern xx
Mystery driven exploration xx
Introduction to Pattern Exercises xx
Common Problems in proposed patterns xx
Patterns should address a design problem xx
Shallow Patterns xx
Circular Pattern xx
Patterns should be Prescriptive xx
Jumping to Conclusions xx
Anti-Patterns xx
The Desire to be The Authority / Kill Your Babies xx



SECTION IV: PATTERN EXERCISES
Pattern Exercises: xx
Example Exercises and Patterns xx

Basic Pattern Exercise xx
Basic Pattern Exercise xx
Pattern purpose xx
Exercise 1: Basic Pattern Exercise xx
Basic Pattern Exercise Example xx
Structural Pattern Exercises xx
Higher-order Patterns xx
Pattern purpose xx
Exercise 2: Higher-order Patterns xx
Example Higher-order Patterns xx
Lower-order Patterns xx
Pattern purpose xx
Exercise 3: Lower-order Patterns xx
Example Lower-order Pattern xx
Formal and Functional Design Elements xxx
Formal Patterns xxx
Pattern purpose xxx
Exercise 4: Formal Patterns xxx
Example Formal Pattern xxx
Bonus Student Example: Temporally Unavailable Space xxx
Functional Patterns: Patterns from Rules xxx
Pattern purpose xxx
Exercise 5: Functional Patterns xxx
Example Functional Pattern xxx
Emotional Patterns xxx
Pattern purpose xxx
Exercise 6: Emotional Patterns xxx
Example Emotional Pattern xxx
Player Experience Pattern xxx
Pattern purpose xxx
Exercise 7: Player Experience Patterns xxx
Example Experience Pattern xxx
Theme Patterns xxx
Pattern purpose xxx
Exercise 8: Theme Patterns xxx
Example pattern xxx
Focused Patterns xxx
Patterns from Micro, Macro, and Meta Circulation-patterns xxx
Pattern purpose xxx
Exercise 9: Circulation Patterns xxx
Example Circulation Pattern: Micro, Macro and Meta xxx
Boss Encounter Patterns xxx
Pattern purpose xxx
Exercise 10: Boss Encounter Patterns xxx
Example Boss Encounter Pattern xxx
Emergent Narrative Patterns xxx
Pattern purpose xxx
Exercise 11: Emergent Narrative Patterns xxx
Example Emergent Narrative Pattern xxx
Embedded and Environmental Narrative Patterns xxx
Pattern purpose xxx
Exercise 12: Embedded and Environmental Narrative Patterns xxx
Example Embedded and Environmental Narrative Pattern xxx
Patterns that Break the Mold xxx
Breaking Spaces Patterns xxx
Pattern purpose xxx
Exercise 13: Breaking Spaces Patterns xxx
Example Breaking Spaces Pattern xxx
Player Manipulation Patterns xxx
Pattern purpose xxx
Exercise 14: Player Manipulation Patterns xxx
Example Player Manipulation Pattern xxx
Patterns in Innovation xxx
Pattern purpose xxx
Exercise 15: Patterns in Innovation xxx
Example pattern xxx

SECTION V: THE FIFTEEN PROPERTIES
Taking a Step Back: What We Have Learned So Far xxx
The 'Fifteen Fundamental Properties of Wholeness' in game design xxx
Levels of Scale xxx
Strong Centers xxx
Boundaries xxx
Alternating Repetition xxx
Positive Space xxx
Good Shape xxx
Local Symmetries xxx
Deep Interlock xxx
Contrast xxx
Graded Variation xxx
Roughness xxx
Echoes xxx
The Void xxx
Inner Calm xxx
Not Separateness xxx


SECTION V: ADVANCED EXERCISES
Advanced Pattern Generation Exercises xxx
Patterns from Core Mechanics xxx
Core Mechanics xxx
Pattern purpose xxx
Exercise 16: Patterns From Core Mechanics xxx
Example Pattern from Core Mechanics xxx
Finding missing Patterns xxx
Pattern purpose xxx
Exercise 17: Finding Missing Patterns xxx
Example Finding Missing Pattern xxx
Finding negative Patterns xxx
Pattern purpose xxx
Exercise 18: Finding Negative Patterns xxx
Example Negative Pattern xxx
Finding positive Patterns from negative ones xxx
Pattern purpose xxx
Exercise 19: Finding Positive Patterns From Negative Patterns xxx
Example Positive Patterns xxx
Using Patterns for Understanding xxx
Understanding Techniques xxx
Exercise 20: Using Patterns to Understand Techniques xxx
Example pattern xxx
Understanding Tropes xxx
Exercise 21: Using Patterns to Understand Tropes xxx
Example patterns xxx
The First Question xxx
Pattern purpose xxx
Exercise 22: The First Question xxx
Example pattern xxx
Audience Patterns xxx
Pattern purpose xxx
Exercise 23: Audience Patterns xxx
Example Audience Patterns xxx
Exercise 23 A: Audience Patterns xxx
Exercise 23 B: Audience Patterns xxx
Theoretical Patterns xxx
Pattern Purpose xxx
Exercise 24: Theoretical Patterns xxx
Example pattern xxx


SECTION VI: BUILDING A LANGUAGE
Connecting Patterns into a Language xxx
Introduction to Pattern Language construction xxx
Building a Pattern Language xxx
Make sure that you have enough patterns xxx
Add Keywords xxx
Understanding the Scope of Your Language xxx
Pattern Categories xxx
Meta, Macro, and Micro-level Patterns xxx
Adding Existing Parent Patterns xxx
Adding Existing Child Patterns xxx
Linking Other Related Patterns xxx
Suggesting New Parents and Children xxx
Use the Theoretical Patterns Exercise to Find Related Patterns xxx
Link Confidence xxx
Integrating Patterns from Other Sources xxx
Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design xxx
Patterns in Game Design xxx
The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses xxx
Exercise 25: Creating Patterns from Lenses xxx
Example Pattern xxx
Pitfalls of pattern relationships xxx
Combining patterns xxx
Eliminating patterns xxx
Creating New Pattern Exercises xxx
Framing the intent of the Exercise xxx
Listing and describing examples xxx
Analyzing the examples xxx
Articulating the pattern xxx
Designing with a Pattern Language xxx
Integrating Pattern Language Use into Existing Design Processes xxx
Pattern Language as the Basis of Design xxx
Teaching yourself or students with Pattern Languages xxx
An institutional Pattern Language xxx
Developing with Patterns xxx
Providing Feedback xxx
Assessing Patterns from others xxx
Developing with other people’s patterns xxx
Group Pattern Exercises xxx
Dividing Up the Examples xxx
Reviewing Other’s Projects xxx
Creating Keywords xxx
Categorizing Patterns xxx
Assessing A Pattern Language xxx
Design Exercise Using Patterns xxx

Über Autor(innen)

Christopher Barney is an industry veteran, with over a decade of experience designing and engineering games like Poptropica and teaching at Northeastern University. He has spoken at conferences including GDC, DevCom, and PAX on topics from core game design to social justice. Seeking degrees in game design before formal game design programs existed, Chris built his own undergraduate and graduate curricula out of offerings in sociology, computer science, and independent study. In pursuit of a broad understanding of games, he has worked on projects spanning interactive theater, LARP design, board games, and tabletop RPGs. An extensive collection of his essays of game design topics can be found on his development blog at perspectivesingamedesign.com.