COMPUTER GAMES DESIGN

ASSIGNMENT 1- ILLUSTRATED ARTICLE ON GAME DESIGN

In this document I am going to be comparing three different game that are Assassins
creed black flag, Skyrim and The last of us and also some other games as well I will cover
all of the heading below and talk about the similarities and differences of different
aspects of the games.

VISUAL STYLE
Nowadays, developers have access to a myriad of graphic styles that they can employ in
their games, and they take advantage of that opportunity to create magnificent
environments for players to explore. Leigh Schwartz (2006) summarized the situation
very well, stating that a number of fictional worlds, ranging from make-believe
environments to urban-era terrains, offer an immersive experience for players, and it is
this variety in visual styles that creates that important interaction between game and
gamer. Some games are meant to be realistic in nature; therefore, developers employ
representative graphics in them to captivate a players attention. Arty games employ a
similar tactic, using surreal, drawing-like graphics to obtain the same goal. A combination
of several aspects of the final video game product engages the player and lures him into
the virtual world). While this ultimate interaction among characters, environments,
music, and art style becomes the key factor with the power to evoke purchase
sentiments from the player, I believe the art style is the deciding component that has the
power to make or break a video game. In other words, it becomes the dynamic that
creates an unmatched, immersive, and beautiful experience. As a result, this allows for a
game like kami to brilliantly emulate the style of a Japanese painting or for a game like
Resident Evil 5 to turn an otherwise scary moment into a truly bloodcurdling and dark
experience that the player will very unlikely forget. As Henry Jenkins fundamentally
stated, Games represent a new lively art, one as appropriate for the digital age as those
earlier media were for the machine age and [they] have been embraced by a public that
has otherwise been unimpressed by much of what passes for digital art. Therefore, video
games can evoke as much emotion and incorporate as much depth and symbolism as
any other art form. Definitely, developers have taken advantage of this opportunity
throughout video game history, yet it has become more evident in recent times.

WORLD
Of course the worlds for each of these games are different as they need to fit the
storylines and gameplay. Whereas assassins creed black flag is set in 18 th century during
the golden age of piracy. Skyrim is set in a fantasy work believed to be 200 years after
the events of oblivion (this being the first game of the series). Both of these games are
open world this means you as a gamer have the freedom to explore vast amounts of the
game world and travel there to complete quests or missions. Whereas the last of us is set
in 2013 post-apocalypse united states.

TERRAIN

Computer games have featured terrain since the earliest 3D graphics. However,
representing the real world has not been a priority; they are usually "fantasy" worlds.
Even when the real world is the subject, an extremely limited area or view of the world is
used, with no geographic framework. Even worse, technology is usually created for a
game and discarded or lost soon after. Nonetheless, because so much time, energy and
money has been spent in the game world over the years, it is worth looking at their
terrain.- http://vterrain.org/Games/

Mainly in the game front the terrain isnt just the really world but more or less fantasy,
however the ideas for the terrain have to come from somewhere so some parts will be
based off of an actual place. The terrain is where the character or vehicle of where they
sit on. The terrain can vary in colour and texture as it is what simulates the ground. It is
often that through the game there are many different
types of terrain I will be looking at three different
terrains that are included in the three games that I will
be comparing theses will be the last of us, assassins
creed black flag and Skyrim

THE LAST OF US: Players traverse post-

apocalyptic environments, moving through
locations such as towns, buildings, and sewers to advance through the game's
story. The terrain for this game is set in mainly
dark forests keeping with in the theme of a dark
post-apocalyptic world. Even the colour
schemes thought the game is fitting with the
dark and airy atmosphere. To the right is an
image of the terrain within the game as you can
see it is very detailed and also even within the
city areas there are still is partly the same
terrain with the uneven ground. With different textures including things like
puddles and un even ground this just adds to
the more realism of the gameplay.

ASSASSINS CREED: BLACK FLAG:

gameplay elements focus more on ship-based
exploration of the seamless open world map.
The game features three main cities; Havana,
Kingston, and Nassau, which reside under
Spanish, British, and pirate influence, respectively. The game also features 50
other individual locations; including
atolls, sea forts, Mayan ruins, sugar
plantations and underwater shipwrecks
to explore, with a 60/40 balance
between land and naval exploration.
Black flag is very different to The last
of us in the Terrain as black flag is
more at sea based and of course this is
first off different although black flag may not be historically correct with the
positioning of certain islands however the number of multiple terrains from
choppy seas and ripped up roots in dense jungles. To the left this is only one
example of the terrains within the game.

ARCTECTURE
 Architecture is both the process and the product of
planning, designing, and constructing buildings and
other physical
structures.
Architectural
works, in the
material form
of buildings,
are often
perceived as
cultural symbols and as works of art. Historical
civilizations are often identified with their
surviving architectural achievements. Architecture has to do with planning and designing
form, space and ambience to reflect functional, technical, social, environmental and
aesthetic considerations. It requires the creative manipulation and coordination of
materials and technology, and of light and shadow. Often, conflicting requirements must
be resolved.

OBJECTS

Although small most objects within the

game are insignificant they are just what
makes the game more believable and
realistic. It is often that the objects within a
game are able to help you in some way an
example of this is the chests that are in
Assassins Creed: Black flag (as you can see
from the screenshot to the right this is
gameplay of a chest) although they have no effect on how you complete the game they
are still useful as you are able to collect
more money from them and this in the
long run when enough money is
collected you can eventually go on to
buy more add-ons and upgrade things
to do with your character and this can
help you to complete the game a bit
more easier some games are more
advanced when it comes to objects as
with Skyrim you are able to interact
with just about everything and store it
in your inventory and use it in some
way even if it something that you are able to display in your house. Here is an example
of gameplay from Skyrim showing the player being given the option to steal the object.

CHARACTERS
For all three of these game you play as a character weather it is like in Skyrim where you
chose your character or Black flag or The last of us where you have to follow a tighter
storyline between the character but still have some freedom to make some decisions
such as answer questions and decide some of the actions that they take and the paths in
life they choose. (To the right you can see all of the characters compared together and
what they all look like seen as a lot of these characters are pre-set however un like
Skyrim there are too many combinations to include so I have used the standard image
that is representing the game). Whereas with Skyrim you are
given a very limited amount of information about
the character you have chosen as the game starts
that you are imprisoned but even the crime you
have committed is unknown and at this point you
are left to make the decisions for you character. But
with black flag there is a little knowledge of the
actual player but a wider expansion on the
characters background as we know the unnamed
player character is hired by Abstergo Entertainment, from their
Montral headquarters, to sift through the memories of Edward
Kenway, an eighteenth-century pirate, the father of
Haytham Kenway and the grandfather of Conner.
Ostensibly, this is to gather material for an Animus-
powered interactive feature film, but in reality,
Abstergothe Templars of the present timeare
searching for a First Civilization structure known as the
Observatory, and are using the memories of Edward
Kenway to find it.

However, in the last of us we dont have the unknown

factor of who the player is and it isnt just left for you to
fill in the black as your own person. Joel flees the chaos with his brother Tommy and
daughter Sarah As they flee, Sarah is shot by a soldier and dies in Joel's arms. In the
twenty years that follow, most of civilization is destroyed by the infection. Survivors live
in heavily policed quarantine zones, independent settlements, and nomadic groups. Joel
works as a smuggler with his partner Tess in the Boston quarantine zone.

NON-PLAYING CHARACTERS (MPC)

Non-playing characters are characters that
you have no control over and they are usually
controlled by the computer. Such as civilians in
assassins creed black flag and Skyrim
although these characters dont really change
how you play the game that do in some ways
have an effect on the actions that you take. It
also adds to the realism of the gameplay as
the residents of the town or village are just
going about their day whilst you play the
game. In some parts you are able to interact with them this can either be helping them
out or walking into them on the street and them shouting abuse at you. They can also
accompany you and help you in a time of need an example of this is black beard in
assassins creed black flag although you have no control over them they still help you to
complete the mission/ quest you are doing. This is basically the same for any game as
they are something that is just there sometimes they have a bigger impact on the way
you play the game other times they are just there to add to the realis of the game.

FEEDBACK INTERFACE
In every game there will be some type of feedback interface in the game to state what is
currently happening or what is needed to advance further on. Above I have used
assassins creed black flags as an example of feedback interface in a video game. The
map for knowing where you are and along with where you are heading, is a common
example in most types of games, which shows where you are and where the nearest task
is. Another Prime example is the Health Bar, in this case Vitality Gauge is a general
interface in most games as it
helps the user see and
estimate how much life he
has left to complete the level
or be alive to defeat the
opponent. This aspect of the
game makes it a vital part of
any game.

PERSPECTIVES
A variety of computer graphic
techniques have been used to
display video game content throughout the history of video games. The predominance of
individual techniques has evolved over time, primarily due to hardware advances and
restrictions such as the processing power of central or graphics processing units.

2D

Games utilizing parallel projection typically make use of two-dimensional bitmap graphics
as opposed to 3D-rendered triangle-based geometry, allowing developers to create large,
complex game worlds efficiently and with relatively few art assets by dividing the art into
sprites or tiles and reusing them repeatedly (though some games use a mix of different
techniques).

3D

With the advent of 3D accelerated graphics, video games could expand beyond the
typically sprite-based 2D graphics of older graphics technologies to describe a view
frequently more true to reality and lifelike than their predecessors. Perspective projection
has also been used in some earlier titles to present a 3D view from a fixed (and thus
somewhat less hardware-intensive) perspective with a limited ability to move.

First-person

First person refers to a graphical

perspective rendered from the viewpoint
of the player character. In many cases,
this may be the viewpoint from the
cockpit of a vehicle. Many different
genres have made use of first-person
perspectives, ranging from adventure
games to flight simulators. Perhaps the
most notable genre to make use of this
device is the first-person shooter genre, where the graphical perspective has an immense
impact on game play. Games with a first-person perspective are usually avatar-based,
wherein the game displays what the player's avatar would see with the avatar's own
eyes. Thus, players typically cannot see the avatar's body, though they may be able to
see the avatar's weapons or hands. This viewpoint is also frequently used to represent
the perspective of a driver within a vehicle, as in flight and racing simulators; and it is
common to make use of positional audio, where the volume of ambient sounds varies
depending on their position with respect to the player's avatar. Games with a first-person
perspective do not require sophisticated animations for the player's avatar, and do not
need to implement a manual or automated camera-control scheme as in third-person
perspective. A first person perspective allows for easier aiming, since there is no
representation of the avatar to block the player's view. However, the absence of an
avatar can make it difficult to master the timing and distances required to jump between
platforms, and may cause motion sickness in some players. Players have come to expect
first-person games to accurately scale objects to appropriate sizes. However, key objects
such as dropped items or levers may be exaggerated in order to improve their visibility.

Third-person

Third person refers to a graphical

perspective rendered from a view that
is some distance away (usually behind
and slightly above) from the player's
character. This viewpoint allows players
to see a more strongly characterized
avatar, and is most common in action
and action-adventure games This
viewpoint poses some difficulties,
however, in that when the player turns
or stands with his back to a wall, the
camera may jerk or end up in awkward positions. Developers have tried to alleviate this
issue by implementing intelligent camera systems, or by giving the player control over
the camera. There are three primary types of third-person camera systems: "fixed
camera systems" in which the camera positions are set during the game creation;
"tracking camera systems" in which the camera simply follows the player's character;
and "interactive camera systems" that are under the player's control. Examples of games
utilizing third-person perspective include Super Mario 64, assassins creed black flag.

Scrolling

A side-scrolling game or side-stroller is a video

game in which the viewpoint is taken from the
side, and the onscreen characters generally
move from the left side of the screen to the
right. Games of this type make use of scrolling
computer display technology, and sometimes
parallax scrolling to suggest added depth. In
many games the screen follows the player
character such that the player character is
always positioned near the centre of the
screen. In other games the position of the
screen will change according to the player character's movement, such that the player
character is off-centre and more space is shown in front of the character than behind.
Sometimes, the screen will scroll not only forward in the speed and direction of the player
character's movement, but also backwards to previously visited parts of a stage. In other
games or stages, the screen will only scroll forwards, not backwards, so that once a stage
has been passed it can no longer be visited. In games such as shooter games like R-type,
the screen scrolls forward by itself at a steady rate, and the player must keep up with the
screen, attempting to avoid obstacles and collect things before they pass off screen.
Examples of side-scrolling games include platform games such as Sonic the Hedgehog
and The Super Mario Bros. series has used all three types of side-scrolling at some time
in its history.

Aerial

Aerial games is the point of view that you

have when you are playing this is the view
of looking the best example of this is FIFA
as you are looking down on everything that
is happening around you. And you are able
to move the camera view around but still
have a full view of what it is that is going
on. As you can see to the right this is a
gameplay example of what playing FIFA
looks like and also what an aerial view
looks like.

CONTEXT-SENSITIVE

FULL MOTION VIDEO (FMV)

Full motion video (FMV) games are video games that rely upon pre-recorded television- or
movie-quality recordings and animations rather than sprites, vectors or 3D models to
display action in the game. FMV-based games were popular during the early 1990s as
CD-ROMs and Laserdiscs made their way into the living rooms, providing an alternative to
the low-capacity ROM cartridges of most consoles at the time. Although FMV-based
games did manage to look better than many contemporary sprite-based games, they
occupied a niche market; and a vast majority of FMV games were panned at the time of
their release, with many gamers citing their dislike for the lack of interaction inherent in
these games. As a result, the format became a well-known failure in video gaming, and
the popularity of FMV games declined substantially after 1995 as more advanced
consoles started to become widely available. A number of different types of games
utilized this format. Some resembled modern music/dance games, where the player
timely presses button according to a screen instruction. Others included early rail
shooters such as Tomcat Alley, Surgical Strike and Sewer Shark. Full motion video was
also used in several interactive movie adventure games, such as The Beast Within: A
Gabriel Knight Mystery and Phantasmagoria.

GAMEPLAY
INTERACTIVE MODE

Avatar
Definition: You might know this word from
video games, where you create an avatar to
represent you on screen. An avatar is
something that embodies something else.

An avatar is the person that you represent in

the game with some games such as Assassins
Creed: Black Flag that character is pre made
and you play as a set character. However, with
more free play games such as Skyrim and
Fallout 4 you have the power to change the
look of the character this is your avatar. No matter what game you play in some form you
will have an avatar that represents the movements that you input with the controller. As
you can see by the image to the right this is the gameplay character creator from fallout
4 this is where you are able to create your character and decide what they look like.

Omnipresence

Omnipresence is the ability to be

everywhere at one time an example of this
is in the sport game FIFA 17 where the
crowed boo and also cheer depending on
the actions of the player. There is also
Omnipresence Villain this is where a
game's villain seems to be constantly
watching and commenting on the player's
actions this is seen in Bioshock as you can
constantly hear the villain comment on where you are going ad also what you are doing.
You can also be given the ability to swap between two characters this is done in
Assassins Creed syndicate as you are able to play between the two characters as shown
in the image to the left.

SINGLE PL AYER

A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected
throughout the course of the gaming session. "Single-player game" usually refers to a
game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" usually refers to
a particular game mode that is designed to be played by a single-player, though the
game also contains modes that can be played by several players simultaneously. The
vast majority of modern console games and arcade games are designed so that they can
be played by a single-player; although many of these games have modes that allow two
or more players to play (not necessarily simultaneously), very few actually require more
than one player for the game to be played

MULTIPL AYER

A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the
same game environment at the same time. Video games are often single-player
activities, putting the player against preprogramed challenges or AI-controlled opponents
(which lack the flexibility of human thought). Multiplayer games allow players interaction
with other individuals in partnership, competition or rivalry, providing them with social
communication absent from single-player games. In multiplayer games, players may
compete against two (or more) human contestants, work cooperatively with a human
partner to achieve a common goal, supervise other players' activity or e), co-op and
objective-based modes assaulting (or defending) a control point. Multiplayer games
typically require players to share the resources of a single game system or use
networking technology to play together over a greater distance.

You are also able to play games online this takes away the norm of having to play on the
same console with two controllers. As connecting to the internet and being able to play
with people all over the world. This is mothing that you are able to do with practically any
game online as long as you have an online membership that you will have to purchase
before you are able to play online. To the right is a screenshot taken from online gaming
from assassins creed.

NARRATIVE GAME SETTING

Physical

This is how much room the character has to move this can also be the movement of
other units. The physical characteristics of a character determine a great deal about the
gameplay. This is also to do with the physical sizing of the objects to make the game look
more realistic of course if the game dose not include physical object and is a made up
dimension that of course it doesnt matter about the sizing

Temporal

The temporal dimension of a game world defines the way that time is treated in that
world and the ways in which it differs from time in the real world. In many turn-based and
action games, the world doesn't include a concept of time passing: days and nights or
seasons and years. Everything in the world idles or runs in a continuous loop until the
player interacts with the game in some way. Occasionally, the player is put under
pressure by being given a limited amount of real-world time to accomplish something,
but this usually applies to only a single challenge and is not part of a larger notion of
time in the game. In some games, time is implemented as part of the game world but not
part of the gameplay. The passage of time creates atmosphere and gives the game visual
variety, but it doesn't change the game's challenges and actions. This usually feels rather
artificial. If the player can do exactly the same things at night that she can during the
day and no one ever seems to sleep, then there's little point in making the distinction.
For time to really support the fantasy, it must affect the experience in ways besides the
purely visual. Baldur's Gate, a large role-playing game, is a good example of a game in
which time is meaningful. At night, shops close and the characters in the game run an
increased risk of being attacked by wandering monsters. It's also darker and hard to see.
Taverns are open all day and all night, which is reasonable enough, but the customers
don't ever seem to leave and the bartender never goes off shift. In this way, the game's
use of time is a little inconsistent, but the discrepancy serves the gameplay well because
you can always trade with the bartender and pick up gossip no matter what time it is.
The characters do need rest if they've been on the march for a long while, and this
makes them vulnerable while they're sleeping. In the underground portions of the game,
day and night have less meaning, as you would expect.

Environmental

This means where the game is set and at what time certain events take place along with
the circumstances, setting, scenes and environment.
 Emotional

This determines the mood of the player. If they are happy, sad or angry. This is also done
with films and books. This involves the creator and user to have fixed emotions and this
will determine the outcome of whatever it is. It is important that thought there is a
storyline following an emotion this can be made up by characters actions and also
cinematic.

Ethical

When developing a game these are all aspects that need to be very carefully considered
as you of course dont want your game to insult anyone.

VALUES: Those qualities of behavior, thought, and character that society regards as
being intrinsically good, having desirable results, and worthy of emulation by others.

MORALS: Modes of conduct that are taught and accepted as embodying principles of
right and good.

MORALITY: A system of determining right and wrong that is established by some

authority, such as a church, an organization, a society, or a government.

ETHICS: The process of determining right and wrong conduct.

ETHICAL SYSTEM: A specific formula for distinguishing right from wrong.

UNETHICAL: An action or conduct which violates the principles of one or more ethical
systems, or which is counter to an accepted ethical value, such as honesty.

NON-ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: Powerful human motivations that are not based on

right or wrong, but on considerations of survival and well-being, such as health, security,
love, wealth, or self esteem.

CONCEPTS

Non-Ethical Considerations: Defined above, non-ethical considerations are important

because they are often the powerful impediments to ethical conduct, and the cause of
many conflicts of interest. Non-ethical considerations are many and diverse, and include:
The need and desire for shelter, health, wealth, fame, security, self-esteem, reputation,
power, professional advancement, comfort, love, sex, praise, credit, appreciation,
affection, or satisfaction The desire for the health, comfort, safety, welfare and happiness
for one's family, loved ones, friends, colleagues, an co-workers The pursuit of vengeance
or retribution Hunger, lust, pain, ambition, prejudice, bias, hatred, laziness, fatigue,
disgust, anger, fear and many more. Ethical Dilemma: This is an ethical problem in
which the ethical choice involves ignoring a powerful non-ethical consideration. Do the
right thing, but lose your job, a friend, a lover, or an opportunity for advancement. A non-
ethical consideration can be powerful and important enough to justify choosing it over
the strict ethical action.

ETHICAL CONFLICT: When two ethical principles demand opposite results in the same
situation, this is an ethical conflict. Solving ethical conflicts may require establishing a
hierarchy or priority of ethical principles, or examining the situation through another
ethical system.
ETHICAL GREY AREA: Grey areas are situations and problems that don't fit neatly into
any existing mode of ethical analysis. In some cases, there may even be a dispute
regarding whether ethics is involved.

GOALS

CHALLENGES: can also be known as side

missions or tasks that are often completed
within the main missions and are an extra
add-on to the objective that you have
already been given it just adds to the more
preciseness of what you need to do this will
also give you the opportunity to win more awards. They are usually done by telling you to
do something a certain way like in Assassins creed you are often told to kill someone in a
certain way and use a certain weapon and this will give you a bigger reward within the
game.

REWARDS: Rewards are generally things that you are able to unlock once you have
completed certain parts of the game. Theses can either come in the form of things that
you are able to unlock for your
character or in the form of gamer
points this is done by XBOX as you
unlock an achievement that are within
the game these achievements dont
necessarily have anything to do with
the actual game play and dont affect
how you play the game. To the left is a
screenshot taken from game play of
an XBOX achievement. And also along
was PS4 trophies.

PLAYER ACTIONS
Basic player actions are like being able to run
and jump of course depending on the game
there will be additional actions that you are able
to make this is like in The last of us and also
assassins creed blag flag as the movements are
different. Within in the last of us there is a more
brutal and armature senses of the fighting style
whereas with assassins creed a more stealth
approach is taken and the movements are swift.
Of course where as in a game where there is no
fighting the character will not be able to have the movement of fighting an example of
this is animal crossing as you dont even need to jump as it is not needed for the terrain
of that game. There are a number of different movements that are available depending
on what games you are playing and also the concept of the game

RULES
With open world games there is a limitation to the rules that you are given as it is often
you are able to do whatever it is that you want with the result of you committing a crime
being faced with betting chased by some sort of legal authority. However, it is more likely
you are able to do what you want as you are the one developing the personality of the
character you are given tasks and missions but if you want to you have a decision to do
the side quests but you will still have to follow the main storyline however the ending
may be alternative. With more restricting games like the last of us it is simple as what
you need to do is set and you have a stricter storyline and therefore are unable to drift
from what it is that you are meant to be accomplishing

DIFFICULTY
With every game at the beginning you have different options to change the difficulty this
normally means how thought the enemies are and the number of them of course the
harder the difficulty obviously the harder the game is to complete. This will make it so
that you have to use more skills and a range of weapons to complete the missions/
quests and make the whole game more of a challenge. This can also result in you being
able to unlock new awards depending on the different levels of difficulty.

GAME MECHANICS

Inventory

This is where the objects you collect are

stored and can be accessed through the
game ready to be used this can have
something to do with a mission/ quest
that you need to complete. The example
that I will be using is Skyrim seen as it is
such an open world game there are a lot
of objects to collect. However, to make it
so that you are unable to carry a mass
amount of objects it is often that your
character will walk slower when you are carrying too much. With other games
such as burnout paradise you dont need to collect anything so therefore you
done have an inventory.

Scoring
The scoring depending on the
game will go up whenever you
either complete an objective or
collect something that you need
this is more popular within online
gaming as there is a scoreboard as
this is more of a competitive
platform and also most games now a day can be played online. An example of this
is Call of duty: black ops the online scoring is done by the number of other
opponents you kill and also how many time you die. As you can see by the
example to the left.
 Win conditions

With a lot of games now a day like

the three that I have decided to
compare there arent any wining
conditions just that you complete
the storyline. However, with more
games that are meant for more
players such as Mario kart. The aim
is to come first in the race to win.
This is normally the way games work and also whenever you do something you
will then end up with more points and then all of the points will build up.

BALANCE
This is the balance between the rules of the game. This is to make sure that every part
of the game is used do that there is no wasted development. Also the game being
undermined. Balancing does not necessarily mean making a game fair. This is
particularly true of action games: Jaime Griesemer, design lead at Bungie, said in a
lecture to other designers that "every fight in Halo is unfair". This potential for unfairness
creates uncertainty, leading to the tension and excitement that action games seek to
deliver. In these cases balancing is instead the management of unfair scenarios, with the
ultimate goal of ensuring that all of the strategies which the game intends to support are
viable. The extent to which those strategies are equal to one another defines the
character of the game in question. Simulation games can be balanced unfairly in order to
be true to life. A war game may cast the player into the role of a general who was
defeated by an overwhelming force, and it is common for the abilities of teams in sports
games to mirror those of the real-world teams they represent regardless of the
implications for players who pick them.

FEEDBACK
Both positive and negative feedback are very important within games development and
also the industry itself. This separate the good skilled players and the less skilled and
how they play the game as a more skilled player with positive feedback is likely to
dominate the game when it comes to being up against a less skilled player. A better
example of this is of negative feedback as when you are playing a racing game and are
up against the computer the racing will become harder when you start winning this is
known as the elastic band. When the negative feedback is done right the player wont
actually notice the change within the game.

GAME STRUCTURE
Though there are many different types of video
games, there are a few properties that are constants:
Every game requires at least one player, every game
gives the player at least one challenge, every game
uses a display, every game has at least one method
of input/control.

Flowchart

A flowchart is the brake down of the events of

a game to the right is an example this is how
all game storylines will start and of course
depending on how big the game is the larger
the flow chart will be.

ADDICTION
Although it is not yet recognized by the American Medical Association as a diagnosable
disorder, video game addiction is a very real problem for many people. According to the
University of New Mexico, recent studies suggest that 6 to 15 percent of all gamers
exhibit signs that could be characterized as addiction. Though this disorder can have
significant consequences to those suffering from it, its signs and symptoms can
sometimes be very difficult to recognize.

ARE THERE DIFFERENT TYPES OF VIDEO GAME ADDICTIONS?

There are two major types of video games and therefore two major types of video game
addictions. Standard video games are generally designed to be played by a single player
and involve a clear goal or mission, such as rescuing a princess. The addiction in these
games is often related to completing that mission or beating a high score or preset
standard.

The other type of video game addiction is associated with online multiplayer games.
These games are played online with other people and are especially addictive because
they generally have no ending. Gamers with this type of addiction enjoy creating and
temporarily becoming an online character. They often build relationships with other
online players as an escape from reality. For some, this community may be the place
where they feel theyre the most accepted.

WHAT CAUSES AN ADDICTION TO VIDEO GAMES?

Many different causes factor into video game addiction. One of the main reasons that
video games can become so addictive, however, is they are designed to be that way.
Video game designers, like anyone else trying to make a profit, are always looking for
ways to get more people playing their games. They accomplish this by making a game
just challenging enough to keep you coming back for more but not so hard that the
player eventually gives up. In other words, success for a gamer often feels just out of
reach. In this respect, video game addiction is very similar to another more widely
recognized disorder: gambling

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF VIDEO GAME ADDICTION PROBLEM?

As with any other addiction, video game addiction has warning signs. It is important to
know how to recognize these signs if you or someone you care about is an avid gamer.
According to the Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery, these symptoms can be both
emotional and physical.

EMOTIONAL SYMPTOMS OF VIDEO GAME ADDICTION

Some of the emotional signs or symptoms of video game addiction include:

Feelings of restlessness and/or irritability when unable to

play
Preoccupation with thoughts of previous online activity or
anticipation of the next online session
Lying to friends or family members regarding the amount of
time spent playing
Isolation from others in order to spend more time gaming

PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS OF VIDEO GAME ADDICTION

Some of the physical signs or symptoms of video game addiction include:

Fatigue
Migraines due to intense concentration or eye strain
Carpal tunnel syndrome caused by the overuse of a controller or computer mouse
Poor personal hygiene

SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF VIDEO GAME ADDICTION

Like any other compulsive disorder, video game addiction can have severe negative
consequences. Though most of the symptoms listed above have short-term effects, they
can lead to more severe long-term repercussions if not addressed properly. For example,
someone addicted to video games will often avoid sleeping or eating proper meals in
order to continue gaming. While the short-term effects of this may include hunger and
fatigue, it could eventually lead to a sleep disorder or diet-related health issues.
Similarly, those who isolate themselves from others in order to play video games may
miss out on family events, outings with friends, or other events in the short-term. If this
continues to be a pattern for a long period of time, however, addicts might find
themselves without any friends at all. Other long-term effects of video game addiction to
consider are the financial, academic and occupational consequences involved. Video
games and video game equipment can be very expensive, especially when factoring in
recurring costs such as the high-speed Internet connection required for online multiplayer
games. These games can also be very time-consuming, leaving addicted gamers with
less time to focus on their education or career.

http://www.psychguides.com/guides/video-game-addiction-symptoms-causes-and-effects/