Difference between revisions of "Performance Uncertainty"
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== Relations == | == Relations == | ||
| + | [[FUBAR Enjoyment]] | ||
| + | [[Critical Hits]] | ||
| + | [[Predictable Winner]] | ||
| + | [[Critical Misses]] | ||
| + | [[Critical Results]] | ||
| + | [[Critical Successes]] | ||
| + | [[Critical Failures]] | ||
| + | |||
=== Can Instantiate === | === Can Instantiate === | ||
[[Context Dependent Reactions]], | [[Context Dependent Reactions]], | ||
Revision as of 21:45, 6 January 2015
The one-sentence "definition" that should be in italics.
This pattern is a still a stub.
Note: player performance that depends on finding a solution of actions that guarantee success is covered under Solution Uncertainty.
Contents
Examples
All Sports, e.g. Figure Skating, Marathons, and Soccer, depend on how well the participants perform. Chess and Go are early examples of games that pitch players against each other and winning depends on their mental abilities. Computer Games allowed more control over which type of performance players have to do, and when they had to do it. first-person shooters, e.g. the Quake, Left 4 Dead, and Crysis series put emphasis on skillful movement and shooting but this can arguably be found already in Asteroids. Other, e.g. PaRappa the Rapper and Donkey Konga, put more focus on requiring that players can keep steady rhythms; the Rock Band series does this also in requiring players to handle replicas of musical instruments while the Dance Dance Revolution series make players dance or perform dance-like movement.
Roleplaying or enacting characters in Tabletop Roleplaying Games or LARPs also depend on player performances, but here what is at stake is not winning but rather providing enjoyment for all players by giving good and interesting portrayals of characters.
Using the pattern
Performance Uncertainty can be added to games in many ways which most often can be described as some form of Enactment. Two main categories are those related to physical activities and mental activities, although the latter can border over to activities covered in Solution Uncertainty. Physical Enactment relates to designing Performance Uncertainty regarding physical activities with Aim & Shoot, Player Physical Prowess, and Rhythm-Based Actions as more specific patterns. Action Programming, Memorizing, and Tactical Planning are examples of mental activities where it is clear that failure or success may rely on the quality of players' gameplay performance rather than correctly applying the often algorithmic procedures that can handle Solution Uncertainty (but applying algorithmic procedures can require some skill and this causes a blurred line between the patterns). Bluffing, Negotiation, and Roleplaying are examples of what can be called a third category, activities that rely on social performance.
Challenging Gameplay and Exaggerated Perception of Influence are two patterns that can cause Performance Uncertainty by changing players' perceptions of how easy or hard it is to do what a game requires from one. Player/Character Skill Composites and Player/System Action Composites let a game system and a player's action together result in gameplay performances and this can be used to both increase and decrease the uncertainty that a player will succeed with an action. In contrast, the use of
Can Be Modulated By
No Direct Player Influence, Strategic Knowledge Spectators Extra-Game Broadcasting Replays
As AI Players replace players, the use of these naturally affects Performance Uncertainty - typically through these AI Players having different strengths and weaknesses in how the can play games compared to human players.
Consequences
The main consequence of having Performance Uncertainty in a game is that it increases the Uncertainty of Outcome and Tension in that game and thereby also making it more difficult to have a Predictable Winner in a game that one can win. Since the patterns also requires some form of performance, it opens up for Context Dependent Reactions in that the performance can be affected by the local game state, other players, or Spectators.
Relations
FUBAR Enjoyment Critical Hits Predictable Winner Critical Misses Critical Results Critical Successes Critical Failures
Can Instantiate
Context Dependent Reactions, Tension, Uncertainty of Outcome
Can Modulate
-
Can Be Instantiated By
Aim & Shoot, Action Programming, Bluffing, Challenging Gameplay, Enactment, Exaggerated Perception of Influence, Memorizing, Negotiation, Player Physical Prowess, Physical Enactment, Rhythm-Based Actions, Roleplaying, Tactical Planning
Can Be Modulated By
AI Players, Extra-Game Broadcasting, No Direct Player Influence, Player/Character Skill Composites, Player/System Action Composites, Spectators, Strategic Knowledge, Replays
Possible Closure Effects
-
Potentially Conflicting With
History
New pattern created in this wiki. However, the pattern is based on the concept of performance uncertainty described in Costikyan's book Uncertainty in Games[1].
References
Acknowledgements
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