Wednesday's game design sessions touched on a variety of topics. We began the day with lectures on the subjects of game balance, progression, level design and the interplay between these concepts. We looked into various ways that games can be tuned to create the desired level of challenge for the player and we analysed the many game-balancing pitfalls one might encounter which could result in an unbalanced game. We also discussed how, it can sometimes be beneficial to break game balancing "rules", provided you know what you are doing and why. One should read and fully understand the rule book before tearing it up. A great example of this, brought up in the lecture, is my favourite game series, Dark Souls. These games, along with others developed by FromSoftware such as Elden Ring and BloodBorne, regularly commit various game balancing sins, such as not explaining mechanics to players, surprising them with spikes in difficulty, and forcing them to learn by dying. This is done very intentional however, in order to create an imposing, oppressive setting which generates anxiety and frustration in the player so that overcoming the game's challenges feels even more rewarding.
In the afternoon we presented the prototypes we had been working on. There were a good range of games shown despite all working from the same brief, as some groups (including my own), approached the brief quite loosely. We received some immediate feedback from our lecturers and I was pleased to hear that Jarek was especially impressed by my group's work due to our polished game mechanics and strong programming.
We wrapped up the day in InKUbator with a talk from Elena Walton, a UX designer at Rockstar Games. She gave a very informative lecture on the onboarding techniques used by Rockstar to teach players about a game's systems, in order to improve their understanding and enjoyment. This gave a great insight into the role and thought process of a high level UX designer. Also, as a former Rockstar employee, it was enjoyable to listen to academic discussion around projects that I had been a part of.
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