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This is to certify that the
thesis entitled

Methods & Considerations in Online Game Design

presented by

John W Fisher II

has been accepted towards fulﬁllment
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6/01 clelRClDateDtanS-OJS

METHODS & CONSIDERATIONS IN ONLINE GAME DESIGN

By

JOHN W FISHER II

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulﬁllment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS
Department of Telecommunication

2003

ABSTRACT
METHODS & CONSIDERATIONS IN ONLINE GAME DESIGN
By

JOHN W FISHER II

The focus of this production thesis is on the methods and considerations that
game developers must acknowledge when developing online media. The end product of
this thesis is a multiplayer game that allows players to interact in a real-time online
environment. Through analysis and player evaluations, I have been able to establish
methods and considerations necessary in online game design. It is my belief that any
successful online game should be developed on a base of communication and enhanced

using collaborative and competitive gameplay.

Copyright by
JOHN w FISHER 11

2003

Dedicated to my Mother, Father, & Grandmother.

For their encouragement and love.

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to acknowledge a number of individuals who have assisted me in completing

this project.

Thanks to Brian Winn for his guidance, insight, and sharing an interest in the signiﬁcance
of game design. Carrie Heeter for contributing her wisdom and encouragement. Their
knowledge and commitment to the DMAT program will always be a source of motivation

for future endeavors.

Thanks to Mark Even, director of the Great Lakes Education Network for providing me
with an outlet to express my creativity and learn from my own mistakes over the past few

years. Much of this project would not have been possible were it not for his generosity.

I would also like to thank the following individuals, whose support was necessary to the
completion of this project, John & Susan Fisher, Betty Mathie, Jenny Fisher, Aimee
Fisher, Rob Theakston, Adam Prebola, Leslie Wierzbinski, Marissa Eanes, Andrew
Henry, Ed Glazer, Shane Cavanaugh, Molly Gan'is, Gary Reid, Michael Olejarczyk,

Steve Wiggins, Karen Henry, James Henry, Daniel Henry, & Kimberly Henry.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF FIGURES ................................................................................................. viii
CHAPTER 1: Introduction .............................................................................................. 1
Online Gaming Primer ................................................................................................ l
Thesis Objectives ........................................................................................................ 5
CHAPTER 2: Analysis .................................................................................................... 7
Return to Castle Wolfenstein ....................................................................................... 7
Overview ................................................................................................................. 8
Communication ....................................................................................................... 9
Collaboration ......................................................................................................... 10
Competition ........................................................................................................... 10
Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 11
The Sims Online ........................................................................................................ 11
Overview ............................................................................................................... 12
Communication ..................................................................................................... l3
Collaboration ......................................................................................................... 14
Competition ........................................................................................................... 14
Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 15
Lineage ..................................................................................................................... 15
Overview ............................................................................................................... 16
Communication ..................................................................................................... l7
Collaboration ......................................................................................................... 18
Competition ........................................................................................................... 18
Conclusion ............................................................................................................ l9
Starcraﬁ .................................................................................................................... 20
Overview ............................................................................................................... 21
Communication ..................................................................................................... 22
Collaboration ......................................................................................................... 23
Competition ........................................................................................................... 23
Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 23
Phantasy Star Online ................................................................................................. 24
Overview ............................................................................................................... 25
Communication ..................................................................................................... 26
Collaboration ......................................................................................................... 26
Competition ........................................................................................................... 27

vi

Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 27

SissyFight ................................................................................................................. 28
Overview ............................................................................................................... 29
Communication ..................................................................................................... 31
Collaboration ......................................................................................................... 31
Competition ........................................................................................................... 32
Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 32

CHAPTER 3: Implementation ....................................................................................... 34
CHAPTER 4: Technical Details & Restrictions ............................................................. 39
CHAPTER 5: Evaluation .............................................................................................. 43

Methods .................................................................................................................... 43

Results ...................................................................................................................... 44

CHAPTER 6: Conclusion .............................................................................................. 67
CHAPTER 7: Future Development ............................................................................... 70
APPENDIX A: Design Document ................................................................................. 73
APPENDIX B: Consent Form ..................................................................................... 103
APPENDIX C: Survey ................................................................................................ 106
BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................... 1 l3

vii

TABLE OF FIGURES‘

Figure 1: Images of Return to Castle Wolfenstein .......... i .................................................. 8
Figure 2: Images of The Sims Online. ........................................................................... 12
Figure 3: Images of Lineage. ......................................................................................... 16
Figure 4: Image of Starcraft ........................................................................................... 21
Figure 5: Images of Phantasy Star Online ...................................................................... 24
Figure 6: Images of SissyFight ...................................................................................... 29
Figure 7: Participants frequency of playing video games. .............................................. 45
Figure 8: Participants personal opinion of online gaming ............................................... 46
Figure 9: Participants interest in online games with player communication .................... 47
Figure 10: Participants opinion of Forest. ...................................................................... 48
Figure 11: Participants attitude towards exploring the environment in Forest ................. 49
Figure 12: Participants attitude towards chatting with other players in Forest. ............... 50
Figure 13: Participants attitude towards ﬁghting with other players in Forest ................. 51
Figure 14: Participants use of the history menu in Forest. .............................................. 52
Figure 15: Participants attitude towards the history menu in Forest, if used. .................. 52
Figure 16: Participants who made use of items found in environment in Forest. ............ 53
Figure 17: Participants attitude towards utilization of items in Forest, if used. ............... 54
Figure 18: Participants who attempted to collect points in Forest ................................... 55
Figure 19: Participants attitude towards collecting points in Forest. ............................... 55

Figure 20: Participants who attempted to make alliances with other players in Forest. 56

 

' Images in this thesis are presented in color.

viii

Figure 21:
Figure 22:
Figure 23:
Figure 24:
Figure 25:
Figure 26:
Figure 27:
Figure 28:
Figure 29:
Figure 30:
Figure 31:
Figure 32:
Figure 33:
Figure 34:
Figure 35:
Figure 36:
Figure 37:
Figure 38:
Figure 39:
Figure 40:
Figure 41:

Figure 42:

Players attitude towards adding personal information in Forest ..................... 57
Participants opinion of the clarity of the interface in Forest. ......................... 58
Participants opinion of the clarity of Forest. .. ................................................ 59
Participants attitude towards timely updates and changes to Forest. .............. 60
Participants attitude towards recommending Forest to a friend ...................... 61
Participants who would return to play Forest again. ...................................... 62
Participants interest in aspects of Forest. ...................................................... 63
Participants disinterest in aspects of Forest. .................................................. 64
Participants opinion towards features they would like added to Forest. ......... 66
Forest, returning player interface .................................................................. 96
Forest, new player interface .......................................................................... 97
Forest, main interface ................................................................................... 98
Forest, ﬁght proposal interface ..................................................................... 99
Forest, ﬁght interface ................................................................................. 100
Items in Forest environment. ...................................................................... 100
Grass & dirt tiles in Forest. ......................................................................... 101
Lake & river tiles in Forest ......................................................................... 101
Bear images in Forest. ................................................................................ 101
Hawk images in Forest. .............................................................................. 101
Deer images in Forest. ................................................................................ 102
Item images in Forest. ................................................................................ 102
Buttons in Forest. ....................................................................................... 102

ix

CHAPTER 1: Introduction

In the past 25 years, video games have become a driving form of entertainment. Gaming
has spread among multiple devices, from home entertainment systems, to personal digital
assistants and cell phones. Since the mid-nineties the video game industry has turned
proﬁts on par with Hollywood (IDGA; National Association of Theatre Owners) and with
the modern power of the personal computer the potential to develop games no longer
requires expensive development systems and licensing. These factors in combination
with the perpetuation of broadband and online games are transforming the methods for
game design, and new considerations must be made so the experience of working with

others over a network is as ﬂawless and gratifying as possible.

Online Gaming Primer

As technology has both grown and spread over multiple media devices, it has become
apparent that no increase in quality of graphics, effects, or processor speed can replace
quality gameplay. The simplest and most nostalgic games still remain those whose two
dimensional design and low pixel count gave way to truly notable experiences. With the
swelling of the industry and the number of games being published on a yearly and even
monthly basis, it has become particularly important to properly plan and prepare a game
prior to its creation. Since the early days of development at Atari in the 1970’s, planning
and realizing a game through a design document has been a vital part of the creation

process. Creating a game with a solid concept, and engaging premise is a task unto itself,

but by adding multiplayer features and online enhancements, new design and
development considerations arise. Jared Wierzbicki, author of Introduction: Designing
Multiplayer Games points out that multiplayer may be the next evolution of single player
games:
Multiplayer games are a logical extension of single player games; for the most
part, they make use of the same constructs, the same methods, and involve the
same general concepts as any other games. The only difference is that the engine
for a multiplayer game has to be able to handle more than one player at a time.
(W ierzbicki, par. 1)
However technology is frequently providing new ways for gamers to communicate and
interact, generating new considerations for developers. Thanks to online possibilities

many games are becoming much more of a social interaction, providing a means for

anyone to play against one another, no matter their location. (Michael par. 5)

Communication in itself has always been a factor in video games. In particular, games
have allowed multiple players to compete in synchronous and asynchronous ways in
close quarters using the same device. However, by means of network communication,
hundreds of players can now meet in real time and compete in virtual worlds, even
though they themselves are anywhere from a few feet to hundreds of miles away. These
online games present new issues of design, such as how the games themselves offer
players access, as well as how gameplay progresses and changes over time. While the
process of designing for online interaction can remain as simple as adapting network
communication to an already existing game, thus allowing players to compete with one

another over a distance, such a simple alteration isn’t always the case. Designing with

online features in mind can change the entire focus of a previously ofﬂine game and

generate new considerations for developers.

It would seem that developers have found that the use of online technology speciﬁcally
adapts itself better to speciﬁc genres of games, in particular those that let players interact
in virtual worlds and purposely work with or against one another, such as ﬁrst-person
action and role playing games. These have been the easiest to adapt and most readily
accepted forms of online gaming, however other genres such as sports and puzzle games
are now being played online. Titles like these, which had previously invited players in the
same room to play against one another, now allow them to compete against unseen
opponents over a network. While the players are aware of this new functionality, the
game itself must make its online features as undetectable as possible to make the

adaptations secondary to gameplay.

Online gaming offers the possibility of much more realistic interaction than found when
working with or against typical in-game characters. Whereas in the past a player might be
working with or against characters that appeared as part of a games programming through
complex artiﬁcial intelligence, those characters may now have real life counterparts.
While artiﬁcial intelligence based characters have become much more sophisticated,
patterns can emerge which the player can learn to work around. With the potential for
real human counterparts come not only dynamic and more realistic competition and
cooperation, but in-game shame and glory based on the players awareness of unseen but

very real opponents. The addition of players, who are aware of their opponents, and their

ability to dynamically adjust and compete, changes a games focus from similar games
without online features. As Jonathan Baron points out “no computer game can shame you

[. . .] because shame requires that other people be present.” (Baron 1).

Online role playing games build environments in which the players within them
concentrate on the development of the worlds followed by the achievement of the
characters in that environment. It is this mixture of dynamics, which makes these online
games so successful, because players are no longer limited by the intelligence of the in-
game A.I., but rather the population of people playing it. The quality of online
multiplayer games can rely not only on the system, but the people who choose to
populate it, with this in mind; online game design can become a social science (Squire
par. 1). Even so, the developers of the game must create a solid and stable system to

engage the people in that environment.

Still, despite success and growing interest, online titles only make up a fraction of the
overall game market. While factors vary, some issues, such as cost of use, and time
commitments make online play unappealing to even core gamers. AS accepted offline
games begin to add network features and enhancements, more players are introduced to
the idea of online gaming. Popular games like Electronic Art’s The Sims have begun to
offer online features or entirely new versions of their games based around some form of
network communication. With this in mind it may become much more appealing for the
casual gamer to look into online gaming. While I will not be focusing on the economics

or impact it may have on the gaming market in this thesis, it becomes obvious that online

gaming may grow in popularity as it becomes more accessible and appealing to a larger

audience.

The three major factors that I believe exist in all online games are elements of
communication, collaboration and competition. In each of the games I have evaluated,
these factors of online play exist and create engaging gameplay. It is my belief that by
looking speciﬁcally at these three components, I can come to conclusions regarding the

ways that designers and developers can prepare and produce effective online games.

Thesis Objectives

By creating a simple online multiplayer game using Macromedia Director and its
Multiuser Server, I plan to look at the effects, and potential for online game design. I'm
certain that any game designed well, containing a solid concept can attract visitors;
however I'd like to evaluate the speciﬁc factors that drive their experiences. Using this
information I believe I can review the considerations when designing online games, and

ﬁnd practices that will make a much more engaging experience for gamers.

To develop this game, I plan to use Macromedia Director. Director is currently the most
established and powerful multimedia development application available. Director can
mix powerful object-oriented Lingo code with audio, video, graphics, and text to create
engaging interactive experiences. With the addition of the Macromedia Director

Multiuser Server, multiple occurrences of a Director Application can communicate with

one another over a network. These two applications together support up to 2000
concurrent clients and can manage and process individual user actions in real time.
Individuals who use the system can save and retrieve information from a number of
system databases and are constantly updated through a combination of server capabilities

and lingo code.

Using the powerful features of Macromedia Director and the Multiuser Server, I plan to
realize and develop a game in which multiple players interact in real-time. These same
players can return for multiple sessions and continue to build on the same game they had
previously begun. I hope to use this game as a tool to further evaluate and gain insight

into not only the game design process, but also the needs of online gamers.

CHAPTER 2: Analysis

Online gaming is still an evolving genre, with new features and enhancements emerging
with each new title. Many of the most popular games, both old and new provide a wealth

of different online features and gameplay adaptations.

By looking at a sample of titles that make major use of online enhancements to drive and
extend their gameplay, patterns emerge. Through a sample of six popular titles with
online features, similar aspects of gameplay become apparent. Although these games are
each in a different genre, whether ﬁrst-person shooter, or strategy warfare, each offer
similar methods of gameplay in regards to their online adaptations and options. For each
of these games I have taken time to play and review the major factors in their online
enhancements as well as their strengths and weaknesses. For each Of these games I have
provided a gameplay overview, highlights of the competition, collaboration, and

communication elements, and a summary of the factors that succeed or fail.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein

Developer: Id Software
Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment

Platform: Windows, Macintosh
Available: Off-Shelf
Original Price: $49.99
Online Fees: Free

Features:

Real-Time Interaction

Players collaborate to achieve objectives.

Players choose from 4 different player classes on one of two teams.
Players can watch as spectator. .

Punkbuster soﬂware is used to prevent cheating.

Publicly developed online maps and missions are available.
Players can chat or use pre-set keys to send audio messages.

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Overview

Return to Castle Wolfenstein, developed by Id Soﬁware, and published by Acclaim
Entertainment is sold as a World War II themed, single player, story driven ﬁrst-person
shooter. However, the games shelf life has been sustained by its multiplayer features,
which allow individuals to meet online and battle in teams to achieve a series of
objectives. While most of the gameplay remains intact from the single player mode, new
elements are added to enhance teamwork and competition between players while
interacting with others. Players can choose from scenarios which would help determine
the focus of each multiplayer ﬁght, whether it is to capture a series of ﬂags, or reach a
total number of kills while playing another team. Players can also choose to watch a
match in progress rather than engage other players. There are no methods of

personalizing players in the game beyond creating unique name. During battle, soldiers

look identical, with the exception of the names they are given by the players controlling

them.

Anyone can host a multiplayer session in Return to Castle Wolfenstein, so it becomes
easy for players to begin a new game if they cannot ﬁnd an available match they wish to
join. All hosted games are tracked by a central server maintained by the developers, so
players can always ﬁnd a match, and expect others to join the scenario they may be
hosting. Options like the ability to password protect games to ﬁlter the players who may
enter a match are available. The player hosting the game can also set options such as
friendly-ﬁre to prevent team mates from accidentally shooting one another, and the speed

at which players may return to the game after being defeated.

To further extend gameplay, a level editor has been made publicly available so players
can design their own custom maps for multiplayer use. Id Software and Acclaim

Entertainment have also periodically released free multiplayer maps to keep the game

fresh.

Communication

Communication in Return to Castle Wolfenstein is offered by two different means. For
the sake of communicating among teams, players can send text messages between one
another by typing on their keyboard. Players can also press speciﬁc key combinations to

trigger automatic audio messages between teammates or the entire group of online

players. Communication can occur strictly between teammates, one-on—one, or through

messages broadcast to the entire group.

Collaboration

Collaboration is a key factor in the multiplayer gameplay of Return to Castle
Wolfenstein. Players can choose to join a match as either an Axis or Allied soldier in one
of four classes, each with different abilities. Players can participate as a soldier, medic,
engineer, or lieutenant. Soldiers can choose from a number of different weapons, medics
can distribute supplies to help other players who are injured, engineers can blow up
obstacles and disarm bombs, and lieutenants can survey the situation with binoculars or
call in air strikes. With each of these different classes, it becomes evident that players
must work together and communicate to complete objectives. For example, teammates
may have to collaborate to protect the single engineer on their team so they can blow-up
an obstacle, or wait for a lieutenant to call in an air strike before they raid an enemy
bunker. Players can also move though enemy territory as a group to ensure that medics

can heal the wounded and complete objectives while dealing with enemy forces.

Competition

Competition in Return to Cﬁtle Wolfenstein occurs as players are constantly working
against one another to win over opposing forces. Players are not only required to
complete a series of objectives before the opposing team does, but they also receive

scores for the number of enemy soldiers they kill, creating competition among all players,

10

even those on the same team. These competitive gameplay factors help give players

reasons to track and eliminate enemies rather than simply completing objectives.

Conclusion

Return to Castle Wolfenstein succeeds by making players communicate and work
together to complete objectives in a speciﬁc amount of time. It is this focus on interaction
and teamwork that makes the game so engaging. Players are drawn back into the game in

hopes of again winning gloriously over the opposition.

The Sims Online

Developer: Maxis
Publisher: Electronic Arts

Platform: Windows
Available: Off-shelf
Original Price: $49.99
Online Fees: $10.00 per month

Features:
Simple interface based on The Sims game.
Real-time interaction
Players can join or create their own property
Players learn skills to earn money
Money is used to improve a players residence
Players can establish relationships
Simple and effective chat
Working with others helps to increase skill and money
Friendship Web is used to track others

11

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Overview
The Sims Online was developed by Maxis and released by Electronic Arts in 2002. The
game is an online adaptation of the popular The Sims life simulation and many changes
have been made to better acclirnatize the game for online play. While The Sims placed
players in a supervising position where they had to observe and effect their characters
environment and lifestyle choices, the online version places focus on developing an
individual in a social setting. In the game, players are given the ability to live a virtual
life and interact with others through an online system of social interaction. The in-game
characters are no longer affected by choices made, but rather controllable and much more
representative of the individual players. The effect of the environment on a character
becomes secondary to socializing with other online players. Many of the features of the
original game, such as the need to work, eat, and even sleep, are not major factors in m
Sims Online. Players can mill around and socialize without worrying as much about their

status in the environment.

12

To play The Sims Online, players must ﬁrst create a character and screen name. The
characters created can become very personalized, as players can affect their race, dress,
hair color, or facial features (and change them later in the game if they like). When ﬁrst
entering the game players can choose the region they wish to live in, and are given a
thousand dollars in currency to spend. Each player starts with the same statistics and
abilities. While players are not required to complete any single or immediate objectives
within the environment, they are confronted with the need to earn money and establish
alliances with others. Players in The Sims Online can spend time learning skills to
enhance their job levels and earn money. By reading books, playing chess, or even
carving lawn gnomes, players learn skills and earn currency that can be used to enhance
the house they are living in and their individual character’s attributes. Players whose
houses have objects from which others can learn skills, will get a small portion of money
as players increase their abilities while using these items. Players can Spend the money
however they want and either chooses to buy property and build a residence, or ﬁnd other
individuals to become roommates with. Of course, decisions required of the players
depending on whether they own a home or lease a room are very different, as they must

decide how to help their property generate revenue as well as attract and keep roommates

happy.

Communication

Communication is a noticeably large part of what makes The Sims Online succeed.
Players meet with others on a constant basis, and the game relies on making connections

with those people. With that in mind, chatting with other players is as easy as simply

l3

typing on the keyboard. Socializing with other players makes the online world much
more fascinating, as each dynamic character an individual encounters contributes to the
experience of playing the game. A major feature, whichihelps players meet and
communicate with new people, is the friendship web. The friendship web, which is
optional, let’s players add people they meet online to a visual web so they can track them
as they move though the environment and keep ties to one another. This feature provides
players with a method by which they can meet new acquaintances, via degrees of

separation through a common friend

Collaboration

Collaboration takes place in a number of ways in The Sims Online. However, none of the
collaborative features are required to progress in the game. Firstly, players can have
roommate, whom they must work with to improve their home and generate income.
Players can collaborate to buy objects and build additions to their home in hopes of
increasing the number visitors. The only feature in the game that immediately requires
collaboration to take place between players is a job object. These objects generate money
at a high rate, and working together, players can earn more income than working alone.
Job objects require a number of players, each with different skill levels in different areas
to participate in the task they present. An example job object allows players to work
together to make a pizza. Each player would have different duties and could contribute

using their skill level in different areas to prepare the pizza.

Competition

14

Competition is not a factor of gameplay in The Sims Online; however there are some
smaller game options that can add competitive elements. to the game. Players can
participate in one of many smaller games, which pit them against one another. Each of
these games allows two or more players to play one of a few different games for proﬁt or
fun. The games range from chess to a crocket style game where players must guide a ball
into a speciﬁc location. These games are optional, and are not required to progress in the
world. Each game, in effect, provides an additional method of interacting and

communicating with other players.
Conclusion

By adapting The Sims for online play its developers have initiated new ways for players
to interact and perform tasks similarly to the original, while enhancing it with online
features. Rather than developing the game as a life simulator, The Sims Online has
changed into a social experience with less focus on the individual characters needs and
lifestyle. The world in The Sims Online is continuously growing with new players joining
the system every day, and updates to the items you can buy and learn skills from. With a
large community of players, and the randomness of people connecting to the system, it

seems as if you are meeting and interacting with new players constantly.

Lineage

Developer: NCSoﬁ
Publisher: NCSoﬁ

Platform: Windows, Macintosh
Available: Online @ www.1ineage.com
Original Price: Free

15

Online Fees: $15.00 per month

Features:
Real-Tirne Interaction
Form parties with others to achieve goals
Non-Player Characters populate virtual world to assist players
Develop characters over time to increase abilities and allies

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Overview

M is an Online Role Playing Game developed by NCSoﬁ and available via
1ineage.com in which players play as any one of 4 classes of characters, each with
different abilities. L_ir;e_ag§ is navigated through an isometric view of the environment and
players can interact with both other individuals synchronously online and Non-Player
Characters (NPCS), which run as programs within the game. gauge is a Massively
Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, as hundreds of players populate the world’s
castles, forests, ﬁelds, and valleys. The primary objective in the game is to create a
powerful and skilled character. This requires players to ﬁght against non-player monsters

and other creatures to earn money and experience. Players can work to develop character

attributes like dexterity, strength and intelligence by embarking on quests and slaying

monsters.

The world of Lime is billed as “ever-expanding” as new quests and environments are
added periodically, keeping the game fresh and engaging for the players in the system.
Since the game is available online, updates are constantly available, and anyone can
download the latest version of the game. As the game is updated and new features, rules,

and variables are added to the game, new documents and help features are continuously

being added.

Linggg players ﬁnd and purchase items and spells with the games currency, called
Adena, and learn new skills depending on their character type. The mage for example can
cast magic, while the knight is a skilled ﬁghter. However, players are not always equal,
and it can take time for their individual skills to become great enough to do much damage

in a ﬁght.

Communication

In Lineage players must interact with both non-player and player characters on a regular
basis to learn more about their surroundings and create alliances with different races.

Players can send text messages that appear above their character on screen. Chat is

implemented in a very straightforward style, but its effect on the players experience is

17

immense. Without the ability to speak with one another, the major elements of the game,

such as collaborating with a group of players, would not be possible.

Collaboration

In M players must join up to form hunting parties and embark on quests. Working
with others is important when building a new character in the game, as individual players
will need assistance when battling foes and gaining experience. In order to embark on
any quest, players are also required to collaborate with speciﬁc races of characters if they
expect to conquer kingdoms or ﬁilﬁll major tasks. Of the 4 classes of characters players
can choose to play as either a male or female, as a mage, knight, elf, or prince. Players
can partner up, and if there is a prince or princess in their party, they can partake in a
pledge. During a pledge the party receives riches and protection fr0m each other while
attempting to seize and control kingdoms and castles from others. Other players can even
donate items and money to assist players during their quest. Any group of players can
also form a hunting party, to move about the environment killing monsters and sharing in
the money and experience they receive. However, players who are just starting the game
begin in entirely different locations within the mage world depending on their class of
character. This makes it tough to immediately form a party and embark on a quest and

players are forced to explore the game world.

Competition

18

Players can compete with one another within Mg; and even kill each other. Defeating
others is speciﬁcally a part of gameplay when on pledges, as individuals may kill others
to take control of their castle. 14mg; was designed to ensure that defeating other players
only happens in designated combat zones, as individuals cannot ﬁght while in a town or
village. Within designated combat zones, players can attack one another; however
gameplay enhancements have been made to prevent players from simply killing each
other. Some individuals may attain a ‘lawful’ status that prevents them from dropping
items when they perish. In turn, these players can return to the game without any
inventory loss after being defeated. However, if a non-lawful individual defeats a lawful
player, they in turn receive a ‘chaotic’ status, and are more likely to drop items from their
inventory upon their death. If lawful players encounter chaotic players, they may kill
them in hopes of collecting some of their inventory. These two factors help to moderate

and balance the world, preventing players from killing each other on a routine basis.

Conclusion

The methods of interaction and time commitment required to play Lineage are extremely
complicated and very slow moving, especially for new players. The complex interface
and lack of in-game help can make it frustrating and confusing, requiring individuals to
consult other players in the environment for assistance. However with the number of
individuals who exist in the game, and have achieved levels of success, it’s easy to ﬁnd

others who will assist new players.

19

The engaging aspects of M come in the individual player’s development of their
characters over time as well as the strategy involved in battles. The number of characters
in the system helps make the environment very dynamic. Working with others is
beneﬁcial to a player when developing their character, so joining with others becomes a
required part of the game. mage fall shorts in that it cannot immediately pull players
into its game universe. Gaining experience and developing a new character is slow and
complicated, patience and dedication are required. M can be a very engaging game
if players are willing to spend enough time with it, but the learning curve and time .
required to really build a character make it a tough game to become focused on playing

for any length of time.

Starcraft

Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment

Platform: Windows, Macintosh
Available: Off-shelf
Original Price: $49.99
Online Fees: Free

Features:
Real-time interaction
Simple interface
Compete or work with other players
Choose from multiple types of matches
Play games to increase Battle.net ranking

20

 

Figure 4: Image of m

Overview

Blizzard Entertainment’s §_tarc_raﬁ, released in 1998, was sold as a single player,
campaign based strategy game in which participants built up an army in any one of three
races and fought against enemy forces. The developers were able to adapt the game for
online-play and allow players the ability to wage a campaign against one another through

the Battle.net service.

The online adaptations in Stare—raft are similar to Return to Castle Wolfenstm in that the
features are secondary to the single player package and add competition between non-
eomputer characters. The Rec battle.net service included in the game allows players to
engage each other rather than compete against the computer. The online features added
are limited to an interface by which players can contact others and start a new multiplayer
game. However, the actual gameplay remains unchanged with the exception of the ability

to send text messages in real time between opponents or comrades. With the capacity to

21

compete against non-computer opponents and the ability to create and control a game of

up to 6 players, the dynamics and longevity of the game is magniﬁed.

To use the online features of SEEM, players access the multiplayer menu from the
main game and logon to the Battle.net service. From there, players can chat, join, or
create a new match. The option of creating a new match lets players determine how many
individuals will participate (up to 6), the map used, and what kind of match will take
place. Match scenarios can range from one-on-one, two players versus two computer
players, a greed match to see how much of the screen opponents can control and troops
they can generate, and melee matches in which everyone competes against one another.
Players can also partake in “ladder” matches that are recorded by the Battle.net system,
the results of which are used to rank S_ta_rc_raft_ players. However, players are required to
have won at least ten non-ladder matches prior to participating in a ladder match. All
these options are simply additions to the game, as the gameplay does not change from
single to multiplayer. In this way, it becomes very easy for players to jump right into
multiplayer matches and experience online play after participating in the ofﬂine version

of the game.

Communication

Communication in Starcraft takes place by using the keyboard to send text messages

between players. Anyone can send messages on a one-to-one basis, or to all the

participants in a multiplayer battle. Communication becomes a more important factor

22

when players are working together to take on an enemy in order to coordinate their
efforts. However, when competing against one another, communication is used

minimally, only to congratulate another player or take pleasure in victory.

Collaboration

Collaboration is optional when playing m. However, depending on the type of

match taking place, it can be a major factor. Players work together if a match isn’t one-
on-one or melee. When two-on-two matches take place, players may have to coordinate
their efforts. In turn collaboration is not necessary in Starcraﬁ unless the speciﬁc match

calls for players to work together against a common enemy.

Competition

Competition is the principal area of focus when playing Starcraft online. The single goal
of every player in the game is to conquer individual or multiple enemy bases. Ladder
matches in particular drive players to win as often as possible in order to attain high ranks
in the Battle.net system.

Conclusion

The multiplayer options in Starcraﬁ make the game extremely entertaining, and with

much more dynamic opponents, you never experience the same match twice. As well,

23

ﬁeely available maps created by other players on the Internet continue to keep the game
novel and ever changing. There are always other players online, ready to start a battle, or

team up to attack others. Starcraﬁ although simple in its online enhancements, uses them

 

to compliment an already solid single player game and breathe new life into an aging

title.

Phantasy Star Online

Developer: Sonic Team
Publisher: Sega of America

Platform: Sega Dreamcast
Available: Off-shelf
Original Price: $49.99
Online Fees: $15.00 a month (Fee added after ﬁrst year of games release)

Features:
Chat with other players in real-time.
Form a party and embark on a quest.
Rely on others to win battles and gain experience.
Players can consistently chat and exchange information.
Interactive three-dimensional world

 

Figure 5: Images of W

Overview

Phantasy Star Online, developed by Sonic Team, and published by Sega of America was
one of the ﬁrst console-based online games. Released for the Sega Dreamcast in 2000,
the game made use of the consoles built-in modem to give players the ability to work
together as any one of nine different character classes while communicating and
completing objectives. In the game players work together, using magic and physical skills
to win battles in a three dimensional environment. Phantasy Star Online was developed
speciﬁcally for online play and is built around interaction with both non-player
characters, which assist in beginning missions and purchasing items, and player-
characters controlled by other online individuals who you can partner up with to

accomplish objectives.

When begging a new game in Phantasy Star Online players can cuStomize the class, sex,
hairstyle, color, clothes, and size of the characters they wish to use. After starting a game
and logging in, players can chat with others, purchase items, train, or immediately
embark on a quest. Players ﬁnd themselves in one of many lobbies where they can chose
a starship they wish to board. In both the lobby and in the main area of each starship,
players can talk with one another, and prepare their characters for battle. After deciding
to embark on a mission, alone or with a group, players will teleport to the main planets
surface from the starship. Once on the planet gameplay became much more action
oriented as players can work through levels to kill monsters, earning currency and
experience. As players are able to increase their capabilities and clear environments, new

levels and items became available.

25

Communication

Communication is presented through some inventive techniques in Phantasy Star Online.
Since this game was released on a console system rather than a personal computer, most
players don’t have a keyboard. To counter this problem, the chat system can optionally
use icons rather than text, with happy faces, question marks, and a number of other
graphics. Players can map these icons to speciﬁc controller keys, so they are easily
accessible during play. Players can even customize their own icons, making for some
very personalized and vibrant gameplay. However, a keyboard is available for the
Dreamcast system, so players are still given the option of typing their messages. Players
in your group or individuals in range of your character when moving through a lobby,
whether in text or icons form, see all messages. Another interesting aspect of the
communication process is that players can trade “Guild Cards” so they can track one
another for future communication. If any player gives another their guild card, that
individual can contact and locate them for future interaction. This feature allows players
to meet up multiple times online and plan future expeditions together. Players can send
email like messages to one another, so they do not need to be online synchronously to

plan a time for another mission.

Collaboration

26

Collaboration in Phantasy Star Online takes place as players form parties and begin to
work together on speciﬁc missions. As a party of up to 4 players teleport to a location in
the game and embark on a mission, the amount of enemies encountered increase to
accommodate the number of players in a party, and the experience earned is much
greater. New players can join at any time, and it becomes necessary to work together to

defeat the number of enemies on screen and assist teammates who might need help.

Competition

Competition in Phantasy Star Online does not occur between players in the game so
much as with the non-player enemies. The primary focus of each player is to increase the
level and Skills of their character. While players do not compete against one another, it is
important to build a powerful and commanding character to go on much more complex
and challenging missions. The only visible competition in the game takes place not
between the players, but rather between individuals and the creatures they encounter and

defeat.

Conclusion

Phantasy Star Online succeeds in creating a large and intense role-playing experience
with focus on team building and communication. Players can visually see and interact

with other individuals, environments, and even enemies. Sega also keeps the game up to

date by periodically adding new missions and items to the game, giving even

27

longstanding players a reason to consistently return to the system. Players are also given
multiple effortless ways to communicate with, and track, others they have met. While
individuals can build up their characters in a single player game online or ofﬂine, the real
interaction occurs when teams interact to protect and assist one another. Phantasy Star
(_)n_li£§ offers some great in—game help, simple control schemes and the ability to quickly
level-up your player making the game very simple and engaging for new players, as well

as creating incentive to revisit the game frequently.

SissyFight

Developer: Word
Publisher: Word

Platform: Windows, Macintosh
Available: Online @ www.sissyﬁght.com
Original Price: Free
. Online Fees: Free

Features:
Real-time Interaction
Simple Chat
Engaging strategic combat
Only requires Shockwave and connection to play

28

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Figure 6: Images of SissyFight

Overview

Word developed SissyFight as a Shockwave based game in 2001. Available at
www.sissyﬁght.com, players are invited to take the role of a schoolgirl and duke-it-out
during recess. Players earn points by winning schoolyard ﬁghts and getting ranked

among others combatants.

SissyFight is simple in concept and implementation. Players choose the school they wish
to log into and begin by creating a new player or choosing to return under a previously
created account. Players have the option of personalizing their “sissy ﬁghter” by

choosing a name, facial expression, hairstyle, skin color, and hair color. Once logged on

29

players join others in a gathering area similar to an online chat room, where they can talk
with one another, see who is currently online, and view a list of open and closed ﬁghts.
Players can create or join ﬁghts with up to six other players. Once players have joined a
ﬁght, they can click the start button to initiate their interest in beginning a match. Fights
only begin when at least 3 players are in a ﬁght and each has clicked to begin. If a player
does not conﬁrm they wish to start, and consequently holds up the ﬁght, other ﬁghters are
given the option to boot the individual holding up the game. If enough players choose to

boot someone that player is removed from the ﬁght so that others can begin.

Once a ﬁght has begun players have a number of available options. Each player starts the
match with ten health points and once they are depleted that individual loses. Moves are
performed in unison in each match, and players have a total of sixty seconds to choose
which attack or defensive maneuver they will make. Once all players have chosen their
moves, the timer begins to count down from ten seconds until the end of the round.
Players can scratch, grab, or even tease other ﬁghters. These actions work in combination
between players as a single person scratching another would take off a single health
point, scratching someone who has been grabbed by another player in the same round
would take off two points of health. Teasing also requires more players to join in on the
act, as the number of ﬁghters teasing affects the number of health points the victim of the
attack could lose. A single ﬁghter attempting to tease another doesn’t do any damage; so
multiple players must join in. Players can also cower to avoid attacks, or tattle on
everyone. When a player tattles each ﬁghter who participates in an attack during that turn

automatically loses three health points. Players can “lick their lollypop” to regain health

30

points, however they cannot do this continuously. Licking a lollypop and tattling are

limited to two and three uses at a time. A ﬁght ends when two players are left standing.

Communication

Communication in SissyFight occurs in both the lobby and ﬁght areas. At any time,
players can type a text message and send it to others within the match. Players can also
choose the style of text they send messages in to further express themselves. However,
text cannot be sent privately between players and all messages sent are seen publicly in
either the ﬁght or lobby they are in. Players must speak with one another to create
alliances and instruct teammates to collaborate on speciﬁc tasks. Communication is an

important factor when trying to get players to work with or against one another.

Cellaboration

Collaboration between players is encouraged through the scoring and ﬁghting system in
SissyFight. Since the effect of speciﬁc actions like scratching and teasing are ampliﬁed
when more than one ﬁghter participates, it is in each player’s best interest to make
alliances with others. Also, since multiple individuals in a ﬁght can come out winners,
and earn points for defeating others, players can increase the number of points they earn
by working together instead of alone. The need to execute speciﬁc attacks as a group to
succeed helps place a demand on players to work in unison. Even the act of tattling can

cause ﬁghters to work together, as many players may join together to attack a tattler.

31

Competition

Competition clearly occurs during the schoolyard ﬁghts within the game. However,
players are driven to compete against one another to earn as many points as possible to
earn a place in the SissyFight rankings. The “Brownie Points” earned can help players
place on a number of different ranking lists and gives individuals a reward for defeating
others. These points are totaled from ﬁght to ﬁght, and player rankings are available
through www.sissyﬁght.com. Each player gets ten points just for playing in a match, so
long as they don’t leave before it ends. Players may also receive twenty points for each
ﬁghter they defeat who has a lower overall ranking than themselves, and thirty for those

with a higher ranking.

Conclusion

While SissyFight succeeds at creating an easy to engage game built on a strange and
funny concept, it succeeds in its simplicity. Players aren’t able to do much more than
ﬁght or chat, and there isn’t any ‘world’ for players to interact with. Still, SissyFight
offers a very effective set of gameplay features, as well as a complex, yet easily
accessible ﬁghting system. While the same match will rarely happen twice, the
developers haven’t made many additions and provided major reasons to return to the
system. Since its inception, the game hasn’t changed; new ﬁght actions or character
customizations haven’t been added. However, even without many changes, the speed at
which people can logon to SissyFight and engage in a quick game seems to counter the

need for radical changes to the system. Players can logon and play for a few minutes at a

32

time, making it a quick and fun way to interact with others. The games accessibility is a

major part of its appeal, and makes it easy for anyone to get into.

33

CHAPTER 3: Implementation

Forest: Online Multiplayer Mayhem was developed to allow players access to a simple

set of features found in online games and an Opportunity to evaluate those features.

Based on my analysis and the methods of gameplay documented in current online games,
I produced a set of features that I would implement in my multiplayer game. It was very
obvious that each of the core elements I had observed were present in the games I had
reviewed; communication, collaboration, and competition. However, while in each of the
games these features were used in different magnitude, they remain major points of
gameplay. In any game I developed, each of these elements would have to be present in

some degree.

Using the world of the forest as a metaphor, the game I developed includes the ability to
explore a large virtual environment as well as communicate, collaborate, and compete
with other players. My goal with m; was to create a world where players could move
freely and interact with one another, while at the same time having the opportunity to
challenge each other to earn points. Players could communicate and compete, while

making allies and enemies.

Features:
' Real-Time communication
' Simple and constant interaction with other players
' Engaging combat
0

Large colorful environment

34

Collection of items in environment

Points earned and ranked after combat

Simple customization of player characters

Only requires Shockwave plug-in and net connection

The ﬁrst issue in Egge_s_t was to determine how communication would take place between
players. No matter how they were interacting with the other elements of the Egre_st game,
players could use the alpha and numeric keys on their computer keyboard at any time to
communicate. Messages would appear to the top right of the players on-screen icon so
others could see what they were saying. It was necessary to make this feature constantly
available and extremely easy to access, as the ability to communicate was essential for
players to make connections with others and fully experience the game. I decided to take
a cue from Mg; and placed text messages above each player’s icon, with a white
shadow around it so it would stand out against any background. This decision was made
to allow the text messages each player typed remain visible and wrap as necessary no
matter the length. Another considered, but rejected idea, was to place cartoon style text
balloons above players containing their messages. It was decided that it would be too
intensive to control the size of the text balloon and it might overlap key items in the

interface.

After reviewing Me and Phantasy Star Online, it was obvious that a large, colorful,
and graphic environment contributed heavily to online gameplay. In turn, I decided to
create a large and diverse environment in m. The size and scope of the world allowed
players to communicate with others in one area or ﬁnd a private setting in another.

Players could move through the world and explore, as they felt necessary. The extent of

35

the world would also present a discovery factor for players, to further interest them in
exploring the environment. Investigation of this environment could help “visitors learn to
discover ‘how to’ and not just ‘what’” (Clarke-Willson par. 17). This would help
generate interest in what clicking on different items and icons were for and what they

might assist players in accomplishing.

To create competition in Egre_st, I decided to give players the ability to challenge and
battle with one another. These battles were optional however, as players could accept or
decline a ﬁght. While ﬁghting with others was not necessary to play the game, it added
elements of competition and let individuals set a goal of gaining points to enhance their
experience. By adding a ﬁghting feature, an available, but not necessary goal was added
to the game. This conﬂict, I hoped, would help generate interaction and give the game
purpose. Without competition the game would not become much more than a social
interaction, without creating any personal connections between players (Baron 2003 par.

3)

Much of the ﬁghting system was created with SissyFight and m in mind. In both of
these games, the system used when in a battle with one or many opponents was
contextually based on what was clicked on, as players select others or themselves to
initiate speciﬁc commands. When roaming the environment, players could simply click
on another individual to challenge them to a ﬁght. Once within a ﬁght, players could
click on opponents to attack, or choose items from their inventory to use. Players could

also click on their character and choose to block their opponent’s attacks.

36

Many of the games I analyzed included the ability to collect and purchase items. With
this in mind I decided that I could give the ﬁghting system a bit of substance by giving
players the option to collect items in the _F_o;§_s_t. Players could only hold two items at a
time in their inventory and they were only used during a ﬁght. These items were in one of
two categories, and players could use them to attack others during battle, or restore their
characters health. By adding the option of collecting and using these items, I hoped to see

increased strategy during a ﬁght.

Players were given minor customization options, and each individual had the same
inherent abilities throughout the game. It was decided that based on the immediate scope
of the game, not many options would be given to allow players a high level of
customization. While I considered offering options to allow players to choose the color
and dress of their character, much like SissyFight, it was decided that it was too complex
to implement in the timeframe of this study. Players could play as a deer, hawk, or bear,
and choose a unique name for that character. While each of these characters had the same
abilities, however they did differ in their animations when attacking and blocking in
battle. A Bear for instance, might claw at an opponent, while a deer would attack with a
swiﬁ kick. Beyond the choice of player species and name, customization became a

limited feature in Forest.

Collaboration was not implemented in Forest as an in-game feature. After determining

 

the games focus it was decided that collaboration was not as much a part of the

37

gameplay. While games like Lineage and Return to Castle Wolfen_stein placed players in
groups within the game, and SissyFight had actions that required individuals to work

together to succeed, I determined that such features in FOrest were far too complex to

 

implement within my development timetable. Like many game developers I was forced
to remove features to accommodate my production schedule. However, instead of
devising a complex in-game system to allow for collaboration, I decided to instead
encourage players to meet and form alliances through the in-game help. In this way

players could decide amongst themselves if they wished to work together.

With all these concepts in mind, a design document was created 2 to assist me as I ﬂeshed
out the gameplay and decisions for the game. With this document I was able to plan and

realize the design of my game.

 

2 See APPENDIX A: Design Document

38

CHAPTER 4: Technical Details & Restrictions

While creating Birgit, issues arose and considerations had to be taken into account to
enhance and correct each players experience on a technical level. Since data was being
exchanged between a single server and multiple client computers on a consistent basis,
considerations needed to be made to accommodate slower computers and the amount of

data exchanged between players.

The solution I chose when creating Forest was to use the Shockwave Multiuser Server to

 

manage multiple Shockwave applications running through Web Browsers. The £91984
application was to be built in Macromedia Director, and published as a Shockwave
movie. The Shockwave plug-in would be required to play the game, however it is widely
available, and comes standard with a number of web browsers. Using Shockwave, I could
make a compact application that could reach a wide audience and play on numerous

computers.

The virtual world of Forest was kept simple in graphical style, yet large in scope. The

 

decision to keep the world and the graphics two-dimensional as opposed to three-
dimensional was twofold. First, it meant the game didn’t require powerful graphics cards
or high-end processors to play. Secondly, it limited the amount of data that was sent
between players and the ﬁnal size of the game application. With this in mind, fewer
coordinates needed to be sent when tracking individual players and less data needed to be

downloaded.

39

Shockwave Multiuser Server allowed players to be placed into groups that could send
data speciﬁcally between each other. So as players entered a ﬁght, or different areas of
the environment, the server would be able to send data speciﬁcally to others in the same
location. By using groups to categorize and move data, bandwidth was optimized, so that
each participant in the game was not constantly sending data to everyone else, no matter
if only a select few players needed their character speciﬁc information. This not only
optimized the bandwidth needed when sending data between players, but the speed of the
game itself, since it no longer needed to ﬁgure out if the information it was receiving was
of any immediate importance. Instead, only expressly needed data was sent between each
of the players. The group functionality built into the Multiuser Server was speciﬁcally

used to help control the amount of necessary data sent to each client.

Considerations had to be made to place most of the processing needed to track and move
players around the environment on the client applications and not the server. The
Shockwave Multiuser Server was speciﬁcally used to manage the dissemination of
messages to client connections dependent on the groups players were members of. In this
way the server was not used to process the effects of each action occurring in the game,
but rather let the client decide how to handle the data it was sending. Each player’s
application would moderate moving them in and out of groups independently,
broadcasting information when they join or leave a location. The server would track these

players and make sure the correct individuals received messages pertaining to their

40

group. However, the server would not process this information, instead leaving that up to

each individual player’s copy of the game.

While the use of built-in server features like groups provided major assistance with the
controlling of information between server and client computers, other choices had to be
made to also help control data ﬂow. It was necessary to determine exactly when data
would be sent to other players. In particular, sending data to other players had to be
minimized when they moved across the environment so they weren’t getting a constant
stream of information. If a player moved from one point to another, even if it was only a
few pixels apart, individual data would be sent for each point that character had moved.
At times the steam of data could get long enough that based on the speed of the
connection the player might have completely left the visible area of others in their
vicinity while data was still being sent concerning their previous locations. This could at
times cause the game to choke on the information being sent regarding a character that
was thought to have left the visible game area. Since players moved using the arrow keys
the problem was resolved by sending data only after a player had stopped moving and
released one of these keys. Once the player had let up on one of the arrow keys, they
would send data to other members of the group. In this manner, players who held down a
key to run quickly through the environment would only send their data to other members
of the group when they ﬁnally let up on that key. This prevented a stream of location data

and prevented errors on the receiving client end.

41

To further limit the amount of information sent between players it was necessary to make
sure that ﬁxed player speciﬁc details were only sent once. These details would include
player names and animal types. Upon entering any screen, an individual would send out
their information as well as a request for all other players’ information. In turn
information was only sent once, and prevented the need for repeated updates regarding

each player’s speciﬁc data.

The most major of hang-ups in the system was the chance of users being disconnected.
Players who closed the application by normal means would send a message to remove
their character from the environment. However, if a player’s network connection was
terminated before the application could send a disconnection message there was no alert
from the server for up to four minutes. On top of this, other players, whether in a ﬁght or
moving through the environment would still see that player as if they were connected to
the system even after they had been disconnected. If players were still roaming the
_F;o_re_st, the implications of this were not as problematic, as any disconnected players
didn’t have an immediate effect on the game, and were removed as soon as they were
moved out of the visible area of others. However, when in a ﬁght, if a player was
disconnected it could have a much greater effect. To counter this, all players kept track of
other competitor’s status over the course of a battle. In this way, players could be
disconnected from a ﬁght, yet remain on other’s screens and be attacked and eventually
defeated. This prevented ﬁghts from hanging while waiting for others to act, and
prevented players from getting stuck in a ﬁght despite another combatant’s dropped

connection.

42

CHAPTER 5: Evaluation

Methods

To better understand the impact of the features and decisions I made in producing Forest,
participants were recruited to play the game during a speciﬁed time and evaluate its

features.

By recruiting participants during a speciﬁc interval of time, I was able to ensure that a
number of players would be available online synchronously and guarantee their
interaction. Some individuals were asked to join in a speciﬁc location to play the game,
while others were asked to access the content remotely. Once players had been able to
play the game for at least 10 minutes, they were given a voluntary opportunity to ﬁll out
an anonymous survey and review their experience with the game. The data collected did

not include any identiﬁable information regarding the participants.

Subjects were alerted by email, through professors, and posters advertising the existence
of the game and when the study would take place. All participants were given roughly
one weeks notice. Posters were placed on public bulletin boards in the Michigan State
University Communications Arts & Sciences building, and given to Telecommunications
professors to relay to interested students in their courses. The group of participants
alerted via professors or through these posters was asked to take part in the evaluation in

an on-campus lab.

43

Emails were also sent to a network of friends and acquaintances. This email requested
their assistance with the evaluation and asked them to forward the information to anyone
they knew who might be interested in participating. This group of participants was asked

to participate as evaluators connecting from a remote location to play the game.

The survey was provided to players as a hyperlink they could click once they had

ﬁnished playing Forest for at least ten minutes of time. The survey itself was provided

 

though a web page, and once ﬁnished; the information was sent to a database for

collection.

The survey3 was a series of quantative and qualitative questions that were designed to
generate feedback from participants in regards to the gameplay found in Forest.
Questions were composed to ask participants what features and online enhancements they

found engaging and requested commentary based on their experience.

Results

A total of 16 individuals participated in the evaluation of m. Of these players 31%
were participating within a closed environment, while 69% were connecting to the game
from unknown remote locations with an Internet connection. Of the survey participants,
31% never played video games, 31% occasionally played for l to 4 hours a week, 6%
played intermediately for 4 to 8 hours a week, and 31% played more than 8 hours a week

(See Fig 7).

 

3 See APPENDIX D: Survey

 

With what frequency do you play video games?

Frequcmly (8+ Never (0 mm a
hours a week) week)

   

31% 32%
mm tely(4-
8 1011:; week) Occasionally (1-4
0 hours a week)
31%

 

 

Figure 7: Participants frequency of playing video games.

Players were asked a number of questions to gauge their responses to playing Forest. Of

 

the participants 69% of them had previously played games that utilized online features.
These games ranged from The Sims Online to @9832; however a number of participants
had played ﬁrst-person shooters such as Return to Cgtle Wolfen_gtein and U_nre_al
Tournament. Over half of all participants had a favorable opinion of online gaming. 56%
of the participants liked online gaming, and only 6% expressed disliked towards it (See

Fig 8).

45

 

 

What is your personal opinion of online gaming?
Strongly D’slrke

0% Dishke
6%

   
  

Strongly Like
1 9% NO Opimon

19%

Like
56%

 

 

 

Figure 8: Participants personal opinion of online gaming.

I found that 75% of participants were more interested in an online game with the ability
to communicate with other players, than a game without this option (See Fig 9).
Participants cited that it was this aspect that made it feel like they were working with
other living individuals. Some participants commented that without the communication
aspect in multiplayer online games, they didn’t feel like they were interacting with others.
Players also found that the communication aspect made it easier to immerse themselves

in the game and learn how to play.

 

Would an online game with the ability to communicate with other
players interest you more or less than a game where you cannot
communicate with other players?

Less
12%

A

   

No Opinion
12%

   

More
76%

 

 

 

Figure 9: Participants interest in online games with player communication.

When asked what the participant’s opinion of Forest was, only 6% disliked it, while 38%

 

had no opinion, 44% liked it, and 12% strongly liked the game (See Fig 10). When asked

to explain their opinion of the game, many liked the simplicity and the interaction it

provided. Many players enjoyed the option to simply socialize with others, and some

enjoyed the ability to ﬁght.

47

 

What is your opinion of the game you have just played?

0% 6°/
Strongly Like °
1 2%

 

 

 

 

Figure 10: Participants opinion of Forest.

 

When it came to exploring the environment 19% of survey participants disliked

exploring, while 31% had no opinion and 44% liked it (See Fig 11).

48

 

Did you like exploring the environment?

  
  

Strongly Dislike
0°/
Strongly Like 0
6% Dislike
19%
No Opinion
31%

 

 

 

Figure 11: Participants attitude towards exploring the environment in Forest.

When asked their opinion of chatting with other players 31% had no opinion, 38% liked

it, and 31% strongly liked it (See Fig 12).

49

 

Did you like chatting with other players?

Strongly Dislike
0%

    
   

Dislike
0%
Strongly Like

31%

No Opinion
3 1 %

Like
38%

 

 

 

Figure 12: Participants attitude towards chatting with other players in Forest.

 

 

When the participants were asked their opinion of the ﬁghting within Forest 44% had no

opinion, while another 44% liked it, and 12% strongly liked this feature (See Fig 13).

50

 

Did you like ﬁghting with other players?

   

Strongly
11$er D'slike
0% o
Strongly Like 0/0
12%
No Opinion
44%

Like
44%

 

 

 

Figure 13: Participants attitude towards fighting with other players in Forest.

When asked if they used the history menu in the game to track their progress only 25% of
participants said they made use of the feature (See Fig 14), and of that group, only 50%

of the users liked the features it provided (See Fig 15).

51

 

Did you rmke use of the history menu to track
the games progress?

 

75%

 

 

 

Figure 14: Participants use of the history menu in Forest.

 

 

If yes, did you like the history menu?

Strongly
Strongly D'sllke Dislike
Like 0% 0%
12% \

  

No Opinion
50%

38%

 

 

 

Figure 15: Participants attitude towards the history menu in Forest, if used.

52

Only 25% of all participants actually used the items found in the environment to help
during their game (See Fig 16). Of these participants 33% strongly liked, 34% liked, and

only 8% disliked the option to collect and use items (See Fig 17).

 

Did you make use of any item you found in the
environment?

 

75%

 

 

 

Figure 16: Participants who made use of items found in environment in mg.

53

 

Ifyes, how did you like the ability to collect and use item?

Strongly D'shke D'slike

    
 

0% 8%
Strongly Like i
33% No Opinion
25%

Like
34%

 

 

 

Figure 17: Participants attitude towards utilization of items in Forest, if used.

When asked, 73% of all participants attempted to collect points by ﬁghting (See Fig 18).

Of these participants 25% had no opinion on collecting points, while 67% like the option

and 8% strongly liked it (See Fig 19).

54

 

Did you attempt to collect points?

 

 

 

 

Figure 18: Participants who attempted to collect points in Forest.

 

 

Did you like collecting points as a result of fighting?
Strongly . .
Dislike DIShke
0% 0%
No Opinion
25%

     

Strongly Like
8%

Like
67%

 

 

 

Figure 19: Participants attitude towards collecting points in Forest.

Only 20% of participants actually made alliances with other players (See Fig 20),

however of those who didn’t make alliances, many found that others didn’t respond.

55

Some participants got in ﬁghts and instructed other players to attack an individual

without making any prior contact.

 

Did you atterrrpt to nrake alliances with other players?

Yes

 

80%

 

 

 

Figure 20: Participants who attempted to make alliances with other players in am.

When asked if participants would prefer the option to add more personal information
about themselves rather than remaining anonymous in the environment 38% were unsure,
however 50% said yes (See Fig 21). Some felt that adding descriptions of themselves
would be a positive addition to the game, a short bio could be a nice addition, and
thought it would personalize the other players a bit more. However, some participants
expressed that such a feature should be optional, since they were concerned with sharing

personal information online.

56

 

Rather than renraining anonymous in the environment, would you
rather have an option to add personal information about
yourself?

12%

 

 

 

 

Figure 21: Players attitude towards adding personal information in Fggest.

Asked if players found any aspects of the interface distracting or unclear, the participants
were divided. 50% of the participants said yes, while the other 50% said no (See Fig 22).
Of those who did ﬁnd the interface distracting, players said that it was not immediately
obvious as to how they would communicate or ﬁght other players. Some found that using
items found in the environment was not straightforward, and didn’t fully understand how

to ﬁght.

57

 

 

Did you ﬁnd any aspects of the interface distracting or
nuclear while playing the game?

No

50% 50%

 

 

 

Figure 22: Participants opinion of the clarity of the interface in Forest.

 

When asked if the players found anything about the game unclear, 56% said yes, while

44% said no (See Fig 23). Of those who did ﬁnd items in the game unclear, the following

feedback was provided:

Didn’t know how to pick up of use items
Unsure how health worked
How to ﬁght

Multi-person ﬁghting was unclear

58

 

Did you ﬁnd any aspects of the game unclear?

 

 

 

 

Figure 23: Participants opinion of the clarity of Forest.

When participants were asked if timely updates and changes in the game (such as new
maps, characters, and items) would motivate them to continue to play, 62% said yes,
while 38% were unsure (See Fig 24). Many thought future changes would strengthen
interest in the game, although some participants remarked that the concept was enough to

keep them interested in future versions of Forest. One participant mentioned that

 

“Different playing environments, different weapons, secret codes, and different animals”

would all be incentives to return.

59

 

Would tinrely updates and changes in the ganre (such as new
nraps, characters, and item) motivate you to continue to play?

No
0%

Maybe
38%

 

 

 

 

Figure 24: Participants attitude towards timely updates and changes to Forest.

When asked if players would recommend the game to a friend, only 19% said yes, while

62% said maybe, and 19% said no (See Fig 25).

 

Would you recommend the game to a friend?

 

Maybe
62%

 

 

 

Figure 25: Participants attitude towards recommending Forgt to a friend.

When asked if they would return to play the game 6% said no, 62% said maybe, and 31%
said yes (See Fig 26). When asked for their reasons for retuming or not the following

responses were given:
0 Don’t enjoy games
0 Need to be people to interact with
0 Bi gger environment
0 Proactive way of chatting
0 Check for new features
0 Add more involved features

0 Not enough time

61

 

Would you return to play this game again?

 

63%

 

 

 

Figure 26: Participants who would return to play Forest again.

 

When asked what feature of the game participants found the most interesting, 44% said it
was the communication, 31% enjoyed the ﬁghting, 12% were partial to the characters,
and only 12% liked the environment (See Fig 27). Many participants said they enjoyed
the communication aspects of the game because they were visually implemented and
made contact with other players stimulating. However, some players said they found
communication the most interesting because the other areas, like ﬁghting were not
engaging enough. Of the participants who did like the ability to ﬁght, they believed that

the simple competition was enough to make the battles very exciting.

62

 

What did you ﬁnd most interesting about this game?

  

The Characters
12%
The Fighting /
31% The Environrmnt
12%
The
Communication
45%

 

 

 

Figure 27: Participants interest in aspects of Forest.

 

When asked what elements of the game participants found the least interesting 71%
disliked the environment while 21% disliked the characters and 7% disliked ﬁghting. It
should be noted that none of the participants expressed any dislike towards the
communication aspect of the game (See Fig 28). Many of the players who disliked the
environment found it bland and too repetitive for their tastes. One participant wanted the
ability to hide from others, and the ability to perform different moves depending on the
animal they had selected (i.e. ﬂy into trees as a hawk). Overall participants cited that the

environment was too large, at times conﬁrsing, and not interactive enough.

63

 

 

What did you ﬁnd the least interesting in this game?

The Fighting
7%

The Characters
21%

 

 

Figure 28: Participants disinterest in aspects of Forgt.

When asked what players liked about their experience, the following replies were given:

Fighting relieved stress

Simple interface

The characters

Easily accessible through a web browser

You could communicate with others at any point in the game
Interacting with others in real time

Multiple players in a ﬁght at one time

When asked what players disliked about their experience, the following responses were

given:

 

0 Not enough to do

0 Rules were not clear

0 Unclear menus

0 Not enough features

0 Audio didn’t turn off

a No opponent proﬁles

0 Not enough strategy when ﬁghting

o No clear goals

0 Need a map of environment to navigate

0 Not enough to explore in environment

When asked if there were features that players would like to see added to the game 60%
said yes, and 40% said no (See Fig 29). Of the features that participants expressed
interest in seeing in the game, the following responses were given:

0 Ability to eat humans

0 Radar, or way to ﬁnd other players

0 A tutorial to introduce new players to the game

0 Bigger maps

0 More personalized characters

0 More audio cues based on interaction

65

 

 

Are there features that you would have like to have
added to the game?

Yes
60%

 

 

Figure 29: Participants opinion towards features they would like added to Forest.

 

66

 

CHAPTER 6: Conclusion

When reviewing the results of the survey presented to players of fires; I can conclude
that a large part of what makes a multiplayer game successful is communication, even
more so than competition or collaboration. However in any online game, it seems that
players need much grander forms of reward and much more speciﬁc goals than what I

was able to offer in Forest.

The most popular aspect of m was the communication between players, and the use
of an unorthodox interface to do so. This factor, in combination with the results of my
analysis, makes it obvious that a very important facet of any online multiplayer game has
to be communication. For players to interact and work with other another, whether as
allies or foes, they must be able to make contacts and recognize that the individuals they
are communicating with are living beings. While this is probably a very evident
characteristic, it is now more apparent that communication is a prominent and required
feature of online gaming. Of course, while in some games, such as Starcraft
communication may not be as large a part of the game, it is still a very useful and at times
an engaging feature, even in such a minimal role. The ability of any game to allow
players some method of communication in any language provides the backbone of the

online gaming experience.

While it seems there is no immediate formula or simple solution for making a great

online game, the largest task for developers is balancing the amount of communication

67

and needs placed on the users of their system. Players in an online title must have goals
with risks and rewards just like any other game to fully enjoy their experience. The
potential to fail and succeed must both be present and the reward for success should help

boost player’s interests and keep the game appealing.

Online games do not need to be large in scope to succeed, however they need to pose
enough strategy, reward, and engaging gameplay to make the experience worthwhile for
players. In contrast a simple title like SissyFight is just as appealing and satisfying as a
substantial game like garage. In each of these games the designers and developers
implemented gameplay in a different capacity; however the risks and rewards were

signiﬁcant in both games.

I believe it is very obvious that communication, collaboration, and competition remain a
large focus area for any developer creating an online game. Even if in different doses,
each of these areas of gameplay should be considered and evaluated. I believe that
communication is the single largest factor in online game design, and remains the
backbone of the network experience. Collaboration and communication provide the

reward and incentive for potential players. In the evaluation of Forest, despite its

 

drawbacks, nearly all the participants enjoyed the ability to ﬁght with one another. The
ability to work with or against others in an online setting enhances and ampliﬁes the

communication between players. Communication is a required element of online play,
while competition and collaboration can be used in any amount, so long as at least one

provides a strong factor of conﬂict or reward within the game. As long as a game

68

designer begins with a solid concept and can mold a game with these factors, it’s
potential to become a great online experience is possible. It Should be noted that almost
all of the players who evaluated Forest had some interest in online gaming, proving that

potential players exist; the games simply need to be made.

69

CHAPTER 7: Future Development

Future developments in Forest need to focus on four areas, the competition, in-game help,
customization, and the environment. Changes in these areas will help the game further

succeed.

m failed in its attempt to create engaging and enthralling competition. The ﬁghting
system itself was far too simple to elicit any strategy from players, and needed much
more depth to properly engage participants. While players were aware of the option to
ﬁght and accumulate points in the game, they were also given little reason to do so. With
the exception of a web page providing player rankings, the game itself didn’t do enough
to reward players for their behavior. If players gained abilities or built their status within
the world based on their performance in combat, they could gain access to new areas of
the environment or the ability to collect and use more powerful items. If players had been
given greater forms of reward and possible privileges in the system as a result of their
performance in battle, it may drive them to engage in combat more often, in hopes of

gaining something much more valuable than points.

 

Another obvious issue in Forest was the immediacy at which players were able to
understand their purpose and abilities within the game. While a help system was
provided, perhaps an in-game tutorial or simpliﬁcation of speciﬁc actions could beneﬁt
the players and help make the game more readily accessible. The option of adding non-

player characters to act as assistants, and work new players through actions commonly

70

used in the game might have made it easier for participants to understand the interface

and possibilities within the system.

The lack of customization in m was a concern. Many players were interested in
adding detailed information for their character so others could learn more about them.
With the addition of more personalization elements, players could feel more connected
and responsible for their in-game character. The option to add character statistics and
abilities, or improve their character through battle may have helped to engage players and
keep them interested in continuing the game over time. Players could for example
become ranked as a “powerful ﬁghter” if they won ﬁghts often or a “dependent ﬁghter” if
they used items frequently during a ﬁght. These small methods of reward and player
development could drive players to further build their individual character. This addition
of customization and character personalization could present players with a more vested

interest in playing the game.

The environment in F_o_re_st was not as engaging as’I had hoped, as many players found it
tedious. The environment itself was very large and colorful; however it lacked depth in
the items and interactions that occupied it. With different areas of the environment
looking very similar players could get lost and disoriented, a problem that could be
countered with the addition of a map or radar-style system to help them ﬁnd others. The
addition of more landmarks or items, which only appeared in certain areas of the
environment, could also make it easier for players to ﬁnd their way. Likewise, the

environment lacked any major interactive elements; players couldn’t interact with the

71

trees or vegetation they encountered. By adding the ability to hide behind objects, ﬂy into
trees, or swim through water, players might be more inclined to immerse themselves in

the environment and explore.

72

APPENDIX A: Design Document

Forest

Multiplayer Mayhem

Design Document

73

GAME OVERVIEW

“Forest” is a dynamic online multiplayer game that places players in the role of
any one of numerous Forest creatures in hopes of surviving and developing while
competing with others from all over the world in combat to become king of the

woodlands.

This game is being created out of both an interest in online gaming, and as a
compliment to my master’s thesis. Forest will provide a device by which I can observe

and evaluate the response to features offered in online games.

This game takes place in a Forest. This Forest is ﬁlled with both animals and

vegetation.
Players will control a character they have created. That player can be one of three
species, an eagle, a bear, or a deer. These characters can have the name of the players

choosing.

Each player can control only one character at any time. However, players are not

restricted from opening more than one account during different sessions.

The main focus of Forest is to work to collaborate and compete with other

animals to earn points. Points builds up each time a player is able to defeat other players

74

in a ﬁght. Players with the most points are considered the most powerful players in the
Forest, and must continue to compete to gain points. The players with the most points

will be ranked and given a place among the most powerful players.

Forest is meant to offer a simple and inexpensive way for players on the net to
compete in a rich gaming environment. It provides a dynamic online experience not

found in many other available applications, without a fee.

Design Goals

Create Virtual Online Environment

Forest will be developed as an online communication game. This game allows
players to create an avatar and interact in a completely online world as the creatures that
inhabit a virtual Forest. In this world, players can Speak with other Forest inhabitants or

battle with players in hopes of earning valuable points.

Create a Freely Available Game

Forest will run on virtually any internet-able device with a modern web browser.
The only restraints are that this device must have at least a Pentium 3 or G-3 class
processor, a stable 56k or faster connection, and the latest Shockwave plug-in installed.

The Shockwave plug-in is freely available from www.macromedia.com. Forest will not

75

require any permanent investment ﬁom players and will allow anyone with an Internet
connection an opportunity to explore an online interactive environment without

subscription fees or commitment of any kind.

76

GAME FEATURES

General

Large world
Colorful characters
Real-Time Interaction

Enhanced Chat Environment

Multiplayer

Easy to Enter
Real-Time competition

Enhanced Communicate with others

Ever changing environment

Gameplay

Chat with others
Compete with others
Collect items for use in battle

Establish contacts for collaboration in battle

77

GAME WORLD

Overview

Forest takes place in a virtual Forest with trees, grassy ﬁelds, and a large lake.
After choosing a character, players are given the opportunity to communicate and ﬁght
other animals in the Forest and gain experience points. Players can then collect items to
help improve their particular characters abilities and increase their chances of survival.
Whether they work alone, with a ﬁiend, or a whole crew of Forest creatures, players can
ﬁght to become one of the most powerful animals in the Forest. However, with power
comes many enemies, and they must be prepared to defend themselves against Forest

inhabitants to keep their powerful position.

The Forest

The forest is a large area where players can meet up with others and chat, or
collect items for use when ﬁghting. The forest is a 2-D world with trees, ﬂowers, bushes,

a river, and a large lake.

The Physical World

78

Overview

Players move via a two dimensional overhead viewwhen walking around the
main Forest map. Items may randomly appear on the map that the players can then carry
in their inventory if they have space available. When players encounter other players they
can ﬁght one another, or join an already active ﬁght. Players can move over most items
including shallow water; however players cannot enter areas such as the lake, or pass

through trees and other immovable objects.

Travel

Characters are moved via the arrow keys on the keyboard. Players move in

whichever direction pressed.

Objects

Objects in the environment include passable and impassable objects, as well as
objects that players can pick-up and use during a ﬁght. See the “Objects Appendix” for a

list of all the objects found in the world.

79

Time

Time will not be an active element in the world. Only during battle will time be
used, as it will determine when a player is allowed to initiate a battle command. A ten
second timer is initiated when a battle has begun, and a ﬁfteen second timer is used

between player actions.

80

MULTIPLAYER GAME MECHANICS

Overview

“Forest” is a dynamic online multiplayer game that places players in the role of
any one of numerous Forest creatures in hopes of surviving and developing while
competing with others from all over the world in combat to become king of the
woodlands. This game will be played within a web browser, using the Shockwave plug-

in provided by Macromedia. I will implement a HTTP and Multi-User Server.

Logon/Create User

From the initial game screen, players must choose whether they wish to login to a

previously created account, or create a new player.

New players will be given the opportunity to create new players and save them for
future use. Using the character creation menu players can choose their character type,
character name, and password. Players may choose an eagle, bear, or deer as their
character, and the usemame may be no more than 8 characters and contain no spaces.
When contacting the server, the system will check for an identical usemame, and make
sure the passwords sent are identical. If any of these criteria are incorrect, then players

will be alerted and asked to retry the user creation.

81

Returning players may input their usemame and password, and then access the
original character they had previously created. Once the system conﬁrms a correct match
for usemame and password they can begin to roam the Forest. If this login is incorrect the
player is alerted that their usemame and/or password may be incorrect, and they are given

another chance to attempt a login.

Chat/Exploration

In the chat and exploration modes, players will be given free reign over the Forest
environment and may meet with other players. As characters move about the
environment they can chat with others, collect items for use in ﬁghts, or challenge

another player to a ﬁght.

To chat, players can type on their keyboard and press the return key on their
keyboard to send messages. This text message will show above the character on screen.
Text for chatting is limited to only 30 characters at a time. The player’s comments exist

until they send an empty text message, and will persist into new parts of the Forest.

As players explore the Forest they may come across various items that they can
collect and use while ﬁghting. Each player has two inventory slots to carry items. Each
item will take up one or both slots, so players must consider what they have in their

inventory. Players cannot store items if they don’t have enough space. Players may also

82

choose to discard items from their inventory at any time; however once dropped, items

are removed from play, and cannot be picked back up in that location.

Players can collide with one another on the main Forest map, and may exist on the
same tile at the same time. This conserves bandwidth by not creating a large amount of
data to track location and collisions. The local player will always be located below other

players.

Fight Proposal/Fight

When a player decides to begin a ﬁght with another player, they click on that
player and choose ‘ﬁght’. If the player decides to accept that ﬁght proposal the two
players will both be entered into a ﬁght. If the player declines to ﬁght, then nothing
happens. Both players involved in a ﬁght proposal may cancel their actions at any time,

however once they have entered into the ﬁght screen; they must run away to leave.

Once a ﬁght has started that ﬁght is presented on the main Forest map as a ﬁght
icon where the player who initiated that ﬁght was located when beginning the ﬁght.
Other players pass by the ﬁght, the may choose to click on it and join. However, players
may not join the ﬁght if the ﬁght has started, or if there are 5 participants already in the

ﬁght.

83

A ﬁght will not begin until one player presses the “Fight!” button to initiate they
ﬁght. Once a player has pressed this button, a ten second timer begins which gives

players a chance to prepare.

At any point during the ﬁght, players may choose to run away, forfeiting
themselves from the game if the ﬁght has begun, and simply leaving if a ﬁght hasn’t
begun. Players may not click the ﬁght button to begin the ﬁght unless they have more

than one player in a ﬁght.

Once the timer has ﬁnished and the ﬁght begins, each player has a dynamic timer
to count down to the players chance to perform a move. This dynamic timer is
represented by a red bar, which reﬁlls after each turn and gradually counts down until a
player can again choose to perform a move. This bar counts down for approximately
ﬁfteen seconds before a player can make a move. At the beginning of the ﬁght
participants are assigned a random amount of time before they can make a move. This
differentiates the time between player attacks and makes the ﬁght much more
unpredictable and animated. Players click on themselves to defend, others to attack, and
inventory to use. Attacks take off 3 points, attacks on defending players take off 1, and
items take off 6 points each. Using a healing item can revive up to 6 points of health.

Each player has 15 points of health at the beginning of each match.

When making a move, the players can choose to attack, dodge, or use an item if

they have one in their inventory. Each player has a total of ﬁfteen hit points, and once

84

they have reached zero, the player has lost. Once only two players are left, they are
considered the winners. Each player in a ﬁght will automatically get two points just for

playing; however the winner of the ﬁght (and last person standing) will be given 5 points.

Story

The story in “Forest” iS not dictated by the system, rather the individual player
competing in the environment tells their own as they make decisions and choices during
play. While a basic premise and actions are available to characters the story is built by

each individual’s interactions and dealings in the game world.

Hours of Gameplay

As a multiplayer game, “Forest” has no ending or point of completion. Instead
players must continue to compete to retain their rankings and keep alliances with other

Forest creatures.

Victory Conditions

Once ﬁghting, victory occurs when one player defeats other players. Victory
occurs when one player left standing without having zero hit points in a match. The
player who wins the match will receive a total of 6 points, however all players will

receive a total of 3 points so long as they do not run away during the match.

85

Max Players

Only up to ﬁve players may ﬁght at any time in the pit, and up to 50 players may
roam any sub-map of the Forest ﬂoor. An unlimited number of ﬁghts may be started and
take place at any time. The server limitations stop the number of concurrent users online
at any one time at 2000 players.

Servers

Server IP is currently private. Multiuser standards apply.

Customization

Each Species of animal will have individual animations for each of the moves in
the game. Players can change their outﬁt color at any point; however they cannot change

the animal type associated with the account they have created.

Internet

“Forest” will work though any modern web browser so long as the Macromedia

Shockwave player is installed. This installation will be prompted if it is not installed.

86

The game will work from a single web address, and load any compressed Shockwave
ﬁles (.dcr) without changing the current page. A preloaded will be built in to make

players aware of download times.

Persistence

“Forest” will remain persistent in its main virtual world. However, the

development system will allow for the small changes to the look and feel of this world.
At any point during the game, players can choose to disconnect from the system.
If they are in a battle, they will no longer have control of their player. The system will
retain all the players’ data after their last battle or collection of items in the Forest.
The general location of lakes, rivers, and other major landmarks in the

environment will not move. Items are randomly placed within the map and players can

start a ﬁght from any single location.

Saving and Loading

Characters will save their personal data automatically after a ﬁght has ended, and

whenever they have decided to keep an item in their inventory.

87

Loading will require a usemame and password, which are created when the player
ﬁrst begins to play. Data is saved automatically after each change in the individual
characters status, whether gaining points or items. This data is stored on the server

hosting the game.

If a player logs on to the same account from two separate browser windows the
earliest logon will be disconnected from the server. Only one logon can be active at a

time.

Controls

0 Up Arrow Key - Move Up

° Down Arrow Key - Move Down

0 Right Arrow Key — Move Right

° Left Arrow Key — Move Left

0 Alpha and Numeric Keys - Input Text

' Return / Enter Key — Sent Text

0 Delete Key — Delete Text

' Left Mouse Button — Used to control items in interface, drop items, pick-up items,

initiate an attack, run away from a ﬁght, attack, block and conﬁrm dialog boxes.

The Keypad is used to control characters movement; otherwise the rest of the

interaction takes place through on-screen buttons and menus that are activated as

88

characters enter regions of the screen. These actions occur through the player’s mouse,

clicking on other players or speciﬁc buttons can trigger events and actions.

Players can move over items and click the “pick up” button to place them in their

inventory. Likewise if they click on an item in their inventory they can drop that item by

clicking the “drop” button.

Players can click on another player to initiate a ﬁght

Players can click on an open ﬁght to join it.

Players can simply type on the keyboard to type chat messages. Players can then

click enter to send the message.

89

GAME ELEMENTS

Items

Healing Items - used in battle to replenish 6 HP.

° Berries
° Apples
0 Pears

Attack Items — can be used to hit for 6 HP on any single character, no matter if they are
blocking or not.
0 Pine Cone

' Branch

The World Layout

Overview

The Main World will be broken into a 5 x 5 grid, with each tile containing a
smaller sized grid of 10 x 8 tiles. Each tile will be one of many tiles; they are grass, dirt,
trees, tree stumps, lakes, rivers, twigs, stones, wetlands, shallow water, ﬂowers, and

boulders

Tiles

These tiles allow players to walk across them.

° Grass

' Dirt

0 Shallow Water / River

These tiles do not allow players to walk across them.

0 Trees

0 Tree Stumps

0 Lakes
° Boulders
' Bushes

Game Characters

Characters are one of 3 groups. Those are deer, bear, or eagle. All players have
equal abilities. However each of the characters performs those abilities differently. The
Bear attacks with a paw swipe, the eagle with an attack with the talons, and the dear with

a swift kick.

91

GAME ENGINE

Overview

Macromedia Shockwave will be used as the engine behind this game. It will make
particular use of the Multiuser Xtra. This will work in conjunction with the Macromedia
Multiuser server, which will manage and administer connections with players. This game

will be developed using Macromedia Director, and the Shockwave Multiuser Server.

Shockwave Engine

The Shockwave Engine will handle all the logic behind gameplay.

Collision Detection

The client and not the server will handle collision detection. Players will not be
allowed to move over items in the environment like trees or lakes. However, players may

exist in the same location as another player on the map.

Chat

The Engine will allow players to type in text they wish to speak and see it appear

on screen. Dialog boxes will appear above and to the right of the player icons.

92

Fighting

Within the ﬁghting environment players will be able to select who they would
like to attack or when they would like to defend. Players may also choose to use healing
items, such as the apple or berries, or use an attack item against a player. Actions may

only occur after each of the players timers have ﬁnished.

Hardware/Software Requirements

A keyboard and mouse will be needed to play this game. Based on the
requirements Macromedia provides, at minimum a modem operating system such as
Windows 98, NT, or Mac OS 8.5 will be required as well as 32 MB'of Ram, and at least a

Pentium II or G3 processor.

Technical Requirements

This game will require the player to have some knowledge of using a web

browser and a broadband level connection.

93

MUSICAL SCORES & SOUND EFFECTS

Overview

Music will not be used in this game. However, sound effects will be used to

enhance the environment. Random environment noises will play during gameplay.

Sound Design

Sound design will incorporate a number of realistic environmental sounds, such as
birds chirping and animals in the Forest. In particular sound effects will be used to

convey actions in the ﬁghting interface.

94

GRAPHICS

Overview

Most graphics will be created using Adobe Photoshop, however many of the
animations and character icons will be created using Macromedia Flash for control in

Director.

The graphics will be primarily two-dimensional and will be thrilling and dynamic

to accentuate the games entertaining approach.

Graphics will be made for each of the character types; the environment and animations

will-be made for each of the characters in the ﬁghting mode.

95

Interface

 

RETURNING PLAYER iii .’.' M A l'l R
May- Num- 1:]
no... .......... :1
Conﬁrm Pam-d 1:
(YOU)
Anlmd Typo

CREME PLAYER I LOGO"

 

Figure 30: Forest, returning player interface

 

RETURNING PLAYER NEWPLAYER

Figure 31: Forest, new player interface

 

 

 

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Figure 32: Forest, min interface

98

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Figure 33: Forest, fight proposal interface

99

 

 

 

Figure 34: Forest, ﬁght interface

Environment

General

‘1‘! a .3.

Figure 35: Items in Forest environment

Grass & Dirt

100

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Figure36:Grass&dirttileslnForest.

Lakes & Rivers

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Figure37:1.ake&rivertilesin£omt

 

Characters

Character Animations each include the following states, normal, walk, front, back, attack

1, attack 2, block, use item, heal, get hit, and death.

Bear

91‘! 8 I ﬁﬁ-ﬁfﬂﬂu

Figure38:Bearimagesith.

 

Hawk

‘~**’~9 V1" ‘1‘

Figure 39: Hawk images in m

Deer

101

 

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Figunwzbwrimagasmm

Items

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Figure 41: Item images in Em.

Buttons
m-
mm
mm
mm
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Figure 42: Buttons in [om

102

APPENDIX B: Consent Form

Informed Consent to Participate in Human Subject Research
Project Description/Abstract

The focus of this production thesis is on the methods and considerations that game
developers must acknowledge when developing online media. The end product of this
project is an online multiplayer game which allows players to communicate, collaborate,
and compete in an online environment. Players will play the game, evaluate it, and
contribute their insights about online game design. The researcher will generate new
methods and considerations for game developers based on what is learned from the
participants.

Procedures
Participating in this study Should take between 30 and 60 minutes.

0 You are being asked to play the online multiplayer game "Forest" by connecting
to the game from a computer lab on the MSU campus or a location of your
choosing with an Internet connection for at least 10 minutes during a pre-speciﬁed
two hour time block.

- When you ﬁnish playing the game, you will be invited to be asked to voluntarily
evaluate your experience through an online survey.

- Please read this consent form thoroughly. If you agree to participate, please click
the accept button at the bottom of this page and you will be forwarded to the
game.

Risks And Beneﬁts

Like most online games, “Forest” is a multiplayer game. Players are able to
communicate with each other during game play. The researcher has no control over what
participants say to each other or how they interact within the game. Particularly due to
the anonymous nature of online game play, some players may engage in communication
which may be offensive to other players. The game also includes a ﬁghting feature to
enable competition between players. The act of competing may be stressful to some
players - they may feel unhappy to be losing. The risk of losing and the risk of other
players saying mean or sexually suggestive things are normal, expected risks to
individuals who play online games.

Because this is a masters thesis project being played for a short period of time, antisocial
behavior is unlikely. You are free to stop participating at any time, for any reason,
including if you are feeling badly about losing or are offended for any reason by fellow
players.

103

The beneﬁts of this experience can be offered to participants, and society in general. As
provided feedback will serve to generate information which developers in the growing
ﬁeld of video game design can use to generate new ways for people to collaborate,
communicate, and compete online.

Conﬁdentiality
Your privacy will be protected to the maximum extend allowable by law.

Information collected will not include any identiﬁable data. Information will be the sole
possession of John W Fisher 11, the investigator. Data collected will only be on the basis
of the agreement with the person submitting the survey. As this is an online survey, any
data which could identify the subjects computer will not be included. Through the results
of this survey you will not be identiﬁable.

No identiﬁable data will be associated with any of survey results you provide. No
identiﬁable data will be requested at any time.

The completion of this survey is at the subjects discretion. If any participant does not feel
comfortable submitting this information they have the right to stop and refuse the
evaluation process.

If you have any questions about this study, please contact the investigator John W Fisher
11, 144 Highland Apt 310, (517) 337-7146, ﬁsher27@msu.edu.

If you have questions or concerns regarding your rights as a study participant, or are
dissatisﬁed at any time with any aspect of this study, you may contact — anonymously, if
you wish - Ashir Kumar, M.D., Chair of the University Committee on Research
Involving Human Subjects (UCRIHS) by phone: (517) 355-2180, fax: (517) 432-4503, e-
mail: ucrihs@msu.edu, or regular mail: 202 Olds Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824.

Please read the following terms and conditions carefully.

- You acknowledge participating in the academic thesis production entitle Methods
and Considerations in Online Game Design.

- You authorize John W Fisher 11 to use all information on this survey as necessary
for the completion of this thesis.

- You will receive no monetary compensation for your participation in this survey.

- Your participation in the survey confers on you no ownership rights.

- You acknowledge that you are 18 year of age or older and have the right to enter
into this agreement.

- Your participation in this game and survey is completely voluntary. If at any time
you decide you are not willing to participate in this study, you can stop the
process at any time.

Statement of Consent

104

By clicking the AGREE button you voluntarily agree to participate in this study.

 

 

f AGREE] -_ DISAGREE "l

 

 

105

Survey

APPENDIX C: Survey

° From where are you participating in this survey?

C Campus Computer Lab
(‘- Other Location

° With what frequency do you play video games?

C Never (0 hours a week)

C Occasionally (1-4 hours a week)
C Intermediately (4-8 hours a week)

C Frequently (8+ hours a week)

° Prior to playing 'Forest', have you ever played a game that utilized online

features?

C Yes
(“No

If yes, can you list any of the online games you have played
and with what frequency you currently play them?

iGame Title

 

l

 

 

 

Frequency Played

C Never (0 hours a week)

C Occasionally (1-4 hours a week)
r” Intermediately (4-8 hours a week)
P Frequently (8+ hours a week)

C Never (0 hours a week)

C Occasionally (1-4 hours a week)
C Intermediately (4-8 hours a week)
C Frequently (8+ hours a week)

C Never (0 hours a week)

C Occasionally (1-4 hours a week)
F Intermediately (4-8 hours a week)
r Frequently (8+ hours a week)

C Never (0 hours a week)

F Occasionally (1-4 hours a week)
r“ Intermediately (4-8 hours a week)
C Frequently (8+ hours a week)

106

 

[ C Never (0 hours a week)
' C Occasionally (1-4 hours a week)
C Intermediately (4-8 hours a week)
C Frequently (8+ hours a week)

° What is you personal opinion of online gaming?

Strongly Dislike Dislike No Opinion Like Strongly Like

(" f“ t“ t" f‘

° Would a game with online features and the ability to communicate with others
virtually interest you more or less than a game without these features?

Less No Opinion More

f“ f” f‘

Please explain:

 

 

° What is your opinion of the game you have just played?

Strongly Dislike Dislike No Opinion Like Strongly Like

(‘ P f” C (‘

Please egrlain:

 

° Did you like exploring the environment?

Strongly Dislike Dislike No Opinion Like Strongly Like

1"“ C P f“ (‘

° Did you like chatting with other players?

107

Strongly Dislike Dislike No Opinion Like Strongly Like

(" (7 P f“ f‘

° Did you like ﬁghting with other players?

Strongly Dislike Dislike No Opinion Like Strongly Like

r‘ r r r r

° Did you make use of the history menu to track the games progress?

C Yes
F No

If yes, did you like the history menu?

Strongly Dislike Dislike No Opinion Like Strongly Like

f“ f‘ f‘ f‘ (7

° Did you make use of any items you found in the environment?

C Yes
CNo

If yes, how did you like the ability to collect and use items?

Strongly Dislike Dislike No Opinion Like Strongly Like

f” C F f“. (‘-

° Did you attempt to collect points?

C Yes
i“ No

Did you like collecting points as a result of ﬁghting?

Strongly Dislike Dislike No Opinion Like Strongly Like

108

° Did you attempt to make alliances with other players?

C: Yes
C No

Please explain:

 

 

° Did you ever run away from a ﬁght?

C Yes
C No

° Did you enjoy remaining anonymous in the environment, or would you rather
have an option to add personal information about yourself

No Unsure Yes

C C C

Please explain:

 

El

 

Li

° Did you ﬁnd any aspects of the interface distracting or unclear while playing the
game?

C Yes
C No

109

If Yes, please explain:

 

° Did you ﬁnd any aspects of the game unclear?

C Yes
C No

If Yes, please explain:

 

.2]

 

Li

° Do you think timely updates and changes in the game (such as new maps,
characters, and items) would prompt you to continue to use it?

No Maybe Yes
C. C C

Please explain:

 

 

El
:J
° Would you recommend the game to a friend?
No Maybe Yes
C C C

° Would you return to play this game again?

No Maybe Yes
C C C

110

Please explain:

 

° What did you ﬁnd most interesting about this game?

C The Characters
CI The Environment
C ' The Communication

 

 

 

 

 

C . The Fighting
Please explain:
El
:1
° What did you ﬁnd the least interesting in this game?
C’ The Characters
C The Environment
C The Communication
C' The Fighting
Please explain:
:l
Li
° In your own words, what did you ﬂis about your experience.
Please explain:
2]

 

:1

° In your own words, what did you dislike about your experience.

111

Please explain:

 

:J

 

I - .21

° Are there features in the game that you would have like to have added?

C . Yes
C No

Please explain as best you can:

 

 

El
:1
° Would you be willing to pay a fee to participate in the game you have just played?
C Yes
C . No

Please explain:

 

:J

 

:1

° Please feel free to add any additional comments in regards to your experience
playing the game "Forest"

 

:1

 

Complete Survey I

 

112

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Economic Impacts of the Demand for Plajg'ag Interactive Entertainment Software.
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<http://www.idsa.com/releases/E182001 .pdf>

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Rosenzweig, Gary. Advanced Lingo for Games. ? : Hayden Books, 2000.

Rouse, Richard 111. Game Design Theory & Practice. ? : Wordware Publishing, 2001.

Poole, Steven Trigger Happy: Video Games & the Entertainment Revolution. New York :
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Baron, Jonathan Glory and ﬂame: Powerful Psychology in Multiplayer Online Games.
Gamasutra. November 10"” 1999.
<http://www.gamasutra.com/features/19991 1 lO/Baron__01 .htm>

Hassanpour, Sarbasst Motivations in Games. Gamedev.net. October 30th 2001.
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Wierzbicki, Jared Introduction: Desigaing Multiplayer Games. Gamedev.net. September
14th 1999. <http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article72 l .asp>

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Baron, Johnathan. Heat into Li t: Communi Generatin Conﬂict in Online
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<http://www.gignews.com/barrondesign1 .htm>

113

Huntsman, Tim. A Primer for the Design Process, Part 1: Wirat to Do. Gamasutra. June
30th 2000. <http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000630/huntsman_01 .htrn>

Clarke-Willson, Stephen Ph.D. Applying Game Design to Virtual Environments.
Gamasutra. January 1”t 1998
<http://www. gamasutra.conr/features/ 199801 Ol/virtual_environments_01 .htrn>

Mulligan, Jessica. Online Gaming: Why Won’t They Come? Gamasutra. February 27th
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<http://www.gamasutra.com/features/business_and_legal/l9980227/online_gaming_why
_intro.htm>

Simpson, Jake. Networking for Games 101. GameDev.net. July 26th 2000.
<http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/articlel l38.asp>

Squire, Kurt. Star Wars Galaxies: A Case Study in Participatory Design. JoysticklOl.

July 20th 2001. <http://www.joystick101 .org/story/200 1/7/14/1 8208/3248>

ID Software. Return to Castle Wolfenstein. v1.41 Santa Monica: Activision, 2001.

Maxis. The Sims Online. Electronic Arts, 2003.

NCsoft. Lineage. Seoul, 2003.

Sonic Team. Phantasy Star Online: Episode 1. Sega of America, 2001.

Blizzard Entertainment. Starcraft. V1.09. Blizzard Entertainment, 1998.

Word. Sissyﬁght. Gamelab, 2001

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