Analog input in gaming: Investigating the possibilities of new controller affordances in video games Pim Ostendorf Interaction Design One-Year Master Thesis Project I KD643A 15.0 credits May 23, 2018 Supervisor: Per Linde 1 Acknowledgements I would like to start by thanking my friend, Johanna Westerlund, for her dedication in creating the sprite art required to create the prototype on such a short notice. I don’t want to think about the abominations I would have drawn up if she had not been able to help me out. Furthermore, I want to thank my friends at Spelenshus Malmö, who were willing to take time out of their day to playtest and discuss the prototype I created. My thanks also goes out to my classmates for their time and input in the experiments and playtesting. Also, my thanks to my supervisor, Per Linde for his enthusiasm, passion and his inexplicable ability to make me say things that sound clever. Last but not least my thanks go out to David Cuartielles for his input and advice when I got stuck. I hope your keyboards will turn out amazing. 2 Abstract This report covers the eight week design project for the Thesis Project 1 and it looks at both the process and the results of this project. Through an iterative prototyping process a prototype was created to answer the research question: “What gameplay mechanics are required for a fighting style video game to allow for analog input in its character movements and do these mechanics allow for more natural controls and mastery?” Together with research into academic writing in the fields of neurology, embodied design and game design it was concluded that an analog control scheme, within the context of a video game that allows for that type of affordance, gives the user more natural control over the character they are playing. This was validated by playtesting the prototype with several users. However, the richness of the mastery of a game relies heavily on the implemented game elements in a finalized game and was therefore unanswered in this project. There were also constraints and game mechanics identified for game designers to keep in mind when designing a game that relies on this type of analog input. The project also raised a number of questions and new design opportunities that were unable to be explored due to the limited scope of the project. 3 Table of contents 1. Introduction: Aim and Research Question 6 1.1 Background 6 1.2 Aim 7 2. Theory 8 2.1 Literature review 8 2.1.1 Game and Play 8 2.1.2 The appeal of games and embodiment 9 2.1.3 Natural interactions 9 2.1.4 Experience of mediated embodied play 9 2.1.5 Motion Controls 10 2.1.6 Buttons in gameplay 11 2.1.7 Neurological limits 11 2.2 Examples 11 2.2.1 Skullgirls analysis 12 3. Methods 14 3.1 Fly on the shoulder 14 3.2 Loose interview 14 3.3 Iterative prototyping 15 3.4 Playtesting with users 15 4. Design Process 16 4.1 Research 16 4.2 Re-framing 16 4.2.1 Original Framing 16 4.2.2 Reframing Experiment 16 4.3 Prototyping cycle 18 4.4 User validation 19 5. Main Results and Final Design 19 5.1 Central Concept 19 5.2 Qualities in use 19 5.3 Final Design 19 5.3.1 Creation of the prototype 20 5.3.2 Controller fine tuning 21 5.3.3 Creation of the scenes 22 5.4 User test 22 4 5.4.1 User test results 24 6. Conclusion 25 7. Discussion 26 8. References 28 9. Appendix 30 9.1 Github repository for the prototype 30 9.2 Images 30 5 1. Introduction: Aim and Research Question 1.1 Background With our advances in technology and manufacturing processes our input devices for video games have changed drastically as well. Where the game consoles of old were generally limited to binary inputs that could only approximate movements in the most basic of ways. The advances in digital sensors with a range of values (from now on referred to as analog sensors), touch controls and motion technology allow much finer control in our video games. However, most video game genres have not caught up with this and are still using the binary inputs that the old controllers dictated. I saw an opportunity to explore this side of controller mapping to see if I can employ these advances in the standard video game controllers to create a more natural and intuitive way of controlling fighting games. I am especially looking into the genre of fighting games. This genre evolved from their roots in arcade machines to more generalised machines like pc and consoles today. Many expert players nowadays prefer to play the game on so called fight sticks. Figure 1: A fight stick. (Source: amazon.com) 6 These controllers emulate the physical layout of the older arcade machines. However, there are also players that use more standard controllers. The gameplay of these games revolves around close combat against either an AI or another human opponent. The player can input different combinations of button presses to make sure that their in game character comes out victorious. These different inputs can be chained together to create something called a combo, a combination of moves that results in a often preprogrammed movement that the character performs. Most of the times these combos get executed without any further input from the player. Figure 2. A standard Xbox One controller. The trigger buttons are highlighted. Figure 3. The Xbox One controller with the analog sticks highlighted. There is also a sizable community build around fighting games of both expert and professional players as well as enthusiasts who watch broadcasted fights between professional players online. There are tournaments organised where people compete against each other for prizemoney or glory and in some cases both. This community could possibly be a point to take into account since there are a lot of people that really love this genre of game and have been playing these games for a very long time. Meaning that drastic changes to the way the games are played might not catch on. However, there is also an upside since the community existing means that ideas spread fast and the community can develop moves together out of the freedom created by this new mapping. 1.2 Aim The aim of this thesis is to determine what aspects of mechanics are needed to facilitate the physical affordances that newer controllers have. Getting to the point where these findings (type 7 of interactions) are implemented in the context of an actual video game lies beyond the scope of this project. The research question is posed as follows: How can we integrate kinesthetic design principles in fighting games controls to allow for more mastery and granularity? In this research question I define the kinesthetic design as a goal where the user should have the ability to visually observe a motion and being able to replicate this motion without further clues or guidence. As such the principles of kinesthetic design are design conventions that are generally used for full body motions applied to acting on a small device. A future vision of this type of interaction would be a game where the movements made by the user on the controller are mapped to the screen in a non-binary way. This analog input allows for greater mastery on the users part as well as giving the user a set number of interaction points, eliminating the need to learn what move is bound to what button. Instead the learning of moves/actions should come as intrinsically as the learning of hand gestures, incrementally more complex and building on each other. 2. Theory 2.1 Literature review 2.1.1 Game and Play When looking at game design we first need to define what a game is as well as what play entails. In the chapter on “Play as Research” by Eric Zimmerman (2003) they conclude their text ​ ​ with: “To design a game is to construct a set of rules. But the point of game design is not to have players experience rules - it is to have players experience play.” In chapter 7 of their book (Salen & Zimmerman, 2004, p. 11) define a game as the following: “A ​ ​ game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome.” In chapter 22, page 11 they define play as: “The play of a game is the experiential aspect of a game. Play in a game occurs as the game rules are set into motion and experienced by the players.” They also conclude that games are a subset of play as play is a far wider concept than games generally are. But play is also an element of games. It is a part that makes the game a game as the definitions quoted above state. In this sense the two definitions are entangled and hard to separate. However, in this thesis I want to dive deeper into the design that lies beyond the 8 definition of play and games landing on a level where I am less concerned about definition of what I am working with and more with the embodiment of the experience I want to facilitate. This embodiment is the coupling between the actions on the controller and the actions displayed on the screen. 2.1.2 The appeal of games and embodiment When thinking of video games in the future there is generally this idea of total immersion, with the increased availability of virtual reality to the general public and advances in haptics it may seem like the traditional way of experiencing games is on its way out.