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Geometry Friends a Cooperative Game Using the Wii Remote

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Geometry Friends a Cooperative Game Using the Wii Remote Geometry Friends A cooperative game using the Wii Remote José Bernardo Guimarães Rocha Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática e de Computadores Júri Presidente: Professor Doutor Joaquim Armando Pires Jorge Orientador: Professor Doutor Rui Filipe Fernandes Prada Co-Orientador: Professor Doutor Mário Rui Fonseca Dos Santos Gomes Vogal: Professor Doutor Nuno Manuel Robalo Correia Maio de 2009 Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge Samuel Mascarenhas for the work done in the development of Geometry Friends. I would also like to thank all the people that were involved with testing Geometry Friends. Additionally, I would like to thank Sandra Gama for supplying me with the LaTeX model for this document, invaluable LaTeX tips and proof reading this document. i ii Resumo e palavras-chave Resumo Nestre trabalho, apresentamos a nossa experiência no desenho e desenvolvimento de um jogo cooperativo simples e co-localizado que utiliza o Wii Remote para controlar as personagens. De acordo com um estudo recente, existe uma demografia inteira de pontenciais jogadores que perfere este tipo de jogo e não joga actualmente devido a falta de ofertas. Começamos com a exposição do trabalho relacionado - Desafios de Gameplay; Padrões de De- senho para Jogos; Teorias de Tarefas de Grupo (do campo de Psicologia Social); Análise de jogos cooperativos; A Wii, o seu comando e o software para o utilizar num PC. Continuamos através da exploração do potencial para a cooperação de cada um dos tipos de Tarefas de Grupo e através da formalização de várias mecânicas de jogo que encontrámos durante a análise de jogos. De seguida, examinamos a nossa experiência no desenho e desenvolvimento de Geometry Friends. Em termos de desenho, tivemos o cuidado de utilizar os Padrões de Desenho para Jogos e Desafios de Gameplay que suportavam jogabilidade cooperativa. Enquanto, em termos de desenvolvimento tecnológico utilizámos várias tecnologias que nos permitram criar o jogo que intencionávamos criar - um motor de jogo (XNA), um motor de física (Farseer) e uma API que permitia utilizar o Wii Remote (WiimoteLib). Realizámos vários testes com utilizadores durante o desenvolvimento do jogo para determinar se o jogo era divertiado, cooperativo e se os controlos eram adequados. Globalmente, os resultados dos testes foram positivos. Palavras-chave: Jogo Cooperativo Co-localizado, Wii Remote, Desafios de Gameplay, Padrões de Desenho para Jogos iii iv Abstract and keywords Abstract In this paper, we expose our experience in designing and developing a simple co-located and cooperative game that uses the Wii Remote for character control. According to a recent study, there is an entire demographic of potential players that favours this type of game and does not currently play due to lack of offerings. We begin by exposing related work - Gameplay Chalenges; Game Design Patterns; Group Task Theories (from the field of Social Psychology); Analysis of cooperative games; The Wii, it’s con- troller and software for using it on a PC. We continue by exploring the potential for cooperation of each of the Group Task types and formalizing several game mechanics we encountered while doing our game analysis. We then proceed to examine our experience in designing and developing Geometry Friends. From a design perspective, we carefully used some of the Design Patterns and Gameplay Challenges that were supportive of cooperative gameplay. While, from a technological development perspec- tive we used several technological solutions that allowed us to create the game we set out to create. These were - a game engine (XNA), a physics engine (Farseer) and an API that allowed interfacing with the Wii Remote (WiimoteLib). Several user tests were made during the development of the game so that we could ascertain if the game was fun, cooperative and if the controls were adequate. Overall, the results of the evaluation were positive. Keywords: Co-located Cooperative Video Games, Wii Remote, Gameplay Challenges, Game Design Patterns v vi Contents Acknowledgements i Index vi List of Figures ix List of Tables x 1 Introduction 1 2 State of the Art 3 2.1 Challenges . .3 2.1.1 Pure Challenges . .3 2.1.2 Applied Challenges . .6 2.2 Game Design Patterns . .8 2.3 Social Psychology . .9 2.3.1 Ringelmann effect . .9 2.3.2 Task Classification . .9 2.4 Game Analysis . 10 2.4.1 World of Warcraft . 10 2.4.2 Lego Star Wars . 12 2.4.3 Team Fortress 2 . 13 2.4.4 Left 4 Dead . 15 2.4.5 Counter-Strike . 17 2.5 Wii................................................. 19 2.5.1 Wii Remote . 19 2.5.2 Nunchuk . 20 2.5.3 Wii Remote and the PC . 20 3 Conceptual Model 25 3.1 Task potential for cooperation . 25 3.1.1 Divisibility . 26 3.1.2 Optimizing . 26 3.1.3 Combinability . 26 3.2 Challenges used in Cooperative Games . 26 3.2.1 Pure Challenges . 27 3.2.2 Applied Challenges . 27 3.3 Design Patterns for Cooperative games . 30 3.3.1 Complementarity . 30 vii viii CONTENTS 3.3.2 Synergies between abilities . 31 3.3.3 Support Abilities . 31 3.3.4 Shared Goals . 32 3.3.5 Synergies between goals . 32 3.3.6 Special Rules for Players of the same Team . 33 3.3.7 Mechanisms for sharing . 34 4 Geometry Friends 35 4.1 Main Characteristics . 35 4.2 Overview . 36 4.2.1 Player Motivation. 36 4.2.2 Game Genre. 36 4.2.3 Target Customer. 36 4.2.4 Target Platforms. 36 4.2.5 Design Objectives. 36 4.3 Designing Geometry Friends . 37 4.3.1 Patterns Used . 37 4.3.2 Challenges used . 37 4.3.3 Tasks used . 37 4.4 Technological Solutions . 38 4.4.1 XNA . 38 4.4.2 Farseer . 38 4.4.3 WiimoteLib . 39 4.4.4 Wiigle . 39 4.5 Development Process . 40 4.5.1 First Prototype . 40 4.5.2 Second Prototype . 42 5 Evaluation 45 5.1 Mojo Evaluation . 45 5.1.1 Tester’s Characteristics . 45 5.1.2 Results . 46 5.1.3 Adjustments made due to User Feedback . 47 5.2 Final Evaluation . 48 5.2.1 Method . 48 5.2.2 Test User’s profiles . 49 5.2.3 Results . 49 6 Conclusions 55 Bibliography 56 List of Figures 2.1 The Wii Remote . 20 2.2 The Wii’s Nunchuk accessory . 21 3.1 Conceptual Model Overview . 25 4.1 Initial sketch of a level . 35 4.2 Actions of the Ball character . 35 4.3 Actions of the Square character . 35 4.4 Level 1 of the first prototype . 40 4.5 Level 2 of the first prototype . 40 4.6 Level 3 of the first prototype . 40 4.7 Level 1 of the second prototype . 42 4.8 Level 2 of the second prototype . 42 4.9 Level 3 of the second prototype . 42 4.10 Level 4 of the second prototype . ..
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