Pacing in Adventure Games Bachelor Thesis submitted for the academic degree of Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Media Systems Bent Nürnberg 1935291 First Examiner: Prof. Gunther Rehfeld Second Examiner: Prof. Wolfgang Willaschek Hamburg, 23 September 2016 ———————————————————————————— Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg Hamburg University of Applied Sciences Department Medientechnik Department Media Technology Fakultät Design, Medien und Information Faculty of Design, Media and Information English: Declaration of Authorship I hereby declare that the thesis submitted is my own unaided work. All direct or indirect sources used are acknowledged as references. I am aware that the thesis in digital form can be examined for the use of unauthorized aid and in order to determine whether the thesis as a whole or parts incorporated in it may be deemed as plagiarism. 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Die Arbeit wurde weder einer anderen Prüfungsbehörde vorgelegt noch veröffentlicht. ______________________________ ______________________________ first and last name city, date and signature Table of Contents 1 Abstract ......................................................................................................... 7 2 Introduction .................................................................................................. 8 2.1 The Research Question 8 2.2 Tension and Release 8 2.3 Pacing 9 3 Methodology ................................................................................................ 10 3.1 Preparation 10 3.1.1 Recording Video Footage 10 3.1.2 Specification of Gameplay Categories 11 3.1.3 Creating Pacing Charts 12 3.1.4 Creating Pacing Graphs 13 3.2 Analysis 15 3.2.1 Pacing Chart Analysis 15 3.2.2 Pacing Graph Analysis 16 4 Game Analysis .............................................................................................. 17 4.1 Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood 17 4.1.1 Pacing Charts for Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood 18 4.1.2 Pacing Graph for Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood 20 4.2 Tomb Raider 21 4.2.1 Pacing Charts for Tomb Raider 22 4.2.2 Pacing Graph for Tomb Raider 24 5 Interpretation .............................................................................................. 25 6 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 27 6.1 Limitations and Possible Future Improvements 27 6.2 Qualifying Good Pacing 29 6.3 Developing Good Pacing 30 6.4 Final Words 31 7 Bibliography ................................................................................................ 32 8 List of Figures ............................................................................................. 33 9 List of Tables ............................................................................................... 35 10 Appendix ..................................................................................................... 36 10.1 Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood 36 10.1.1 Timestamps 36 Sequence 1 – Peace at Last 36 Sequence 2 – A Wilderness of Tiger 37 Sequence 3 – The Fighter, The Lover and The Thief 37 Sequence 4 – Den of Thieves 37 Sequence 5 – The Banker 39 Sequence 6 – The Baron de Valois 39 Sequence 7 – The Key to the Castello 39 Sequence 8 – The Borgia 40 Sequence 9 – The Fall 41 10.1.2 Pacing Charts 42 Sequence 1 – Peace at Last 42 Sequence 2 – A Wilderness of Tiger 42 Sequence 3 – The Fighter, The Lover and The Thief 42 Sequence 4 – Den of Thieves 42 Sequence 5 – The Banker 42 Sequence 6 – The Baron de Valois 43 Sequence 7 – The Key to the Castello 43 Sequence 8 – The Borgia 43 Sequence 9 – The Fall 43 10.2 Tomb Raider 44 10.2.1 Timestamps 44 Mission 1 – So it begins 44 Mission 2 – Force of Will 44 Mission 3 – Signs of Life 44 Mission 4 – Woman versus Wild 44 Mission 5 – Just keep moving 44 Mission 6 – At an Impasse 44 Mission 7 – Mountain Rendezvous 44 Mission 8 – Cry for Help 45 Mission 9 – A Road less travelled 45 Mission 10 – Guilty Conscience 45 Mission 11 – Another fine Mess 45 Mission 12 – A Friend in Need 46 Mission 13 – Open Wounds 46 Mission 14 – Highway to Hell 46 Mission 15 – Liberator 46 Mission 16 – No One left behind 46 Mission 17 – Into the Fire 46 Mission 18 – Get to the Chopper 46 Mission 19 – Some Time alone 47 Mission 20 – Fast Way down 47 Mission 21 – A Pirate’s Life 47 Mission 22 – Gone missing 47 Mission 23 – Storm Chaser 47 Mission 24 – Going back in 47 10.2.2 Pacing Charts 48 Mission 1 – So it begins 48 Mission 2 – Force of Will 48 Mission 3 – Signs of Life 48 Mission 4 – Woman versus Wild 48 Mission 5 – Just keep moving 48 Mission 6 – At an Impasse 48 Mission 7 – Mountain Rendezvous 49 Mission 8 – Cry for Help 49 Mission 9 – A Road less travelled 49 Mission 10 – Guilty Conscience 49 Mission 11 – Another fine Mess 49 Mission 12 – A Friend in Need 49 Mission 13 – Open Wounds 49 Mission 14 – Highway to Hell 50 Mission 15 - Liberator 50 Mission 15 – No One left behind 50 Mission 17 – Into the Fire 50 Mission 18 – Get to the Chopper 50 Mission 19 – Some Time alone 50 Mission 20 – Fast Way down 50 Mission 21 – A Pirate’s Life 51 Mission 22 – Gone missing 51 Mission 23 – Storm Chaser 51 Mission 24 – Going back in 51 10.3 Digital Copy and Backup Material 52 1 Abstract Pacing is seen as an important, if not the most important factor in video games.1 To understand the me- chanics of pacing, one has to understand the principle of tension and release in games; and in comparison, in other media such as films and television series. Based on this knowledge, this thesis tries to answer the questions of how to qualify good pacing and how to achieve it as a developer. Therefor the two third-person action-adventure computer games Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood 2 and Tomb Raider 3 are analyzed. In this thesis, the two examined games are compared by breaking down the gameplay progression into their distinctively gameplay categories and by assigning scores to these categories based on their tension and tempo. Subsequently, this information is used to create graphs of the games’ pacing. Furthermore, the two pacing graphs are compared to each other and examined in greater detail. Finally, possible future improve- ments and an approach for developing pacing for games are suggested. 1 For further details, refer to section 2.3 Pacing. 2 2011, Ubisoft Montreal, published by Ubisoft. 3 2013, Crystal Dynamics, published by Square Enix. 7 / 52 2 Introduction In the introduction, the question of this thesis will be presented. Subsequently, important underlying terms such as tension, release and pacing will be clarified. Finally, the role of pacing in games will be further examined. 2.1 The Research Question For many people, video games are great “fun”, but what makes them fun? And what distinguishes good (fun) games from bad ones? One possible factor is “pacing”, which has already been discussed in earlier works. Both Rehfeld4 and Schell5 comment on the importance of good pacing, but leave open the question of what determines good pacing.6 This restriction of earlier works leads to the focus of this thesis. Thus, the questions to be answered are how to recognize good pacing and how to achieve it. It was determined, that this concept can be examined best with actual games and, more precisely, actual single player games. Consequently, two comparable games of the action-adventure genre were chosen. In summary this leads to the following question for this thesis: Pacing in third-person action-adventure computer games – How to qualify good pacing and how to achieve it? 2.2 Tension and Release In order to answer the questions developed above, it is important to understand the nature and composition of pacing. Basically, pacing can be explained by the occurrence of tension and release in an alternating way. However, how are tension and release defined? The following paragraphs will go into detail regarding these two terms: John Rose states in his article,7 that “tension and release form a cornerstone in all branches of art.” Further- more, he claims that “tension is a must-have in any artistic experience. People absolutely need it in order to enjoy a film, book, or game.” These statements show that tension is considered to be the single most char- acteristic of an enjoyable game, which leads to the following question: How can tension be characterized? 4 (Rehfeld, 2016), Fragment 06: “The right pacing/rhythm has to be established.” and Fragment 09: “A well designed game makes the player want to dwell in an atmosphere, a certain feeling