Interactivity Research

This is the mind map that I made for interactivity in games:

This mind map will be helpful to use as reference when creating my project. It will give me ideas on what interactivity I can implement into my game, whether it be for mobile, xbox or pc.

Gameplay Mechanics Research

To research the use of game mechanics to convey story in games. We looked at some gameplay videos of a selection of games and looked at how the mechanics are used. I chose call of duty.

Call of Duty

From 6:00 onwards is the stealth section.

The mechanics in call of duty are linear and fit in well with the story. The first person view makes it a bit more challenging because they can only see in front of them, this suits well to the gameplay because if it was a third person camera, it would likely be a lot easier because the player would be able to have a zoomed out view of the area. When the player gets kills in the multiplayer mode, it leads to them getting xp and unlocks, this is the main mechanic cycle for call of duty.

They are simple to understand with only two buttons to aim and shoot. Also in this video the player is using a keyboard and mouse, allowing them to spin around very quickly, if they were playing on a console they would have a limited look sensitivity.

The mechanics make the game look very exciting to play and fast paced. I would definitely play it just from the look of the mechanics in the gameplay video, this is what makes the game so successful.

Mechanics Cycle

Using the mechanics I found in call of duty as inspiration. I will create a series of my own  and go over whether or not it makes the gameplay better.

I will make 1 thats already in the game, and 2 that I think could be added.

This cycle shows an idea of a morality system, where the less people the player kills the more morality points they earn at the end of a mission, resulting in more xp. There could be a knockout option. This could be an option that the player can choose to turn off. I think that this would improve gameplay in some aspects like stealth sections where it would be easier to knock people out, but in fight sections I think it would be difficult not to kill people as they are attacking you.

This cycle shows the ideas of an option to complete missions without being seen earning the player the rank of silent assassin. A lot like the hitman games:

I think that this idea would add a lot more replay-ability to the missions in the story mode of call of duty. As they can only really be played once because there is only one way of doing it. Whereas in the hitman games, the missions are meant to be replayed several times to unlock each challenge to get more items.

This is a mechanic cycle that is already in the game. It is the score-streak system that is in the multiplayer mode of the game. The way it works is that when the player racks up a high amount of kills in a row without dying, the points add up and unlock increasingly powerful “scorestreaks” like attack choppers and missiles. Some of which last for a while and others that are a one-time use item.