لطفا منتظر باشید ...
The Core Mechanic
Every game has a core mechanic. A core mechanic is the essential play activity players perform again and again in a game. Sometimes, the core mechanic of a game is a single action. In a footrace, for example, the core mechanic is running. In a trivia game, the core mechanic is answering questions. In Donkey Kong, the core mechanic is using a joystick and jump button to maneuver a character on the screen. However, in many games, the core mechanic is a compound activity composed of a suite of actions. In a first-person-shooter game such as Quake, the core mechanic is the set of interrelated actions of moving, aiming, firing, and managing resources such as health, ammo, and armor. Baseball's core mechanic is composed of a collection of batting, running, catching, and throwing skills. In a real-time strategy game such as Starcraft, the core mechanic combines resource management with wargame strategy and rapid mouse and keyboard command skills. A game's core mechanic contains the experiential building blocks of player interactivity. It represents the essential mom-ent-to-moment activity of players, something that is repeated over and over throughout a game. During a game, core mechanics create patterns of behavior, which manifest as experience for players. The core mechanic is the essential nugget of game activity, the mechanism through which players make meaningful choices and arrive at a meaningful play experience. It is therefore very important to be able to identify the core mechanic at the beginning of the design process, even if it changes as the game develops. Pinpointing the core mechanic of the game allows designers to generate a summary profile of the game's interactivity. Very often, when a game simply isn't fun to play, it is the core mechanic that is to blame. The notion of a core mechanic is a crucial game design concept, and one frequently taken for granted in the design process. Concepts for games, particularly digital games, often begin with an idea for a story or character, to take place within an established commercial genre. This is a valid way to start a design process. However, in focusing on the "high level," narrative elements of a game, game designers can miss equally fundamental questions that concern the core mechanic and play experience. Game designers don't just create content for players, they create activities for players, patterns of actions enacted by players in the course of game play.
