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Anxiety and Boredom on the High Seas
In a wonderful essay published on Gamasutra.com, Jesse Schell and Joe Shochet of Disney Imagineering write about the process of designing Pirates of the Caribbean-Battle for the Buccaneer Gold, a game "ride" where a group of players stands on a motion-platform pirate ship surrounded by video projections. During the game, one player steers the ship while the other players operate a number of cannons, firing at monsters, forts, and enemy vessels. Pirates of the Caribbean is designed as a condensed five-minute experience, and it was essential that players feel properly challenged at every moment of the game.
In their design analysis, Schell and Shochet detail a number of design problems that had to be overcome in order to maximize player enjoyment. For example, during playtesting they identified as a problem the fact that the player steering the ship could take the ship to what they call "dull places," leading to a less engaging experience for all of the players. In the selected quotes below, Schell and Shochet outline some solutions to this problem: Architectural Weenies: "Weenie" is a phrase coined by Walt Disney himself. It refers to the technique used on movie sets of guiding stage dogs by holding up part of a sausage… In the case of Pirates, [there are] three main "weenies," one for each island: a volcano, an enormous fort, and a plume of smoke coming from a burning town. No matter which way the boat is facing, at least one of these "weenies" is in view. Since the coolest action takes place at the islands, [we wanted] to guide the captains to go there. Guide Ships: Since the short-term goal of the game is to fire on other pirate ships, captains strive to get near these ships so that their gunners can get a clear shot. Many of the ships in the Pirates world are "on their way" to the islands mentioned above. Many captains, in just trying to stay near these ships find that just as they have destroyed the ship, they have arrived at one of the islands, without even trying to get there. Sneak attacks: What if the captain ignores the guide ships? Even if he heads toward one of the "weenies" it might mean as long as a minute during which the gunners have little to shoot at. For this reason, [we] created special "sneak attack" ships that "magically" appear behind the players' ship, and quickly pull up alongside, when no other boats are in range. The Waterspout: This was [a] nickname for [a] "last ditch" forcefield that surrounds the game play area.If a captain tries to sail out of the main game play area and out to open sea, they hit the forcefield, and the ship is "magically" pointed back to where the action is. The few guests who see this don't even realize that anything unusual has happened. They are just pleased to have their boat going somewhere cool.[20]
Schell and Shochet are thinking in very experiential terms, using clever techniques to subtly guide player action in meaningful directions. At the time of its release, Pirates was a very high-tech production, featuring real-time 3D graphics, physically engaging cannon-firing interfaces, and a large motion platform to simulate a pirate ship rocking on the waves. Often in these instances, a desire to "properly" simulate a coherent 3D space or "correctly" output logical behavior for computer-controlled characters overshadows the design of the actual play experience. But Schell and Shochet had no hesitation in making pirate ships "magically" appear to guide the player, or abandoning "realistic" physics to have the player's ship turn on a dime to facilitate navigation. As they put it,"By choosing to be less concerned with reality and more concerned with what was fun, we created an experience that…is easier to adapt to, quicker to learn, and is a better show." In game design, player experience should always trump so-called "realism." Boredom and anxiety, as game design watchwords, are wonderful because they speak directly to player experience. As you shape and sculpt your players' pleasure, you are guiding them between the Scylla and Charybdis of anxiety and boredom.This task is made all the more difficult because, as we know, the experience of play can only be indirectly designed. How do you create a set of rules that maximizes the play of pleasure for your audience? [www.gamasutra.com/features/20010706/schell_01 >.
