Level 5 of the Los Angeles Film School's Game Design 1 class.

1. Level 5
David Mullich
Game Design 1
The Los Angeles Film School

3. Systems
A set of interacting elements that form an integrated
whole with a common goal or purpose.
 Movement
 Scoring
 Combat
Examples
 Economics
 Artificial Intelligence
 Multiplayer

4. Hierarchy of Elements
 Rule
 Mechanic
 System

5. System A, B, C’s
 Components: game objects the
player can interact with
 Attributes: qualities or
attributes that define the
physical or conceptual aspects
of components
 Behaviors: potential actions
that a component might
perform in a a given state

7. What Is A Chart?
A chart is a two-axis grid of information. Along the left
column is a list of components in your systems. In
each column are the attributes in your game.
This is the most useful tool a designer has for
designing a system.
Enemy Radius Normal
Speed
High Speed Damage Hit Points
Womp Rat 5 3 5 1 5
Vorpal
Bunny
10 10 20 2 8
Bug Bear 20 5 10 10 15

8. Literal Values
Literal values are the actual numeric qualities of an
object’s properties.
However, just because the numeric value of one object is
twice the numeric value of the other, that doesn’t
necessarily mean the object is twice as good! There may
be other factors involved.
Enemy Radius Normal
Speed
High Speed Damage Hit Points
Womp Rat 5 3 5 1 5
Vorpal
Bunny
10 10 20 2 8
Bug Bear 20 5 10 10 15

9. Relative Values
It may be difficult to quantify properties early on in the
design phase, so sometimes we use relative values
to express how things should relate to each other.
Enemy Radius Normal
Speed
High Speed Damage Hit Points
Womp Rat LOW LOW LOW LOW LOW
Vorpal
Bunny
MEDIUM HIGH HIGH LOW MEDIUM
Bug Bear HIGH MEDIUM MEDIUM HIGH HIIGH

10. Pro Tips
 Make separate charts for each system.
 Make separate charts for each rule in the system.
 Make charts to compare two or more properties
you are trying to balance.

12. State Machine
The more attributes and behaviors a component
has, the less predictable its actions are.

13. Relationships
Components
interaction with each
other can be fixed or
fluid.
Fluid relationships
can based on:
 Rules (such as
state or proximity)
 Player choices
 Chance

14. Information Structure
For players to make choices about how to proceed in
a game, they need information about the state of the
game objects and their current relationships to each
other.
How information is structured in a game has a large
influence on how players come to their decisions.

15. Open Information
An open structure
emphasizes player
knowledge and gives full
disclosure on the game
state. It will generally
allow for more calculation-
based strategy.

16. Hidden Information
A hidden information
structure does not reveal
certain data to players
about their opponents.
Players do not receive
certain data about their
opponent and allows for
strategy based on social
cues and deception or
bluffing.

17. Open and Hidden Information
Many games have a mix of open
and hidden information.
The amount of information that
players receive about their
opponents’ states often changes
during the course of the game.
This provides an ever-shifting
balance between strategy based
on knowledge and strategy based
on cunning and deceit.

18. Indirect Control
Some games, like SimCity, do not
allow players direct control over
many game components.
The player can change certain
game attributes to see what
impact that has on the behavior of
game components not under their
direct control.

19. Designer Perspective: Will Wright
G4 Icons Episode #9: Will Wright

21. Reasons For Randomness
 Variety and Surprises
 Excitement and Suspense
 Equalizing Players of Unequal Skill

22. Probability
Using a 6-sided die, what’s the
probability of rolling a one?
A six?
A seven?
Not three?

23. One Die Probabilities
Probability Of Something Not Happening = 1 – Probability of It Happening

24. One Die Probabilities
What’s the odds of rolling a 1 or a 2?
Hint: OR means ADD the probabilities.

25. Ways To Represent Probability

26. Probability Is Zero To One – That’s It!

27. Random Number Use Example #1
Random (6) Creature Encountered
1 Deer
2 Bear
3 Orc
4 Elf
5 Unicorn
6 Dragon

28. Random Number Use Example #2
Random (100) Creature Encountered
1-40 Deer
31-60 Bear
62-80 Orc
81-95 Elf
96-99 Unicorn
100 Dragon

29. Multiple Random Numbers
Using two 6-sided dice, what’s
the probability of rolling a one?
A six?
A twelve?
Graph it!

30. Multiple Random Number Use
Example

31. Gombauld’s Law
Geeks Love Showing Off

32. Pro Tips
 Use randomness to give players
excitement, challenge, and opportunities to
take interesting risks.
 Don’t use so much that gives players
feelings of hopelessness and lack of
control.
 When in doubt, ask a math geek for help
with probability.

34. Economics
Many games allow for the exchange of resources
(money, gold, raw materials, manufactured goods,
property) either within the system (such as with
Monopoly) or among players (such as in World of
Warcraft).
 Faucets: Ways To Earn Money
 Sinks: Ways To Spend Money

35. Pro Tips
 Players should have enough ways to
spend and earn money.

36. 1. Download GD1 5 Resources from the
LAFS GD1 website Session 5 page
2. Create a Lemonade Stand game