LOCK
Lead – strong plots need a compelling lead character
Objective – the lead needs a driving objective
Confrontation – opposition brings a story to life
Knock-out – a great ending, an ending has more impact on people than any other part of the story
The 3 Act structure, created through a disturbance and 2 doors. A disturbance to ‘normality’ in Act 1, then create a ‘putting it on the line’ choice gate in to Act 2, and another ‘no return’ gate in to Act 3.
“…the Palm has “intuitive” interaction design, which makes using it pleasurable.
I believe that this hits us at a deep, animal level. Just as we get pleasure from the form and tactility of good industrial design, we get pleasure from good interaction design, both as we learn it and as we work with it. Learning things that make sense, working with tools that work right; these things make us East African Plains Apes happy right down to our DNA. So instead of saying “intuitive” or “easy-to-use,” at Cooper we often talk about designing interactive products that deliver power and pleasure to the people who use them.” – Jonathan Korman
A time limited power up, a temporary shield or an ability that can be triggered by the player. Can be used as a secondary currency or reward mechanism. Collecting enough, enables the ability or effect. When triggered it lasts for a temporary period – until the currency runs out, or fixed time.
An optional finite resource is useful as a secondary system, providing a skilled or knowledgable player the option to save for and choose when to use enhanced abilities.
We perceive a ’streak’ as having occurred is after just three repeats – the ‘run of three’. We don’t read meaning into a repeat of two, and we don’t read any additional meaning into streaks of more than three.
In sports gambling, a team that has won three games in a row will be overpriced by the bookies (because most punters will have acted as though the team has an increased chance of winning), while a team that has lost three in a row will be under-priced. “A savvy gambler (who is aware of the run of three) might do well to bet against teams that have won three games in a row and bet for teams that have lost three games in a row,”
17 game design principles for Internet games
1. Easy to Learn, Lifetime to Master
2. Simple obvious controls and rules that are easy to master
3. Allow players to discover controls and goals through simple exploration.
4. Provide clear, immediate, and meaningful feedback.
5. Offer clear and obvious short term and long term goals.
6. Players should be able to succeed in the first 10 minutes or earlier.
7. Support short session times of 10-15 minutes as well as longer.
8. Offer consistent controls and labels.
9. Vary the type of challenges so play does not become routine.
10. Support multiple player styles such as Bartle’s 4 types: Achievers, Explorers, Socializers, and Player Killers.
11. Offer more than a high score as a reward, make gameplay intrinsically rewarding.
12. Offer community/social features such as high score boards, in-game chat, and message boards.
13. Use audio feedback and sound effects to increase excitement and make interaction more real.
14. Include the option to turn audio off, so games can be played anywhere.
15. Test all aspects of the Player’s experience with real users.
16. Adjust spacing between play and reward to keep players motivated and to imply progress.
17. Remember a player’s high score at least between consecutive games, allow them to save it, or otherwise show player progress between games
(Making Time by Steve Taylor)
Time appears to pass at different speeds. You can influence how you perceive time, creating a feeling of more time.
Difficult Conversations : How to discuss what matters most by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen
The three conversations
What Happened – everyone has a perspective, don’t assume that you know their story without listening, questioning
Emotions – talk about how you feel, without encouraging blame
Identity – constant ego-voice chatter undermines your being in the present, and avoid brittle black & white assumptions about your/their contribution
Learning stances
Open queston,
And not but
Contribution not blame, pretty much every situation has contributions from you and them
Start from the 3rd story
Describe the differences between your stories
Share your purposes
Invite them to join you in sorting it out
Explore their story
Listen and understand, signal you have heard
Share your viewpoint, avoid blame
Reframe away from blame and accusation
Problem solving
Talk about how to keep communication open
