Thanks for taking on this topic. I’m looking forward to next posts in the sequence.
This results in a positive feeling when we encounter things that are consistent with our models (relevant) particularly if they are unlike our other experiences (distinctive).
I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s a fascinating hypothesis. Have you tried to test it by experiment, not just observation?
I haven’t performed any formal psychological evaluations (I’m not sure my bosses would have approved :) ) however the process of forming this theory did stem from informal experimentation.
In the case of pitching game concepts I experienced a dramatic change in their reviews once I started to explicitly construct them using this theory (roughly 3 months of trying other approaches). I constructed the concepts by finding popular themes for a given demographic (through sales figures) and then translating them into distinctive game experiences.
Perhaps more convincingly I experienced a similar pattern in constructing the AI for Kung-fu Chaos. I spent a number of months constructing an AI that attempted to mimic the psychology of real players, but it was not enjoyable to play. A dramatic improvement came when I constructed the AI as a puzzle. First creating a ‘perfect’ AI opponent and then explicitly creating a set of mistakes that the AI could make. Each opponent type was then given a different probability distribution over these mistakes. Watching playtesters interact with the game, joy was expressed not just when an opponent was beaten, but more specifically when ‘they got the hang of these guys’ before they had beaten many of them. I realise this relates to the enjoyment of solving problems, rather than the aesthetics I focus on in the article, however, It can also be seen as an enjoyment of model validation, explaining why a ‘well constructed’ model heavy game (like many board games) are so enjoyable even if they aren’t particularly thematically relevant (Powergrid for example).
I constructed the theory using this kind of game development experience combined with an attempt to explain aesthetic measures, such as facial beauty, composition, colour coordination etc.
Thanks for taking on this topic. I’m looking forward to next posts in the sequence.
I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s a fascinating hypothesis. Have you tried to test it by experiment, not just observation?
I haven’t performed any formal psychological evaluations (I’m not sure my bosses would have approved :) ) however the process of forming this theory did stem from informal experimentation.
In the case of pitching game concepts I experienced a dramatic change in their reviews once I started to explicitly construct them using this theory (roughly 3 months of trying other approaches). I constructed the concepts by finding popular themes for a given demographic (through sales figures) and then translating them into distinctive game experiences.
Perhaps more convincingly I experienced a similar pattern in constructing the AI for Kung-fu Chaos. I spent a number of months constructing an AI that attempted to mimic the psychology of real players, but it was not enjoyable to play. A dramatic improvement came when I constructed the AI as a puzzle. First creating a ‘perfect’ AI opponent and then explicitly creating a set of mistakes that the AI could make. Each opponent type was then given a different probability distribution over these mistakes. Watching playtesters interact with the game, joy was expressed not just when an opponent was beaten, but more specifically when ‘they got the hang of these guys’ before they had beaten many of them. I realise this relates to the enjoyment of solving problems, rather than the aesthetics I focus on in the article, however, It can also be seen as an enjoyment of model validation, explaining why a ‘well constructed’ model heavy game (like many board games) are so enjoyable even if they aren’t particularly thematically relevant (Powergrid for example).
I constructed the theory using this kind of game development experience combined with an attempt to explain aesthetic measures, such as facial beauty, composition, colour coordination etc.