|
Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics (MDA) is a design framework that
helps video game designers (and the software developers who work with them)
understand what effect a game's rules, player capabilities and setting have
on the success of a game. The framework was developed as part of a game
design and tuning workshop held in in San Jose, California around the turn of
the century.
The MDA framework supports the idea that from a developer's point of
view, successful games are a collection of loosely-couple discrete outputs.
The framework encourage developers and designers to correlate design elements
with software deliverables. The framework supports a formal, iterative
approach to design and tuning in which each component of the MDA
framework provides a unique view of the game's design.
Mechanics refers to the ways in which the game's programming code
affects the game. Mechanics themselves are generally not observable, but
their effect can be felt and observed through interactions. Dynamics are the
observable results engendered by the game's mechanics and aesthetics refers
not only to the visual appearance of a game, but also to the player's
emotional responses when playing the game.
If a designer is tuning the mechanics of the game, for example, he or
she might analyze the game's software artifacts. If the designer is tuning
dynamics, on the other hand, he or she might look at user input options and
if the designer is tuning aesthetics, he or she might focus ways to encourage
the player to play for longer periods of time.
|
A black swan event is an incident that occurs randomly and unexpectedly and has wide-spread ramifications. The event is usually followed with reflection and a flawed rationalization that it was inevitable. The phrase illustrates the frailty of inductive reasoning and the danger of making sweeping generalizations from limited observations. The term came from the idea that if a man saw a thousand swans and they were all white, he might logically conclude that all swans are white. The flaw in his logic is that even when the premises are true, the conclusion can still be false. In other words, just because the man has never seen a black swan, it does not mean they do not exist. As Dutch explorers discovered in 1697, black swans are simply outliers -- rare birds, unknown to Europeans until Willem de Vlamingh and his crew visited Australia. Statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb uses the phrase black swan as a metaphor for how humans deal with unpredictable events in his 2007...
Comments
Post a Comment