Well, there has been a lot of stress in rebuilding the computer room, and I am sure there will be more, but we are nearly operational again, with a bonus computer that I did not expect nestling between the two beasts (they sound like aircraft, I dread to think how much power they use)
As the plan is a personality driven series of games, I had a look around at game psychology. Alter Ego is a very old text based game, but those interested can play it free. I am shooting for something a little more delicate and fun, but I have trawled for something that goes in the same direction, and I think I might be onto a fairly original format for several different possible directions. There is no reason why it cannot be done, and yet it has not been done. Why not use your urge for entertainment and instant gratification for the purposes of self development?
So, I look up ‘personality driven games’ and I find the following personality tests for gamers.
The Multiplayer Psychology Profile aka the Bartle Test 1996 – I am an anti-social achiever and explorer
The Four Player types test an alternative based on the Bartle Test – I am an innovative strategist
Then I try ‘gaming psychology’
Cognitive Benefits of playing computer games
The Psychology of Great Game Design
The Psychology of Video Game Play – low hanging fruit
This is not really hitting the mark for what I am looking for. I did catch a fabulous BBC documentary on the psychology of gambling a year or so ago. Did you know that gambling addicts are addicted to loss, rather than winning? They believe that a series of losses makes a win more likely.
Having tried to be a gambler, and dismally failed due to my aversion to risk, despite playing a gambler’s game daily, I can say for sure that I do not have the gene for gambling addiction. I have an unfortunate love of learning new things, and getting bored very quickly, however, which is why my life has been quite so complicated. I am extremely useful, however, due to the ever-increasing skillset.
I then thought that gamification might be a useful thing to look up, and signed myself up on yet another course, only to find that it does not refer to educational gaming at all. It is just another business buzzword for making marketing more appealing to millennials. Sigh.
So, it looks as if I have a truly original idea. So far, so good. This should be fun. I was concerned about the lack of combat, and realised today that combat is really used as finite conversation in most games. Only one percent of gamers are in it to kill other players, according to Bartle, the volume of killing is merely a quick easy reward system for avatar development and progress.
As my game will involve a lot of social interaction with NPC characters, I forsee my having to be a bit inventive with objects and progression. I particularly dislike heavily story driven games, so I am likely to go for more of an organic, open scheme, which is going to get very complex with point allocation and reward/level progression. To this end, I will be building a tycoon style game in the course of my self-training.
I think I have played sufficient relevant games to have a style in mind, and a clear idea of how the structure will work. So now I just have to sit on my ass and learn languages and make games until I am ready to get on with it.
In the meantime I have an awful lot of research to do, so I am a happy, happy bunny.
Fact or fiction – video games are the future of education
The educational benefits of video games
Gaming in education – gamification?
Teaching resources – educational games