Computer Science 121 - Lab 6: Task Analysis

In this lab you'll begin the task analysis that is the first step toward designing the UI for your game.

As Will Wright describes in his game design talk, at any time while playing your game, the player will have a collection of goals that run from the very short term (seconds) to the long term (winning the game). For example, in the Sims these goals can be described as follows:

Your task analysis should:
  1. Identify the hierarchy of player goals in your game. Note that the hierarchy may change with time so focus on the start of your game.
  2. How will the player come to understand these goals? For example, if you don't feed a Sims character she/he will pass out from hunger. There are many ways to make goals clear to the player including instructions, tutorials, and failure state feedback (e.g. character passing out from hunger or player losing the game). Some are more fun than others; lengthy instructions and losing the game are typically in the not so fun category.
  3. For each goal that can be satisfied in a matter of minutes, describe the simple tasks the player takes to achieve the goals.
  4. For the tasks developed in the previous steps, explain how UI elements are used by the player to achieve the goals and the feedback the player is provided (in both success and failure).

    Last updated Feb. 2012