Formal Elements

The Basics

Players

maximum of 24 (12 on each team, 2 teams total) on casual games

maximum of 12 (6 on each team, 2 teams total) on competitive. This is alternatively called highlander.

(this analysis will focus on public, valve-hosted casual lobbies)

Team composition is not heavily enforced, at least not by in-game limitation. However, the general player consensus is that having more than 3 classes is overkill, and players might be persuaded to pick a different class.

• Single Player – like Solitare.
• Head-to-head – 1 vs. 1, Chess.
• PvE – Player vs. Environment, or multiple players vs. the game. Common in MMOs like World of Warcraft.
• One against Many – Single-player vs. multiple (obvy).
• Free-for-all – Every man for himself (1 vs. 1 vs. 1 vs. 1..). Most common for multiplayer games, from Monopoly to Modern Warfare.
• Individuals Against the System – Like Blackjack, where the Dealer is playing against multiple players, but those players have no effect on each other.
• Team Competition – Multiple vs. multiple, i.e. sports.
• Predator-prey – Players form a circle and everyone’s goal is to attack the player on their left and defend themselves from the player on their right.
• Five-pointed Star – Eliminate both players who are not on either side of you.

Objectives/Goals

More descriptively, capturing the point in order to win (think of capture the flag)

this gets bit more complex between the different game modes, but all the modes have objectives that players need to capture in order to win.

• Capture/Destroy – Eliminate all your opponents pieces (Chess).
• Territorial Acquisition – Control as much territory as you can, not necessarily harming other players (RISK).
• Collection – Collect a certain number of objects throughout the game (Pokemon).
• Solve – Solve a puzzle or crime (Clue).
• Chase/race/escape – Anything where you are running towards or away from something (playground game Tag).
• Spatial Alignment – Anything involving the positioning of elements (Tetris or Tic-Tac-Toe or that game at Cracker Barrel).
• Build – Advance your characters or build your resources to a certain point (The Sims).
• Negation of another goal – The game ends if you perform an act that is forbidden by the rules (Jenga or Twister).

Capture the flag: Capture(points) by destroying (the enemy).

Control point: Territorial acquisition, game win after controlling all the territories.

King of the hill: game fought over a single control point

Payload: push the cart(the payload) by standing next to it. the control points are checkpoints, and the cart moves faster if more people are pushing it.

(Mann vs Machine and Pass time were excluded due to it being a PvE environment and socialization-based game format, respectively.)

Rules/Mechanics

• Setup – the things you do at the beginning of a game.
• Progression of Play – what happens during the game.
• Resolution – How an outcome is determined based on the game state.

Controls

mouse movement (left-right, up-down) to change the camera and your aim

M1 to shoot, M2 to activate special abilities (Demoman’s sticky detonation, Medic’s Übercharge)

1 2 3 to change your weapon- primary, secondary, melee, respectably.

Shift to crouch, space to jump.

Resources & Resource Management

• Territory in RISK The number of questions remaining in 20 Questions Objects picked up during videogames (guns, health packs, etc.)
• Time (game time, real-time, or both)
• Known information (like suspects in Clue)

Game State

• Total Information – Nothing is hidden, like Chess.
• Info per player – Your hand of cards is only visible to you.
• One player has privileged info – Like a Dungeon Master.
• The game hides info from all players – Like Clue, where no one knows the victory condition.
• Fog of War – In video games, where certain sections of the map are concealed if you do not have a unit in sight range of that area. You also cannot see other players’ screens, so each player is unaware of the other’s information.

Sequencing

• Turn-based – Standard board game technique.
• Turn-based with simultaneous play – where everyone takes their turn at the same time (like writing something down or putting a card down in War).
• Real-time – Actions happen as fast as players can make them. Action-based video games.
• Turn-based and time limits – You have this long to take your turn.

Player Interaction

• Direct Conflict – I attack you.
• Negotiation – If you support me here, I’ll help you there.
• Trading – I’ll give you this for that.
• Information Sharing – If you go there, I’m warning you, a trap will go off.

Theme & Narrative

RED is, well, red, and the materials used for the level design is earthly (like wood). BLU is blue, and takes colder design elements like metallic and concrete buildings. This helps players intuitively recognize the characters and levels.

Regarding the ‘lore’, it doesn’t take itself seriously enough to incorporate story into the game (nor have a serious, brooding story). The in-depth story was made well-after the game launched.

The Elements in Motion

Design Critique

Graphics & Sound

For medic specifically, with his crossbow, a gallant sound-effect (the sound of a holy choir singing, and the sound of multiple bird wings flapping) will play, which is probably the most satisfying thing about playing team fortress 2.

Various Stages of the Game

There’s always going to be a sentry nest (engineer) somewhere ahead.

know your roles, play them, and don’t overextend. be a team player.