History of Emergence and Progression
Games of emergence are those of fairly simplistic rules but much variation. The term if used because the puzzles and the order of events are not planned beforehand but occur during game play. Emergence is produced due to the many possible combinations of rules in card games, board games and so fourth. Juul says "Emergence is the primordial game structure" (p. 324) many early games were those of emergence.
Games of emergence come in many different, states, forms and configurations during game play. The possible arrangements of the game pieces in drafts constitute different game states, since the arrangement of a single draft by even one position can make all the difference. The possible combinations of draft pieces on game board is large, however the rules for the game can sit on a page of A4 paper and the game is still played to this day.
Games of progression however, offer many pre designed puzzles and challenger which the designer ordered, generally through level design. Progression usually relies on a intricately controlled series of events. The designer controls the challenges the player comes across through designing the levels in such as fashion the player has to encounter the events in the specific sequence. In a game of progression the quantity of game states is quite small, the designer has complete control over what is included in the game. When a player is put on a set track like an on rails game, the player travels from one in game challenge to the next one.
Emergence
When people use the term emergence, originated from the term in complexity theory. It refers to how a system behaves which can't be derived from its constituent parts. Whilst, Juul is cautious not to confuse emergent behaviour in games that display behaviours the designer did not fore see before hand (2002). Like in any complex system, the big picture is greater than all of it's part together. Some games such as chess have relatively simple rules yet generate an great deal of depth. Games like these are constructed from relatively simplistic parts, yet the number of approaches and strategies they allow are huge. No two sessions feel alike. Emergent games do not come fro the complexity of the parts it's made from but from the complexity of the many iterations with all of it's parts.
Simple Parts in Complex Systems
The contents of complexity studies all manner of complex systems in life.The agent or elements in these complex systems may be sophisticated in itself, these are particularly simulated with simple models. E.g. the flow of pedestrians in different environments, great results have been obtained by simulating pedestrians with merely a small number of rules and achievements (Ball, 2004, pp. 131-147). It is possible to generate emergent games with a small number of complex parts, mechanics of games systems which work with simplistic components yet still create emergent game play are more interesting.
Progressive
With progressive games, many of them contain stories to drive them in a particular direction, this is frequently told over the course of several game levels. Each level usually has clearly defined missions which structure the tasks in and set the player's goals for them in order to finish the level. The designer must plan out the game and the levels in such as fashion the game produces a consistent experience. Frequently the designers use a variety of mechanics to manipulate how the player is able to move through a game. When designing a game with an interesting story, understanding the progression mechanic is vital.
When designing game levels, progression in an important aspect. There key elements when a designer has to control when parts players will encounter first, these include, what they need to complete to proceed, what resources they start off with. The designer decided that abilities the player has control of and manipulating the lay out of the level, including where items are placed in the game, for example power ups. Through this, players are not thrown into the game, they are gradually brought into it. E.g. as player's go through the game exploring it and gaining experience and skills, they will gradually have an experience that is story like by gaining relevant information from event in the level.
The rules of a game are relate to the number of possible states, but it's not completely true more rules will lead to more possible states. Along with this, when a game produces a large quantity or possible states whilst using only a few rules, the game will become more accessible to players.
Game States and Game Play
When designers talk about the path the player(s) take through the possible states of a game, probability space, people sometimes describe the path a a trajectory. The different possible game play trajectories and states through a game are emergent properties of a game rule system. Game which allow lot's of different, intriguing trajectories arguably have a greater quantity of game play than games which generate fewer trajectories or not as interesting ones. Although, to determine the kind and quality of the game play is not easy, if not impossible, by merely observing the rules. By comparing the rules of two different yet simple games, you can see these difficulties. E.g. Naughts and Crosses and Connect Four.
Naughts and Crosses
1. The game is played on a 3 by 3 grid.
2. Players take turns occupying a space.
3. A space may only be taken once.
4. The first player to occupy three spaces in a row (orthogonally or diagonally) wins.
Connect Four
1. The game is played on a 6 by 6 grid.
2. Both players take turns to take up a square.
3. A space may only be taken once.
4. Only the bottom most available space in a given column is about to be occupied.
5. The first player to take up four spaces in a row wins.
While there may only be a few differences between the rules for two similar games, the difference in the game play can be massive. It can be far greater than the amount of mental effort required in order to understand the rules.
In the commercially available version of Connect Four, the most complex rule, (no. 4) is enforced via gravity: player's tokens will just automatically fall to the lowest available space in the upright playing area. This saves players from manually enforcing this rule and permits them to focus on the rule's effects instead. Even though the small differences in the complexity of the rules, tic-tack-toe is appropriate only to small children, therefore Connect Four is about to be played by adults. The latter allows for different strategies on a great scale, and takes longer to master the game. When two experienced players compete, it will certainly be an exiting match. Rather than being a certain draw as the case is with Naughts and crosses.
Comparing Emergence and Progression
In Juul's original article, he expresses a preference for game which use emergence: "On a theoretical level, emergence is the more interesting structure" (2002, p.328). This regards emergence as an approach which permits designers to produce games in which the freedom of the player is leveled with the control of the designer. In a game of emergence, the designers don't specify every single event in detail before the game is published. Though the rules might make certain events quite likely. However, in practice, a game with an emergent structure often still follows fairly consistent patterns. This is discussed by Juul, the gun fights which almost always erupt in a game of Counter-Strike (p.327).
In his other book Half-Real, he is nuanced in his discussion of emergence and progression (2005). The majority of modern computer games are hybrids. They include some features of both. GTA: San Andreas has a vast open world yet also has a mission structure which influences new elements and unlocks this world piece by piece. In the game Dues Ex, the player is shows the main path yet there are different strategies to each mission and can use different paths when they encounter different challenges along the way.
Emergence and progression are simply different, neither is better. Pure emergence games and pure progression games represent two different extremes. many casual games, are pure emergence. Pure progression games are very rare. The majority of games include elements of both mechanics, like a level in a game my exhibit emergent behavior with in a game based around a progression mechanic.
What parts will I use in my game?
Due to the nature of management games, and my research I will use progression in my game since the player will be progressing to the next level trying the reach the set goal in the level. However a little emergence may be used since pure progression games are rare. A few of the in game entities will have only a few different game states since these will be be performing one task however this could change.
What parts I might use in my game
I may use emergence on a small scale in my game since a few of the entities will not have many states, there fore adding some variety to the games state. However due to the nature of the game and the mechanics this will be on a limited scale.
References
Ball, Philip. 2004. Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads To Another. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Jull, J. 2002. "The Open and the Closed: Games of Emergence and Games of Progression.". Finland: Tampere. pp. 323-329.
Jull, J. 2005. Heal-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
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