How to create a pattern
By: Chris Barney
Tags: Game Design, Pattern Library, Game Development, Pattern Lan, Videogames

PATTERN LANGUAGE FOR GAME DESIGN

How to create a pattern

Detailed instructions about the process of deriving a pattern are found in the book, Pattern Language for Game Design.

Once you have completed a pattern Exercise and reached the ‘Document your pattern using the Pattern Template’ step, you may wish to enter the pattern directly into the Pattern Library website. Before you can add a pattern to the website you must create an account and be logged in.

After you have logged in you will see the first item in the Pattern Library now reads ‘Add a Pattern’. Clicking on this item will open the new pattern panel. I will discuss each part of this panel starting at the top.

Registered users can add new patterns to the library.

Pattern Title — The current title of the pattern, when you are creating a new pattern it will read ‘Add a Pattern’

Select the right state for your pattern as you develop it.

Pattern State — This icon defaults to the ‘Draft’ state. Patterns in the draft state can only be seen by the users listed in the author field. When you're finished entering your patten you may wish to move it to the ‘Review’ state. Patterns in the ‘Review’ state can be seen by the users who are members of groups listed in the pattern’s ‘Group(s)’ field. After review, you may want to move your pattern to the ‘Published’ state. Published patterns can be seen by anyone. The other three states, ‘Rejected’, ‘Merged’, and ‘Disabled’ have the same visibility as ‘Draft’ and indicate the reason that the pattern has been hidden.

Pattern Name — Use this field to set or change the name of a pattern. This should be an easy to remember and evocative name.

Design Problem — Each pattern exists to solve a problem, describe that problem here. If you see a pattern without a problem, look harder. Identifying the problem is critical to knowing when, and if, you want to use the pattern.

Pattern Description — Provide a detailed description of the pattern here. This section should go into as much depth as possible. It should be long enough to capture your pattern fully. Do not try to be concise to the point of reducing your description to a single sentence. It can be helpful to start by following the format: ‘In order to [achieve some design effect], a designer may [take some design action, use some mechanic, etc.] because [explanation of how the pattern produces the desired effect].

Pattern Image — An iconic image to represent each pattern. This image can help to convey the essence of the pattern and to serve as a mnemonic anchor for remembering it. You must use a full URL for the image. Respect copyright law.

Pattern Image Description — Description of the image and how it relates to the pattern. This will appear as a caption for the image.

Pattern Confidence — This number rates the level of certainty you have that a pattern is viable for use in developing games, how sure you are that it will have the indicated effects and that you have listed any side-effects it has. See the help article on Confidence for details on rating your confidence in a Pattern.