This is the beginning of the 2nd semester of the Mario Maker Workshop. The first semester was entirely focused on the fundamentals of Mario level design. For the next five weeks, the Workshop will focus on understanding player-skill. We use the DKART system for evaluating the skill players can exert through their gameplay. The first lesson is all about KNOWLEDGE skills.

The DKART system was created by @KirbyKid, and it was designed to provide a detailed structure and a clear language to understand and compare the skill exerted in any skill-based activity. For this reason, learning the DKART system is a bit abstract. To simplify our study, we'll focus on one facet of DKART skill at a time.

There are big lines between those who play video games and those who do not. ...those who don't...think all video games must be too difficult. We want to remove that barrier ~ Miyamoto

KNOWLEDGE is the foundation of all skill. Every memory we've stored in our minds about ourselves or the world around us is knowledge. And anything we can perceive can be remembered. We use this information to co-exist in societies, build complex inventions, and survive day-to-day life. Our ability to use knowledge to create models and predict interactions is key to solving problems and overcoming challenges through conscious effort. This is true in life, and it is also true when playing video games.

Each of the five major facets of the DKART system can be broken down into sub-facets; and some sub-facets break down even further! Each facet and sub-facet gives us an increasingly precise way to understand skill. It's not enough just to identify that a task requires KNOWLEDGE skills. We have to go deeper.

Sub-Facets of Knowledge

• Short-Term Memory. Otherwise known as working memory. Our relatively small capacity to consciously store information and manipulate it in our minds.
• Long-Term Memory. Our more stable, long lasting memory store of information. This information can persist for a lifetime or a relatively short period of time (days).
• Muscle Memory. The long-term memory of physical activity. Unique in that it doesn't use aural or linguistic centers of the brain, allowing us to do complex actions without thinking consciously about it.
• Coding. The methods and conceptual frameworks we use to chunk and analyze information. From mnemonics to mind palaces, anything goes if it helps you remember.
• Analyze. Our ability to define, group, sort, compare, and process information. This sub-facets is where intelligence is mostly expressed.
• Channels. The ability to keep track of independent information streams simultaneously.

The DKART system and the sub-facets of these skills give us a framework to compare effortful activity. Naturally, solving a puzzle will stress analyze skills mostly. Contrastingly, playing the piano will stress muscle memory primarily. The way the DKART skills are stressed varies per activity, per person, and even per attempt. Often times challenges can be overcome with a range of different skills. So, it is best to think of the DKART system as a flexible spectrum; not independent, ridged categories. (see above video for more on DKART Knowledge)

Video games are skill-based activities. We need to learn a lot of rules and store them into our long-term memory while thinking actively about the current obstacles. A big part of playing and enjoying video games is the learning process. Learning new things and increasing one's skills are experiences humans almost universally find fun.

When a player progresses in a game or plays a game in a familiar genre, the learning experience for that player is different than it would be for a new player. Even though both players are learning and applying their skill, the experienced player typically does so at a much faster rate. Great game design has to consider both of these types of players.

Nowadays we have experienced players and players with no experience and we must accommodate the needs of both groups. It's becoming increasingly difficult. ~ Miyamoto

For Mario platforms we express our KNOWLEDGE skill thusly...

• Long-Term Memory: Learned controls and gameplay interactions. Memorized secrets, techniques, etc.
• Short-Term Memory: Action games excel in a near constant engagement of our working memory. Mario in particular is designed to inform players as they go with clear feedback and fair reaction windows. This design reduces the need for memorizing course layouts. Having a short memory also results in players trying new things in repeated attempts as they don't quite remember what they did previously.
• Muscle Memory: Learned button sequences. Mario's control scheme is pretty simple compared to other action games. Therefore muscle memory is hardly stressed. Mario challenges focus on linking simple actions together.
• Coding: Though video games don't test this skill specifically, players use all kinds of techniques to support their memories. Common rules of thumb or other tips that are shared among the playerbase are worth noting.
• Analyze: Traditional Mario levels occasionally challenge player's analyze skills to such a degree that players have to stop and study the screen. Though players are always analyzing course challenges, mini-game, puzzle, and bonus rooms often stress analyze skill the most.
• Channels: Though multiple elements are often moving on the screen in standard Mario challenges, it is very rare for a challenge to feature two distinct gameplay ideas simultaneously on the same screen. Chasing a 1up Mushroom as you avoid hazards in Super Mario Bros. 1-2 is a good example of a challenge that stresses a player's mental channels.

Keep in mind that many skills can be stressed at the same time. Even so, there are parts of Mario courses when one sub-facet of knowledge skill is stressed significantly more than the other sub-facets. To learn more about knowledge skills, the Workshop took on the next assignment.

Assignment#5: DKART - KNOWLEDGE

The challenge is to find examples in existing courses that stress a particular sub-facet of knowledge skills. For the DKART Bingo, we had to scan through most of the 2D Super Mario Bros. platformers in search of gameplay challenges (big or small) that stressed a particular sub-facet.

But it didn't stop there. Once we found an example in an existing course, we had to recreate it inside Mario Maker, duplicate it two times, then make one of the duplicates easier while making the other duplicate harder. Specifically, we had to make the duplicates harder for a particular sub-facet of skill. Just throwing in more spikes and enemies wasn't going to work. (see results in the recap stream below)

Recap Stream for Week 7

An extemporaneous stream in which KirbyKid recaps the Workshop week. Content includes a walk through the DKART: Knowledge submissions for Assignment #5.