Things that you should consider for Gameplay

Game Design

Vishnu Kotrajaras, Ph.D.

Later parts are from Jesse Schell’s slides

Non-linearity Different path from A to B

– Mario 3 onwards Story arc

– Phantasy Star 3– Choices, choose 1 way and you can pass a level– Player may come back to play the unplayed

choice later

Super Mario Bros. 3

Rockman

Non-linearity(2) Different order of challenges

– Rock man– When getting stuck, players can go to other

challenges, at least for a whileใ– But it must be designed to encourage players to

explore all

Multiple solutions to a problem– A good football game falls into this category

because the experience from each game is hardly the same.

Non-linearity(3)

Multiple endings Sadly, many games do not have non-

linearity due to budget

Effect of non-linearity

Choices in the story affect future missions (ending too)

Purpose of non-linearity

Players have authority– If not, player may feel trapped

Each player has unique experience Players want to replay (not as important

as the feel of authority) Thinking that “players won’t finish the

game anyway, so why bother do extra stuff” is short-sighted

Game with free order of missions

Completing one should provide some way to make other missions easier– (regardless of the order taken)– This allow better chance of progressing

Reality Don’t make a game too much like real life

– Food, sleep in RPG is a bad thing

Reality has its strength– Player is familiar with it: civilization, Sim city

But it also has weakness– Players notice things that don’t work like real life

quite easily– Such as you can’t crouch in Doom, can’t peek

over corner either

Sim City

Civilization

Rome: Total War

The Sims

Teaching players how to play

First few minutes of the game is very important

Do not force players to read manual You should know that every player

wants to start playing right away Therefore, use the gameplay

Using the gameplay to teach how to play

Very easy at start, just move, then jump, …

Then increasingly harder While introducing moves, players must

be in a safe environment– Prince of Persia, you don’t die when you

first encounter a collapsing floor Reward the players for learning

Prince of Persia

Another, teaching method, having tutorial levels

Interactive learning– But the first real level must still be easy, because

some players may skip the tutorial

Some game goes a bit too far as to have an NPC tells a character which button to press. – This will remind the player that she is “playing” the

game– Some immersion into the game may be lost

Input/output Controls must be easy to pick up. Good

examples include:– Allowing a player to control everything with mouse– Use an already well known interface

Playtesting is important– If the playtester does not like the controls, you

must believe him Do not do too much

– Do not use many keys on keyboard (X-Wing)– Only expert player will like it

X-Wing VS Tie Fighter

Input/output(2)

The good way is to design controls based on control pad– This will help refine the control method

It is good to have multiple ways of getting the same effect– 2 ways to click mouse and get the same result– Hot key and normal controls together– 2 buttons doing the same thing

• Crash Bandicoot

Crash Bandicoot

Input/output(3)

Beware– You may test the controls so many times

that you think it is easy– Find first-time players to test the controls

• Fix the controls if these first-time players have problems

• Do not expect them to get used to the controls

What’s on screen Player must see the action, or threat, for

example:– Getting a warning that units being attacked

off-screen, so the player can zoom to the units

– Bad: NPC is dying, but there is no sign until he nearly dies

– Players need positive feedback when he shoots at the right location

Darius

What’s on screen(2) If you cannot show it obviously to

player, show it as part of GUI– Life bar (try using bars instead of numbers)– Where GUI exists, make it as obvious as

possible But GUI should be minimized as much

as possible to allow players to feel immerse into the game world

Do not forget sound

US patent 5688126, 6062561