New formula for role-playing games

The author of the article is Guido Henkel, a professional game developer since 1983; participated in the creation of Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games, Fallout 2, was the producer of Planescape: Torment.

Oblivion of computer role-playing games in the mid-1990s seemed inevitable, while publishers almost completely abandoned this genre. High development costs and a long production cycle made them a risky investment, especially when they became the lot of a niche audience and did not bring such profits as the favorites of shareholders of companies - first-person shooters.
')
But the situation has changed. Despite the gloomy prophecies, the genre survived thanks to the adaptation and simplification of the game features. Computer role-playing games (CRPG) have become more understandable to a wide audience, and today we can safely say that modern CRPG is a mainstream that has little in common with its predecessors from the 80s and 90s. In fact, it can be stated that they almost do not resemble role-playing games. (Of course, I do not mean games that have grown in recent years based on revived retro RPGs: it’s obvious that they are a deliberate return to the paradigms of classic design.)

Despite the desire to please a wide audience, one cannot say that they lack capacity and depth. Such a statement would be untrue, misleading about the complexity of game mechanics and the current state of the CRPG as a whole. On the contrary, these games are, in fact, very deep and full of possibilities. The impression of superficiality arises from the way they demonstrate and use these capabilities.

Restrictions changed

Early CRPGs were rather limited in technology. Slow computers, poor memory, expensive drives and low screen resolution did not allow to unleash the full potential of these games. As a result, role-playing games had to focus on specific aspects of the gameplay and completely discard the rest. But over time, the "iron" became better.


Realms of Arkania 1 - Blade of Destiny

In 1989, when we started working on the games of the Realms of Arkania series, we tried to convey the sensations of the game to the role-playing game as best as possible. We may have gone overboard with the details and overloaded the players with the depth of the process. But in many ways our games provided unparalleled flexibility. That is why they are still popular today. Even 25 years after graduation, there are dedicated fan communities. But do not be mistaken - even these games were greatly curtailed in possibilities.

In the modern world, technologies no longer limit creativity, but, nevertheless, computer RPGs have become even more distant from their desktop progenitors. Perhaps for the CRPG genre it's time to rethink ourselves. This step is necessary for the games to move to the next stage of evolution.

In essence, all AAA-class role-playing games shrank to a very simple formula. The player runs around the world, fights with enemies, communicates with friendly NPCs and follows rather static quest plots. In most cases, the player is not immersed in genuine gameplay, because the autopilot of the game allows you to not invest your own thinking and imagination at all, not to read a single line of dialogue, just flipping them. The player will never be lost, because the map will help to accurately find the path from quest point A to point B, and very rarely, if lucky, they will give him the opportunity to make a decision that has at least some consequences. Puzzles are extremely rare, and when a player stumbles upon them, usually at the end of a dungeon, the solution is either built into them, or too routine, or looks like, “do something in the right order.” Everything is designed so that the player is not stuck anywhere and wondered even for a couple of seconds.

"Live" role-playing game is an opportunity to choose

Not that this is not interesting, but the "live" role-playing game is very different from this approach. Now we see a bare skeleton of the original genre, cooked to the very core. Alternative solutions to problems are usually not possible.

But what if you do not want to fight with an opponent? Why do you have to attack every living creature in the neighborhood if it just looks unfriendly? Or maybe you want to bargain with the troll, and not to release his guts with a spectacular blow? Maybe you want to get out of the situation with your charm? Or would you rather sneak and pull off a quest artifact without killing enemies? Few games give the player such opportunities, unless, of course, they were not specifically conceived as one of the solutions.

Illusion of freedom

Almost everything in such games moves on rails, each element is fixed and predetermined in a grand plan. The design of the open world of modern CRPG gives the illusion that you can do anything, but in fact the freedom of the open world lies only in its study. (Which in itself is quite impressive: the old games could not provide it.)

Of course, many quests can be performed in any order, but this is only because they are not interconnected with the narrative of the world as a whole, and the universe of the game remains rather lifeless.

Sometimes story events and quests change over time, but for the most part they remain scripted and limited to key events in the game, rather than the gameplay itself. And when it comes to real role-playing, what freedom of choice does it really have?

In fact, most modern CRPGs are played as MMOs in single player mode, filled with repetitive and often trivial quests that turn gameplay from adventure into grind levels.

Stop killing gameplay in the game

Initially, shifting part of the player’s tasks to the computer was a blessing. Not everyone seems to be interested in drawing level maps with notes on a piece of paper, so the CRPG feature very quickly added the automap feature and journals for recording quests. But maybe this has already gone too far?

Today, the computer keeps track of and marks every quest point, the resources it extracts, the forges, the gangster lair, the shops and the shops, all the important NPCs, each entry to the dungeon and the parking lot. Some games even build a path to the next quest point for convenience. What remains of the "game" in this role-playing game? We have created games in which players no longer need to think for themselves. They do not require imagination, moreover - they deprive players of many delightful details that have made classic RPGs so memorable. How many people were lost in The Bard's Tale 2’s Snare of Death game and still remember it? I am one of them.

Dialogues for filling pauses

Interestingly, even after so many years and after all the technological improvements, the dialogues remain one of the weakest points of the CRPG (although, of course, some games are better than others in this sense). For example, in Witcher 3: Wild Hunt the dialogs are just scenery, players simply click on the answers to continue the conversation or the plot. It is predicted that they usually choose the first version of the phrase. On the other hand, Dragon Age: Inquisition uses a more sophisticated approach. It is less predictable, and, at least, gives the impression that the choice really influences the result, even if in fact it is just a coincidence.


Dragon Age: Inquisition

Therefore, the dialogues and their accompanying video sequences are often perceived as tedious obstacles that simply fill in the gaps instead of the true development of the narrative of the world.

Traditional role-playing games were not so simple, mostly, of course, because they had a live game master, but also thanks to the design of these games. Maximum freedom was the key point that allowed players to make decisions almost constantly (moreover, he forced them to make decisions). As I said above, the gameplay of many CRPGs revolves around the exploration of the world, and in traditional role-playing games, it’s mostly about solving problems. These very different foundations form the gameplay and the ultimate approach to game design. One leads the player by the hand, the second challenges him.

You will have to work hard to find a modern CRPG, not leading the player from beginning to end, from one quest point to another. The player does not even need to explore the beautiful open world to find them. The points are marked on the map and most of the gameplay is reduced to a walk (or a trip) from point A to point B where he meets a monster or NPC, snaps a dialogue that inevitably leads to a walk to the next quest point.

Let players use their imagination

When, in the early 2000s, role-playing games went through a process of “smoothing the corners,” which resulted in the current mainstream formula. Authors have always sought to make them more accessible, easy to manage and learn. The computer autopilot mentioned by me has become an important part of this process, saving players from the boring work with data. However, it is quite interesting that a lot of statistics are often used in current role-playing games. Not so much in terms of character attributes, bone throwing rules and exceptions, as in classic CRPGs, but in the form of skill trees. Skill trees have become clichés in computer games that can be found anywhere, even in first-person shooters. However, if used incorrectly in role-playing games, they completely lose their meaning.

As I said, traditional board role-playing games are about solving problems, and therefore include experimentation. Players use the imagination and skills of the game character to overcome risky situations and solve problems. In turn, these skills are improved through use over time: learning through practice. In too many CRPGs, this aspect of character development is completely ignored. Instead, they simply limit each character to skills related to his class and profession, neatly placed in massive skill trees. Thus, the authors want to create an impression of the depth and versatility of the role playing. Although it is convenient - only one skill rises at a time, but in reality, if your fifth-level warrior has never used an ax, then you should not load with all this excess baggage accompanying skill trees related to the possession of axes. In this case, everything is just a farce.

The most important thing is the development of a unique character.

What is important is the growth of the character, the ability to develop it and make it unique. Most games directly associate skill points with skill levels. As a result, there is no character growth through training. Has the player killed the required number of monsters or completed quests sufficient to gain a level? He gets a skill point and can do anything with it. From a technical point of view, this works, but as a feature of a role-playing game, it looks too alien and primitive. When the game goes so far that it allows the player to accumulate enough skill points to unlock almost any branch in any skill tree, the desire to create a unique character is completely lost.

A much closer approach to role-playing games is the approach used in The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim . The character has (invisible) attributes, enhanced by the use of skill, which the game translates into potential skill improvements. The player still has to deal with the chaos of unbound skill trees, but at least the game is really stimulating to use the skills and improve them throughout the game. (In fact, in many ways, Skyrim , I think, is the best CRPG has recreated the role-playing gameplay.)

From a design history point of view, modern CRPGs are richer than they were before. A lot of stories in history, legends, subplots, quests for classes and all that creates a rich world filled with content. The amount of content in games such as Skyrim , Dragon Age: Inquisition , Fallout 4 , Final Fantasy XV or Witcher 3 is truly amazing. But at the same time, they all have one common weakness - likelihood.

Make me believe in your world

You, a harsh adventurer, a wise teacher surrounded by minions, can be killed by a rat of the first level. Nothing better characterizes you as the savior of the world, like the death of a fist the size of a rodent. The gaming industry should definitely do more than repeat these old clichés. If in the center of the story is an experienced character, a true master of his craft, then the game character must match this image. He can start from the first level, if it meets the conditions of the game, but at least the opponents, quests and respect should be comparable to him.

Despite the richness of the content of the world, or, probably, just because of it, practically in all modern CRPGs there is absolutely no social awareness. Artificial intelligence in games is usually associated with clever finding of ways, controlling movements and the state of enemies, but never associated with social behavior. Therefore, in 2013 I created a design template called Psycho Engine and published its layout as part of my role-playing game Deathfire , the money I was trying to find through Kickstarter . He describes the building blocks of an artificial intelligence system that can be used to make the characters in the game familiar with many factors, including other characters, their weaknesses and strengths, misconduct, history, accomplishments ... and almost everything.

During GDC 2014, Bioshock creator Ken Levine explored a similar concept, which he called “Narrative Legos”. In essence, she had the same goal - to track and provide information to game characters in order to influence the narrative development of the game. In the same year, Shadow of Mordor came out with the Nemesis system, which in its goals and objectives was a lightweight version of my Psycho Engine design.

Enrich the game with new technologies

For some reason, since then no games have been created using similar technologies. This is disappointing because they could create an incredibly rich narrative, directly adapting to the player's actions and achievements. In today's games, you play as a hero ... as an unsung hero that nobody knows and nobody recognizes. All efforts invested by the player in the game remain for the most part underestimated by its population. For example, in Jorrvaskre, nothing changes in Skyrim , either at the beginning of the game, or after a long adventure, or even after the completion of all the plot lines and DLC. This, like almost everything in such gaming worlds, looks static. It seems that most game developers simply confuse the number of NPCs with actual depth. Without the interaction of the in-game community and culture, all this is nothing more than a gameplay noise.

After passing through your favorite CRPG and defeating the last villain, do you feel the change? You closed the portals, killed the evil sorcerers and their dragons, but has the game world become cleaner and better? Have you really achieved anything of value?

In my case, this is usually not the case. I feel dissatisfaction, because in the game's universe the society does not know about my achievements. In Dragon Age: Inquisition, this principle is used to some extent. An inquisitor (player character) is a well-known and respected (or not respected) figure for the whole world, but society doesn’t react to concrete achievements in any way. It is rather a feature of the character and the storyline. The player always plays for the Inquisitor, from the very beginning of the story. He does not become them!

With real social awareness, NPCs must understand the player’s actions and the world around him must respond to them. People should talk about them, ask the player about their experiences, tell stories in the taverns, really create a character's reputation based on his achievements, and not given the plot twists.


The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Of all the game mechanics, it is this kind of social awareness and reaction of the world that should probably be a sign of the emergence of a new generation of CRPGs. The enthusiasm caused by the Nemesis system, however superficial it may be, is a clear indication that players need such feedback in games. With proper implementation, it can create a completely new sense of satisfaction among players who do not want to just constantly kill all living things. This will return the non-linearity of the role-playing aspects of such games and allow computer games to more closely imitate games in live role-playing games.

Looking for real worlds!

Almost 20 years have passed since Baldur's Gate brought back the RPG genre from the abyss of oblivion and became popular with more mainstream audiences. And almost the same thing has passed since Everquest popularized the use of this open world in our genre. However, after all these years, the design of computer role-playing games has changed little. The visual part has become much better, the storylines - more difficult, and the worlds - more. They are waiting for players to explore their rich flora, fauna and communicate with the population, but in the very depths they lack a living, beating heart.

When I play the current generation of CRPGs, I cannot get rid of the feeling that the genre is stagnating, that it has become extremely formalized. I feel that it is time to take the next step in the evolution of the genre. Let's take advantage of technology and incredible computing power, not only for stunning graphics. Let the computer become a real game master, a narrator weaving the fabric of a narrative in the process of game development. He must be sensitive to how individual players behave in the game, to challenge the player according to his unique skills, weaknesses, achievements and style of play. The computer must know how to make the player make important decisions.

This is only a part of the thoughts and design paradigms that I have been accumulating over the years in the development of computer role-playing games. But even these fragments can give you an idea of ​​the contours of a completely new gameplay, which you can create by applying them in a new role-playing game. Are you ready to start such a task? I will be happy to help.