Gameplay design: how it works in “big” games, and how to repeat it in indie terms
By virtue of my character and temperament, playing games, I always ask myself questions:
Answers to such questions led me to the realization of "backstage" methods and techniques for creating games. Here I mean the mechanisms hidden behind the façade of the game that control what is happening on the screen. They make the game complete, harmonious, deep and, therefore, interesting. That is what I’ll try to tell you now.
The atmosphere is closely related to the plot of the game, so now we will talk a lot about the structure of the game from the point of view of its plot.
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First of all, we will depict the “scheme” or “map” - as you like, on which the main components of the game will be depicted, and on which I will be able to show how they are formed, their “behind the scenes” interaction and role in the finished product.
Briefly by elements:
There are two approaches to storytelling:
Of course, both approaches somehow intersect with each other, and fanatically following one of them is dangerous. You should find a comfortable balance between them, and stick to it.
I hold the opinion that it is convenient to shift this balance towards the second approach: it is easier to design the structure of the game, since the concept itself implies the subordination of some elements set by other elements to the rules. Fewer opportunities to make a mistake.
The concept of balance of serving characters and the driven story is also applicable here. It is more convenient to shift the balance towards the serving characters: to formulate an idea in this case is easier.
(example of loss of atmospheric)
F4 is an elegant sandbox in which, as it has become fashionable to say, you can and should entertain yourself. the authors created a really impressive set of tools, but what happened to the atmosphere?
On the one hand, they threatened a lot of time = effort + money to draw the world. It is really detailed like no other game on this planet. Visually no complaints. But what happens in other areas?
Fallout always showed a lifeless desert, in which there were rare and deadly enemies. Now, the enemies are everywhere: two steps can not be stepped on, so as not to stumble upon someone orcs who have been turned into useless meat: they are no different (neither by force nor by dullness) from people. the mystical organizations into which it was difficult to break through, and after breaking through into which it was difficult to achieve something, disappeared. The brotherhood of steel now lets all oncoming homeless people into the captain's bridge of its flagship airship. Summarizing: enemies, friends ... all have lost their significance and meaning: now it’s just meat on the map.
They say: "Build your home, build a defense and protect it from attacks." Well, I built, put the guns, so that annoying “!” disappeared from the screen, and what do I see? in 80 hours of gameplay, he saw a couple of unfortunates attacked a settlement 2-3 times. Once I couldn’t wait to wait until “ours” would shoot down “theirs”, took out a trunk and solved the question in 5 seconds. In addition, there were so many settlements very quickly that it became unclear who and how to defend: they lost their value and meaning. At the same time they could not be forced to gather in a heap. But to create new ones is always welcome, as if there were not too many of them already. “Severe wastelands with merciless orcs? no, we keep the farm together. ” Going to the locations, you are more happy about the screwdriver found than to the patrons you have hundreds in your pockets
and so on, you can continue.
(an example of inscribing a ridiculous in the atmosphere)
Everyone has seen, and who has not seen - heard about the Fulton system that appeared in MGS. This is when people and even tanks fly away in a balloon to the player’s base. Stupidity, right? But this absurdity was not told in the welcome window of the UI. there was a whole series of steps to introduce the system into the game: the main character in the production video was not told about this by anyone. And one of the key characters. We saw the reaction of two well-developed characters that we know and whom we believe in this system. We see how enemies react to it: they shout, they do not understand what kind of garbage they are and raise an alarm - a plausible and natural reaction. We see how the world reacts to the emergence of this system: over time, the enemies will realize what it is. they not only begin to talk about it among themselves, but also react adequately to it, shooting at the ball and saving their colleagues. There are a lot of jokes about it on the Internet, but does it spoil the game? As I can see, there is more positive PR.
(An example of how the elements of the game meet the given conditions of the game)
A game about the survival of ordinary people in the city with prolonged fighting.
There is war. everywhere dust, dirt, the sun can not see because of the smoke. = The whole game is made in dark colors. moreover, almost black and white.
Characters are simple people. = They die from 1-2 shots, from diseases, from cold and hunger.
Around - ruin. no shops, no pharmacies, nothing. many supplies if not yet plundered, then try right now. = you have to steal, and the characters are going through this, which can be seen in the diaries
If you steal, they will try to steal from you too. Helping people will help you too. But these are causes and effects. it's just always in the game.
Games about ...
You can often hear formulations like “this game is about a plot” or “this game is about gameplay”. What is behind these words? In this particular game, the corresponding component of the idea dominates. It cannot be said that in the game “about the plot”, even if it is Heavy Rain, there is no gameplay at all: it is there, but it feels like it is often said that there is much more plot there.
Do you need a “game about plot” gameplay? Do I need a “game about gameplay” plot?
Let's look at Heavy Rain: let's simplify the gameplay before pressing the “next scene” button. It will be interesting? I think not. Or on the contrary: let's make it so that instead of 8 buttons in QTE 40 different combinations take part, and in the breaks between them you would have to play chess with a friend over the network. This situation also makes it worse. And why? Because in the first case, the gameplay becomes very small. Too little. and in the second it becomes so much that it begins to interfere with the plot. Do you need Heavy Rain gameplay? Is needed. The more - the better, but only until it begins to interfere with the plot.
Consider another example:
Civilization Sid Meier's ingenious strategy, the success of which no one washes to repeat (even he himself, as the sad reviews of Beyond Earth show). On the gameplay of civilization and do not need to talk. Does civilization need a plot? “Yes, as long as it does not interfere with the gameplay” is the right answer, but the gameplay of civilization is so deep that in the space left for the plot it is extremely difficult to tell at least some complete and complete story. This is a singular exception, and I’m not even sure what to strive for.
Another example is This War Of Mine. “This game is about gameplay” - many will say. They will also say that there is a great atmosphere there ... As we explained above, the atmosphere is closely related to the plot. So the plot is still there. It is served through the thoughts, opinions, biographies of each inhabitant of the shelter, and it looks quite harmonious.
But I would tell a little more in the game: there is already a turning point (when a message arrives that one of the belligerents is starting to lose). The plot and begs to turn around at this moment. It is here, when the gameplay is already mastered, and it would be worthwhile to begin to develop the storyline: it already does not interfere with playing. It is a pity that the world of the game almost did not respond to this event.
I am all for what: between the gameplay and the plot, in any game, the ratio is traced. And our task, as developers, is to find a good balance between the plot and the gameplay. What does not have the only right combination: for each audience, for each genre, for each situation, it is different.
Emotions are remembered much better than anything else, and therefore it is worth paying special attention to the mechanisms for invoking the player.
Emotions, we express our attitude to something. Lack of emotion is boredom. And people are ready to engage in all kinds, just not to be bored.
Consider the graph of the player’s skill / game time. While playing a game, a person studies its mechanisms and eventually gets better at them. Conventionally, we denote 2 lines: the top one measures the area above which the player becomes too easy to play, and the bottom one, respectively, is too hard.
(Sorry for the paint)
In a good game, the player’s curve usually runs somewhere in between. As the game progresses, we familiarize ourselves with its mechanisms and study them, as can be seen from the oscillations of the curve, but later it converges to a certain value and ceases to fluctuate. The game turns into a routine, emotions disappear and we get bored. The result is obvious: we stop playing.
How to cause emotions in the player? It is clear that we cannot do this endlessly, but I would like to prolong the effect as long as possible.
Entering a new mechanic is working fine, but it is expensive. Here come to the aid of events. When, for example, we give the player something very good. Here we dramatically facilitate the game, but at the same time make it feel all-powerful.
Or vice versa: we put him in a difficult position, challenging him. Both cause emotions to the player, but this tool must be used very carefully: with frequent repetitions, these events are perceived as ordinary mechanics, but the graph looks like this:
(Sorry for the paint again. This is the last time!)
In the context of the script, this is called the “congested plot.” There is nothing good in this, of course.
So, each deviation of the curve from the “normal” position causes the player to have emotions. But a similar schedule can be constructed for other components of the game: exactly the same principle can cause emotions in the player to sound, picture, script, and of gameplay, as we just said. Each of these components can occasionally produce an extraordinary action, causing the corresponding curve to go out of balance, and combining them together, we get a whole series of such events, without overloading the gameplay, the story, or anything else.
Curious fact:
Negative emotions can also play a positive role, if you carefully stand in a series of positive ones. This is an unpredictable experiment, which is quite dangerous. But history knows a couple of examples where the mistakes of the authors (including technical ones) gave such an effect.
(an example of an “emotional carousel”)
The game begins with a plot introduction, quickly sets up plot questions, but under the pretext of searching for answers, sends a rather long acquaintance with the gameplay. Then, suddenly, everything begins (each step causes rather strong emotions):
Total, ten (!) Of diverse emotions, in one gaming session. Remains forever.
Imagine that the game content is a piece of sausage that a player eats. When he eats it, he will master all the content, and he will become bored of playing. Now I will ask you to remember and compare the sausage that we put in places of public catering (saby, for example), and the one that you cut yourself at home. What is the difference between them?
The sausage we get in the canteens is often wide, large in appearance (because it is cut diagonally), at home we cut off a piece of a smaller area, but much thicker, so we eat the sausage much easier. I'm all for what: to expand the content of the game, stretching it in one plane is possible, but only for some time.
Imagine a 10x10 cm sausage. This is our sausage. Let's expand the game content by adding 10 cm to the length. We get 10x20, i.e. we added 10cm ^ 2 sausages, content doubled. Now we add 10 cm to the width. This again increases the content by 2 times, but I had to add 20 cm ^ 2. And so on. Expansion of content in one plane gradually becomes prohibitively expensive.
But now we will add the third dimension to our sausage, and we will start increasing it in this direction. Movement for a small distance in this direction expands the content at times, and labor costs are relatively small.
I.e:
Consider the simplest role-playing game. Suppose we have a character - a dodger. He needs to pump in his elbow to raise damage with daggers. Well, he would have shook his dexterity to the blue in the face, if everything was so simple? a linear graph of the dependence of damage on dexterity (especially when it is only dexterity that is needed to raise the corresponding weapon). It quickly gets annoying and the level increase becomes a formality. moreover, subsequently the levels rise slowly, and the effect is given numerically as much, and as a percentage - extremely small. There is no more incentive to raise the level.
Let's add additional requirements for the use of weapons - strength, intelligence. then, in addition to receiving bonuses to damage, you need to raise the characteristics to carry a new weapon, which sometimes makes you wait for the level to put on a new thing. This is an additional incentive to raise it.
etc.
In appearance, the task of creating depth may seem rather complicated (the examples above are clearly not enough, and it is not so easy to invent them much more). However, in practice. coming up with it is really not difficult. It is difficult to balance then. Here the “two appointments rule” helps us.
Its essence lies in the fact that where depth is needed - the whole should have two (or more) appointments. Two (or more) requirements. Two (or more) of all that you can think of:
Dexterity not only raises damage from daggers, but also increases the energy spent on actions, is a key parameter for different skills (affects their effectiveness), etc.
The weapon requires not only dexterity and strength to swing, but also has the weight of equipment, one-handed and two-handed. big-small, character class restrictions, etc.
A good example of the application of this rule is also the moment when something has not only advantages, but also disadvantages.
Continuing the theme of character development in a role-playing game:
Take the same agility. She needed, of course, dodgers. She raises damage from daggers. copies, bows, etc. But it is needed not only by the dodgers: protection indicators, the level of energy (spent on actions), the spell casting speed also rise from it.
Any characteristic has a “ceiling”, after which its increase has almost no previous effect. But it makes sense to pump the same force if you want to carry a two-handed weapon in one hand (the required values are significantly higher than the “ceiling”).
Take the significance of the level: you spend points on increasing strength to have damage, and then you find a new set of equipment that you cannot lift: it is too heavy, you need endurance. Well, or not needed: you can move slowly, but well protected. What does the gradation of the speed of movement is not 2, but 4.
Take any weapon, for example, spears: they have relatively little damage, and they are inferior to small weapons in attack speed, but they have a high range, which allows you to stay away from the enemy.
Take shields: they not only allow you to block attacks, but also have special properties, such as a parry, or attack, or the use of a special property of a weapon in the other hand.
In Dark Souls there is nothing that would be needed only in one place, only for one purpose.
Let's imagine a civilization with an auto-generator of maps (as it is), with a large number of nations (as it is) and individual abilities of each of them (as it is). Everything, without everything else.
Adding new nations, new buildings. New technologies, new wonders, new types of cities and map improvements - all this development in one plane.
And now we will return its other elements to civilization: politics, culture, trade, city-states, religion. All these elements give the player the opportunity to “work around”, create a second layer of gameplay. So, losing on the level of development of technologies and cities, it is possible to persuade other nations to war against the leader. or suppress their dominant religion.
Below I give a very rough and short outline of the idea for the game. The goal is to show you the train of thought, the approach with which you can use all the above techniques. By itself, the idea may seem to you completely hopeless and not suitable for implementation, but this is not the essence of the example.
First you need to come up with an idea. What we want to tell and show to the players (this is not necessarily the plot, or not only the plot) For example, we want to make a survival. to tell about, survival in the deserted northern lands.
Decide on the style of the game in all directions: Continuing our example, let it be a 3D refuge with orienteering: neither roads nor a magic map with built-in GPS, but with the ability to start the day again in bed (the dream was a nightmare). work well the sound: the sounds of nature, the crackle of a fire, blows of an ax on a tree, etc. Each action must be clearly audible: it will emphasize loneliness. Also important will be the weather conditions: rain, blizzard, sun, etc. Here the depth of gameplay will be added: depending on the weather, you will have to do different things.
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Preparing for a hike in the location: the limit on portable equipment. Light for speed, intelligence? with traps for animals (what)? Here the depth of gameplay is added - a hike for the purpose of exploration. Special moves, special goals, special features.
... enter other characters over time. trigger - the achievement of a certain level of development (after a rather long period of the game). Here, the introduction of new mechanics: trade, robbery (player and player), racketeering, etc. Some passers-by may recognize GG. Plot?
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- Why am I interested?
- How did the authors achieve this effect?
- Why does this technique work in this game, but it looks odd in that one?
- Why did the game provoke such discussions (bad / good)?
- What did people like (not)?
- etc.
Answers to such questions led me to the realization of "backstage" methods and techniques for creating games. Here I mean the mechanisms hidden behind the façade of the game that control what is happening on the screen. They make the game complete, harmonious, deep and, therefore, interesting. That is what I’ll try to tell you now.
Structure, Atmosphere, Narrative
The atmosphere is closely related to the plot of the game, so now we will talk a lot about the structure of the game from the point of view of its plot.
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First of all, we will depict the “scheme” or “map” - as you like, on which the main components of the game will be depicted, and on which I will be able to show how they are formed, their “behind the scenes” interaction and role in the finished product.
Scheme
Briefly by elements:
- The idea determines the meaning of everything. This is not just a gameplay idea. This is what we want to convey to the player. Game design, art design, and plot are just the means of conveying this idea.
- Peace - Independent of game design, art-design and plot, but is an arena for the presentation of an idea (1). Accordingly, fully submits to her.
- Global history is a part of a common history, obviously and not directly serving at the beginning, but manifested in certain specific points in local histories (4-6).
- Local stories, leading the player to the main thing - global history. revealing it from different sides. THIS IS THE MOST AREA WHICH THE PLAYER SEES ON THE SCREEN! Her, and nothing else.
- Characters live and exist in the world, and become unwitting participants. we know their history, character, and habits before the beginning of the story, between local stories, in areas. invisible player. the dotted lines on the player’s area mark the moments of the first appearance on the screen.
Characters and stories
There are two approaches to storytelling:
- The serving characters . With this approach, the characters, as charismatic and interesting as they are, serve the story being told. Here, a story is invented, its prologue, the culmination of a climax, a denouement, an epilogue, and characters are introduced as elements necessary for its flow.
- Led story . It's all the opposite: the characters were originally created. They are self-sufficient and live in a prepared world, according to its rules and laws. Like established personalities, they have ambitions, desires, goals. And they follow them, intersecting each other, competing, engaging in conflicts and confrontations. The story here is born from their actions, and serves only as a complement, a background.
Of course, both approaches somehow intersect with each other, and fanatically following one of them is dangerous. You should find a comfortable balance between them, and stick to it.
I hold the opinion that it is convenient to shift this balance towards the second approach: it is easier to design the structure of the game, since the concept itself implies the subordination of some elements set by other elements to the rules. Fewer opportunities to make a mistake.
World and idea
- The world can be viewed as a character. He lives and exists according to certain laws imposed by the idea of the project. He reacts as events occurring in him. The influence of some of them is small, and does not have a noticeable effect (of course, it does not make sense to work through such events in this context), but others can have a very significant impact on the world, and it should react to them (we remember about “honesty” before given rules and laws). The world can be viewed as a character whose “story” is the idea of the game. From this point of view, it will be easier to describe the honest reaction of the world to the events.
- Idea. It is never stated directly, but it is often easy to “read between the lines.” The idea is conveniently divided into two components: storyline and gameplay. Mostly they exist separately from each other, but there is a dependence. For example, it is difficult to tell an action story with a turn-based strategy.
The concept of balance of serving characters and the driven story is also applicable here. It is more convenient to shift the balance towards the serving characters: to formulate an idea in this case is easier.
Examples
Fallout 4
(example of loss of atmospheric)
F4 is an elegant sandbox in which, as it has become fashionable to say, you can and should entertain yourself. the authors created a really impressive set of tools, but what happened to the atmosphere?
On the one hand, they threatened a lot of time = effort + money to draw the world. It is really detailed like no other game on this planet. Visually no complaints. But what happens in other areas?
Fallout always showed a lifeless desert, in which there were rare and deadly enemies. Now, the enemies are everywhere: two steps can not be stepped on, so as not to stumble upon someone orcs who have been turned into useless meat: they are no different (neither by force nor by dullness) from people. the mystical organizations into which it was difficult to break through, and after breaking through into which it was difficult to achieve something, disappeared. The brotherhood of steel now lets all oncoming homeless people into the captain's bridge of its flagship airship. Summarizing: enemies, friends ... all have lost their significance and meaning: now it’s just meat on the map.
They say: "Build your home, build a defense and protect it from attacks." Well, I built, put the guns, so that annoying “!” disappeared from the screen, and what do I see? in 80 hours of gameplay, he saw a couple of unfortunates attacked a settlement 2-3 times. Once I couldn’t wait to wait until “ours” would shoot down “theirs”, took out a trunk and solved the question in 5 seconds. In addition, there were so many settlements very quickly that it became unclear who and how to defend: they lost their value and meaning. At the same time they could not be forced to gather in a heap. But to create new ones is always welcome, as if there were not too many of them already. “Severe wastelands with merciless orcs? no, we keep the farm together. ” Going to the locations, you are more happy about the screwdriver found than to the patrons you have hundreds in your pockets
and so on, you can continue.
Metal Gear Solid 5
(an example of inscribing a ridiculous in the atmosphere)
Everyone has seen, and who has not seen - heard about the Fulton system that appeared in MGS. This is when people and even tanks fly away in a balloon to the player’s base. Stupidity, right? But this absurdity was not told in the welcome window of the UI. there was a whole series of steps to introduce the system into the game: the main character in the production video was not told about this by anyone. And one of the key characters. We saw the reaction of two well-developed characters that we know and whom we believe in this system. We see how enemies react to it: they shout, they do not understand what kind of garbage they are and raise an alarm - a plausible and natural reaction. We see how the world reacts to the emergence of this system: over time, the enemies will realize what it is. they not only begin to talk about it among themselves, but also react adequately to it, shooting at the ball and saving their colleagues. There are a lot of jokes about it on the Internet, but does it spoil the game? As I can see, there is more positive PR.
This war of mine
(An example of how the elements of the game meet the given conditions of the game)
A game about the survival of ordinary people in the city with prolonged fighting.
There is war. everywhere dust, dirt, the sun can not see because of the smoke. = The whole game is made in dark colors. moreover, almost black and white.
Characters are simple people. = They die from 1-2 shots, from diseases, from cold and hunger.
Around - ruin. no shops, no pharmacies, nothing. many supplies if not yet plundered, then try right now. = you have to steal, and the characters are going through this, which can be seen in the diaries
If you steal, they will try to steal from you too. Helping people will help you too. But these are causes and effects. it's just always in the game.
Games about ...
You can often hear formulations like “this game is about a plot” or “this game is about gameplay”. What is behind these words? In this particular game, the corresponding component of the idea dominates. It cannot be said that in the game “about the plot”, even if it is Heavy Rain, there is no gameplay at all: it is there, but it feels like it is often said that there is much more plot there.
Do you need a “game about plot” gameplay? Do I need a “game about gameplay” plot?
Let's look at Heavy Rain: let's simplify the gameplay before pressing the “next scene” button. It will be interesting? I think not. Or on the contrary: let's make it so that instead of 8 buttons in QTE 40 different combinations take part, and in the breaks between them you would have to play chess with a friend over the network. This situation also makes it worse. And why? Because in the first case, the gameplay becomes very small. Too little. and in the second it becomes so much that it begins to interfere with the plot. Do you need Heavy Rain gameplay? Is needed. The more - the better, but only until it begins to interfere with the plot.
Consider another example:
Civilization Sid Meier's ingenious strategy, the success of which no one washes to repeat (even he himself, as the sad reviews of Beyond Earth show). On the gameplay of civilization and do not need to talk. Does civilization need a plot? “Yes, as long as it does not interfere with the gameplay” is the right answer, but the gameplay of civilization is so deep that in the space left for the plot it is extremely difficult to tell at least some complete and complete story. This is a singular exception, and I’m not even sure what to strive for.
Another example is This War Of Mine. “This game is about gameplay” - many will say. They will also say that there is a great atmosphere there ... As we explained above, the atmosphere is closely related to the plot. So the plot is still there. It is served through the thoughts, opinions, biographies of each inhabitant of the shelter, and it looks quite harmonious.
But I would tell a little more in the game: there is already a turning point (when a message arrives that one of the belligerents is starting to lose). The plot and begs to turn around at this moment. It is here, when the gameplay is already mastered, and it would be worthwhile to begin to develop the storyline: it already does not interfere with playing. It is a pity that the world of the game almost did not respond to this event.
I am all for what: between the gameplay and the plot, in any game, the ratio is traced. And our task, as developers, is to find a good balance between the plot and the gameplay. What does not have the only right combination: for each audience, for each genre, for each situation, it is different.
Emotions
Emotions are remembered much better than anything else, and therefore it is worth paying special attention to the mechanisms for invoking the player.
Emotions, we express our attitude to something. Lack of emotion is boredom. And people are ready to engage in all kinds, just not to be bored.
Consider the graph of the player’s skill / game time. While playing a game, a person studies its mechanisms and eventually gets better at them. Conventionally, we denote 2 lines: the top one measures the area above which the player becomes too easy to play, and the bottom one, respectively, is too hard.
(Sorry for the paint)
In a good game, the player’s curve usually runs somewhere in between. As the game progresses, we familiarize ourselves with its mechanisms and study them, as can be seen from the oscillations of the curve, but later it converges to a certain value and ceases to fluctuate. The game turns into a routine, emotions disappear and we get bored. The result is obvious: we stop playing.
How to cause emotions in the player? It is clear that we cannot do this endlessly, but I would like to prolong the effect as long as possible.
Entering a new mechanic is working fine, but it is expensive. Here come to the aid of events. When, for example, we give the player something very good. Here we dramatically facilitate the game, but at the same time make it feel all-powerful.
Or vice versa: we put him in a difficult position, challenging him. Both cause emotions to the player, but this tool must be used very carefully: with frequent repetitions, these events are perceived as ordinary mechanics, but the graph looks like this:
(Sorry for the paint again. This is the last time!)
In the context of the script, this is called the “congested plot.” There is nothing good in this, of course.
So, each deviation of the curve from the “normal” position causes the player to have emotions. But a similar schedule can be constructed for other components of the game: exactly the same principle can cause emotions in the player to sound, picture, script, and of gameplay, as we just said. Each of these components can occasionally produce an extraordinary action, causing the corresponding curve to go out of balance, and combining them together, we get a whole series of such events, without overloading the gameplay, the story, or anything else.
Curious fact:
Negative emotions can also play a positive role, if you carefully stand in a series of positive ones. This is an unpredictable experiment, which is quite dangerous. But history knows a couple of examples where the mistakes of the authors (including technical ones) gave such an effect.
Examples
Final fantasy x
(an example of an “emotional carousel”)
The game begins with a plot introduction, quickly sets up plot questions, but under the pretext of searching for answers, sends a rather long acquaintance with the gameplay. Then, suddenly, everything begins (each step causes rather strong emotions):
- The player is given a completely new game mechanics, not at all similar to everything that happened before (and I emphasize once again that the game has been going on for quite some time)
- Immediately after training, this mechanic challenges the player with its complexity, throwing it straight into the thick of it (the real match in blitzball)
- Further, the plot very well crashes into the gameplay, not allowing to finish the match. The complete chaos begins at the stadium: monsters are attacking the civilian population, chaos, confusion.
- Classic gameplay breaks in: we take up the sword and begin to protect people. Each next wave becomes more and more difficult, down to the local mini-boss, which is quite difficult to defeat.
- Here the stereotyped thought prophesies the end of torture, but no, the next wave from the same mini-boss bursts into the field, but also with the retinue. the brain starts to boil, you remember how many potions are left in your pocket, how many mana and HP are in the characters, all this is strained, and ...
- The key character that we were looking for (by plot) all this time appears. there is a ton of questions for him, but there is no time to say: you understand this in the plot - the battle must continue. Here it is. Who are you looking for, and instead of getting to know him as a character, continue the plot, you get acquainted with his skills, which is starting to tear the brain into spare parts.
- The boss was beaten, a CGI-movie of heavenly beauty begins.
- During the video, a character appears who is known by the player’s roller as a villain, but now he helps you by killing your enemies. saving the city. what for? why?
- It finally begins a dialogue with the character we have been looking for. Here one of the strong plot turns is revealed, which is really difficult, and even almost impossible to predict: there was no hint, there was no reason to believe that this is the case.
- On finishing it is an easy emotional, slobbering scene, revealing characters from a new side.
Total, ten (!) Of diverse emotions, in one gaming session. Remains forever.
“Layering”, depth
Imagine that the game content is a piece of sausage that a player eats. When he eats it, he will master all the content, and he will become bored of playing. Now I will ask you to remember and compare the sausage that we put in places of public catering (saby, for example), and the one that you cut yourself at home. What is the difference between them?
The sausage we get in the canteens is often wide, large in appearance (because it is cut diagonally), at home we cut off a piece of a smaller area, but much thicker, so we eat the sausage much easier. I'm all for what: to expand the content of the game, stretching it in one plane is possible, but only for some time.
Imagine a 10x10 cm sausage. This is our sausage. Let's expand the game content by adding 10 cm to the length. We get 10x20, i.e. we added 10cm ^ 2 sausages, content doubled. Now we add 10 cm to the width. This again increases the content by 2 times, but I had to add 20 cm ^ 2. And so on. Expansion of content in one plane gradually becomes prohibitively expensive.
But now we will add the third dimension to our sausage, and we will start increasing it in this direction. Movement for a small distance in this direction expands the content at times, and labor costs are relatively small.
I.e:
Consider the simplest role-playing game. Suppose we have a character - a dodger. He needs to pump in his elbow to raise damage with daggers. Well, he would have shook his dexterity to the blue in the face, if everything was so simple? a linear graph of the dependence of damage on dexterity (especially when it is only dexterity that is needed to raise the corresponding weapon). It quickly gets annoying and the level increase becomes a formality. moreover, subsequently the levels rise slowly, and the effect is given numerically as much, and as a percentage - extremely small. There is no more incentive to raise the level.
Let's add additional requirements for the use of weapons - strength, intelligence. then, in addition to receiving bonuses to damage, you need to raise the characteristics to carry a new weapon, which sometimes makes you wait for the level to put on a new thing. This is an additional incentive to raise it.
etc.
In appearance, the task of creating depth may seem rather complicated (the examples above are clearly not enough, and it is not so easy to invent them much more). However, in practice. coming up with it is really not difficult. It is difficult to balance then. Here the “two appointments rule” helps us.
The rule of two appointments
Its essence lies in the fact that where depth is needed - the whole should have two (or more) appointments. Two (or more) requirements. Two (or more) of all that you can think of:
Dexterity not only raises damage from daggers, but also increases the energy spent on actions, is a key parameter for different skills (affects their effectiveness), etc.
The weapon requires not only dexterity and strength to swing, but also has the weight of equipment, one-handed and two-handed. big-small, character class restrictions, etc.
A good example of the application of this rule is also the moment when something has not only advantages, but also disadvantages.
Examples
Dark Souls 3
Continuing the theme of character development in a role-playing game:
Take the same agility. She needed, of course, dodgers. She raises damage from daggers. copies, bows, etc. But it is needed not only by the dodgers: protection indicators, the level of energy (spent on actions), the spell casting speed also rise from it.
Any characteristic has a “ceiling”, after which its increase has almost no previous effect. But it makes sense to pump the same force if you want to carry a two-handed weapon in one hand (the required values are significantly higher than the “ceiling”).
Take the significance of the level: you spend points on increasing strength to have damage, and then you find a new set of equipment that you cannot lift: it is too heavy, you need endurance. Well, or not needed: you can move slowly, but well protected. What does the gradation of the speed of movement is not 2, but 4.
Take any weapon, for example, spears: they have relatively little damage, and they are inferior to small weapons in attack speed, but they have a high range, which allows you to stay away from the enemy.
Take shields: they not only allow you to block attacks, but also have special properties, such as a parry, or attack, or the use of a special property of a weapon in the other hand.
In Dark Souls there is nothing that would be needed only in one place, only for one purpose.
Civilization
Let's imagine a civilization with an auto-generator of maps (as it is), with a large number of nations (as it is) and individual abilities of each of them (as it is). Everything, without everything else.
Adding new nations, new buildings. New technologies, new wonders, new types of cities and map improvements - all this development in one plane.
And now we will return its other elements to civilization: politics, culture, trade, city-states, religion. All these elements give the player the opportunity to “work around”, create a second layer of gameplay. So, losing on the level of development of technologies and cities, it is possible to persuade other nations to war against the leader. or suppress their dominant religion.
What to do with it, how to apply?
Below I give a very rough and short outline of the idea for the game. The goal is to show you the train of thought, the approach with which you can use all the above techniques. By itself, the idea may seem to you completely hopeless and not suitable for implementation, but this is not the essence of the example.
First you need to come up with an idea. What we want to tell and show to the players (this is not necessarily the plot, or not only the plot) For example, we want to make a survival. to tell about, survival in the deserted northern lands.
Decide on the style of the game in all directions: Continuing our example, let it be a 3D refuge with orienteering: neither roads nor a magic map with built-in GPS, but with the ability to start the day again in bed (the dream was a nightmare). work well the sound: the sounds of nature, the crackle of a fire, blows of an ax on a tree, etc. Each action must be clearly audible: it will emphasize loneliness. Also important will be the weather conditions: rain, blizzard, sun, etc. Here the depth of gameplay will be added: depending on the weather, you will have to do different things.
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Preparing for a hike in the location: the limit on portable equipment. Light for speed, intelligence? with traps for animals (what)? Here the depth of gameplay is added - a hike for the purpose of exploration. Special moves, special goals, special features.
Other
... enter other characters over time. trigger - the achievement of a certain level of development (after a rather long period of the game). Here, the introduction of new mechanics: trade, robbery (player and player), racketeering, etc. Some passers-by may recognize GG. Plot?
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Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/328330/
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