Ultimate Game Design V.000000000000000000000000000002

TOC

1. What is this about (Introduction):

2.What is wrong with games – Examples of flaws in games (Research):

2.1 Adventure

2.1.1 Shadowrun (SNES)

Shadow run is a adventure rpg game with very mild and simple action feature. Main concept is that player is needed to explore the game environment, gather items, talk to npc and gather information. Gathering information is very important feature, because player needs highlighted parts from interrogations or conversations to be able to have all the information needed to proceed in the game.

Action considers the parts where player actually shoots with the pointer mainly something which tries to kill you. These attackers are usually some random encounters, which happens or doesnt happen, depends how player wants them to occur. Player can avoid most of the random attacks by jumping between parts of changing game areas. Every time player changes the game "room", the engine raffles the result were there any random enemies or how many. These random enemies are just there to make difficult the players process in the game. Random enemies perhaps arent rationalized, because most of the time they are just annoying if the player doesnt know where to go or what to do.

Rpg -elements consists player character development and following the characters improvements during the game. Player collects karma points, which he can use for developing character during the sleep time. Sleep time also restores all the health points. Karma poinst can be gained by killing enemies. This allows also grinding. Adventure consist the "free" roaming world, where player is able to find different kinds of npc and objects. There usually isnt useless objects, because all of them are needed to use some point in the game. Story reminds lots of influences from the book called as Neuromancer. Adventure and action is made "point and click" -style.

Main dilemma of the game is that there is good potential of good adventure and story behind it all, but typically the adventure, solving all the problems, are made maybe too tough, that often player doesnt know where to find all the answers in order to proceed in the game. Not to mention those random encounters, which often occurs, makes the adventure solving more diffucult, but not interesting. Ofcourse u are not needed to fight against all the random encounters but it is just a bad game design that there is something totally useless. Random encouters makes damage to character, but not too much that u could get easily killed by them. If u want always stop and kill them, u can get karma poinst but it takes kinda much time and effort if the area is already known and familiar and player is trying to just solve the last puzzles. After all the game reminds more like adventure than rpg-action.

Shadowrun is a good game, atleast back in nineties, but it is not a immortal game, those games which u seriously wanna play after 20 years. Main problem is the adventure, which is typically made boring and of course complicated, forcing player to saw around the streets to figure out where to go or what to do, whom to ask, what is missing etc. All the random encounters and badly made adventure makes whole game not "smooth" what it should be. The game is also easy to exploit by using walkthroughs, and usually player uses walkthrough when he is getting desperate or bored. Is good game mentioned to make player feel bored more than feel entertained?

2.2 Tycoon

2.3 Action

2.3.1 Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is a over the shoulder third person action shooting zombie game developed by Slant Six Games and Capcom. Capcom is known for quality games, especially from Resident Evil franchise. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is very bad game, the engine barely handles the performance to be able to be "smooth". FOV is not adjustable and it is simple too "narrow". Aiming and shooting are horrible, sometimes enemies takes hit and sometimes they doesnt. Laser pointer and actual cursors isnt always same, which usually confuses player which pointer is the actual aiming. AI is the worst, it just doesnt know almost nothing.

What is the teaching of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, is that the game is only sold under the license and the name of Resident Evil, same time being not Resident Evil. It is only an vague and empty entity, which offers some zombies, shooting and and action, everything made below good quality. Why? For easy money, because the game was also somewhat cheap considering other games. It cost ~35€, while new high profile games usually costs ~50€. Development companies knew that the game was bad and they had to put it out with lower price tag, and hope that Resident Evil name would sell something. This is called as title raping or name abusing, luring the players to buy something what it should be. Who knows what Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City should have been or would have needed to be. Maybe something similar to Resident Evil 5? Resident Evil name is the problem which gives people high expectations and hopes to be a good game. The game would have been even decent game if the Resident Evil franchise would have been abandoned and developers would have done something (different) what they could have actually handled. This is the point where people are forced to download illegal copies of games to know what is beyond the actual covers. Of course there is critics and reviews which actually works in this case, but usually players needs their own test outs to judge is it a good or bad game, because gaming is a personal experience.

2.3.2 Star Wars - Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast

2.4 Rpg

2.4.1 Chrono Trigger (SNES)

Chrono Trigger is a rpg adventure game, which consist heavy rpg elements and huge adventure campaign. The game is heavily driven by a story and it also allows some grinding. Whole impression of the Chrono Trigger is that it is very good and exciting game. It contains simply lots of playing, something around or over 20 hours, which is massive single player campaign and experience. The game is mixed turn based and real time action, which means that pack of player characters encounters some amounts of enemies which every one of them individually can cast their attacks when characters are ready. There is a option for that though.

Chrono Trigger do have some mild free exploration features, which allows players to grind out their characters. The game doesnt have random encounters because the game only have certain points which causes enemies to battle. This gives player choice to explore freely and not get stuck to countles amounts of encounters which is frustrating in random encounter style. Chrono Trigger feels free and very smooth adventure and story telling, until near the end. Near the end player is required to battle all the time and room after the room there is a new room with some enemies, which feels like spamming or forced story telling. Forced story telling means that developers just wanted to lengthen the game with spamming rooms and enemies to make it feel like epic or massive entity. At some point player might feel that "give the final boss already, thx!", and thats the point where gaming is already working and not fun? After completing the game the entity still is very solid and the game structure didnt feel like spamming. The end came just right in time before the whole entity would have started to feel seriously frustrating and boring. Or it came just in time where player already was sweating and frustrated?

The point of the Chrono Trigger is to have good progressive game structure with a story, which is not forced to look or hear. A game should have lots of playing and action. RPG character development is made fluent, save points are always in good distances, grinding is maybe not necessary? Everything is intertwisted together almost perfectly. Graphics and sounds are very good. This is good exsample of a good game, which seems to have been made carefully and calmly.

2.4.2 APB: All Points Bulletin (2010) & Reloaded

APB: All Points Bulletin is a action third person shooting rpg game, which allows people to "explore" the world freely. The game have already two evolutions. The original APB came out 2010 and was a flop. The second came is same game but in form of free 4 play.

There is nothing to explore in the APB world. The quests are too simple and small. The PVP quests usually matches uneven teams. Weapons are unintuitive. The game is not chaotic and doesnt have that riot response feel as it might should have been. Players are protected from free killing. APB should have been massive riot response game where cops tries to hold the city under control. The game worlds global criminality level would have been the main resourse and economy of the game. COPS and CROOKS, how uneven balanced teams there are determines how free and safe the city is. The freedom to do as much as wanted has always been missing. For example every tasks are just formal missions, which pattern is always easy notice. This leads to that the whole game feels like formal and simple mechanics, which doesnt contain much of believable or exciting new experieces for couple hours long.

Chernarus life or Sahrani life shoud have been the main concept for APB. In these two samples illegal behavior is easy way to richness, but also same time hard to carry out, because consequeces comes after all players actions. For example in Chernarus Life contains total freedom to do what ever players want to and there is no quests or paths to follow. That is the most exciting settings for MMO. Chances are tried to increase as much as possible, only players creates the content and rules inside the gaming world. In Chernarus Life the main setting is to choose to be neither a civilian or a cop. Cops looks after civilians, trying to keep order in the game world, while civilians tries to make living, do money to buy food. Ofcourse gaming world offers lots of illegal and legal possibilities to gather what players want.

2.5 Strategy

2.5.1 Civilization V

3. What should be in good game (Developement):

3.1 Story

Story which player is able to follow, but is not forced to be displayed.

3.2 Theme

Reflects from graphics, sound scapes

3.3 Action

Game should always contain real time and turn based action.

3.4 Rpg

Character development. Environment development. Npc and interactions with em.

3.5 Warehouse

Stash, home, housing, safe ...

3.6 Economy

Store, monetary system ...

4. Ultimate Game Design – Actual game desing and concept(Conclusion):