For those of you who want to do more in the world of gaming than enjoy titles from a casual perspective, this article over at Game Career Guide will prove most handy. Even if you don't have a game of your own brewing inside your head, it's a pretty great read. It places you in the perspective of the designer and how they look at other people's games.
I find it almost boggling to read from this perspective, as it makes you realize just how many options you have before you when creating a complete universe for users to explore. It becomes obvious quickly that a tremendous part of a designer's responsibility is how to manage tedium, as most games are made up of repeating actions in one way or another. There's a lovely rhythm that all designers are seeking, one which the average gamer can only appreciate in the most casual sense.
I'd love to hear some feedback from users that have either created a game or want to about this topic. Do you believe the best games have this silent rhythm? What's the magic combination of elements that makes for a perfect gaming experience? Are they different every time?
[Thanks Justin!]
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Contest:
12:04 PM on 12.19.2007
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- Dan -
and not even spelled correctly
I don't agree that there is a formula for the perfect gaming experience. I imagine if there was, we would have more good games.
I honestly think much of it has to do with passion and imagination and that varies wildly with developers. You want to make a good game, but you also want it to succeed. You have to balance between not just what you think is fun, but what MANY people will find fun. You have to have the passion to stick with the project and make it the best it can be while having the imagination to come up with creative ways to make it fun for as many as you possibly can.
I think this article gives good insight into how to look at what a successful game does right and why.
(Also..lulz at the pic. It's so bad.)
I think other designers should look less at other games and look more on things around us. I personally feel we've only explored a tiny tiny bit of what is possible to make.
This is the primary reason that I get so riled up when players' opinions of games stray too far into the extremes. To say that a game is absolute shit is to deny even the smallest element that can make it worth learning from (Example: Capcom's Auto Modellista may have been an absolute mess in its execution, but it was a damn cool idea, and needs to be revisited). Likewise, enshrining any game, no matter how good, without acknowledging its pitfalls can doom a wannabe developer to the same mistakes (I certainly hope my games don't suffer from the schizophrenic rift between lofty, proactive ideals and knee-jerk, reactive gameplay that permeates every second of BioShock).
Everything has potential value, and nothing is flawless.
I still love you Colette.
<3
Also what are you doing posting a real article up? You know nobody here actually reads those. Though honestly it's not a terribly substantial piece.
Also nitpicking, they used Silent Hill as an example of a restricted type of camera... say what?
That's an easy one, to avoid drawing the entire level :-D! (they did that too in Superman 64 with green poison gas, ugh)
Games that are averaged out for the mainstream have a predictable rhythm which puts me to sleep, which is why I abhor most fan faves like Halo 3. But Call of Duty 4, on the other hand, keeps things fresh, with levels that alternate pacing (sneak, snipe, assault, defend) or perspective (C-130 FTW!).
Anyways, Portnow knows what the heck he's talking about. Check out his other articles on Next-Gen.biz.
Once the game is finished, it's easy for a player to look at it and say "This is good, but I would have changed X and Y and Z"... Fact is, it is very easy to lose perspective while you are building the damn thing. You start seeing problems everywhere and the player won't even notice them. You'll also downplay issues as minor that the player will really hate. Everybody thinks they could make the greatest game ever, but very few possess the ability to not lose player perspective when constantly working on fine details.
Then again, most people also think they'd make the greatest game ever by making a "world that changes", "the grass actually grows and can be cut", "where people grow older" and that "every action impacts the whole world". Y'know, the unrealistic view of people who have no idea what they speak of and fail to realize that every feature takes some time and manpower to make.