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阐述游戏设计的自我反映及重要元素

发布时间:2014-01-14 17:06:13 Tags:,,,,

作者:Corfaisus

有一个不幸的事实就是,人们成长过程中通常听不进那些将影响其健康和长期关系,并且是他们力所能及的事情和道理,所以才会造成今天这么高的离婚率。如果有更多母亲愿意与子女坐下来聊聊那些无关子女,真正需要他人倾听的心里话,那些经历了许多艰难的夫妻也许最后就不会劳燕分飞了。

如果你愿意听听我的唠叨,我就可以给你提一些可能积极影响你此后余生的建议。现在,你可能并不想听这些,但游戏设计的意义并不仅限于此。如果你只着眼于一些“美观的图片”,或者贪图简便的玩法而不求自己所做东西的价值,那么你最好还是给自己做游戏。

坦白地说,青少年通常并不理解如何正确对待游戏设计,他们玩过许多游戏,并认为游戏设计也不过如此,但却没有深入思考其表面体验之下的深度,即那些抓住其眼球并让他们感觉良好的特殊内容。他们一直就有轻率、自私以及无情的倾向,所以是时候提出问题而非简单地进入不断犯错的实践阶段。如果你是这些年轻人之一,那么以下建议可能并不完全适合你,所以不用强迫自己理解成年人的这些微妙的事情。

本文将致力于探讨游戏设计与妥善处理情人关系之间的相似之处,尽管你可能会认为将这两者联系在一起有点荒谬。但本文着重说明如何创造具有真正价值和令人满意的内容,即那种能够让我们放松片刻并温暖内心的特殊体验。

为了便于阅读,我将把以下要点划分为与制作游戏、玩游戏,以及处理评论有关的事项。需要指出的是,由于萝卜青菜各有所爱,我们就不可能提出一个“完美游戏”的开发原则或者包含这些要点的理论。因此我只讲述创造引人入胜的游戏体验的基本要点。

video-game-design(from nyfa.edu)

video-game-design(from nyfa.edu)

制作游戏

这正是你投入耐心和创意的地方,并以此检测你是否满足了那些从百忙之中抽空体验你所制作游戏的用户的期望。所以,千万不要浪费他们的时间。最重要的是,不要操之过急。

介绍:

你可曾玩过由新手制作,试图直接跳到玩法,甚至连介绍字幕都没有的游戏?这看起来太唐突了不是吗?这也正是游戏必须拥有合适的介绍说明,以便于玩家访问游戏不同环节的原因。

有些人可能会说游戏介绍不应该超过一分钟,游戏应该让玩家尽快控制自己的角色,但对他们这些说法我只能表示遗憾。如果执行得当,你可以设置一个更长一点的介绍(但也要注意过犹不及的问题,因为这可能让你的用户失去兴趣),只要你能够激发他们的好奇心,将以一种吸引他们探索更多内容的方式将其引进游戏世界。当然,在介绍阶段你不可以填塞过多信息,无论你的世界多有深度,此时已经没有人会在乎你游戏的意义,以及你有多大的逆袭机率了。

要记住,你的游戏介绍是要建立游戏与玩家之间的最初联系,当他们更了解游戏之后再抛入更重要的详细信息。你可以借助过场动画来介绍更多游戏内容(游戏邦注:文本墙通常并不管用)。可以大胆将这些过后的深入介绍置于故事情节的低潮处,以便维持玩家兴趣或再度激发兴趣。

图像:

在介绍的中间及之后过程中,你游戏的视觉范围将开始对用户产生影响,并且将可衡量出他们是否有意深入探索故事。对所有游戏设计环节都投入足够的关注总是有益的,但如果游戏的视觉设计令人不满,那就可能打消玩家继续探索游戏世界的念头。

再次回到“给予足够的关注”这个话题,开发者应该一直确保自己的游戏世界看起来美观,每个城镇、地下城、战场等区域,在布局和用途上都要与其游戏体验相对应。不幸的是,开发者对这些细节的过度投入或关注不足都可能无法得到认可,所以不要为了让玩家“看看这些东西多有趣”而令画面杂乱无章,因为这只会令玩家分神并难以穿行。图像不一致以及地理上的不可行性会削弱游戏趣味,不应该让某些“挡道”的东西令玩家丧失游戏的沉浸感。想象一下,如果你是那种对纹身或穿孔并不感兴趣的人却在可疑的地点发现可疑的特点,这就会令人分散注意力,不是吗?

音乐和声音:

如果没有这两者,玩家就不会注意到游戏中的情感暗示,游戏也就不存在所谓的氛围了,房间里的时钟节拍也可能极大破坏玩家在游戏中的沉浸感。虽然游戏中的图像质量足以令玩家产生继续探索游戏世界的兴趣,但恰到好处的音乐选择以及多种声音有助于增强游戏的自然感。有些人可能还认为音乐和声音比图像更重要,因为这些是真正促使玩家去关心游戏方向的元素。

因此,你必须理解如何确定声音一致性,以便减少可能游戏所传达体验的奇怪杂音。我认为所有声音的选择应该能够增加游戏体验,而非削弱游戏体验。

重复性是一种有可能影响体验的因素。当然,游戏应该找到并保持一种节奏和韵律,但她如果你只是反复地唱相同的一两首歌,所有音乐的应用就会显得毫无价值,因为原本应该呈现自身特点的各个城镇和地下城感觉却像是之前访问过的一些遥远地区。另外要提醒一下,如果你想让玩家觉得游戏独特而与从不同,就最好避免使用那些别人已经用过的音频。

故事情节:

细节和节奏应该谐调一致,这正是RPG的魅力所在(这于所有游戏来说都很重要)。除游戏玩法,这是另一个玩家除了体验,还将对其施加影响的游戏层面。漫长的交易以及新发现,萌发的新生命以及保持玩家融入性的新机遇。如果你无法正确处理这些情况,那么你可能并不适合这项工作。

丰富的故事情节可以让游戏世界充满生机,并为其功能提供意义,让玩家发现令人难忘的事件和历史发现,如果处理得当,可以让玩家产生为游戏而战的念头,而不是反抗游戏的情绪,这一点我们在之后的文章再深入探讨。现在的关键在于理解仔细规划以及执行以确保以合适的节奏讲故事,而不只是写故事。如果你制作的是RPG,就要尽一切可能避免任何故事相关的干涸期,因为这类游戏一般节奏较慢,不需要任何动作之间的“冷却期”,在其中无故加入任何迭宕只会破坏故事流,削弱玩家的兴趣。

此外还要理解讲故事时要注意其中的微妙性。你不应该在玩家脑中灌输大量细节,有时候,故意遗漏一些与理解故事关系不大的细节有可能鼓励玩家去填被其中的空白,提出他们自己的问题,让他们即使离开了游戏也会对其恋恋不舍。

角色:

只要你玩过游戏,就会知道赋予所有角色一些个性,可以让他们在自己的世界中看起来独一无二,并确立他们存在于故事中的理由。但在更为依赖文本的RPG中,仅靠“一点个性”还是远远不够的,所以不但要为他们行动找到健全的理由,最重要的还是为他们的对话找到合适的理由。角色的多样性不但有助于建立最重要的最初印象,还有助于保持玩家关注整个故事,以及在关键场景中派系安排的变化时这些角色对于任务的意义,例如英雄在一次争吵后就和他人分道扬镳了,或者分头行动围攻敌人堡垒。

这里我要强调一个我认为很重要的信息。

如果你想砍掉某一角色及其体验(至少是在第一或第二章节时),请不要选择人人都喜爱的最大技能,高数值、多才多艺的角色,因为如果你强迫玩家让懒惰、烦躁而令人讨厌的角色担任领袖时,就可能会让玩家对整款游戏失去兴趣。

玩法:

虽然可靠的故事和富有创意的角色的确是创造游戏体验需要考虑的重要细节,但玩法才是刺激玩家自始至终玩完游戏,并确保他们能够再次返回游戏的终极元素。

也许有人会说,只要接触玩法就足够让玩家感到乐趣,但事实并非如此。玩法的成功要素在于它具体如何执行,例如在类似《恶魔城》的游戏中挥舞鞭子可能就不适合类似《洛克人》或《Kirby》这种强调自由移动的游戏。你必须理解自己游戏的结构,以便运用那些能够鼓励玩家继续体验游戏的玩法。

在玩法上要考虑一些总体上“正确”的情况。首先,你应该允许玩家轻松进入游戏,并在保持一定难度的同时让他们探索新游戏理念/区域,确保游戏不会太难(受挫)也不会太容易(无聊)。测试玩家对挑战某一谜题或boss的独特玩法理念的理解,将可确保他们知道自己正在做什么,以及他们该准备采取什么行动。

其次,所有游戏都有自己的峰值和谷值,如果你可以驾驭这一点,并了解游戏何时该引进明智的元素,以便让游戏看起来具有一致性的乐趣,而不是让玩家觉得自己应该换一款游戏,那么你的游戏就有可能更好地保持玩家兴趣。

战斗和谜题:

这看起来像是一个更为独殊的玩法分支。我将尽量简述这一部分内容。简单地说,这就是测试玩家在压力之下能否正常发挥的试验场,你不应该简单地将战斗和谜题填塞到游戏中以延长游戏时间。

我们都玩过游戏并曾犯过一些错误,我将列举一些情况以便之后进行反思。首先,要避免使用“运气”难度,让玩家无从使用自己的技能获胜,而必须反复执行相同的任务直到运气降临获得成功为止。总之一定要避免这种设计“罪状”。

除了运气,玩家还有技能和真正的精力,但请不要让游戏过于困难或重复导致他们沮丧。记住,如果游戏太难就没有人会喜欢了。即使你全心全意相信自己的游戏更好,多数人也还是会对那些让自己受尽折磨的游戏避而远之的。也就是,除非你是自虐狂,不然你的这种游戏设计一定存在问题。

在些我要指出你在设计这些考验灵敏度的游戏,必须着重考虑平衡性、战斗攻击性、熟悉性以及设置关联性的问题,否则这些战斗和谜题就很可能失败,或者沦落为上文提到的游戏设计罪状。

可选择的内容

现在是时候讨论可选择的内容了。你可能会问“可选择的内容不是会让玩家偏离主要目标,并可能破坏游戏平衡性吗?”对某些游戏来说确实如此,但我将解释为何这一设计并不总是坏选择。

有时候“混合选项”正合我意,尤其是在接近游戏尾声,所有其余内容都完全探索出来之时。将玩家置于多项选择有助于将其引向新型而令人兴奋的内容,从而让他们产生重返游戏的念头。此时你最想听到玩家欢呼:“哇,真不知道你还做了这个!这真是太有趣了!让我们探索下去吧!”

即使是在游戏早期环节中,拥有不严格遵从线性路线的选项,也可以让玩家感觉自己拥有选择路径的控制权,并且会逐渐在自己所做事情中投入情感,而不会觉得是故事情节促使他们采取行动。

玩游戏:

我们都听过天涯何处无芳草这一说法,在商店中挑选游戏亦同此理。正如有经验的人就会知道要提什么问题才能确保自己不会因为“徒有其表,毫无实质”而在某人(或者游戏)身上浪费时间。当然,无论你站在哪个立场上,都会希望自己找到值得我们敞开心扉并重新投入的怀抱。

不幸的是,你和电子游戏之间的这段感情无疑是自私的,因为游戏为你所做的不过是夺走你的时间和情感,只留下一些回忆,所以找到一款心仪的游戏就相当重要了。你应该一直寻找那些能够让自己真正沉浸其中的游戏,那些让你周围的声音和光线都消声匿迹,全世界只剩下你和游戏的这种体验。

你十有八九无法一次性玩上8至10小时的游戏,所以这款游戏是否能够让你隔天重新返回完成任务这一点就相当重要了。你会觉得一段不光投入自己的时间,还有爱人的时间,但却换来一无所有的感情值得继续投入吗?你可能会觉得还不如将这些时间投入其他更重要的事情上,因为对于这种不值得的感情,你投入越多,它最终就伤你越深。

最重要的是,当找到至爱(或者玩这些电子游戏)时,每段感觉都会有自己的一系列挑战,你必须克服这些挑战才能让爱长存。有些人可能并不能正常接受自己所面临的困难,所以你应该做好为爱而战的准备,而不是与之相抗,因为这表明你真的想留住这份爱。

但谁知道呢,也许有一天你就会发现游戏给予你的东西超过了它对你的索取,并且会让你毫无遗憾地重返它的怀抱,最终我相信这就是我们生命中值得拥有的一种幸福。虽然俗话说,在感情中的双方都应该是平等的,双方都应该及时延伸情感支持,所以无论你“玩”过多少“游戏”,永远不要认为自己才是中心。一点点投入、理解和敏捷可以让大家走得更远。

给予和接受批评

你可能会自问“天呐,你到底还要说什么?”但正如你所见,我们还没有谈到接受和处理批评的艺术。这里最重要的事情是要文明地给予评价,因为你所评价的对象很可能投入了上百甚至上千小时的开发时间。所以不要太随心所欲,但也不要拐弯抹脚。诚恳是最好的手段,只要你在表达过程中不要太恶毒即可。

作为设计师,你接受了这些批评后要知道自己也要作出相应的回应。没有人能够真正告诉你该如何克服你制作这款投入多时的游戏所面临的个人挑战,只要知道即使是制作最精良的产品也仍然存在改进空间。不要让自尊阻碍自己听取他人的意见,相信我,听取他人看法可以让你获得进步。

最后一句话,你应该清楚人人都有自己的品味,你无法同时取悦所有人。不要因为有人认为你的定制战斗系统并没有你所说的那样强大就感到沮丧,要听取所有意见,但在调整之前的游戏或者考虑将来的项目将采取的内容时,要格外关注那些运用于整体情况的细节而不是从个人偏好出发。

现在,让我们总结一下本文的要点:

*不要草率

*要考虑周到

*要发挥创意

*要倾听他人想法

*找到自己心仪的游戏

*投入可以让自己快乐的事情(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

GAME DESIGN: THE MIRROR OF ONE’S SELF

Corfaisus

A sad fact about the world is that more times than not, people grow up not hearing key things that will affect whether or not a healthy and lifelong relationship is something they’re capable of committing themselves to, hence the staggeringly high percentage of divorces. If more mothers would be willing to sit down with their sons and tell them that it’s not all about them and that they honestly need to be sensitive and listen, more couples whose relationships stand a fighting chance would likely stay together.

If you will allow me to talk your ear off for a moment, I can help you in ways that can possibly and positively affect the rest of your life. Now, you may not want to hear this, but game design isn’t just about one thing. If you’re only focused on some of that “sweet graphics”, or how easily you’re able to work within the gameplay without giving it something in return to ensure that you’re making something worthwhile, you’d be better off simply making games for yourself.

And if we can be honest, teenagers typically aren’t subtle or wise enough to know how to handle game design properly, as they’ve played games and think that it’s just that simple without focusing on what lies below the surface of each experience, that something special that grabbed their attention and left them feeling utterly satisfied. This lies in their tendency to be hasty, selfish, and unfeeling; hence why this is a time for asking questions instead of simply leaping in and making countless, senseless mistakes. If you are one of these teenagers, the following may not apply fully to you just yet, so don’t feel like you should force yourself to understand the subtleties of adult matters.

Those who remain to hear my words (or in this case, read), this article will attempt to argue similarities between game design and the art of proper love making, although we can all agree that it’d be foolish to say that these hold physical similarities. Instead, this article focuses more on what should be considered in creating something truly worthwhile and satisfying, that special something we’ve all found at one point or another that made us want to relive those moments that sparked warm memories in our hearts.

For your convenience, I’ll be dividing the following points into groups pertaining to the following: making games, playing games, and handling critique; the last of which will be intentionally brief, but potent all the same. Understand that even with these distinctions, what makes one game work for someone relies on many variables that collide at every second throughout the experience, and as everyone has preferences that they respond to greater than others, the creation of a “perfect game” or a theory that argues these exact points is simply impossible. I will only be covering the foundation of what makes a compelling journey throughout.

Making Games:

As it was implied, this is where your creativity and endurance will be put to the test as you attempt to fulfill the desires of your audience that will be taking the time out of their busy schedule to see what you have to offer. Don’t, and I mean DON’T, waste their time! And above all, don’t rush.

Introduction:

Have you ever played a game made by a novice that attempted to jump directly into the gameplay with no subtext as to the nature of your journey you’re about to embark on? Yeah; jarring, isn’t it? This is why a proper introduction is absolutely mandatory, to ease the player into the various aspects that make up your game.

Some will argue that an intro should be no longer than perhaps a minute as you should be able to get into controlling your character ASAP, but to them I say nerts! If done correctly, you could have an intro that lasts much longer (though it is possible to overdo an intro and lose your audience’s interest, that much is true) as long as you are able to stimulate their curiosity and bring them into your world in a way that makes them crave to explore more. Of course, you should avoid info-dumping at all costs during the intro as, no matter how deep your world is, no one at this point will care about what all those pretty acronyms stand for and how many random percentages you can toss around.

Remember, your intro is there to establish an initial connection between the game and the player; further, more important details can be thrown in during later parts of the game when they become relevant. And for these things, you can establish their own beautiful introductions through cutscenes that show as much as they tell (a wall of text typically won’t suffice). Don’t be afraid to throw these later introductions into the “valleys” of your plotline to ensure interest is either maintained or piqued again.

Graphics:

During and after the intro, the visual scope of your game will begin to influence your audience and will act as a gauge to how interested they may be in exploring the storyline deeper. It always helps to give adequate attention to all venues of game design, but if the game is simply off-putting visually, this may discourage the player from giving their full attention into exploring this new world.

To touch back up on “giving adequate attention” to things, one should always make sure that their world is pleasant to look at, and that each town, dungeon, field, et cetera gets enough focus in terms of layout and purpose to justify their inclusion in the experience. Unfortunately, excessive or unfitting attention to detail may not be appreciated, so avoid clutter for the sake of saying “look at how interesting all of this is”, as this will just come across as distracting and hard to move past. Graphical inconsistencies and geographic improbabilities can also create a rift in the enjoyment of the game, as there should never come a moment where the immersion is lost due to something that screams “out-of-place”. Imagine, if you will, being someone who isn’t too keen on tattoos or piercings finding one of questionable nature on a questionable spot. It’d be distracting, right? Of course it’d be.

Music and Sounds:

Without the inclusion of these two, emotional cues would go unnoticed, ambiance would be all but non-existent, and a clock ticking anywhere in the room could lead to a catastrophic drop in immersion. While graphics are good at making the player comfortable in exploring the world, well-timed and clever choices of music and various sounds help complete the sensory nature of your game. Some might argue that these are even more important than visuals as these are what will truly inspire the player to care, if not feel, about the direction the game takes.

With such importance, you must understand how to establish consistency in sounds to eliminate the possibility of a strange chirp escaping which might worry the player and break their concentration on the experience your game is helping convey. I suppose what I’m trying to get at is that all audio choices should add to the experience, not take away from it.

One thing that may take away from the experience is repetition. Sure, it’s important to find a rhythm and maintain it, but if you only sing one or two songs, all music application will be for naught as each town or dungeon that should feel like its own separate entity will instead feel like some distant section of a previously-visited area. Oh, and before I forget, you’ll want the player to understand that your game is unique and special, so I’d steer away from using music that’s already part of everyone’s playlist whenever possible.

Storyline:

Ah, detail and rhythm in harmony; this is where the RPG gets its mojo (it’s important for all games, but you know…). Along with gameplay, this is the other half of the gaming circle the player will have a hand in not only experiencing, but influencing. Lengthy exchanges and new revelations, a blossoming of the world’s nature, life bursting into existence and new opportunities abound to keep the player involved. If you can’t handle this correctly, then well… perhaps this kind of thing isn’t for you.

A rich storyline should bring life to the world and purpose to its features, open doors to memorable events and historical relevance, and if handled correctly, can lead a player to want to fight for a game, instead of against it, but we’ll cover that later in the “games worth investing your time into” section. For this section, however, understand that careful planning and execution to ensure proper pacing are key in not just writing a story, but telling one. And at all costs, avoid any sort of story-relevance dry spell if you’re making an RPG, as typically these kinds of games are slow enough to not require any sort of “cooldown” between actions, and any valley thrown in for its own sake and perceived necessity will likely do little but damage the flow of the story and the player’s interest.

Also understand that subtlety is a beautiful thing when telling a story. You should never have to bash details into your player’s head, and sometimes, intentionally leaving out details that aren’t essential to understanding the story might encourage your player to fill in the blanks, ask their own questions, and desire more of the game even when they’re away from it.

Characters:

If you’ve ever played any game ever, you’ll know the importance of giving all characters some manner of personality to make them unique in their own world and establish sound reasoning for their place in the plot. Though, simply having just “some sort of personality” doesn’t quite cut it with the more text-heavy RPG, so going the extra mile to not only give sound reasoning for their actions but also for their dialogue is typically priority number one. Diversity in the characters the player will get to know throughout the experience will not only help establish that only-too-important initial attraction, but also aid to maintain interest in the overarching story and what these people mean for your quest as party arrangements shift during key scenes, such as a hero going their separate way after a dispute, or a divide-and-conquer tactic during a siege on the enemy fortress.

A good personality will only get you so far, unfortunately, and some talent may be part of your saving grace. The characters of this story should also have different stats and abilities to ensure that, even given the chance to increase stats/learn spells through special items, they maintain their personal significance and therefore allow the player to “find their own rhythm”, as it were. As this is the case, extra steps taken to decrease the likelihood that your audience will utter the dreaded line “I’ve played this RPG before” can make all the difference in making your game stand out amongst the masses. Steal, Scan, Blue Magic, and all other sorts of add-ins are a good first step, but you can definitely do better as these still fall nicely into “been there, done that” territory. People appreciate creativity, so scramble your brain and pull out a winner!

After this is all said and done, there is one piece of important information I feel I should drop here. Ahem…

For the love of God, if you’re going to cut a certain character out of the experience all together (or at least for a chapter or two), please don’t choose the badass, high-stat, versatile character that everyone enjoys playing as, because such a moment might lead to the player losing interest in your game in general if now they’re forced to make the lazy, whiny, snot-nosed character the leader.

Gameplay:

Although a solid story and creative characters are indeed important details to consider in the overall experience of creating games, the gameplay is ultimately what’s going to matter most in terms of stimulating the player through to the end and ensuring their desire to come back for more.

One might argue that simply touching up on gameplay would be enough to satisfy, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. What makes gameplay successful is how it’s handled on a case-by-case basis, as swinging a whip around a la Castlevania might not fit in or feel as good inside a game with an emphasis on free movement like Megaman or Kirby (or maybe it would?). You truly have to understand the anatomy of your game in and out to apply gameplay in a way that encourages the player to proceed, even when the inevitable “hiccup” (drastic shift in motion/flow (e.g. Cid’s key/weight minigame in FF9)) occurs.

That aside, there are globally “correct” things to consider in terms of gameplay. First of all, you should allow for an ease of entry and exploration to new concepts/areas while maintaining a fair difficulty throughout to ensure that the game is neither too easy (boring) or too hard (painful). Testing a player’s knowledge of unique gameplay concepts against a puzzle or a boss will guarantee that they know what they’re doing and that they are prepared for what might lie ahead.

Secondly, all stories will have their own peaks and valleys; if you can ride these and understand when a few clever inclusions will make the game seem more consistent in terms of enjoyment than risk making the player feel like their time could be better spent with a different game, your game will stand a better chance at keeping the player focused until the credits roll.

Battles and Puzzles:

Seeing as how this is a more specific branch of gameplay, I’ll keep this as brief as possible. In a nutshell, these are testing grounds for the player’s capacity to perform under pressure and should not be thrown in simply as padding to extend the length of a game.

Now, we’ve all played a game at one point that made these following mistakes, and I’ll be taking a moment to bring specific attention to them so that we can all reflect on this later. First of all, avoid the “luck” difficulty where the player has no chance of using their skill to succeed and must instead perform the same task in the same way over and over again until, by some stroke of luck, they succeed. Seeing as how no one derives any fun out of slamming their hand in a drawer continuously, stay away from this game design “sin”.

Outside of the realm of luck lies skill and honest effort. This is all fine and dandy, but please don’t make it difficult or grindy to the point of tears. Remember that NO ONE enjoys it if it’s too rough! Even if you believe with all your heart that your game is better for it, most people stay clear of games that are all about seeing how far you can get your arm twisted before you cry. That is, unless you’re such a masochistic *word* that getting angry honestly makes you happy, in which case, you may have some underlying issues.

Before this gets dark, I’ll finish this section up by saying that you should always strongly consider the use of proper balance, battle attack patterns, familiarity and setting relevance when designing these tests of dexterity, as otherwise, these battles and puzzles will likely fall flat or degrade into following the path of one of the mentioned *air quotes* “game design sins” above.

Optional Content:

After that last section, I fancy myself a bit of a breather. This seems like the perfect time to discuss optional content, doesn’t it? Now you could think “doesn’t optional content just distract the player from the main objective and potentially break the game’s balance?”, to which I would agree but also extend an explanation as to how that isn’t always as bad as it sounds.

You see, sometimes “mixing it up” is just what the doctor ordered, especially near the later parts of the game when all else has been thoroughly explored, familiarity has taken its toll, and “ye olde gameplay tedium” sets in. Throwing the player a curveball (one that still fits within the setting, mind you) can help introduce the player to new and exciting things to get them back into the game. At this point, you want your player to exclaim, “Whoa, I didn’t know you could do that! That’s interesting! Let’s explore that!”

Even during earlier parts of the game, having the option to not follow a strictly linear path can aid to help the player feel like they have control over the path they take and allows them the time to become emotionally invested in what they’re doing, instead of just what the storyline is pushing them into doing.

I hope you weren’t scared away by all that innuendo-laden brain food above, because it doesn’t end there. Now I’ll cover in much briefer terms how this whole relationship hullabaloo can be applied to commitment and playing games, and vice versa.

Playing Games:

We’ve all heard that old saying about how there’s plenty of fish in the sea, and the same could be said for games in the store. And just as the experienced will know what questions to ask to ensure that the time they invest in the person (or game for this discussion) isn’t wasted due to “all style, no substance”, newcomers will have to learn the ropes and not get discouraged if their first few loves don’t branch out. Of course, no matter what side of the aisle you stand on, we’re all looking for that special something that’s worth opening our hearts and coming back to.

Unfortunately, the relationship you’ll share with a video game will undoubtedly be a selfish one where the game does little more than take from you and leave you with nothing but memories in return, so it’s important to find a game that gives you the most bang for your buck. You should always look for that special game that you can truly immerse yourself into, an experience that causes all sights and sounds around you to blur as nothing else matters but you and the game.

Nine times out of ten, you won’t be able to blow through an eight to forty hour game in one sitting, so it’s important to decide whether or not this game is something you’ll feel comfortable coming back to on a daily basis until the path taken with it is completed. And should you ever feel like a relationship you’re investing not only your own time, but your lover’s time, into is going nowhere, or this time could be spent significantly better doing other things, don’t feel like you have to subject either of you to dragging it out, as should you go your separate ways in the future, the longer you keep it going, the more it will hurt in the end.

The bottom line is this, when finding love (or playing these video games), every relationship comes with its own set of challenges that must be overcome to allow the love to continue to flourish. Some people might not be “up to snuff” in terms of the difficulties they may face right away, so you should be ready to fight for this love, instead of against it, as this shows that you truly want to keep this love in your life.

And who knows, perhaps one day, you’ll find that game that gives you more than it takes and allows you to return to it without any regrets; and at the end of the day, I believe that’s a happiness that we all deserve some time in our lives. Though with that being said, speaking specifically of relationships, all should be equal and both people should be there to extend emotional sustenance in times both good and trying, so no matter how many “games” you “play”, don’t EVER believe it’s all about you and try your damnedest to be both selfless and sensitive. A little empathy, understanding, and a readiness to embrace goes a long way, fellas.

Now you may believe your time spent here is almost to a close, but much like skipping out on the last fifteen minutes of detention to go see a circus, only to find that it’s dragging on way too long and that you probably would have been better off just taking your lumps at school, you haven’t seen nothing yet! And in the immortal words of circus announcers and stone-silence of creepy clowns everywhere, direct your attention to the center ring for our next act!

Giving and Receiving Critique:

You may be asking yourself “good God, what more could you possibly have?”, but as you can plainly see, we have yet to cover the art of reviewing and handling critique. The most important thing to remember here is to be civilized when giving critique, as the creation you are about to pick apart has likely seen hundreds, if not thousands, of development hours, and therefore has become something truly close to the designer. As such, don’t go straight for the heart, but don’t be afraid to avoid the sugarcoating when getting your point across. Honesty is the best policy, just as long as you’re not being utterly vicious in your delivery.

And before you designers place all the blame of harsh critique on the critic, understand that you too have a role to play in this exchange. It is up to you to either put that backbone to good use, or grow yourself one, as the damage to your “pride” is a very real danger. No one can truly tell you how it felt to overcome the individual challenges you faced to form the game that you spent so long to bring to life, but know that even the most carefully crafted product carries with it the possibility of improvement. Don’t let your ego get in the way of listening to what others have to say about your game; trust me, you’ll be better off with the perspective.

As a final word on this topic, it’s important to also understand that everyone has their tastes and that it is impossible for a single method to please everyone. Don’t get discouraged if you find an opinion about your custom battle system that doesn’t quite line up with what you believe may be its strongest trait; instead, listen to all, but put a greater focus on those details that apply to a global truth instead of personal preference when making changes to a previous game or taking into consideration things that you should implement into future works.

And thus our time together draws to a close. I would like to congratulate you, the reader, for hearing me out on this and proving to yourself that you have what it takes to apply yourself to a lengthy engagement. Now, go forth and craft your magnum opus, that game which will be remembered as something truly magnificent for years to come and will deserve whatever rewards and recognition it receives. Just remember what we covered here today:

• Don’t rush

• Be considerate

• Be creative

• Listen to your audience

• Find that game which speaks to you

• Invest yourself in what makes you happy (source:rpgmaker


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