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below you'll find a list of guidelines you should take when building a video game from scratch. I had to do this for a computer class, so I figured I'd share it with you guys. I tired editing it to fit the Graal criteria, it was formatted for video game design. I'm not a proffessional and doubt I ever will be, the information below comes from an average video gamer's point of view...
What Makes a Good Game? Ten Guidelines to Follow
1) Innovation
A new idea; coming up with one is perhaps the hardest part of creating a videogame. There are no good rules or guidelines that a developer can follow to come up with a truly original game - you're either inspired, or you're not. But the important thing is that developers try, that they sometimes force themselves to do things differently, if only to be different. When that doesn't happen, players get bored of the same old same-old, and the copycat games bomb. Entire genres of games have died off because the games never evolved, never offered anything more than the ones before.
- Pushing the Envelope
Not all great games are truly innovative, but the real classics are the ones that count. Unfortunately, the truth of it is that many of the best ideas are taken. That doesn't mean that existing genres can't evolve.
- The Dangers of Typecasting
Developers should never, ever categorize their game from the start, as a first-shooter, platform game, fighter, or whatever. This limits them. Developers should constantly re-think how things are done. They shouldn't do something because everyone else does.
2) Character Design
This is one of the most overlooked and underappreciated aspects of good game design. Too often, characters are put in games just to fill up space. Characters are the windows through which we view the world within the game. Notice that when your character dies while playing in a videogame, you typically don't say "Crap, he died" - you say "Crap, I died." Good characters bring you into game world.
- A Character Needs Personality
To create a truly interesting, exciting, and memorable character, there are three very important things to consider; personality, appearance, and uniqueness. Once you've connected with a character, we can take over and let our imaginations fill in the rest.
- Standing out in a Crowd
From a purely visual standpoint, the use of color is extremely important, and often overlooked. The truly classic characters will use color to help define them. Special skills and weapons are good, but what other visual details might help? A scarred eye, a bandaged arm, a tatoo, a magic amulet - any of these examples would make way for a more unique appearance. Also, they would help create personality and background. Maybe the character scarred its eye or hurt its arm in a battle to save its homeland. The tatoo could show that it belongs to a secret clan. The magic amulet could've been given to it by a lost love.
3) Game Length
How long should the player be expected to play a game? Most anyone would tell you that the longer it takes to finish a game, the better. This way, the fun lasts longer and you get more bang for your buck. Today, in the era of modern era of videogaming, some games can take as long as 70 to 100 hours to finish.
- How Long Is Too Long?
A game can't go on forever, right? Some games do, mostly older titles like Pac-Man, Defender, Frogger - most of these games just kept going as long as you kept winning. This was mainly due to the limitations of technology at the time. Today we have the power to makes games with real goals (rescue the princess, destroy the boss monster, defeat your opponent). You can enjoy playing a game forever, but unless you can reach an end and finish it, you're never rewarded with that feeling of supreme mastery that you get from knowing you've surpassed all the game's challenges.
- How Long Should Each Stage Be?
Each stage has to offer the player a set of unique challenges. If it gets to the point where you're playing and the level is starting to feel too repetituous, then it should have ended already. It's the game's job to keep throwing new twists at you, to entertain you and hold your attention.
4) Balance
Every individual element of gameplay can be done to perfection, but the game still won't be a good one if those elements aren't put together in the proper balance. Whether you're talking about the rate at which the game gets harder, or the enemy's artificial intelligence, or the distance between health power-ups, it all has to come together in a way that will unfold the game to players at the right speed and pace, without ever frustrating or cheating them.
How Difficult Should the Game Be?
The number-one rule here is to never, ever frustrate the player. Players should always feel that it was their fault that they lost, not the game's. Of course, the game can't be so easy that players can just walk through it from the very first play - they won't survive every danger, simply because they won't always make the right decision. But what's important is that the game at least gave them a chance to figure out the right course of action. Games must be easy enough to get into, b ut challenging enough to satisfy expert players, as well.
5) Mastering the Game
There's a definite ego trip at work when playing games. When we first pick up a game, we make lots of mistakes as we're learning how to play. Gradually, though, as we practice more and more, we naturally get better.
- Reaching Goals
Looking at the bigger picture, a game needs to have proper goals - a reason for playing, something you're working hard to achieve. When players meet one of the goals, they get great satisfaction, along with a definite ego boost. But that feeling of satisfaction must be staggered throughout the game - you can't have it all waiting at the very end.
- Showing Off
Hey, what's the point of getting really good at something if you can't show off your skills off, right? That's why we love to comete with other players, why two-player fighting and sports games are so popular. It just plain feels good to be the best at something. We are constantly comparing ourselves to other gamers, if only subconsciously. A good game has to start every player out on an equal playing field for it all to come together.
- How Much Impact Do You Have on the Game?
Another way we feed our ego when playing games is by witnessing how much affect we have on the game world. If you come back to the spot where you killed an orc earlier in the game, is his corpse still lying there? This may seem trivial, but it can add up to a lot.
- Is It Worth It?
This may sound extreme, but developers who put crummy endings in their games need to be shot. You buy a game, put hours upon hours into getting good at it, and then comes the day when you finally finish it. You yell out to your friends and family to rush over to see the fruits of your labor, and then... the credits. Followed by "The End." White type on black screen. Gee, thanks. A game should end with an exclamation point, not a period. If we expect players to put time and effort into reaching the final goal, then it should be a goal worth reaching.
6) Storytelling
As videogames have evolved over the years, storytelling has become an increasingly important part of the gameplay experience. Nearly every game made today includes an introductory story sequence to set the stage for the action in the game.
- How Important Is Story to the Game?
While a detailed plot can really add to the overall experience of some games, for other games, it simply isn't needed. No one cares why those blocks are falling in Tetris. The level of detail and amount of story included should be based directly on the type of gameplay experience that the developer is focusing on.
- Remember; Story Is Secondary to Gameplay
Developers must ask themselves the following question; does the story help the game flow along, or does it often intrude, taking too much control away from the player? The best parts of the story, the surprise plot twists and dramatic confrontations, have to involve the player in a direct, interactive way. Otherwise, the player is only left with the boring stuff.
7) Creating a Believable World
Whether the game is set in ancient Japan, or on floating platforms in the middle of nowhere, a game's environment must be able to draw the player in. The ultimate goal of all developers should be to get players lost in their games, so they can spend hours upon hours effortlessly immersed in the action. To do this, a game has to have an environment that can hold up the illusion of its world at all times, never dropping its guard for a second, so the players don't have a chance to remember that they're only playing a game.
- Stick to Your Own Rules
No matter where a game is set, developers must establish the "rules" of the environment and stick to them. Take a fantasy world where everyone has the ability to fly. If everything else in that world mirrors our reality, then, for example, it wouldn't make any sense if you encountered a talking dog. |
05-12-2002, 11:32 AM
Linear Mode
