Game designer Daniel Boutros looks at how to give games a challenging difficulty without frustrating the player in a feature on Gamasutra. The article, originally published in Game Developer magazine, establishes two tenants for how effective levels of difficulty.
- A player must always feel like the failure of a challenge is entirely his own responsibility, and not a fault of a poorly designed product.
- “The player must understand how and why he failed, so that he can learn from his mistake and increase the feeling of failure being his responsibility.
Boutros traces the traditional method for increasing difficulty to Rare’s shooter GoldenEye, where higher difficulty levels simply meant enemies do more damage. “In the tough mode,” says Boutros, “the game becomes very classically rooted in trial and error, using memory play as the core consistent play type. The only way a player can survive with meager resources and a damage disadvantage is by trying, dying, remembering, and restarting.”
In other words, play through and die until you’ve figured out where every sniper is, know which doors hide enemy ambushers, and know exactly where to point your rifle to take them all out. That’s not fun, and it does not create an immersive experience.
Increasing enemy damage or numbers, charging AI aggression, implementing a time limit, and restricting player resources like ammo or health are the simplest ways to increase difficulty, but the easiest solution is never the best. Rather than simply doubling enemy damage, Boutros argues that developers need to integrate these techniques thoughtfully and budget time for testing and fine-tuning them.
Continue reading ‘Make Game Difficulty Work For You’
Both Spike TV and Time named their top games of the year this past week, and both demonstrated that most game awards shows are not fully representative of the gaming industry.
Spike TV named BioShock Game of the Year and Halo 3 Most Addictive Game Fueled by Dew. Despite the “X-treme” pomp and circumstance and GameCock’s ridiculous outburst, I thought the recipients were all very deserving. A panel of U.S. journalists chose the awards and included Dan Hsu, Jeff Gerstmann, Dean Takahashi and Chris Kohler.
It is a step in the right direction for Spike, who’s past awards shows have been irreverent to say the least, but they still have a way to go. As long as they pack their shows with explosions, tits, Samuel L. Jackson and bad rock music to appeal to the 15- to 30-year-old male demographic, it’s impossible to take their choices seriously.
The “Top 10 Video Games” section of Time’s 50 top 10 lists was written by their book critic, Lev Grossman. Grossman listed Halo 3 as the best game this year, with The Orange Box and Rock Band holding the second and third spots.
“Halo 3 has become the perfect hardcore first-person combat simulator,” Grossman said. The game has been refined to a degree where “every combat is even-sided and complex and can be waged in multiple ways, using an arsenal of long- and short-range weapons, plus grenades and hand-to-hand moves.” I enjoyed Halo 3, but there are games that do all this and do it better.
“Every level is perfectly paced and balanced and graced with soaring architectural compositions,” said Grossman. Maybe he didn’t make it to the Cortana rescue mission at the end.
Continue reading ‘Game Award Shows Get It Wrong’
I spoke about using plot pressure rather than actual pressure to create compelling gameplay in a previous post, and Halo 3 provides a perfect example of such a device.
[Spoiler Warning: Details on the end of Halo 3 follow.]
Continue reading ‘REVIEW: ‘Halo 3′ Ending Melds Gameplay and Story’
I’m still verifying this with my sources, but I think Halo 3 was released sometime this week. Look for it at your local game store, but be sure and call ahead to make sure they carry such an under the radar title.
While only the latest piece of Microsoft’s intensive marketing campaign for Halo 3, the “Believe” series of advertisements is unique even among advertisements in that it focuses almost entirely on the game’s concluding storyline.
The advertisements center around a painstakingly constructed diorama of a battle featuring detailed models of marines and aliens, eight to 19 inches in height, duking it out over a devastated city. Two of the short ads, including the latest one, feature veterans reminiscing over the war in the style of “Band of Brothers.” Another is a making of documentary, and the fourth pairs shots of the model with a little Chopin. All of them recognize the role Master Chief played in turning the battle around and giving hope to the beleaguered human marines.
The opportunity to “play the hero” has always attracted me to some games. The player takes up the heroes path, saves the world and has a tangible impact on the game’s setting, which is far more eventful than anything I can ever picture myself getting into. This aspect of games, however, is rarely used to steer a marketing campaign, taking a backseat to ubiquitous sellers like graphics, gameplay and game-related gags.
The Believe series of advertisements do not highlight new features or gameplay, or even show any of Halo 3’s next-gen visuals. They emphasize the epic nature of Halo 3’s story, and the absolutely pivotal role the protagonist plays in saving humanity, a role that the player must take up and see to the end.
While naturally done in the interest of profits, turning Halo 3’s release into the entertainment event of the year, the Believe ads show an increasing emphasis on story, now becoming a selling point for the game rather than an excuse for an interstellar shoot-em-up.