Direction
The first three principles have to do with leading and
directing the player's experience. Even though this medium is heavily based on
personal, interactive discovery, it is still an artistic medium.
Do not
underestimate the importance of artistic direction. Just as a painting leads
the eye, a book leads the imagery, a film leads the narrative, so too must a
game lead the interactivity.
1.
Focal Point
Never allow the player to guess
what they should focus on. At the same time, always allow secondary subject
matter, but it is the designer's job to clearly provide the primary focus at
all times. This applies to both visual and visceral aspects of gameplay.
Level design example
Creating clear, apparent lines of sight.
System design example
Clearly defined plot points and objectives during game
progression/user experience.
2.
Anticipation
Time is needed to inform the
player that something is about to happen. Always factor in Anticipation when
designing and implementing events and behaviors.
 Level design example
A train sound effect occurs before player sees train.
System design example
An energy charge builds before the lightning attack occurs.
3.
Announce Change
Communicate all changes to the
player. This short step occurs between Anticipation and the event itself.
The
important part to remember is maintaining a hierarchy of notable changes.
A
good rule of thumb is degree of rarity. If a change occurs a hundred times in
an hour, the announcement may not be required. However, if the change occurs five
times throughout the entire game experience, a number of visual cues could be
needed.
This principle is so obvious, it
can be taken for granted and sometimes overlooked. Be diligent in knowing what
changes the player should be aware of at the correct time and on the correct
event.
Level design example
"Cast-off" animations trigger for NPCs when the
player's character boards the ship.
System design example
An on-screen notification occurs when quest criteria have
been completed (i.e. "Slay 10 goblins for Farmer Bob")
Behavior
These next four principles address the very important aspect
of behavior. This tackles the player's expectations, both conscious and
unconscious. This is where common design theories are addressed such as player
choice, reward and payoff, etc. These principles are also broader, so they can
be applied to additional types of design like UI and story...
4.
Believable Events and Behavior
Every event or behavior must
occur according to the logic and expectations of the player. Every action,
reaction, results, emotion and conveyance must satisfy the players'
subconscious acceptance test.
Level design example
Place destructible objects near an explosive object. This
way, the explosion looks more believable.
System design example
Weaker enemies run away when the advantage shifts in the
player's favor.
UI example
HUD elements are affected when player's mech is near death.
Story example
Villagers are more upbeat and react positively after the
player has slain the dragon.
|
Printer-Friendly Version
I would hesitate to attempt to 'complete' the list though. Inherently, one cannot take a perspective upon an art form, extract principles, and expect all bases to be covered. If anything, I would suggest the author ask each of his readers for their own lists. I think that might prove an enlightening study.
That said, all of the points in this list are insightful, fundamental, and applicable. Thank you for helping me up my game :)
Under Behavior, the only thing I can think of to add is the phrase, “the greater the risk the greater the reward” or “Risk and Reward Expectations”. Or perhaps on broader terms just "Expectations".
For instance, when given multiple paths to an objective, if the player chooses to traverse the obviously more treacherous path or solve the very difficult optional puzzle, don’t reward him with a standard ammo or health pack. Instead give him a new device, weapon or power-up not necessarily integral to completing the game or level, but a temporary advantage for his extra efforts.
This is common to many games, one example is the old Doom levels, where they cleverly placed power-ups where you could see them, but you had to figure out how to obtain them and deal with the enemies guarding it, or you could just keep on going and blast your way out without the object. Either way the player made the choice and got what he expected and was happy.
Thanks for sharing this with us. I really appreciate your time and efforts on this very informative article.
I love the idea that given there is no "ultimate" list of game design principles, to adopt a set of principles that works in another medium really makes us rethink and reprioritize how the principles we already know should work together.
When I look at Matt's list, it's not just a bunch of suggestions; there is a rhythm and wisdom in it that borrows from its inspiration in animation. The next step, as Nicholas suggests, is really for everyone to establish their own list, and apply it religiously as Matt did, with some adaptation and tweaking along the way. In the same way expert stock traders build a toolkit of filters and alerts, or coaches build a playbook, designers should build their own repetoire.
I'd like to echo Bill Redd's comments regarding unique item rewards, but I'd like to elaborate slightly. I posted about this on the Mass Effect forums, too, but players should be rewarded for exploring and doing various extra tasks. Being thorough and completionist should be rewarded in other words. However, the rewards should be unique, at least for the majority of tasks (over 50%, in my view). Using randomly generated, levelled loot lists is simpler, but it makes the player feel that there's no real reason to explore or do any additional activity beyond the straightforward approach through the game. If rewards are unremarkable, the tasks are unremarkable and repetitive.
Another way to do this is to offer a reward of an item or ability earlier than the player would receive it if they only followed the straightforward approach. Mr. Redd used Doom as an example, so I'll use Doom 3 as an example. Doom 3 occasionally offered more powerful weapons in out of the way locations earlier than they normally appeared. This approach, like unique items, abilities, etc, offers the player rewards for exploring and thoroughness and leaves the choice of whether or not to acquire such a reward up to the player rather than the developer. It offers genuine purpose and strategic planning for player exploration and accomplishment of various tasks.
I seem to recall Deus Ex doing what you spoke about in your second paragraph very well. We played through the first level in class the other day, and after we finished our playthrough, our professor showed us everything we missed, and all the things we could receive earlier had we been more thorough in our explorations.
@ Matt:
GREAT Article. I went through through the same thought process as you, with the 12 Principles in a Traditional Animation class. I'm glad someone sat down to verbalize principles for Gameplay.
Some comments, for each point:
1. Focal Point: what am I supposed to do? Very important one.
2. Anticipation. It's an either/or rule, you might sometimes want anticipation, otherwise you prefer to surprise the player (basic "fear" principle in horror movies). It's a way to tweak difficulty as well.
3. Annouce change = feedback: what's the consequences of my actions? What changes/moves on screen are worth noticing? Very important one. You can use it for tweaking difficulty too.
4. Believable Events and Behavior. The more you copy reality, the more things in the game will make sense, so it will be more easy to learn. Danger is: reality is sometimes limited or boring.
5. Overlapping Events and Behavior = simplicity, always good!
6. Physics: close to point 5: the closest Physics is to reality, the more it will be predictable/easy to understand. It doesn't mean it'll be easier...
7. Sound. A huge topic, deserve a whole article. Very very important!
8. Pacing. The key! it's about tuning difficulty, variety. Overcoming frustration and boredom... it's managing the "pleasure curve" of the player.
9. A lot to say about this, but as for most of these principles, it's just an axe of tuning a game. The question remains: in which way spacing can affect usability/gameplay/player's feeling?
10. So many other ways to design a game! I don't know yet.
11. Player. Every designer should think about that first, always.
12. Communication. Is this about development team work or really about the game itslef? Definition and examples are not related.
13. Appeal. I would say: graphical/sound appeal. You can buy a game for that and realizing afterwards that it's boring to play. Appeal is very powerful!
However, I think there are some other ''things'' to consider:
- Creativity/ Originality
The players already experienced tons of games before, that factor will directly affect the impact of every gameplays you will create for them. Did they play those gameplays tons of times before? A player who does play shooter games all the time shouldn't be as entertained by a new Shooter Game as a Casual Gamer would do, except if it's his only life trip.
- How does a player react to an Experience
I guess it should define step by step the order in which you may define most of the principles listed in the article.