Special Design Considerations for Action Games


Special Design Considerations for Action Games

We've already covered most of the design considerations for action games in this chapter, but there is one important point that we have not yet considered . If we compare a game such as Defender with a game such as Super Mario World (aside from the cutesy graphics of the latter), when just watching them being played , one would appear to be more difficult than the other.

Defender is a very unforgiving game. It tolerates no mistakes on the part of the player. If the player makes a mistake, then the player loses a life. End of story.

Super Mario World , however, is a lot more tolerant of player mistakes. The difficulty of some of the tougher levels are on a par with those of Defender , so it's not just a simple matter of the game being easier to play. No, the difference between these two games is the "perceived difficulty." Determining the perceived difficulty of a game is fundamentally the answer to the following two questions: What is the learning curve for the beginning player? How difficult is it for the player to recover from mistakes?

In Defender , the player is dropped into the thick of the action with no gentle introductions , and a mistake costs a life. In Super Mario World , the difficulty of the first few levels is gently ramped, and mistakes on the part of the player are tolerated. For example, if a player guides Mario too close to the edge of a platform, he has the chance to correct the error because Mario teeters on the edge for a second before dropping.

The target market for a game often decides which of these two extremes it will follow. Defender was an arcade game, designed to generate maximum coin throughput. Super Mario World was aimed at young players, and as such was designed to be easily accessible ”the clich d "easy to learn and difficult to master."

Action Game Worksheet

As you design an action game, consider the following questions:

  1. Is this game a shooter or a non-shooter? If it is a non-shooter, what actions will the player take to defeat enemies?

  2. Is the world (not the display mechanism) essentially 2D or 3D? If the world is 2D, should the display mechanism be 2D also, or would the gameplay benefit from 3D graphics?

  3. If the world is 2D, will the whole world be visible on the screen, or will it scroll? If it scrolls , in which direction(s) does it scroll?

  4. Does the player need a mini-map to see key offscreen elements of the world before they arrive onscreen? What about an automap for allowing him to record where he has been?

  5. What physical challenges will the game incorporate , and under what circumstances? Speed and reaction time? Accurate steering and aiming? Timing? Combo moves?

  6. Will enemies appear in waves? Will there be monster generators or wildcard enemies to break up the regular progression of the waves?

  7. Will the game be broken into levels? What things will make one level different from another (landscape, enemies, speed, perspective, and so on)? Don't forget cosmetic items like music and architecture. Will levels end with a boss?

  8. How will the avatar's life be managed: as fixed lives, energy bars, or some combination? Can the player obtain more lives? If so, how?

  9. What power-ups will there be, if any? For each one you plan to incorporate, do the following: state what it does, what it looks like, what it sounds like when activated or how or where it is to be found or obtained, how common or rare it is, how long its effect lasts, and how the player will be able to identify it (by sight and the sound it makes).

  10. Will the game give the player clues that allow him to anticipate challenges, or must the player depend entirely on trial-and-error to learn his way through it?

  11. Does the game involve exploring unknown territory? If so, how linear or non-linear will it be? Traditional arcade and side-scrolling games gave little or no choice; games like Spyro the Dragon offer considerable freedom.

  12. Is there a save-game or checkpoint mechanism that prevents the player from having to start over from the beginning?

  13. Is the player going to collect anything, in either large or small numbers ? Can collected items be "exchanged" for anything useful, or is the player awarded anything when particular thresholds are reached?

  14. Is there a scoring mechanism? If so, how is it computed? Does it serve any function besides giving the player a record of achievement?

  15. What "locked doors" will there be, and what "keys" will open them?

  16. Will the game have, or need, a tutorial mode? If not, how steep do you want the learning curve to be?

  17. Does the game have a victory condition other than simple survival? What is it?



Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design
Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design
ISBN: 1592730019
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 148

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