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Oni2:Slaves of War/Design: Difference between revisions
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Design levels with the current amount of '''tension''' in the story and mission in mind. Tension can alter the openness of a space, the music and sounds, the number of civilians present, and even enemy types. Which is not to say that open spaces are automatically less tense; a clearing in the forest is pleasant in the daytime, but a campfire in a clearing at night is tense because you can’t see what’s in the darkness around you.<br /> | Design levels with the current amount of '''tension''' in the story and mission in mind. Tension can alter the openness of a space, the music and sounds, the number of civilians present, and even enemy types. Which is not to say that open spaces are automatically less tense; a clearing in the forest is pleasant in the daytime, but a campfire in a clearing at night is tense because you can’t see what’s in the darkness around you.<br /> | ||
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Set to music like BG&E’s “Return Double HH’!”, picture a '''stealth level from a top-down view''' with a camera that auto-zooms and auto-centers to show you the nearest enemies, and shows their vision cones like flashlight beams. Go [http://vision.arc.nasa.gov/personnel/al/papers/64vision/17.htm here] for info on human vision.<br /> | Set to music like BG&E’s “Return Double HH’!”, picture a '''stealth level from a top-down view''' with a camera that auto-zooms and auto-centers to show you the nearest enemies, and shows their vision cones like flashlight beams. Go [http://web.archive.org/web/20170124045754/https://vision.arc.nasa.gov/personnel/al/papers/64vision/17.htm here] for info on human vision.<br /> | ||
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'''AIs are people''' too. Let them be distracted by things near them while walking casually (Oni already has AIs look in random directions when not alert). Make them react to sounds after a short delay while they think, “Did I just hear something?” and slowly stop walking, then turning to look thoughtfully at the source of the sound, or around in general. Make sure to restore the idle-to-alert loading-weapon animations.<br /> | '''AIs are people''' too. Let them be distracted by things near them while walking casually (Oni already has AIs look in random directions when not alert). Make them react to sounds after a short delay while they think, “Did I just hear something?” and slowly stop walking, then turning to look thoughtfully at the source of the sound, or around in general. Make sure to restore the idle-to-alert loading-weapon animations.<br /> | ||
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There should be times when the player is '''impressed by scale'''. What emotions can we evoke with scale? Awe, at the size of a level. Loneliness, at the emptiness of a space. Fear, at the number of enemies. Imagine a line of enemies, giving off a light of some kind, winding their way down a hill towards the player. Imagine hordes of enemies rushing over a hilltop at you (we don’t have to be able to draw hundreds of enemies; we can use simple box models as stand-ins for distant ones).<br /> | There should be times when the player is '''impressed by scale'''. What emotions can we evoke with scale? Awe, at the size of a level. Loneliness, at the emptiness of a space. Fear, at the number of enemies. Imagine a line of enemies, giving off a light of some kind, winding their way down a hill towards the player. Imagine hordes of enemies rushing over a hilltop at you (we don’t have to be able to draw hundreds of enemies; we can use simple box models as stand-ins for distant ones).<br /> | ||
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'''Allow exploration''' — Don't want world to feel linear, even if it is. See [http://furiousfanboys.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/BITmX.jpg this famous pic] about FPS level design -- we want to avoid that feeling.<br /> | '''Allow exploration''' — Don't want world to feel linear, even if it is. See [http://web.archive.org/web/20170610232224/http://furiousfanboys.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/BITmX.jpg this famous pic] about FPS level design -- we want to avoid that feeling.<br /> | ||
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Create a feeling of '''anticipation''' in players to get to the next level. This can be done through making a plot that they want to advance, as well as by providing thumbnails for future levels. These thumbnails would be large, vivid and carefully composed. They could be a fading slideshow of different parts of the level, or even a short, seamlessly looping movie with ambient sounds from the level.<br /> | Create a feeling of '''anticipation''' in players to get to the next level. This can be done through making a plot that they want to advance, as well as by providing thumbnails for future levels. These thumbnails would be large, vivid and carefully composed. They could be a fading slideshow of different parts of the level, or even a short, seamlessly looping movie with ambient sounds from the level.<br /> | ||
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Game designers should ask themselves, What is my game teaching people? All games teach rules to people and therefore have implicit messages, a "'''meaning of life'''" if you will. This is not necessarily connected to the actual story, and may arise from the mechanics instead. See [http://www.whatgamesare.com/2012/05/games-and-meaning.html this article] for details.<br /> | Game designers should ask themselves, What is my game teaching people? All games teach rules to people and therefore have implicit messages, a "'''meaning of life'''" if you will. This is not necessarily connected to the actual story, and may arise from the mechanics instead. See [http://www.whatgamesare.com/2012/05/games-and-meaning.html this article] for details.<br /> | ||
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It should be possible for the player to '''grow closer to each ally''' (member of your AI team). If there is a betrayal later, it won’t be the one you are closest to, because they’ll be too fond/respectful/admiring of Konoko to betray her. Each member would have their own reason to support the group and a potential reason to betray the group. Each has specific traits that can benefit the group more if you bond with them. One might be timid, but with a sharp sense of humor; he might be cowardly in battle but a good hacker. Another might be hard to like, but a strong ally in battle. Given enough variety in the team, different kinds of players will each find someone to relate to on a personal level or admire. Look to Persona 3 or later for an example of a deep relationship system, and look to [ | It should be possible for the player to '''grow closer to each ally''' (member of your AI team). If there is a betrayal later, it won’t be the one you are closest to, because they’ll be too fond/respectful/admiring of Konoko to betray her. Each member would have their own reason to support the group and a potential reason to betray the group. Each has specific traits that can benefit the group more if you bond with them. One might be timid, but with a sharp sense of humor; he might be cowardly in battle but a good hacker. Another might be hard to like, but a strong ally in battle. Given enough variety in the team, different kinds of players will each find someone to relate to on a personal level or admire. Look to Persona 3 or later for an example of a deep relationship system, and look to [https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/03/how-xcom-2-made-me-care-about-the-little-guy/ XCOM 2] for an example of getting players to invest in the soldiers she commands.<br /> | ||
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If we have the resources to spare, it would be fun to add something really exciting to a level but direct little attention to it, and wait for players to find it. Say they exit a base, and notice a stadium nearby with sounds of distant cheering, and upon entering it they find out they can participate in a fighting tournament. (Imagine that music like “Yo Pumpkin Head” from Cowboy Bebop is playing, to set the tone.) This kind of surprise will create a '''joy of discovery''' and lead to the sharing of these discoveries with the community.<br /> | If we have the resources to spare, it would be fun to add something really exciting to a level but direct little attention to it, and wait for players to find it. Say they exit a base, and notice a stadium nearby with sounds of distant cheering, and upon entering it they find out they can participate in a fighting tournament. (Imagine that music like “Yo Pumpkin Head” from Cowboy Bebop is playing, to set the tone.) This kind of surprise will create a '''joy of discovery''' and lead to the sharing of these discoveries with the community.<br /> | ||
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:Emily talks about exactly the kind of challenges I have been contemplating for the Totally Interactive concept. I think that Oni 2 would naturally avoid some of the challenges that she faces with a text-based interface. | :Emily talks about exactly the kind of challenges I have been contemplating for the Totally Interactive concept. I think that Oni 2 would naturally avoid some of the challenges that she faces with a text-based interface. | ||
<div align=center>{{Pullquote|1=The real question: is game design a hard science (study of things, forces, etc) a social science (study of people), or a humanity/liberal art (analytical/critical study of people)? I'd argue it encompasses all three.|2=[ | <div align=center>{{Pullquote|1=The real question: is game design a hard science (study of things, forces, etc) a social science (study of people), or a humanity/liberal art (analytical/critical study of people)? I'd argue it encompasses all three.|2=[https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/172587/a_way_to_better_games_.php?page=3#comment155730 Lars Doucet]|width=450px}}</div> | ||
[[Category:Oni 2]] | [[Category:Oni 2]] | ||