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Oni2:Slaves of War/Design: Difference between revisions
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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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'''Crowd actions''' can be scary when they’re hostile or unexplainable. They will also be unexpected in a game that rarely has many people on-screen at once. Imagine something like a [https:// | '''Crowd actions''' can be scary when they’re hostile or unexplainable. They will also be unexpected in a game that rarely has many people on-screen at once. Imagine something like a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q90wI3G0iqc&t=36s zombie parade] or The Big O’s March of the Foreigners while they sing their national anthem.<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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Some music is much more powerful when listened to in the right season/weather, so perhaps the same is true for visuals. Can environments and weather in-game be '''designed for the season''' in which that level is supposed to be? If we are implementing the feature where levels change by time of day, we can take advantage of this too with track variants (different instruments, tempo, etc.).<br /> | Some music is much more powerful when listened to in the right season/weather, so perhaps the same is true for visuals. Can environments and weather in-game be '''designed for the season''' in which that level is supposed to be? If we are implementing the feature where levels change by time of day, we can take advantage of this too with track variants (different instruments, tempo, etc.).<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 [https://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 [https://web.archive.org/web/20250914174323/https://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 | It should be possible for the player to '''grow closer to each ally''' (member of your AI team) through actions which will endear them to you. 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, so a member who you neglect is more likely to be the traitor. However winning over one member might hurt your relationship with another who dislikes that person, so you can't simply max your relationship points across the board by grinding through trust-building actions with each character. Each character 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, and alienating to the other members, but a strong ally in battle. Given enough variety in the team, different kinds of players will have their own favorites. 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 they command. Also see 2002 game [[wp:The Thing (video game)|The Thing]], where a low level of trust from a teammate restricts the actions they will perform, and you have to earn their trust back.<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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:Provocative interview with Chris Crawford on interactive storytelling. | :Provocative interview with Chris Crawford on interactive storytelling. | ||
;[ | ;[http://web.archive.org/web/20120603100838/http://alivetinyworld.com/2010/11/02/deus-ex-life-liberty-and-the-pursuit-of-happiness-or-as-close-as-well-ever-get-to-it/ Alive Tiny World: Deus Ex: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness - or as close as we'll ever get to it] | ||
:On what made Deus Ex almost unique in the world of games. | :On what made Deus Ex almost unique in the world of games. | ||