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THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF A GAME
Posts
Solitayre
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ClosePerhaps the greatest goal of a game is to make something happen that is truly a memorable experience for the player. Fun varies from person to person and game to game, but in general, I think many players, especially in action games and RPGs, enjoy the feeling of being awesome or badass. Establish a clear set of rules for the game world, and allow within those rules for the player to be able to do awesome things that they will remember forever.
Remember the first time you flew in Super Mario Bros 3? Awesome. Remember how you fought the final boss of Kingdom Hearts 2 by throwing skyscrapers at him? Also awesome. Don't be afraid to let your players do incredible things. Limit what they can do, but never let them feel limited.
Remember the first time you flew in Super Mario Bros 3? Awesome. Remember how you fought the final boss of Kingdom Hearts 2 by throwing skyscrapers at him? Also awesome. Don't be afraid to let your players do incredible things. Limit what they can do, but never let them feel limited.
Anaryu
8848
I have to agree with Solitayre; when I can do something that makes me excited in a game, it's almost a given I enjoy it.
Example:
http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/6/19/
It doesn't always need to be something outrageous of course, but I've experience 2 kinds of "awesome" that always make me remember a game fondly, even if the game itself ends up sucking for other reasons:
1. Something so cool or outrageous or visually stunning you turn to a friend/spouse/pet and say: "Hey, you HAVE to check this out!"
2. Something so well balanced or stimulating you tell a friend/spouse/pet "You really should try this game out, it's really good." without being able to explain EXACTLY why.
A good personal example; recently I got the game Afro Samurai. I was unhappy and not enjoying the game (and 2 minutes from shutting it off) UNTIL I figured out how to do the mechanic that let you charge your slashes and end enemies quickly.
It went from being a tedious slash-fest with me having to hit-and-run to avoid getting beaten down from behind constantly to being me playing with that mechanic and really enjoying the combat just by trying to use it in different ways and cooler situations.
Then I hit some awful boss that I couldn't beat, even after about 3 straight hours of trying. To this day I really, really WANT to play that game again. It was "fun" even though I can't beat that boss, and it frustrates me greatly because I was having so much fun and now continuing that fun is denied to me.
I think a lot of the "stunning" fun I experience is when I'm given situations where I can freely experiment and that experimentation isn't punished. In my Afro example I tried different combos, tries to end slashes in different ways, tries it from different sides, and tried to find ways to get enemies into groups and such so I could take many of them out.
Even if my plan didn't work as intended, I didn't lose any precious resources, and I took away information for the next try. When I'm given a broad field and told "Go, play!" and it's rewarding, I am usually having fun.
When I'm put in a broad and field and told "Go, play! But play it the way I intended or ELSE." I find it frustrating and NOT fun.
Example:
http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/6/19/
It doesn't always need to be something outrageous of course, but I've experience 2 kinds of "awesome" that always make me remember a game fondly, even if the game itself ends up sucking for other reasons:
1. Something so cool or outrageous or visually stunning you turn to a friend/spouse/pet and say: "Hey, you HAVE to check this out!"
2. Something so well balanced or stimulating you tell a friend/spouse/pet "You really should try this game out, it's really good." without being able to explain EXACTLY why.
A good personal example; recently I got the game Afro Samurai. I was unhappy and not enjoying the game (and 2 minutes from shutting it off) UNTIL I figured out how to do the mechanic that let you charge your slashes and end enemies quickly.
It went from being a tedious slash-fest with me having to hit-and-run to avoid getting beaten down from behind constantly to being me playing with that mechanic and really enjoying the combat just by trying to use it in different ways and cooler situations.
Then I hit some awful boss that I couldn't beat, even after about 3 straight hours of trying. To this day I really, really WANT to play that game again. It was "fun" even though I can't beat that boss, and it frustrates me greatly because I was having so much fun and now continuing that fun is denied to me.
I think a lot of the "stunning" fun I experience is when I'm given situations where I can freely experiment and that experimentation isn't punished. In my Afro example I tried different combos, tries to end slashes in different ways, tries it from different sides, and tried to find ways to get enemies into groups and such so I could take many of them out.
Even if my plan didn't work as intended, I didn't lose any precious resources, and I took away information for the next try. When I'm given a broad field and told "Go, play!" and it's rewarding, I am usually having fun.
When I'm put in a broad and field and told "Go, play! But play it the way I intended or ELSE." I find it frustrating and NOT fun.
post=83687
MasterMachine: What is the most important aspect of a game?
Max McGee: Well let me tell you about all my games that I made!
Did not see this until now, but...sorry that you are too dumb to see how my post related to the topic.
post=86788
Perhaps the greatest goal of a game is to make something happen that is truly a memorable experience for the player. Fun varies from person to person and game to game, but in general, I think many players, especially in action games and RPGs, enjoy the feeling of being awesome or badass. Establish a clear set of rules for the game world, and allow within those rules for the player to be able to do awesome things that they will remember forever.
Remember the first time you flew in Super Mario Bros 3? Awesome. Remember how you fought the final boss of Kingdom Hearts 2 by throwing skyscrapers at him? Also awesome. Don't be afraid to let your players do incredible things. Limit what they can do, but never let them feel limited.
This is great advice, but whoa moments are pretty difficult to pull off in the engines we're using around here.
post=83860
Menus that don't take 5 seconds to load up, good walk speeds, no slow text speeds (especially dumb pauses), player control within the first minute, readable text, game mechanics used to their full potential, extra small things to find, cutscenes that serve their purpose, and good overall balancing.
Let's see...check, check, check, ..., check, ..., check, check, and, ugh, the balancing act. I agree that all these things go a long way to making the player not want to discontinue playing, but they seem more like basic fundamentals that creators abuse or overlook. They won't make a game stand out, they'll just make it...like Darken said: bearable.
I'm not sure any one part of a game could be pinpointed as the 'most important' aspect. As such a unique medium, games have way too many things that could make or break them to say with any certainty "THIS is what makes it good."
But if I had to guess, it'd be gameplay. If the game's fun to play, it's good. Everything else is just fluff.
EDIT: Dammit! I just quoted someone from the first page. Coming soon: a post from a guy who actually read the rest of the topic!
EDITEDIT: And now I see I fell into the cop-out answer. There have been some interesting points raised in this topic! Sadly, I have none of my own to add. Sorry ahm js so ign'rant.
Tonfa
150
The most important thing is the system that is the meat of the gameplay - in 99% of RPGs this being the battle system. A good battle system carries the game, an unremarkable battle system can be carried by other elements, an actively bad battle system just kills enjoyment and makes playing through the game a chore.
Same applies for non-RPGs, just replace battles with the main mode of gameplay.
Same applies for non-RPGs, just replace battles with the main mode of gameplay.
Skaruts
0
Adapting my long experience as a hardcore gamer (and my personal reactions to games) to the potentiality of the RPG makers, this is what I can say:
1- Good sense of humor - even if the story is a dramatic one, making me laugh a bit now and then keeps me going.
2- Good maps and worlds - nothing gets me more willing to press ALT+F4 than empty and/ or simetrical maps with the same 2 trees and 3 flowers repeating themselves throughout the whole land. A very good example of good maps and lighting effects is present in the brazilian game "Memories Of Mana". That one stands out from the crowd, imho (and in every point I make here, except the intro one).
3- Good story that's easy to follow - Having a totally non-cliché or a very well worked cliché story to read is crucial in making me play more than 10 minutes. Also, good dialogues and storytelling with not much to read doesn't break my motivation to play. This takes me to #4.
4- No Intros, unless I can skip them - If the game has no intro or if it's playable/ skipable, then I'm on it.
People tend to make all those flowery 5 minutes intros that supposedly would be followed by an epic experience... but that usually gets me pressing ALT+F4, and sometimes even before the intro is over. Half Life is a good example on how intros can be playable.
Music can also, sometimes, make me quit playing a game. Personally I think the RTP musics suck. Most of them. But I can stand some of them if they don't play for eternety in every map of a large world. This is mainly cuz RPG Maker doesn't let the player reduce the music volume. Only to turn it off, which doesn't plaese me much either. Epic phail from enterbrain...
1- Good sense of humor - even if the story is a dramatic one, making me laugh a bit now and then keeps me going.
2- Good maps and worlds - nothing gets me more willing to press ALT+F4 than empty and/ or simetrical maps with the same 2 trees and 3 flowers repeating themselves throughout the whole land. A very good example of good maps and lighting effects is present in the brazilian game "Memories Of Mana". That one stands out from the crowd, imho (and in every point I make here, except the intro one).
3- Good story that's easy to follow - Having a totally non-cliché or a very well worked cliché story to read is crucial in making me play more than 10 minutes. Also, good dialogues and storytelling with not much to read doesn't break my motivation to play. This takes me to #4.
4- No Intros, unless I can skip them - If the game has no intro or if it's playable/ skipable, then I'm on it.
People tend to make all those flowery 5 minutes intros that supposedly would be followed by an epic experience... but that usually gets me pressing ALT+F4, and sometimes even before the intro is over. Half Life is a good example on how intros can be playable.
Music can also, sometimes, make me quit playing a game. Personally I think the RTP musics suck. Most of them. But I can stand some of them if they don't play for eternety in every map of a large world. This is mainly cuz RPG Maker doesn't let the player reduce the music volume. Only to turn it off, which doesn't plaese me much either. Epic phail from enterbrain...
