Gameplay defines the actions the player has to perform in your game.

e.g.
- Shooting things
- Driving vehicles
- Commanding things
- Moving
....

And the combination of these actions defines your gameplay.

And GOOD gameplay is FUN gameplay.

[edited by - Squarefox on June 9, 2003 2:41:02 PM]

Hi there.

You mean i extend the flexibility for the game player to do more things like driving a car, commanding, etc.

Wow.. that is not easy, you know!

In RPS mode, i had no idea what else other than commanding!

Like what you said on assigning actions to the player!

Thanks anyway.

Regards,
Chua Wen Ching

In your place, I''d ask the college lecturers to define their meaning of the term, because they are going to be the judges of your work.

We can come up with all kinds of suggestions, probably obtained by experience, but these may not necessarily seem relevant to the people in your educational establishment.

Ask them what they mean, try to get guidance notes or at least an agreed definition.

Hope it helps.





Stevie

Don''t follow me, I''m lost.

Well, when I said tighter controls, I meant controlls that respond quickly and are set up in a manner such that the game is easy to play.

On a side note, a game''s "game play" is the combination and fluidity of the elements that make a game fun. Saying "hidden treasures are counted as game play" is a bit off track. Sure, incorporating elements of hidden surprises and such will add to your the game play, but it''s not that black and white. You shouldn''t just add hidden treasures just because your game lacks good game play, doing this just to satisfy some condition/perception of what makes a game good is a contradiction of what you set out to do. You should add hidden treasures if they make sense in what you are trying to do and if they are cognizant to the game''s enjoyability. Senselessly adding elements to a game just to make people like it is analogous to paying people to like you. It''s just going to look artificial.

If you want good game play, sit down with a pen and paper and think of all of your favorite games. Then write down what made them fun. What made you not want to put the controller down. Write down what made you angry at the phone every time it rang and interrupted your play. And not things that are game specific (IE "well, I liked how well the shotgun worked against bats, so I should add shotguns to my game"). Add the elements of what made these things worked (IE "well, I liked that there were a broad range of weapons and how each of them were suited to a different purpose and how one needed all of them to complete the game efficiently"). These things are what make a game great. These are the elements of good game play.

Good luck and have fun!

--Sometimes the hardest thing to do is nothing

quote: Original post by wenching
You mean i extend the flexibility for the game player to do more things like driving a car, commanding, etc.

No, not adding more things, but making the things that are already there fun to do.

The following are a few examples of things which usually (but not always) result in BAD gameplay:

Repetitiveness: The game never changes much, or the player has to do the same things over and over again. After a short while of playing it becomes a chore.

Difficulty: If the game is too difficult, players get frustrated and give up. If it is too easy, they often get bored by the lack of challenge. Different difficulty levels are always a good idea.

Poor controls: If the controls are bad, the game becomes harder, and may even be impossible for some players. Customizable controls are nearly always good.

Lack of Goals: Sometimes just messing about can be fun, but it can also get very boring. If the players always have clear objectives, they will never be left sitting around wondering what to do.

Hi again.

If i had asked my college about defining game play, i think it is not my project at all. I need to make research right!

So i am doing my games. Very early stage. It is good for me to know what is game play rather than knowing last minute!

My educational won''t release any info at all.

Haha!

Yeah, thanks for the advice. I should not be placing hidden treasures except my game allows it.

Okay, i will think of it. But i like games bcs of the graphics and music. Very funny and different.

But i am weak in 3d modeling and Music compositing...

That is why i am here to ask! Thanks a lot.

Regards,
Chua Wen Ching

For an RPG, I think that good game-play is slightly different than other types of games. For example, in a jump and run good game-play may be categorized as responsive control to the players input or maybe even multiple paths to complete the game.

My most favorite game of all time is Frontier Elite 2 (FE2). The game-play in that game was amazing – quite simply because it was wide open – not linear like most games are. My least favorite game has to be an adventure game call called Loom. That thing was linear start --- end. Boorish to say the least.

So, what would provide good game-play in an RPG? IMHO, taking from the above, we can list responsive controls – meaning the character does on screen what the player expects by moving the joystick or mouse. Next comes a non-linear feel – or a feeling that I am able to do what I want without fear of missing an critical step... the story must not be linear and if it is it shouldn’t feel as if it is. If I have those two elements in an RPG, I get lost in the game and as someone else already stated, that is good game-play.




Dave "Dak Lozar" Loeser

well, as you said, do some research for some definition, but anyway you have the word GOOD in the middle, that is an open word, I mean it depends on the person who is using it which is bad for you ... you might consider pointing that out to them, since if you keep it like that you might crash into a wall ...

now, what I think is a game that has good gameplay: hmm, thinking it twice, I as many other was going to mix gameplay with other stuff, measuring gameplay is also hard since is easy to think: a game that has good gameplay is one that must be fun to play, but that depends in LOTS of other stuff ... (which others might have pointed out and isnt gameplay)

With that said, good luck and be sure to get to know what they want to see ...

There''s a lot of articles on this site that can probably help you a lot in your quest. I advise you to check em out.

As for a RPG, in addition to what the others have said here''s my 2 cents worth.

The elements of the story and settings should fit together in some fashion. If you''re gonna have dragons and robots in the same world, you''d better explain WHY. Likeways, gameplay elements should fit together. You wouldn''t have a shooter where in between levels you had to play chess, for instance.

Also another plot consideration, there should be surprises, but they should make some kind of sense, even if you don''t figure out how everything all fits together for a while. There''s a lot of books explaining how to write good stories, and those would apply just as well to RPG''s.

With the above elements done well, it''ll be a lot easier to create a game that sucks people into it and keeps them awake way too long. Of course these aren''t the *only* considerations, but if your plot sucks or makes no sense then having good controls and lots of eye candy probably won''t win you any awards either.

quote: Original post by wenching
Hmm.. just say i manage to do those stuff, but my treasures are in a very lousy graphics, do you still play it?

As long as an uber sword looks like an uber sword, not a stick or a regular long sword.