I haven't read this entire thread, but I saw how long the list was beginning to stretch, so I thought I would add in a little comment about that.

If anyone has ever googled behavioral psychology with respect to decision-making, they would quickly find a number of articles talking about the disadvantages of too many choices. One of those disadvantages is that a player given too many choices may suffer from post-decision anxiety. They may decide to go with a particular specialty and then wish that they would have chosen something else. For those who played Diablo 2, you may have spent "too much time" stressing over which new spell you should receive or which one you should upgrade. I am actually quite surprised that the "postmortem" of Diablo 2 in Game Developer Magazine did not address the negative side of the skill tree feature that "went right". This anxiety is certainly not enjoyable, even though a long list of specific options may sound like a good idea on paper. Many people have trouble and increased stress when dealing with complex and difficult decisions, so sometimes helping the player means making their decisions much simpler. If nothing else, it will make your game infinitely easier to pick up and play.

As Miyamoto is commonly quoted, "easy to pick up and play, but difficult to master". Make the game easy to pick up and play and allow the player's in-game decision-making to find interesting and creative uses of those features. That will give them the simplicity of making a decision, but variety in the way that the game is played so that they feel that their character's action are uniquely their own. That may prove to be too complex to incorporate, but in the least--simplicity is not always a con and complexity is not always a pro.

http://www.newyorker.com/critics/books/?040301crbo_books
http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun04/toomany.html
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20020204/hopson_01.htm

Quote:

Original post by dgaf I haven't read this entire thread, but I saw how long the list was beginning to stretch, so I thought I would add in a little comment about that. ...*snip*... http://www.newyorker.com/critics/books/?040301crbo_books http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun04/toomany.html http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20020204/hopson_01.htm //EDIT - made addresses clicky

Thanks for the information and links - some interesting reading there. To some extent though, the focus of my particular design is the powers, and potential uses and combinations of them. To have only a few choices I believe would reduce the quality of the game. Even with a reduced number of powers, players may still wish they had selected a different power than the 2 chosen.

Perhaps, however, simplicity of choice may be kept in mind when designing the interface through which players select thier powers. A small number of basic 'default' power sets could be presented to allow players to jump into the game quickly and worry less about the choice.

Maybe over time as the player gets acquainted with the system, it wouldn't be so intimidating. I just wouldn't know where to start if I were to begin a new game and have to choose between 30+ superpowers. It's synonymous with many action-RPGs, where you start out with a set number of points and are told to put them into 4 or 5 attributes. The problem is, a player at the beginning of the game is less likely to know what they want to be after that initial "cool factor" wears off. I remember when I first started playing Diablo, I began a character of each type and played a little bit until I got a feel for how I wanted to play. Not only did I waste time, but it was a more somber experience in an otherwise great franchise. Perhaps some sort of generic beginning in which the player can get a quick feel for what they may want to play so that they won't have to go back and start over. How many people played Diablo (I/II) and acquired a number of spells/skills that did not add to a higher skill that was never used after it was first tested? I'm guessing quite a few people.

Well, I was planning on having a small tutorial mode in which players can get a basic feel for the controls, as well as trying out powers without the risk they'll face in game. Perhaps this will help alleviate the problem to some extent, but I definately see where you're coming from - I played DiabloII and aquired a number of skills I never used.

This is a really good idea but due to the very nature of "superpowers", it could be really hard to balance. They're supposed to make the hero almost unbeatable through unfair advantages, so it's a multiplayer nightmare. It's great that you're not trying to make it a MMO like most people would :)

IMO, a game like this should have slightly more relaxed and open mechanics and gameplay. Kinda like an arcade game, as opposed to an RPG where you build a character. Especially since you're using cel-shading and giving enphasis to the fact that it's based on comics books, instead of trying to make it look realistic, it fits the game really well if you intend it for more casual play. I imagine something like, at the beggining of each level, you get to chose 3 powers, and there's nothing like character points or a big inventory. Exceptional strenght or speed are powers like any other. Inventory items are more like power-ups that you use in the same level where you got them (most stuff aren't transported from one level to the other, and the ones that do are story-related or given as a bonus to the player like in Dungeon Keeper). If you lose with a combination, you try another one, and you're free to experiment. The explanation could be a league of heroes or a hero that can change his or her powers; or don't have an explanation at all! In other words, focus on a fun and arcade-ish style of play, instead of number-crunching and decision stress :)

Powers:
Can fully control metal

Can shoot laser beams out of eyes

I have something to add about ESP or Clairvoyance. If a sniper is aiming at you, you would know. I don't know how you would display this on the screen with Clairvoyance, but with ESP, you could see out of his eyes. Maybe you could have a little ghost image of the sniper's veiw appear in the corner of the screen...


Edit: I forgot to list some super-powers.

Walk through walls - This one is obvious, but maybe bullets could pass through the superhero while he uses this.

Impair Enemy Vision - The enemy's vision goes drunk-like. lol

Impair Enemy Superpowers - The enemy's superpowers don't work.

Ice Walking - Doesn't slip on ice. This is pretty worthless though.

Water Walking - Can walk on water.

Underwater Speed - Can move underwater as fast as you can above water... or faster.