quote:
Original post by Mezz
Going back to the ''interesting actions'' proposition, I''d like to discuss it a little further.
Lets take firing a bow for example, a player may find it mundane to repeatedly click on a target until they are dead, likewise, it may bore them to only click on it once and have the game repeatedly fire until it is dead.
At the other end of the scale, the player would probably get extremely fustrated if every time he wanted to shoot, he had to raise the bow, knock the arrow, aim the sight and draw to an appropriate amount before releasing. All the while trying to do it as fast as possible because he''s getting his assed kicked by a bunch of skeletons or whatever...
Somewhere in between that is what you may want to achieve, going back to the bow, an ''interesting action'' for the player might be to choose which arrow they are firing before attacking, or between shots or something.
We''re on the same wavelength, I think. In suggesting this, I''m assuming that mowing down skeleton after skeleton isn''t the entirety of the "role-playing" experience. We probably want to role-play heros, not pest exterminators. That is, the game isn''t powered by repetitive combat.
If this is the case, then you''ve got to look at what''s interesting for the role. Think in terms of what Half-Life did with it''s scripted sequences, then consider tying the decisions you can make to the kind of character you are.
How granular you get is up to you, and yeah, I''d agree the whole "knocking the bow, etc., etc" is waaaay too granular. But so might the actual clicking on target after target.
Look at how movies and TV handle combat with hoards. I''m tending toward more object based solutions to problems we present the player with, which are executed as a scripted sequence that''s based on their character. Luke Skywalker, for example, blasts the door to head off an army of storm troopers. We don''t see him slog his way through trooper after trooper. (This also has the side benefit of a different type of gameplay, because now
each and every interaction is much more meaningful)
Another example (more woodchopping): Let''s say we''re castaways that need to build a boat in a CRPG. Which is more compelling and makes us feel like we''re playing a role:
1) A game where you have chop down each tree, fashion each planck, nail them together, etc., etc, all the while killing and endless and repetitive number of tigers, gorillas, and rats?
2) A game with specific challenges that represent greater success: the macro choices of risking a deeper search in the forest for better wood, figuring out how to haul it back, figuring out how to stay alive in the blazing sun, finding an antidote to the poison you''ve swallowed, etc, etc
Traditional CRPGs would give us the former because it''s nice and uniform. It emphasizes repetition of known skills that the player has had to practice and experiment with.
We''re not adventurers, we''re task doers.
I''d favor the second because it has a wider variety of circumstances appropriate to the role of being a cast-away. How the scripted sequences play out would emphasize the role, and I think be more interesting than endless clicking once you figured out the appropriate rate and type of choice presentation. (not too few, or it becomes watching a movie)
And as for the Diablo game, which is more interesting: endlessly clicking on wave after wave of skeletons, or an adventure process where the combat is scripted / automated enough to include:
-action oriented inter-NPC dialog (arguments, story, emotional outbursts that show character); can you hold your team together?
-cinematic events (a running retreat where the archer trips and falls, losing her bow, gets slashed by a skeleton''s sword, and is rescued by the strongman who has to carry her over his shoulder); how do you respond, do you slow the team down, etc.?
-special moves (a desperation shot that riccochets the arrow off the orc''s helmet and hits the vat of oil), and -role-appropriate strategizing (where you''re thinking about the story / situation, and the next move that''s appropriate for your character, rather than clearing a level and reaching a boss); do you recognize opportunity in time? Are you skilled enough to do it?
Sorry this is so long, but it''s such a contrary idea (even for me!!!!
) that explanation seems necessary.
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Just waiting for the mothership...
)
