Wavinator:
Good post. Very inspiring read. I agree about making exploration challenging, not just time consuming. For my 2D space layout I've been toying with the idea of the nonlinear nature of space. Taking wormholes for example, how would it affect the game if they were simple gateways between points in space? Not the kind where they separate two "zones" but where they allow for continuous travel when flying "through" the wormhole point. This would allow for whole systems or galaxies to be "hidden" within in a singular point in empty space. Moreover flying "through" the point from different directions could make you end up in different places altogether. An apparently empty part of space could be filled with infinitely many, enormous "pocket spaces" ready to be explored when found.

Another idea along the same line is to have distances shrink and expand depending on where you are and which direction you are going. Traveling efficiently between two points would then require the player to map a path along which the distance is shortest, and this might very well not be the straight path. Both these approaches require some maneuvering skills from the player.

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Original post by SuperRad [...] Maybe it was that there wasn't much reward for exploring beyond non-interactive backgrounds, or that you could tell they weren't of relevance due to your rader-like pointer showing you where to go for the parts.

I think this is a good point to make, where some games stumble. If you hold the player's hand too tightly you may very well remove the thrill of exploration altogether and the player just gets frustrated from the long travel times.

I think the key 'hooking' mechanism in exploring is its reward system. If the player goes out and spends X amount of time exploring a gameworld and comes up with barely any possessions or repetitive visuals, then I'd say that player won't be doing any more exploring in the future. However, if the player spends the same amount of X time and comes up with a variety of discoveries, then I would say that player would be motivated to explore some more afterward - but, there is also such a thing as getting bored of exploring despite the fact that you've discovered a lot of things. The reward has to not only vary in rate, but also in its variety of reward type, as well as scale. Getting precious items all the times wouldn't make those items very precious. Now, the reward may take on a variety of forms, from visual "Oh Wow!" moments to items that help you in your gameplay (such as power-ups and weapons if a fighting game), to bonus quests or secret areas. I don't think it matters what genre your game is, as long as your rewards are varied in type and scale and delivered within good timeframes (not too rapidly nor too long in between discoveries).

In this regard I'd say exploring is sort of a bit like fishing. You cast in your fishing line, wait a while, and after a random amount of time, sometimes you'd catch small fish (common rewards), sometimes big ones (rare rewards), sometimes a toilet seat (unpredictable/amusement rewards) or even a note in a bottle, and all in unpredictable times. Etc.

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Original post by Tangireon The reward has to not only vary in rate, but also in its variety of reward type, as well as scale. Getting precious items all the times wouldn't make those items very precious.

For a space exploration game, I would focus on gameplay rewards. If you weren't going to implement exploration at all, what would remain? That should be the reward of exploration.

Meeting new species, interacting with them, helping them, fighting with them, trading with them, introducing them to each other. Finding species that can help other species, discoverying new technologies, using new technologies to boost old technologies. When they discover something through exploration, they should want to stop and enjoy it, possibly turn around and make use of it, rather than immediately heading off to explore again.

But then of course, there's finding raw materials and valuable stones. But that type of reward should most likely serve as a breadcrumb, not the main motivation.

I think the key here is creating a challenge and a reward for beating the challenge. For that to be fun the challenge also needs to be something the player can effect. Random loot found drifting in space is barely a reward because the player has little control over when he finds it. Finding loot after completing some puzzle is better because the player feels accomplished and the reward is for doing more than just being lucky.

Putting interesting eye candy or items in places is a start, but you need to find some way to work in an interactive challenge with the exploration. Resource management challenges are a good idea, topology based logic puzzles is another.

Make the exploration of space interactive and reward the player for mastery over that interaction with the exploration.

I've read some really good thoughts in here. For my input I'll talk about the first 2 games I can think of where I was unusually motivated to explore.

- World of Warcraft: Since I stopped playing this I realized that exploration was my primary reason for playing in the first place. Each area was diverse and artistically well-crafted so I was driven to fight through each one so that I could see the next one. The fighting played a key role in this. If I could easily go explore all the areas quickly then I would have gotten bored pretty quickly and none of the areas would have left much impression on me. I vividly remember my first character, a Tauren warrior. I remember leaving Thunder Bluff and being sent to the Barrens, my first new zone. I was playing at night. As I entered the Barrens and started towards the crossroads I remember feeling terrified as this little level 10 surrounded by huge level 20 thunder lizards that could have eaten me alive if I got too close. When I finally got to level 70 with my gnome rogue I kept playing for a while to get better equipment but I soon lost interest simply because there was nowhere left to go. I don't play any more.


- Metroid Prime: I have a deep love for all the Metroid games I've played (unfortunately I haven't had a chance to play any newer than Metroid Prime or Metroid Zero.) I loved the scanner in Prime. I loved looking around for little tidbits of Chozo history that gave me small clues into what happened on that planet so long ago.


So going off the above, I've come to some conclusions on what an exploration game would have to entail to keep me interested for a while. It would need varied content. Just exploring a single jungle planet wouldn't keep me there. It would need high-quality content. This could be visuals, writing (as in my Metroid Prime example) or even sounds and music. The visuals or writing could certainly be procedural as long as it was decent quality. I'm a sucker for procedural content. Think Dwarf Fortress. I could spend forever going through a procedural world like that to learn about the different nations and groups and their histories. I don't in Dwarf Fortress because the interface is a horrid monster with sharp pointy teeth, but that's another topic.

I think time would be an important element in a successful exploration game. Not that certain tasks would have time limits, because that would suck if you ran out of time simply because you chose the wrong direction. But the faster you complete tasks should have some kind of meaning. It could even be the time itself. Going back to Metroid, I'm one of those guys that played for time over and over again, first for fastest time possible, then for fastest time while getting all the items, etc.

Again, it would need some mechanic to break up the pure exploration parts. Resource gathering, city building, lobbying for funds, or combat could all be valid activities. Ideally exploration gives some advantage in these activities and they in turn give some advantage to exploration.

This thread is vaguely related :

http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=502393&whichpage=1&#3283268

Has Star Control II not been mentioned because it's too obvious? It's certainly the best exploration-oriented game I've ever played.

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Original post by drakostar Has Star Control II not been mentioned because it's too obvious? It's certainly the best exploration-oriented game I've ever played.

Ha, I just read this thread and Star Control II was the first thing that came to my mind, too.

What first becomes obvious in Star Control II is that space is a huge place, filled with many, many stars, planets, and moons -- all of which you can interact with. It isn't the sort of game where you only see a small area at a time. As soon as you open the starmap, you see ALL the stars you could go to (although you are limited by fuel). This sets an immediate goal of I really want to see what's over there.

I also found it difficult to stop playing the game sometimes because, given how many places there are to explore, I always wanted to explore just one more system before stopping.

As long as Star Control II is in focus, I think someone should mention how horrible it was to design a time limit into an exploration game.