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Original post by furiousuk Yes, I found it fun and it was certainly well created but I define a game as being engaging and it just seemed to be lacking a certain level of interaction that would keep me hooked. I'm not sure what that level is though and I'm not suggesting it has to be combat but, whilst, I enjoyed the graphics and ambiance there was nothing that really made me feel part of the action and I quickly got bored of simply exploring the land. Maybe its just me though and that the level of abstraction actually went over my head rather than under it.

I think you may have touched on something quite important there. While it may sound cool to create an exploration game, players need clear objectives. I have not played the game you are referring to but, without clear objectives, the player feels like they are wasting their time. Obviously, this a stupid feeling; all games are, technically, a waste of time. None the less, a lack of clear defined goals can make the player bored.

The easy solution is combat. However, that does not mean that the game has to be combat focused, nor is it the only solution.

What I am trying to say is, you can't simply tell the player to explore. Instead give them something to find. Then make the thing they have found useful in some way. It can be help further exploration, but "another map" may quickly become repetitive and soon loose it's appeal with the players.

That is normally where combat is added, to provide the reward; more efficient dispatchment of enemies. It could be anything though, trade is the first thing that comes to mind. The problem is, each of these comes with their own set of problems, a trade game requires an entire market to trade in and something to trade for etc. You can probably see now why combat is so attractive, you can pretty much put it in without any other dependencies.

I don't think you need to kill stuff, but I do think you need some sort of challenge and risk. In exploration that can be anything from environmental (crumbling cliffs) to simulation based (malfunctioning equipment).

I also think you need to make sure there are lots of things to find and clues pointing to them.

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Original post by Delphinus Personally, I'd refute death in all its forms as part of an exploration game - it's unnecessary and distracting for the player.

If you get rid of death don't you lose the visceral thrill of making that dangerous jump or teetering over the void almost ready to fall?

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Original post by furiousuk I just downloaded Knytt, a really interesting piece of programming, but, therein lies the problem. Yes, I found it fun and it was certainly well created but I define a game as being engaging and it just seemed to be lacking a certain level of interaction that would keep me hooked.

Just finished it after about a couple of hours playing. I'd agree that it would have been nice to have more interaction (there was a nice puzzle with pushing a seemingly immobile mining cart to jump from that I would have liked to see duplicated elsewhere). But I think the genius of the game is that it's goal is simply to find the UFO repair items and sometimes that means nothing more than figuring out how to get to the next screen.

Maybe I enjoyed it because I'm an escapist gamer at heart. When I was going deeper into the planet or higher up into the sky I kept having the feeling of "what's around the corner?" It had the sense of getting to fulfill a fanciful wish, something you aren't normally able to do.

I would have loved to see more environmental puzzles that required items (like an airmask in the deep caverns and such).

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Original post by thk123 What I am trying to say is, you can't simply tell the player to explore. Instead give them something to find.

Knytt pretty much does that, giving you a set of items to find and a compass that points to where they are. I think this game would be replayable if the items could spawn in different locations and the level could randomize a bit.

Combat is a good spice, but it too can get quite repetitive. I think the one great thing about combat is that it's an active, visceral challenge. We expect to be out-thought or out gunned (usually the latter), whereas exploring a passive environment doesn't do that.