Just wrote this article here:
http://www.kousougames.co.uk/articles/other/What_Gameplay_Means.phpI've been thinking about the idea for a while, and it seems to apply to all my favorite games. It might be an idea to keep in mind when making your won fangames... although probably a later thought, perfecting after you've finished the engine. Meh.
For those who don't want to visit my site (damn you!) here's the article:
What gameplay really means...I???m aware that this is probably more relevant to professional game developers as opposed to fan game makers, but I???m writing it anyway.
I???d like to explore ??? and discover ??? what really makes a game worth playing. What makes us enjoy it. What makes us want to play on... you get the message. I think we can safely say that people like snazzy graphics and lovely music, but that???s nothing to do with the actual gameplay. What I???m talking about it more simple than that. I???m talking about the element of control.
Puzzle games don???t have this kind of gameplay, they only have the satisfaction of solving them. But ??? I ask you ??? what makes The Sims addictive? There???s no action, no puzzle solving, not much to complete (as such), no bad guys, and on the whole no story line.
It???s because of the unique gameplay, you say. What???s great about it? What???s
different about it? When you break it down, all you???re doing is controlling a character. Building a world. Controlling another character. Ahh. Control.
It???s control that makes walking Link up to a door and opening it yourself more fun than watching Link walk up to it and open it himself. That little sway you make when you move him ???
you are doing that. You are proving to yourself, one more time, that
you are controlling him. You???re not watching a movie. Watching a movie isn???t a game. You???re not controlling what???s happening.
I know I???m stating the obvious, but I think a lot of people these days are missing that.
If you drain the feeling of control, to me, you???re draining the gameplay. You need to always remind the player that
they are in control. Let???s take an example. I play a game, where I control a little boy in a green tunic with a sword. Great! I tell him to walk around, and he walks around. But then, what happens when I try to walk through a wall?
A lot of people now think that it???s better, more realistic, to make him not do it. Not move up to the wall where one would graze one???s eyebrows. Stop before then. Walk towards the wall but slow down and stop movement a foot before. I tell the character to move into it, and he does nothing. Nothing. That???s my control, gone. I hate that.
It???s not as realistic, it???s not as beautiful to untrained eyes, but to make him walk completely into the wall so there???s barely a pixel between them is good. It???s great. It gives me once more, that feeling of control. To see him continuously swing his legs trying to get through ??? he???s doing what I say. He???ll never make it, but he has no free will. He???ll keep on trying until I tell him not to. There???s no invisible boundary, just what
I see. Just where
my mind would make him stop. Where I???d expect him to stop. I have the control eternally, and that???s what matters.
Hearing that keeping an animation going, or moving a boundary back a little, can supposedly increase the fun may be a little odd. Surely it???s a backwards step. But from my experience, from what I enjoy, that???s what adds the little touch that a movie can???t.
That???s what made Ocarina of Time so great when I first played it. The crisp, bold colours where great, but what mattered was the way he moved. He moved like one of us would. The place between movie and gameplay was perfectly met. You were only forced to stop when there really, really was no way to get passed. If you ran into a fence, you could make him climb over. If there were vines, you could climb them. If there was water you could swim and dive ??? it was all what you wanted. And, of course, only
when you wanted.
I think that then, Nintendo realised this. That???s why they hit the jackpot ??? the ultimate advance in the understanding of gameplay ever ??? the
control increases as you get better. As you play more. The areas are
more exploreable, you can move
faster and
more control is given. That???s why I love Ocarina of Time.
Of course, it???d be horrid if you had to re-learn the techniques from scratch, that???s why Majora???s Mask started so well ??? all the movement was identical, but with more control. More styles to jump. More forms to play in. All of it was increasing the control.
They hadn???t forgotten this is Wind Waker. They made a replay allow you to whiz through all the stuff you learnt the time before ??? nearly all techniques were taught to
you, not the character. You could, then, do them from the very start if you knew how.
For some reason they decided to change that in later games.
This isn???t all about whether or not you can bang your head on a wall. There???s more to it than that ??? but I just wanted to remind everyone what playing a game really means. It???s a game. Not a book ??? not a song ??? not a movie ??? a game. If you get the combination right, you???ll succeed.
~ mitxela
So... discuss? Do you prefer to have someone slow down and never reach the wall when you walk into it? Do you agree with what I've said?
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