Page 49 - Developer

design of the times // damion schUBeRt

especially if you’re making shooting that pales next web site lists postman, as much design attention Does it support the core
competitive online games, to Call Of dUty, fighting kart driver, and soccer star as combatants, and I’m fantasy of the game?
where that ingenuity can that has nowhere near among more classic combat sure the same can be said
be used to win or to harass the tightness of control of roles like ninja and warrior. in free realmS for fans 3// Accept that your
other players. The same SOUlCalibUr, and yet it is Each of these games of the soccer and mail features will be simpler.
game freedom that allows still widely considered one has smaller minigames delivery games. It is harder Complexity in multiple
players to build amazing of the finest games ever associated with them, to improve the game on systems is hard to
things like pianos by made. Why? Because all with their own respective multiple tracks, and keep support, hard to test,
stacking items on top of these things blend into each advancement tracks. all fan bases happy while hard to balance, hard
each other in Ultima Online other—you can crash your Wizard 101, by contrast, still maintaining the game’s to expand, but perhaps
also allows them to build car, then get into a gunfight was made by a smaller, core balance integrity. most of all, hard for
staircases of spoons up that ends in an epic fistfight. scrappier studio (King’s Adding new features and most players to actually
to the top of other players’ Grand theft aUtO is, at its Isle). They didn’t have the game systems to increase follow and understand.
castles, enabling them to core, broad and open-ended resources to make a broad the breadth of the game In a broad game, the
waltz in and rob them blind. wish fulfillment of the idea game, and instead focused is always an option, and game systems need
of a world without rules; on making an intricate is typically popular, but it to be simple—the
Breadth can Be good you can go anywhere and combat model reminiscent also risks increasing the complexity will come
» This is not to say that all do anything you want. The of pOkémOn and final complexity of the game— from how those
games that are breadth- possibilities are endless, and fantaSy. While the world increasing the number of systems interact.
first are doomed to fail. it captures the imagination itself is simple, the combat unexpected interactions
Ultima Online and Star WarS like few other games can. model is not—the game that need to be considered, 4// Be willing to lose
GalaxieS both had sizable Of course, Grand theft designers went out of their balanced for, and tested. control. Embracing
fan bases, largely because aUtO also shows how way to design a game with emergent behavior
the two games were wild expensive that kind of broad a long life, and with angles the Broad-game means you are
and unpredictable places world interaction can be; of expansion so they could Bullet liSt accepting on some level
where it felt like anything development costs of Grand continue to put out content » Making a broad game isn’t that players will surprise
could happen. The idea theft aUtO iv exceeded that would be in demand on impossible, and some of the you. Your design team
that you can go anywhere $100 million, according to the microtransaction store. finest video games ever made and management needs
and do anything is an Wikipedia. That said, the Their tactic appears to have are broad games. But here are to decide up front if this
attractive sales pitch, and it same source says Take Two been successful—Wizard some things to consider. is a good thing or not.
is one that two companies earned five times that much 101 got its 20 millionth user
in particular have been in income in the first week in 2011, two years and two 1// Don’t think of your Broad games are hard to
remarkably effective at the product was on sale. But months after the game was features in a vacuum. do, and really hard to do
building toward—Rockstar few companies can afford launched, while free realmS Think about how they well. There is a reason that
(Grand theft aUtO) and that initial price tag. took four months longer to interact with each most broad games that
Bethesda (creator of hit the same milestone. other, how they balance get started never ship,
ObliviOn, among others). Simplicity iS key against each other. and that many established
Grand theft aUtO is the » In the context of breadth plan to expand Be sure they support developers flee them,
poster child of the breadth vs. depth, the concept » One of the interesting each other (at best) philosophically. But still,
game, and it illustrates the of simplicity is vastly angles of the depth vs. and don’t compete or I would sorely like to see
breadth debate, especially invalidate each other. more broad games on
Grand ThefT auTo III. in terms of online games In ObliviOn, the desire the market. Games like
with ongoing support and to learn by doing to Ultima Online and Grand
development, is the appetite complete a sandbox theft aUtO iv were exciting
for expansion. If you have experience resulted in because they challenged
one central game activity, players hopping through their players to imagine the
then it is very easy to focus fields picking flowers possibilities. If done well,
your development on that in order to become this promise speaks right
game activity—adding more master assassins (by to the core of what makes
creatures to summon in increasing their jumping video games amazing.
Wizard 101, for example, or and poisoning skills).
adding new raid mechanics damion SchuBert is the lead
to WOrld Of WarCraft. 2// Think of the systems designer of Star WarS:
By contrast, broad audience. Any feature the Old republic at BioWare Austin.
games have a broad player adds complexity to He has spent nearly a decade
difference clearly. It has auto misunderstood. Wizard base as well, and all of your game and takes working on the design of games,
racing that fans of need fOr 101 and free realmS are them want more and more development time. Yes, with experience on Meridian59 and
Speed would sneer at, car two lighter MMOs designed interesting things to do you could add washing ShadOWbane as well as other virtual
crashes that are snoozers for a younger audience. when they consume their laundry to your Gta worlds. Damion also is responsible
compared to bUrnOUt, a Sony Online’s free realmS favorite kind of gameplay. clone, but would it hold for Zen of Design, a blog devoted to
story without the choice or includes a series of In Ultima Online, crafters anyone’s interest for game design issues. email him at
depth of a BioWare game, minigames; today, the and tamers demanded any length of time? dschubert@gdmag.com.

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