Game design Dos and Don'ts

[Khris]

I've put together a small guide with some general dos and don'ts when designing an adventure game.

It's a PDF and can be found here.

Any feedback is appreciated.

EDIT: The filesize is only 9,58 KB.

[Mr Flibble]

While my modem struggles with that pdf I'll type this up.
I remember a similliar article on Adventure Collective but I'll post again once I've read it.

[DragonRose]

I have to disagree about the default "this doesn't work" message. Have SOME sort of message, yes, but not a default. It just gets really really annoying to hear the same thing over and over again, and often leaves the player asking "But WHY doesn't it work?"

[Candle]

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Compile Error
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There was an error compiling your script. The problem was:

In: 'Room script'

Error (line 6): undefined symbol 'y'



Do you want to fix the script now? (Your room has not been saved).
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Yes   No   
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[Snarky]

Sound advice, all of it, but why this recent trend of posting everything as PDFs? That document could just as easily have been a webpage or even a post on these forums. The PDF format just makes it heavy to load and inconvenient to read.

[Radiant]

I second Snarky's remark. PDF is cumbersome.

[aussie unplugged]

There are a few good examples of "don't" under the Help tab of the AGS editor. Check out the "make my game... feature".

[Radiant]

Regarding Chrismuk's do/don't document (dododo )...

First off, very good document. It is concise and easy to read, and it addresses some important issues. My only quibble is that you should really make it a HTML document, for easy indexing and stuff.

1. Corrolary,
Dialog should not 'time out'. Because otherwise, a player who is clicking through dialogs, may accidentally find that one line times out at that precise moment, and he ends up clicking away the next line. Ideally the game should have a config option to switch dialog speed between some value and 'clickable'.
(note that all Lucasfilm games do this)

3. Corrolary,
You can use the 'unhandled_interaction' function in the global script to great effect here.

4. Corrolary,
'look' actions should seldom if ever require that you walk over there. Neither should talk. Neither should any 'default' action that would result in a 'I cannot do that' line.

New stuff,
6. Keyboard support. Use it. I know this is my personal pet peeve, but ALL lucasarts games have keyboard support, and if you think about it they had good reason for it. You want your interface to be as userfriendly as possible so there really isn't a reason why not to.

7. Pixel hunts. Don't. If something is important, mention it in the 'look at no hotspot' reaction.

8. Mazes. Don't, unless you have a really good variation on the theme, mazes are generally artificial.

9. Arcades. Be really careful with them - many adventure gamers don't like them much, or prefer them to be skippable. Whichever way you go, an arcade sequence does not make a good climatic ending.

10. Beta test. A lot. Really, I mean it. Not just for bugs, but also for trying if your puzzles make sense to anybody who isn't you. Example, a magical wand charging device that is powered by a slice of rotten cheese you may accidentally have found in a place you should not have been in the first place, is NOT a good puzzle.

[Kweepa]

Dialog should not 'time out'. Because otherwise, a player who is clicking through dialogs, may accidentally find that one line times out at that precise moment, and he ends up clicking away the next line.

I think the best solution to this problem is a slight change to the engine, so that if a dialog line has just changed (within the last 150-200ms) then the click should be ignored. That way the author can set the timing up sensibly and someone reading just a little faster isn't punished for impatience.
For skipping over the entire conversation more quickly, there's always ESC.

Ideally the game should have a config option to switch dialog speed between some value and 'clickable'.
(note that all Lucasfilm games do this)

I don't remember being able to stop LA games' dialog timing out.

9. Arcades. Be really careful with them - many adventure gamers don't like them much, or prefer them to be skippable. Whichever way you go, an arcade sequence does not make a good climatic ending.

Hmm, I think a good arcade sequence would make a much more satisfying ending. It's difficult to make a good arcade sequence though. Keep the best puzzle for last... if you can.

Steve

[Radiant]

I think the best solution to this problem is a slight change to the engine, so that if a dialog line has just changed (within the last 150-200ms) then the click should be ignored.

Excellent idea.

For skipping over the entire conversation more quickly, there's always ESC.

Yes, but that only works with 'true' conversations, not with a series of Display or DisplaySpeech commands (unless you make it a cut scene).

I don't remember being able to stop LA games' dialog timing out.

In most Lucasarts games, he { and } keys set text speed, between 1 to 9, and the tenth option being 'clickable' which means the text only disappears at a mouse click.

Hmm, I think a good arcade sequence would make a much more satisfying ending. It's difficult to make a good arcade sequence though. Keep the best puzzle for last... if you can.

Interesting point. That is probably a matter of opinion, then (which means it probably shouldn't be on the dododo). Personally, I found the ending of both Future Wars and Space Quest III disappointing, as rather than a grand finale puzzle you are simply stuck in two near-consecutive arcade sequences.
At any rate we are probably agreed that there shouldn't be an arcade sequence simply because the author wants 'something different' at the end.

Also btw I haven't yet seen any arcade sequences in AGS games, except for KQ2V (and of course Platformerius and the like). YMMV?

[Khris]

I have to disagree about the default "this doesn't work" message. Have SOME sort of message, yes, but not a default. It just gets really really annoying to hear the same thing over and over again, and often leaves the player asking "But WHY doesn't it work?"

But my quick 'tutorial' actually shows how to implement different responses very easily.
Just replace the 'I can't do anything here.' with a suitable response for the object.

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Compile Error
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There was an error compiling your script. The problem was:
[...]

If that wasn't a joke: I mentioned it's a code snippet, y is the mouse y coord

Sound advice, all of it, but why this recent trend of posting everything as PDFs? That document could just as easily have been a webpage or even a post on these forums. The PDF format just makes it heavy to load and inconvenient to read.

I was thinking everybody can read a PDF, no matter what OS they have, and, I admit it, I was too lazy to do a html version. But I'm going to make one in the next few days.

Radiant: I wanted to add beta testing & pixel hunts, but I simply forgot about those during writing the doc...it was late

Well, it's only version 0.1, I'll work on a more complete one when I have the time.

[Kweepa]

Also btw I haven't yet seen any arcade sequences in AGS games, except for KQ2V (and of course Platformerius and the like). YMMV?

There's always the shooting sequence in Pirate Fry 2.

But my quick 'tutorial' actually shows how to implement different responses very easily.

And it's a very neat technique! I like it a lot.

[Redwall]

Plus the classic Pleurghburg shooting scene.

[Andail]

As I just pointed out somewhere in the critics...is it a fad these days to present these official-looking publications all the time?

If they're not written by some very prominent freelancer for the underdogs, I just find them pretty pretentious. We like to hear your points of view, but must you announce them as the result of some long term research?

The very title "Dos and Don'ts" is pretty prescriptive, in a world characterised by underground projects and good humour

[Khris]

I could have named it "better nots, perhaps insteads & other IMOs" but I wanted to put together some very basic mistakes/recommendations which I thought would be seconded by many others.

Of course I'm not prominent, and I understand that people might feel offended when some "nobody" suddenly dictates the rules, but you don't have to be Henry Ford to teach other people how to drive.

Speaking of the critics, almost every week somebody posts a background with glaring perspective errors. And every time that happens, people explain and correct again and again.
But establishing some general rules when it comes to game design is quite simple, so I thought, why the heck not. And if it's only good for pushing some n00bs in the right direction.

If I had seen the Menu->Help->make my game... in AGSedit earlier, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have bothered with making my pdf.

[MillsJROSS]

The only real problem I have, and it does tie in with what Andail said, is merely the size of PDF. Two pages. For an official looking document, I expected at least five or six pages of information. And yes, I understand you were going for concise.

That said...most of what you said was good advice. As far as including default reactions for hotspots. I agree wholeheartedly, that there should be some sort of message provided if the author didn't tailor a specific message. It makes the game seem bare when you're clicking here and there, and you don't get anything from the character. It is also annoying when the character walks over to look at things. Unless, of course, he goes in for a close examination. One thing you might want to add to that, if there is a reaction where it makes sense for the player to be near the hotspot, make sure they're not covering the hotspot. It's annoying to have to move the character just to click somewhere you already did (Assuming the character is set to clickable).

I don't mind trial and error, too much. As long as it makes sense, and perhaps if you were somehow able to get knowledge which told you where to go. Using your three doors example. If you had the ability to attain knowledge about which door wouldn't kill you, but were still able to use the doors without that knowledge. But yes, cruel trial and error, where you have no ability except by guessing which is death or life, should never be used. Or if the author of the game is saddistic enough, he should at least provide the player with a go back button, that would essentially put the player back before he made whatever mistake he made.

-MillsJROSS