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Bill of Adventure Gamers' Rights: Difference between revisions
Bill of Adventure Gamers' Rights (view source)
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TerranRich (talk | contribs) (New page: Along the turbulent course of adventure gaming history, there have been many "features" of adventure games that have proven to be irritating, useless, or downright unfair. Such cliches are...) |
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Players have the right to not be forced to solve a puzzle by doing something that "breaks" the rules of adventure gaming. One example is in ''Runaway 2'', in which you must use an inventory item on an exit — the ''only'' exit in the game that you can interact with. This is, in essence, another form of pixel-hunting, in the sense that the player could not possible know that the exit could be interacted with, if it wasn't done regularly throughout the game already. | Players have the right to not be forced to solve a puzzle by doing something that "breaks" the rules of adventure gaming. One example is in ''Runaway 2'', in which you must use an inventory item on an exit — the ''only'' exit in the game that you can interact with. This is, in essence, another form of pixel-hunting, in the sense that the player could not possible know that the exit could be interacted with, if it wasn't done regularly throughout the game already. | ||
'''( | ==IX. The Right to Satisfying Rewards for Puzzles== | ||
Players have the right to a satisfying and appropriate reward upon completion of a difficult puzzle. Players want to move forward in the game; the main attractions are the story and characters. Perhaps a little animation, new dialog, new characters, or even a new location. Rewards such as these could be integrated well into the advancement of the plot. | |||
==X. The Right to Freedom from Convoluted Puzzles== | |||
Players have the right to be free from puzzles that don't make sense and do not fit the story. Developers must ask themselves, "What fantasy would people want to play out as adventure game characters?" Players do not want to collect endless supplies of keys and try them out on doors in order to proceed through a story. They want to make story-impacted decisions like hijacking a plane, navigating a tomb for treasure, or investigating a murder by interrogating suspects. | |||
This falls hand-in-hand with integrating the puzzles into the story. If you're in an abandoned warehouse, finding keys strewn about in locations throughout a maze of locked doors and corridors is not the way to advance the storyline. It's a lazy way to make the player work in order to escape a location for the sake of escaping. | |||
==XI. The Right to Know the Goal== | |||
Players have the right to know what their goal or goals are. There are some exceptions to this, but for the most part players don't want to be dropped in a game and left wandering about aimlessly for an hour, trying to figure out what to do now. The objective must be clear; there must be a reasoning behind solving these puzzles and what the player should be trying to achieve. Progress should be related to the ultimate goal. If the game has no goal, then make that clear to the player. You don't have to tell the player exactly what to do, but at least point them in the right direction. | |||
==XII. The Right to a Streamlined Interface== | |||
Players have the right to an interface that serves the needs of the game play primarily. The best interface is usually the one that allows players to complete any simple action with only one or two clicks. While a lot of people prefer multi-verb systems, it is usually best to keep it as simple as possible. An excellent example would be an interface that lets you left-click for one action, and right-click for another, with the actions changing depending on which item, hotspot, or object you're on. | |||
Players tend to not read manuals. If they can't figure out what your GUI does, chances are they'll just quit and delete your game. If your GUI is different from the standard Sierra/Lucas layout, add an in-game tutorial so people can figure it out. | |||
For the more complicated interfaces, there is no excuse for leaving out keyboard support. Press <kbd>L</kbd> for look, <kbd>P</kbd> for pickup, etc. <kbd>ESC</kbd> could be for the control panel, and <kbd>TAB</kbd> (which is the same as <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>I</kbd>) for the inventory. Even better, include multiple keyboard shortcuts — maybe ones that start with the letters, in addition to the numbers <kbd>1</kbd> through <kbd>5></kbd> for the different actions. | |||
==XIII. The Right to Logical Cause and Effect== | |||
Players have the right to understand that there was a reason why solving Puzzle X in Room Y changed something in Room Z. Events should make sense. In many adventure games, two events are completely unrelated: the bridge won't get fixed until you give the cheesecake to the horse. Try to avoid this at all costs. Players looking for a way to fix the bridge will have no clue that it'll happen magically if you do something entirely unrelated in a faraway room. | |||
If you have no choice but to have one action trigger another, unrelated event, make sure you explain it away logically. Perhaps the deli is closed, but opens once you give the police officer a donut. The player cannot open the deli forcefully, so he or she is forced to try other things, and then at a seemingly random point, the deli is now open for business. Perhaps it just wasn't opening time as of yet, but by the time you had the lengthy conversation with the police officer after giving him the donut, the deli opened. | |||
==XIV. The Right to Fairness in Puzzle Occurrences== | |||
Players have the right to not be forced into one-time-only puzzles. Avoid making puzzles where you can obtain Item X ''only'' the first time you enter Room Y — or where you have only ten seconds to open Door Z before it locks ''forever''. King's Quest V is guilty of this at several points. This is completely unfair; if the player misses some detail he or she should be able to go back to it. If you insist on keeping a timed puzzle, make it occur every time you enter the room, or at the very least, every Nth time you enter it (or you can even randomize it). | |||
'''''(UNDER CONSTRUCTION)''''' | |||
[[Category:Adventure Game Design]] | [[Category:Adventure Game Design]] | ||