[Part of my MMO Design folder.]
Do you like empty maps?
I have a quick test for you all! Picture yourself running through a large zone in one of your games. Of the two versions below, which do you prefer?
A) The map is almost fully devoid of enemies, NPCs, and items to interact with and only serves as "travel time" from point A to B.
B) The map has a lot of NPCs you can interact with. Some to talk to. Some quest givers. Some to fight against.
Personally, I pick option B, because option A is stupid. Even if you are trying to show the scale of something having a player move through an otherwise empty map is not fun. Some good examples of this - Assassin's Creed 3 underground and getting out into the styx in Project Zomboid. There's lots of ground to cover. By walking. And walking. And walking. That's so exci..zzzzzzzzz....
One of the tips when designing Neverwinter Online Foundries is to not scale your maps unless there's something of interest there. You have a huge castle? Awesome. It better be filled with lore, explorable stuff, important details and/or NPCs. If the only room with interaction is a room in the highest tower then screw everything in between. Design it so the player goes immediately there (or at least has a clear option to) or prepare for a low score.
Unlike a tabletop D&D session where time and movement are really dependent on the dungeon master, computer games where you are literally controlling every step of a character takes can get boring and tiring quickly (if that is all you are doing), especially when moving through "purely decorative" environments. What do you think? Do you agree?
Showing posts with label Assassin's Creed 3. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Assassin's Creed 3. Show all posts
Thursday, 26 March 2015
Monday, 16 February 2015
Design: Credits
[Whacking it into the Design folder just so I don't lose track of it later.]
More of a Single Player game failure here: Unskippable Credits might enforce the idea that you really want to give credit to everyone involved (like Assassin's Creed 3), but what actually happens? I leave them running while I go off to do other things. Like poop. Is that what you want? For people to walk away and take a dump while your credits roll? I'm sorry, I don't need to waste my time reading whoever did what in your game.
Compare this to the interactive credit roll of Black Flag or better yet, in Devil May Cry 3 (spoilers link!). At the end of that awesome game, there's a small emotional moment and then the player then continues to fight a whole bunch of minor demons while the credits roll to rock music. That is how you do it. Sure I don't remember who did what there either because I was busy enjoying myself, but at least I sat through it.
Movies, while lacking the interactive part, can and should have a credit opening that advances the story - or if not, at least be entertaining. Best openers off the top of my head would probably be Lord of War and possibly some of the Bond movies. Bad one from recent memory is Taken 3. That is a good example of how not to do opening credits!
More of a Single Player game failure here: Unskippable Credits might enforce the idea that you really want to give credit to everyone involved (like Assassin's Creed 3), but what actually happens? I leave them running while I go off to do other things. Like poop. Is that what you want? For people to walk away and take a dump while your credits roll? I'm sorry, I don't need to waste my time reading whoever did what in your game.
Compare this to the interactive credit roll of Black Flag or better yet, in Devil May Cry 3 (spoilers link!). At the end of that awesome game, there's a small emotional moment and then the player then continues to fight a whole bunch of minor demons while the credits roll to rock music. That is how you do it. Sure I don't remember who did what there either because I was busy enjoying myself, but at least I sat through it.
Movies, while lacking the interactive part, can and should have a credit opening that advances the story - or if not, at least be entertaining. Best openers off the top of my head would probably be Lord of War and possibly some of the Bond movies. Bad one from recent memory is Taken 3. That is a good example of how not to do opening credits!
Thursday, 29 January 2015
Assassin's Creed 3
New characters and beautiful maps really make the game worth exploring again.
It's great having first played Black Flag then going backwards to see the development process for the naval ship idea. In Revelations there was a segment where Ezio had to break out of a harbor which was pretty cool. The whole sailing part was already introduced here as sort of a side game, one of many given that there are board games and QTE hunting to do too. It's no secret the sailing segments are my favorite, but what else did I like?
The many huge maps to explore, not just cities either. The open frontier is awesome, especially on horseback. At least when they give you the horse whistle ability. I also quite liked Desmond getting a chance to do more than just sit in the Animus, more than usual anyway in modern settings. Obviously they were testing to see how that could be done with the lack of haystacks these days. The solution is one they looked to be testing here: BASE jumping. I also quite liked the story of the whole thing and found the voice acting to be superb.
Having six unique recruits with their own abilities was also a lot better than the bunch of hard-to-remember throw aways added in Revelations, but ultimately unnecessary. After getting used to the slightly different controls it is business as usual for the assassin heroes who are like gods that can't even be put down by enemy firing lines as you regenerate quickly over time. Well, I still got thrashed by someone named "Rope Beater" a few times but he was a rare (and honestly, refreshing) exception. :P
This also seems to be where they worked on the notoriety system though it is a bit flawed in the execution here - why bribe criers or newspapers when pulling down three wanted posters is just as easy? Oh well.
On to the things I didn't like: There is a whole chapter in Native American. Yep. For some reason, the Animus which translated Altair and Ezio almost fully to English, fails to do it here. Why? That whole bit felt alienating but whatever. As a result I really disliked one of the main protagonists (Connor), not just because he's a douche bag but because of that. When he finally speaks English it's almost like I'm being introduced to a new character. One I don't really give a stuff about.
Moving on, the lock picking mini-game - stupid and a waste of time since there is really no threat to you while you do it. It's just there to slow you down. On the same vein, spelunking in large underground maps devoid of life is annoying (yet I still did it). Yes, I know they were trying to get the scale right or whatever but I'm just equating it to my maps in Neverwinter Online, no way would anyone get away with making such a sprawling and simultaneously boring place. 15 minute quests man. 15 minutes tops.
More to add to the useless list are: Hunting, Crafting and that god awful mini-management game. Why do they insist on putting that shitty management game? I know it continues on to Black Flag but I'll be glad if it is destroyed entirely. Fortunately it's not needed here and can be skipped, just like in the next game. I hope that people wise up and spend resources on something better than this crap. You also get a TON of tools you can use, but really you just need a sword, pistol and horse and you are set. Everything else is fluff.
Also, the Homestead missions. They are both really cool, and exceptionally stupid. Unfortunately, more on the stupid side of the scale. Oh, I could go try stop/win a war or you know, I could take the time to pick some flowers. The game also suffers from a long, unskippable credit roll and once again has some sort of PvP multiplayer attachment which instead of Abstergo training their own people is now better presented as an entertainment game. This sits a lot better and is followed through in Black Flag's main story, but is still just on the side content I'm not really interested in. If only they made a coop multiplayer version... I think that one is called Unity, right? :P
A definite improvement over Revelations but still nowhere near as good as Black Flag, I give this game three and a half arrows out of five.
It's great having first played Black Flag then going backwards to see the development process for the naval ship idea. In Revelations there was a segment where Ezio had to break out of a harbor which was pretty cool. The whole sailing part was already introduced here as sort of a side game, one of many given that there are board games and QTE hunting to do too. It's no secret the sailing segments are my favorite, but what else did I like?
The killing! Wait, you mean apart from the killing?
The many huge maps to explore, not just cities either. The open frontier is awesome, especially on horseback. At least when they give you the horse whistle ability. I also quite liked Desmond getting a chance to do more than just sit in the Animus, more than usual anyway in modern settings. Obviously they were testing to see how that could be done with the lack of haystacks these days. The solution is one they looked to be testing here: BASE jumping. I also quite liked the story of the whole thing and found the voice acting to be superb.
Having six unique recruits with their own abilities was also a lot better than the bunch of hard-to-remember throw aways added in Revelations, but ultimately unnecessary. After getting used to the slightly different controls it is business as usual for the assassin heroes who are like gods that can't even be put down by enemy firing lines as you regenerate quickly over time. Well, I still got thrashed by someone named "Rope Beater" a few times but he was a rare (and honestly, refreshing) exception. :P
This also seems to be where they worked on the notoriety system though it is a bit flawed in the execution here - why bribe criers or newspapers when pulling down three wanted posters is just as easy? Oh well.
On to the things I didn't like: There is a whole chapter in Native American. Yep. For some reason, the Animus which translated Altair and Ezio almost fully to English, fails to do it here. Why? That whole bit felt alienating but whatever. As a result I really disliked one of the main protagonists (Connor), not just because he's a douche bag but because of that. When he finally speaks English it's almost like I'm being introduced to a new character. One I don't really give a stuff about.
Moving on, the lock picking mini-game - stupid and a waste of time since there is really no threat to you while you do it. It's just there to slow you down. On the same vein, spelunking in large underground maps devoid of life is annoying (yet I still did it). Yes, I know they were trying to get the scale right or whatever but I'm just equating it to my maps in Neverwinter Online, no way would anyone get away with making such a sprawling and simultaneously boring place. 15 minute quests man. 15 minutes tops.
More to add to the useless list are: Hunting, Crafting and that god awful mini-management game. Why do they insist on putting that shitty management game? I know it continues on to Black Flag but I'll be glad if it is destroyed entirely. Fortunately it's not needed here and can be skipped, just like in the next game. I hope that people wise up and spend resources on something better than this crap. You also get a TON of tools you can use, but really you just need a sword, pistol and horse and you are set. Everything else is fluff.
Also, the Homestead missions. They are both really cool, and exceptionally stupid. Unfortunately, more on the stupid side of the scale. Oh, I could go try stop/win a war or you know, I could take the time to pick some flowers. The game also suffers from a long, unskippable credit roll and once again has some sort of PvP multiplayer attachment which instead of Abstergo training their own people is now better presented as an entertainment game. This sits a lot better and is followed through in Black Flag's main story, but is still just on the side content I'm not really interested in. If only they made a coop multiplayer version... I think that one is called Unity, right? :P
A definite improvement over Revelations but still nowhere near as good as Black Flag, I give this game three and a half arrows out of five.
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