Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
number of constraints and a stack of exposition onto the writer right at the point
when the writer is trying to get the narrative out of the starting blocks.
Teaching the Player to Play
Play is composed of action, and the player's priority is to get into this action as quickly
as possible. Remember that this is a game , so the start is not a chance to present the
world's longest cinematic because you can't get a job in film. Frustrating a player's
desire to play is not a good way to engage them in your story. If you choose to use a
cinematic, do not forget the tutorial's main aim: to get the player playing.
The first slice of interactivity the designer serves up introduces the player to the
basic controls and the effect these controls have on the gameworld. Action games, for
instance, regularly open with tutorial sections where the player learns to walk then
run then fight. Role-playing games often open with sections that teach the player
to search their environment for objects and then how to interface with the objects
they discover. This introduction is often via a series of on-screen instructions paired
with in-game encounters designed to allow the player to practice. This process of
instruction is often framed within an objective, something the player is told they need
to achieve. This objective could be a level-design objective—do something within a
time limit, travel from one place to another, or talk to some character. Such objectives
are often cloaked within the narrative. While the controls are taught through text, the
description of the objective is often done through dialog, in-character and cloaked by
narrative. Such descriptions could take the form of a military objective presented in a
briefing ( Metal Gear Solid ) or the need to get somewhere presented by circumstance
( Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ).
Game objectives are limited. Any player who's played a number of games from
the same genre will begin to notice the old favorites that come around again and
again—get here, get there the fastest, blow this up, stop that getting blown up, etc.
Such recognition risks making the missions both repetitive and abstract. The writer's
job here is to find a way to give value to the gameplay information, thus diverting the
player and creating a meaning and legitimization of their gameplay actions. So, while
CJ starts with a gameplay objective—“get here�—he also has a narrative objective—
“return home to meet his family.�
Pressing All the Right Buttons—Controls
Put your hand up if you've played games before...okay, okay...and who's played
a couple of console games that involve shooting? Aha, aha, so...put your hands
out in front of you, put the topic down, and imagine you're holding a controller.
Now...start firing. Chances are that an exercise like this would see most people
twitching the same finger. This is because designers have learned the value of conti-
nuity of controls. As such, many players who have played similar games will instinc-
tively know the controls of another game in the same genre.
This is one reason that while a beginner needs a gentle introduction to a game, a
hardcore gamer will find relearning controls to be a dull affair. The game's narrative,
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