Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 2. Ergonomics
A good game should not only have a great idea, plot, graphics, and characters, but
also good ergonomics. Games are not ordinary applications, they are like racing cars;
they work in extreme conditions, they are fast and powerful, and have state of the
art programming. Ordinary cars are made for human beings, not for aliens from out-
er space featuring dozens of tentacles (they can be useful for playing very complex
puzzle games!). So a figure of a real human, a player, stays at the forefront when you
areplanninganddevelopingagame,allhisphysicalcharacteristics andneedsshould
be taken into consideration.
Portraying the player
To create a handy game, you need to draw an imaginary portrait of your future player.
You can watch your own behavior and observe how your friends and other people
play various types of games. Of course, it will be very subjective and an inaccurate
image, but the main tendencies can be noticed. Try to only watch the game, never
ask to perform playing on purpose, because in such cases people behave very unnat-
urally trying to be either too critical inventing insignificant claims or too polite sparing
their feelings.
It is easy to see that there are two types of game sessions. The first type is about
intentional desire to play a specific title: a person plays a game sitting at home in his
armchair or sofa. The time spent on the game is pretty long, there are only a few
pauses, and the player plays very enthusiastically. A device can be held by hands or
be put on a tabletop, or a special stand, since more fingers can be used to control
the game. The second type is more higgledy-piggledy: a person is trying to kill some
time, mostly in public spaces. For instance, while using public transportation systems
(namely buses, subways, trains, and so on), waiting in queues, waiting for somebody
