Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Another difference is that progress toward completing tasks typically follows a
predesigned trajectory that takes no account of the player's level of skill. (Puzzle-
based adventure games normally have no difficulty settings the player can adjust.)
Progress in emergent systems adapts to the player's performance naturally—or it
can if you set up your mechanics correctly. For example, you can use the
escalating
challenge
and
escalating complexity
patterns (see Chapter 7, “Design Patterns,” and
Appendix B) to adapt quickly to a player's level of skill. In an emergent game, varia-
tion in the gameplay has to come from different phases that the game goes through
as a natural part of its mechanics (see the section “The Shape of a Game of Chess” in
Chapter 4, “Internal Economy”). You can use the
slow cycle
pattern (Chapter 7 and
Appendix B) to cause gameplay phases to emerge.
PrOGress as characTer GrOWTh
A third way you can measure progress is through the avatar character's own growth
in strength or abilities. Role-playing games typically use this type of progress, espe-
cially table-top role-playing games and massively multiplayer online role-playing
games
(
MMORPGs) that lack a goal that ends the game. Progress in these games is
measured in numeric character levels, which are obtained by collecting numeric
experience points. This type of progress tends to be open-ended: there may be no
limit to the level a character can achieve. It also has the potential to offer branch-
ing growth paths, if players have to choose between different ways to advance their
characters, especially when these options are mutually exclusive. A good example of
this type of development is found in
Deus Ex.
In this game, players can find aug-
mentation canisters that increase a character's abilities. Each canister offers a choice
among several cybernetic enhancements. Every choice is offered only once, and the
players have to decide between options that support different playing styles.
As with all types of progress, character development is used to structure gameplay.
For example, a player character must have a particular score for a strength ability
before being able to progress to certain areas. However, because the game design-
ers don't have direct control over how the player chooses to develop a character,
the game may need to support many different approaches to get to the same point
in the game. In some cases, the game offers different possible endings based on the
way the player character developed.
PrOGress as PLaYer GrOWTh
You can measure the player's progress through the game in yet another way:
through the player's own growth in skill. Compared with role-playing games, the
avatar characters in action-adventures such as
The Legend of
Zelda, Super Mario Bros.
,
or
Metroid Prime
don't progress much. They unlock new abilities and gain more life
points over the course of play but possess nothing like the fine granularity offered
by the character attributes in role-playing games. In action-adventure games, the
game trains the player to use his avatar's abilities through increasingly difficult and
complex challenges.
