Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
that designers use various mechanics to control how players can move through a
game. In this topic, we call such mechanics
mechanics of progression
. Understanding
the mechanics of progression is key to designing games with great levels and games
with interesting interactive stories.
an academic bat tle
The topic of stories and games has been the subject of fierce debates between two dif-
ferent camps within the field of game studies. One camp, the
narratologists
, put games
in the tradition of other storytelling media, and they focus on the storytelling aspects of
games. The other camp, the
ludologists
, argue that to understand games you should start
by looking at the game mechanics and the gameplay first and foremost. For the ludolo-
gists, game stories are not an integral part of games.
Angry Birds
is a good example.
The game has a story, but the story is told only between levels, and the events within a
level aren't part of it. The story and the gameplay have no effect on one another. in the
case of
Angry Birds,
the ludologists are right, but there are also games that make an
effort to integrate their gameplay with their stories—role-playing and adventure games,
in particular. When we talk about storytelling in games, we mean integrated stories that
provide more than just a superficial context for the gameplay.
The mechanics of progression are an important aspect of designing game levels.
They are a key instrument for the designer to dictate what game elements players
will encounter first, what resources they will start with, and what tasks they must
perform to proceed. As a game designer, you decide what abilities the player has,
and use the layout of a level, including the clever placement of locks, keys, and vital
power-ups, to control the player's progress through the game. This way, players are
eased into the game. As players explore the game's space and gain abilities and skill,
they will eventually have a storylike experience that consists of the events that take
place in the level, clues discovered throughout the game, or cut-scenes that are trig-
gered at certain locations.
Tutorials
Game designers apply the mechanics of progression to create tutorials and level
designs to train the player in the skills necessary to complete a game. These days,
the number of rules, interface elements, and gameplay options of a modern retail
video game is usually larger than most players can grasp at once. Even smaller games
found on the Internet frequently require the player to learn a multitude of rules, to
recognize many different objects, and to try different strategies. Exposing a player to
all these at the same time can result in an overwhelming experience, and players will
quickly leave the game in favor of others. The best way to deal with these problems
is to design the levels in a way that teaches the player the rules in easy-to-handle
chunks. In early tutorial levels, players are allowed to experiment with the gameplay
options in a safe and controlled environment, where errors have few consequences.
