Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
boring, and silent. Eventually after being beaten enough or losing
enough characters, the music will stop altogether. Remembering to
make clever use of sound, the players will associate silence with poor
performance and wide sweeping orchestral pieces with positive per-
formance. This paves a reward pathway for us to use. Just like the
musical cues in older games stuck with you as an indicator of gaining
a life, finding a secret, or winning a battle, the musical cues in Skull
Island will keep the player engaged and on task.
Audio cues are used in a few other ways to enhance learning. When
enemies emerge onto the screen, an orchestral hit from that direc-
tion cues their appearance. Treasure dropping is met with the sound
of objects hitting the floor and twinkling, so to speak. A visual cue
accompanies the auditory cue, as the treasure glows slightly. This is
consistent with the multimedia principle, as well as the attentional
control theory that tells us that consistent and clear uses of sound will
be more memorable than ad-libbed or stochastic ones. Programming
hooks are included that detect when a player has not moved, been
hit repeatedly, is repeatedly missing the target, cannot find the exit,
leaves items on the ground, or performs other problematic behaviors.
Auditory instructions without on-screen text, consistent with the
redundancy principle, teach the player how to cull those behaviors and
quiet the music when the AI is speaking, activating the same reward
pathway established through music earlier: less music means worse
performance, ergo, the tips will be context relevant. It is important
to determine what these undesired behaviors would be early in your
game projects so you can address what kinds of tutorial tips and help
will be necessary to guide players through. A good way to determine
this is to look at level and mechanic designs and ask yourself, “What
is the exact opposite of what I would like the player to do here?”
Auditory cues from the AI players also provide dynamic feedback
on all of the actions the player takes. The odd “Nice shot!” or what
have you provides feedback that the player has successfully attacked
an enemy. These auditory tips become more infrequent as the game
progresses so as not to overload the player. When players equip a piece
of armor or weapon, they are greeted with inclusive praise from their
AI compatriots: “Whoa… cool gun!” or “That armor looks sturdy.”
On the other hand, when they equip a lower-level item, they are
greeted with the opposite: “I'm not so sure that fits you quite right…”
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