Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
As a designer, I understand why the authors would want to keep the player in a bounded area
that emphasizes horizontal motion as much as vertical motion. And I understand why they
would want the monsters to travel on a path between introduction and escalation. But as I
played, the game failed to communicate an important rule: I can't jump in the pit like the mon-
sters can. And the game didn't help me remember this rule, either; despite dying the first time,
I jumped into that deadly hole again and again during the chaotic frenzy of the game.
The solution that the creators of
Super Crate Box
came up with was a simple visual effect: they
set the hole on fire (see Figure
). Red flames now dance in the hole at the bottom of the
screen. If the player falls in, she's fried. If a monster falls in, it's cooked red hot and released,
furiously speeding up as it drops from the top of the screen. I can buy this: it's just a small visual
change, but it provides a justification for why the hole kills me but transforms monsters. It
provides context.
4.2
Figure 4.2
Both versions of the hole at the bottom of
Super Crate Box
are deadly, but the one
on the right makes that visually obvious.
At a mechanical level, games are about rules and interactions. We introduce things that are
dangerous to the player so there can be a conflict, so we can develop the player's verbs: you've
got to be good at moving to avoid the hazards hurtling toward you. You've got to understand
how to direct your shots to shoot the monster. But in the abstract, our rules are just that:
abstractions. Firing a gun, running around and avoiding dangers—these are complex, nuanced
activities. We don't want to make a simulation of running (caveat: sometimes, maybe we do).
We're trying to tell a
story. So we abstract.
How does the player know that the blip is dangerous? How does she know not to touch it? Well,
it could look like a dangerous monster, all fangs and claws. What if instead of meandering, it
moves toward the player, aggressively? It could move slowly, a shamble of heavy footsteps that
shake the screen. How does the player know shooting it is a good thing? Well, when the blip is
shot, a melody could play suggesting relief from danger.
