Game Design: Theory & Practice- P6

Game Design: Theory & Practice- P6: My earliest recollection of playing a computer game was when I stumbled upon ahalf-height Space Invaders at a tiny Mexican restaurant in my hometown. I was perhapssix, and Space Invaders was certainly the most marvelous thing I had everseen, at least next to LegoLand.
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Game Design: Theory & Practice- P6128 Chapter 7: The Elements of Gameplay entirely if they figure out how to rob a particular townsperson. From there, the player is able to move freely about the next five islands, picking which ones he wants to explore and which he prefers to just pass through. Indeed, all that is required for the player to reach the seventh island and the end-game is for the player to successfully navigate each island, killing the monsters that get in his way. Of course, killing those creatures is made significantly easier if the player receives the rewards for completing the quests. But if the player so chooses, he can skip the entire middle of the game. Of course, few players have done this, preferring instead to explore the different quests and situations they encounter there. Nearly every sin- gle one of these quests has multiple ways for the player to solve it, with his actions having a direct impact on how each of the island’s mini-stories resolves. Finally, the Y game itself has multiple endings for the player to explore, endings which suit the FL different overall goals the player may have: survival, revenge, or a sort of justice and harmony. Though the game had a very definite story, I am happy to say that I AM doubt very much that any two players ever experienced it in exactly the same way. Non-linearity is an extremely powerful tool to use in designing a game, and the descriptions above of the types of non-linearity a designer can employ may seem TE obvious to the reader. What is astonishing, then, is how many games fail to provide any substantial non-linearity for the player, instead insisting that the player play through the game on a single line from point A to point B. One reason for this is that creating all of these non-linear elements can be quite time consuming. Consider that between point A and B, we have the aforementioned challenges X, Y, and Z, but the player only has to overcome one of these challenges in order to progress, say challenge X. The player can then continue playing through to the end of the game having never interacted with challenge Y or Z. As a non-linear game, that is the player’s prerogative. The problem arises when a cost accountant looks at the game and tries to figure out where the game’s budget can be trimmed. Well, obvi- ously, if Y and Z are not strictly necessary, why bother having them at all? Why spend a lot of money on the programming, art, and design necessary to get Y and Z working when there’s a chance the player will never see them? Unfortunately, accountants are often not in touch with the finer points of game design, and when you say, “But non-linearity is what makes this game great!” they are likely to dis- miss you as “difficult.” Non-linearity is also often hard to pull off from a design perspective, certainly harder than simple linearity. This may be another reason why so many designers shy away from it at the first opportunity. Designing numerous obstacles that are dif- ferent enough to provide variety for players while all applying roughly the same challenge is not an easy task. In the X, Y, and Z challenges example, if Z is signifi- cantly easier than X or Y, it is quite likely no one will ever bother with X or Y. In a way, a game with poorly designed choices for the player is nearly as linear as a game without any choices at all. The non-linearity your game provides must be Team-Fly® Chapter 7: The Elements of Gameplay 129meaningful and useful to the player or it is a waste. Designers who think too highlyof their own design skills may also avoid non-linearity in their designs because theywant the player to experience every single element of the game they decide toinclude. “Why spend a lot of time on portions of the game that not everyone willsee?” say these egotistical designers, starting to sound a lot like the accountants.The Purpose of Non-LinearityIt is important to always remember that non-linearity is included in the game to pro-vide the player some meaningful authorship in the way she plays the game. If forcedto stay on a specific line to get from the beginning of the game to the end, the playerwill tend to feel trapped and constrained. The challenges along that line may be bril-liantly conceived, but if the player has no choice but to take them on in order, oneby one, the fun they provide will be greatly decreased. Non-linearity is great for providing players with a reason to replay the game.Replaying ...