Game Design Oversights

[The Final Rune]

[white]I offered up my own unique take on NPC design in a previous thread, which I have reposted here, and it received pretty decent response. So, after playing another demo from our community and noticing so of the frequently repeated mistakes in games, I decided I'd share these oversights with the rest of you, along with my own advice for improving the mood and 'completeness' of your game.

Game Design Oversights

First and foremost, let me state that these are only my individual opinions on game design and are by no means an absolute practice. An important thing to remember when reading this post it that my advice is intended to provide you with the knowledge to make your games playable to everyone else. The ideas here can and most certainly should be disregarded, but only when its necessary. I may suggest something that doesn't make sense or that you feel would ruin the fun of your game. Do the exact opposite of these at any time, but if your are going to make a game harder to play make sure its for a reason other than just to make it harder.

--==NPC DESIGN==--
In most games the NPC's either:

• Give you a mission
• Say something pointless
• Or point you in some direction for some quest or mission

Now, I'm sure this is all well and good, but its also very flawed. People in real life avoid talking to people. Especially any that have large weapons strapped to their backs. Most people that actually speak to me in the streets are looking for directions or asking the time. Unless they're bums, then they're asking for money.

Damn no good lazy bastards!!!!

That aside, I believe that NPC's should adhere to the following guidelines in an RPG:

• They should only answer basic, common knowledge questions
• Their responses and type of speech should coincide with their station in life. (i.e. farmers shouldn't have Ph.D's and scientist's shouldn't use slang)
• They should be able to offer some information about the town and neighboring areas
• They should not tell you about that far away mythical city or special dungeon (that's what old scrolls and books are for)
• Unless the NPC has a direct tie in with the royal family/arch villain/main hero/etc. they should not convey any real point of plot
  • I'm sure that may seem weird, but I believe that only the major players in the story should move it forward. The game is about you and the arch enemy, not Joe and Bob down the street. You can have a NPC tell how the world's current state effects them, but if you're not pushing for an emotional connection to the populace this is probably not worth the effort.

• Regarding speech
  • A lot of games have foreign tongues in them. People seem to think that this adds diversity and uniqueness to a game. While I feel that this can be true, it often is not. Take the Al Bhed from FFX. Their language was a simple replacement of letters. Consonants for consonants and vowels for vowels. It worked beautifully, but once translated and seen for what it was, it became almost pointless toward the plot.
  • If you must have a foreign language or dialect, let it serve a purpose. Don't include it strictly for the sake of uniqueness.
  • Dialog is vital to a game where you can't really express emotion through character action. Make sure everything spoke fulfills a purpose. Don't waste time scripting out useless conversations.
  
  
  
• Choosing NPC's
  • We all want to fill a town full of vibrant living characters, but sometimes this is not the best course of action. NPC's are one of the driving forces of a game, so they need to be selected carefully.
  • I cannot stress the importance of being picky here. Imagine running around a RPG, desperately trying to find out what you're supposed to be doing next and all the NPC's in town will tell you is that they think they'll get a crop this year or that it looks like its going to rain.
  • Purpose, purpose, purpose. Make everything said worth being heard. Some filler is unavoidable, but do keep it to a minimum.
  • Make important info giving NPC's stand out from the rest. This may be a cliche thing to do in RPG's, but its been done for so long for a reason; it works and it keeps the player on path!
  
  
  
• Life in Town
  • People do not walk back and forth for no apparent reason, unless they are pacing out of worry or frustration. Don't give characters pointless actions. Have the farmer tending his field. Let the grocer call out to people as you pass by. Have the NPC's actually leave the screen and then come back to it.
  • Remember that the player has a limited sight distance. Use this to your advantage. If the town is on a world map, have NPC's exit beyond the player's view (pass the warp out zones) and walk around the city in a loop to reappear from another entrance. Create object bypass items that NPC's can disappear into.
  • In my games I make the houses without doors and instead use building editor blocks to act as a shadow that's by-pass enabled. This allows me to run NPC's into their homes and have them actually go in the house. The shadow block works as my teleport warp, so the player would enter the house if they walk into the shadow.
  • Be creative. Give the townsfolk something to do other than just wander aimlessly hoping some hero would stop and talk to them.

--==CITY & WORLD DESIGN==--

• Location Of Buildings
  • First things first, a city is big, a town is small and a village is smaller still. Although a village can cover more area than either of the three.
  • Shops should always be located near shops and not near homes. There should be no reason for a home to be next to a shop unless the shopkeeper themselves live there.
  • What about my black markets you say? Well, obviously they should not be with the other shops. Maybe accessible through a sewer hatch in a dark alleyway.
  • Make your shops obvious that they are shops. Don't add garden and a clothesline to a shop. Do add a sign out front. Do use the object signs the game included. They are there for a reason, use them.
  
  
  
• Where Am I? The Importance Of Signs
  • Remember this one very important thing. You know your game coming and going. Anyone that plays it knows absolutely jack about anything in the game.
  • When making any area in your game, avoid repeating floor tile textures through out. This will only confuse your player. If the player is supposed to navigate a large structure, vary the textures on the floors and walls to make it easier to differentiate one area from another. Unless they are in a maze, in which case confuse away.
  • Make signs outside doors in large structures so that the player doesn't have to search every room to find whatever seems obvious to you. Make signs everywhere.
  • If the player doesn't start with a world map, be sure the NPC sending him on his way gives extremely specific instructions.
  • Make paths on the world map. Add signs to the world map. Add a compass. Give VFX arrows that show where you're supposed to go.
  
  
  
• Dungeons Of Doom! Argh!
  • I hate wandering a dungeon, trying to solve a puzzle whilst battling an endless supply of monsters. Nothing ruins a game quite like badly designed dungeons. Puzzle rooms do not need monsters. Monster dungeons do not need puzzles.
  • Don't make a dungeon purposely hard to navigate (i.e. Making multiple pathways layered on top of each other. Setting up the level where the player can't position the camera to see themselves clearly.)
  • Do try to keep the theme of an area constant. Don't add complex digital devices into a rustic dungeon. Don't put object based puzzles in natural caves. Don't put lava in your ice dungeon. Etc.
  • If a dungeon is not integral to the plot, don't force the player to pass though/explore it. If the only pathway between two cities is a dungeon, it shouldn't contain monsters. If average NPC's are expected to actually travel your world, they should never have to brave a dangerous monster pit to do so. Business is hard, its true, but loses like that turn people into farmers instead of merchants.
  
  
  
• The World Is Yours, Sort Of...
  • When creating a world map, read my map editor guide and check my tech demo first. Seriously, I'm considered one of the best in using the map editor for a reason.
  • Second, understand that your map will be hard to navigate if the player doesn't have a map (see Where Am I? up above.)
  • I'll not push on the importance of the graphical layout of your map, but rather suggest that you take into account the way your world is supposed to work when designing it. The coolest looking map in the world means jack if its not believable.
  • If there is more than one country that controls your world (god I hope so) make sure the boundaries of each country make sense and are noticeable to the player. Go as far as making black dash marks on the map if you have to. Usually, separate countries mean difference of opinion, potential for trade, and cultural diversity. Especially on border towns.
  • Remember, if two countries are at war the player should not have easy travel access between them 9thus the reason for the trek through the harsh and dangerous dungeon. Likewise, peaceful countries should have established travel routes.
  
  
  
• Hey, I can See My House From Here! And There too!
  • Does your city look like some one threw up on it? Why would a city in the forest have homes made of brick? Make sure your building textures match your surroundings. A town on a prairie would have homes mostly made of earth (that stuff we call mud) and would only be braced with wood since it should be a hard to get commodity. Bigger capital cities, where the money is, would have nicer plaster and stone based housing. So a village against a mountain would likely be made of natural stone. Make your cities make sense.
  • As much as you may hate the thought, most places have identical styles of housing. So yes, this is the seventh five by seven log house in the area with the shingle overhang. Go to any new residential area in America and see why they call them cookie-cutter homes. If a building is different in its basic design from the others, let there be a reason.
  • Don't be afraid to make big maps for your towns. Real towns are friggin' huge, even the small ones. Every house on your map doesn't have to be visible from the center of town. There doesn't have to be a 'center' of town. Keep in mind though that businesses pop up around through fares, homes on the outskirts.

--==TRANSPORTATION DESIGN==--

• I Just Got Here And Now You Want Me To Go Back?
  • Fetch quests suck ass, especially if the item you need was just on the other side of the horribly hard dungeon you just went through.
  • Avoid making the player revisit old areas. RPG's are about exploration just as much as they are about adventure. Players love somewhere new. Repeating passage through an old map should return new rewards.
  • Look, a teleport crystal! It may seem corny or cliche, but easy access to old locations is important. The ability to teleport, along with an escape dungeon option, are vital to the ease of playability. I hate it when I go into a dungeon that turns out to be much longer than anticipated and i die because I ran out of potions. The inventory in RPGM2 is limiting, be nice to your players.
  
  
  
• I Left My Airship In My other Pants
  • Some transportation items should follow the player. Like horses.
  • Airships should remain docked at places that are designed for them. Unless you've got a pilot named Cid. If you're going to give the player free access to the world, make sure he can't get stuck somewhere.
  • So what are you suggesting here? Do I make a mobile transport or not?
    • I'm suggesting that it make sense. I love the FFXI design. Airships are big massive things. They are expensive and not privately owned. Buy tickets, see the world, just be sure to save your game first. If the player has there own airship, make it practical (like a hot air balloon.) If its easy to get an airship, let there be tons of them. Make ships that circle your world map.
  • Wow, this ancient/futuristic technology is so easy to understand! Barbarians have no place at the helm of a ship. Make the player hire/recruit a captain. If the technology is truly unknown, make the player crash the first time they attempt flight.
  
  
  
• The Wind Is Everywhere.
  • Sail boats are exactly that. They require wind. Ever play Wind Waker? Going against the wind gets you nowhere fast. If the boat has a sail, make it a part of its functionality, otherwise include a motor.
  
  
  
• Let Me Just Pull Up To The Beach And Jump Ashore
  • Thankfully RPGM2 doesn't make beach landings functional. Although, making the player come ashore on a skiff while leaving the main vessel anchored out at sea would be uber cool and earn you brownie points for scripting such a thing.
  
  
  
• We Welcome You Stranger, Please Use Our Docks!
  • People are greedy bastards. Nothing is free, especially not dock space. In America alone transports spend hundreds of thousands to pay taxes on docking and unloading of cargo. If a dock is in a town (and really, having one in the middle of nowhere is weird and stupid) the player should have to pay to keep their vessel docked. Repairs to a ship cost money. Space it takes up costs money. Unloading your mystical horseless carriage costs money. don't be stingy, be greedy, be realistic.

--==CUTSCENE DESIGN==--

• Oh, I Didn't See You There!
  • The camera is your friend. Learn to love it.
  • A long boring text parade is made much cooler with camera's moving from actor to actor. Give the actors some actions with their dialogs for even better results. something as simple as having the camera show a character blink their eyes while talking will increase depth in your scenes.
  • Learn that your main character should not be seen during a cutscene, he should always have a stand in. The camera can be changed to focus on and follow any event, but for really cool pans and zooms, moving an invisible hero while adjusting the camera can make for a much wider variety of elements.
  • Play with the camera controls to figure out all the cool stuff you can do with it. The camera can be zoomed in and out, rotated on all there axises, and can follow the main character or any targeted event. Use the horizontal rotation feature to make cool tilting shots like scenes from the villain HQ's in the old Adam West Batmans (If you don't know who Adam West is then shame on you.)
  
  
  
• Did You Hear That? I Think My Car Alarm Just Went Off
  • Sound effects are integral to a game.
  • One thing I constantly notice is that no one uses the footstep SFX. Seeing a character walk across the screen it one thing, hearing him do it is a whole other level of immersion. It one of the things no one will really notice, but they make the game seem so much more real. Plus is shows you have real attention to detail.
  • An angry actor can scream, stomp the floor, slap another actor or just sigh. Sure you can just make a sigh a text message, but the sound would be cooler.
  • Use the world sounds whenever you can. A drip of water in a cave versus some random BGM is much cooler. Save the music for the battles and crossing the world maps. Sitting in a busy and noisy restaurant make for great player immersion.
  • Don't afraid of custom music. Making it yourself can be hard, but its easy to input a midi into the converter and plug the code into your game. A little time consuming, sure, but cool. Custom music shows the player that you want your game to be an individual experience.
  • Also, the default BGM's can make for some really interesting rhythms if you tweak the pitch and tempo.
  • Pan. This is something I bet most people don't even notice when making their games. Playing the increasing volume footsteps would signal an approach, but if it came from some one's left speaker it would specify the approach. Most people have stereo sound TV's now-a-days. I myself have and actual stereo attached to the audio out on mine.
  
  
  
• Oh how pretty! VFX can make or break a good cut scene.
  • Lens flare is your new best friend. Seriously, this little static VFX is probably one of the most useful and most neglected. Not only can it be used to represent the sun, it can also pose as the glare on any shiny surface, the initial flash when a light comes on, or just used for what it is, a lens glare. It's great to see the hero's sword sparkle in the sunlight as he raises it high to heavens to declare a triumph.
  • Smoke and pillar, the fires of our hearts and the dust at our feet. Small little puffs of dust coming off lone adventurer's boots as he enters the tavern and the burning, flowing flame atop the top the torches carried by the angry mob chasing him really give you a sense of atmosphere.
  • Flashy, over the top VFX don't really add much to a scene. Learn to focus on the little small details that bring an environment to life. Make little mice that scurry about. Let there be mugs filled with sloshing ale. offer random embers from the candle lighting up the dinner table.
  • Remember, its really cool to make elaborate VFX that animate some big nasty custom monster, but its really professional to have dust at your feet in a dirty bar.
  
  
  
• Move along, move along, and don't just stand there walking in place!
  • I hate that the game make you walk, even while standing still. There's no reason for you to jog in place while discussing the fate of the world.
  • Remember to change animations when its appropriate.
  • Let characters have some authenticity. It only takes a couple lines of script to get characters to act accordingly. Let them sit still when they're talking. Make them pause as they pace back and forth to speak there mind.
  • Close the actors eyes when they are deep in thought. Make dramatic pauses.
  • Anyone can move a character around, learning when not to move them is key, just don't make them stand there doing nothing.
  
  
  
  
• More to follow....when I'm not dead tired that is.

[/white]

[The Final Rune]

[white]Reserved for more from me[/white]

[Doan the Nado]

...and the tips continue to be fresh and insightful. Along the lines of the players constantly walking, I came up with a way to fix that, and Reality implemented and taped it. Vid here, post here. I'm kind of surprised that no one has really used this idea yet, as it was something that people have been calling a huge limitation of RPGM2 for as long as I can remember.

[Deleted]

Doing all of these would be unrealistic, but nonetheless they are all certainly very good tips. And, I definitely second the Map Editor Guide recommendation!

[Neo Samurai]

The footsteps would actually be possible. Just make a Custom Indirect Effect and in the "Steps" field, place a script that makes a stepping sound.

[doyleman]

I've experimented with that, before.

My problem is figuring out how to make appropriate sounds: grass walk, rock walk, cement walk, dirt walk, etc.

[realitybites]

Thats not too terribly difficult to do. Oh and Doan I use the WWA for numerous things, for custom movements for NPC's and whatnot. And Doshi you don't need a Indirect effect for the sound, you can make a script that checks what sound to be used.

[doyleman]

How is it not difficult?

[The Final Rune]

[white]Um, as the header for its section states, I was recommending footsteps for cutscenes, not in game. That would just get annoying.[/white]

[The Final Rune]

[white]Some of these were pretty funny, I need to make some more.[/white]