Game Development Giant

"I have never received a complaint like this: 'Dear Jester or one of the other producers, your game is fun, but I win too many times.' Imagine if in reality Inside, a team always wins, for decades in a row, do you think this is normal?"

"The same goes for other forms of entertainment. Rambo always defeats the bad guy at the end of the movie, Sherlock Holmes always solves the mystery at the end of the novel chapter. This is a basic commonality of entertainment. We also need to realize this when designing video games: players Always expect a satisfying ending. It doesn't necessarily mean victory, but it usually does. I think you need to be aware of player expectations during the game design process."

"Why is this so?"

Having said this, Jester stopped again. Of course, this time he had no intention of asking anyone to answer. He just paused briefly and then continued.

The people below the stage were completely attracted by what he said.

Silence fell.

Jester was also very satisfied with this scene.

Every speaker is satisfied with such a scene, because it means that everyone is interested in what you are talking about.

“One of the most important tools a designer has for shaping a game journey for the player is reward and punishment, which is making good things and bad things happen to the player. In games, there is a strange opposition between reward and punishment. When you reward the player When you ask them to find food or a hundred gold coins on the map, for example, the player will accept it without any doubt and will not doubt whether they are worthy of such a reward. Players are strongly inclined to accept any reward you offer. , and will feel that the reason for receiving the reward is due to their superb skills or clever strategies.”

Jester's joking statement once again made many people laugh silently.

Because this is indeed a very common mentality when they play games, what Jester said is just right.

"On the other hand, if players encounter bad things in the game, they will only feel that the game is problematic or unfair. Therefore, be careful when setting up obstacles for players. Designers must make players understand why bad things happen to them . What's more important is to let them understand how to avoid bad things happening next time. As long as the seeds of 'next time' can be sown into the players' minds, designers will be one step closer to making the game replayable."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because, 'Next time I change my play style, maybe the result will be different.' This idea is the core element for players to persist in playing. As a designer, you must seize all opportunities to make repeatable playable The seeds of sex are sown into the player’s mind.”

When Jester said this, the whole place fell silent again.

As Jester said before, game design must be coordinated with the study of player psychology.

The two game mentality he just mentioned. That's really the mentality they have in a lot of games.

And Jester was obviously excited about what he was talking about. He even put down the speech he had prepared before, without even looking at it, he looked up and said.

"As for rewards, another key aspect we thought about - the first fifteen minutes of the game must be very interesting and exciting, basically foreshadowing all kinds of fun things that will happen in the game later. The significance of rewards is to allow players to be in the game world Make them feel comfortable in the room and let them know that they are doing the right thing, that what is happening now is fun, and that what is going to happen in the future will be even more fun.”

“You can’t reward players enough early in the game to make them part of the world you create. Of course, acknowledging this does not negate the value of difficulty levels. I don’t It advocates using flexible difficulty settings to push the player forward without setting any obstacles for him."

"Actually, I have talked about the issue of difficulty levels several times in some of my speeches within Mars Entertainment. At that time, I proposed that the four-level difficulty level is the most perfect setting. The simplest first level is designed to introduce entry-level players to Introducing the game, players can win at any level. The second level is for casual players, the third level is for experienced players. The fourth level, the most difficult level, is specifically for hardcore players."

After hearing Jester's detailed analysis, many people nodded silently.

"But in fact, after we discussed it later, we felt that four difficulty levels were really not enough. For example, when Mr. Sid Meier and I discussed the difficulty levels of the next generation of "Civilization" before, Because Mr. Sid Meier feels that the current PC function is not yet able to perfectly complete some of his ideas, it is not certain when "Civilization 3" will be developed."

"At that time, I could say something about his difficulty level."

Many people sitting here are fans of Sid Meier's "Civilization", so when Jester talked about the legendary "Civilization 3", they all paid special attention.

"We got this information from player feedback. Many players feel that our broad attitude between difficulties is that in "Civilization 2", some people easily defeated the second difficulty, but in "Civilization 2", some people easily defeated the second difficulty. They are at a loss when facing the first difficulty, and they have a way to get even a little sense of accomplishment from such a game experience, so we all believe that it is necessary to set more difficulty levels for the game."

"Especially a strategy game like Civilization."

"The progressive difficulty is a great reward for the player. The player will feel that the challenge is always ahead. After he clears one level, he will naturally want to upgrade to the next level. The designer should make the player feel that his performance is average Above the line, let them believe that they are performing well now and will perform better as the game progresses. According to the fifteen-minute rule, players must have a positive experience at the beginning."

Jester was talking.

The audience was also very fascinated. Many of them had thought that game development was nothing to learn.

But now listening to what Jester said, it seemed that there were many things contained in it, and it was far from being as simple as they thought before.

"The next principle is the principle of evil alliance."

When he said this, Jester smiled and asked casually: "Have any of you heard this statement before?" The people below the stage were a little confused after hearing it.

Because they have never heard of this principle called evil alliance (to be continued...)