Common Sense Corner
10-04-2018, 12:17 AM
(This post was last modified: 10-04-2018, 12:20 AM by Bounty Hunter Lani.)
As I return to Save-Point from my indie game adventures, I bring news.
Bad news.
But also good news.
You see, common sense would dictate that you would want your game to be unique. To stand out. To be better than the rest.
You have a quest system, and you want to show it off! You want people to be wowed by your game making prowess, so you give them a quest nice and early in the game-- No, MULTIPLE QUESTS!
But the quest... Oh the quest is to hunt 3 slimes. What's the other quest?
Oh. The quest is to gather 1 slime dropping. You get that by... beating slimes. It has an 80% drop rate. Okay.
You know what? Let's get to our common sense for tonight:
IF YOU HAVE A QUEST SYSTEM, DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT WITH IT.
I find it strange how many games I've seen that make their very first quests fetch quests and monster slaying quests. It sets the tone for the rest of the game-- You're gonna hunt 3 slimes now. End of the game, you're hunting 5 Superslimes. Nothing changes in lots of games like that.
It's quite BORING for the common folk, and if the quest's prize isn't worth it, then it's just a bad idea to do in the first place.
A good quest idea? Well why didn't you ask in the first place?!
Here's one: You have a mechanic in your game. If you use two skills in a row, your regular attack changes to SuperAttack.
Quest: Use SuperAttack at least 3 times!
It teaches the mechanic. It gets the player used to using the tactic to face tougher enemies. If they HAVE to use SuperAttack on a boss to damage it, they know how to do it.
Here's another one: Does your game have platforming? Why not have a "waypoint" quest to teach them how your platforming works?
Quest: Follow each "waypoint" to the end! Platforming is necessary, so good luck!
It's different than a normal "Get me a slime dropping" quest you get from Farmer Jimbo, who for some reason stands in front of Miranda's house all the time instead of farming. Get back to work, Jimbo!
Maybe you have a wall breaking mechanic in your game. Break a wall with a certain symbol, get treasure. Give the player a quest to break a wall, and maybe there's nothing behind the wall. But the person will explain that some walls with the symbol MIGHT have something behind it.
The player learned something from it, and now knows to be on the lookout for the symbol!
One of the greatest tasks of making a game is give a good first impression. If the first impression of the "quest" system is as fun as a ball-in-a-cup where the ball is glued to the inside of the cup, what's the point of the quest system at all? Don't glue the ball to the bottom of the cup. Be nice. Be better.
Be.
Note: Fetch quests and the like are acceptable, but many do it in a boring and useless way. If you feel that you can make killing 3 slimes fun and worthwhile, feel free to try.
Bad news.
But also good news.
You see, common sense would dictate that you would want your game to be unique. To stand out. To be better than the rest.
You have a quest system, and you want to show it off! You want people to be wowed by your game making prowess, so you give them a quest nice and early in the game-- No, MULTIPLE QUESTS!
But the quest... Oh the quest is to hunt 3 slimes. What's the other quest?
Oh. The quest is to gather 1 slime dropping. You get that by... beating slimes. It has an 80% drop rate. Okay.
You know what? Let's get to our common sense for tonight:
IF YOU HAVE A QUEST SYSTEM, DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT WITH IT.
I find it strange how many games I've seen that make their very first quests fetch quests and monster slaying quests. It sets the tone for the rest of the game-- You're gonna hunt 3 slimes now. End of the game, you're hunting 5 Superslimes. Nothing changes in lots of games like that.
It's quite BORING for the common folk, and if the quest's prize isn't worth it, then it's just a bad idea to do in the first place.
A good quest idea? Well why didn't you ask in the first place?!
Here's one: You have a mechanic in your game. If you use two skills in a row, your regular attack changes to SuperAttack.
Quest: Use SuperAttack at least 3 times!
It teaches the mechanic. It gets the player used to using the tactic to face tougher enemies. If they HAVE to use SuperAttack on a boss to damage it, they know how to do it.
Here's another one: Does your game have platforming? Why not have a "waypoint" quest to teach them how your platforming works?
Quest: Follow each "waypoint" to the end! Platforming is necessary, so good luck!
It's different than a normal "Get me a slime dropping" quest you get from Farmer Jimbo, who for some reason stands in front of Miranda's house all the time instead of farming. Get back to work, Jimbo!
Maybe you have a wall breaking mechanic in your game. Break a wall with a certain symbol, get treasure. Give the player a quest to break a wall, and maybe there's nothing behind the wall. But the person will explain that some walls with the symbol MIGHT have something behind it.
The player learned something from it, and now knows to be on the lookout for the symbol!
One of the greatest tasks of making a game is give a good first impression. If the first impression of the "quest" system is as fun as a ball-in-a-cup where the ball is glued to the inside of the cup, what's the point of the quest system at all? Don't glue the ball to the bottom of the cup. Be nice. Be better.
Be.
Note: Fetch quests and the like are acceptable, but many do it in a boring and useless way. If you feel that you can make killing 3 slimes fun and worthwhile, feel free to try.
