posted by Falthorn

This is the first in a series of posts intended as a thought dump of general ideas of how I'd fix common foibles in game design. This is mostly for my own catalogue of things not to do, but if you don't want to be a douche-bag game designer (DBGD) I'd recommend considering the following. I understand that you can't catch every bug and implement every feature, but having these in mind when making game play descisions and designing mechanics is the first step in not being a DBGD.

1. Don't make the player wait through your delightful and clever interface animation. A player with 2+ hours under his belt will know where he wants to go in your navigation by rote memory. He doesn't need to watch the interface slide, fade, or twirl with jazzy sparkles. Stop wasting the players' lives with Jazzy Sparkle.

1.a I've seen your cutscene, I died, I don't need to fucking sit through it again. I know you've spent a lot of time get the light to reflect of the main character's hair 'just-so', but the frustration I felt getting my ass handed to me a second ago is now achieving a chain combo effect that's preparing to drop a massive amount of counter gems on the enjoyment I was once feeling for your game. LOVE FOR YOU!