posted by Jeff C

I got one for you. Just because all the coolest systems have added a nifty new way to interact with games, (DS, Wii, PS3) doesn't mean you have to go so far out of your way to use it that you screw up the game. Case in point, I just played the new SSX Blur, and man is that some bullshit, using the nunchuck and the wii-mote and every frickin' button there in is extremely uncoordinated. A game that involves me just sliding down a big hill, shouldn't need to have more controls than an epic action rpg. And I especially don't want to draw big f'ing hearts in the air to do my uber-trick. Like back in the first Castlevania for the DS where I had to quickly pull out my stylus to draw a pretty picture to "finish" the boss battle, where, if my skills in illustrating ancient arcane magick symbols wasn't up to snuff I had to fight that bastard again. I call shenanigans on your poor implementations game industry, play test that stuff before you send it out the door. I don't have an example for the PS3 yet, but I'm confident that they will soon f'up one of there normally fun franchises as well with some crappy sixaxis controls just to justify that cool name, palindromes FTW!! punks.

posted by Falthorn

This is a game specific gripe about Zelda: Twilight Princess:
(Minor Spoiler: He turns into a wolf. OMG)

Why the fuck can't I teleport in front of an NPC? Why is the action of turning into a wolf so horribly shocking that Link goes limp at the idea? I can roll into walls like a jackass all god-damned day, but if someone sees me wolfing out, that makes me wierd?

If I were Link, I'd be flipping out in front of people all day long. I don't think I'd be getting charged an arm and a leg for bombs if I started sprouting razor sharp teeth and manacles.
Didn't Miyamoto see Teen Wolf? The wolf goes to Prom with the hot chick. Time to catch up with the 80's, BigN.

posted by Falthorn

pt3
Context Sensitive actions mapped to the same button.

Two disparate actions should not be mapped to the same button. Ideally, each button should be have a theme that pertains to the actions it controls.

IE: The circle button will be used to block, evade or somehow cause you to avoid damage. The X button will cause grievous harm on your enemies, or put parts of your body inside of theirs.

If I press the circle button, I need to know that it will get me the fuck out of harm's way, not cause my character to drop trow because he's within twenty feet of a urinal.

pt.3.a
This should go without saying, but I need to be able to skip your dialog box. Seriously. I don't give a shit if you've lovingly crafted a soliloquy in iambic pentameter with only words whose letters are numeric derivatives of phi and you want to make god-damned sure I read it.
I read faster than a fifth grader, let's pretend that when I press a button, I've got the picture and we should feel free to move on.

posted by Falthorn

These first few will probably come quickly, seeing as how they pop up in 90% of games.

pt 2
Don't make your gameplay objectives really fucking hard and/or batshit insane. I don't have all day to trial and error my way through your shitty design. Either make the objective obvious and contain a discernable pattern, or make it obfuscated but meaningful.

Games that do it right: Most Zelda dungeons

Offenders: Castlevania 2 (Kneel before the mountain), most Zelda Twilight Princess Dungeons

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!