Sunday, November 6, 2011

6 Simple Tips To The Perfect Game

By Juan Sanchez


It's easy to get lost in all the details of building a great video or PC game - so straightforward actually that we will forget the parts of a game which make them great to play. The following is a gentle reminder of what prompts players to play games in the 1st place. Refer to this reminder in the event that you get weighed down or distracted with confusing C++ syntax, or lines and lines of Visible Basic statements and DLL structures. I am a massive fan of the kinect and I put together a catalogue of some of the best kinect games on the market today.

1. Remember the player is the key character. Here's a secret between you and me: Folk play games to gain a feeling of control. If you can come up with a way to program your game in a way that puts the player in control, then you have already won half of the battle. This does not imply to proffer that the game should be straightforward. It simply means that when a gamer runs home from school or drives home from work to play a video game, she wants to feel the control that she did not have during the hours between nine and five. The result of a game - if it's a win or a loss - should never be random, but the result of a good, controlled game play instead.

2. KISS. Remember that acronym? It stands for Keep It Simplistic Foolish. We all know that programming a game is hard business, but believe us when we say we don't want to be reminded of it. The problem of programming a game should never be part of the gameplay so when possible , make the game simple to start, straightforward to navigate, and of course, easy to play. We aren't asking for pre-school strategy here, but on the other hand, we don't want to feel as dumb as a pre-schooler either. Forget the hundred page manual. Nobody except the really obsessed is going to read it anyway. Build your game for the average Joe and everyone will be your fan.

3. Add masses of action. And add plenty of it too. The more action you add to your game, the more attention players will be aware of it. And the more that players concentrate on your game, the more addictive your game gets. For each action that a player's personality makes, have the game react and then prompt the player for more.

4. Make the story a very good one. Nothing's worse than playing a game only to ask what you're doing and why. Purpose is and always has been a human obsession. But without it, we are left wandering... In the darkness... Wondering bizarre stuff like how the house would look in a coat of bright pink paint. Do not give your players the chance to spend time like that. Give them a mission and ensure your game reminds them what the mission is at opportune times and why they must complete it.

5. Give us eye candy. But make it relevant. The graphics in a game should not be distracting, they should make our eyeballs glaze over with satisfaction on seeing them, and then drool for more. Graphics should contain clues and entice us further and further into the game till we've beaten the thing.

6. Make it real. Fantasy games are okay, but what makes them cool is the fact that they're realistic. It's tough to get into something that isn't familiar or that there isn't any way we could ever experience. But if you can implement some reality into your games, players will appreciate it and relate to it on a totally new respectable level.




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