Counters: Short Explanation.

It took me this long?

I just realised that while I have referenced counters in many of my articles on balance, I have never explained them.

I really though I had already done this... perhaps I accidentally deleted an article that has all of this information in it. I hope not.

What is a Counter?

A counter is a situation where a Player Controlled Unit has an advantage over another, and can be applied in a number of different situations.

A unit may counter another if it:

• Limits the other player's options. (The simplest instance is where a unit will avoid a unit that counters it, limiting its maneuverability)
• Appeals to the other unit's weakness, and thus excels at eliminating it. (Example, a Sniper unit will often excel at killing a slow unit)
• Removes the other unit's main strengths, or nullifies its advantages. (Example, a 'true-sight' unit countering a steal unit by removing its invisibility)

Badly designed Counters usually result in:

• Content Redundancy. (Limited choices when deciding what units or content is viable to use)
• Fewer viable in-game choices, and fewer strategies that a player can employ. (Players have a harder time playing how they wish)

Soft vs. Hard Counters

A Soft Counter is one where a unit has a statistical advantage over another, but skill and circumstance still determine the overall outcome of a match-up between a unit and their Soft Counter. Most game balance should be based on Soft Counters - as they help to enforce balance between units, but don't limit the countered player too much. Soft Counters are often described by saying that a unit "has the edge" or a slight advantage over the other - but the main feature of a Soft Counter is that skill still prevails.

A Hard Counter is one where there one unit has such a one-sided advantage over another, that the countered unit is seen as redundant and useless when the counter is in play. More often than not, the only way a unit can beat its Hard Counter is when there is a massive shift in power due to luck, or circumstance (finding your hard counter unaware, for example - or getting a lucky critical hit on them).

These should be avoided like the plague for the most part, as they create Content Redundancy. Still, if planned and executed perfectly, Hard Counters can be used effectively to stop dominations by exceptionally powerful, specialised units. And example of where hard counters are acceptable, is in RTS where invisible units can easily dominate players who do not counter them with anti-stealth towers.

A counter in between Soft and hard counters are often called 'Solid' or 'Tough' - and more often then not rely on circumstance as to where the counter is Soft or Hard.

Rewarding Players and Item Management

Introduction:

Torchlight is an amazingly fun game - it's simple, easy to play, well paced... and monsters drop rare items like there's no tomorrow.

Torchlight rewards its players for playing, there is no doubt there. Hell, it rewards you for letting your pet kill everything.

But is it too much?

The following is a fairly common sight in Torchlight, especially if you have just killed a boss ora large mob of tough enemies:

Many players when discussing Torchlight say "It's great fun, there's a lot of loot!" but then "There's too much downtime when trying to sort your loot".

So, while Torchlight is great fun as you're accumulating all these items, trying to sort through them is a bit of a chore.

How much Loot is too much?

Well, this depends on the game - but there is rarely such a thing as a severe case of "too much reward" as long as some basic systems are implemented.

First let's look at the cons of over-rewarding, with the cons of under-rewarding.

Over-Rewarding:

• Can make players too powerful for their current place in the game.
• Can make challenges easier than was intended.
• "It's too noob-friendly"
• Can overwhelm players.
• Can lower player's excitement when loot drops.

Under-Rewarding:

• Makes players feel as if they haven't progressed in the game.
• Makes players feel unrewarded (well.... of course)
• Can force players to grind for rewards, rather than playing the game and enjoying it.

As you can see, it's better to over-reward than under-reward.

Simple System to Combat Over-Rewarding

Out of the 4 problems, the first two pertain to the player outgrowing the current state of the game - and becoming too powerful, or having alternate ways to navigate puzzles and challenges that defeat the purpose of the challenge.

The 3rd isn't really a problem - but a faulty attitude that some developers have. Developers shouldn't have it in for new players, and they shouldn't force players to jump through hoops to play their game. They should encourage different styles of play. End of rant about anti-player developers.

The fourth and fifth points are problems associated with Torchlight, and can be fixed in a couple of ways, which I'll get to later.

The best way to fix the player becoming to powerful for the game are:

Level Caps (in a random drop system)

Level caps make random drop systems. You cannot have a random drop system without some kind of level limit on equipment - otherwise yes, a level 8 Zombie might just drop a level 10 Hand Cannon. Other systems rely on level limits as well, such as trading systems - so that veteran players cannot give newer players their high level gear.

For looting systems, I think a good idea is to make a double-security system.

You can limit players from obtaining high level items by:

• Stopping them from dropping.
• Giving items a level cap, so only players of a certain level and higher can use them.

The second part is simple, and essential. I don't feel like I need to explain it at all.

The first can be more complex.

Many developers will instinctively say "Well, restrict drops to be that player's level and under." Though, while this works, there are definite reasons for making the system a little more complex. One such reason is that when a player gets an item that is really useful - but that is of a higher level than they are, they strive to wear it, and in fact make it another goal to aspire to.

Since they already have the item, and the goal is made up by the player, it's like a freebie reward that keeps the player playing with no additional work from the developer.

Just be mindful, you must restrict the items that can drop for the player. A Level 8 player is probably going to have forgotten about a Level 60 Chest-piece by the time they are able to wear it - and if all items are in the pool to be randomly dropped, your player may not find any relevant to his current place in the game, when he needs them.

A good idea is to make it so that only items a maximum of 5-6 levels away (though, this depends on your game and the speed of leveling) can be dropped. Also, a good idea is to make the system such that items 6 levels higher than the player are quite rare, while, items one level higher are more common.

Clamping the drop system around the lower limit range is important too, as, players don't want to be finding Level 8 items as a Level 10. For this reason, you may want to make it so no common items (of low standard) are dropped when the player is of a higher level. Rare items with special traits though, can perhaps take up a part of the random drop pool.

Common Sense (in a fixed drop system)

If there is no randomness to your equipment acquisition system, and your player is gaining items before they should - then... well.... that is a problem easily solved.

If you know a player shouldn't get a Rocket Launcher before Level 20, and you feel you need to reward them more... do not give them the Rocket Launcher during Level 18. Balance is the top priority - use your common sense and work out another reward to give your player.

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If the player is suffering from having simply too many items, the following systems could be implemented.

Selective Item Drops:

This system involves altering the probabilities that various items will drop, and is often accompanied by the drop rate being lowered. This essentially gives the effect of dropping all of the good items that the player wants (they feel rewarded), while hindering the probability of a 'trash item' dropping (the player has less to manage).

Obviously, items of a lower level than the player are going to be seen as trash, unless there are very unique traits on the item. As already explained, low level items should be somewhat uncommon.

A smart way of weeding out irrelevant item drops would also be to evaluate the player's character. Essentially, lower the probability of items that the player cannot (or will not) use, and raise the probability of a more useful item dropping. An example would be a player playing the staple Mage, rarely getting Plate and Chain Mail drops, while still finding Cloth armour.

This is simple, Class > Class-usable items. An even smarter way of selecting drops would be to analyse the player's actions. If this Mage is always using its fire spells over its ice spells - give it more equipment with fire damage.

Remember, in terms of rewarding players:

Quality of Item Drops x Frequency of Item Drops = Reward.

So that you can have great items dropping sparsely, good items dropping commonly, or terrible items dropping a lot - and, the total gain of power is somewhat the same.

Obviously, there is an optimal amount of items that a player wants to hold, and so it's your job to find that.

Note that frequent drops feel more rewarding than rare drops however. Find the right balance.

Easier Management of Items:

Players need to be able to easily manage the amount of items that they possess.

Depending on the number of items that they possess though, the systems will change. An FPS will likely only require enough item slots to carry weapons, grenades, and health packs - while a resource based RPG may have a bag spanning over 100 items.

Depending on the game you may want:

• Multiple item selection
• Stacking items
• Item sorting
• Item categories
• Item comparison

It's really up to the designer to know what tools are best for managing the items that their game gives to the player.

Storage Handling

Many games have a 'Safe Deposit Box' or 'Bank' where you can put items that you'll rarely use, but still want to hold on to.

Others, also have boxes where you can put items to trade them between your individual characters.

Depending on your game, it's something to think about. I would at least recommend a bank. It makes having lots of items much easier to handle.

Conclusion:

I think I'm done now, so:

Over-rewarding is better than under-rewarding.

And methods of dealing with rewards and item drop issues are:

• Level Caps
• Common Sense
• Selective Item Drops
• Item Management Systems
• Storage Handling

More articles coming soon (hopefully next week).

Concise Writing for Video Games

First Off:

Here we are, I'm back! I was never anywhere but here, but, I am back in the mood to write design articles.

I think what frightened me off is the amount of work that I'm doing at college, and on Pokemon Universe, as well as working, trying to catch up with friends, and gaming taking up a lot of my time. This coupled with the fact that when I wrote articles they were often a full day investment and usually had over 2000 words, meant that I was struggling to find the time and will to write.

To help myself, I have decided to change my style a little. Though, this is also to help people read my articles. While I enjoy describing my design ideas and philosophies to a detailed extent, it takes a lot of my time to write, and a lot of commitment from a reader to read in full.

Just like I say that a player shouldn't have to work through a game like a chore, readers shouldn't have to work through my articles.

I thought it would be fitting to make my first article back about concise storytelling and instruction in video games.

Introduction

Concise means: "Terseness and economy in writing and speaking achieved by expressing a great deal in just a few words"

Have you ever had a friend who tries to tell a story, or explain a concept - but, who gets so bogged down on the pointless details that you can't understand them?

And you're just tapping your foot, waiting for them to get to the point, and, even if they do, sometimes you don't understand?

Games are headed that way.

There are games that try to tell a story, or explain a gameplay mechanic - but, get so bogged down on the pointless details and backstory, that players don't bother paying attention.

The players just mindlessly tap 'A', waiting for the the cutscene or dialogue sequence to finish, and, when it does, the player doesn't even feel enriched.

It has to stop.

I would consider this problem to be a crime of hubris.

Designers need to always remember that they make the game for the players to enjoy, primarily. Badly designed communication often comes about when a company wants to show off their next generation cutscenes, or, thinks that every player wants to hear as much dialogue as can be thrown at them. Remember, the player is your priority.

Quality > Quantity

Nobody gains anything from lengthy dialogue and too-long-cutscenes. They intrude on the gameplay experience, and simply annoy players. Most players are just mashing their interact button and sighing, or taking a sip of their drink.

Unlike what you may think, storytelling is not enhanced with more words or time alloted to it. In novels, yes, there need to be a significant number of words allocated to setting up scenes, the nature of character interactions and mood - but don't be fooled. As much as you want your game to have a powerful story as if it's a novel, video games are a graphical medium. You don't need to write a novel to make a good story, as a large portion of the description is covered by the graphical elements of the game.

Dialogue, a major part of storytelling, needs to be direct and clear. Players want realistic dialogue - which, for the most part, is very brief in real life. As we covered before, people are irritated by others who cannot express themselves quickly, it is exactly the same in games and movies. Players find it very hard to sympathise with a dying character, who, for the last half of the game, they have been yelling at to "SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!"

Concise writing makes good story telling, and will give you the powerful emotional moments that you want.

Ways to Fix These Issues:

#1 Optimisation of Dialogue

To get realistic, succinct dialogue, look at good TV shows. TV shows have to stay within either a 25 minute, or a 45 minute time slot - and so, the writing has to be very optimised so that an episode can cover however many plot points it needs to within that time limit. Try to find shows with a similar tone and plot layout to your game, and analyse it.

Quick list of some well written TV shows:

• Heroes (Season 1) (drama/action/mystery/sci-fi);
• Dexter (crime drama/suspense/black comedy);
• NCIS (comedy/crime drama);
• Scrubs (comedy/drama);
• Get Smart (comedy/parody/action);
• Supernatural (horror/thriller/mystery)
• Boston Legal (legal drama/comedy) (anything by David E. Kelley is good.)
• Avatar: The Last Airbender (adventure/fantasy/action/comedy)
• Etc. etc.

Another idea you can try is just saying the dialogue to yourself. If the wording sounds clumsy, you can often simplify it just by trying to express the point in your own words. Another idea that can help is imagining that you're saying it to someone who doesn't have much patience - because when it comes down to it, audiences often have little.

Try to also optimise cutscenes - don't make one for every level opening and after every remotely difficult enemy. Players will buy a movie if they want to watch a movie.

That said, some games use frequent cutscenes to great effect - such as Bioware's recent titles Mass Effect and Dragon Age. The main point I'm trying to get across, is that your players aren't playing for movies - and, if they are not well planned and executed, cutscenes can be an annoying, obtrusive obstacle to the player's enjoyment of the gameplay.

Whether they are sparse or common, by making well directed, interesting cutscenes, players will enjoy, and cherish them - considering them to be a great feature of the game.

A good case study for good cutscenes would be Borderlands. The cutscenes are short, limited to important characters and bosses, and have a good sense of humour. Players like them, and they capture the tone of the scene perfectly, while not intruding on gameplay at all.

#2 Make all Cutscenes and Dialogue Boxes Skippable.

Simple, eh?

This one doesn't really have to be explained. Make it so that there is a skip button for cutscenes, and that the 'skip command' will near-immediately go to the next message box when it comes to dialogue. Hopefully, if you've optimised your dialogue well, players won't want to skip text at all, but this means that they can if they want to - and, there won't be as much to skip.

Another point I'd like to make is, if there's an NPC that doesn't say much of value - please, one message box of dialogue only. Players hate to accidentally hit the interact button at the wrong time, and get roped into 5 lines of slow, useless dialogue.

#3 Less Intrusive Dialogue Boxes.

One development that has positively affected communications in games is persistent, but unobtrusive messages. They're usually found near the top of the screen, giving you information - but they do not take control away from your character to close them, and often close when a criteria has been met (you've executed the command that they are instructing you do to, etc.).

These are good.

Players can ignore them if they wish, but they still give information to those who need it. It is a far better system than a message box which takes control away from the character, especially because the player can execute the command as they read the message. Another advantage, is that it doesn't have to pop up to remind the player of the correct key presses, if they fail to do the keypresses the first time.

If you're going to give instructions to your player, I definitely recommend using the less obtrusive message boxes. Just remember to give your players a way to turn them off.

Optimising Messages - Examples

Here I'll just put down a couple of examples of intrusive and annoying messages in games, and I'll try to fix them up. Starting with the queen of painful buttonmashing, Nurse Joy.

(// designates a new Message box)

"Hello, and welcome to the Pokemon Center. //

We restore your tired Pokemon to full health //

Would you like to rest your Pokemon? ( YES / NO prompt) // (YES chosen)

[Animation, as your Pokemon jumps onto the counter and the Pokeballs are put into the machine]

OK, I'll take your Pokemon for a few seconds... //

Thank you for waiting. //

We've restored your Pokemon to full health. //

[Animation, as player puts balls in pocket]

Please, come back again any time!" //

~ Nurse Joy healing your Pokemon in Pokemon Heart Gold.

That's 7 messages, and 2 animations, just to heal your Pokemon. Something that you're doing a LOT in this game. It takes roughly 15 seconds when I buttonmash as fast as I can. That is infuriating.

What is even more infuriating, is that this game's Message Box allows for 2 lines of dialogue at any one time - and yet, Nurse Joy uses only one line for each message.

I would optimise it as such:

"Welcome to the Pokemon Center, would you like me to heal your Pokemon? (YES/NO prompt) //

[Much shortened animation, perhaps a second of the machine flashing]

Your Pokemon have been fully restored, good luck!" //

Finished. It should only take at most, 2-3 seconds.

And really, for an action that players will be doing time and time again - it should be as quick as possible.

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Another example would be in Final Fantasy Advance Tactics 2 (which, by the way, has a game-start sequence of several minutes that is unskippable, terrible.) - when the main character is being inducted into the clan that he fights for.

"Quick! Join our clan! Your bones may be broken while in our clan but you can never die!"
"Why should I join?"
[Bird pecks at main character]

"Because I can guarantee that you'll get no such offer from him!"

"Okay so what do I do?"

"Swear your oath to the Judge! Say you'll join the clan!"

[Long animation as the judge is summoned]

"That's a judge?"

"Quickly! Before the beast has time to act!" (this sequence has taken so long that really, by now, a turtle could have slaughtered them all...)

"Hey judge, I swear my oath, let me join the clan!"

[Animation]

"Woah check it out!"

[Animation as 2 birds appear]

"Ah, he's brough the little ones along to feed"

"Stand back stranger, we'll handle this lot!"

"Ready yourselves!"

"You're going to fight them?"

"Once you stand back as I've told you, yes."

"Hey let me take a swing at them, I've sworn my oath, right? I cannot be killed as you said!"

"Harrrumph! Spoken like a true greenhorn!"

"You cannot die, but, if you take a peck in the eye, you might wish you had"

"Well I didn't mean I'd go in first or anything. And I'm no fan of getting beaked."

[Battle Start]

Okay I'm actually going to cut it there - it's starting to annoy me. By the time you get to actually take your first action that isn't filling in your character sheet, you've spent 4 minutes and 14 seconds mashing 'A' (like I said, terrible). And, as you can tell, the dialogue, while in character, is mostly pointless.

If I were to alter the above scene, I'd recognise that

a) Luso must be inducted into the clan (or must he? Truthfully, I think that inducting him into the clan so quickly was a bit of a stretch, why not just throw him a sword and say "We'll teach you how to fight, as it's a dangerous world out there"?)

b) The two additional birds must appear.

c) Luso must find a reason to fight.

"Quick! Join our clan! We can protect you!"

[Luso runs to clan leader]

"Okay! So what do I do?"

"Swear your oath to the Judge! Say you'll join the clan!"

[Shorter animation as the judge is summoned]

"Hey judge, I swear my oath, let me join the clan!"

[Animation as 2 birds appear]

"There are more of them, we might need your help!"

"But I don't know how to fight!"

"We'll teach you along the way!"

[Battle Start]

I do respect the humour that was added in to the situation, but, with the fact that the introduction has already spanned over 3 minutes at this point, it should be cut short.

Also, as said, when the sequence of initiation has easily been nearly 25 seconds, the humor of "Oh my God! Do it quick or it'll eat us!" isn't that charming. It's more annoying, at least for my taste.

Conclusion

The Pros of Optimised Communication

• Better storytelling.
• Players will read and understand your communication.
• Experienced players can skip conversation that they have already witnessed.

The Cons of Badly Written Communication

• Players will mindlessly buttonmash until they're past the dialogue/cutscene.
• Players will feel contempt for the majority of characters who have lengthy dialogue.
• Players will feel alienated and annoyed.

How to make sure your Communication is Concise and Well Written

• Time your dialogue sequences and cutscenes, and evaluate how long it should take.
• Read the dialogue a few times, and see if any seems clumsily worded or annoying.
• Look for inspiration from well-written media.
• Act out scenes to yourself.
• Make sure dialogue and cutscenes can be skipped.
• Use unobtrusive message boxes.

I think I'm done.

Another article coming tomorrow.

Upcoming articles.

I haven't updated in 3 months, and, well, it sucks a bit.

I need to motivate myself a little more, and so I figure that making a list of things to do will help with that somewhat.

- Make a 3 minute pitch for an idea I have, currently named "Sloth"

- Make a 3 minute pitch for an unnamed idea I have... it has zombie seals.

- An article on Game Introductions

- An article on maintaining your games.

- An article on tone (mainly humour) and music in games.

- An article on character depth.

- An article on rewarding players. (already touched on this)

If I don't get these done before Christmas, someone punch me in the balls.