Reborn Game Pioneer

Chapter 316 Master Control of Game Rhythm
The grandness and perfection of the plot of "Deep Sea Trek" completely exceed the level that a sandbox survival game should have. Combined with the fact that this is still a game developed by an independent studio of 20 people, even if Gu Feng looks back from his current perspective, Look, he is still willing to pay his most sincere respect to it, and "Deep Sea Trek" is still a rare masterpiece in his mind.

In the original game, the player's plot advancement and technological advancement speed are completely under the control of the game designer. Controlling the player to obtain the appropriate props at the appropriate stage is actually a very profound knowledge.

This is the case in any game. As long as there are level settings and technology tree settings, players always need to proceed slowly from low to high when playing.If the control in this area is not good enough, it can easily affect the player's experience when playing the game.

Take "Deep Sea Trek" as an example. If the player obtains a high-end vehicle while in the safe zone, then the early exploration difficulty will be a bit too low. The feeling of invincibility can make the player feel refreshed for a while, but he will soon feel boring.And if the materials needed for the player to make an oxygen bottle have to travel a long way and take a lot of effort to obtain, the player will not be able to make an oxygen bottle quickly in the early stage. Each time the water operation cannot last long, he will have to float. If you come out of the water to breathe once, the experience will still not be improved, and players will easily become bored.

In fact, the control of the game rhythm is to control the player's emotions. It should not let the player go too smoothly, but it should not be too depressing. The best way is to give a sweet date with a slap in the face. In the game, the problem is created for the player, and then the player is given some new items or new abilities to solve the problem. After the player is almost satisfied, new problems are created for the player, and so on.

In this regard, "Deep Sea Trek" has undoubtedly achieved the ultimate, when to do something, where to let players get something, and when new information appears to secretly promote the plot.

In the players' feelings, the feeling that they are being led by the game designer is actually very weak. Even if the game is played seriously enough, the players may completely think that they are actively exploring the truth of the world.

In order to achieve this effect, game designers deliberately downplay or remove many functions that are commonly found in games.

For example, the task list. As mentioned before, there is no such thing as a task in the game, but in fact, the information received by various players, either actively or passively, from radios, logs left by others, etc., are actually tasks that secretly guide players to advance the plot.

The difference from the traditional mission publishing format is that in traditional missions, the game proactively prompts you what you should do next, while in "Deep Sea Trek", it is more often the player who discovers something himself first, thereby knowing what he should do next.

It seems that the ultimate goal is the same, but the results are completely different. This is like your dad telling you that there are 20 yuan in the drawer of the TV series at home, and you accidentally discovered that your dad hid it in the crack of the bed. 100 yuan of private money. The latter kind of excitement and sense of accomplishment where you think your dad doesn't know that you have discovered his little secret is actually the feeling that "Deep Sea Trek" wants to give players.

Another example is the map. The map of "Deep Sea Trek" is undoubtedly huge and complex. Compared with most games, "Deep Sea Trek" not only has the conventional x and y axes, but also has an extra z-axis represented by the depth of the ocean. It is so complex. Maps, "Deep Sea Trek" actually does not provide players with a map function at all. The only way for players to identify the road is to rely on beacons to mark key points.

It can be said that players who can play "Deep Sea Trek" to the end are probably already familiar with the game's map. Such a design seems to greatly reduce the player's gaming experience. In fact, in the early stage of the game, there is no map assistance. Players will indeed be slightly uncomfortable.

However, the excellent experience in the early stages of the game will quickly dilute this discomfort. Over time, players will gradually accept this setting. Unknowingly, they will become more and more familiar with the maps they have explored, and they will become more familiar with the maps they have never explored. The map will also be memorized subconsciously. Not only does removing the map settings not become a point deduction, but it greatly enhances the realism of the game and the player's sense of accomplishment after memorizing the map.

Making a VR version of "Deep Sea Trek" sounds promising. After all, the biggest selling point of "Deep Sea Trek" is the immersion and reality of facing the unknown when exploring the deep sea. In this regard, even if After achieving the ultimate, how can PC possibly compare to VR?

With the current VR technology, there is no problem at all even if the player cannot swim. There have long been games abroad that have provided relatively perfect solutions for simulating characters' underwater actions. The game can give players two operating modes to choose from. One is the real mode, that is, players who can swim can swim and dive with their own swimming styles, and the other is the auxiliary mode, where players only need to make paddling movements with their hands to control the game character to swim forward. move.

This is similar to the fact that many client games and mobile games also provide two or more operating modes based on the different operating habits of players.

In fact, this kind of design in VR games has become more and more common in recent years. After all, the vast majority of players who play games are ordinary people. Compared with the omnipotence of the game protagonists, there are bound to be many players who most of them are. Actions that are difficult to do, such as flying over walls and flying over walls, and some difficult martial arts actions. In addition, actions that are impossible for people to do, such as flying, also require assistance mode.

Nowadays, game designers generally use the following criteria for auxiliary modes: simple actions use real modes, such as walking, running, jumping, sitting, etc.; slightly more complex actions use both modes, such as swimming; higher difficulty levels are even impossible for ordinary people. For the actions that can be achieved, one ray adopts the auxiliary mode, such as flying, rock climbing and so on.

Such a design will undoubtedly exclude people with physical disabilities, but there is nothing that can be done about it. With the current VR technology, it is still impossible to control game characters with consciousness alone.

With Chuxin's current technical capabilities and manpower, the final quality produced will definitely be better than the original work. After all, although the original work has a very high rating, the finished product still has many bugs, and if you want to be more demanding, , although the graphics and modeling of the original work are quite exquisite, the movements of some creatures are actually a bit stiff, especially the larger they are, the more so.

Chuxin's own game engine is still in the research and development stage, but even if it uses open source engines on the market, the results will definitely be better than the original.

(End of this chapter)