Skip to main content

What does a good game consist of? (part 2)

Part 2 talks about difference between the terms "complex" and "complicated".

Complex versus Complicated

Let's first look at how we would define a complicated game:
-hard to understand
-too many difficult patterns
-sometimes even annoying
-won't teach you anything new

None on this list are good components for a good game.

On the other hand let's take a look at a oversimplified game:
-too easy to grasp, too hard to master
-too many simple patterns
-dull and idle entertainment
-won't teach you anything new

Notice how they both won't teach you anything new. Should teaching valuable real-life lessons be a trait of a good game? The last elements on the list made me guess if both sides really teach nothing new, what is the golden-middle?

Let's take a look at another term, called a complex game and how to define it:
A complex game is neither simplified nor complicated. Does that mean it can teach us something? Most certainly I believe this is the case. There are many patterns to be learnt and integrated.

I believe "complexion" gets us closer to a better understanding of a good game.

How to make a complex game then? There are several aspects to implement:
-has to have depth and non-linearity in story line
-has to teach something valuable for real life
-uses intelligent decisions which require smart behavior

Let's further explain the term "complex game":
It is not the same as "complicated game" as complex and complicated are two completely different and unrelated terms.

So what is a difference between a complicated game and a complex game?
Complicated game requires memorization of thousands of rules (by thousands I mean really thousands) in the game documentation. A complex game can have the same of rules, but the rules will be interconnected, easy to memorize. Another thing which distinguishes them from each other is replayability.

By replayability I mean to play the same situation/campaign/level/skirmish/mission in different ways.
To this contributes a non-linear story, variety of ways to beat a level(like many games give the boss a weakness, but this doesn't exactly grant replayability) and interesting game modes.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

object oriented programming

Object oriented programming is a sound and bold approach to c++ and internet wiring application and video games. It reduces a lot of code messes, made by global and half global functions. One of the more advanced object programming techniques are private access, poly morph and object message inheritance. It is set by c++ bjarne stroustrup and iso isometric standard convention comitee to use classes instead of structs and structures for making objects. Which means you most definitely should , but not must or have to. class Monster {     std::string memory_attributes{}; public:     void treck();     void track();     void trace(); }; The treck() function makes the monster roam and do human like jogging and trimming. track() means the monster goes ai path tracking and trace() means it tries to find other monsters in the area. class Weapon {     std::string memory_attributes{}; public:    void use(); }; void Weapon::use() {   ...
Post a Comment
Read more

C++ and OOP in a different manner

Keep in mind this article is meant strictly for C++ game devs and not for application programmers or game devs of scripting/other languages. I have my own technique when it comes to OOP in C++. The game I'm deving right now(or we are making) is a simple windows console project. It's up to you to decide whether you'll use this technique. First let me tell you in which cases you might need this technique: if you're ready for a new look on OOP if you need a new toolset for your coding practice if you like to learn(which I clearly hope for) So, the technique then. Decide which you prefer more: classes or structures. This helps you understand what kind of objects you want in a game.
Post a Comment
Read more

Coding and game development, part 2

 Consider the following C++ sample: int main() {     std::cout << template_1() << '\n';     return 1;      } Every moron who knows C++ would know what this means. Now consider that almost every line is a regular expression, so try to translate it into your native language, English for example; line by line in steps. ... rofl lol oO? I tried to do that with the example and my head almost had a system shutdown.
Post a Comment
Read more