The rules of gaming

[fishbowlhead]

Right, first off this isnt going to be one of my usual rants. After playing quite a few games lateley where the games start of quite good and interesting and then turn to complete ****e at the end (or dont even get started in the first place) i decided enough is enough and got rid of the offenders.

Im starting this thread as more of a tool for developers to use constructivly than a ranting thread. I will foraward the information on this page to all offending developers who blatently break the rules and advise them on what they did wrong.

So feel free to add anything that you think should be (or not be) in games, or if you think something is just plain **** design work then place it here and hopefully someone can learn from it.

Right, first's firsts. The Rules. (here is what i think the basic rules of development should be, as you can tell some if not most have allready been printed in EDGE but some are my own and if you can think of any then please post them on this thread and if they deem worthy i shall edit them to this list.)

Rule 1,
No more partonising tutorials. As EDGE said theres nothing more annoying than some stupid nag bot telling you how to move forward. All tutorials should also be skipable at any time.
Rule 2,
No person should have to watch a cut sceene more than once, after the initial viewing they should be skipable at any point at the players leasure.
Rule 3,
The player should be able to view his character and his surroundings at all times. Getting hit by on comming projectiles from off the screen has been an anoyance of mine for years and its just cheap in this day and age (Ninja gaiden im looking at you)
Rule 4,
LAVA LEVELS ARE NOT FUN. They look ****, they allways play ****, there allways designed badly and there just bloody pointless. I do not want to to see my character bouncing around in a badly designed pool of red textures screaming until his or her eventual death. ITS NOT BIG AND ITS NOT CLEVER.(Conkers im looking at you) The same goes for the undead or monsters in general? Badly textured green walls or green goo? and graveyards? NO NO NO AND BLOODY NO, they have never looked good, never will look good, or play well.
Rule 5,
No Respawnig enemies. Touting your new military game as being the next realistic thing then having 20 guards spill out of a Phone booth sized hut does not an interesting game make (conflict im looking at you). Its cheap, its nasty and its just plain lazy game design.
Rule 6,
All games should have inteligent saving and checkpoints. The player should never be punished for forgetting to save his or her game (especially when its because theve been enjoying it so much). The game should display a message at the start of the game explaining to the player when the game is saved and that should be it. The same goes for checkpoints, they should be explained at the start of the game then no more messages should be seen on them from then on. (please look at conkers BFD on xbox or Halo 1 xbox for prime examples on how do do this right)
Rule 7,
This one is more a annoyance of mine than anything and if you think it shouldnt be here then please tell me.
Manuals, if you ship a game at full price (anything over ?30.00 really) then i expect a full colour manual. EA are the all time culprits of this and are the ultimate CHEAP F*CKING BASTARDS for doing it especially as the amount of copies of there games they sell. The biggest diassapointment of this was Strangers Wrath, this game screamed for a thick glossy art book style manual and what did it have, a six page black and white bloody panflet. Its just too nasty of them to describe.
Rule 8,
Controls should be fully customizable at any time throughout the game (I'm looking at you EA)
Rule 11,
Make sure your character is designed well enough to cope with all that's expected of it.
Rule 12,
No bugs in games full stop. Releasing patches for games is simply not acceptable (im looking at you PC developers, yes all of you) Common scence play teseting should be all thats needed to find bugs in games, not patches.
Rule 13,
ESCORT MISSIONS DO NOT WORK, PERIOD. having to rely on an often (if not allways) stupid AI to complete a mission, or having to protect said AI allways goes wrong. However If you must use escort missions in your game please ensure that the player is not punished if the the AI is killed. (Grand Theft Auto im looking at you).

[babs]

re: rule 4: um, what? So if a level is coloured red or green it doesn't play well? Maybe all metal levels play really well then, is that it? Taking platform games as just about the only genre where the stereotypical level types occur, what would you replace them with? Grass for every level?

The problem is a lot of it is personal opinion, and not always the case. Tutorials for example; the major aim for the next generation is to draw as many people in as possible, including those who don't play games. You're going to lose a lot of potential future fans who aren't used to game styles if they can't play it because they don't know how (especially with most things hard to convey in a manual). I can't think of a single example of a game off the top of my head where you can't skip/avoid a lengthy tutorial.

As for saving, I agree that it needs looking at, but in very few cases and mostly on FPS games. Being able to save every other step "just in case" doesn't help anyone improve . I also don't want to be spoon-fed through a game either, if I rush past a save point or checkpoint then that's my fault.

Realism can FO for all I care, no game is totally realistic by virtue of it being a game in the first place. Gauntlet had it right with generators

[dreamylittledream]

So let me get this straight you want to ban lava levels but not 'slip-slidey ice' levels?

Madness

[baad bwoy]

I think the lava banning suggestion is one of Edge magazines isn't it?

"The same goes for the undead or monsters in general? Badly textured green walls or green goo? and graveyards? NO NO NO AND BLOODY NO, they have never looked good, never will look good, or play well."

I bet you change your mind when Resi 5 gets a release on the next gen 360/Ps3

[mr_sockochris]

Rule 7 Controls should be fully customizable! (I'm looking at you EA, I might not find FIFA so god damn awful if you didn't force me to use O as shoot).

[fishbowlhead]

Rule 7 Controls should be fully customizable! (I'm looking at you EA, I might not find FIFA so god damn awful if you didn't force me to use O as shoot).

ill add it to the list.

Im also keeping the ban the laver levels rule, for the simple fact that i thourght about it and i coudnt think of a single game where it was done well (Ever). And no i wont change my mind on this when RE5 comes out, there just wrong ok.

[charlesr]

Please don't be sending this link to developers. Contact them with your comments in an email.

[davesol]

Rule 1,
No more partonising tutorials. As EDGE said theres nothing more annoying than some stupid nag bot telling you how to move forward. All tutorials should also be skipable at any time.

I don't agree with rule 1. I like not having to read the manual, and instead just let the game explain the basic controls to me. I hardly think a little message popping up at the bottom of the screen telling me how to do something the first time i come across that situation is patronising.

[MartyG]

I can't think of a single example of a game off the top of my head where you can't skip/avoid a lengthy tutorial.

Fire Emblem GBA - the whole first chapter is a tutorial that can't be skipped - and that is very irksome

[babs]

Something which was taken on board for the sequel by the sounds of it...

Taking complains from fans, Intelligent Systems included the option to skip the tutorial help messages that pop up during the first few missions. Not that the tutorial is flawed, veteran players will just want to jump into the game as quickly as possible because they already know the rules of gameplay.

[kingmobster]

I agree with a lot of what you say, but ...

Rule 4,
LAVA LEVELS ARE NOT FUN. ... The same goes for the undead or monsters in general?

Lava levels can be fun. Really. Sure, we?ve seen more than we need of badly designed lava levels, but if they?re done like the ones in Maximo they can be pretty fun. And Maximo coincidentally features quite a lot of undead and other monsters

Lava (or other instant death pools of evil) can also be put to good use in first person shooters. I am thinking of a few Unreal Tournament levels in particular.

And ...

Rule 5,
No Respawnig enemies. Touting your new military game as being the next realistic thing then having 20 guards spill out of a Phone booth sized hut does not an interesting game make (conflict im looking at you). Its cheap, its nasty and its just plain lazy game design.

Sure, but that depends on the game?s genre doesn?t it? Try to imagine System Shock 2 without respawning enemies - that wouldn?t work would it? The respawning enemies add a lot to the game?s creepy atmosphere. You can?t clear a level of enemies. You are never safe.

I can't think of a single example of a game off the top of my head where you can't skip/avoid a lengthy tutorial.

Fire Emblem GBA - the whole first chapter is a tutorial that can't be skipped - and that is very irksome

While I do think that not having to read a manual is a good thing, in game tutorials tend to break the suspension of disbelief. That isn?t a problem in most games - our disbelief wasn?t being suspended anyway - but in RPGs tutorials often get in the way of the story. I particularly hate it when the tutorial is mixed up with the dialogue: "Please! Help me! Rats have infested my cellar! Press A to open the door, and B to swing your sword!"

[Darwock]

You must hate Metal Gear then...

I think that kind of thing can work very well in something like MGS, which is very tongue in cheek with itself and frequently acknowledges it's just a videogame.

[eastyy]

Rule 9 Do not add stealth sections to a primarily action game just to break up the action

Rule 10 Do not punish players by sending them back to the start of a level (or a large section) if they make a mistake (thinking of radiata story in the last section there is a maze or platforms and ladders if you go up the wrong ladder it sends you plummeting down several platforms trouble is there is no way of teeling if the ladder will collapse also thinking of god of war where you have to balance on beams and if you make a mistake you start again)

[kingmobster]

You must hate Metal Gear then...

I think that kind of thing can work very well in something like MGS, which is very tongue in cheek with itself and frequently acknowledges it's just a videogame.

Yes, I hate Metal Gear But that?s mostly because I can?t handle the controls (rule 8 applies here I guess) and because of other issues which I?m sure have been discussed in countless other threads. I like they way that MGS draws attention to the fact that it's just a videogame, though. That?s pretty smart.

[Ady]

Rule 9 Do not add stealth sections to a primarily action game just to break up the action

Rule 10 Do not punish players by sending them back to the start of a level (or a large section) if they make a mistake (thinking of radiata story in the last section there is a maze or platforms and ladders if you go up the wrong ladder it sends you plummeting down several platforms trouble is there is no way of teeling if the ladder will collapse also thinking of god of war where you have to balance on beams and if you make a mistake you start again)

I hear you on both counts.

Rule 11 Make sure your character is designed well enough to cope with all that's expected of it. For instance, if the main character is great at combat, but not so great at, say platforming then either improve the character's handling or don't bother with the platforming. God of War makes this mistake; Kratos is a good fighter, but he's unweildy and sluggish when it comes to platforming.