From the very first Mega Man game there were consumable items used for points and life. They continued to evolve as the series grew to have multiple options with weapons, services, and game mechanics. It really helped bring interesting game-play that is quite creative. While there are some who prefer limited consumables being used and some do not like certain items in general it can not be disputed that it is within the tool kit of its creators.
Mega Man series item types were designed with the idea in mind of single play through with the exception Mega Man 7 with the password save-system and 8 which considered the data-card save-system. But for those without such save systems in their designs only left just enough items in the stages to assist in the completion of the stages and increasingly difficult last levels to complete the game. So, let us look at a few of the recognizable items that have been put in the game shall we? Single-use Items Items are not new to the Megaman series with the first E-Tank consumable to be found in Mega Man 2 (1988). Mega Man 3 introduced the multiple full-restore items (E-Tanks) of having many one-time-use items. There are also Full Restore Items (Tanks) that are also single use. There are numbered tanks that are called Reusable Items (-Tanks) that allow for multiple uses. This is standard in role playing games where a number is beside the number of lives or restoration amounts. For those who want to have a back up supply of items there are the Mega Man X introduced Refill-use Items (Sub-Tanks) that are important to put less stress on the player for a more enjoyable free testing experience. Currency In game design the role of a score would be used as a currency for prestige, however as players payed less attention to scores in games currencies role would evolve. In game currency would directly effect the game through the idea of exchange of goods and services as in real life currency. At this time instead of a counter-item the uses of currency became a consumable item. In the wake of mobile game development there is the use of pay-to-consume currency that is used for free-to-play (F2P) models. Instead of charging players up front for a title or for large updates they collect their funds and recover their production costs through in game transactions. Sometimes even exclusively. Mega Man has always been seen as a packaged game, which in this case the old pay-to-upgrade (P2U) model is used. Games that target long term longevity or life spans are planned with extensive in-game currency systems, extensive item gathering, and social game mechanics. This means currency plays a very important role in the development of Mega Man titles for added replay value that can be collected alone (1 player), with a friend (2 player), several friends (3-5 Players), or in a party (12 players). Currency of Bolts Usages Mega Man had started experimenting with currency heavily in 1995 (Mega Man 7) through the vendor named "Auto" for the first in-game store using the currency of enemy dropped "Bolts", hidden and discovered "Hyper Bolts" that can upgrade store selections. These show that shops can be upgraded and that shops have their own specialty and shops in towns could possibly have unique hidden shopping selections based on a towns missing Hyper Bolts. Most likely this would be in the form of some sort of quest as in Mega Man 7 Auto explains he is missing his stores Hyper Bolt which in this case allows for the store ability to give unlocked new items and reduced item prices. In a long term title there would most likely be several types of Hyper Bolts for each function involved at the store. Possibly showing the more quests you do for a store the more you can upgrade a store as you do Mega Man himself. Stores that Take Bolts As many other titles that have types of currencies there would be a time and place for bolts, hyper bolts, and other currencies of robots. The world also is comprised of humans, so maybe there would be a use for cash and credit as well in this sort of environment. Maybe even a mixture of Bolts and In-Game Mega Cash. Could make things really interesting if the developers make both regularly easy to get. That way when there are harder more difficult later game items that are needed they can have specialized currencies that have their own uses. Locations such as stores create a need to go to certain locations for identity reasons, purchase reasons, quest/story reasons, and customization reasons. There are stores created when game developers are thinking of extending a games replay value with the idea of long term player retention. So adding stores would add more interest and open up the options for towns and locations to explore more of the Mega Man World. Gachapon Feature Monetization is how some games give an option from the normal pay for direct-content (P4D) to a lesser pay for chance-content option (P4C). that There are also game features effected with: Gachapon feature with a random chance to get a game option based on which Gachapon store you choose to pull a game option from. Legally it is necessary that the game makers show the percentage chance of a pull. F2P use multiple gachapon features to add long term gameplay value for collector gamers. There are many types of Gachapon features... such as: Cash Gachapon for Normal Tier Game Releases, In-Game Time Release Gachapon for Normal Tier Game releases, Low Tier Game Release Free Gachapon with Friend incentives. Lower percentage Gachapon for Event based Game Releases. Mega Man has had a collecting aspect ever singe the Battle Network series, which has boosted its popularity in the target younger audience of players. Storage Keep Function (Storage Keeper?) While storage doesn't seem like its directly connected, but is it? the storage of consumable items from the Gachapon could be using slots within a players storage space, so its very important. A storage could be on the player and expanded through consumables. Item Maker Function (Merging Specialist? and/or Item?) would involve storage as well. It would have to deal with the Consolidation of currency, Consolidation of in-game currency, Enhancement System (currency consumption for ). The function of a item maker function would directly be connected to the storage functions being just another layer of controlling storage space. Robot Pet Mechanic In Megaman, players have had the allies of : Fliptop/Eddie, Rush, Treble, Tango, Beat, Met, and more. In long term games there are options for buying Pets that follow behind you and respond to commands. In Megaman pets tend to teleport in and out when they are needed, so the use of pets would have limited screen time. However, it would be great to involve a feature to have a pet follow you without teleporting out. There would be numerous different types of pets, and in some versions have varying abilities or stats. One of the most important things to note is when players are introduced to long term play there are a large amount of item collection that could be minimized from a item, pet, or upgrade. These could have different levels or abilities themselves with upgrades with types of items they could pick up, percentages of auto pick up, speed of pick up, etc. Depending on how deep they want to take pets there could also be types of pets that can attack like Treble does in Mega Man 7. Adaptor Armors of Pets There could also be a variety of Adaptor Armor depending on what pet upgrades, equipment slot equips, and pet progression is planned for the different types of pets. With adaptor armor being so popular there would likely be a specialty in it, so that there is a sort of game-play style that is intended for Adaptor Armor players. As we have seen in the past most adaptor armors are from four legged pets. Flying Pets tend to have abilities for picking up items or even the character themselves with the addition of Beat. Fliptop Pets seem to always have some sort of restoration item or delivery like ability to purchase things from the shop while in a stage. The cast of Mega Man has given a diverse amount of pet options in some basic starter ideas of what to do with different types of pets. This would differentiate Standard Character Players, Pet Oriented Players, Armor Oriented Players, Combat System Oriented Players, Speed Oriented Players, Team Meet Oriented Players, and Social Oriented Players. Currency Changes In game production there was in-game currency rewards for players for exchange for all content due to low-production costs of games. Megaman is a medium costing franchise which can't afford to do this, due to the niche and limited fanbase. Types of Games Require Types of Item Development A typical Mega Man game is restricted to its Arcade mode which has the basic action platform game experience. You can beat the game by playing right through Megaman games with a little bit of skill depending which difficulty is selected. You can play right through and just pick up what you find on your way instead of having any large amount of thinking or decision making involved, which makes arcade mode pretty therapeutic at times. Play as fast as you want or as slow as you want with a end game easily in sight. In games with Story modes or Role Playing Mechanics there are several progressions in a game. Through the progression of a game there is the: Startgame, Earlygame, Midgame, Lategame, Endgame. Arcade would be fairly short in its explanations. However for a long term game play these sections can be elaborated with large amounts of data and deepness to a game title. This is because players who are looking at long term game play can play a title for even years on end. Seasons for games tend to last at least four years at a time before a company decides to make some sort of remake or reboot. Arcade Setting Stagnant Consumable Items Limited Life-Restoration, Limited Weapon-Restoration, Restricted of a games 8 robot master weapon types. Refillable Life-Restoration, Refillable Weapon-Restoration, and Meter Extension Items. Story Setting Consumable Items Automatic upgrades as the story progresses as the creator sees fit to best work for the storyline. Roleplaying Setting Consumable Items All the items in the Arcade Setting, but with customization options. This is a broad statement of the possibilities with this long term approach, however not many aspects of this have been shown in the series. These would have to be compared with titles such as Mega Man Legends, Mega Man Battle Network/Mega Man Star Force, and Mega Man X Dive.
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