Inter-connectivity of Game Worlds
Open world are plentiful, however good open world games are few. Many players ask what is the point of a open world game which is the padding of quests, experience, and equipment. The Quests system is okay, but when it doesn't seem to effect the story or theme of the game it is a hindrance. Experience is great as you level up for more explorations and control of difficulty, but for it to be a reward for anything doesn't make any quest more memorable if it has no significant impact of the game play of new scenarios. Equipment changes the game play in stats, but that mostly enhances the late game and that is only one part of the game play. Sense of Discovery of Open World Its hard to make a open world game feel the sense of discovery which it promises, so how would someone go about that. Sometimes the answers are copying old trends like how mini-maps have information to help the player, yet they make your eyes look at it instead of the open world we all are trying to take in. Way-point markers on such mini maps take away from understanding where the destination is, so the answer is to have a map in its own window to access instead of on the play screen. Another difficult aspect to work with is save points in where people die and re-spawn and in Megaman in particular the open world games still have numbered lives. The Capcom Change to Open World When there are platform games that feature a single large interconnected map with subsections and even sub-rooms for three layers of interwoven areas on a single map there is a term. This term all within a single map is called a "Metroidvania style Open World". Platform games have been moving in this direction for a more full world experience of exploration and adventure. Megaman games have nothing wrong in the single play through, limited lives, and eight boss selection menu, however for a open world experience this can cause some major problems in the feeling of the title. The limited lives can be seen to distract from the mission or the boss selection may make the game feel too linear. The single player aspect may take away from the social nature of modern day titles for a game community to be involved with one anothers playing experience. Modern day players do enjoy their single player experience . So much so, that some even refer to it as a "Arcade Mode" or "Story Mode" as separate play modes. Open World Experiments of Mega Man Zero Keiji Inafune saw peoples changing interests in more detailed worlds. He decided to that this would create new interest from fans in wanting a more complete world in his vision of newer titles. At the time of the Mega Man Zero series. So Capcom games for mobile gaming systems went in the direction of open world. When the game came out it felt as if the open world never really got the attention it needed. In the game Mega Man Zero ZX the open world felt incomplete and in conclusion it felt poorly executed due to limitations. This was due to the poor map designs which made players travel aimlessly in a area till they find the boss. Every quest seemed very separate and not seamless in its need to exist in the game. Maybe the staff wanted to do more, but something got in the way of either time, design and money, or possibly even stress. This can be seen with the map correlation not functioning cohesively , the area naming conventions being difficult to remember with many areas being labeled by letters and numbers, or areas not being as memorable story wise but fine in appearance. Freedom Theming of Open World In Megaman titles over the years it used the model of lives, however in open world titles lives are not necessary due to the concentration being on learning through analysis rather than grinding and dying while being stopped by a strange obstacle. Having no lives lets the player worry about the puzzle problem, so it doesn't take away from the playing experience. Side Quests that only concentrate on direct experience rewards, currency rewards, or for a item makes the motivations seem boring. There needs to be a variety of activities involved to motivate players like item customization, feature enhancement, extra backstory, and allow for the completion of the game in quick way or a long way. Diverse specialty in dungeons are important as well to create thematics of areas. Making a choice is what makes people feel like they are free. But making options of how a player decides to play instead of a single linear path makes playing the game fresh. If things change in the world depending on what quest you completed gives a sense of change in the world. If there are differences in day, night, or season in the game world it can create a sense of real life as well. That freshness is what gamers are looking for in their expectations of full developed world. Teleportation Fast Travel When people use fast travel they do not see the travel areas on the way. It makes it seem like the developed areas are overlooked with there being no limitations to typical fast travel in open world games. Having limited fast travel to say towns and/or use an item from anywhere to get to a town may hold its own benefit to the game by giving weight to a destination and make a meaning to explore more in that particular area traveled to. In Mega Man Zero ZX, the Warp System is a dated system that stagnates in its travel. While it is good that players can have a location that promises fast travel the player feels like they must go to that location instead of having it as an option. Having travel methods that quickly take a player from one point to another while seeing the scenery is apart of the open world experience. Another aspect is giving meaning to parts less explored in dungeons on reasons to go back, such as places to refill "sub tanks" or other reasons. Save Points of Open World Games Save points in Mega Man games originally started with passwords, then automatically on data for complete stages, and in open world they used stationary save spots. However, in modern gaming a save point is placed by a player with a limited ability points that can be regained through a specific speciallized item during enemy item drop. Motivational Puzzle Punishment, is a design change that describes quick re-spawns and tight controls with precisely placed enemies. The experience changes the players irritation to deep thought and intense concentration that equates to raw gaming ability. The increase of skill is from trying different ways to play and overcoming the challenges of the puzzle. The player understands that the character has its limitations in its power and the only thing going up at a certain point is skill. While not all levels need to be this way it does help if some levels are built this way to help with the middle game to late game, which is different from the standard early game introduce the tools of the game. This is great to add in addition to the tool kit of game makers who want players to have an attitude of not giving up that is trained from the game.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
|