Super Mario, Sonic, Space Invaders, Pong, Pokémon, Final Fantasy, Elder Scrolls, and The Legend of Zelda are just a handful of some of the greatest games ever made, and that was due to the attention of three crucial pillars when it comes to designing a video game: mechanics, combat, and multiplayer. While not all of the mentioned games include these pillars, at least one of them has been developed upon to create something timeless. During this chapter, we will be delving further into these pillars and how you can consider them when it comes to designing your game.
Mechanics
Pushable items
Levers and switches
Moving platforms
Wall running
Grapple hooks
Platforms are some of the most used mechanics in video games, especially within platformers (hence the name!). These can move left to right, up and down, crumble when stepped on, vanish, and then reappear. The possibilities are endless!
Another common mechanic used within games is doors. They are everywhere and can hide so much. Whether they are normally open or locked, there are unusual ways that the player can open them, either burst through them and shoot everything on the other side, slowly open them and peek round them if you are trying to be stealthy, breach and clear, or pick the lock. Once unlocked or opened, how would you like your doors to open? Up and down, side to side like an elevator, or with the traditional method of them swinging open. Different methods and doors are used in varied genres. Up and down would typically be seen in space stations or futuristic games and aliens bursting through doors to chase the player. Normal swinging doors could have enemies behind them which could be knocked or damaged when opened. While you can be creative with the way doors are opened, there are a few things you need to be careful with, such as the clipping of the player on the door. There will always be instances during the development stages where the player will walk through a door and the door clips the player, or the player will pass through the door without it opening. There are ways around this, such as not having any doors! While that sounds contradictory, some environments use buildings that use doors or look like they have been ripped off or damaged. Or in some cases, doors will never be opened, which prompts the player to find an alternative route. But you need to ensure that the player knows that they can’t pass through them. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order does it perfectly when it comes to doors and pathways around the world. The player will encounter a door that might be locked, but once finding a new path and progressing further into the story, the player will be able to unlock the door from the other side, thus unlocking a “shortcut” for future exploration.
But what if you need more than a key to open a door or pass through something? Levers and switches are another wonderful way to open doors or even move cranes to move debris which is blocking your path. Ratchet & Clank games often use the Omniwrench to turn cranks that would move objects. While this is a good mechanic for the player to use, the designers try not to overuse it. There is nothing more stagnant than to use something multiple times at the same level. Be clever about the use of levers and switches and where to put them. If you want your game to feel natural, or realistic to some degree, having a lever in the middle of a room screams : video game. While that sounds silly, try to make this sort of mechanic fit in with the design and feel for your game. If you do decide to make these within your game, have a think about the following:
Give a visual indication that the lever or crank has been pulled so the player knows it has been pulled or activated.
Make it stand out! The last thing you want is your player to be stuck in a room and not knowing what they need to do next to progress. If you are teaching them how to use this mechanic early on in the game, make sure that they know what it looks like, so they remember to keep an eye out for them. Once familiar with them, it should be muscle memory on what to do next when approaching them.
Hazards
Buzz saws
Exploding barrels
Lava pits
Falling blocks/spikes
Laser-sighted turrets
I’ve always admired the use of hazards in Super Meat Boy and the way that Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes used them in their game. Early on in the game, the player is introduced to buzz saws that are static and span on the spot. As the player began to learn that these were harmful, the buzz saws made another appearance and began to move side to side. These saws also began to move up and down sides of a wall and, eventually, spin around on giant sticks. Although these saws were used in unusual ways, they were always the same saw. Be clever about your assets and how they appear in your game!
When designing hazards, you want them to look dangerous and deadly while also getting them to fit in the world. For example, if you are making a first-person game set in the modern day, then you might want to have turrets that shoot the player. You might want to take inspiration from Call of Duty games. A safe way for the player to learn that something is dangerous is to have it attack the player! It’s one thing to learn if a hazard is deadly, but it’s another to learn from taking damage. But also take inspiration from dangerous items from the real world, such as lasers, fire, bombs/explosives, etc. No matter the design or the style of hazards, always ensure that you are using the correct colors and sounds to show real threat and danger.
Story mode – Lighter combat and gives the player a chance to explore the story.
Light – For players who want to experience light combat and don’t play many games.
Moderate – For the average player who enjoys a balanced experience.
Hard – Experienced players who enjoy a challenge. Skills will be tested.
Very hard – For those that have played hard for their first playthrough and would like a greater challenge for their second run.
A difficult game will do whatever it can to punish the player while providing a memorable experience. However, a challenging game will require the player to use skill to overcome challenges and can feel more rewarding. But this is down to your opinion and the type of games you play! But there are some players who love difficulty and love to die in games – games such as Demon’s Souls, Elden Ring, Super Meat Boy, Cuphead, I Wanna Be the Guy: Gaiden, Bloodborne, and many more. I have tutored many students who love difficult games and love the challenge, so I applaud you for completing those games!
How is your timing? Have you got good reactions? Well, you might need them to avoid that swinging blade or that fire that spits out of the ground! Having mechanics that are based on time is a fantastic way to test the player’s reactions. They’re also great for creating tension in your level and can require a proficient level of concentration. If you decide to use this method, make sure that the movement is simple: back and forth, up and down, left to right. If the movements are random, then this will be too difficult and almost unfair. You want your player to use skill with this mechanic, not luck. Being able to pass or cross over them must be tricky, but never impossible. Everything in your game must be achievable! If you want to give some hints about when to go, your character could say something to give the player a prompt to move. Again, make it a challenge, but not impossible!
Start your player in an open space to learn movement, walking and jumping.
Introduce your first mechanic that the player can practice with. This should come early in the game to keep the player engaged and for them to learn.
Once the first mechanic has been mastered, now add a second one in. This could be combined with the first mechanic.
Now add in a hazard. The player has learned mechanics, and now they need to learn what might hurt them and what they will need to avoid in the game.
Throw in some enemies! This should be a gradual build-up and let the player know who they might face off against.
Mix the enemies and hazards together to make it interesting! Having mechanics and hazards working together can be a perfect recipe and can help with the designing of future levels.
How does that sound? It can be easy to learn the basics of your game from that first level, but how you populate it and design the world would be up to you!
Save Yourself!
Something that we will mention again later in this chapter is checkpoints. The perfect way for the player to take a breather and reflect on what they have just completed. Some games use campsites, beds, inns, and houses for the player to enter and rest. They might also be the perfect place to upgrade gear, regain health, or use acquired skill points.
The purpose for checkpoints is for the game to save progress of the player so far. Some earlier games would require the player to manually save the game from the menu or reach a safe zone. With more recent systems, games will now save automatically at checkpoints to save the player some time.
One piece of advice I can give when designing checkpoints is to not place them in a combat sequence. There is nothing worse than being spawn killed! Checkpoints can be useful if a player were to die in combat and they can spawn back in, but place the checkpoints somewhere within the combat where the player will be safe from being killed when respawned. Halo: Combat Evolved used this method carefully and had the game save a checkpoint once the player had killed a certain enemy. Once the game knew the player was safe, it would save their progress to allow them to continue their journey.
Some checkpoints might be visible or in the background of the game’s system. If you want your checkpoint to be visible, make sure that it is clear that it is a target for the player to reach. Visible checkpoints can look “gamey” and might require a section in the tutorial to explain how and what they are. Making them invisible will not break the immersion for the player, but make it clear when the checkpoint has been reached to avoid the player having to manually save the game after they defeat an enemy. It can become awfully long-winded!
The Art of Combat
When you hear the word combat or violence, you could list many games you have played that include this. Some games are violent but show little or no blood, and there are some games that are extremely violent and do not hold back on the blood and gore. However, it is not as easy to think of a game, create a character , and give it a gun to shoot everything in the world. The designing of combat takes time and patience to ensure that it is designed with a purpose. Not everything has to involve shooting the other person!
However, there are many games out there that don’t rely on violence or combat to complete them, such as Bejeweled, Pong, Tetris, and Temple Run. In these cases, violence is never the answer! There are plenty of other games where violence and combat are not needed. The age-old question when it comes to violence in video games is: Do violent video games make people violent? While I can’t offer an answer to this question, (mainly as this subject sparks a huge debate among gamers), it is something to consider when designing combat in a video game. Violent video games require time and skill to complete design, but combat might be designed as part of the story rather than it being a core mechanic.
It creates an empowerment feeling for the player.
A straightforward way for the player to be rewarded for their actions.
Ever faced an enemy and thought: “This is going to be a challenge, but I’m going to try it anyway!” Knowing that you have fought and defeated an enemy should give you a feeling that you have been able to overcome a challenge. This is crucial for the player, so they know that they have put their skills to the test and, more importantly, used their combat skills correctly and for fun. Also, providing rewards from defeated enemies is the perfect achievement for any player, whether it be health, ammo, currency, or abilities. Constant rewards for combat help entice the player to trigger a form of combat.
Style of Violence
But what sort of violence is there? We typically think of the bloody kind which leads to heads being ripped off and blood splattered over our screens, but there are five diverse types of violence we see within video games:
Violence – Combat that will involve gore and blood.
Fantasy violence – Scenes that involve human and nonhuman characters in a fantasy nature.
Cartoon violence – Actions where cartoon-like characters are involved in violence may come out unharmed afterward.
Comic violence – Slapstick violence that creates humor.
Intense and graphic violence – Realistic violence and possible decapitation. Extreme gore, blood, and injury detail.
As mentioned about combat, the choice of violence must come with a purpose. Games such as The Last of Us use graphic violence to emphasize survival and the danger that the player faces. Most other zombie or post-apocalyptic theme games use graphic violence to add the element of fear and create atmosphere. This is understood, but the inclusion of any shooting, hitting, and killing could raise your PEGI rating when submitting it to a marketplace. A higher content rating could limit your chosen market and the audience you pitch or sell your game to.
Style of Combat
If you have decided on your type of violence you wish to design for your game, you now need to think back to how it will fit with the style of character and combat. In previous chapters, we have thought about how to design a character and their personality, and this is also the case when it comes to designing their combat.
Sackboy – Comic and bouncy
Spider-Man – Nimble and fast
Master Chief – Brutal and strong
Soap MacTavish – Stealthy and good with weapons
Once you have designed your personality, now you need to think about how it fits into your chosen genre. What sort of gameplay experience do you want your players to feel? The choice of weapons will also come into play here as this will reflect the environment you have designed. Will you want your players to craft their own weapons in a survival game? Or will they start with a certain weapon? Or maybe even a signature weapon? From Master Swords to grapple hooks. Fire flowers to web shooters. Some of the most successful and well-known characters have had an iconic weapon that makes the gameplay and character memorable. The more original the idea for a weapon, the better!
Close range – Hand-to-hand combat, knives, grapples, etc.
Medium range – Melee weapons and kicks.
Long range – Combat that can be carried out from a distance using projectiles.
Surrounding effects – These could be special abilities that affect the battlefield around you.
Once you have thought about the distance that the player will be when they meet their enemies, then you can decide which best suits your combat. Sackboy mainly uses close combat to defeat enemies, and Master Chief mainly uses a mixture of close, medium, and long ranges through the use of melee weapons and projectiles.
Chosen your style of combat? Good! Now we look at something called elevations. This is the understanding of giving the player a variety of combat. Using varied heights, you can deliver a variety of attacks the player can master. Using elevations can also be delivered horizontally and vertically. Some enemies use shields to protect them from close- and medium-ranged attacks, but they can only be defeated by attacking them from the air. Elevations consist of standing, low, high, and aerial. All give the player the advantage to mix up their gameplay experience.
Combat Controls
What about the buttons? While we have covered the use of controls and buttons in game design, now choosing which buttons carry out which move is crucial to create a balanced gameplay. Being able to also master timings when pressing a button is also one of the major keys to combat. When a player presses a button, the character should perform the attack in the same moment. While some games might use buildup animations to create suspense and power up, these can become a drag and throw the player off their experience. Furthermore, a player could build up an attack which could miss (which can happen!), but the constant watching of an animation can make the gameplay feel like a drag and cause frustration. On the other hand, the use of these animations makes wielding weapons such as a large sword to deal vast amounts of damage look cool! It can help make the gameplay look more dynamic and satisfying. However, hitting moves and buttons in quick succession will lead to smoother gameplay, but also allows games to fall into the category of “button mashers.” These games get their name from their combat experience. A player might need to press multiple buttons that play out a sequence of moves but with no strategy behind it and hope that they land a hit on their enemies. Games such as For Honor or Tekken require the player to think about the buttons they are pressing. In some cases, pressing buttons in a certain sequence could lead to a “chain.”
A chain is a sequence of attacks that can lead one after another. By carrying out these attacks in quick succession (and successfully!), these can lead to the player dealing copious amounts of damage. Ever seen in a boss fight when you land a chain of attacks, and the boss moves away and begins their attacks? A few things happen here to avoid the boss fight being too easy:
As the player makes their attacks, each of the moves sees the character lunging forward to keep the enemy within their combat range.
The enemy will play an animation that parries the player to allow their attack chain to begin. This breaks up the combat to avoid the player from dealing all the damage.
The enemy might be recharging, regaining health, or incapacitated which allows the player to begin their combat chain again.
Sound
Sight – Animations and camera
Touch – Vibrations
If you want your fight to feel like a real fight, you need to think about what you would see if you were to swing that sword or fire that shot. When a player lands a hit on an enemy, there should be a stagger animation or a reaction to show that the enemy has taken a hit. The camera also needs to be locked onto the player so they can see the world around them. In third-person games, the camera might pan up to show more of the battlefield and so the player can get a better look at their surroundings. But you can also use the camera to be dramatic with final blows or those special moves. In the Batman Arkham series, the camera cuts in close and slows down time to demonstrate the player has defeated the final enemy in a wave. In Marvel’s Avengers, when landing the final blow on larger enemies, the camera cuts to each of the Avengers to show their final fights before the camera returns to the player. At the same time, the player needs to hear that they landed the hit. This could be from a bang to an Oof! When fighting the daughters of Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil Village, each of them screams when they take damage. The last thing they should feel is some feedback through vibrations in a controller (this mainly applies to console games due to vibration limitation on a PC). By considering these senses, you can create an immersive experience for your player.
In some third-person games, the player is given the chance to lock the camera onto their chosen enemy. This can be greatly beneficial as all animations and combat will be locked toward one target. The player can either take out their enemies one by one using the camera, or they can eyeball it and attack everyone at once!
What about when your fight is coming to its end? How will you want the player to finish off their enemy? Of course, you could have them hit their enemy, and they fall down and collect the rewards, but what if you wanted to land that dramatic final punch? This is where your new friend quick time events (QTE) come into play. This is a list of buttons pressed in succession that prompted on the screen. Ever seen in combat where a button might appear to land an attack? What you experienced was a QTE. These can be particularly useful if you want to create a strong sequence for your combat. For example:
The beginning – The player meets their enemy and engages in combat. The camera might pan around the battlefield to assist the player with any items they might need or places to cover before focusing on the enemy itself and then back to the player to begin the fight.
The middle – The player is fully engaged with the enemy and carrying out chains and their combat sequence. They have the chance to practice their combat skills and how they want to take on their enemy.
The end – The player engages in a QTE to finish the battle. The enemy might have little health, and the QTE is triggered to finish them off. This allows the player to feel like they have mastered the battle and brings it to an awesome and choreographed close.
QTEs should only be used to create some of the most awesome and pivotal moments in your game. QTEs are about assisting the player to create badass moments, so you’ll need to think: “Is this the right time to use it?” But you also need to consider what you are giving a QTE for; can it be done by the player themselves?
Give the player enough time (but not too much!) to recognize the button on the screen for them to press it. Some games use a circle indicator getting smaller around the button to show how much time they have to press it
When the button prompt on the screen appears, make sure that it always appears in the same place. Consistency is key!
There will be times where the player misses their timing or presses the wrong button, so make sure that they get another chance at pressing it. If your QTE is made up of three buttons and the player fails to press the final button, restart the QTE but avoid killing the player for a simple mistake. It can be unfair if the player is killed for making a simple mistake, but it also gives them the chance to learn from this. Alternatively, you could kill the player for failing a QTE if the player is on a higher difficulty level. Then you can decide how easy you want your gameplay to be!
Forms of Combat
Now as we have the basics covered, we can look at the different forms of combat. These are defined into melee, stealth, and grapples.
Melee
The art of hand-to-hand combat and where melee weapons can make a distinctive feature. All first- and third-person games should have an element of melee combat if combat is present in the designing of the game. Think of all of the Call of Duty games; being able to swing your knife is considered as melee combat!
Being able to swing punches should deal some good damage, but finding weapons and items in the world should give an edge when in combat. Even in combat, make it easy for the player to pick up and drop weapons. Whether weapons break or run out of use during combat, the player should always be able to resort to their fists. When designing weapons, you need to think about their attributes such as speed, range, and damage. In The Last of Us series, some melee weapons have a certain amount of uses before they break. But they can also be upgraded to deal extra damage and last longer in combat. If weapons have been upgraded, make it clear that this is the case in a weapons menu and with a visual appearance. Having an upgraded weapon which shows the player’s reward can make them feel empowered and make them want to begin their next fight. But what about special effects? Will your weapons have special effects that glow or spit fire or poison when used? Will your enemies disintegrate when hit or run away while on fire? Adding these effects makes using the weapon all the more satisfying.
Stealth
The Assassin’s Creed games are built off this combat and wouldn’t be where they are today without it. Stealth attacks are quick which are used to kill or disable an enemy without alerting others around them. While most are used in a crouch or hidden position, a QTE can be used here to give the player the chance to deliver an awesome hidden kill. This method should only be used under certain circumstances such as being hidden, in the shadows or in a certain place in the game. Otherwise, the player could defeat all enemies using this method rather than engaging in your well-designed combat. If you have awesome looking stealth kill animations and they are used all the time, things will become stale. Let the player experiment with their choice of combat.
Grapples
Ever hung over the edge of a cliff and an enemy is standing over you? We’ve all had that opportunity where we pulled an enemy off a cliff and thrown them to their doom. These are similar to stealth kills, but they require interaction with the enemy and can only be activated under specific circumstances . Some third-person games will require the player to engage in hand-to-hand combat, where they could be grabbed by the enemy, which will require the player to free themselves. A clever use of a QTE could help release themselves from the grapple and then finish off their enemy. Make getting out of your enemy’s grasp easy so the combat doesn’t feel one-sided. There is nothing worse than to be caught by an enemy and then killed immediately. Where is the fun in that?
While we play games, we ultimately want to be successful in their completion and gaining all the rewards and defeating the final boss. But when battling and fighting enemies, the player will need to miss a few hits. Ever seen a boxing match where every punch has landed successfully? Probably not. But letting the player miss their shot or landing their hits will only make them practice more. The more battles they face, the more hits they miss, and this will only make them more skilled as a player.
Always Moving
No combat has ever involved standing still. Boxing requires you to move around your opponent. Fencing requires the players to move forward and strike their opponents. Combat in video games is also the same. If you can avoid being hit during combat, then you are doing something right. The goal is not to get killed, so if that means dodging and moving out of the way from incoming attacks, then that’s the case!
Most third-person games give the player a chance to dodge or roll out of the way for an incoming attack or something being thrown at them. When doing this, it should be easy to use and do, such as clicking a button or moving a stick to get the player out of the way. But there should be a moment after the dodge or roll has happened for the player to get back on their feet and carry on. When moving out of the way of an attack, you need to ensure that it has been designed and animated to avoid it. What’s the point of having a dodge and not dodging anything when used? Make sure the player clears out of a blast radius or wide-range attacks, so they know their time and moves were effective.
Dodges and rolls can also be used to get the player out of tight corners and make them look awesome while doing it. If there is a door coming down or a spiked wheel heading straight for them, they can use their dodge or roll to avoid this. Getting past hazards in this way is also great practice for the player, and so they remember to use this ability during combat.
Nothing can beat an old-fashioned jump. Something so graceful but can also be a method to defeating your enemies. The most famous bouncer, Mario, uses this method for most of the enemies he faces. Of course, bouncing on a Goomba was the first thing the player could do when they played the first Super Mario Bros, and the player quickly learned that this was how you defeat any enemies. If a player should jump on an enemy to defeat them (this will depend on if you want your enemies defeated in this way), then there should be some positive recoil for the player, such as a second bounce which elevates them higher than a standard bounce. The player could use this to chain a bounce and defeat multiple enemies in quick succession. Having a reward for chain-killing enemies will encourage the player to do it again!
In Ratchet & Clank : Rift Apart, the designers added the option to dash. This can be used to move around the map quicker if the player didn’t want to run everywhere, but its primary use was to avoid enemy fire. But this could also be used to dash into objects that could be broken. Having a dash in your game can be used to defend the player but can also be used as a form of attack. The player could dash toward an enemy which could cause them to stagger before dealing a powerful attack. Be clever about little abilities with this and think about how the player could use them to their advantage. This ability could also be upgraded in your game to allow faster and harder hitting dashes. It’s up to you!
Blocking Your Enemies
Now you know how to design your character to attack their enemies, you now need to think about how they are going to block their attacks. Again, just like sports, every player needs to know how to avoid and block incoming attacks and defend themselves.
Blocking can be found mainly in action games which allow the player to defend themselves from an attack with just a press of a button. A block should be simple and no issues, which is why using one button is perfect for it. Whether you are blocking an incoming sword, punch, arrow, or lightsaber, it should be easy to use.
Smash through enemies or knock them back
Throw a shield at enemies or targets
Ride the shield down slopes
Used as part of the level design and smash through to different areas
Break through objects
Similar to giving a character a shield, armor is also a fantastic way to help a player defend themselves from foes. It is also a perfect opportunity to add customization into your game if this is something you are considering. Customization appears in all manner of games, but the changing of armor might appear more in mythical or fantasy games. But don’t be mistaken by the appearance of armor, it also needs to be of benefit to your player. If a player ventures on a daring mission to retrieve some awesome looking armor, it needs to be of benefit to them and the gameplay. Make the reward worth their while! Armor is typically broken into different body sections, gauntlets, torso, legs, boots, and helmet. A player might start off with using weaker protection such as leather, before exploring the world and missions to gain upgraded armor. But give them a noticeable visual upgrade. You want them to look and feel awesome while wearing their rewards!
Health and Lives
The final thing to think about when it comes to combat is health . What is the point of engaging in combat but not being able to reduce an enemy’s health to zero? Or even have the chance to die from engaging in combat? To ensure that everything that we have covered for combat matters, we need to think about health and lives.
Health is typically displayed either by colors or numbers. Colors can be clean and easy to determine if 70–100% health is green, 40–70% is amber, and 0–40% is red. Numbers can also be easy to read, but it’s difficult to be creative with it. You also need to ensure that you use a clear font when displaying text on your screen. A health bar doesn’t take up much room on your screen, and this can be designed to match your player. For example, Halo uses an energy shield which will reduce if enough damage is taken. It is still a health bar under the surface, but it's been designed to look like it’s part of the Master Chief’s helmet and part of his HUD (heads-up display ).
Some games use health but never display a health bar. In most Call of Duty games, the loss of health is displayed through blood appearing on the screen. The more blood seen, the less health the player has. But this health can be regenerated over time. If you choose to use this method, make sure that it is dramatic and effective. You can slow down time while the player is regaining health, or a heartbeat and heavy breathing could be heard. Whatever you decide to do, make sure that the player knows that they are close to death, and they need to take cover!
When thinking about the amount of health a player should have, you will need to think about how much taking a hit from an enemy will cost. For example, if your player started with 10 hit points, and could only take 10 hits before they died, then the enemies will need to reduce 1HP for every hit they land. If health can be upgraded, then you will need to decide how much larger and more difficult enemies will take from the player’s health when they land a hit.
If the player dies, will they lose a life? Or will they just continue from their most recent checkpoint? Lives are becoming an outdated approach to health, but you might see more of them in arcade and platformer style games. As games now take hours to complete, the need for lives seems useless. But during the times of arcades, lives were the best way for players to sink their money into machines to play again. Additional lives became an effective way for players to continue playing a game, but the use of lives itself was soon running its course. Players began to respawn from reloading checkpoints instead of worrying about the number of lives they had when games moved to home consoles. Now death was never a worry!
Designers soon clocked onto this and removed the life system from games and gave the players a chance to respawn from checkpoints or save points. The player could do this as many times as they liked until they completed their mission.
Make it clear that the player has lives and demonstrate that lives can be lost. The last thing you want is for your player to move through the game thinking they are invincible.
Lives need to be clearly shown on the HUD, or health needs to be accessible for the player to see during gameplay.
Keep death quick. If a player has three lives and there is a death animation playing, they will quickly get bored of watching the same animation for every life they lose. You could have a final animation displayed once the player has lost all their lives to show they really are dead.
Make it clear that the player can gain more lives through the game.
If they get lives back, make sure they want to continue with playing and not stop once they die completely. You want them to keep on playing!
If you lose a player, you may not get them back. Always give them a reason to keep going. If you can tease them for what they missed out on from dying, it might just keep them playing!
Multiplayer
Multiplayer , the mode that has evolved more than anything over the years. Once from crowding around an arcade machine to now playing with 30+ people over the Internet. One of the earliest multiplayer games I remember playing was Halo: Combat Evolved with my dad for the first Xbox. Being able to work together and fight the Covenant never felt so sweet. But as I got older and consoles became more advanced, I found myself starting to play online with my friends on Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, and Overwatch. The social era of games was starting to take hold.
Head to head – Better known as couch play, this would bring players together in the same room to play the same game, whether this was to battle against each other or to work together toward the same objective. This would require using the same console and more than one controller.
Network – More than just for shopping and social media, the Internet was the perfect way to connect gamers to play together. Some gamers might bring their PCs together and connect them via an Ethernet cable to play the same game. Gamers might host LAN parties where this would happen.
Client-server LAN – Being able to play against or work with multiple players online changed the way we play games. This opened the door for large-scale maps where players would fight against each other for a common objective. Games such as Fortnite and PUBG changed the way client-server games were made and brought in the golden age of battle royale games .
Competitive – Players have the same objective and must battle against each other to achieve the goal.
Cooperative – Players must work together to achieve the same goal.
Conjugate – Where players share the same map but will have different objectives . Grand Theft Auto and World of Warcraft use this method and bring thousands of players together with their own goals and missions.
Survival – Staying alive! Players must stay alive while trying to achieve a goal. Normally, the goal is straightforward and will give the game more of an emphasis on the mode of survival.
Creation – Creating and building worlds that can be visited by other players. Minecraft is the king for this and has a large following for players to build cities and towns and ultimately build an extension of their lives in a virtual world.
Free for all – Every man for themselves and fights to the death. Most kills wins, nice and simple!
Team DeathMatch – Players are put into teams to achieve a common goal. Teams may either be at random or decided based on parties of friends playing together .
Racing/driving – Your typical race against the other players to achieve a particular goal, such as winning the race or time trials. Mario Kart is the perfect racing game, but has the potential to ruin relationships due to power-ups and the evil blue shell!
Capture the flag – Team based where one person must collect a flag or objective and deliver it to a designated area. The supporting team will protect the carrier from dropping the flag and allowing the opposing team from picking it up and winning.
King of the hill – Teams need to defend a designated area from their opponents for a certain period of time.
While these are different modes that you might have played or fancy adding into your game, there are a range of activities that can be achieved within these modes or just by playing the game. The beauty of online games is the social aspect; being able to speak to friends and go on missions together can help make an online game thrive, and designers capitalize on that. Why make a game online if you can’t play with your friends? Most online games have a text or voice chat system that players can use to speak to their friends or other players. Some gamers like to use Discord, but some prefer to use the chat that appears in-game.
Player Customization
What players love about any game is being able to be someone they wish they were. The key to achieving this is through character customization . Players love it! I also love it! The level of player customization can begin from a template character from the start of a game to the player being able to choose sex, eye and hair color, body shape, tattoos, facial features, and more. Once the player progresses further in the game, they are given the chance to purchase clothing, weapons, armor, vehicles, and more. All of which can be customized to alter the player’s appearance or playstyle. Some items can be won through minigames or sometimes through microtransactions or in-game currency. Everyone wants to look the best, so make sure that you design some awesome gear for your player to wear and unlock!
Player Interactions
On a more serious note, the world of online gaming can be a tricky one. While there are systems out there to support it, griefing other players can happen. This is when another player might harass or try to cause harm to another player. While some reading this might think that it might be part of the game, treating others fairly online is so crucial for everyone to have fun. While you might not know the person you are playing with, you need to treat them with the same respect you would expect to be treated with. Designers will implement policies for players and make it clear that there is a zero-tolerance policy of bullying or harassment. Everyone is here to have fun!
Multiple Worlds
Multiple worlds (a little bit like alternate realities!) are perfect for those players that wish to play with either themselves or just their friends. I find that playing with other random players can be a bit much when I want to chat with my friend, so we hop into our own server just to explore and chat. Sometimes when you want your own time complete missions and play your own way, you may not want other players try to kill you, and you can take the game at your own pace. Some servers or separate maps can offer setting rules such as no friendly fire or a passive mode where no weapons can be used. Think about how your game might benefit from having these settings and what might be best for it.
Something that I like to do a lot with my friends, are raids – the perfect way to assemble your friends and fireteams to take down a boss and reap the rewards. In my case, I like to do raids in Pokémon Go (yes, people still play that game!), and I get to meet up with friends (the social aspect coming in again!) and battle it out to catch the latest legendary. In MMOs (massively multiplayer online), friends would team up to bear difficult game scenarios, such as a difficult boss, storm buildings, or to take part in an in-game event to earn exclusive rewards. The key to working in a team is communication. Each player might bring their own set of skills or a class that works effectively against the boss or in collaboration with another player. The reason for their popularity? Being able to feel awesome. Marching into battle with your comrades and protecting them from enemy fire can be an empowering feeling. So, designing scenarios like this can be effective and challenging. You want your players to use creative thinking to overcome this challenge you have designed. But make sure that once the raid has been completed, everyone can reap the rewards and provide effective rewards based on a player’s performance.
We spoke about griefing before, but make sure that there is no way that players can spawn camp. There is nothing worse than being killed in the same moment you spawn into a new game. This is unfair for players and provides an unfair advantage to those carrying out the killing. Some games have implemented an idle phase which will kick the player out of a game if they are idle for too long. Grand Theft Auto 5 Online removes a player from the online game if they are idle for 15 minutes. Don’t be that player!
Sharing Rewards
Thinking about the social aspect of a game again, having a space where players can share rewards and show off trophies is a neat thing to have. Pokémon Shining Pearl and Brilliant Diamond reinvented their original underground system where players could meet and visit their caves. They could show off trophies and rewards they have achieved from the main storyline and from treasures in the underground. Animal Crossing’s whole social aspect thrives off of this and allows players to visit other towns and villages to see their designs. Creating a world where the player could see themselves is an excellent social feature to incorporate.
As a summary, let’s weigh up the pros and cons about including a multiplayer option into your game’s design.
Pros
Can bring and create communities within games. Pokémon Go has amassed a global community since its release in 2016 and this has led to many global in-person events for players to meet and play together. This has been down to the ability to play with others online as part of raids, trades, and battles.
Being able to play cooperatively and competitively , has seen the rise in esports. These include packed-out stadiums where thousands of fans of teams and games come together to watch famous and talented teams compete for prizes. This can have a knock-on effect and help raise sales and awareness for games if fans see their favorite team playing a game competitively.
Future content for a game can help expand the overall game but also offer a chance for new players to join. Online games such as Destiny, Pokémon Sword and Shield, World of Warcraft, and League of Legends see new online updates available for their players to keep them entertained long after the game’s release. Remember when we spoke about making sure the player feels they get the most for their money? Well, expansion packs are certainly a way of doing this! Whether this is through levels and missions, characters, or raid battles, there is something for new and old players alike. Just be sure that if this is something that you would consider in the future for a game of your own or a game you are part of, the new content has a real place within your game. There is nothing worse than to create a new expansion and slap a £60 price tag which was the same price as the base game. Your players would not be happy!
Cons
As mentioned before , playing games online can lead to a host of players being exposed to griefing and bullying. While this is something that companies take with great care and attention, there will always be players out there that fall victim to harassment online. There are, however, programs out there such as the Xbox Ambassadors Program that support equality and diversity in online games and encourage players to be fair to one another and create a positive space for players to play. (This last comment could also be seen as a positive too!)
Where there are thousands of players, there will be a few that hack or cheat at your game. Some first-person shooters such as Call of Duty have been renowned for players cheating and using aim assist bots online. Companies are constantly working hard to squash cheating and develop anti-cheat methods to make their space a fair place to players.
We mentioned earlier in the book about testing and providing early access to a game for players to help give them a feel before they commit to buying. If there is something more important to receive positive feedback from players, it is to get it from the press. With online modes typically open to the press and public prior to a release, the press will be the ones that review the game and provide honest feedback to those thinking about getting a copy. If the press fails to like it, then there is a likelihood that players will avoid purchasing a game entirely.
Pricing was mentioned in the pros, but this can be a difficult discussion when it comes to charging your players for any extra online features. There are your typical in-game currency expansions that the player can use to purchase new items in a game, or there are expansions where the player must pay the same price for extra content which is the same price they paid for the original game. Players can get iffy about this and sometimes wait for the price to come down in future sales , or they simply cannot afford it. Other games however, such as Overwatch, Marvel’s Avengers, and Grand Theft Auto V, give free content updates to players in the form of weapons, characters, missions, and vehicles. This might lead developers to show road maps of their game to show when future updates will be release and what upcoming content the players can expect,
In the end, it will be your or your team’s choice whether online features will make an appearance in your project. But just be sure that whatever you create, it will be a safe space for players to come together, but, more importantly, what the purpose of it would be.
Conclusion
- 1.
What are mechanics and how are they used/designed with games?
- 2.
What is multiplayer and what sort of modes can you design?
- 3.
How is combat designed and what do you need to consider?
- 4.
What are the benefits and drawbacks to having a multiplayer option within your game ?
For your final practical tutorial, you will now be shown how to create a 2D platformer project within Unity. Not only will this give you the chance to explore the software further, this will also give you the chance to use this demo for the foundations of a game you could make in the future. This will be a step-by-step guide on how you can set your project up and begin to explore this method of play.