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Upgrading and Addictiveness
At the end of 2005 I bought myself a used PlayStation 2, complete with some nice games like Dark Cloud and Gran Turismo 3. I played around with the games, decently amused for a while, until something struck me: I was getting entirely addicted to Gran Turismo 3. This was highly unexpected. I suck at driving games; I’ve never cared about cars; I don’t own a car – and so on. The only racing games I’ve liked are abstract or arcadey ones like Pro AM Racing, Death Rally, Rock ‘n Roll Racing and Need for Speed 2. Still, I found myself spending more and more time with GT3: I had a craving for the game. For a week or two I sat at work yearning to play more every day. I even decided to get myself a Mazda MX-5 soonish, just from playing this game.
This isn’t that weird in itself; I get addicted to interesting things pretty easily. But I decided to investigate it further this time. I started writing some notes on why I found GT3 so addictive, and what aspects of the game appealed to me. These are some of the things I came up with:
At first glance:
- Main map
Complex menus exist, but the first thing a user meets is a map, clearly showing the various options in an abstract manner. The user understands the concept of selecting a geographical place in which to perform an action better than if the various options were available from a menu. - Complete control
Despite the simple map, there are detailed information and options available, as sub-options. The user’s starting situation also hints at control: a sum of money is placed in his hands, and it is up to the user himself to select a starting car. (This can also cause confusion. In a simulation game, focus is put on control; in a casual game, more focus ought to be put on ease of use. I.e., give a solid start position from which to jump into the game immediately.) - Several gameplay variants
At the beginning, the user can select several things: buy a car and go race with it, finetune details about the car, change the looks of the car, study the cars which will be available later, examine the racing stages, undertake driving license tests, etc.
Main game:
- Adrenaline
The game is action-packed, and steadily increases in difficulty with faster car models available later. The computer-controlled cars ensures that the user always has a chance to not come last in the race; if the user falls behind, some of the trailing cars seem to slow down to give the user a chance. There is always a challenge, though: the leading cars do not seem to follow this rule. - Rewards
Instant gratification is delivered. Winning a race results in money and/or bonuses. Completing a single driving license event results in a time to compete against and a trophy. Performing anything positive at all results in an added percentage of game completion. Interesting to note is that all races result in a monetary reward, even if the user comes last. It is always worthwhile to compete.
At this time I had gotten bored with taking notes; and my addiction was probably slowly fading away as well. I think I forgot to bring up the most important aspect that made the game so interesting to me: collecting stuff. I don’t think there’s anything that appeals more to me in a game than upgrading and collecting more stuff. How many times didn’t I go for 99 lives in Super Mario Bros. 3 just in order to have the maximum? How many times haven’t I played a dull game to the finish just in order to get the feeling that I have collected everything?
This extends to other areas as well, of course. Some years ago I made fan sites for Might and Magic 8 and 9 when they were released; I was extremely nitpicky, since I wanted my maps to show every little secret and every little feature. I also collect things in real life: old Swedish computer magazines, old games in general, music and so on. Before I had a hard disk crash I had an almost-complete mp3 collection of every NOFX song ever recorded (shh, don’t tell the RIAA; and I do own many CD’s with ‘em as well).
Anyway, there’s a reason for all this ranting about collecting things. I’m working on Sheeplings, trying to get a 16 level demo finished as soon as possible. I had planned to get it done in August, but Life(TM) got in the way for me and the artist. Now that work is on the way again, I’m looking over some design choices. There are lots of stages, and clearing a stage grants you a rank between 1 and 5. Previously I had implemented a level locking feature: in order to play level 10 you must have collected 10 rank points, for example.
Yeah, still just a sketch of the map, unfortunately.
Now I ask myself: why did I limit myself to that mechanism? Given my obvious tendency to collect and upgrade, there’s not a single reason why I don’t extend this a bit further, and let the player spend his points on unlocking levels and upgrading the dog!
I’ll have to think about a suitable interface for selecting upgrades, but the demo really ought to feature the possibility to unlock half the levels and upgrade the dog’s speed as well as his range.