Here comes another post. I've been doing rather much theory for now, so I figured this time actual design should be more of a topic. But I do want to write at least something theoretical.
The played game
Last time I used the term "unplayed game" to distinguish between the physical game object existing in our physical world, and the "play" that is happening when a player (or several) start interacting with the game.
In this active process of play, actions are happening, originating from both the player and the game. Alexander Galloway calls them player and machine actions, which I find very sensible. Besides actions, there are signs which are presented by the machine to the player, who interprets them.
Play is something timely, it shows itself not only in a moment, but also in a series of moments, linked by the causality of our real world. Play takes space: There are physical objects that are needed to play the game.
Some signs and actions are perceived and maybe interpreted by the player and cause him to experience a game. By doing certain actions in a certain order the player can play some games or parts thereof (e.g. quests!) through.
Here, as in the last posts, I'm restricting myself mostly to describing the game as it (probably) appears in the so-called (I call it like that) objective reality. This due to the fact that the player's internal experience with the game is a very broad topic on which I intend to write several separate posts.
A "Stardew Valley" Quest: A Beautiful Garden
I'm returning here to refine my idea. First, let it be noted that Stardew Valley has basically two types of quests (see the entry in its wiki): There are "Help Wanted Quests"/"Special Orders" and "Story Quests".
Help Wanted Quests and Special Orders are simple tasks like collecting a certain amount of leek for someone; these are usually time-bound. Story Quests are usually not time-bound, contain more often dialogue and cutscenes and some of them are part of a larger quest chain. Some tutorial Story Quests start automatically to help the player get to know some mechanics, but for the most part they are started by reading a letter.
The quest idea I had is a Story Quest. There is no intended time-limit and it contains dialogue and a cutscene. Moreover it's purpose is not that of an order, it is much rather thought to be self-sustained.
Inspired by the description of Story Quests I thought it might be a nice idea, if the quest is given to you by your best friend in form of a letter - such that the beginning is more conform to Stardew Valley Quests and is also more meaningful. The best friend is simply the villager to which the player has the highest friendship score.
The letter by your friend could read like this:
Over the last days I've been thinking of you and you're farm. What a wonderful thing it is that you joined us! But it came to my mind that far too seldom I have visited you and adored your flowers (of which the whole town is full of rumour, I assure you!) Maybe someday, when you finished your doings, we will find the time to enjoy your garden together.
Your NPC
I thought on how the goals proposed to the player could be improved and I found room for improvement especially in goal 1.
Goal 1: Have a bench directed westwards, 20 adjacent flowers, 20 adjacent vegetables, two fruit trees and water in your garden.
By requesting water I thought of a well - this should better be stated explicitely in the quest description. Also, in order to prepare for a nice cutscene, one might request the flowers etc. to be placed in front of the bench. This could be implemented by checking whether all elements are in a 10x10 square right to any westward-looking bench in the player's level. Furthermore I dropped the word "adjacent", so the player can place more freely.
Goal 1: Have a bench directed westwards and in front of it (beautifully arranged!): at least 20 flowers, 20 vegetables, two fruit trees and a well.
Time is rare, the days are short, thus my considerations shall end here already.
Ideas for Feedback
- Do my categories cover all happenings in a played game?
- How else could a quest in Stardew Valley be layed out to set up a feeling of "creating and enjoying a beautiful garden" for the player?
Conclusion
In a two-fold way my last post was continued and ended. I went into played games as a continuation of the discussion of unplayed games: While the latter are what game designers create, the first is, what they actually want to design (which is the whole tragedy). I briefly mentioned the player, who, as an experiencing subject of reality, has a perspective on the game. Describing games not only as a component of objective reality but also as a part of the player's subjective experience is very important to me, because some things cannot be explained by simply looking on them from the outside (at least in my opinion) and the player is obviously very important when dealing with games. But as I said, more on that later.
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