TrickyBuddha Studios

(I mentioned in this post that it’s fun to think of ways to fill the gaps we spot in entertainment. With that in mind, what follows is one of a three-part series (a TBS first?!) about designing a better RPG - or what I currently think of as better - with each post focusing on one unique or not-seen-often-enough game feature.)

(today’s post: 500 words)

Last post, I wished developers would offer gamers a go-for-broke in-game strategy to allow for greater dramatic flair. I talked about the rewards, but what happens when the player lays it all on the line and fails? That leads us to our next entry: the idea of failure as a mechanic to advance the story.

Precious few games have used failure as a forward-moving plot device. I know that the The Witch’s Wake allowed you to die to access an area that you couldn’t otherwise. Similarly, Planescape: Torment. Some games even give you the task of completing 3-of-5 objectives so that if you mess one up you aren’t blocked. There may be a few other instances here and there; if you’ve got some examples, feel free to add them in the comments.

And while these are innovative and commendable, and impactful from the point of view of the story, this isn’t exactly what I’m thinking.

I’m thinking more along the lines of a mission where you’re tasked with safeguarding a caravan that is escorting a holy relic to a nearby sanctuary. In game terms, you must protect the relic for five minutes. Normally, you fight off some would-be robbers, protect the caravan, see the relic safely delivered, and enjoy a moment of happiness-and-unicorns at the end. And if you fail? You re-load and do it again until you figure it out.

Imagine if, instead, you failed. But the game didn’t force you to re-load. Lying on your back, near unconscious (thanks to your actions and not some intruding cinematic), you watch your fellows similarly beaten - some of whom are killed. The rival faction steals the relic you were protecting and leaves. Maybe they take you with them as a hostage - something you don’t find out until the next day when you wake up in chains, on a ship at sea. Not only is there the realization that it was OK to lose the fight because the game is moving forward, but there’s the tension of being side-tracked from delivering the relic and wondering how this new path impacts that old route. What new possibilities are there?

It throws the gamer off-guard, and that’s a good thing.

The funny thing is that the better developers like to be creative and create “replayability”, allowing alternate routes through a story. They’ll provide options where you can charge a gateway, or distract everyone guarding the door and sneak through it, or let you bribe one of the guards into helping you sneak through the lesser-known sewer route. And gamers love discussing the way that they proceeded through the story to contrast it with their friends’ decisions.

My contention is that failure is an alternate route, too. And a potentially exciting/rewarding one. But right now, developers are afraid that gamers will be demoralized from failing. Or that gamers will stop trying because they think they can succeed no matter what. And those fears (or is it something else?) are blocking developers from seeing the available avenues. Like my prior post, I know this is no small undertaking. Games with options are complicated to make - but a) we’re getting better at procedurally-generated content, and b) we need at least a few more 10-hour wide-open games to compete with the bevy of 100-hour linear games.

Feel free to comment! Until then, stay tuned for post #3.

(I mentioned in this post that it’s fun to think of ways to fill the gaps we spot in entertainment. With that in mind, what follows is one of a three-part series (a TBS first?!) about designing a better RPG - or what I currently think of as better - with each post focusing on one unique or not-seen-often-enough game feature.)

(today’s post: 487 words)

My first game mechanic is “exhaustion”.

Most games feature a go-go-go mentality. Characters don’t sleep. They adventure through constant stress for weeks or months on end. Characters come within an inch of their life, pop a potion, and keep going without a care.

I *fully* understand that it’s this way because no one wants to watch their character recovering/eating/using the bathroom/other-non-heroic-activities instead of playing - and that’s good (unless we’re playing The Sims).

But I would like to incorporate exhaustion in some way toward the goal of making you feel more heroic when you overcome it or achieve despite it.

What’s a more powerful image in fantasy stories than the wizard or fighter who exceeds his own limits and battles into unconsciousness, knowing only that he did his best but uncertain if that was enough for survival?

In my immersion post, I talked about my character struggling to stay conscious after in-game days sought trying to escape a dungeon. Knowing my character would pass out at any moment, I gave up the search for the exit, crept into a room, and hoped that closing the door behind me might help in some way to let me survive the night. Whether or not it did anything, my character did wake up. I escaped the dungeon. And I had a gaming moment.

Developers are all for sandbox games that allow gamers to have their own story, so why not give players additional tools to let them add flourishes to their dramas? When a player comes up against a tough situation, instead of the same ol’ boring crutch of the “reload” to try again and hope to do it the way the developer wants you to do it, why not an in-game alternative?

Imagine a battered, seemingly-defeated warrior trapped against a cliff face by overwhelming odds using a “berserker rage” so he has a chance to survive when normally he would not dream of it. Or a sorcerer hunkered down in an abandoned, barricaded cottage, slinging spells well after he normally would have used them all up in the hopes that he can make it another hour or two until daybreak when the zombies will disperse in frustration?

Instead of the player reloading and tension evaporating, the player makes his final move and wonders, as the screen fades, if it will pay off. What if he is afraid that his character might actually die because there is no re-load? What if he is holding his breath, hoping his gambit paid off, as he waits for the screen to fade back in? It could be a winner.

This isn’t an easy idea. It comes with all sorts of issues, balance and otherwise. It needs a lot of attention. But to get “drama,” the alternative is a pre-packaged cinematic coming, predictably enough, at the game’s conclusion - and generally lacking in any real tension. And that isn’t good enough. RPG developers can do better.

Crazy? About time? Let me know what you think and stay tuned for post #2!

(today’s post: 361 words)

Every once in a while I come up with a decent idea - whether it be for a story or a videogame or something similar.

As an example, at a time when football video games were very simplistic, I thought it was only natural evolution that we’d see what has since become Madden Football. A few years later, we had that cash cow makes its presence felt. Another idea I came up with I actually submitted for a game-concept contest. My idea? More or less, Driver. The contest people laughed at my submission. A few years later, again, Driver was a huge hit (critically and financially).

But I’m not an overly ambitious person and I’m not especially good at driving production. (I’m not selling myself short. I have a large list of things at which I feel I am very good.) That means most of my ideas sit idle while I sit around waiting for someone else to get to them. And since my ideas are generally good, and not too unique, they inevitably come about.

To be honest, I don’t mind. It isn’t that I want to be the guy who made Madden Football or Driver. It’s that I want to play those games. Sure, I’d loved to have been involved in the creation of those titles, but really it’s just the gamer in me that wants something fun to play.

One of the things I’ve gotten into on this blog is incorporating more of the stuff that makes up who I am - such as the recently-posted short story and screenplay. It’s one thing to tell you who I am and another entirely to show it. I like showing. But thinking along these lines, I also realized that posting an idea to the web might be a great way to get other people motivated.

So now I’m thinking maybe I’ll start posting some of those ideas in the hopes that they’ll spread out there somewhere and get used. And saying that makes me realize this is a long post to introduce the possibility of potential posts in the future, but what are you going to do? They can’t all be gold.