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So what makes a game a true classic.
After trying to work out what the secret was for so long, I've finally realised.
There's no "secret", it's a combination of "secret's" (plural)!
Apart from the obviousness of smooth Gameplay, Good Graphics, Good Music and Sound Effects, there's a few other less obvious ingredients to the magic formula.
One is IMPACT.
You know what hype does. You continuously hear how wonderful a games is, it builds a fantastic picture in your head, one the game will never live up to.
Disappointment follows.
There's more to impact than just low key hype though.
Originality plays a large part too.
True classics invent or re-invent a genre.
Take Goldeneye.
The first Person Shooter was an old genre but look what this game did to it.
PC's owned the FPS market, yet this game put all the PC games released at that time to shame.
How did Goldeneye make an impact?
The Sniper Rifle, the stealth, the four player splitscreen, the realistic AI and animations, the mission objective layout, the imaginative levels.
It brought a new way of aiming and introduced rewards for shooting weakpoints. Goldeneye introduced the headshot.
Reloading also brought new tactics into the game.
It was this originality, and the fact that most never saw it coming that made it a huge hit.
Another part to the formula is CHARACTER.
If a game lacks character then it'll never stand out from the crowd - it defines the game.
Character is very hard to build. The music, looks, level design and gameplay has to syncronise perfectly.
The game needs to build the correct atmosphere and put you in the right mood for playing.
Goldeneye's character?
Well look at the "front end". The player files look like secret agent "files" (no pun intended).
The music is a calm version of the bond theme tune.
The levels are illustrated by "Recon Photos".
The level briefing is done in pages of these files - like a real secret agents.
You choose multiplayer characters by selecting their photo.
And that's just the front end.
You get into the game and the secret agent characterisation of the game continues.
Each weapon has it's own special use.
Sniping, Sneaking or simple shooting.
You play a variety of ways including sneaking around, and shooting cameras or just taking all enemies head on.
The music suits the feeling of the game whether is be quiet and tense while your sneaking around or fast and desperate as the alarm goes off.
It also reproduced the popular films set pieces and environments superbly. Authenticy played a huge part in its character.
The third part of the magic formula is GAME PACE.
This includes the learning curve.
It has to be fun, interesting and tutoring to new players yet intense and challenging for advanced ones.
This determines the Games lifespan.
This is one thing Goldeneye did very well.
Agent mode was nice and easy going and simple enough to be accessable to even the most inexperienced player.
There was an auto aim, you didn't die very easily, there weren't many complex mission objectives and you were free to mess around, Sniping, Exploring, Blowing up scenery and little touches like the toilets and shooting hats allowed you to take it easy and generally having a laugh.
It was fun and interesting while you learnt the levels.
A bit tricky in places but nothing seriously hard.
By 00 Agent there was no more auto aim. Enemies rarely went down unless you shot them in the head - manual aiming and headshots were important.
The mission objectives were complex and the set pieces were furious.
On this difficulty setting, it was intense and fustrating yet challenging and long lasting and very rewarding when you finally pulled through.
It also stayed interesting all the way through.
Every mission had something different to do.
Saving hostages, holding programmers at gun point in order to get help hacking into the computer, shooting out security devices like camera's and alarms, rescuing hostages, finding casualty lists, calling for help, protecting Natalia, or using the watch laser to get out of an exploding train.
The game was packed with ideas that kept it interesting and fun and challenging at the same time.
The learning curve was judged perfectly!
The final secret is Reward and Punishment.
A game must be punishing to give you a sense of danger and build tension. I truly adds to the emotion and atmosphere in the game.
You want to be rewarded for your efforts though and nothing do this better than new secrets and levels to play around with.
Goldeneye brought Reward and Punishment in good balance.
The game was broken into 20 missions, each one leaving you fresh for the next in terms of ammunition and health.
If you succeeded, you got access to the next mission.
If you died, you had to start that mission.
This was great. It allowed you to choose which mission you wanted to play on whenever you felt like it - it was rewarding and gave the game great replay value.
It also demanded disciplined play.
Shoot innocent people or destroy inportant objects and you fail. Should you fail or die (which would happen many times as you played the game), you'd have to start the mission again - the punishment was enough to keep the player challenged, but not enough to make the game horribly unplayable. It was balanced.
It also rewarded mastering missions.
Earning all of the cheatmodes by beating the levels in certain times was hard and PUNISHING.
But unlocking these cheats and beating these time were even more REWARDING as a result.
There was huge satisfaction in completing this game.
Add these ingredients to graphical and playable perfection and you have a classic game which will rock the world and be remembered for years to come as the best of its kind.
I have one such idea.
It is original in that it's full of new ideas, but uses tried and tested techniques to enhance it.
It's realistic in every way that suits it but throws away the limitations of realism in order to keep things fun and interesting.
It'll be stacked full of rewards and secrets for players to slave over finding.
The challenge will be immense to test the most hardcore gamers but beginners will get into is like a breeze.
It'll be easy to start playing with simple controls which can be put together in such a complex way that it'll take months to master.
The game will ooze with so much character that people will recognise its theme tune from just hearing one line.
And all it is, is a game about various Teddy Bears, fighting around my house.
It sounds stupid and it's impossible to explain how this scenario would become a game, but if you could see into my mind and read every detail and every image of it then you'd see its potential of breaking and then remaking every genre it combines.
You might think that I'm living in Cloud Cukoo Land and you'd be right. But in Cloud Cukoo Land this is the greatest game ever.
It came out of nowhere and hit everyone in the face.
It's the worlds best seller and people everywhere are wildly anticipating a sequel.
Will it get a "real world" releae date?
Possibly. Heaven knows what turns my life will take, and even if I do become a proffessional programmer working for big companies like Nintendo/Rare/Swordspines, would I be able to put this grand idea into a real game?
Would the market accept it?
Would the expectations of gaming still be at the same boundaries that makes this game look revolutionary?
Look how much game styles have changed over the last 10 years.
It might well be a further 10 years before I reach the status of games designer.
But I will try.
My main obstacle?
That damn Gamecube!
If I fail my AS's because of some damn stupid playschool brick....
After trying to work out what the secret was for so long, I've finally realised.
There's no "secret", it's a combination of "secret's" (plural)!
Apart from the obviousness of smooth Gameplay, Good Graphics, Good Music and Sound Effects, there's a few other less obvious ingredients to the magic formula.
One is IMPACT.
You know what hype does. You continuously hear how wonderful a games is, it builds a fantastic picture in your head, one the game will never live up to.
Disappointment follows.
There's more to impact than just low key hype though.
Originality plays a large part too.
True classics invent or re-invent a genre.
Take Goldeneye.
The first Person Shooter was an old genre but look what this game did to it.
PC's owned the FPS market, yet this game put all the PC games released at that time to shame.
How did Goldeneye make an impact?
The Sniper Rifle, the stealth, the four player splitscreen, the realistic AI and animations, the mission objective layout, the imaginative levels.
It brought a new way of aiming and introduced rewards for shooting weakpoints. Goldeneye introduced the headshot.
Reloading also brought new tactics into the game.
It was this originality, and the fact that most never saw it coming that made it a huge hit.
Another part to the formula is CHARACTER.
If a game lacks character then it'll never stand out from the crowd - it defines the game.
Character is very hard to build. The music, looks, level design and gameplay has to syncronise perfectly.
The game needs to build the correct atmosphere and put you in the right mood for playing.
Goldeneye's character?
Well look at the "front end". The player files look like secret agent "files" (no pun intended).
The music is a calm version of the bond theme tune.
The levels are illustrated by "Recon Photos".
The level briefing is done in pages of these files - like a real secret agents.
You choose multiplayer characters by selecting their photo.
And that's just the front end.
You get into the game and the secret agent characterisation of the game continues.
Each weapon has it's own special use.
Sniping, Sneaking or simple shooting.
You play a variety of ways including sneaking around, and shooting cameras or just taking all enemies head on.
The music suits the feeling of the game whether is be quiet and tense while your sneaking around or fast and desperate as the alarm goes off.
It also reproduced the popular films set pieces and environments superbly. Authenticy played a huge part in its character.
The third part of the magic formula is GAME PACE.
This includes the learning curve.
It has to be fun, interesting and tutoring to new players yet intense and challenging for advanced ones.
This determines the Games lifespan.
This is one thing Goldeneye did very well.
Agent mode was nice and easy going and simple enough to be accessable to even the most inexperienced player.
There was an auto aim, you didn't die very easily, there weren't many complex mission objectives and you were free to mess around, Sniping, Exploring, Blowing up scenery and little touches like the toilets and shooting hats allowed you to take it easy and generally having a laugh.
It was fun and interesting while you learnt the levels.
A bit tricky in places but nothing seriously hard.
By 00 Agent there was no more auto aim. Enemies rarely went down unless you shot them in the head - manual aiming and headshots were important.
The mission objectives were complex and the set pieces were furious.
On this difficulty setting, it was intense and fustrating yet challenging and long lasting and very rewarding when you finally pulled through.
It also stayed interesting all the way through.
Every mission had something different to do.
Saving hostages, holding programmers at gun point in order to get help hacking into the computer, shooting out security devices like camera's and alarms, rescuing hostages, finding casualty lists, calling for help, protecting Natalia, or using the watch laser to get out of an exploding train.
The game was packed with ideas that kept it interesting and fun and challenging at the same time.
The learning curve was judged perfectly!
The final secret is Reward and Punishment.
A game must be punishing to give you a sense of danger and build tension. I truly adds to the emotion and atmosphere in the game.
You want to be rewarded for your efforts though and nothing do this better than new secrets and levels to play around with.
Goldeneye brought Reward and Punishment in good balance.
The game was broken into 20 missions, each one leaving you fresh for the next in terms of ammunition and health.
If you succeeded, you got access to the next mission.
If you died, you had to start that mission.
This was great. It allowed you to choose which mission you wanted to play on whenever you felt like it - it was rewarding and gave the game great replay value.
It also demanded disciplined play.
Shoot innocent people or destroy inportant objects and you fail. Should you fail or die (which would happen many times as you played the game), you'd have to start the mission again - the punishment was enough to keep the player challenged, but not enough to make the game horribly unplayable. It was balanced.
It also rewarded mastering missions.
Earning all of the cheatmodes by beating the levels in certain times was hard and PUNISHING.
But unlocking these cheats and beating these time were even more REWARDING as a result.
There was huge satisfaction in completing this game.
Add these ingredients to graphical and playable perfection and you have a classic game which will rock the world and be remembered for years to come as the best of its kind.
I have one such idea.
It is original in that it's full of new ideas, but uses tried and tested techniques to enhance it.
It's realistic in every way that suits it but throws away the limitations of realism in order to keep things fun and interesting.
It'll be stacked full of rewards and secrets for players to slave over finding.
The challenge will be immense to test the most hardcore gamers but beginners will get into is like a breeze.
It'll be easy to start playing with simple controls which can be put together in such a complex way that it'll take months to master.
The game will ooze with so much character that people will recognise its theme tune from just hearing one line.
And all it is, is a game about various Teddy Bears, fighting around my house.
It sounds stupid and it's impossible to explain how this scenario would become a game, but if you could see into my mind and read every detail and every image of it then you'd see its potential of breaking and then remaking every genre it combines.
You might think that I'm living in Cloud Cukoo Land and you'd be right. But in Cloud Cukoo Land this is the greatest game ever.
It came out of nowhere and hit everyone in the face.
It's the worlds best seller and people everywhere are wildly anticipating a sequel.
Will it get a "real world" releae date?
Possibly. Heaven knows what turns my life will take, and even if I do become a proffessional programmer working for big companies like Nintendo/Rare/Swordspines, would I be able to put this grand idea into a real game?
Would the market accept it?
Would the expectations of gaming still be at the same boundaries that makes this game look revolutionary?
Look how much game styles have changed over the last 10 years.
It might well be a further 10 years before I reach the status of games designer.
But I will try.
My main obstacle?
That damn Gamecube!
If I fail my AS's because of some damn stupid playschool brick....
Page:
Ofcourse, you have to be careful and balanced with the aditives too.
Put to much sugar (you might call it nice graphics) in then the kids will love it but many adults will find it too sweet and sickly.
Put too much liquor in (I don't know why you lot all call it gore and violence!) and it means that it'll be fairly alienated. Some kids will use it "to be grown up" and hardcore adults who can take that much alcohol will chomp it happily but it'll never be a true mass media classic.
I see that Rare's chef's dumped in a heavy dose of both in Conkers Bad Fur Day...
Put to much sugar (you might call it nice graphics) in then the kids will love it but many adults will find it too sweet and sickly.
Put too much liquor in (I don't know why you lot all call it gore and violence!) and it means that it'll be fairly alienated. Some kids will use it "to be grown up" and hardcore adults who can take that much alcohol will chomp it happily but it'll never be a true mass media classic.
I see that Rare's chef's dumped in a heavy dose of both in Conkers Bad Fur Day...
Strafex wrote:
>And all it is, is a game about various Teddy Bears, fighting around my house.
You're a little bit crazy Strafex, and for this reason you have every chance of turning your cloud cuckoo land ideas in reality. Good luck.
Just remember: impact, character, game pace, reward & punishment - it sounds like the perfect recipe to me.
>And all it is, is a game about various Teddy Bears, fighting around my house.
You're a little bit crazy Strafex, and for this reason you have every chance of turning your cloud cuckoo land ideas in reality. Good luck.
Just remember: impact, character, game pace, reward & punishment - it sounds like the perfect recipe to me.
That's mainly IMPACT but it'll be partly CHARACTER too.
These two impress you when you play through the game on easy setting.
The other two ingredients keep you impressed and entertained as you play through on harder settings or sniff out secrets.
These two impress you when you play through the game on easy setting.
The other two ingredients keep you impressed and entertained as you play through on harder settings or sniff out secrets.
The secret is, the invisibal (sp) bit of magic, that bit that makes you say "wow" when you start your first game.
Its unexplainable but its there, I can feel it...
Its unexplainable but its there, I can feel it...
I didn't mean ABSOLUTELY perfect...
Anyway, a quick run down of the comments:
YH, yep, I do like Goldeneye, it sold me the N64.
BUT it is only one example.
There are plenty of other games that were similarly great.
Aliboy and Er-no, by Perfect game, I meant it in a realistic sense, i.e. to make the best possible game.
I think you could define that as Perfect.
Yes, "Perfect" games like Zelda and Goldneye and many others, they all can and will be bettered, but they'll never be forgotten.
They're the sort of game that are way ahead of their time.
All these features like 4 player splitscreen, sniper rifles, stealth, good AI, we take it for granted in modern games, they're no big deal now, but when Goldeneye was first released, it blew everyone away in more or less every way and has certainly been the N64's strongest selling point throughout its life.
Anyway, a quick run down of the comments:
YH, yep, I do like Goldeneye, it sold me the N64.
BUT it is only one example.
There are plenty of other games that were similarly great.
Aliboy and Er-no, by Perfect game, I meant it in a realistic sense, i.e. to make the best possible game.
I think you could define that as Perfect.
Yes, "Perfect" games like Zelda and Goldneye and many others, they all can and will be bettered, but they'll never be forgotten.
They're the sort of game that are way ahead of their time.
All these features like 4 player splitscreen, sniper rifles, stealth, good AI, we take it for granted in modern games, they're no big deal now, but when Goldeneye was first released, it blew everyone away in more or less every way and has certainly been the N64's strongest selling point throughout its life.
Perfection. Nothing can be perfect.
Imagine if a game was perfect. Then any gamer no matter what kind would never ever have to buy another game again!
The perfect game would last forever, it would have gameplay that may you want to marry it, graphics that simulated real life situations and sound which when you heard it would double take you to tell if it was the game or not!
Thats my idea of a perfect game anyway, it would just have to last forever.
Games which have come close in my opinion would include:
Secret Of Mana, Goldeneye, Metroid, Zelda.
These four just summed up want I wanted from any game, whether it was the graphics or the characters these games just made we look forward to playing them.
Would the perfect game be bad?
You should never have perfection, because what good would it be if we did? It would never be bettered, we would no expect anymore from gaming, nothing would beat this so called perfect game. Perfection is useless in gaming. It would ruin us gamers.
Ok, imagine it. Lets take Goldeneye, and say it was perfect, everything about it, infact we all still play it today and we can't be bothered with any other game because nothing can beat it. This is what would happen if Goldeneye was perfect, luckily it isn't and we (after the novelty) slowed down the play on the game, as it lost its lastibility.
I wouldn't want it to be the perfect game, I wouldn't ever want a perfect game, because no matter what followed nothing could beat it.
The perfect game, or the worst game ever?
You decide?
Imagine if a game was perfect. Then any gamer no matter what kind would never ever have to buy another game again!
The perfect game would last forever, it would have gameplay that may you want to marry it, graphics that simulated real life situations and sound which when you heard it would double take you to tell if it was the game or not!
Thats my idea of a perfect game anyway, it would just have to last forever.
Games which have come close in my opinion would include:
Secret Of Mana, Goldeneye, Metroid, Zelda.
These four just summed up want I wanted from any game, whether it was the graphics or the characters these games just made we look forward to playing them.
Would the perfect game be bad?
You should never have perfection, because what good would it be if we did? It would never be bettered, we would no expect anymore from gaming, nothing would beat this so called perfect game. Perfection is useless in gaming. It would ruin us gamers.
Ok, imagine it. Lets take Goldeneye, and say it was perfect, everything about it, infact we all still play it today and we can't be bothered with any other game because nothing can beat it. This is what would happen if Goldeneye was perfect, luckily it isn't and we (after the novelty) slowed down the play on the game, as it lost its lastibility.
I wouldn't want it to be the perfect game, I wouldn't ever want a perfect game, because no matter what followed nothing could beat it.
The perfect game, or the worst game ever?
You decide?
Your Honour wrote:
"I didn't know braille monitors were available. That really would help internet porn to take off..."
lol!
(Quote of the day, certainly.)
"I didn't know braille monitors were available. That really would help internet porn to take off..."
lol!
(Quote of the day, certainly.)
Perfect. Its something you need to define first before you use it. Do you mean perfect as having no flaws, no limitations and being suited to everyone's needs or do you mean perfect as In your own opinion or the best available at a certain time.
With any piece of technology, particularly with games consoles and computers there are always limitations on the hardware and software, this make making a perfect game or even a perfect piece of software or hardware very very difficult, maybe even impossible. Take normal PC's 10 years ago and compare them to today's. A lot has changed from then to now. Bill Gates once said no PC would ever need more than 64KB of RAM (This was to do with the size of the instruction set in the processors) nowadays look how much RAM is required in a normal desktop to get it to run at what most of us would call a sufficient speed. As the hardware and software improves the expectations of the buyers and users will grow.
Sure there are ways of improving games and getting games of a high standard, 10 years from now we may look back and be saying, can't believe I played that game, it looks so poor. In future you will tell your children and they will laugh and do the same you have probably done to your own dad, "You are ancient, imagine playing that."
Your idea could be correct, to make what some would call a perfect game would take a lot of work to make all element as good as they can be, things from the original idea to the marketing and advertising. It all counts and can improve a game.
With the limitations the developers have whether it be software or hardware the chances are that in the future there will not be as many limitations on them, unless the way that the developers create the games also dramatically changes putting more pressure on the hardware and using more complex programming procedures.
But if the limitations do become less and less then imagine the games that could be possible.
Characters could move and behave more like normal human beings, (having to maybe eat, drink and go to the toilet at certain times) think of the processing power that consoles will have (with PC's Moore's law says that the processing power of a PC's processor will double within 18 months, its improving faster than that at the moment(in about 20-25 years we may see processors with clock cycles near 250 MHz)) so with future consoles we may see some very powerful and complex hardware that will make the appearance of games improve a great deal.
Having no limitations may well lead to more and more games that are as close to perfect as they can get. But I'm not sure if we will ever see a perfect game. The only way I can see that happening is if the developers get more involved with the gamers by asking them exactly what they would like to see included and where improvements should be made. That way people get what they want and developers can also maximise sales.
Maybe I will be proved wrong and a developer will create a "perfect game" but I doubt it, there will always be someone who can find flaws and faults somewhere in the game.
With any piece of technology, particularly with games consoles and computers there are always limitations on the hardware and software, this make making a perfect game or even a perfect piece of software or hardware very very difficult, maybe even impossible. Take normal PC's 10 years ago and compare them to today's. A lot has changed from then to now. Bill Gates once said no PC would ever need more than 64KB of RAM (This was to do with the size of the instruction set in the processors) nowadays look how much RAM is required in a normal desktop to get it to run at what most of us would call a sufficient speed. As the hardware and software improves the expectations of the buyers and users will grow.
Sure there are ways of improving games and getting games of a high standard, 10 years from now we may look back and be saying, can't believe I played that game, it looks so poor. In future you will tell your children and they will laugh and do the same you have probably done to your own dad, "You are ancient, imagine playing that."
Your idea could be correct, to make what some would call a perfect game would take a lot of work to make all element as good as they can be, things from the original idea to the marketing and advertising. It all counts and can improve a game.
With the limitations the developers have whether it be software or hardware the chances are that in the future there will not be as many limitations on them, unless the way that the developers create the games also dramatically changes putting more pressure on the hardware and using more complex programming procedures.
But if the limitations do become less and less then imagine the games that could be possible.
Characters could move and behave more like normal human beings, (having to maybe eat, drink and go to the toilet at certain times) think of the processing power that consoles will have (with PC's Moore's law says that the processing power of a PC's processor will double within 18 months, its improving faster than that at the moment(in about 20-25 years we may see processors with clock cycles near 250 MHz)) so with future consoles we may see some very powerful and complex hardware that will make the appearance of games improve a great deal.
Having no limitations may well lead to more and more games that are as close to perfect as they can get. But I'm not sure if we will ever see a perfect game. The only way I can see that happening is if the developers get more involved with the gamers by asking them exactly what they would like to see included and where improvements should be made. That way people get what they want and developers can also maximise sales.
Maybe I will be proved wrong and a developer will create a "perfect game" but I doubt it, there will always be someone who can find flaws and faults somewhere in the game.
Nope, I'm not blind.
If I was, do you really think I could use the internet?
I didn't know braille monitors were available. That really would help internet porn to take off....
If I was, do you really think I could use the internet?
I didn't know braille monitors were available. That really would help internet porn to take off....
Page: