Resident Evil 4: Remake, like the original version, has many crates for players to destroy. But the crates in the remake are actually a bit different. Players who have played the trial version can see that the developer drew a big yellow X mark on the crate that can be destroyed in the game. Players can tell at a glance that they can smash the box and pick up props. However, some players expressed their dissatisfaction with this and said, "It's almost the same."
Players have encountered this kind of scene, and there is only one way ahead. As the player walks, a big arrow suddenly appears, pointing forward along the path you are walking, telling you to "go here". Some players will think "this is really a big help", while others will think "Does the developer think I am stupid?"
An independent game designer wrote: "There is indeed an NPC that tells you where to go at the beginning of the "Eldon Fargo" event, but it is obviously not enough to do so." Last year, there was a discussion about whether FromSoftware was obliged to make the tutorial entrance more obvious. "So many people skipped the tutorial and turned around and complained that this broken game didn't even have a tutorial." Some developers also saw nightmarish scenes during the testing session. Chet Faliszek, creator of the Half Life, Portal and Survival series, participated in the discussion and said: "Many people never try to observe the trial data in full. It is interesting to see the development process of the mod map path of the Survival Road. In the end, the designer will inevitably collapse, and honestly put a sign, a safe house, and then a arrow to finish it."
Some players believe that designing the wooden texture of the box into different styles is enough to tell the player that this is a kind of box that can be destroyed. But it is also possible that without obvious marks, it will make it difficult for players to get a complete experience. Dai D., the level designer of "Watch Dogs: Legion", posted: "Either make a yellow X number or make it luminous. I promise you that the game developers have seen the trial feedback. Players will not even look at those props that are designed to integrate into the environment. You can only design a button, and the player can highlight the loot after entering a room, otherwise they must be played with yellow X."
When designing the level of "Watch Dogs: Legion", Dai soon discovered that any degree of freedom and zero guidance are nonsense. In one of the tasks of the game, players need to explore using a drone before heading to the target. At this time, players often forget their true mission goals. "We found that as players discovered the new lens perspective of the drone, they began to shoot themselves, others, and various characters." Dai recalled this frustrating task flow design, where guiding players here is like guiding an ignorant baby.
"In order to keep players on track, we need to provide sound effects and screen prompts, we remind players that there is a must-goThe vents that enter should also be highlighted with a red outline. We even designed a data cable pointing to the vent to keep the player focused. But we found that players rarely view and use all functions, even if there is a prompt with the word "view angle control" in the lower right corner of the screen. ”
The ultimate solution is: put the mission target on the player's face. "Watch Dog: Legion" has AI navigation, which can guide players through sound effects. The designer lets AI navigation constantly remind players to go to the vents and reminds players to use the drone's jump function. Ubisoft's extremely traditional UI design has been criticized and has even become an online joke. In theory, players can completely turn off the UI independently, but this is not something new players who have only played for a few hours can remember. And players don’t know when they suddenly need to use these things to point out the right direction.
Bill Gardner encountered completely different problems when he was the chief designer of BioShock. It is a groundbreaking first-person shooter with stealth and immersive simulation elements. However, as soon as the trial player enters the game, he will feel that this game is a bit similar to "Half-Life", so he starts to rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush and rush into the game.
"When you do something completely different in the scene, you have to do your best to make sure that what you want to do is 100% clear." Gardner describes an event that makes him very desperate, and a tester has no idea that a machine in the game is used to resurrect. "In that trial, a user walked to Vita-Chamber and stared at it for about two minutes. Finally, he continued to move forward, picked up a wrench and continued to move forward! As a result, he came back and walked to the Vita-Chamber again, picked up the wrench and started smashing it. He couldn't smash it twice at once, and smashed it for four minutes in a row."During these game tests, the type logic suppressed the player's ability to analyze reasonably. Gardner believes that before gameplay innovation, players’ logical expectations of a type of game should be given priority, which is the biggest challenge in the innovation process.
He wrote: "What players in shooting games think of rushing into the room and shooting the first thing that appears in front of them. Although not everyone is like this, it is impossible for most players to shoot something without shooting after getting the weapon." In other non-combat scenes, developers try to dissuade players from attacking, such as the introduction scene of Big Dad. The developer also provides subtle voice prompts to tell players not to attack. As a result, the player picks up the gun and starts firing.
When telling stories, you also need to consider the lower limit of cognitive standards. Gardner developed a horror game "Perception" with the blind as the protagonist. They asked players to test it three or four months before the game was launched, and the feedback they received was very positive, with only oneFeedback makes developers doubt their lives. The player wrote: "I like the way and atmosphere of your storytelling, but there is only one thing I don't understand particularly. Is the protagonist of this game... a blind man?"
This feedback made the designer who was "shamed" make a major adjustment. They asked the actors who dubbed the heroine to record another line: "When you are blind, you will have a better understanding of trust." Although this sentence is a bit abrupt after being out of context, it is actually mainly to let the player make it clear that the protagonist is a blind person.
Voting on Twitter shows that most players still support Huang X in "Resident Evil 4: Remake". Players want the logo to be more obvious and are not willing to miss out on items that may be very important because of their pursuit of immersion. Of course, games like Elden Farz also prove that many players can enjoy the game without the need for the game to tell them what they need to do. Horizon: The West can also switch the tips for climbing on and off. In the future, these instructions may be more inclined to the player to decide whether to enable them. Of course, if you really don’t like it, there is no need to force yourself. There must be games on the market that suit your preferences.
