Viewing Thread: What makes gameplay fun?

me_mantis Joined: 26 September 2003 Posts: 1152

24 April 2012 19:52 (UK time) Generally, it's not fun if you can always blow everything up instantly.. and it's not fun if it's nearly impossible. It's not fun if it's too complex.. but some simple games are really great. So what do y'all think makes games fun? I think it's a combo of story, ability to be creative (and think you're outsmartin' the game) while still having enough time to pull off all your cool tactics before the game is over - but not too much time to make it all boring. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

nyasudah  Official Sponsor Joined: 06 February 2005 Posts: 832

25 April 2012 05:23 (UK time) some older opinions http://jbserver.com/forums/ThreadView.asp?ForumId=1&TopicId=24&ThreadId=458 http://jbserver.com/forums/ThreadView.asp?ForumId=1&TopicId=45&ThreadId=1876 http://jbserver.com/forums/ThreadView.asp?ForumId=1&TopicId=24&ThreadId=1093 nyasudah / masuda / mp / PetiX / PtX Edited: 25 April 2012 05:24 You need to login to create posts in this thread.

40oz  Official Sponsor Joined: 03 January 2004 Posts: 1799

25 April 2012 20:46 (UK time) It has a lot to do with the player being able to do the things the he/she would want to. It also includes a system of rewarding the player for doing things that you (the modder or level designer) want them to do, and punishing them (for lack of a better word) for doing the things you don't want them to do. For example, in Meteor, you might need to kill all the enemies in a building in order to get the swipe card inside of it so that you can access the exit room. There's a bit of work involved with that, but the reward is getting access to more places to explore, and completing the level, which brings you a step closer to completing the game. You also receive damage from enemies if you're not careful enough to kill them, and if you die, you are "punished" per se, by having to start the level from the beginning or where you last saved. But more importantly, allowing the player to have the freedom to do what he or she wants is what players are looking for, but also with enough guidance to demonstrate the things they might not know they are capable of doing. *Papercut Pro-Murder. Legalize Crime. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

arezey Joined: 16 June 2005 Posts: 1599

25 April 2012 22:52 (UK time) o'dear it's papercut, long time no see! I think that not only the player should have enough freedom to do what they want to do, they also should have enough resources to do that. Doom II, for instance, gives the player the weapons pretty quickly into the game. The plasma rifle can be acquired from map05 in a secret, the BFG earliest at map08 in a secret and first time in map10 in a regular alcove. The player gets all the weapons before a third has been played! What I'm saying is, it gets a bit boring to kill all enemies with the minigun rather than with different weapons. Though that may be a bit extreme, because then, that's all the weapons you'll be getting for the rest of the game. But that can be compensated with other means, like new, stronger enemies, maps with interesting gameplay and stuff like that. Doom II has a lot of the latter form, which makes it so unique to me! With proper environment usage, "dynamic space" as it's called by some, you can make it feel that the player is playing not only against the enemies, but against the map, reaching to its exit to beat it. Some areas being more neutral (or even friendly), some being more hostile creates variety. Variety is key to everything. just my $.02 Edited: 25 April 2012 23:08 You need to login to create posts in this thread.

me_mantis Joined: 26 September 2003 Posts: 1152

27 April 2012 00:36 (UK time) Yeah, So I did start this same thread 8 years ago... lol It's still a great question, and it's fun to see what people think years and years later. I really like the idea of the dynamic maps where there are friendly and unfriendly parts of the maps... not just static maps. I think it's fun when you get really good weapons early on, it would probably be even cooler if the game reacted to you picking 'em up, so it actually made 'em harder, or not as useful =) You need to login to create posts in this thread.

Archie Joined: 13 March 2010 Posts: 72

29 April 2012 11:17 (UK time) Enemies. For FPS, it is imo important that there is alot of other stuff to do than just shooting monsters. There could be puzzles (LOL HEXEN) and jumping. Secrets with references can light the game up a bit. SPOILER ---> http://tinyurl.com/crqa76e Some funny things like terrorists that yell "UIIUUIII" may get people around to play. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

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